There was a farmer who grew excellent quality corn. Every year he won the award for the best grown corn. One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors. “How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?” the reporter asked.
“Why sir,” said the farmer, “Didn’t you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn.”
So is with our lives... Those who want to live meaningfully and well must help enrich the lives of others, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others find happiness, for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all...
-Call it power of collectivity...
-Call it a principle of success...
-Call it a law of life.
The fact is, none of us truly wins, until we all win!!
This story comes from a post one of my sponsors, Ian Harvey of Toko, had on his Facebook wall. Brian shared the story with me after he picked me up from the airport and the message was exactly how I felt after leaving Minnesota after an amazing couple of weeks at home training on my favorite trails and rollerski routes! My training while home in Minneapolis was as productive as it has ever been. I trained more hours, set numerous PR's and enjoyed some of the best summer weather I have ever witnessed since I moved to Minnesota 11 years ago! I am now back in Utah living at 8,200 ft for another altitude block with Brian but I can't wait to get back home
While I was home I found myself immersed in incredible opportunities to train with other skiers young and old! I did time trials, 4 hour runs, strength sessions, and distance all with great company. I guess the part of the story that resonates the most with me is the idea that everyone can raise the bar together if we work together. Collaborating with different age groups, different clubs, different coaches gave me (and hopefully them) tons of new ideas and inspiration! I like that I can truly say that so many people have been a part of my success! Perhaps that is why it was so important for me to share my medal when I got home from the World Championships this year. I hope to bring to the groups as much as I have received over the years!
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| Double Pole Time Trial with the Endurance United Masters Group! |
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| My long time coach Piotr Bednarski always energetic and always smiling! |
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| Running and Bounding with the LNR/ NMU ladies! |
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| LNR has grown so much! |
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| Getting ready for the local Tri-Loppet Race with Alice Flanders CXC/ MTU! |
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| My favorite group to train with Vakava Race Team. These guys have been letting me join them ever since I moved to MN! They are the most inspiring group of individuals I know! |
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| LNR Coaches Piotr Bednarski, Dave Chamberlin, myself and Lahti! |
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| My LNR running crew! |
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| Coaching the girls up the Big Climb! |
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| Love coaching these guys! |
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| Making sure coach Lahti has enough water! |
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| Long L-3 Running Intervals with Tom and Jan from Gear West! |
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| Hard L-4 Intervals with the Minneapolis Ski Club! |
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| Fun to share some stories with other clubs in the area! |
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| Fun to learn and connect with other Olympians as well! Kevin Brochman has many of us beat with 2 Olympic appearances! |
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| Loppet Adventures "Adventure Center Day" The community has been rallying and the Loppet Foundation has been working hard to getting a building to base all of it's programming and activities out of. I love being a part of such an incredible club with visions beyond just racing. |
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| Training with Audrey! She is an animal! Full-Time U of M Dental Student who can still charge for 3+ hours on rollerskis! Impressive. |
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| Cheryl and Rob just ran the Superior Trail Race at just under 30 miles this past weekend. I helped them on a 4 hour training run! It was the last workout of a 32 hour week for me so I was psyched when I learned they were planning the same workout! |
Of course nothing would complete my summer training without spending lots of quality time at the Jerry Gamble Boys and Girls Club. We now have over 135 kids who have run over 1,117 miles since this April when we got home from the season. The hardest part about leaving home is leaving these kids behind! They are so fun and I learn so much from them every time we meet. Thankfully we now have 3 awesome volunteers who help keep Run Club going while Team Gregg is away. We finally decided it was time to update the Run Club chart midway through the summer because so many kids were joining and many were off the chart!
I spent far too long counting, calculating and re-writing names but the new chart is beautiful and it highlights the Run Club All-Stars. The All-Stars have run the most miles so far this year! I also love doing projects like this so I enjoyed every minute (even if I was a little tired for my intervals the next day).
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| Making the Charts at home late at night! |
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| The finished charts! |
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| The 2015 Run Club charts and Kim Jones our amazing volunteer. She has now given up smoking and has run 20 miles so far this summer herself! Notice that there is still room to grow on the right side of the wall! |
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| My buddy Jackie! She is one heck of a runner! We just have to make sure she stays our of trouble so she can keep coming to practice at the Club :) |
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| Hanging out after practice with the fruit of the day! Once again a huge shout out to Everett Myers and Fruitshare for all the fruit they provide for the kids! |
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| We don't stop on rainy days! The big "Plank-Off" |
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| Sharing stories and trading cards from my season. |
