Tag: MidwestOCR

Races and Different Ways of Recharging (10-21-25)

Blog coming to you today, because I’m out of office tomorrow. 😉 This week is about different ways of recharging.

This might not make any sense to anyone.  My racing hobby is one of my favorite things to do to RECHARGE my batteries.  Right now, at least one of you is thinking, “So, running/hiking for miles in the heat, crawling through rock and mud, climbing on stuff, carrying heavy things, and picking up all kinds of bumps and bruises is recharging for you.  Is there something wrong with you?”  It’s a fair question 😉 All of those things are true, AND it’s time outside, mainly on my own without any distractions.  It’s a time to be with my thoughts.  It’s also a time to discover and push past my limits which is invigorating.  Because of those things and more, races might take a lot of physical energy, but they fill so many of my other energy buckets. 

Let’s connect some dots.  Whenever I find myself feeling stressed or tired from work, one of my first instincts is that I need to rest to recharge.  Resting looks taking it easy all day, not doing anything, and maybe even fitting in a nap.  Sometimes, this helps me feel a bit better.  Sometimes, it doesn’t.  It’s not that resting was bad.  It just wasn’t what I needed at the time. 

Over the past few years, I’ve learned that when I need to recharge, sometimes I need to rest and other times I need something different.  Sometimes, recharging looks like reading or writing blogs and poems.  Sometimes, recharging is playing with Legos.  Sometimes, recharging looks like hanging out with my family.  Sometimes, recharging is being by myself for a period of time.  Sometimes recharging is a good workout or an obstacle course race.  How do you recharge?    

The challenge: How are you being intentional about recharging in these busy and stressful times?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Embracing the Grimy Path to Success (10-8-25)

This week we are going to kick off some reflections from my recent obstacle course race at Midwest OCR.  Our first topic is embracing the grimy path to success.

Here is the picture of me after my most recent obstacle course race.  I’m smiling, striking a pose, looking strong, and proudly wearing my medal.  This picture makes it look like I smoothly and effortlessly navigated the race in a perfect fashion.  None of that is true.  My race was ugly.  You don’t see how I failed quite a few obstacles.  You don’t see me red faced and feeling like I was dying on some of those hills.  You don’t see the time I tripped and slid down a hill into a knee-deep mud bog that swallowed my legs and almost took my shoes.  You don’t see the bruises I picked up along the way.  Now that you know those things, does this make me any less successful?  For me, just because it might have been a little ugly doesn’t take away from the fact that I was ultimately successful. 

Let’s make some connections.  Have you ever looked at a successful person and said, “Whoa! They have it all figured out.  They just make success look so smooth and effortless.  They must be perfect”?  I know I have.  Then the next thing I did was start comparing myself to them, which led to self-doubt.  I would feel like a failure if everything I did wasn’t effortless and smooth.  As I’ve got older, I’ve realized that success doesn’t come from things being flawless.  Success is the result of continuing to persevere, especially when things are grimy and ugly.  

The challenge: Will you embrace that success doesn’t have to be pristine?  Will you embrace that the path to success is often grimy and ugly?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry