20 Things that Shape Me

There is only so much room on the About Me section I think from time to time it's worth going a bit deeper. Otherwise you can read this daily or weekly and get lost in what I'm trying to do here. So I'm going to take a deeper dive into what makes me tick.


Family

1. My wife Mary and I committed to each other for life. That was 20+ years ago and the only thing I know is that if you don't work hard on the relationship every day then it won't last. 
2. 15+ years ago our son Marco was born and it changed our lives forever. There is nothing better in life then raising a child. He is his own man but at the same time he carries our values and our drive to succeed. He's a runner by choice and that's why he is fast. If it felt like a chore he wouldn't be fast. 
3. My sister Cyndi is my confidant. She has quietly guided my values for my entire life. Sometimes out of pure fear but mostly out of love. 
4. My brother Bob has ALS and it sickens me every day. It drives me to stop caring so deeply about my job and to start caring about the next 25 years with 1 & 2. 
5. What would Papi Do? I'm not sure how my Dad still influences me but he does. He calms me down and keeps me thinking straight. He passed away almost 5 years ago. 

Running

1. I started running because my brother Bob ran and my high school girlfriend ran. 
2. I decided shortly after I started that I love running shoes. 
3. I'm 100% committed to helping others enjoy what I feel when I run. It's such a beautiful sport that it's simply awesome to share. 
4. Running got me into Triathlon and that changed my life. Before Triathlon I was shy and not very confident in my ability. I went from Saying "No fucking way those people (Ironman Hawaii) are crazy to doing the race 2 years later and having a total out of body experience on the Lava fields. I went from running fast, to running between aid stations, to running the aid stations and walking between and then back to running fast over the last 6 miles. I still can't explain it. 
5. I owe Triathlon and the people in it my career. Paul Huddle asked me to sell shoes, Murphy Reinschreiber taught me the business side of the sport and taught me to go after what I want. 

Travel

1. I was born in Bogota, Colombia
2. When I was 3 I ended up in Sao Paulo, Brazil
3. I've been on every continent but Antartica. 
4. I've run in every country I've ever visited and there are a host more countries I want to run in. 
5. Work Travel is not glamorous. I won't miss it when that part of my life is over. 

Lifestyle

1. I believe in constant learning and my learning is personal (how to be a better person). The trend word is bio hacking and I've been doing that for a really long time. I read a ton and listen a ton and try a ton but when I'm lost or confused I go see my friend Chris and he sets it all straight. If he ever decided to write a book it would change the face of what we all know but he won't. 
2. I love technology and hate what it's doing to our society.  
3. I was once a vegetarian and although I didn't realize it at the time it's when I was in really poor shape. Then my friend Chris came along after his education and changed my diet and I got faster again. 
4. I relate better with dogs than people. Dogs trust me and I'm not sure I trust people enough. So if I'm forcing myself into a conversation it's because I'm working hard on that fact. 
5. California is best at slow speeds. In fact it's really amazing to Cycle, Run, Walk and most of all to get into open water. 

Running Shoes

1. There are too many running shoes on the market today. There are more shoes than retail space available which means there are more shoes than runners can actually absorb. Something will give soon. But this opens the door for me to educate on the tool that is a running shoe and I love to do. 
2. There is no running shoe if there isn't a runner to run in them and a running store to sell them. 
3. The most innovative shoe I've ever been a part of is the Nike Free. I was lucky to be brought into the project really early in concept and it was a total blast to work with scientists and engineers on that project. The cool thing is that darn shoe really hasn't changed and yet it is still way beyond the expectations of the concept. 
4. My favorite running shoe ever has yet to be built. But my 5 favorites are Nike Pegasus (90's), Mizuno Wave Rider (early 2000's), Nike Free 5.0 (the first one), Asics Gel Lyte 98, adidas SuperNova Classic (by the way I'm also the one who killed the SuperNova Classic) 
5. I love Hoka so much I hate them. Hoka became an answer to something nobody could clearly identify. Originally designed as a down hill mountain running shoe, Ultra Marathoners found it made running 100 miles "Painless" and then runners in pain found them to take the pain away. Simply something you have to love. 

It's a good life…...

Running Hero

I don't know Chuck personally. He's a Facebook Friend and clearly came to me through running or running shoes. It doesn't matter really. What matters is this fact, he just ran his 300th marathon under 3 hours.

That's freaking crazy to know he's that consistent and that good. He ran Boston last Monday and the ran #300 on Sunday in Ohio.

It's a good life…..

Running with the Boy: Never Would Have Imagined

Yesterday I sent a text at 2:30 or so to our son Marco. "Running at 4:30 if you want to join" At 4:15 he walked through the door and said "I'll be ready in 15 minutes". We headed to the coast to run relatively flat. My plan was to run 15 minutes at first half pace (for my race on Saturday) and then run 15 minutes at second half pacing (faster). All total it would be a 45 minute run. When he chose to join I decided to just let the pace go. He set the pace and it was brisk. We talked, waved to friends, and got to our turn around rather quickly. On the way back we stopped to look in the windows of the foreign car shop on the road. There is a Lotus in the window with 4,200 miles for $31,500. Then we headed back at a much quicker pace. At some point on the way back I said, "If I can run this pace on the second half of the run I'll win my age group." Marco of course said "Then you will win your age group"

I never imagined 15 years ago that I would still be running, running as fast as I was and most of all that the running would be with Marco. I would not trade our Sunday night runs for anything.

It's a good life….

Perfect Running Form

Poetry in Motion. Gwen Jorgensen racing yesterday in Cape Town. Clearly she has a gift to run, but look at the perfect form in the video. She works on that form and it's something we all can learn from. You don't need to be fast to have this form.

