It’s 5am and you’re sleeping like a baby after going to bed at 11.  All of a sudden an extremely loud buzzing noise alarms you awake. 
It’s a noise that would frighten and startle you even if you weren’t sleeping like a baby.  You quickly shoot your arm over to hit snooze twice before finally turning off the alarming noise, get out of bed and turn on the bright lights.  Then, every room you walk into you immediately turn on the light and on your way to the bathroom, you even turn on the TV. While in the bathroom you quickly check your email on your phone or tablet, and make sure nothing too important happened on Facebook in the last 6 hours since you’ve been sleeping.  It didn’t.

That’s a lot of light and alarm within 20 minutes of waking.  This used to be a daily routine for me.  It’s not anymore and I’ve since felt a much more calm start to my days. Here is an example of a routine that might leave you feeling more relaxed and in control as your day begins:

It’s 5am and you’re beginning to wake on your own after going to bed at 9:30.  You peacefully hear the sound of a favorite song beginning to play on the radio.  You have it set just to make sure you wake up, not because you really need it.  You peacefully turn the sound off as you’re already awake anyway.  The light stays off as you open the door of your bedroom where you have some dim light just in case you needed it in the middle of the night.  
 
As you start your day you intentionally wake slowly, think about your day, what you’ll have for breakfast, when you’ll fit in your exercise, and maybe even what you’ll eat for lunch and dinner.  You’re committed to living a life that gets you what you want and dream of. 
 
The TV stays off.  
 
The lights stay dim as you make your way to the kitchen to make breakfast.  You turn on a sink light or a low counter light as you make your breakfast.  
 
Since you went to bed early enough to feel rested in the morning, you skipped the snooze button and can take your time and enjoy
the peacefulness of a quiet house.  Coffee brewed, lunch packed, you sit down at the table to enjoy your breakfast while thinking about the things that are most important to you and taking some time for yourself.  

Breakfast is done and you’re all packed up to leave.  You get in your car, and since you went to bed early, and woke up on time, you are able to follow the speed limit and beat the morning rush.  You arrive to work with 15-20 minutes early, finish your cup of coffee, and have a productive day.  

If we wake up alarmed and stressed, unless we do something to de-stress, it will affect our entire day. Wake up in peace and eliminate stress from your wake up routine! 

You’ll feel better, get more done, and make better decisions.  

Jon Howard - Husband and Father of 3 | Ultra Endurance Athlete | Owner - Training Edge Sports

I'll start this post with a story.  One that many of you might relate to. 

I chewed tobacco for 10 years of my life.  One day I got out my can of Copenhagen and someone mentioned that I was reaching for my pacifier.  I stopped and thought about that.  When we were babies we would get stressed and our parents would reach for our pacifier to calm us down and reduce our stress.  That wasn’t harmful to our health.  What is/are your pacifier(s) now?

The first list is easy, it doesn’t take much effort and all three choices are unhealthy for your body and your mind.  They cost a lot of money which I imagine contributes to levels of stress.  They also make life more difficult for those around you.  
 
The second list takes some initiative on your part.  These days it’s tough to be quiet, to meditate, to eat well, and our society tells us it’s difficult to make time for exercise too.  Be the boss of your own body and don’t let society tell you how to care for yourself.

I’ve used both lists to manage the stress in my life and let me tell you the second list is much more rewarding and sets up
those around you for success as well.  
 
The focus this week is on stress management.  If we stop and think about it, stress manifests itself in a number of ways.  Stress is a tricky thing to figure out. 
 
Let’s listen to our bodies as it relates to stress.  How does it show up, what makes us feel overstressed, how can we learn from that and find more productive ways to deal with stress.  Those are all great questions to get the conversations with ourselves going about
identifying stressful situations, causes, and also ways that we choose to deal with stress.

I understand that we all have different things, situations, people that influence the amount of stress in our lives.  I challenge you to identify them, reduce their presence, and explore ways to mitigate their influence on the way we live our lives.  We are all capable!

**Action - Please contact me ([email protected]) with ways that have worked for you to identify and reduce the effects of stress in your life.  I run ultra marathons.

In Health,

Jon Howard – Husband and Father of 3 | Ultra Endurance Athlete | Owner – Training Edge Sports

Tuesday night I was not well.  I had a full day at work and I was exhausted.  My stomach was tied in knots and I was in bed by 8pm.

