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Black and White Ink

Shadows speaking louder than words.
Night and day lose meaning.
Whispers in the grey.
Hinting a secret.

White. Arresting.
A look.
A crease. A fold.

Casting sweet envelope
for emotion.

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Black and white drawing first shared on my Instagram page HERE.

To order a print of this piece, or inquire for other commissions, send an email to: [email protected]

Freedom is an interesting thing. We know it’s concept and we get the gist of it all, but many of us are busy functioning amidst our daily routines and we think of freedoms only on their grandest of scale. We are grateful for the rights we have living in a free Country, but we don’t think about the smaller freedoms. The freedoms that our routines, namely being stuck to them, may be stripping away from us.

[From my Instagram]
Routine. Trust me, I’m like you and love a good routine. Routines are good, they keep us focused and working towards goals; consistency is the foundation of every major accomplishment. We NEED certain routines, yet routines are a tricky double edged sword.

Routines keep you focused. Routines can also hold your prisoner. The issues that dictate which is which are: the routine, the basis for it, and how much flexibility you allow yourself within it.

I can parallel this to running because it’s an easy example; training should become a routine. You need to KNOW you’re going to do it, don’t think of it like a ‘maybe’, you know your goals and you know you need to be consistent to reach them. You need that routine to keep you focused because running and training is hard. Frankly it’s painful and there will be times when you need to know you’re going to just have to put your head down and grind through. BUT, there are times when grinding will only leave you a broken, dull stone, so there needs to be a degree of flexibility. There are times when rather than pushing you need to step back.

Freedom outside your routine is also a state of mind. Being so busy usually means you’re perpetually distracted, or so focused on the task at hand you’re not opening yourself up to anything else. PAUSE. A mere pause, and opening yourself up to the possibility of…well, the possible.

You can’t see an opportunity if your eyes aren’t even open. What’s funnier still is that when you’re busily distracted you’re not even aware of the potential that you’re missing something!

That’s not some kind of riddle there, and it’s meaning is only best exemplified through actual experience. If you’ve had a moment where you cognitively shifted your focus, veered slightly outside your routine, and you had a MOMENT, experienced something unexpected that just, made you smile. That momentous experience of freedom is what I’m describing.

You chose to be free and in that moment you opened yourself up to have that smile….however small the experience was that brought it to your face.

You see, to get that smile, that satisfaction, doesn’t require you to veer wildly off course to the point where you recklessly abandon all goals or tasks at hand. No, it can be as simple as putting the other shoe on first…the tiniest change of routine just to show yourself that you CAN do it out of order. Who knows, you may like it. Just knowing you CAN often causes a much larger shift in perspective. You wonder what else you CAN do.

So be free. Think with an open and free mind. I challenge you to do tiny things outside of your routine and see if, by Jove, you like it.

Be inspired by many, aim to inspire at least one.

While I may play running shoe favorites, you get the idea. Get running and in any shoe that meets your fancy…cuz ‘stopping’ just aint all it’s cracked up to be.

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More RUNNING MOTIVATION

#SweatsintheCity Runnerchick Chic

More CARTOONS

Let’s be honest, running may not solve EVERY single problem, but I’ve yet to find myself in a situation where a good run doesn’t at least help.

With that…

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More MORNING MOTIVATION HERE

More TRAINING TIPS HERE

I’ve had quite a few new articles published on RunBlogRun and Competitor as of late so be sure to check out my WRITING PAGE HERE

Follow Cait Chock on Instagram: @caitchock

It’s no lie…sometimes you just gotta take a cue from the Turtles.

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Fancy that, another train of familiar characters getting their run on…sorta reminds me of THESE LADIES!!

More Morning Running Motivation Posts And Art
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1) Who here is also a real runnerd and Turtles fan too?
2) What were you chasing this weekend?

And for those who need an excuse busting or kick in the butt to get out the door…

Happy Monday!

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More running MOTIVATION HERE

WEAR Your Motivation…Ezzere
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1) Share some running love you had from the weekend.

Moments before the gun. All other runners slip away, left one.

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More posts on MOTIVATION
Another post on Starting Line Confidence and How to Build Yours

Talk about one cute chicker from the weekend!! This super fast runnerchick was the top female and 5th overall in just her first 5k!! Can you say natural born runnerchick?! At least her Ezzere Get Chicking Tee gave them a warning…keep on smoking those runnerboys.

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1) What’s usually one of the last things you do RIGHT before the gun goes off?

Strip away the muscles, the sinew, the bones
The flesh.
Alone with yourself.
in your mind.
A step echoing amidst chatter
doubts.Refutes.
I am stronger than you say.

Tissues beg for slack,
plead for mercy.
I want to stop.
But I do not.

Mind runs on.
Push forward against protest
myself and my mind.
Friend, nemesis, untrustworthy deceivers.
I must stop.
You may not.
Only one step more.
LIAR!

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The June issue of Competitor magazine features Meb Keflezighi on the cover, the story is excellent and I urge you all to read it HERE. Not all can race outside of themselves, but it’s the quest to continually push our own limits that every runner is in a similar battle. Keep rising to the occasion.

More posts on MOTIVATION
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I grew up in a house where my mom HATED to see things go to waste. We were a household who left-over’ed and if we didn’t clean our plates we could usually count on Mommy-O to finish them off. She WAS a runner after all. The thing was, it killed my mother to put food in the trash or down the disposal.

Wasting is, well, a waste.


This holds true in life. And with the human body, if you’re even an iota interested in physiology, anatomy, and sports science you’ve got to just take a step back and think, “Holy crap, the body is amazing. Like freaking incredible.” All the complexities, the systems working together, playing off of each other, people can quip the ‘miracle of life’…heck, it’s pretty dang remarkable what goes in to just digesting! Something enters the mouth, get broken down, gives you the energy to run, and then gets pooped out the other end. That’s pretty dang cool!

