Run on the Sly, Cancer,Mental Toughness and Jonathan Jordan

"Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus."
– Alexander Graham Bell

Since Sunday’s 20 mile trail run at “Run on the Sly,” I have been using my elliptical at home.  I have  chosen to work out on the elliptical  as a result of all the smoke from the forest fire in and around  Last Chance and Deadwood  on the Western States trail. My recovery, has been pretty good since I iced and took Advil on Sunday. I still experience a little lactic acid in my quads, which is not surprising because of the downhill pounding I did in order to stay ahead of a competitor. During that part of the run. I said to myself “this might not be smart, but I am going to do it anyway.”

Jonathan at Way too Cool 50K

On this Thursday’s television show, I am interviewing my friend Jonathan Jordan.  To introduce Jonathan, I’m going to reprint a section from Chapter XVI of “It Has Nothing To Do With Age.”

 “On February 11, 2010, I finished a 15-mile,3-hour training run on the trail. I performed my Bob Anderson stretching routine. After my run I finished drinking the rest of my breakfast smoothie. The idea of a smoothie, which includes fresh fruits and vegetables along with the jalapeno chili and cayenne pepper, was introduced to me by my dear friend Jonathan Jordan. Soon after I finished my drink, I began thinking about doing the exact same run tomorrow, but this time without my dog Digger, a 2 ½-year-old white haired Fox Terrier. During the run my shoulder was a little sore and I think it was related to Digger, since he’s leashed during the run, and tends  to pull. The training run was a little different since I was concerned about my ability to increase my heart rate. I made sure that I did more uphill running.

On Thursday, the 17^th of February, Linda and I left for San Diego to visit to my dearest friends, one of whom was dying from cancer. Jonathan Jordan was diagnosed with cancer of the throat and neck in 2009. He completed chemo and radiation therapy in August of that same year. His goal was to run the Way  Too  Cool 50 K on March 13, 2010. During his treatments, he told me he wanted to envision a goal to help them through the therapies and better deal with his recovery. So we talked about the Way Too Cool race  and  the training necessary for him to finish. We both knew that because of his health situation, he could use much more training time to build up his cardio and endurance. Saturday was going to be a good training day for him. Jonathan was both a great friend and a Ride & Tie  partner. I still remember fondly our August 2008 completion and winning of the 100-mile Ride & Tie at Swanton in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California.”

I realize that the above two paragraphs provides  just a snapshot of Jonathan. Watch the show and read the book to get a more in-depth view of this neat, intellectual athlete from Georgia. This athletic attorney  tells great stories also.

In the meantime, don’t forget to keep moving, laughing, smiling and deep breathing.