Shoes & Music

I was wondering this morning how many pair of running shoes is too many (all with low mileage). See, I currently have 3 pair and love them all. I have a pair for trail running that carried me through Catalina safely avoiding the doom of road rash that many succumbed to, and through 17 mile of pouring rain protecting me from the slippery road that ate up so many full and half marathoners. I have a pair that are so light it's like wearing spikes...without the spikes, and I can run faster up to a 10k. Then I have a pair I customized Nike Shox that have a butterfly and my name...no, I am not kidding. I find myself yearning for yet another pair for distances of 15+ miles, and yet another custom pair, perhaps with bumble bees. Yes, I know that putting butterflies and bees on my shoes might not send the hardcore message of "I'm a runner damn it, move out of the way", but they make me smile and that much more fun to wear. Try it sometime.

I whole heartedly recommend that if you are really, truly getting into the sport of running you go to a running store, not a Big 5 or Sportmart, and be professionally fitted for your shoes. The sign of someone that is a good fitter: they will watch you run, measure your foot length and width, take into account how much you run and what is your running goal. Then they will bring out several pairs of shoes. This step is highly important. If they only bring you one pair of shoes, then run away, even in flip flops. Trying on many pairs of running shoes to find just the right pair is part of the process. Yes, the first pair might feel great, but the 4th pair could be life changing and feel like you were born with them on your feet. Just think, if you had stopped with the pair that were good enough you would have never found the pair that you were destined to have.

Now you've found your shoe and you lace them up and run. Write the date of your first run on the inside of the tounge. You need to replace your shoes every 300-500 miles. The support breaks down and if you keep running in them, no matter how excellent your form is you are at risk for injury. If you are a light to moderate runner this will be about 6 months. If you are a heavy runner it will be about 3 to 5 months. Also, yes, you've found the perfect shoe, but your feet change. They do, I swear. Get fitted once a year. It's free! Heck, get fitted every single time if it makes you feel better. The important part is to take care of your feet. If you fail your feet, then they will fail you and the knees will follow their lead, as will the back. The body tends to gang up on you if you don't take care of it.

As for music, I literally have a marathon mix on my ipod that I am constantly moving music around. Here are my latest additions:

Road to Nowhere - Talking Heads, the 2005 remix
Supermassive Black Hole - Muse (no, I swear I am not a hipster)
Send Me On My Way - Rusted Root
I Caught Myself - Paramore
Sweet Emotion - Aerosmith (you MUST have some Aerosmith)
Eye of the Tiger - Survivor ("Rocky"...need I say more)

Spring Training Begins!

Time: 45:00
Distance: 4.5
Per Mile: 10:00

This past Saturday, April 25th, spring training with the group Sole Runners began. As always, i woke up in desperate need of coffee: first stop: Starbucks.

I arrived in Long Beach at the Marina Vista Park just before 7am to find I was hardly the first person there. In fact, i was one of the last to arrive. It was nice to see so many familiar faces, and so many new faces. After a quick Chi-running lesson lead by coach Steve Mackel we were off. It was such a great day for a run, I could not have asked for anything more. Upon arriving back to the park I looked at my stats and came to realize one thing: I HAVE LOWERED MY MILE AVERAGE BY TWO MINUTES! I ran a 10 minute mile, which for many is slow, but for someone like me who is trying to lose weight and race faster a HUGE accomplishment. I was thrilled.....let's hope I can maintain it at the race this weekend!

Next up: Palos Verdes Half Marathon, May 2nd....followed by another 1 to 1 1/2 hour(s) of running. Gotta keep to the plan even with a race.

To Blog or Not to Blog

Well, here it is....the blog. I swore I would never write a blog, but people think I'm crazy, and it's all about my racing addiction. Now, I won't lie, I am not the fastest, the latest and greatest, and I have weight to lose (35 lbs in total). I don't know, there's just something about lining up at the starting line with 1,000 other strangers who are all there for the same purpose: to finish. The anxiety of a swim start in a triathlon, the excitement that comes with never being alone during a marathon, the comfort of volunteers who don't know you from Adam passing out fluid and well wishes. The swelling of pride and overcoming emotion when you cross that finish line is incomparable. I'm not crazy, I am addicted to the accomplishment of a job well done.

Saturday April 25th is when the next season of Sole Runners starts up for the next season to be followed by five weeks of racing:

May 2nd: PV Half
May 9th: Xterra Malibu Creek Challenge 6k
May 17th: Bay to Breakers
May 25th: LA Marathon
June 3rd: LA Tri Express Sprint Tri @ Bonelli park (where my racing all began in 2003)

From there it's just focus on training and life leading to the fall season that kicks off with the Disneyland Half Marathon on Sept. 6th, Labor Day!

I swear, if you ever, ever wanted to even just walk, checkout www.socalrunning.com for info on the trainning program for Sole Runners. Even on a run that might be three hours you will be nothing but grateful that you rose up to the challenge.