Tag: ramblings

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Randene Rant! I Can’t Give It Away!

Stop Bullying

Look, I need help. This is going to sound crazy, but I am trying to partner with a charitable organization, any charitable organization, that is doing work regarding bullying and/or cyber bullying. I have reached out to several organizations via e-mail and explained that I am looking to become an ambassador for the cause, and every single one that has responded, has responded no. And those are the ones that have responded. Some haven’t even replied!

Let me be clear what I am offering. I am willing to do any or all of the following:

  • Donate my own money
  • Donate my time (speaking, organizing, fundraising, etc.)
  • Fundraise via my racing, my future merchandise, and my future virtual races
  • Wear the organization’s gear during my runs to help spread the message
  • Blog, Vlog, and use my various social media
  • Anything else that is within reason

What I would like in return is fairly straight forward and simple, I think. I would like to be an official ambassador so that I can use the organizations logo for marketing and possibly have some support to help with my fundraising efforts and any potential events where I can volunteer or speak. It seems to me that if I was an official partner of an organization, they would be able to point me in the right direction for these types of events. This would help me to be much more effective in my charitable efforts as the logistics piece will take much less time with their support. That would allow me to focus on my training for events like the Devil Dog Ultras, where I will leverage the event in to fundraising. I am a runner, not a professional organizer.

So, I am asking if anyone reading this either works for an organization, or knows someone who works for an organization, that is trying to address bullying and wants to partner with a bad ass, high frequency, ultra-running, fund raising machine? If you do, please help me connect. My e-mail is joe.randene@joerandene.com and I am locked and ready to go.

There are way too many instances of bullying and cyber bullying that are leading to people who are stressed out, depressed, and in worst case scenarios suicidal. At this point in our history, you would hope that we would all know better and that we would treat each other with kindness and respect. However, lately I have observed many instances where it has been just the opposite. Bullies have been emboldened by our politicians (unfortunately) and the anonymity that the internet provides. And all too often the targets of these types of attacks are children and people that may be considered “different” based on traits ranging from sexual preference to something as simple as the clothes that they wear. It’s time to help create an environment of acceptance and love and I want to do my part. HELP ME PLEASE!

Peace.

Joe the Runner

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Take me to Church

Beats

One of my followers left a comment on Instagram after I posted the results from the Triple Lakes Trail Race, “I cannot imagine running 40 miles! What’s that like?” I love interacting with people, so I provided my answer and he thought that it was a similar way that running makes him feel. So, I decided to try and write a post about it and see if I can articulate what it’s like to run 40 miles, or any distance that really challenges me.

One of the main reasons that I run, is because as the miles increase, it really strips away all of the things in my life that are just not very important. This is why, I believe, that you hear so many runners say that running “clears” their head. At a certain point, I get so focused on putting one foot in front of the other and my breathing, that all of the little worries in life just kind of melt away. And, what’s left is the “real” me.

What I mean by this, is that once all of the minor crap is gone, I am left with what I believe is important, and those things tie directly back to my values. In this way, I am exposing, to myself, what I value and what I believe. It can be quite eye opening. The further I run, the more exposed I get. When I am really hurting and I still need to run nine more miles, the reasons that I run and what is truly motivating me come straight to the surface.

As an example, I ALWAYS think of my wife when I am in the pain cave. “If you can knock out the next 10 km’s, you’ll be that much closer to seeing Mary at the finish.” I tell myself. I think of my brother-in-law and how if he can wake up with the pain he has from his accident and function every day, then I certainly can keep going. No excuses. If I am running for a cause, like the Disabled American Veterans, I think about how these men and women sacrificed and how what I am doing is just a sport that I chose to do.

As the pain and the tiredness set in, I start to search my soul for the strength to push forward. I hear that little voice in my head “Don’t quit, show your children that anything is possible. Be an example. Lead other people and improve the world a little today. Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. You are a machine. You are a beast. Persevere and learn another life lesson. Cleanse your soul.”

That last part, is it in a nutshell. Running these long distances is like going to church for me. I open myself up completely, I feel that I have somehow cleansed my soul, and when it’s over and I can still feel the pain and taste the sweat, I am looking for the next one because I want more…

I hope that this post and this blog helps! To receive new post notifications, newsletters, and post previews, please SUBSCRIBE!

