Run Luau Run

The Seed

March 10, 2011 by luau

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Being the parent of a child with autism has taught me that success breeds success.

One of the therapies many children like Brooke receive is called ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis). In the simplest layman’s terms, an instructor teaches a child how to do a task by breaking the task down to its most rudimentary components. What you and I take for granted as one, single task, is often a lot more complicated than you think. Even simple games like memory or putting toothpaste on a toothbrush have to be taught step by step, each step building on the previous one. The key is providing a child like Brooke an opportunity to succeed with each step before moving on to the next one. When done properly, children like Brooke can succeed, even thrive, in their environment. The downside is that if done improperly or without caution, a child like Brooke can fail miserably at the task and refuse to go forward or learn the wrong way to do the task, leading to further frustration down the line. Once something is learned for these very rule-based children, it is extremely difficult to un-learn it.

The same can be said about running.

Confidence and belief start small. At birth, just like us, they come in many different forms (loud, quiet), but early on, they are fragile, easily shattered. That confidence, that belief, has to be cultivated, nurtured, cared for.

I have seen many people declare that they are going to start running – it will be part of their new exercise regimen, and this time dammit they’re gonna stick to it.

Three weeks later they haven’t run in a week and a half. The excuses will be there (-oh, I’ve been crazy busy. -oh, I just haven’t been feeling well. -oh, I haven’t been getting enough sleep lately) and I will do my best not to roll my eyes.

Now you may think that I’m being a little harsh with the eye-rolling. Let’s get this straight right now before the comments start flying – I am NOT rolling my eyes at the person. I am rolling my eyes at the way the person went about this new regimen. I am rolling my eyes because I went through the exact same thing – I did not respect running.

I was an on again, off again runner for a long time. My “on’s” would last about a week. My “off’s” would last about a year. Every time I would start again, I would do the exact same thing as the time before. I would put on an old pair of sneakers, I would run 4 or 5 miles and then I would be in pain. The learned experience (the bad form, the lack of pacing) from the first time I went running as an adult (if you could call me that at 22) stuck with me, not as a learning experience, but as one that got repeated over an over again.

I thought I could just go out there and run. It’s just running, right? And to a degree that is true. However, if you aren’t athletically gifted (which despite what the wife says, I am not), your body can do some really weird things the first couple of times you go out there. Fortunately for me, out of complete dumb luck, this last time around I accidentally did things the right way. I started with low mileage (2-3 miles per run, 3 times per week) and built up from there. True, I probably built up too quickly over the course of the following few weeks, but the point is, I started slowly and let my body experience “success” at running before moving up to the next level.

Now some people may feel uncomfortable with this “babying” of oneself to breed success, but I draw a line of distinction from the “everybody wins-nobody loses” philosophy in that running is not primarily about competition. Yes, I run races. YES, I get competitive with those of equal ability. But running to me is about feeling good. It’s about that rush of blood coursing through my body, my focused energy, or chi as those who follow Chinese martial arts will know it. It’s about the endorphins carrying me through the day with a smile on my face. These are the fruits one harvests by taking care of the seed when one starts running.

That’s the thing though – you have to take care of the seed early. Pay attention and listen to your body. The best thing I did early on in my latest attempt at running was pay attention to my form. I am still a work-in-progress. My form is far from perfect. I still strike with my heel. I still bounce up and down when I run. However, I do both to a much lesser degree than I once did. As my form gets better and more efficient, the nagging aches and pains diminish. I haven’t had a serious injury in quite a while.

I find that I am enjoying my runs more and more, despite the fact that they are getting longer , harder and faster. Just when my body should be feeling like it’s taking a beating, it feels great…

…all because, I took care of the seed.

Why do you run?

Posted in motivation, training | Tagged beginning running, running, the seed, training | 11 Comments »

The Hazards of Running

March 7, 2011 by luau

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There is a down side to regular running. A dark side that people will try to paint over with white-wash and tell you it’s great. If you are considering the prospect of taking up running, I urge you to think about these things before you start.

•Your clothes will no longer fit you – the added cost of having to buy a new wardrobe, in addition to the new running gear you just bought a few months earlier, can weigh heavily on your wallet.

