Category Archives: anxiety

A definite feeling of unsurety

Have you ever wondered exactly how good you really are at something? Pick anything. It could be gardening. Your job. Relationships. Marriage. Divorce. We all face these pursuits in our own way. Yet it’s really hard to judge whether you’re … Continue reading

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Whatever suits you

In the spring of 2007, toward the end of a seven-year tenure at the Daily Herald, I was freelancing with a marketing agency run by a guy named Vince. My role was serving as a creative director of sorts, writing … Continue reading

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A Sprint to Respectability

The Naperville Sprint Triathlon is the first real triathlon I participated in ten years ago with my wife Sue. We’d met in July of 2013, gone riding and running together right away, but then she had a bike accident (her … Continue reading

Posted in 13.1, 400 meter intervals, 400 workouts, 5K, aging, aging is not for the weak of heart, anxiety, bike accidents, bike crash, Christopher Cudworth, competition, cycling, friendship, IRONMAN, love, PEAK EXPERIENCES, race pace, racing peak, riding, running, swimming, Tarsnakes, triathlons | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

An unpleasant start to an ultimately pleasant triathlon

Open-water swimming is one of life’s acquired joys. Unless one grows up swimming in ponds, lakes, or oceans it takes a bit of practice to get used to the idea of climbing into the water and swimming over whatever depths … Continue reading

Posted in anxiety, Christopher Cudworth, cycling, Depression, fear, mental health, PEAK EXPERIENCES, race pace, racing peak, riding, running, swimming | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Not “woe is me,” but resiliency

Following the emotional breakdown of my wife after the cancer returned in 2007 after two years of treatments and remission, I proceeded to lose my new job at the marketing agency. It had taken months to work up the courage … Continue reading

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Rough landings

I was a high jumper during my high school career and first year of college. I jumped 6′ 1/2″ in college, my best ever. Not bad for a distance runner with skinny calves and not much in the thigh area … Continue reading

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50 Years of Running: Great joys and hard lessons

The day-to-day joy of writing full-time for a living was not lost on me. I truly loved writing columns and found it fascinating to edit national columnists’ work from all sorts of political perspectives. As editorial writers, our job was … Continue reading

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50 Years of Running: Circling back

Back when I lived in Paoli, Pennsylvania (182-83) during a short stint with the marketing department at Van Kampen Merritt in Philadelphia, I joined a great group of runners through the Runner’s Edge running store. Most of those guys, the … Continue reading

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50 Years of Running: Condescension and karma

Karma: The sum of a person’s actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future As my relative successes at Aspen Marketing piled up in 1997 and ’98, I allowed a bit of self-confidence … Continue reading

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50 Years of Running: Emotional Intelligence in the Face of Corporate and Community Politics

At about the same time that I won the position of Promotions and Creative Services Manager for the Kane County Chronicle in 1990, my activity in the city of Batavia led to a rise in responsibilities in the local Chamber … Continue reading

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