Wednesday was more of the same.  I woke up for a couple of sessions, came home and slept.  Again, Wednesday night, I was in bed by 8, but this time I was up on the hour starting at 1am, not throwing up, but losing fluids quickly.

By Thursday mid-morning, I was again able to eat (lots of fruit) and I began drinking lots of fluids (Gatorade and water).  I took my time packing and enjoyed the peace of a quiet house.

At 11:40 Jesse came over as we’d leave from home at noon.  We stopped for gas, then at Subway for food and off we went to the North Shore.

Our accommodations for Thursday night were really close to the race start (Grand Superior Lodge). We met Todd at 5pm at Two Harbors Fairgrounds, checked in, ate our pasta pre-race meal, and saddled up for the briefing at 6:30.  That lasted an hour.  John Gustafson, you're the one that got me into this and it was great to see you both Thursday night and Friday morning at the race start.  I wish we could have met up at the finish too.  Next year, right...  We headed back to the room, organized gear while watching the first half of football, and went to be bed.

It already felt muggy, and I knew early on that the long sleeve shirt and cowboy hat I was wearing were going to be hot and heavy for the first 20 miles today.  We left in a big pack and everyone settled in pretty well to where they would run their race. 

A mile or so in, I found myself behind a legend in these parts, Jason Husveth. I’d run with him for a while last November at Ozarks and studied his style.  I studied again this morning. 

I remember this section being quite runnable from a few weeks ago and it didn’t play technical here either.  It’s easy to go out too fast so I stayed back and kept it pretty steady. The loop at Split Rock was included in the first section as I anticipated would be the case.  A few weeks back, I included that loop into section 2 which brought that stretch from 10 to 15 miles.  I got into trouble that day. 

It was overcast as the sun had not yet burned off the morning cloud cover. It would though, as temperatures climbed to 90+ degrees, and the humidity would play a factor for the entire 30 hours I was on the trail.  We caught a spur trail to the aid station, climbed back up the hill and headed off to Beaver Bay.  Beaver Bay would be the first time I would have access to my crew.

My recollection was that this section of trail would be two different halves.  It turned out to be mostly in the woods finishing with more rocks and climbs.  The biggest thing on this section today, was my hat gaining weight.  That thing, with all the sweaty buildup, must have weight 5 pounds by the time I got to Beaver Bay. 

There was trail maintenance and we were rerouted through some very thick wood until we reconnected with the SHT. 

As I came into Beaver Bay it was great to see my crew waiting for me.  This was the first time in the race I had access to that.  Dad and Caden made it up by that point too.

At Beaver Bay Todd informed me that the leader had dropped at Silver Bay.  The heat had gotten to him at mile 25.  It was hot and humid and I had convinced myself that I was done running. The whole section from Beaver Bay to Silver Bay was right in the heat.  I leapfrogged another guy who was in as rough a shape as me.  We limped in to Silver Bay. 

My friend Troy was the first friend I saw at Silver Bay followed by Dan and Jessica (thanks for the pictures), Dad, Todd, Caden, and Jesse.  I am so thankful to have had such wonderful support, not only in person at the event, but here at home too.  

One of the first things Troy said when I got in was that I needed salt. For some reason, this didn’t make it through my thick skull. 

I came into Silver Bay convinced that my race was done.  I had mentally checked out and was physically not doing well.  This is where my crew, knowing I didn’t want to stop, kept me going.  Jesse even said, “You told me you were going to tell me you wanted to stop.  You also told me to tell you to keep going.”  He did and I’m thankful for that. 

I ate a lot of food, drank a lot of water, but didn’t take any salt (big mistake). 

As I headed across the road to the trailhead for Tettegouche, Caden stopped me, put his head in my chest and said something that completely changed my attitude and got another 50 miles out of me.  That conversation will stay between the two of us but I get choked up just reliving that moment now. 

That statement stayed with me for the rest of my time on the trail and will for the rest of my life. - Thanks Caden - keep motivating and inspiring others!

I was looking forward to Bean and Bear.  The first 3+ miles flew by as Caden’s encouragement moved my tired legs.  When I reached the lakes, I snapped a photo and sent it to some friends. 