For behind the scenes photos and comments on my training and personal life, follow me on Instagram: joe_the_runner  Strava: Joe Randene  YouTube: Joe Runner

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3 Reasons that Drama is Not My Mama

No Drama

“You have to want your dreams more than you want your drama.” – Jen Sincero

When you write and share your message with people, there are times when you have to write something and then leave it alone to fester. You need to let time do its work and see if when you revisit it, if it is valid and relevant or if you just wrote something that ultimately isn’t useful and should just be left alone. Sometimes it’s simply because you’re scared that what you wrote is not high quality or that it will get a negative reaction. THIS is one of those posts. I actually wrote this on May 2, 2017 and its been sitting there ever since.

After reading it again, I realized that I left it because I didn’t want to offend anyone. But, ultimately, if you are going to help people, then you are going to have make yourself, and those people uncomfortable from time to time. Well, this is one of those times.

So, before you read this, I want to say in advance, this is my opinion and I do not mean to offend anyone, but I do feel strongly that this can help some people. If you read it and your good, awesome! If you read this and you get to thinking, even better.

I was reading a book by Jen Sincero, You are a Badass at Making Money, and I came across this quote of hers: “You have to want your dreams more than your drama.” I instantly thought of this post that I had just been letting sit. You can apply this to your running goals AND your life goals. So, I am going to roll the dice and publish my thoughts around one of the biggest hurdles to success for anyone, including myself. Drama…

Time

Time is the only true commodity that you cannot buy more of. When you leave this earth, it’s over, and no one can be sure when that time will come. Knowing that I only have a limited amount of it, I work very hard to keep the drama in my life to a minimum. It reasons that if I only have a limited amount of time, and I want to spend it doing awesome stuff that is productive, rewarding, and fulfilling, I can’t fill it with petty arguments and dealing with situations that are usually completely avoidable. I’m too busy trying to kick ass to worry about petty bullshit. This means that I minimize my exposure to people who create or participate in any drama as well, because if you get sucked in, the outcome is the same… NEGATIVE.

Stress

Have you ever been around someone who always seems to have bad stuff going on, or is always talking bad about other people? It’s a bummer, and it is downright stressful. Everything that I have read about stress, is that it is possible that it’s worse than smoking or being obese! Think about that for a minute. Being stressed can do more damage to your body physically then something that causes cancer or diabetes! Think about that the next time you are going to overreact to a comment someone made, or you are getting ready to hang out with that friend who always seems to have crazy things going on in their life!

Predetermines Failure

This is a hard one to swallow. Other than the Kardashian’s, I have not met anyone who has a ton of drama going on in their life that becomes successful. In my job as a leader, I have terminated numerous people for being chronically late to work, and they all say the same thing the day they are terminated. It usually goes something like this: Me “Employee A, we are terminating your employment today because you were late to work for the 7th time in the last 12 months.” Employee A “You’re firing me because I had a flat tire, that’s not fair!” At this point, I try and explain to the person that we are not firing them for the flat tire they had today, it’s because of the other six incidents AND the flat tire today. How does someone show up to work late so frequently? Drama. They are not taking care of their crap and it ends up biting them in the rear.

It’s really that simple, drama is a drain on your time, money, energy, and well-being. If you don’t believe me, think about the drama that you are creating in your own life and take control of it for a few days. Make sure that you get to bed early, that you pay your bills, try not to overreact to other people that upset you, etc. Next, think really hard about the people you are spending time with that love to drum up drama and always seem to have a problem, and then cut them out of your schedule for a few days. Don’t talk with them, visit with them, or look at text messages and social media. Simply collect yourself for a few days. If you really do this, tell me that you don’t suddenly have more time, more energy, and less stress in your life!

Trust me, if you stop letting drama run your day, you’ll be a lot more productive and that is always a good thing.

I hope that this post and this blog helps! To receive new post notifications, newsletters, and post previews, please SUBSCRIBE!

For behind the scenes photos and comments on my training and personal life, follow me on Instagram: joe_the_runner  Strava: Joe Randene  YouTube: Joe Runner

Questions, comments, feedback? Please leave them in the comments section BELOW and we can have a discussion!

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Randene Rant! Stop Harassing Women Runners!

Honestly, I cannot believe that I even need to write about this, but the evidence that this happens is all over the place, even my daughter’s face. And it is truly disappointing. However, this is the platform that I have and I feel that I need to use it and speak up. The harassment of women runners MUST stop. Unfortunately, I will address the obvious, men harassing women, AND the not so obvious, women harassing women.

Doing what I do, I am all over social media, I get e-mails from followers, and I see comments on my blog and other blogs all of the time. Recently I have noticed a disturbing trend, and that is women commenting on being cat called, stared at, and even confronted or assaulted by men, while they are out on their runs. This MUST stop. As a man, I am imploring other men to just keep their mouths shut when they see a women runner. These women are out there trying to get their workout in and the last thing they want or need is a stranger distracting them. At best, you are just being a nuisance, and at worst you are making the runner feel intimidated and scared.