Not taking advantage of just how amazing and remarkable the human body is, it’s a waste. Obesity, a growing lack of exercise, a growing disinterest…bordering on HATE of activity is a waste, it’s sad. Here is this amazing human body machine…just waiting to DO, to perform.

A body can be worked. It can be run. It can be trained. It can be stressed by training and then, if given the chance to recover, it will GROW, become stronger, tougher, faster, and then eager to achieve even more. Keep doing that and watch how far you can go.

Physiology is quite amazing, don’t forget that. Don’t take it for granted either…PUSH yourself to discover your own potential.

A vehicle left abandoned is waste. Take advantage of the miraculously, mind-blowing things your body can DO and get DOing.

Because let’s be honest, running withdrawals hurt a h*ll of a lot more than the injury.

For all those healthy enough to run…be THANKFUL. Never forget that, on the days you really aren’t jazzed to suit up and start, put it in perspective. Would you rather be chained to the cross trainer?

Our runner hearts go out to all the currently injured runners…we’ll donate some miles on your behalf. Heal up, cross train like you mean it, and you’ll be back at it again in time. Don’t go mad until then though!

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Posts all about Running and Injures
More Motivation for Runners
Even runners going through withdrawals can at least LOOK runnerchick chic in an Ezzere Tee!!
Tips for Cross Training
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Eat like a champion. Take that, Wheaties.

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More Running Motivation HERE

Wear your running motivation…Ezzere: Run.Laugh.Be.

Today I will look a fear in the eye. I will not blink.

Today I will take a doubt and refute it. I will not hesitate.

I will look only forward, learning from what’s been behind. I will not criticize, belittle, disparage.

I will see only dreams and possibilities on the horizons. A future bright, no limits, goals big enough to scare.

But fear be d*mned.

I will run with the heart of a lion.

I will LIVE with the heart of a lion.

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Speaking of lions, here is my latest Competitor article on THE lion himself: Meb Keflezighi

Celebrate your mother lion! Mother’s day is fast approaching…show your mother how she MOTIVATES and INSPIRES you with an Ezzere Tee. BUY NOW so it’ll get there by Sunday!

Really, need I say more?

#run #mebstrong

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More Running Motivation HERE

WEAR your motivation and be reminded of your goals with an Ezzere Running Tee!

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#dontbothermeimrunning

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More Morning Motivation Art

That said, runners DO look pretty stinking awesome...kicking butt sure does come with added perks.

My latest article on Competitor: Patience, Progress, PRs: The Three Tenets Of Running Success
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1) Do you get annoyed when people yell at you while you’re running? Not just catcalls or lame come-on’s but anything.
2) Runnerdudes, what are some of the annoying things people yell at you?
3) Finish this…”I feel most beautiful…”
After feeling ON in a workout or race. I’m not just saying that cuz either…it’s my honest answer.

Word.

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More Morning Running Motivation

Your INVITE to the #coreandcake party! (scroll down to bottome)
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1) What’s on tap for your weekend?

Love your run. It will always love you back.

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More Morning Running Motivation Art

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1) Any races this weekend?
2) How did your run love you back?

Running presents a very simple goal…


Keep pushing through to that other side my Runner Friends. It makes us feel alive!

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More Running Motivation Art Posts

More Motivation Posts

Posts with Racing Tips
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1) Did you race this weekend?
2) How did you stay mentally tough in your last race or workout?
3) The last time you weren’t so mentally tough, why, and what are you going to do to be tougher next time?

Today I ran.

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More Morning Running Motivational Art Posts
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1) What was your run like today?
2) What was your running like 5 years ago?
3) What do you envision your running to be 5 years from today?

Live to dream. Live to run.

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More Morning Running Motivation Art

More MOTIVATION POSTS
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1) What’s going on for you this week? What is one thing you’ll be doing with passion?
2) How will you be sweating today?
3) Did anyone race this past weekend?

Go. Run. Be strong.

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More Sunday Morning Running Motivation and traditional MOTIVATION posts.
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1) What’s motivating YOU this morning?
2) Anyone race this weekend?
3) What is a mental mantra you like to think of to keep you running strong?

I’m not defined solely by my running, but you can bet for darn sure I like myself better as a runner.

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In case you missed it on Instagram, I’m wearing my latest design in running shirts and I think they’ll have to bury me in it. You can get your running princess shirts HERE!

More Morning Running Inspiration
Get some race tips HERE
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1) What’s got you motivated and inspired this morning?
2) What were your weekend running plans? Racers?
3) What’s your favorite running shirt this moment?

Many a time has a runner been told they’re ‘too obsessed’ with this running thing. I admit runners may be a wee bit on the crazy side, and obsessed isn’t such a bad term. [Better to be obsessed with running than meth...right?] But the reality is, rather than waste our breathe even trying to explain it to these people, who clearly will never ‘get it’…our precious O2 is much better spent oxygenating those hard-working running mitochondria.

#runforsanity
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More Sunday Morning Running Inspiration
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1) Do you try to explain it to people who question why you run, or how you are so motivated?
2) Best funny quip you’ve given to a person who says with scorn that you’re ‘too into’ running or fitness?
3) What’s inspiring YOU this morning?

Running is a test. We take it willfully and grade ourselves accordingly.
[I've allowed click to enlarge to read text, but please contact me if you'd like prints! [email protected]]

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More Sunday Morning Running Inspiration

More Running Motivation

Wear Your Inspiration
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1) How did your last test run go?