 I was banking on it cooling off a bit but it never really did – even as we got into the night. 

At about the 4 mile mark into this section is when I got into trouble.  On our trip a few weeks prior, I had gotten into similar trouble.  The cramping was back.  I should have learned from my training run and listened to my friend Troy that I needed salt.  Unfortunately, I didn’t do either and was stuck deep in the woods with severe cramping. 

There must have been a lot of praying back home at that moment as my new friend Jeffrey came up on me as I was beginning to groan in the woods.  He gave me a S – Tab, then a small baggie with a TBSP of light table salt in it.  It was almost instantaneous how that salt was saving my muscles and my race.  Jeffrey only had enough for himself but he stopped to get me moving again. A perfect example of the camaraderie that exists in the trail running community.  That bought me 15-20 minutes and a mile before the cramping came back.  I was still a good 5 miles from Tettegouche.  And… along came my new friend Bill.  He asked, “How are you doing?  Do you need anything?”  I said, with what I’m sure was a desperate tone, “salt.”  I’ll never forget his response as he reached into his pack and pulled out a Ziploc full of S – Tabs.  There must have been 100 capsules in there.  It’s difficult to explain the feeling of relief at that moment.  I emptied a Sports Beans pack and filled up on S – Tabs. These guys kept my race alive and kept me moving. 

From that point on, I would have one S – Tab every 15 – 20 minutes and wouldn’t deal with severe cramping for the rest of my race. 

My mind was ready, my attitude was good, and now my body could keep up.  I now employed a way of moving that I’ve dubbed “the Husveth Hustle.”  It’s a way of moving quickly through the woods.  It’s almost like running, but more of a constant scurry.  I don’t remember much of the last 5 miles except that I was hyper focused on moving as fast as I could. 

Approximately 1 mile from Tettegouche I sent this message to my crew, “new socks, long shirt, lots of water, headlamp and flashlight.  Turning and burning at this one!”  I've heard that they were shocked to hear that after my previous message just a half hour prior -  "Severe cramping.  Not good."  Turn and burn I did and it was off to County Road 6 where I would pick up Todd and be on my way. 

At all the aid stations Caden was my Mike and Ike getter.  He would immediately ask if I needed Mike and Ikes and grab a handful, give me 2 or 3, and eat the rest.  Thanks for your help Cade – O!

My plan was to go hard until 10:30 and hopefully I would run into the aid station first.  Then, I knew I was doing what I could to get where I was going on time. 

This section was much like the second half of the last.  I was feeling good, moving quickly, and the trail was letting me.  I passed a dozen runners and pulled into County Road 6 aid with 10 minutes to spare.  Sadly, that meant everyone that I’d passed would not make the time cutoff, including Jeffrey and Bill. 

I sat down for a few minutes, ate, grabbed a cup of coffee, picked up Todd and headed off to Finland.

The cutoff at Finland was 2am. 

It was still hot except when we got into the lower areas and the wood was getting slippery with the dew from the grass.  What I remember most about this section is pace.  I was still in the good groove I’d picked up after Bill and Jeffrey saved my race awhile back.  We must have been cruising because we made it into Finland by 1:15. 

After circling the aid station, we finally found the crew at the car preparing to pull out the gear.  I sat down for a few minutes, changed socks (I’ll get gator skins), ate, drank, switched pacers and Jesse and I were on our way.

To this point I was feeling pretty good.  Getting tired, but still wanting to move quickly.  The next cutoff now wouldn’t be until Sugarload at 11:30 so we had 10 hours to cover 20 miles.

Jesse left Finland with me at 1:30 am and I was excited to share this night with him.  

                                                                                                                                                                Rugged | RELENTLESS | Remote – Superior

On this section of trail, it definitely lived up to its name.  I had a friend of mine ask me what I would do differently next time.  I’m going to do my best to share my response to her with you here.  I would have had salt was my first thought.  The second thought takes a little bit more energy to explain, but I think it’s a lesson that we can all stand to learn or be reminded of, as it transcends the trail into our lives every day. 

It takes a lot of energy to have a bad attitude. 

