The journey of a thousand miles...

... starts with a single step, right? Here’s how we’ll do that together this fall.

About fifteen or so years ago, long before this newsletter was even a twinkle in my eye, a friend of mine would give me a call right around this time of year.

“Terrell, you know what time it is, right?”

I’d pause, then remember. “Oh no,” I’d think to myself, laughing. “Not again.”

“Yep,” he’d say. “It’s time.”

“Do we really have to?” I’d reply. “Wasn’t last spring enough?”

“Oh that was just the warm-up, my friend,” he’d say, or something like it. “Now it’s time to get out there again… so get those running shoes ready and meet us this weekend, because we’re doing this.”

And thus would begin our journey, along with a few other friends, over the next three months as we trained for a race together; usually it was a half marathon, sometimes a little longer. (We even ran a 21-miler once.)

We followed this ritual every fall for a few years, and while I loved it, I also slightly dreaded it — because it had been so nice being lazy all summer.

I imagine you might be feeling exactly the same right now. It can be so hard to get going again once inertia kicks in; a body at rest prefers to stay at rest, doesn’t it?

Not to mention, this year — especially this summer — may have brought challenges you weren’t expecting. Maybe it’s just the god-awful heat so many of us are experiencing (hand raised here) or maybe it’s a job change that’s disrupted your routine (hand raised again).

Whatever it is, I feel you. My running routine is all of out of kilter thanks to a combination of all of the above, which means I haven’t been feeling like myself lately. And I’ve been needing to get back to some semblance of it.

Two people I’ve spoken with recently for interviews here — Charles Zuckerman and Abby Heffern — have been on my mind a lot lately. The thoughts they’ve shared around how they’ve adjusted their routines to match their stage of life — to deal with the reality they’re actually experiencing — have really made me think.

Sometimes, you can’t give running your best — but, you can give it something. You can keep your toe in the water, so you’ll be ready for the times when you can give more to it, and get more out of it.

Ever seen the 1992 movie A River Runs Through It? If so, then you remember the reverence the main character and narrator, Norman Maclean, has for the rivers of his home state of Montana, and for fly fishing.

He learns that reverence from his father, who taught both he and his brother Paul the art of fishing as if they were training for the priesthood. (And their father, in fact, was a Presbyterian minister.)

Around the middle of the movie, Norman’s girlfriend Jessie asks him to take her brother Neal fly fishing with him and Paul, in hopes of helping them get to know her family a little better. Reluctantly, Norman agrees.

But Neal, unaccustomed to the ways of the Maclean clan, gets drunk and stays out all night; when morning rolls around and it’s time to go fishing, he can barely keep his eyes open, much less cast a line.

Norman and Paul decide to fish on their own, leaving Neal in their car to sleep it off. The day doesn’t get any better, and once they’re done, it dawns on Norman how unhappy Jessie will be.

There’s one, brief throwaway line in this scene, though, that for some reason has always stuck with me, since the first time I saw the movie. It comes when Brad Pitt’s Paul Maclean, searching for some way to salvage the day, says, “hey brother, let’s say we come back tomorrow, and wipe this day off the books.”

That’s what I’d like to use this fall for. No matter what I’ve been through or how I haven’t been able to get out there, maybe — just maybe — we all can start fresh, and wipe yesterday off the books, you know?

How about you? Where are you with your running? With your fitness? Are you where you want to be, or has life thrown you a curveball recently?

I’d love to hear, either in replies back or in the comments — as always, keep in touch!

Your friend,

— Terrell

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Our training plans!

As promised, I’ve put together a couple of different half marathon training plans we’ll use to run together over the next few months. (If you’d like one for another distance, like the 10-mile or the marathon, let me know.)

Run a half by Thanksgiving

For those of us who’d like to run 13.1 miles by Thanksgiving, our plan starts with tomorrow’s three-mile run — and, to the day, is timed for exactly 12 weeks before Thanksgiving.

It’s a five-day-a-week plan, and looks like this:

• Thursday, Sept. 3 — 3 miles/30-35 minutes

• Saturday, Sept. 5 — 4 miles/40-45 minutes

• Sunday, Sept. 6 — 3 miles/30-35 minutes

• Tuesday, Sept. 8 — 3 miles/30-35 minutes

• Wednesday, Sept. 9 — 4 miles/40-45 minutes

Or, run a half by the end of the year

For those of us who can’t devote five days a week to training, I’ve put together a 16-week plan, which ends on December 23:

• Thursday, Sept. 3 — 3 miles/30-35 minutes

• Saturday, Sept. 5 — 4 miles/40-45 minutes

• Sunday, Sept. 6 — 3 miles/30-35 minutes

• Tuesday, Sept. 8 — 3 miles/30-35 minutes

• Wednesday, Sept. 9 — off

For the full training plan, become a subscriber

For the next couple of weeks, I’ll include each week’s training miles in our weekly Wednesday newsletter. After that, they’ll be for paying subscribers only. If you’d like to continue with us beyond that, I hope you’ll sign up.

You’ll get a special Sunday issue with amazing races you’ll love running, plus lots more interaction with our amazing community that’s spread all around the U.S. and the world.

All you need to do is click/tap this button to join us!