Uncover your inner athlete!

Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be eaten.. Each morning in Africa a lion awakes - it knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle or it will starve.


No matter if you are the lion or the gazelle, when the sun comes up you had better be running!



Sunday, April 27, 2014

Small things with big meanings

I've never been someone who has hung onto medals or awards that I have attained. I think that mum has a box of school trophies and such lying somewhere at home, but today when I was cleaning out some of my closets I came across the medal below.

Not sure why I chose to keep it as it certainly isn't the biggest or most prestigious race that I've ever entered. In fact the 9KM that I completed that day in 2006 would just be merely a recovery run in my current fitness. It did however signify a time when I was still massively overweight and in need of drastic help to overcome my weight problems. It was the first step on my journey to current fitness.

A small 9KM and an even smaller medal on the road to a huge journey of change. One couldn't have existed without the other.

What small things mean the most to you?

Running together (while remembering where I came from), stride for stride on a life changing ride! – Sean Muller

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Love, happiness and new life on the run!

Today I had the great fortune of spending some time with some incredible people who I train with. Each of them inspire me in so many different ways and it is always good to hear about other people doing well in life, life and in their careers.

One of them confided that they have had a promotion at work and are destined for bigger things, another is on a new journey to study something completely different  and the final one confided that she and her partner are going to be expecting a new little one in about 6 months time.

This is such great news and I couldn't be more thrilled for all of them especially the one expecting her first child. New life is amazing and especially when it comes two such lovely people who are clearly so much in love. I’m a massive softy when it comes to those sorts of things. Being both runners, they are going to be such great role models and parents for the little one.

What fantastic news to receive after a massively positive training session with mates. If this sort of happiness and joy comes to all of us at some point then we are definitely in great shape as a human race.

Running together (while receiving massively good news about friends), stride for stride on a life changing ride! – Sean Muller

A true puritan!

Occasionally I do some book reviews on here about books that truly leave a mark on me.

I recently finished reading ‘The Ghost Runner’ by Bill Jones. It is the story of John Tarrant -an English runner in the 1940s, 50s and 60s who was banned for life from competing in the amateur era due to the fact that he had received a small sum of money during a previous life as a boxer.

Tarrant fought this ban till his dying day and never is a more riveting story told of one man’s complete and utter devotion to the sport and winning despite his efforts never counting towards the record books or any trophies being conferred. I was captivated from first page till last.

At one stage he was good enough to make the British Olympic team but wasn’t chosen on the basis of his ban. Imagine being good enough to win marathons and ultras outright but knowing that your records will never stand.

He even at one stage broke the 100 mile world record as well as holding the 40 mile world record. All while as an unofficial athlete. Last but by no means least, he ran and came 4th in the Comrades marathon of 1968 where for the first time he was not the only unofficial runner as the race was for many years considered only to be for the white population with other race groups forbidden from entering.

I love an underdog story and hearing about runners who compete merely for the purity of the sport. In the ultimate act of sportsmanship, his mate Dave Box who also ran Comrades in 1968 and is listed as finishing 4th in the records presented him with his gold medal from the day on Tarrant’s deathbed.

A true tale of commitment and dedication to the sport.


Running together (while fighting injustices in sport), stride for stride on a life changing ride! – Sean Muller

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Determining how badly you want it

I watched this today on another site and am unashamedly sharing it on this forum. It doesn't really have much to do with running, but gives a really good idea of how far some people will go to achieve their dream whatever it is. Are you one of these people?

Running together (while wanting something more than another person), stride for stride on a life changing ride!-- Sean Muller

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Checking out health as a runner

A year ago I had some disturbing news around my health and was extremely worried as a result. After numerous tests it was determined that I had had a false diagnosis and was unnecessarily scared by the doctor that I went to see.

As I approach my mid 30s I think it is integral that everyone (particularly men) go and have a physical every year to put their own mind at rest. I am confident that I am pretty fit compared to the majority of the rest of Australia, but that still didn’t stop me from lining up this week and undergoing some tests to determine my own fitness levels and vital statistics. Everything checks out just fine luckily but it was reassuring to find this to be the case.

Many people stick their head in the sand when it comes to their health and they assume that things will be fine when in fact many times this is very far from the truth. It's my own view that I want to be around for as long as possible for my loved ones and for the sake of life in general. 

Who wouldn't want to LIVE life to the fullest while we have this time on earth. Remember we will never have this time over again so don't have any regrets. Go and tell those that you care about everyday how much you love them, spend time creating positive memories.

Running together (while checking out one’s health fully), stride for stride on a life changing ride! – Sean Muller

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Be your best everyday!

I’ve been getting lax again in terms of posting and inevitably I get reminded about this by some folks. It’s extremely humbling to know that people are still reading and interested in my musings on running, life, love and the world around us. Granted I’ve had loads on the go over the past couple of weeks, but that is still no excuse and some might say I need to manage my time better.

This past week has been extremely trying due to a passing in the family as well as a fallout in my friend circle. Life goes on though and you definitely only look to surround yourself with the people in life who will bring out the best in you and help you to become the very best YOU that you can be on any given day.

So many times I’ve been speaking to people about what they want out of a partner in life and it comes back to the mighty dollar. Not down to the fact that someone may treat them really well and respect them for who they are and also provide them with support and confidence to reach the highest level that they can in life. All of those things money really can’t buy.

Life is very short (as I discovered over this past week) – you never know when things may happen or for what reason. Living life to the full each day and aiming to be your best is all you can really do. Everything else in life is the cream on top.

Running together (while surrounding yourself with positive people and experiences), stride for stride on a life changing ride! – Sean Muller

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Life and love are strange animals

Life is a strange beast. I was talking with my local coffee shop owner about life in Israel having lived there many many moons ago when I was young, vaguely good looking and cooler than I am now. It was great to reminisce and it kind of got me thinking again around the lines of 'How does life shift and change'.  

If one would have said to me at the age of 5 that I would be living in Sydney in my mid 30s and that I would be running marathons and only just starting to take my swimming more seriously (swimming was always my first love), I’d have said you were a lunatic.

This brings me on to the topic of planning and working for something and believing it will happen only for something completely opposite to happen. This happened for me in my running in last year’s London marathon. I finished in an okay time, but not one that was reflective of all the hard yards that I put in in the months prior. Perhaps though sometimes one puts in too much and doesn’t see anything else for the efforts at that time and many times I’ve found that I get the best results by just taking a step backwards and approaching things as they come on an event day.

The same can be said for anything in life really. In my case I had a few years ago been looking to move to Asia for work and nothing seemed to eventuate at the time I was looking. Now in the past month there have been 4 opportunities that I would really have considered back in the day (part of me still dreams about them), but it is ironic that they came about now when I wasn’t looking at all.

Jobs, love, friendships or athletic results – I’ve never known when they would knock, but have become increasingly open to going with life and seeing where it leads, while relaxing and not stressing about things that I fear I am missing out on as this would only cause me to miss out on what today brings and as we know you can never have this time over again.

Never waste time or be fearful of making a wrong choice. If you are being true to your morals and values and are not hurting anyone else then there is no reason why you should not be afraid to truly live. Hug your loved ones and tell them you love them often, have a laugh with friends, try your best and don’t be afraid of trying new things because others will laugh. They probably never had the guts to try what you are anyways.

Running together (while striving to truly live each day), stride for stride on a life changing ride! – Sean Muller