In this super high tech day and age I did a very retro thing yesterday; I bought a new cd. I've had an ipod for a couple of years now and don't even know where our huge rack of cds has gone. Everything has been downloaded to our itunes account and onto our ipods. Any new music we buy we do online. But as I stood waiting for coffee yesterday I spotted the new Dave Matthews Band (DMB) cd and scooped it up. One of my favorite bands of all time. I've listened to it several times already having loaded onto my ipod and gone for two runs since I bought it. The focus of this week' s blog was simply going to be about instituting a more varied workout instead of just focusing on one activity, running. Usually I do some lifting and mostly go for runs all summer long. My goal for my workouts this summer is to lift weights, run and mix in at least one swim and one bike ride into the mix as to avoid wearing out my knees by September as I've done the last two years. Simply put, I was going to preach balance in all things athletic. But listening to the Dave Matthew's song got me thinking along a deeper vein. 
 
  The song that really got to me is called "Funny The Way It Is." I know I was on a pretty intense endorphine rush as the lyrics of the song got me thinking......(from this point forward the blog may slip into 'Jerry Maguire' mode ala the movie starring Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding Jr., meaning it may sound like a personal mission statement. but, that's how Jerry truly found himself)...........I realized what I have been striving for all along is not only achieving balance in my athletic endeavors but in my personal life as well. If I can establish balance in all phases of my life, work, working out, onyerleft, my family and friends as well as my spiritual life I will be a much happier and productive person. 
 
 I am not a religious person but I do consider myself to be spiritual and try to have respect for all people and living things. I strive to live by the 'golden rule' "do unto others as you would have them do to you." But, my goal going forward is to also find ways to enrich the lives of others thereby enriching my own. In the song by Dave Matthews,  he sings about how 'it's funny' that while one child walks a great distance just to go to school while  another, elsewhere in the world is dropping out....while one man and his family are having a day in the park another's home is burning to the ground. I believe he is remarking on how many different things are all going on at once, how interconnected we all are without realizing it and to appreciate the day and the love you have around you. Like I said, endorphine rush!!! Anyway it just got me into a deeper vein of thought and has inspired me to move forward and try to do some good. I challenge everyone who reads this to adopt the same approach; We are all here for a 'limited time' not knowing how long that is, let's take time to really appreciate the good in our lives and pay it forward (to borrow another phrase)    My wife once asked me why I was running so much. My reply was, "because I believe it will take me places." And today it certainly did.         See ya on the pathways, Dave. 
 
Postnote; Best of Luck to Lisa Rorer and her group of 12 as they tackle the 140 mile two day Madison to Chicago relay for Special Olympics!!!! 

“You ever break 40 before?” the runner to my right asked. “No” was my short reply. Short because I was just crossing the 6 mile mark in the 10k race. The time on the clock read 38:30. I was pushing hard, trying my best to set a new “P.R.” (personal record) of under 40 minutes for the distance; 10 kilometers or 6.2 miles. The 6 mile part was easy, it was the last .2 that was the hardest! As anyone who has run a 10k before knows the last stretch, equivelant to 440meters or 1 lap on a standard high school track, is the hardest especially when you are shooting for a P.R. I had trained fairly hard all spring as well as the previous running season and now I felt I could pull it off.

I wasn’t your typical runner; a former high school offensive lineman on the football team, I was bigger than most “runners” and had taken up the sport to help lose weight and to challenge myself again. After my wife and I had moved to Lombard in 1996 near the Illinois Prarie Path I began to run more and more finding the pathways the perfect setting to log my miles. I started with 2 and 3 mile runs and before I knew it was competing in 5 and 10k races on a regular basis eventually working my way up to the Chicago Marathon.

Running became my new passion and I did fairly well. I finished in the top 10% of my age group in most races and even took home a few 3rd place medals. Not bad for a former “big guy.” Running was a much different sports culture than I had been exposed to previously. Although my friends and I, most notably, fellow OnYerLeft founder, Steve Lutz, founded traing groups where we would meet to train together, come race day, it was pretty much every runner for himself. Unlike the team sports I had played in high school there was a sense that everyone in a race was out to beat the other guy. At least this is what I had experienced until that one 10k at the aforementioned 6 mile mark.

“No” I had responded to the other runner’s question. Partly from lack of breath and partly due to the shock he was actually speaking to me. I was curious, “Why have you ever broken 40?” I returned. He took a second to catch a breath, “No, let’s go for it!” I felt a surprising resurgence!

“O.K’, Let’s do it!” For that last .2 of a mile, doesn’t sound very far, but remember we had already run pretty much as fast as we could for 6 miles, we paced each other along each trying to help the other achieve something neither had been able to do thus far. The early June day was sunny and warm about 80 degrees. Not bad weather, but a little warm for setting a P.R. We sprinted the 440 meters to the finish, arms and legs pumping like mad, trying to keep up with each other, passing other runners. As we neared the finisher’s corral the clock seemed to click ahead two seconds at a time, in a perverse opposite to that clock on the classroom wall that always seemed to go backwards before the bell rang! 39;52, 39:54, 39:56.…..

As we crossed the finish line gasping for breath, muscles screaming and sweat pouring off our foreheads like rainwater, we looked at the clock 40:09 was the official time!!!! Missed it by nine seconds!! We gave each other a high five and said , “Thanks” and my new friend melted into the crowd of finishers amassed just past the finish line just as quickly as he had appeared. Although my P.R. would have to wait another week, I felt exhilerated. I hadn’t realized the possibility of working with my competitor to get ahead in such a seemingly individual sport.

This “ Cooperation in competition” is a cornerstone of OnYerLeft.com. We believe running and sport in general does not have to be solely for individual glory, but rather a way to build a community of athletes, while sometimes competing against each other, working in tandem to help each other attain their personal bests! We hope you enjoy your experience with our OnYerLeft community and achieve your “personal bests” in sport and life!  See ya on the pathways!  Dave.

"OnYerLeft!"    I had heard the phrase thousands of times before as I immersed myself into running and training for marathons. As I crossed trained riding my bike, I learned to call out, "OnYerLeft!" as I passed runners, walkers and other riders. As I have mentioned before I was a transformed offensive lineman turned runner.

As I ran more and more and began to look and feel more like a runner it became second nature to use the phrase to practice safety and courtesy on the pathways. I had been running for leisure and competing in 5 and 10k's 10 mile, 1/2 and eventually full marathons for about 12 years when suddenly my wife and I became parents. Talk about a change of focus! My daughter became the center of our whole world and my running fell by the wayside.

My daughter had been born in the Fall and by the following Spring of 2004 as she became bigger as I had, I decided to get back in the swing of things. We purchased a baby jogger and I set out to try and regain my old form.  This posed a few changes; for anyone who has ever run while pushing a child, they will tell you, get used to going MUCH slower!  I had just missed qualifying for the Boston marathon in 2001, not the fastest runner in the world but I had run a 40 minute 10k which roughly translated to 6:30 miles. Now I was much heavier than I was before, a small reversion to my "football" body, and I was pushing my daughter, who although a delight, proved heavier than I thought.

As we set out on regular 4 mile runs between Lombard and Glen Ellyn, our pace was much slower than it was before, not to mention the lack of the ability to swing my arms with my stride, quite difficult. The thing I noticed the most was, as I was fairly fast before and passed most runners, now,  I passed nobody and felt like that rusty  clunker on the freeway in the far right lane!   I heard, "OnYerLeft!" more often than I had ever before and it hit me;  THAT needs to be on a shirt! I excitedlly told my wife who was also excited and pushed me to pursue the idea.

The following Monday on the trading floor I threw the idea to my very good friend and running buddy, Steve Lutz.  Without a moment's hesitation Steve said, "I'm in, Let's do it!"  OnYerLeft.com was born. We had no idea what we were doing and only had an interesting concept. the following Spring in April 2005 Steve and I launched our venture, OnYerLeft.com    Now almost exactly 4 years later, mistakes made, lessons learned, new faces,friends and their expertise mixed in we proudly launch version 2 of OnYerLeft.com

Thanks for visiting our site and joining our community.  We hope you enjoy your experience with us and help to spread the message of community through competition, where we can all achieve or personal bests!   I'll see ya on the pathways! Dave

Welcome to OnYerLeft!™  We design, produce and sell high quality athletic apparel bearing the logo and phrase, “OnYerLeft!” Our apparel is designed to remind walkers, skaters, runners, and cyclists to call out, “OnYerLeft!t” as they pass others on the trails and pathways. Our primary goal is to promote safety and courtesy among pathway users in order to promote teamwork and to develop a communal atmosphere among athletes.

Promoting Safety and Awareness is our main goal at OnYerLeft!™ This Web site features a full line of athletic apparel bearing the phrase, “OnYerLeft!”  Designed with vibrant eye catching colors, this line is functional toward the safety aspect of OnYerLeft!™, but also provides a fun and fashionable way to do so.

Our core belief is developing a sense of community and teamwork among athletes who all work together to achieve their personal bests. This begins by calling out, “OnYerLeft!t” as you pass others on the pathways.

We fulfill these stated goals by pairing with local charities to help raise funds for their respective causes as well as foster safety and education programs for park district’s trail systems and children’s bicycle safety programs. Thanks for taking the time to learn about OnYerLeft!™