City Zen Supports the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society through the Nation’s Triathlon

Running your own business comes with a lot of misconceptions both internally and externally.  You tend to give off a vibe that you can take vacation time whenever you want, wear pajamas to work and take Friday's off to work on personal projects.  People seem to think that you have some special power that allows you to not have to commute to work and still make enough money to keep your lights on.  The sad reality is that most small business owners work way too much, rarely go on vacation without their macbook and generally just don't get enough exercise.  This was the case with me so I decided that I would start running back in January of this year.

Running is simple enough, you put on a pair of shoes, walk outside and hit it.  No gym memberships and no driving to the gym only to stare at all of the equipment with no clue what to do with it. For me running is a great start, break or end to my day.  It gets my blood pumping and lets me think through problems outside of my office environment.  Running not only benefits my health, it also has helped me find more balance between my business life and family life.

While training for my first half marathon (PF Changs Rock n Roll San Diego), I decided to sign up with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training to do the 5th Annual Nation's Triathlon.  I had no idea what I was getting myself into but I was certainly concerned to say the least.  It was 17 weeks of training, six days a week split between running, cycling and swimming and I hadn't been on a bike in awhile and the last attempt I made at swimming quickly ended after a measly 75 meters.  The schedule was definitely tough to manage but I'm fortunate that I am "the boss" and I can make my work schedule work around my training schedule.  In the beginning it was a shock to my system but as my body acclimated to a more rigorous training schedule my mind seem to follow.  I found that I was more productive and efficient with work and had finally struck that balance between work, family and exercise that I had been missing for years.

Team in Training is a wonderful organization in which they train you for an event and in return you raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS).  Collectively we raised over $3 million dollars for LLS and had over 700 participants in the triathlon.  As a small business owner, I decided to do donation matching up to $500 to help raise money and to also take an opportunity to give back to a program I strongly believe in.  It really made a lot of difference while training to think about the people I was doing this for and the fact that they didn't have the choice to run a triathlon but I did and I was doing it for them.  

When you run a small business, it's easy to loose sight of what life is all about.  You tend to work too many hours, focus too much on P&L statements and not focus enough on your family and health.  Participating in the Nation's Triathlon, both physically and financially, gave me a wonderful opportunity to realize just how lucky I am to have a wonderful, healthy family and know that my business helped a wonderful charity.  As a business we will continue to give back to charity and our community and as for me personally, I plan to keep training and participating in events to keep me in shape enough to keep up with my two year old.