Obviously, if you are disturbed enough to assault a woman, this message won’t matter, but if you are a guy who thinks he is being funny by whistling or shouting, just don’t! These women runners are dressed the same way as their male counterparts, and they are dressed so that they can run without chaffing, feeling constricted, or overheating. They are not dressed this way because they want your attention. Leave them alone. If you want to impress and meet women runners, go vegan, buy a pair of running shoes, and go run a couple of miles. Not only will you improve your chances of meeting some of these wonderful people in a constructive way, you’ll gain a hell of a lot of respect for them and what they do. Because running is no joke and it is certainly not easy.

Now, women harassing women. Really? Based on what I just wrote above, isn’t it obvious that women runners need all the support they can get and that other women should be their biggest supporters? This was a comment that was on Fitbit, “While I was out for my run today, a woman yelled out of a moving car at me to put some clothes on.” There was more to it, but that is how it started. It blew me away. A woman harassing a woman runner! I wonder if that lady ever tried running 5 miles in 90-degree heat and 80% humidity? I wonder if she had seen a shirtless male runner if she would have yelled the same thing? Here’s an idea, shut up and keep your opinion to yourself.

I hope that I didn’t offend any women by writing this, because obviously, I am not a woman and cannot put myself truly in their shoes. Being a man however, I can say that I am embarrassed that there are still men out there that are treating women this way. And as a father of four women, I realize that this is a serious issue. Things like this do not get better unless people are willing to talk about them, so I joined in the conversation. For what it’s worth…

One last thing, if I am ever witness to this type of behavior, I will confront it, and I am encouraging everyone else to do the same. Things don’t change unless you’re willing to change them.

I hope that this post and this blog helps you achieve your dreams! To receive new post notifications, newsletters, and post previews, please SUBSCRIBE!

For behind the scenes photos and comments on my training and personal life, follow me on Instagram: joe_the_runner  Strava: Joe Randene    YouTube Channel

Questions, comments, feedback? Please leave them in the comments section BELOW and we can have a discussion!

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Randene Rant! Junk Miles? That’s Just Junk!

Mileage

Normally I use Randene Rants to get out of the running and fitness box, it’s a space where I can explore other things, but, this rant IS about running. Someone asked me my thoughts on “junk” miles. Did I think it was a thing? Could you in fact run “junk” miles. My simple answer to this is “No. Not if you have any semblance of a plan.” Let me explain.

First, we need to come up with some sort of definition for what “junk” miles are. Let’s assume that a “junk” mile would be any mile or miles ran that are completely useless. I almost feel like I can end the post right there, because I have never run a mile that I deemed to be completely useless. Worst case scenario, I maintained my fitness level and cleared my head. Best case scenario, the mile was part of a plan that was driving me towards a goal, but let’s dig a little bit deeper.

My opinion is that every runner should have a plan. Some may be very simple, such as, I just want to keep my metabolism elevated and stay fit, so I’ll run three times per week for 30 minutes. Others can be as complicated as preparing to run a 100-mile ultra-marathon, requiring back to back long runs in excess of 20 miles on the weekends. The point is that there is a clear goal and a plan in place.

For the sake of argument, let’s assume that someone is preparing for a marathon and is willing to run five times a week. Depending on their goal for the race, they want to go sub 3:30 or simply just want to finish, as an example, they should create a detailed plan around it. That plan might focus on building a cardio base and time on feet, or it may include speed work, or a combination of all of these things. Every single run should have a clear goal and rest days should be scheduled. Are there any “junk” miles here? I don’t think so.

Now if they decide to veer from the plan and skip rest days, or add mileage too quickly, are those “junk” miles? It’s hard to say. If they avoided injury, the added work may very well get them closer to their goals, but there is a risk/reward balance that needs to be assessed before making any decisions. I’d still be hard pressed to call them “junk” miles though. A better phrasing might be “risky” miles, because if they are healthy, they will most likely benefit the runner, but if the runner gets injured, they rolled the dice and lost.

The same thing goes with a taper. Runners, me included, often get restless during their taper period before a race, and they want to run more miles than their plan calls for. This is all risk/reward. You have to evaluate whether or not the extra miles will benefit your fitness and speed more than the rest and recovery will benefit your level of health. This is a very personal question and the only real way to find out what works for you is to experiment. My experience had been if I had good training blocks leading up to a race, I benefit more from the rest and recovery than I do from squeezing in the extra miles. However, if I did run the extra miles, they certainly wouldn’t be “junk”. As I stated above, at the very least I’d be happy doing what I love and would clear my head.