•Your sex-drive will increase dramatically – I didn’t think that was possible in my case, but it in fact did. The endorphins coursing through your body will keep your blood pumping long after your run is done. It can be rather distracting, you know?

•Your appetite will increase – with the added expenditure of calories will also come the added expenditure of dollars replacing many of those calories. You gotta eat, right?

•Related to your appetite, you will have to overhaul the contents of your cupboard and refrigerator – once you start fine-tuning the machine that is your body, you will become more aware of the fuel you are putting into it. Regular leaded will no longer do. A high performance engine craves the Super Unleaded.

•You will be happier – which sounds great on the surface, but it will annoy your friends to no end. They’ll ask you what are you so damned happy about (even though deep down they will know why).

•You won’t get sick as often – again, sounds great at first, but think about it; if you don’t get sick, you don’t get to call in sick and take a day off from work. That’s less time you get to lie in bed and watch crappy day-time television.

•You’ll make new friend – sounds good, but you know, I have a hard enough time keeping track of my high school and college buddies. Do I really need another whole group of friends to max out my address book?

The bottom line is, be careful what you wish for. This whole running thing may look good from the outside looking in, but once you’re in it, you realize that being in better shape, having a higher sex drive, being able to eat more and better food, being happier, rarely getting sick and making a bunch of new friends ain’t all what it’s cracked up to be!

You’ve been warned!

Why do you run?

Posted in diet, health, motivation, Odd Ball, other | Tagged don't run, hazards of running, running, running is bad | 29 Comments »

What are you eating?

March 4, 2011 by luau

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I’ve been thinking lately about diet, more specifically, about the fuel that we put in our engines to make them go.

I’ve always been pretty good about what goes into my body. The cravings I have, my wife tells me, aren’t normal. When I feel nudgy, I crave fruits, vegetables, maybe some nuts or left over salmon. I realize that for most people, these cravings aren’t normal, but I would like to challenge what should be defined as “normal”.

There’s a series of commercials on TV right for a car company that I can’t remember that keeps stressing that we’ve been brainwashed into accepting the status quo of what car companies are producing, but HEY! Look at us, we’re breaking that paradigm and bringing you what you REALLY need! I think that train of thought can be brought into the discussion of what we eat. There has been a certain amount of brainwashing that has been done to the population as a whole. We have been convinced that snacks have to be potato chips or candy bars or candy bars. What happened to the concept of an apple or an orange?

We all know the phrase, you are what you eat. I’d like to modify that phrase a little to say you feel like what you eat. That’s because, to a very large degree, if you put good things in your body, your body will feel good. If you put crap in your body, you’re gonna feel like crap. Plain and simple. It’s pretty straightforward.

But hold on. What qualifies as good? and what qualifies as crap? and what about the things that are in between?

That’s where things get hard. It’s easy to say to people, “eat right and you’ll be fine” or “don’t eat unhealthy food or you’re gonna get fat”. How does that help people? Most people have no idea what eating right really, truly means.

For a lot of people eating right means severely restricting calories. There’s a little bit of truth buried in that, but I’m pretty sure that’s not quite right. For others, it means eating fat-free, sugar-free foods from the “health & diet” section of the grocery store. I KNOW that’s not right. And yet for others it means eating only things that taste like cardboard and taking the joy out of eating. THAT is definitely NOT right.

So what’s a person to do?

Two words:

Be. Present.

That’s it. For a lot of people, eating has become either this orgiastic festival of gluttony or a mindless process of excess. Either way, there is a detachment that has happened that doesn’t allow your brain and your stomach to work together in concert. By being present, you pay attention to what you are eating and how you are eating it. Eventually, if you are aware of every bite you put in your mouth, you will realize that you are not hungry and will hopefully stop.

For those that can’t, there is then an extra step – the food log. It takes a lot less time than you actually think – literally 60 seconds after every meal or snack. You write down what you’ve eaten and note how you’ve felt since you last meal or snack. For those who say I don’t have the time I say, Are you frakking kidding me? Almost every adult I know has enough time to check their email, post to Facebook or tweet on Twitter after a meal. Guess what? You have 60 seconds to write down what you ate on your mobile device. There IS an app for that.

