One step at a time

"One step at a time" best describes my approach to planning my upcoming run across America. I have a very specific goal... To run from Huntington Beach, California to the Statue of Liberty. That part is specific and concrete. The rest however, is not. That is what is so exciting about this endeavor!

I have always been very goal oriented. I think in big, overall goals and concepts and (usually) am able to break those down into smaller chunks that are more easily achieved. Until all those smaller goals eventually lead to the ultimate goal. I have had pretty good success with that approach. This one, however, is pretty big and is taking a bit more... ummm.... FAITH!

As anal as I am, and as much as I would like to have every aspect of the run planned out, to ensure success, I have quickly realized, that would be virtually impossible. I must just keep taking steps. Perhaps that is the ultimate allure of doing it.

It's not really the running part that keeps me up at night. I pretty much know how I'll train for that. I have a good idea how I'll go about consuming enough calories. I can visualize (very important tool) tweeting updates and posting my progress to my blog and facebook. Those things feel real and doable. It is the other things that I can't see yet. The things that I can't ...... CONTROL! What a great lesson this will be.

I have given considerable thought as to what I should post, how much to post and where. With so many ways to communicate, it is hard to find the right medium, for which information. Plus I don't want to burn you all out :) I have decided that this blog is read by my more intimate group of friends, so I feel comfortable sharing more of my "thought process" than just the facts and statistics of the run itself. This gives me the opportunity to share some news while I am still working on the website, which will be much more official looking.

So, here's where we are at so far.

The run will start February 8th. I will be leaving from the Huntington Beach Pier. I am attending the 2nd annual reunion with this group of old friends, and some of them will be running in the Surf City Marathon on Feb. 7th. They have expressed interest in seeing me off, so that sounds like a pretty cool way to start the journey. We will have to wait and see which distance I will run, since a full marathon may or may not be a good idea the day before what lies ahead.

I will be doing the run supported. Chris Swenson, a guy a work with and a good friend will be driving the support vehicle. But, more importantly, he will be filming the run for webisodes and most likely a documentary. We are both in production and have the gear to shoot it in High Definition. This is a BIG plus! It will look fantastic! We are fully prepared to do the trip using my Xterra as the support vehicle and load it up with our supplies and tents and do it on the cheap. The ideal scenario and goal, however, will be to travel in an RV with a designated driver, so Chris can concentrate on shooting and editing the webisodes. That's where the faith comes in.

I do have a message and a purpose for this run, which I will be articulating as time goes on. I spent a couple of weeks thinking about how I could get sponsors, so I could have a more comfortable place to rest between runs. I started feeling pressure and realizing that my reasons for doing this run may be compromised if I had sponsors that wanted to temper what I have to say. Boy talk about a moral dilemma. The minute I decided that we could plan the run on the cheap, and any added luxury would only be welcomed with acceptable compromises. It was as if a giant weight had been lifted. So as of now this is the plan and it feels doable.

Yesterday, we did our first shoot for the first webisode. We are editing it now and should have it done in the next week or so. This should shed some light on my reasons for the run. For now, I will let "Run for Liberty" speak for itself.

I am excited to be documenting my progress in this way. I think it is important to show the process. In the past, all you might hear is "So and so, is running across the country". That seems impossible! The question is, how did he get there? or even more important, how did he START.

I'm an average guy with a big dream. Unfortunately, too many people believe that they can't do big things. That the other guy was "born better" or is "luckier" or "more talented". I have all of those doubts. I have that little voice in my head that says "the guys who have done this, were better runners" or "you're not good enough" or "what if this, or that happens?"

I invite you to join me in silencing that voice!

One step at a time.

Paul