Dwight Eisenhower

I was sitting in a session/case study presentation about "How to get
funding for an Enterprisewide Asset Management initiative", when the
presenter put up the following quote:

"In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless,
but planning is indispensable." - Dwight Eisenhower

The quote made sense for his presentation but made even more sense for
life in general. I sat there and pondered how that quote fits right
in to even the most mundane routines such as going to the grocery
store or doing your laundry.

However, it REALLY rang true for long distance running, and I sat back
and let myself escape into memories of how much I've prepared and
planned for my big races, making pace bands, studying courses,
implementing a nutrition strategy, thinking about the possible demons
that may haunt my brain when at my most vulnerable moment, and so much
more.

Dwight was so right. All of that eventually goes out the window. At
some point in the race something will change that will force you to
adjust, and your "perfect plan" will go right out the window. It is
HOW you overcome these situations that will then determine your
success on the battlefield.

However, without all those sessions of studying the course, laying out
time splits, figuring out drop bags, clothing drops, food intake
spots, you wouldn't have the solid foundation to adapt to the changing
conditions.

That quote made so much sense to me, and yet again validated an
approach I've really started taking to heart in running. One that
just seems to make perfect sense and harmony. An approach of just
dumbing things down, running to run, not sweating every unnecessary
trivial aspect/issue, or like Amy coined so well: JFR ("Just Fucking
Run").

Because at the end of the day, all we can do, is just fucking run, and
adapt and overcome the ever changing face of the battle, based on the
scenarios we've determined may arise.