By keeping a log you will have the ability to go back and discover what IS good for you and what is not. Every person’s bio-chemistry is a little different. Yes, there are broad similarities that allow lifestyle diets like Paleo, South Beach and Blood Type to generally work for a lot of people, but in the final analysis, we are all individuals who don’t fit perfectly into that cookie cutter mold.

That is why by being present, you can customize your diet to fit the needs of your unique physiology.

I love spinach. A lot of people eat tons of it. Unfortunately for me, by being present I have come to realize that I can only eat it in smaller doses without it having an adverse effect on me. Unfortunate that I can’t eat it in large quantities – fortunate that I can avoid unnecessary unpleasantness.

So, are you aware of what you are eating?

Are you present?

Why do you run?

Posted in diet, health, log | Tagged diet, Eating, Food, health, present | 22 Comments »

Miserable

March 3, 2011 by luau

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I sat in my car, staring down the road in front of me. It was 6AM, the snow had been coming down for hours. The ground was covered in an inch or two of wet, wet snow.

Do I really want to do this?

I was staring down the starting end of a 20-mile run. 20 miles. 20 miles is a tough run under great conditions, much less snowy ones that were quickly turning worse.

Maybe the treadmill would have been a better idea.

The thing was, the treadmill wasn’t an option. I had made arrangements to meet my buddy Doug at mile 13 at 8AM. We were running a portion of the Boston Marathon course.

Why did I do that!?!?

My last 7 miles were going to be the first 7 miles of his own 16 mile run.

The minutes ticked by. 6:10 snuck up on me.

Sigh…

It was time to go. My plan was to run slowly. The weather and the road condition, snowy with the added bonus of slush, were not conducive for a quick paced trek. Traction was not high. I started in the high 8’s/low 9’s. At just about the mile marker, I stepped off a curb into about 3 or 4 inches of slush.

Great!!!

Water rushed into my shoe. I love my Kinvaras because they are so well ventilated. Great for hot, summer days; not so great for slushy conditions. I laughed. What else could I do? I trudged on, trying to keep my feet under me. As I hit my first hill, I could feel my feet slipping beneath me. Each stride was not only a battle of getting up the hill, but of making sure that I didn’t lose my feet and land on my face. Each step required renewed focus, moving from one foot to the other. I drew a deep sigh of relief as I crested the hill, only to realize that I would now be battling the slippage in a completely different way.

This is going to be miserable!!!

And so it went through this hilly section of the Boston Marathon course. Finally, I made the turn off of the hills and headed for the next town. As I tried to let my mind relax a little, a large truck drove by just a little too fast, a little too close for comfort. If that wasn’t scary enough, he went through a large puddle of slush just as he passed me. This sent sent a mini-tsunami of slush and ice splashing against my bare legs.

I’m awake!!! Holy Crap I’m AWAKE!!!

Holy cow that was cold! I gathered myself together. As I continued on through the growing layer of snow, I wondered why I had only worn little footie socks. Snow was beginning to accumulate on my bare ankles.

What the hell am I doing?

Just after entering the town of Wellesley, I was greeted by a hill that seemed to go on forever (though I think it only goes for about 2/3 of a mile). Ever-slickening conditions made the climb rather interesting. As I crested the hill I looked at my watch. I was now running low 8’s.

Too fast.

I tried to slow down, but the legs kept churning. Low 8’s turned into high 7’s. As I passed the 7 mile marker (where I was meeting Doug), I realized that I was about 5 minutes ahead of schedule. Despite telling myself that I needed to slow down, my legs were finally starting to feel strong. Passing Wellesley College, I was brought back to the Marathon last April and all of the screaming college girls offering kisses to the runners (no, I didn’t stop for any!). I checked my watch as I hit the next mile. 7:30!

7:30? Slow down, Dude!!!

No avail. Over the next five miles, as I made my way to Natick Centre and back, despite making a conscious effort to keep it under control, and being hyper-vigilant of both ice and traffic, I averaged just under 7:30/mile. I arrived at our meet up point 10 minutes ahead of schedule. 13 miles in 1:42. Not bad for such craptastic conditions!

