Success is a Marathon

When you feel good, it shows. How adopting healthy habits can help you reach professional peaks:

• Vary that pace. Think it's most productive to go from task to task in a steady pace? "We call this being linear," Jack Groppel, co-founder of the Human Performance Institute, a fitness consultancy, told IBD.

The problem is people don't operate like monotonous robots. "The human brain will just check out," he said.

To avoid flat-lining, take a few moments to recharge between tasks — drink some water, call a loved one or step outside.

• Resist that reflex. Don't just grab your BlackBerry or iPhone between meetings.

"(That's) not taking the right kind of break," Groppel said.

• Seriously, recharge. The most powerful thing you can do is get physical. A brisk walk ushers oxygen to the brain, which improves your thinking. "There is true science around this," Groppel said. "It's that first minute or two that's powerful."

To prove his point, he asks clients what they're doing when their best ideas hit. The most frequent answer: exercising.

• Sweeten the deal. "The brain works on oxygen and it works on glucose," Groppel said.

Eating at three-hour intervals keeps that glucose level steady, preventing the midafternoon slump.

The best snack? A handful of nuts or an energy bar high in protein, fat and fiber. "It will stabilize your blood sugar," he said.

• Align your priorities. Instead of thinking of exercise as a departure from work, frame it as an activity that fuels your success.

So says "Stay Young: 10 Proven Steps to Ultimate Health" co-author Mark Anderson.

"Exercise puts neurochemicals back in the brain to make it function better," he said. "It's like putting toner in the printer."

• Run the numbers. As a partner of Executive Medicine of Texas, Anderson helps executives track fitness numbers like cholesterol and weight. Everyone should watch their bottom lines.

"If you don't measure it, you can't manage it," Anderson said.

• Plan for longevity. With medical advances, it's not out of bounds to anticipate living to age 100. "Staying fit and healthy is going to allow you to enjoy that," Anderson said.

• Find your escape. Colorado business owner and "Running on Empty" author Marshall Ulrich didn't start running to set records.

While his wife was fighting cancer, doctors noticed Ulrich's blood pressure was sky high — and suggested exercise as an antidote.

Ulrich started running, and never stopped.

After his wife, Jean, died, the road became Ulrich's refuge.

"It did provide a survival mechanism," he said.

• Forget the limits. Thirty-plus years later, Ulrich is a record-setting ultra runner and mountaineer who's crossed Death Valley four times in a single event and scaled the world's seven top summits, including Mount Everest.

In 2007, at age 57, he ran from San Francisco to New York City in 52 days.

Why?

"(To) show people they can do way more than they think they can," he said. "Open the door of possibilities."

• Build in rewards. Ulrich always aims high. But he also sets lower, attainable goals. "So I always have some success," he said.

• Seek like minds. How to stay committed to healthy habits? "Align yourself with people who are very supportive," Ulrich said.

He eventually remarried and credits wife, Heather, for keeping him on track.