Monthly Archives: October 2014

Skill and gifting–Not IN but ON

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Photography is a skill I have--and I love it when I have a subject like this Laura Bugharrini pot in Mata Ortiz. So am I willing to work ON my skill--not just IN it?

Photography is a skill I have–and I love it when I have a subject like this Laura Bugharrini pot in Mata Ortiz. So am I willing to work ON my skill–not just IN it?

I am a designed being. Nothing could be more obvious.

I am gifted–and that is a developing reality.

But here is the question: as I use these precious moments I have, how do I invest the time? If I spend all my time working with my gifts that is good. But will I take the time as a higher (be it less demanding) priority to work ON my skills and gifting. Or will I get so busy working IN my gifting that I get stale and loose my passionate and creative edge.

Whooo! This is fun to run (I mean live all out) in alignment with what I am good at. And it is even more rewarding as I get older. But only if I am GROWING older…and that means getting better at what I excel at.

So here is what happened: yesterday my son Luke Hensleigh called me with a WordPress.org question. I knew what he needed, knew how to solve the issues he had, knew the wordpress dashboard in my head–you get the idea. See, I knew all of this because I have taken the time to work ON my skill of writing and photography and creativity–not just IN it.

Here is how to do this:

  1. Get it that you are created/designed/ put here with a purpose.
  2. Understand your gifting/strengths/ areas of curiosity. (Good essay on passion and curiosity at  NeedLessGiveMore.com)
  3. Make a list of the above and ask someone close to you to give some honing and feedback on the list.
  4. Plan each day to grow in one of your gift/skill areas–something concrete to be better at that area. This is working ON your gift, not just IN it
  5. Repeat this list all you life–remind yourself “I am a designed purposeful being, I have these gifts, I LOVE it, I will grow today in this way…

So when I was running all summer getting ready for this 50 miler, it was all about working ON. The when I showed up there in Steamboat, it was all about IN.

I loved both parts.

 

Born to Run and the Running Shoe HooRah

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Run Rabbit Run

Getting laced up with those Brooks Adreneline at 5:30a in Steamboat.

Born to Run

When this bestseller came out I called Chris McDougall and we visited for 15 minutes or so. I was working in Copper Canyon, Mexico, home land of the Raramuri Indians who are the subject of his book. They run in little flat sandals and are referred to as barefoot runners. As soon as the book hit the New York Times list, I was unable to reach the author. Since then I have only received very indirect communication from him in the form of criticism of our Raramuri Running Project designed to help the runners and their communities.

Are running shoes bad for your feet?

As I prepared for this 50 miler, I tried various running shoes and tweaked my gait a bit. I was trying to learn–and also was dealing with a pesky right Achilles. My sore Achilles was the result of something–was it overtraining, or improper shoes, or my stride? Actually I never figured it out. My achilles hurt the day I ran the 50 miler–but not exactly when I ran. More on that later.

In the process of working with the aching Achilles I picked up a few pointers/helps that were interesting and of great value on race day:

  1. I started wearing Brooks Adreneline shoes–wore two pair of them on race day. My friends Mike and Jed at Body N Sole in Savoy, Illinois put me in them and I am very grateful. They are a low cost, good support, lightweight, breathable, easy to use shoe and they got me there.
  2. Rachel Hills, a woman who does pilates, yoga, and fitness training in Champaign taught me how to stand and walk. She also got me to using a stretch that works the hamstrings, calves and lower back- excellent.
  3. I began to learn that patience is a key part of ultramarathon training. I paid attention to Bryon Powell and the excellent resource “Relentless Forward Progress“. Great resource for any one training for a 50 miler or 100 miler.