Soon Doug arrived and we were on our merry way. Conditions were worsening, but it was great to have the company. As we made our way through Wellesley and back to the Newton Hills portion of the Boston Marathon Course, we chatted away. He reminded me about the heartbreaking story of why he ran Boston last year and why he is again running for the same charity. The story is —>HERE<—. We talked shoes, we talked running.

The falling snow was turning into sleet.

Lovely!

The intersections were ankle deep in slush now. Even if we were able to avoid the puddles (which I wasn’t), we were continually assaulted by the splashing of passing cars.

Finally on the Newton Hills, we were able avoid the flying slush, but of course, now we faced “the Newton Hills”. I was about 17 miles in at this point (which coincidentally is where they lie on the course), and the legs were heavy. We pushed our way through, yapping away the entire time.

Before I knew it, I saw my car in the distance. Arriving at mile 20, I gave Doug a quick hug and sent him on his way to finish his run.

Man! What a miserable frakkin’ day!

I hopped into my car and headed home, downing a couple of mix1’s to speed recovery.

I. Was. Exhausted.

When I got home, I trudged upstairs to kiss the wife and the kids. We chatted for a minute and then I went upstairs to shower. I was beat.

What a miserable, miserable outing.

Or was it?

A little later, I saw this on my wife’s Facebook page status:

my husband just ran 20 miles. in the snow. and is all sorts of cheerful. please tell me it’s ok to hate him. just a little.

The thing is, she was right. I was totally cheerful. I was beat. Yes. I was exhausted. Definitely. But I also felt great! Despite the conditions and the traffic (maybe because of the conditions and the traffic), I had a great time out there. Would I want to run that every week? Well, no. BUT, I gotta say, in retrospect, I had a great time.

Thanks Doug for keeping me company for the last 7 miles!

Why do you run?

Posted in boston marathon, training | Tagged miserable run, running, slush, snow, winter running | 14 Comments »

Capable

March 1, 2011 by luau

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I could never do that.

I only run when I’m being chased.

I can’t run more than a block.

I won’t ever run an 8:00 mile.

It’s too late for me.

What’s the point? I can’t change my body.

***

STOP!!!

***

You are capable.

You have it in you.

You CAN & WILL do it.

***

The most powerful asset you have to affect change is between your ears, and if you can mentally adjust what you see when you look in the mirror, then you can and will do it.

The key is patience and perseverance.

The marathon has taught me many things, but two critical things it has taught me is patience and perseverance. Change is coming if you work for it. And believe me, the change is worth the work.

See.

Believe.

Affect.

Yes, you are capable.

Why do you run?

Posted in motivation | Tagged capable, change | 5 Comments »

Hush, Rush

February 28, 2011 by luau

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So Rush is upset that Michelle is eating a plate of ribs while on a skiing vacation.

Michelle is a hypocrite! She should be eating nuts and berries!!! She’s trying to create a nanny state!!!

Oh, Rush. Is this what you have become? Is there where you have fallen to?

You dope! Eating healthfully is not about any one meal, you idiot! It’s not about one plate of ribs, you jack ass! It’s not about always eating nuts and berries, you numbskull!!!

You know, although I consider myself to be one who leans mostly left, I believe – I truly believe – that the answers to our current state will have to come from the center – which means that there will be a little taken from the right and a little taken from the left.

You want to know why we are losing ground to the rest of the world? Because the left AND the right are too busy arguing with each other and not getting down to the business of making things right for everyone. FOR EVERYONE!!! They are arguing and making political punch out of ribs. A stupid, frakkin’ plate of ribs!!!

This is what Rush said:

Nice Rush, nice. Obviously you didn’t listen to what the First Lady actually said or wrote – that her healthy eating initiative was about balance and moderation. Anybody who does just the tiniest bit of research on diet and healthy life-style changes knows, KNOWS, that you never tell someone that they can only eat A, B, or C indefinitely and never anything else. In fact, one of the best ways, THE BEST RUSH, to keep yourself on the track of balance and moderation is to let yourself indulge once a week.