I was upset that the trail wouldn’t “let” me go fast.  The road was rocky, the trail was rough, it was definitely not smooth sailing.  I had no control of that, yet, I let it bother me and had a negative attitude. Not only does it take a lot of energy to have a bad attitude, but then to change direction, and bring your spirits all the way back up.  Mine never made it back to positive.  Here are a couple of things that I discussed with my friend when we were walking and talking about attitude and the essentiality of having a positive one when facing adversity:

    -Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond to it.

    -The Serenity Prayer - God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, and Wisdom to know the difference

I do this on purpose, I signed up for this, I knew what I was getting into when I toed the line at Superior and still I was unable to maintain a positive attitude.  I understand the challenges I faced on the morning of September 7th were insignificant in comparison to the things that some of us deal with in our lives every day. 

My message here is this: if there is one thing that you can do for yourself and the people around you, it’s have a good attitude.  It is contagious, fun to be around, and truly does make a difference.  Make it intentional!

I would have had a better attitude.  Thank you Jesse for putting up with me on the trail and doing what you could to facilitate attitude change in the moment. 

We needed something.  Enter John Taylor (54 – 100 mile finishes) and a group of 5 others.  For the last 3 miles to Sonju, their pace was just what we needed.  The respect for this Upper Midwest Trail Legend was incredible.  Stories of adventures past and positivity that we needed.  The smell of a campfire and the sounds of chatter are always welcomed in the woods. 

We should have left Sonju with the pack.

Moving slowly, we saddled up and headed on our way out of Sonju.  The trail offered more of the same... ROCKS.

I just now remember back to 50 mile races past with 100 mile finishers. The section from Finland to Crosby is notoriously difficult with rocks like teeth looking to chew up trail runners and spit them out!  Factor in darkness and it’s that much more of a challenge.  It was encouraging to see the sun coming up, to see the light glow grow on the distant horizon. 

I was leading for this whole section until the sun started coming up.  With a couple of miles to go, Jesse made a "suggestion" and  took the lead.  We made it my goal to keep up.  Looking back, that’s the way to go.  We settled into a good rhythm, then hit an uphill road for the last half mile of this section.  Jesse put up with a whole lot of negative talk on this road, and for that, sorry Jess.  I was convinced my race was once again… over!

On one stretch of trail early in the morning, there was a split in the trail.  The race went left and I stayed straight.  With my head down
2 feet in front of me, I took a step into thick, wet mud almost over my shoe.  As I brought my eyes and my headlamp up to see what was ahead of me, I saw nothing but water. Without the mud, I’d have walked right into the middle of it.  We found the trail and continued on our way.

I knew the next section was 10 miles and I had convinced myself my race was over.  We did the math at Crosby aid and figured I just needed to average 2mph to make it to Sugarloaf in time.  I would pick up Todd at Crosby and, drawing on Caden’s words from earlier, continue on my journey.  Todd was right, if I'd have stopped there, I would wonder today if I could have made it to Sugarloaf on time.  Thanks for keeping me moving.

Misery is the picture I would insert here if I had one...

I didn’t remember this section from previous races, but knew there would be some climbing involved early.  It wasn’t the ups that gave me trouble, it was the downs. My attitude was negative leaving Crosby aid.  There are a few factors that contributed to my inability to snap out of it.

1.      Severe cramping Friday - I'm sure that contributed to the heaviness of my legs as we climbed early then flattened out in this section

2.      A bad attitude - There is no excuse for a bad attitude.  Our attitude is a 100% choice.  I choose positivity and challenge you to do the same.  We do have an impact on those we deal with every day.  Add value to people.  The more we focus on adding value to others and spreading that message, the more others will focus their energy on adding value to our lives as well.

3.      I was tired - Not a surprise.  I would be worried if I hadn't been

With a better attitude, I’m confident I could have pushed through the pain.  That’s painful for me to say looking back on the moment…  The climbing took a lot out of me early in this section and I never came back.  Thank you Todd for walking very slowly with me for 6 hours on Saturday morning.  It was good to see Troy and Maranda on the trail. Way to go Maranda on your 1st place finish!  I limped into Sugarloaf at 12:30, 1 hour after the cutoff time, crawled into the back of the minivan and went to sleep.  

                
Neil, it was good to see you at Sugarloaf.  I hope I didn’t look bad enough to push you away from this craziness.

Up until Tuesday after the race, I was never going to do this again.  I signed up for Surph the Murch 50k this afternoon.