While, in my opinion, there is no such thing as junk miles, there are several things that I do to make sure that I maximize my risk/reward ratio. Here they are:

  • I have clear goals for what I am trying to accomplish with my running.
  • I create weekly plans based on my goals.
  • Every run has a clear objective.
  • I schedule my rest days and taper.
  • I stick to my plan as much as possible.

If you do all of these things, I highly doubt that you will run one “junk” mile… if they even exist.

Keep putting one foot in front of the other. PEACE! Joe the Runner

I hope that this post and this blog helps you achieve your dreams! To receive new post notifications, newsletters, and post previews, please SUBSCRIBE!

For behind the scenes photos and comments on my training and personal life, follow me on Instagram: joe_the_runner  Strava: Joe Randene

Questions, comments, feedback? Please leave them in the comments section BELOW and we can have a discussion!

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The Chris Mocko Show Trucker Hat Unboxing VLOG-3

Chris Mocko is a professional ultra marathon runner that burst on to the scene with his Western States 2016 race, finishing in 7th place. He’s a real cool dude too! Very accessible. There is more stuff to come here at joerandene.com with Chris’ involvement, and I am very excited! Check out his YouTube channel for a lot of laughs and insight in to his daily training and life as a pro…

The Chris Mocko Show

Subscribe to my YouTube channel: Joe the Runner

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Randene Rant! Act Like an Adult!

Just the other day I was reminded of why I do not watch much TV. On the news, they said that a youth soccer league in South Carolina has banned parents from making any noise when they watch their children play. They cannot cheer, they cannot yell instructions at their kid, they simply cannot make a sound. They have to sit in silence. Does anyone else find this insane? I understand what the league is trying to do, they are trying to avoid parents having fist fights in the stands and helping the coaches out by not allowing parents to “coach” from the stands. I coached my fair share of Recreational League Soccer, and I understand how difficult it is for the child when the parents are telling them to do something different then the coach.

But here is the thing. Like so much in the world today, 5% to 10% of the people are ruining things for everyone else. I don’t agree with the league’s decision to handle things this way, but I definitely can see why they feel the need to act. However, why not hire police to be at every game, explain to the parents that their fees will go up and why, and that at any moment, a referee or coach can have you removed by the police if you get out of control. And, if things get physical, arrest people. Has society really degenerated to the point that we are physically assaulting each other over a children’s game?

When I coached, I literally met with the parents before the season started and said “Look, I want this to be a great season for everyone, but especially the kids. Please refrain from coaching your kids from the stands because we may have a different view as to what they should be doing and we don’t want to create confusion. If you want to discuss tactics, we will take you on as an assistant coach because we need all of the help we can get.” By the way, we only had one volunteer! Then I would discuss with the parents how we wanted our team to be represented. We expected our parents to treat everyone on our team with dignity and support, and we wanted to do the same for our competitors. I never had a problem.

During coaching meetings when the other coaches would discuss their “problem” children, I would tell them that I never met a bad kid, but I have met my fair share of bad parents. Or maybe a better way to put it, is parents who behaved badly. Either way, by not letting parents cheer for their children, or the other team, we are basically removing an opportunity to teach sportsmanship from the game, and to allow the kids to feel energized by the crowd for their hard work. It is simply ridiculous.

The bottom line is that these leagues should not even have to discuss this issue because parents should show up to these games and act like adults. It doesn’t take a real man or woman to berate children, coaches, referees, or other parents. It just shows how immature you are and you are setting a terrible example for the kids. A real man or woman would cheer and support the entire organization. It is a lot of work to organize, coach, referee, and lead these children in a constructive way, and the majority of the people doing it are not getting paid or are getting paid very little for their time.

Most importantly, this is supposed to be a fun time for the children, where they can make friends, create memories, learn skills and sportsmanship, and start to understand what is required to get results and maintain a healthy lifestyle. The ENTIRE thing should be about the KIDS, not the adults. If you want to help, volunteer to coach or car pool, and always be a positive presence at any game whether it’s for your child or the opponent. Lead by example for other children, and I cannot believe I am going to say this, but for the other parents as well. We have enough tool bags in the world, we certainly don’t need another one. PEACE Joe the Runner

I hope that this post and this blog helps you achieve your dreams! To receive new post notifications, newsletters, and post previews, please SUBSCRIBE!

For behind the scenes photos and comments on my training and personal life, follow me on Instagram: joe_the_runner  Strava: Joe Randene

Questions, comments, feedback? Please leave them in the comments section BELOW and we can have a discussion!