You’re right about one thing. Leaders should lead. What are you doing Rush to get this Greatest of Nation’s waistline back under control? Hmmm, let’s see, you’re saying that people don’t need help making good food choices, despite the fact that 68% of our population over the age of 20 is overweight, with half of those categorized as obese (CDC – January 2010). 68% Rush. SIXTY EIGHT PERCENT!!! You right, Rush, people are making their choices just fine.

In all seriousness, it’s not like people need to be told what to eat on any given night. I’m thinking that under ideal conditions, that busy parent,scraping by would love to cook a healthy meal for their kid instead of bringing home McDonald’s, but they either don’t know how to cook (because, you know, that class was taken out of the curriculum due to budget cuts) or the fresh ingredients aren’t available at affordable prices. What this “Nanny State” you’re so worried about CAN do is help guide families and maybe shift where crop subsidies go so they can better serve our health.

And did you really say that Michelle Obama is a hypocrite because she doesn’t look like a Sports Illustrated cover model? Really? Can we take a step back from that one and let you think about what you said? No? Okay. Though I am one who truly believes that anyone, ANYONE (yes Rush, even you, your chins and your jellyroll), can change their shape for the better, I am also a realist. Not everyone is blessed/cursed with an ample bosom or curvy hips. To make women think that they can only be in shape if they look like Brooklyn Decker (love her by the way) is ridiculous and you know it.

What the hell is the matter with you? What in the world happened to you, Rush? You used to be fun. You used to be entertaining. Now? Well, now you are just a sad old radio personality, hanging on, making weird, out-of-touch attempts to hold on to relevance. You’re sounding more and more like a mean old man as opposed to the guy who, once upon a time, had at least the interest of the far right at heart.

Maybe it’s time for you to just hush. Hush, Rush.

Why do you run?

Posted in other | Tagged diet, Michelle Obama, Rush Limbaugh | 8 Comments »

More Pringles

February 24, 2011 by luau

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Back in December of 2009 I put out a list of shows I called Pringles for the Brain. They were shows that I enjoyed zoning out to when running on the treadmill. I thought maybe it was time for an update on what shows populate my Treadmill DVR. The current roster includes:

Chuck (NBC – Mondays 8PM) – currently one of the best shows on TV

CSI (CBS – Thursdays 9PM) – always good.

The Cape (NBC – Mondays 9PM) – New, campy and fun

Fringe (Fox – Fridays 9PM) – I think this is my favorite, it is The X-Files improved

30 Rock (NBC – Thursdays 10PM) – possibly the funniest show since Seinfeld

V (ABC – Tuesday 9PM) – New, after starting slowly, the show is picking it up

The Mentalist (CBS – Thursdays 10PM) – one of the more entertaining shows on TV, I wish I could do what Patrick Jane does

Family Guy (Fox – Sundays 9PM) – New – raunchy fun…sometimes crosses the line

Lie to Me (Fox – was on Mondays) – similar to the Mentalist

The Event (NBC – Mondays 9PM) – if LOST and 24 had a baby, this would be it

Human Target (Fox – was on Wednesdays, may be cancelled) – reminiscent of shows from the 80’s

The Good Guys (F0x – was on Fridays, may be cancelled) – would be a shame if this were cancelled, Bradley Whitford is extremely entertaining

Chase – (NBC – was on Mondays, may be cancelled) – Annie and her crew were growing on me, I hope they bring the show back

So there it is. This army of shows has helped me through several long runs when the roads were just too icy to risk injury. It’s tough to stay motivated for 20 miles on a treadmill without something to distract you, right? If you have a treadmill but don’t have a DVR hooked up nearby, I highly recommend it, otherwise you’re stuck watching whatever is on the tube at the time. At 4AM, when I run, there ain’t much on.

I would love to hear what you like to watch while zoning out and putting in miles.

Why do you run?

