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Rotary Trail
The markers included on this map include .25m, .50m, 1.5m and 1.75m. This map will make it easy to determine when to turn around for out and back distances of 3.0m, 3.5m or 4.0m.
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Hoping to supplement any Friday rides with an evening or weekend ride to try to round out my mileage to around 35 – 40 miles per week in addition to any running that I do as part of my training. National Ride Your Bike To Work Day Unbeknown to me, Friday, May 20, 2011 was designated as the National Walk/Ride Your Bike to Work Day. While I’m not sure if recognizing the whole week is something national, it was reported in the Toledo Blade that the various bike clubs around Toledo have been recognizing the week – starting on May 15 and ending this weekend on Sunday, May 22. Too bad the weather hasn’t cooperated this past week. Here’s hoping that from this point forward we start to see the sun shine more often.
As I reflect upon the two marathons that I’ve completed thus far and the numerous training runs, 10ks and half marathons I’ve participated in over the past three years, there has been one constant – I always ran with a running group. It was by mere chance that I got involved with the group of people that I ran with down in Columbus, OH – but it was a life changing occurrence that had a tremendous impact on me. They immediately became part of my family and my closest friends. In March 2010 I took a new job in Toledo and later moved here for good in late September. As I mentioned above, with a new job and yet another relocation, running unfortunately took a back seat. Admittedly, I tried to start back up in January of this year, but running in the dark and in 12 degree temperatures just wasn’t as enjoyable as I had hoped it would be. So, now that things seem to be settling down and I have some semblance of a normal life, I’ve decided to start a small personal running group to train for an upcoming marathon in the September/October/November time frame of this year. While preparing for a marathon will be one goal, it’s my hope that I can bring together a group of like-minded individuals who will become good friends in the process. Are you ready for a full or half marathon?
Before making a commitment to a running group, it’s important to ask if you’re ready to dedicate the time and effort to train for a full or half marathon. One of the key ingredients to why a running group is successful is the support and encouragement you receive from your friends in the group. Prior to meeting Mike, Julia, Gary and Amy in Columbus back in 2008, I had four or five failed attempts in training for a full marathon. Each of those times, I tried to train on my own. And while I believe that I’m now in a better place in my life and could likely achieve my goal of a third marathon on my own, why should I if I can meet some new people and make some new friends in the process by starting a group of my own here in Toledo. Because members of the group rely upon one another so much in helping to overcome the demons that sometimes surface during the four to five months of training – it’s for this reason alone that you should think about whether or not you’re ready to be a part of a running group – especially one like this one that will be specifically training for an upcoming race. What can you expect from this group? In starting and coordinating this group, it’s my intent to provide as much of the planning, logistics and communication that I possibly can. During my 2009 training, I managed all of this for the group that I ran with down in Columbus, so I have a fair idea of how to get you prepared. The title of this post mentions that this running group will likely be focused in the Old West End and in the Downtown Toledo area. This is likely true for group runs that will occur on Wednesday nights, but a majority of the long runs that will happen on Saturdays and Sundays will take place throughout all of the local metroparks, bike trails and/or other places in the Toledo metropolitan area where we can get some decent mileage without having to run on the surface streets. Over the next two weeks I’ll be preparing more specific information on the schedules we’ll be following to prepare for either the full or half. I’ll also give you additional information on what you can expect, where we’ll be running, times, etc. In the interim, get out there and start running because you’ll want to have a base in place by mid to late June that will allow you to run 3 – 4 miles comfortably.
Through the years, plenty has been written about having a positive mindset, creative visualization and the Law of Attraction. First off and foremost, I believe in all three of these topics and/or anything remotely related to them. While I don’t claim to be an expert in any of the three, I’ve read enough books over the past five years to have a layman’s understanding of how the premise works. Hundreds if not thousands of authors have written on the topic. A few that come to mind – Wallace Wattles, Napoleon Hill from years past and Jeffrey Smith and Rhonda Brooks more recently. I suspect that as I flesh out the idea I’m going to propose here, I’m likely going to need to do more research and digging to verify my claims, however, with what I’ve read so far, I think I might be on to something. For the most part, most of these authors do a great job of describing the process of how to think positively, focus on your dreams and achieve success by just changing your overall attitude. The challenge that many people have is sustaining this success over the long haul. For those of you who know me well, you know that over the past five years, my life can best be described as a roller coaster ride. All the moves, job changes, divorce, etc. all led to a relatively unstable life that wasn’t grounded in any sort of foundation. However, my most recent move last September brought me back to my hometown of Toledo, OH near family and friends. This past March, I celebrated my one year anniversary with Interrupt Marketing and love has found its way back in my life again – this time for good. Additionally, I’m getting more sleep, eating and drinking better and finding time for myself. Some may argue that all of these things (job, girlfriend, etc.) are the result of my positive attitude. And while this is likely the case, I’ve struggled for years to understand what I was missing from my life to push me over the hump from really achieving my potential. Ironically enough, I believe it’s the basic components above – sleep, water, food and healthy lifestyle that have and will make the difference. Let me explain what I