It's a good life….

The High School Runner: A Conversation about Ego

Names have been changed to protect the sanctity of the message: 

Marco: I hope Jim doesn't run the mile tomorrow

Me: Why because he'll be in your face about it? 

Marco: Yes, he wants to run 4:40 and course he will shove it in my face. 

Me: You said he was way behind you in the 400's yesterday

Marco: He was. 

Me: So if Jim runs 4:40 and you were ahead of him yesterday feel confident that even with a cast on you could run faster than 4:40. 

Marco: Maybe but that won't help when he's in my face. 

Me: You know how I deal with the big egos in my face talking about how great they are? I smile and say nice job. 

Marco: Rolling his eye's yeah right. 

Me: Try it once. Tomorrow when Jim or John get in your face about how fast they are running, just smile and say "Nice Job". You will stop them cold, they won't know what to say next. 

I would never have been able to do that at 15. I'm confident Marco can do it. It's the only way to quiet that ego in your face. 

It's a good life….

Where's Dave?

The last two weeks have been a blur. Amazing places, amazing people and great time with a great kid. It started out with Spring Break. Marco and Mary have different weeks for Spring Break so he and I always do something. This time we took a drive. 

 In a cast climbing a fence. I threw the Frisbee over the fence. 

 Los Banos Pool not a great name but what a setting. 50 meters of bliss in Santa Barbara

 Look closely and you can see Hearst Castle. 

 The California Coast is simply amazing. 

Father-Son

 We took a hike in the Redwoods. 

 German Plates on an American Truck

 We stopped in Santa Cruz so Marco could visit a friend who goes to UC Santa Cruz

Of Course we shopped for shoes. 

 The Coast in Santa Cruz - Nice Slow Break

 The day was a bit much. 

 We drove across the bridge so we had to stop. 

 If you love running trails, there may be no better place than Mill Valley, CA

 At the San Francisco Running Company in Mill Valley, a few Dipsee Trophies and both guys working the store had Western States Buckles on. That mean's the both did the Western States 100 in under 24 hours. 

I love California. Pools Everywhere. 

 Last stop was Fresno home of the California State Championships for Track and Cross Country. Field of Dreams. 

 Straight from there I flew to Colorado. Love the high mountains. 

 More Running Stores. Legendary at that. 

 Familiar Food is always good. 

The competition is heating up in the running store space. This BRC challenges the Road Runner Sports San Diego store in Size. Monster stores both of them. 

It's a good life…..

I Will

I've told you about my gratitude practice. Each morning on the left page of my Journal I write down everyone and everything I'm grateful for. On the right page I write the same thing every day. Call it my values, I write down how I want to act each day. This is what I write:

I will be Humble

I will Listen Hard

I will Lead with Love

I will Live the Prime Directive

I will be nice

I will stay focused

I will laugh out loud

I will love food

I will sleep well

I will Celebrate Success

I will not judge


It's a good life…..

You're Fired

I submitted the below post almost exactly one year ago. The topic of firing people came up this past week and I thought it was a good time to share more on the subject.

12 years or so ago I fired the Chief Runner at Road Runner Sports. I love Mike G and have love for the company but he was personally bringing me down. So I stopped communicating with him. I engaged with him only when he started the engagement. It worked for almost 10 years. I believe our relationship is as strong as it is today because I fired him years ago. When it stopped working is when I decided to leave the company. Best working 12 years of my life and best professional move I ever made, leaving RRS.

Roughly 4 years ago I fired three individuals associated with Zoot. All three were exceptional business people but all three were also bringing me down every time I interacted with them. It worked great. I never contacted them and if and when they contacted me I was always on the good side of emotions. Well over time 2 of them for one reason or another left the organization. This past week the third member departed.

So the story is that sometimes you need to leave and sometimes you just need to be patient and wait it out. The end result is your happiness. There is no room in your life to be miserable. There is every reason to stay engaged. Fire people in your work, fire people on Facebook (I do this regularly and it feels good), Unfollow on Twitter. Whatever you do don't let them bring you down.


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Quote of the Day: The average level of engagement that American team members have with their work has remained at 30% or less for the past 10 years, and almost as many are hostile to their employers. 
- Conscious Capitalism - John Mackey and Raj Sisodia

Catalina Island, CA from my last flight of the week. Interesting still photo of a propeller 

Number 2 on what I believe in my work life is Love What You Do. I'm lucking because my sport running and triathlon is also my job. But even in this world it would be very easy to get down on my job, get down on my company and be part of the Majority and not engage. I do a few things regularly that I think help to keep me engaged in my work:

1. I regularly tell myself that I'm good at what I do. 
2. I take frequent disengaged breaks from work. I do this daily, weekly and monthly. 
3. I read often about how to remain engaged. My favorite book of all time in this world is the Power of Full Engagement. 
4. I get out of the office regularly - I can do this as part of my job and it helps to get outside and talk the the retailers, athletes and others who play a role in the business. 
5. I Fire People 

What does that mean I Fire People
As best as I describe it is, regularly I come across people who bring me down rather than build me up. Or they are simply sour about my company. When they do too much of that I Fire them or remove contact with them from my life. In work that mean's I will engage with them only when they contact me. I will not start any engagement with them.

• I will not email them. 
• I will not stand at the water cooler with them. 
• I will not seek them out. 

Do I tell them You're Fired, No. I simply remove them from my life and move on. This way the negative energy is no longer around me and I can go on doing great things in my work. I would give you examples but that would mean bringing them back in my life and that' would be crazy. 

It's a good life....

Dave