Posted by: Joe Nuss
on Aug 30, 2010
By Matthew Clancy
David Morken is sweating. He is the CEO and president of Bandwidth.com, Inc. It’s one of the largest growing telecom companies in the country in an industry where technology changes daily. Over the last three years they have built a nationwide voice-over-IP network that serves thousands of small businesses, free agents, consultants and professional firms. In an industry where it is hard enough to keep up, let alone lead, Bandwidth.com has grown from 5 employees to 177 in the last ten years. David’s face is flush and begins to look like glass of ice water left in the sun. He is also married with six children. He has just turned 40. David Morken should be sweating. Wouldn’t you be? But David’s not sweating because of the stress of it all. He’s sweating because he just returned from lunch with a handful of his employees. By the look on David’s face, one would assume that they all went to a Thai or Mexican restaurant, and that David enjoys a habañero or two. But he didn’t order anything spicy. In fact, he didn’t even have a thing to eat. He’s sweating because he just knocked out a 30-mile bicycle ride during his lunch hour. Not just a leisurely, go smell the flowers, clear your mind, type of ride. That’s not the type of lunch he typically orders. It’s usually a “smackdown” ride with Bandwidth’s own John Murdock, a Cat 1 cyclist.
Posted by: Joe Nuss
on Aug 29, 2010
When training for Ironman Florida in 2006, it wasn’t unusual for me to roll into my driveway, transition from my bike to my house like it was T2, change clothes while my wife loaded the kids in the car, and hop in the driver’s seat before she finished buckling them in. That’s how lunch was done in 2006. Salt my food? No thanks, I’ll just shake it off my brow. I laugh now when I think of how many restaurants I had been to for lunch with the salt of dried sweat still on my face.
Looking back, it wasn’t exactly the most balanced life. Since then, I’ve taken a more holistic approach to training that places overall health and well-being as primary goals rather than medals or increasingly longer and longer events, which in our crazy lifestyle, seem to be never-ending (did you know there’s actually a “deca Ironman”?). It wasn’t easy dialing down my training and purposefully postponing Ironman attempts in my near future but, the rewards have been great: less stress at work, improved health (I finally got my cholesterol under control by eliminating the monstrous cravings caused by 6-hour bike rides), and more time with my family.
Posted by: Joe Nuss
on Aug 28, 2010
By Eric Bean
Posted by: Joe Nuss
on Aug 27, 2010
By Brandon McDearis
Posted by: Joe Nuss
on Aug 26, 2010
By Sage Rountree
Many of us first identify ourselves as endurance athletes when we begin serious training toward a goal: a sprint triathlon, a half marathon, a century ride. Having a goal provides a lens to focus our training and a motivator to keep us on task when our commitment wavers. The goal permeates and informs the training. But once we’ve reached that goal—or if we’re prevented from achieving it, say by becoming injured in its singleminded pursuit—we sometimes feel bereft. We realize our training only shot upward toward the goal, without developing firm roots as just one part of a healthy lifestyle that supports our growth as people.
Posted by: Joe Nuss
on Aug 24, 2010
By Michelle Joshua and Brian Beatty
Posted by: Joe Nuss
on Aug 24, 2010
By Mandy Murphy
Posted by: Joe Nuss
on Aug 23, 2010
Jill Coghlan-Uttridge, 38, is a clinical social worker in private practice at Cary Counseling Center, where she treats individuals and couples who are struggling with depression, anxiety, marital conflicts, or general life stress. She lives in North Raleigh with husband, Mark, of 11 years and their two boys, Ryan, 7, and Eli, 3. A year ago, she and her husband made the choice to send their oldest son to a magnet school and youngest to an immersion preschool. With both schools a considerable drive from North Raleigh, not to mention her 45-minute work commute and an active tennis league schedule, Jill says geography is a significant contributor to stress in her life.
I agree with you. A 45-minute commute alone stresses me out. What else do you have going on in your life?
Posted by: Joe Nuss
on Aug 22, 2010
Book Review—Fit Soul, Fit Body
By Brant Secunda and Mark Allen
Posted by: Steve Lackey
on Aug 21, 2010
I am so pumped! After 80+ hours of arduous high humidity runs across the North Carolina summer, I am finally in Buena Vista, Colorado getting ready to start running in the 2010 Gore-Tex Transrockies Run.
Through the charity of my hugely encouraging family, I was able to come out early and spend a few days in Breckenridge acclimating to the altitude (what an amazing place - I may have to spend all my summers there - an endurance lifestyle paradise).