mean – think about a garden. If a farmer plants a seed without properly preparing the soil and then providing the necessary nutrients to that soil, it’s unlikely that seed will germinate and grow to it’s full potential. We are the same way. For years, authors have been describing the process in excruciating detail of how to “plant the seeds” in your mind of what you want out of life with creative visualization and positive thinking. But what they always seem to miss and/or not describe in any detail is how to properly prepare your mind, body and spirit to actually help bring these ideas to fruition. In the coming weeks and months, I’m going to dig deeper into this idea of the importance of sleep, proper hydration, eating well and exercising the body and mind. Because so much has been written through the years on eating well and exercise, the one that has me most curious is what sleep deprivation has done to reduce the productivity and creativity of Americans through the years. While I plan on researching and writing on all four of these areas, I’m going to pay extra attention to the topic of sleep deprivation since I believe it is one of the of the biggest culprits to achieving personal success. So stay tuned. By the way, the inspiration behind the topic of this blog post came about after a good night’s rest – 8 hours I believe. It was July of 2010 when I took down www.kerisamiec.com and I believe it was March of 2010 when I made my last post. In the coming days, weeks and months, I will be much more active with this website as I look to grow my network in Toledo and support those I meet with the information I intended to provide when I originally started this website and blog. Today is May 1st, 2011. My girlfriend and I are well established in our new home in the Old West End and are both looking to make huge strides towards achieving what we want in life. As anyone that’s set a goal of some sort and achieved it knows, success takes time and dedication. Juli and I are committed to our long-term success and know that we have a lot of hard work ahead of us. The good thing we have going for us is that we’re looking forward to tackling it together and having fun as we do so. While there is great hope that this post will be read by someone, even if it’s not, it feels good putting the word out to the universe that “I’m back!” For the millions of people who lost their jobs over the past 18 – 24 months, it’s inevitable that most everyone probably immediately asked the question, “Now what do I do?” Discussions about unemployment, job loss and the search process always seem more palatable when they come from someone who’s been down this path before. It wasn’t too far in the distant past that I found myself a casualty of the recession and asking myself the same question. So, what are some things you can do to position yourself better in your job search? The first piece of advice I have for you is - don’t panic. Keeping a clear frame of mind and not allowing stress, anxiety and fear to take over will be key in starting off on the right foot. The second thing to do is make the commitment to yourself that finding a job is now your full time job. If your layoff was unexpected, give yourself a few days to accept what has happened, overcome any anger you may be feeling and figure out where the opportunities are for you moving forward. In Napoleon Hill’s famous book, Think and Grow Rich, he writes, “Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.” Finding that seed will help you to put the past behind you and only look to the future. And since finding a new job is now your full time job, don’t change your regular daily habits. Get up at the same time, shower, dress . . . do everything the same way as when you were employed. Set aside a space in your home where you’ll “go to work” every day or if you have a laptop, find a quiet coffee shop with internet access where you can set up shop. Sticking to a daily routine will ensure your commitment to the process and leave you with time in the evenings and on weekends to spend with family, friends and do things for yourself that will keep your mind fresh and sharp. There are going to be good days and bad days in your job search. Limiting the bad days will be very important and I’ve found that by surrounding yourself with individuals you trust who you can turn to for support or encouragement makes all the difference in the world. Often they are friends, family members or people you become acquainted with through networking. Regardless of who they are, they play an important role in being there when you need a quick “pick me up” and by holding you accountable. Accountability plays another significant role in ensuring that you are doing what you need to be doing on a daily basis in setting up meetings, sending out resumes, conducting interviews and following up on all of your activity. Future posts on this topic will further discuss the multitude of resources that are at your disposal both online, at your local library and within your community. Till then, keep the faith. This really is a meeting that you won’t want to miss! See you there!Marketing Manager’s 5-Step Guide to Successful Web Initiatives Marketing managers are being tasked to push the envelope of their expertise just to keep up with the basics of what this digital age has to offer. But how can you tell if your internal team or vendor REALLY understands what it takes to launch a successful Web initiative? The Columbus American Marketing Association is proud to host a panel discussion that will unlock a 5 step process to ensure your team is asking the right questions to get the most out your Web initiative. In this discussion you’ll learn about the best practices for developing successful interactive initiatives from some of the country’s most respected experts in their field having worked with global brands such as Microsoft, P&G, Motorola, Nationwide and Reebok to name a few. Moderator: Panelists: + Krys Rigler Roth, Falhgren + Bryan Huber, Huber + Co + Matt Anderson, Nationwide + Rick Kleben, Resource Details: Who Should Attend: Over the past few months, many people have heard me talk about (or dare I say preach) about getting involved. Many of those individuals have been my friends and colleagues whom are in transition, but the message is the same for just about everyone – Get Involved! The approach that I’ve tried to take over the past 18 months is to split my time volunteering for organizations that will help my professional development along with those that are more philanthropic in nature and appeal to my heart and things that I’m passionate about in life. Regardless of the approach you take, I think the important thing is to