Posted in Odd Ball, training | Tagged 30 Rock, Chase, Chuck, CSI, DVR, Family Guy, Fringe, Human Target, Lie to Me, The Cape, The Event, The Good Guys, The Mentalist, Tivo, V | 19 Comments »

Wrong

February 22, 2011 by luau

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After nearly 2 years, I have finally reached a balance when it comes to my funny little running shoes. As many of you know, I have been a proponent of the Vibram Five Finger shoe for almost a year and a half now. Part of my inspiration came from reading Born To Run by Christopher McDougall, part of it came from my good friend Mike (famous for his battle with the Cat in the Hat last April). The thing is, you may have noticed that I haven’t been talking about them quite as much lately. I haven’t been pushing them, proselytizing about them.

I realized recently that I went into this minimalist shoe thing, the VFF’s in particular, all wrong. I did everything one was NOT supposed to do, and I paid for it with pain, injury and worst of all, time away from running. If transitioned to properly, I believe that the Vibrams are one of the best things you can do for yourself, your feet and your running, on many different levels.

Let’s start with why they are good:

They will push you to run with proper form – the thing about running barefoot is that you can’t be a heavy-duty heel striker. Even if that is what you have become, you are forced by the lack of heel protection to change your posture. If you try to continue to run with a heel-strike while barefoot, you’ll only end up hurting yourself…badly.
If used properly, you will avoid injuries to your knees and hips – because you are forced into better posture, your knees and hips don’t take the extreme pounding they would normally take while running with a heel-strike
You will run faster – because you are not hitting the breaks with your heels at every footfall, your momentum doesn’t get interrupted and you are able to maintain a higher speed.
You will run longer – because of the maintained momentum, you expend less energy with each step, each yard, each mile, leaving you more energy to run farther.

Sounds pretty good. Sounds like a miracle shoe. Let’s go out and get a pair and start piling on the miles!

***

Yeah, you know what? That’s exactly what I did. I read Born to Run and I talked to my buddy Mike and I was sold, convinced, converted. I was ready to dedicate my feet to Barefoot Ted and Vibrams. So I went out and bought a pair of the VFF Sprints, took them home, hopped on the treadmill and ran 3 miles.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

That was the sound of my feet on my treadmill as I ran my first VFF run. It was so loud! But you know what? It felt great…for about half a mile. Then my shins started to hurt a little. The burning pain grew, but I was determined to keep going.

These were Vibram Five Fingers!

They were barefoot shoes!

Evolution had programmed and designed me to run like this.

The pain would go away, right?

RIGHT?

But no, the pain didn’t go away. In fact, it got worse. By the time I hit 2 miles my shins were throbbing and my calves were starting to bark.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I finally hit 3 miles.

MY GOD THAT WAS PAINFUL!!!

But the pain was nothing compared to what I felt the next morning.

You know that feeling you get the morning after a hard fought marathon? The kind of feeling that forces you to walk down stairs backwards? Yeah, well 3 miles in the Vibrams on the treadmill had pretty much done the same thing to me. For the next three or four days I hobbled, if you could even call it that. Walking was painful.

In all seriousness, I was ready to toss the shoes and call them an $80 mistake. I called my buddy Mike to bitch about them, but before I could say anything he asked how far I had run in them.

“3 miles,” I said.

There was a moment of silence on the other side of the line and then some mild laughter. He knew. He knew that I must have been in incredible pain.

“Dude! You shouldn’t have done more than a half a mile the first time in those things! You could really hurt yourself like that!”

“Well, you could’ve told me,” I said. He laughed and we moved on to other topics, but at that point I realized that I needed to give the Vibrams another chance. This time I would take it slowly and build up my mileage a little at a time.

And that’s what I did. Over the course of the next month or so, I built up my mileage until I was able to do 8 mile runs regularly in them.