I am so blessed to have family and friends who support my running and adventures. My wife, this whole time, spent the weekend at home with two little ones.  Not to mention the hours she "let" me run leading up to this race.  She’s a rock star.  Thanks Kate!

I do this to challenge myself, keep motivated and also to write about my adventures and be an example that anything is
possible.  It doesn’t matter how old you are, how many kids you have, how busy you are at work, Those are all excuses.  I don't know your situation, but I do know that it's a lot easier to make excuses than it is to put yourself out there and pursue your dreams.  I sat on my tail for years.  That's a story for another day. 

I challenge you to pick a dream and toe the line.  You might surprise yourself and accomplish something you never thought possible.

                                                                                                                  Share your dream in the comments below and get started today!

For the last 2 months I have been training with a friend of mine, Dan Harvey.  He had done 1 marathon long ago and has hiked the entire SHT. He toed the line Saturday morning and finished the Moose Mountain Marathon in 8:17:00.  Great job Dan and congrats on your finish!!

I Love the North Woods and look forward to a schedule full of Ultra Marathons next summer with Superior 100 being the race that will put 100 miles in the books for me.  Who’s with me?

Hi!  I’m Jon’s wife, Katie, and I’m super excited to be guest blogging for him today because I have a “stay healthy” tip I want everyone to know!  

It’s that time of year… the kids are back to school, germs are spreading like wild fire (I teach Kindergarten, so believe me, I know!), and lots of us are coming down with colds and coughs and all sorts of not fun stuff.  

Is there anything you can do to avoid the bugs besides washing hands and getting enough rest?  YES!  Let me introduce you to a super cheap, 4 calorie, immunity-boosting superstar… garlic!

One clove contains 5 mg of calcium, 12 mg of potassium, and over 100 sulfuric compounds powerful to destroy infections, viruses, fungus, and bacteria.  People have been using it for thousands of years… and maybe this is YOUR year to try it out!  I first learned
about it about a year ago and this is crazy, but I haven’t had a cold or anything since then because every time I feel something coming on (you know the feeling- like a little sore throat or a few sneezes), I eat my garlic and lo and behold, I’m fine!

In fact, I know people (and I’m one of them this time of year) who eat a clove (or more!) a day, even if they feel perfectly healthy.  Garlic has other health benefits besides being antibacterial and antifungal - it seeks and destroys free radicals in the body, helps prevent cancer, and lowers blood pressure and cholesterol.  And as if it couldn't get any better- it's so cheap!  you can get an entire clove for less than $1.

When to Eat It

SOOOO with all those benefits, why not give it a try?!  Oh, wait… the smell…  you feel like you’ll be seeping garlic out of every pore in your body?  Okay, I get it.  True, when I eat garlic during the day I do smell it later on (and Jon can say he smells it on me), BUT when I eat it before I fall asleep, I don’t smell or taste anything in the morning.  So there ya go- eat it late at night!

How to Eat It

Listen up, this is important (sorry, the Kindergarten teacher in me is coming out)!  It must be eaten raw, chopped up and fresh!  The special compound in garlic (allicin) that produces all the wonderful benefits is destroyed by heat, so cooking it into things might not be very helpful.  Allicin is released when the garlic is chopped or chewed up… so don’t try to swallow a clove or you’ll be missing out.  

Here are a couple tried and true ideas for making raw garlic easier to take:

You can mince it or chop it in a food processor or with a knife (see below)… and then mix it with hummus or salsa or a spoonful of honey (as long as you chop it up, you could even just swallow it down like medicine), maybe spread it on buttered toast, hide it between 2 apple slices, or create your own interesting way!  I’m a busy working wife and mom to 3 little kids and I don’t even always feel like I have time to chop and do anything fancy so I just peel a clove, dip it in peanut butter and chomp it up in my mouth!  Whew!  It’s hot, but it only lasts a few seconds.  Peanut butter, olive oil, or anything oily like that takes a little bit of the edge off the heat. It’s not always the most pleasant thing, BUT here’s the little saying I made up and say to Jon (cause he’s not always a garlic fan): “Would you rather have a moment of ICK or weeks of SICK?!”  I don’t know about you, but I’ll take the fleeting “ick” any day!

Hope that helps!  Wishing you all a HEALTHY and HAPPY year!  Now go eat your garlic!