The Brave Blog
I'm documenting a year of being braver in my career, life, and faith. The goal is to write every day, and you can get a summary of brave stories by signing up for my weekly newsletter. Stories I'll share:Being brave in sales and growing a new consulting divisionTraining for a 100-mile ultra raceLiving authentically for Jesus
Scroll down for new entries and sign-up to get the weekly summary!Soreness
After missing my first back to back days from my daily blogging goal I realize the need for recovery.
1 brave thing: Recovery
After three consecutive weekends of 30 mile runs my body is sore. A couple days ago I had to adjust my 50 min run down to 25 min with some ankle soreness. I missed a couple days here on the blog. So the brave moment is to just recover and do easy runs, more stretching and get through the soreness.
Why it matters. I want to be a long term long distance runner. I look at Jeff Browning running ultra races competitively in his 50s! So while I’m focused on March 9th I’m also looking down the road.
Monthly Massage. One gift to myself is having a monthly massage to help with the training which doesn’t help the financial independence goal and side of my brain but it does help me to keep my body in working order. Sometimes I have to remind myself of these “investments” compared to financial investments that I would like to also achieve.
I’m trying to put my time and money into action to help the body get to the start line.
Cheers!
Justin
Podcast Editing
For some reason I’ve been putting off my podcast editing duties and faced it today!
1 brave thing: Publishing a new podcast
I host the podcast Become a Provider as a free service from our non-profit The CL Thomas Fellowship. I love it and it takes a lot of time and attention. It doesn’t have to but I spend hours on each show. I’ve been putting off the latest editing and stopped procrastinating and published episode 118 today!
Why it matters. I want to be someone who keeps my commitments. I also want to share amazing stories of people providing for themselves and others. Glad to keep pushing the podcast and the work of the Fellowship forward.
Here’s to the start of another brave week,
Justin
31 Miles
After a lighter week of training it was time to put up some big miles today.
1 brave thing: Running 31 miles
During the week I ran less than normal but made up for it with my long run today. Overall I felt good, kept it simple and maximized the cool February temperatures for a nice easy pace long run.
Why it matters. I need to keep building up my body for the March 9th ultra race. I’m trying to also ensure I have metabolic flexibility so my body can fuel itself both with fat and carbs with ease on race day.
Cheers to long training days that flow into a Sabbath rest day tomorrow.
-Justin
No Sugar
As the race draws near I’m trying to focus more on controlling my inflammation levels. One way of doing that is through diet.
1 brave thing: No added sugar
I’m tightening up the diet by eliminating my common and occasional treats. The reason for this is to reduce my inflammation before my ultra marathon race.
Why it matters. Inflammation can cause pain in my joints and I’m doing enough damage with the training induced inflammation. So my strategy is to not add to the inflammation unnecessarily. It was great having dark chocolate whenever I wanted, ice cream and carrot cake for treats but I’m shutting that down until the race.
Still having simple carbs on long runs. While I’m giving up all standard treats I’ll still enjoy Honey Stinger waffles and Tailwind on my long runs. Plus I’m still going to enjoy chocolate flavored protein mixes so the sweet flavoring is not all gone.
I enjoyed my last treat with my wife. A carrot cake cupcake!
To brave and less sweet treats,
Justin
A Closed Farm and a Smoker
When a stranger stops smoking just long enough to stop my morning jog caused a brave moment.
1 brave thing: Talking without judging
I’m on my morning jog when I hear a car slow down behind me. I’m assuming it’s a friend slowing down to say hi or maybe just a cautious driver. Turns out to be neither. A lady I’ve never met stops her car by me, takes out her cigarette and asks me why the chicken farm up the road is closed. How funny is it that she thought a random bearded runner would be able to help. I tell her I don’t know why the farm I have no affiliation with is closed this random Wednesday morning-perplexed why she stopped to ask. Then she starts inching the car forward and says “I wish I could do what your doing,” and her car matches the puff of smoke as it speeds off.
Why it matters. A flood of judgmental thoughts came over me initially. I had to make a choice to release them all. I was able to do just that. In fact I didn’t think about that moment until writing todays brave blog. It took a conscious effort to stop from judging.
More bravery. Less judgement. That’s the goal.
-Justin
Asking for Discounts
Budgeting is brave. Negotiating is brave. I’m trying to do a better job of both in 2024!
1 brave thing: Negotiations
I’m 2/3 this week in asking and receive a discount for a product or service. January is a great month to fine tune the nudge which is in itself a brave adventure.
Why it matters. Every dollar counts in our personal budget and in my business. I saved between 18-25% in my two successful cases and trying for a bigger one for the third. Asking for what you want I think is part of the grace journey.
To braver and better deals,
Justin
30 Mile Weekends
Another long run weekend brings brave moments and gratitude for family support.
1 brave thing: Another Long Run
I’m getting some heavy miles in as I prep for the Mountain to Sea 100 miler in March. Today I got in another 30 mile trail day. This is the first time I’ve done back to back weekends at this level.
Why it matters. I want to be able to have the endurance at peak level for March 9th. Todays 30 miler was actually about 20 minutes slower than last weekends effort. I’m still trying to dial in my timing to help come up with a game-plan for race day.
Family Support. It’s a game changer for me to have the full support of the family to allow me to enjoy 5.5 hrs training. It obviously takes up most of the day. I’m grateful.
To more brave and long training days!
Justin
Duke Jersey
Walking into a restaurant with the wrong jersey on was indeed a brave moment worth reporting.
1 brave thing: Duke Jersey in Chapel Hill
Wearing a jersey may not seem like a brave act but it was tonight and it produced some great conversations. Amy and I were invited to go to a Duke basketball game tonight with some dear friends. Afterwards we enjoyed dinner together in downtown Chapel Hill home to the rival, UNC Tar Heels. I decided to enter the restaurant with my Duke jersey on.
Why it matters. I just wanted to see what would happen. It was a fun brave experiment that I didn’t have to do.
“I’ve never said this before but youare most friendly Duke fan.” Our server Gave me this quote after We had paid for our meal. It was part joke but also I took it as a real compliment. How fun is it to be seen one way but then win someone over when they “get to know you.”
“That is the 3rd most offensive shirt you could have worn.” This was another patron at the restaurant. We spoke for a bit and I was eager to hear his thoughts on what could be more offensive:) He was kind hearted as well and it was another great icebreaker with a stranger.
Disclaimer. I grew up in Virginia by Va Tech but my middle school and high basketball program was modeled off of Duke and my Coach rooted for Duke so I started to as well. I’m also a huge Michael Jordan fan who went to UNC and the Dean Smith stories of how he loved his players and community have won me over as well. Alas I still have a Duke JJ Redick jersey because that team and player reminds me of my middle school and high school days.