This is where my next big mistake came. I loved these shoes so much, that I eliminated my other running shoes completely. I loved them and talked about them so much that my wife had this made for my birthday:

Yes, that is a Vibram Five Finger KSO Cake

The problem with that is when you wear the same shoe all of the time, you run a higher risk of repetitive motion injuries, and when you’ve spent a lifetime running in regular shoes, certain muscles and tendons have atrophied to the point where they are weak and brittle. I got away with it for a few months. I had developed a pretty decent stride, but my form still had a tendency to break down a little late in longer runs. I was able to fend off injury to my achilles’ tendon through stretching, but in the meantime, I didn’t realize what I was doing to the tendons on the top of my feet. About 5 weeks before I was to run my first marathon, I went out for a run and I got a sharp pain on the top of my right foot. This was not a “let me see if I can run through it” type of a pain. No, this was, “HOLY CRAP I HAVE GOT TO STOP RIGHT NOW!!!” kind of a pain. Being the intelligent person that I am I decided to try another 10 yards and nearly collapsed to the ground on the second stride.

Something was dreadfully wrong.

After much testing and worrying, I was relieved to know I had not broken anything. I had a severe case of tendinitis however and the doctor ordered me to lay off the running for six weeks.

Hmmm…6 week, eh, Doc? I don’t think I can do that.

Why not, Luau?

Well, you see, I’ve got this marathon coming up in 5 weeks.

No, no you don’t have a marathon coming in 5 weeks. You aren’t going to run. Why would you want to run a marathon anyway?

I sighed after that comment, knowing that I wasn’t going to get anywhere with her. She realized that I was going to run one way or the other.

Ok, she said, I think you’re crazy for doing it in the first place, but if you are going to run it, you need to take the next 3-4 weeks off and then take it easy leading up to the marathon. The moment you feel pain in the race, you stop!

The moment I feel pain? I thought The marathon is about ignoring pain!

I nodded my head and said I would.

The truth is though, I did need to take time off. I could barely walk on my foot, much less run on it. Even swimming, which I did during those 4 weeks, was initially painful to do because of the tendinitis. All of this pain, because I jumped headlong, eyes closed into the minimalist shoe movement without taking into consideration that maybe my legs and feet needed some time to adjust.

So what’s my point? When I started wearing Vibrams, they were the fringe of the fringe. Most odd-balls looked at me like I was crazy. Now, almost 2 years later, the Five Finger shoe line has gained a foothold in the running shoe market. More and more people are willing to try them out. This increased use by an uninformed public has led to some injuries that are being reported by an uninformed press. The Boston Globe, among others, recently published an article about the dangers of wearing the Five Finger shoe. They only get the story half right. Yes, the VFF’s can lead to injury if the wearer doesn’t go about transitioning to them the right way. However, with a little patience, something that is lost in this age of immediate gratification, one can avoid injury all together.

If you are considering a move to Vibram Five Fingers or any other extreme minimalist shoe, I would suggest three things:

Take your time – start slowly and with as few miles as you can possibly take. In fact, if you are using VFF’s for the first time, try a quarter or half mile and call it a day. You can finish your run in your traditional shoes, but don’t be fooled by the initial “it feels so good” feeling. It can only lead to trouble.
Consider a transition shoe. Something that has a bit of a minimalist feel that still has some of the support and cushioning of a traditional shoe. Personally, I highly recommend the Saucony Kinvara. It is low to the ground, relatively flat, light as a feather, but still soft underfoot.
Don’t go exclusively with one shoe. Try rotating your shoes. It doesn’t have to be a 50-50 split. You simply want to make sure that you are not putting the same stresses on the same spots every time you run. This will help you avoid repetitive stress injuries like I suffered right before my first marathon.

If you’re still here, hopefully it means you are still interested in going minimalist. I highly recommend it. It will make you faster and allow you to run longer. Just don’t go making the same mistakes I made.

Today’s post is part of a Minimalist Running Blog Carnival. You can link to the round-up at http://www.strengthrunning.com/2011/02/minimalist-blog-carnival/ where you will find several links to other bloggers writing about different aspects of minimalist running. I hope you will click over and check them out.

Why do you run?

Posted in other, training, Vibram Five Fingers | Tagged minimalist, running, VFF, Vibram, Vibram Five Finger | 25 Comments »

Fight

February 21, 2011 by luau

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There are battles we cannot win. There are fights we know we will lose. In those situations, should we not engage the enemy?

Well, yeah, we probably shouldn’t.

