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A couple of months ago, in a moment of weakness, I let a couple of young friends (much younger than I) talk me into running a 5k race on Thanksgiving Day. You've likely heard of these Thanksgiving races. This one, like many, is called the Turkey Trot. The premise is that you show up early on Thanksgiving morning, run the 5k and then eat guilt free the rest of the day.

When these friends suggested that I run in the Turkey Trot with them I laughed! What a ridiculous idea. I have never run in a race. Not a 5k. Not even a 5 minute race! I am still not sure how they managed to talk me into this. But they did.

Thankfully they told me about a training method that gets you off the couch and running a 5k in 9 weeks. I wasn't exactly lazing on the couch, but my jogs on the ranch this summer with a loaded gun strapped to my side (in case I encountered rattlesnakes) weren't exactly what you would call high intensity either.

This 5k training method uses one of the principles of success I use when helping project teams and leaders achieve extraordinary results. Remember that beloved fable of Aesop?

You’ve probably witnessed people in leadership positions who are like the Hare.  They begin a new project or assignment with a big bang; full of bravado. They initiate big ideas and get their people all excited about them.  But before long their business “muscles” start fatiguing. They become distracted by issues and situations that they didn’t foresee.  And some simply get bored after the excitement and newness fades away.

They lack the discipline to stick with the steady, consistent and persevering approach necessary to win the race.  Their team becomes discouraged and disengaged.  Then one day they wake up and look around only to discover that one of their peers - the steady, persistent one whom they thought wasn’t capable of accomplishing extraordinary results has indeed engaged the team, and together, they’ve achieved results that the company and industry didn’t believe possible!  They have won the race!

The Turkey Trot is only days away. Rather than going overboard with newfound exuberance early on and becoming fatigued and discouraged, I am pleased to report that I have taken the steady and disciplined route.  I didn’t try to do too much too fast.  And while I am still slow, I am certainly faster than when I started.

I won’t be the first one across the finish line; that is for sure.  But hey, for me, just SURVIVING the Turkey Trot that morning will be a victory!  

And later that day, when I sit down for Thanksgiving dinner with my family, I’ll give thanks for the abundance of blessings God has showered upon me this year (and for young friends who persuaded me to do something I had never done).