just get out there and contribute to organizations, causes and events that are bigger than you and I. In earlier posts, I’ve written about Project Mentor – a Big Brothers/Big Sisters program. Just recently, I promoted the Columbus AMA’s special interest groups. Today I want to share some information on a new young professionals group that was started about seven months ago in support of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. As many of you may or may not know, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is the first institution established for the sole purpose of conducting basic and clinical research in catastrophic childhood illnesses. When the hospital opened its doors in 1962, the survival rate for children diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, for instances, was less than 5%. Today, the disease-free survival figure for children in long-term remission (no sign of disease) has grown to 94%. Procedures that origininated at St. Jude are now being used to treat children throughout the United States and other parts of the world. Basically, Friends of St. Jude are young professionals dedicated to the mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the fight against childhood cancer. On November 18th, we’re hosting an open house to introduce other young professionals to the organization in the hopes of having them participate in future events and activities centered around building awareness and raising funds to support the life-saving work done at St. Jude. We hope that you’ll consider coming out to join us. You are welcome to email me if you’d like to attend. Below is the information about the event along with some additional background information on St. Jude Hospital and our organization. Hope to see you on the 18th. Friends of St. Jude Open House www.stjude.org
I keep saying “we” because 15 months ago I volunteered to start a Business-to-Business special interest group in the summer of 2008. Within a couple of months I found myself serving on the board and am now engrained in many different facets of the organization. My main responsibilty is that of VP of special interest groups or SIGs of which we’ve been able to add six different ones over the past year. If you’re looking to meet other marketers in the area and to stay on the cutting edge of marketing and communications, I would encourage you to check out the different SIGs on the Columbus AMA’s website. The main SIG page listed below gives a general overview of what the SIGs are, which ones are up and running, when and where they meet and how to get involved if you’re interested in volunteering. Also included is a very rudimentary job description of what the role of a volunteer is on a SIG committee. Currently we are seeking three committee members (one each) for Internet/eCommerce, Non-profit and Social Media SIGs. Main SIG Page The individual SIG pages go on to describe in greater detail each of the specific SIGs. Addresses, directions, committee members, etc. are all included. Also, a list of the past events have been included and will be added to on a monthly basis. Individual SIG Pages Business-to-Business (B2B) SIG – http://columbusama.org/business-to-business_sig/ Hope to see you at our upcoming events! Over the past couple of weeks, it’s become quite apparent to me that I was destined for quite some time to venture into the world of entrepreneurship. For years and years, the signs have all been there and I think it’s only when you are truly ready for taking the plunge that you open your mind to the possibilities – and of course, all the signs along the way become crystal clear. I tend to be the type of person that picks things up and saves them for the right time in life. Or I’ll jot an idea down, tuck it away and then it magically resurfaces at the right point in time when the idea has more relevancy. This has happened to me on more than one occasion over the past two weeks. To take a step back, two weeks ago, I was informed that my position with my former company was being eliminated. The writing was on the wall so not only was I emotionally prepared for the news, but mentally and physically as well. This was quite contrary to my circumstances in Cincinnati where the owner of the company and I did not get along and when he called me into his office, it was a total shock that we were parting ways. Not the case here, the day that I anticipated being let go, I had my drag up bag in hand and was able to walk out the door and never look back. Fear and anger are the two emotions that prevent people from moving on. Two years ago the fear was paralyzing and it took me months to be able to overcome what had happened to me. Last week the fear and anger lasted all of five minutes – I moved on immediately and was able to enjoy the rest of the day. It took me about 48 hours to make the decision that the time was right in my life to launch a business. In the days that followed, things just started clicking. I accomplished more in a four day time period then I was probably able to do in the four weeks prior. It’s amazing what one can do when the shackles are removed and you’re free to do what you’re best at. This post could go on and on today, but I can assure you that I’ll be writing about my endeavors in the weeks, months and years to follow. I’m not sure why I continue to say that I’m not strong in writing – it seems to come pretty naturally and is something that I’m going to make a commitment to do moving forward in this blog and in a blog associated with my company. As I close out my post this evening, I thought it would be good to share some insight from a book that I bought over 12 years ago called Start Up – An Entrepreneur’s Gudie to Launching and Managing a New Business by William J. Stolze. Chapter 3 is entitled Why People Start Companies. He goes on to say that there are reactive reasons and active reasons. The top five active reasons are as follows:
He goes on to discuss in what makes an entrepreneur in Chapter 4. This was likely the most telling section as to why I’m doing what I’m doing and why I haven’t been successful working for people/companies in the past. Most, if not all of my positions have been with entrepreneurs. Basically people very much like myself. Some personal qualities common in successful entrepreneurs include:
Between these two chapters and everything else that the author had to write about, all the tell tale signs were there and, if you’re like me and you look at the two lists above and say to yourself “those pretty much describe who I am” then the time may be right for you to take the plunge as I have and go into business for yourself. |
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