But there is one all-powerful enemy that I do believe we should engage and battle on a regular basis. This enemy sometimes steals things from you when you aren’t paying attention. This enemy sometimes takes things from you forcefully while you ARE paying attention. This enemy has no corporeal body. This enemy has no head to cut off, no heart to stab through. Eventually, this enemy will get you. It is inevitable.

If you haven’t figured it out by now, this enemy is Time – the stealer of all things.

I have been watching Time – watching it slowly take away my youth and that of my friends, some more quickly than others. True, I am 41 – I am not a Spring chicken anymore…hell, I’m not even a Summer chicken anymore. The gray hair has arrived, as have some wrinkles around the eyes. Both are tough to take for a guy with a mild Peter Pan/Mickey Mouse complex, but I know that the hair and the wrinkles are a natural part of aging. Recovery isn’t as easy anymore and aches take a little longer to go away.

And yet, I fight. Taking the battle to Time.

I wake up at 4:00 AM to squeeze in the miles, get the blood flowing, get the endorphins pumping.

I cannot stop Time, but dammit, I’m holding it back as long as I can.

Running is my sword, sweat is my shield and with my weapons of choice I have managed to get myself into the best shape I’ve been in since I was 18, maybe even better.

Eventually time will deal me a fatal blow. We can’t live forever (not yet anyway), but when it’s finally my time to go, I am going to go knowing that I gave time a run for the money. I know that I will look and feel younger than most of my contemporaries. I’ll know that I was able to turn back the clock just a little. I’ll go knowing I didn’t give up.

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

-Dylan Thomas

I will not go gently into that good night. I will rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Will you?

Why do you run?

Posted in health, motivation | Tagged Dylan Thomas, Fight, Rage, running, Time | 5 Comments »

Loaded

February 18, 2011 by luau

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There are many reasons why I run. Some are for me – the sense of accomplishment, the feeling of achievement; but some are for others.

I run because I need to know that I am doing everything possible to make sure that I am “there”. I don’t mean “there” in the sense of the here and now – no, I am talking about being “there” down the line. I run for my kids. I run for the wife. I run for my parents.

Statistics show that those that lead a sedentary life have a significantly higher likelihood of being inflicted with cancer or other life-debilitating diseases. Add extra weight (not even obesity) to that equation and the numbers become staggering.

According to the Mayo Clinic, men who have a beer gut are at a higher risk of:

Heart disease
High blood pressure
Stroke
Some types of cancer
Type 2 diabetes
Insulin resistance
High triglycerides
Low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or “good,” cholesterol
Metabolic syndrome
Sleep apnea

For women, the increased belly fat brings a higher risk of:

Heart disease
Breast cancer
Diabetes
Metabolic syndrome
Gallbladder problems
High blood pressure
Colorectal cancer

Depending on how sedentary the life-style and the amount of weight, the increased risk can be as much as 50%.

But here’s the thing, even if a sedentary life only added a 5% chance of getting cancer or some other life-ending disease, would you want to take that chance, knowing that exercise and healthful eating habits could have helped you avoid them? Could you look your children or spouse in the eyes at the end and simply apologize because you couldn’t find the motivation to move your body?

Time is a factor, I know. There are only 24 hours in a day, and busy, hectic life-styles can impede the ability to sweat. Carving out 120 minutes per week can be difficult. It’s hard. It shouldn’t be, but it is. Still, I bet if you kept a diary of everything you did in the coming week, you would find a 30 – 40 minute window in a few spots. Give it a try. Seriously.

Energy is another factor. Low-energy can sap the will like nothing else, but I tell you this – you energy-level is much like matter in that it is subject to inertia. If it is sedentary, it will remain sedentary until you move it. The spectacular part though is that once it is moving, it is more likely to stay in motion. You just have to push – a little bit, every day. Get the ball rolling and the rest will take care of itself.

So, I guess the question is, are you happy playing Russian Roulette? The statistics say that nothing should happen when you pull the trigger, but do you want to take that chance? Whether it’s a bullet or life-ending disease, the result is the same.

That is a reason I run; why I try to break a sweat at least 2 out of every 3 days.

Take the bullets out of the gun.

There are no guarantees in life other than death and taxes, but why not stack the deck in your favor?

Why do you run?