1-1-13

Today is the first day of the new year.  I am happy to report I accomplished the four things I set out to do last year.  My four goals were 1) Lose 30 lbs, 2) Run a half marathon, 3) Complete my masters degree, and 4) Become a dad.  Accomplishing these goals has given me a great amount of satisfaction along with the desire to achieve some new goals for 2013.  Some people don't believe in New Year's resolutions, but I do.  Life without goals is in my opinion sorry state of existence.

Here are the goals for 2013.

1) Lose more weight.  I have yet to determine an amount but right now would like to lose as much as I can in a healthy and sane manner.  For the most part I have kept off the weight I have lost due to life-style change.  I am sure that if I continue to do what I have been doing so far, the weight will continue to come off and my overall level of fitness will continue to improve.

2) Run a trail marathon or 50k trail ultra marathon.  I am not a road guy.  I had a lot of fun training for and running two half marathons last year.  However I was reminded of something as I hit the trails during the spring and summer.  I always liked cross country more than track, and I see road running and trail running kind of the same way.  I also believe trail running is easier on the body because it requires four different proficiencies: climbing, descending, running, and hiking.  If everything works out well, I am going to shoot for a race sometime in the October-November window of next year.

3) Improve my income.  Tina is officially a stay at home mom.  We believe this is the best thing for our family.  I have some ideas of things I can do to make more money and will investigate those ideas during the year.

So there you have it, three goals for the New Year.  Tomorrow I am going to run 5 miles to work on goals 1 and 2.

Happy Trails in 2013.

At the end of each year, Salomon makes a thank you video.  I found this to be inspirational.

Welcome

About a year ago I got back into running.  My cousin Andrea trained for and successfully completed the Utah Valley Half Marathon.  I was very proud.  Andrea is amazing.  Not only did she run every last step of the 13.1 miles of the race, but she did it with cerebral palsy.  It made me think that I should do the same thing and now I am gearing up for the Top of Utah half in August.  I am so stoked. 

Getting from where I was a year ago to where I am now has not been easy.  My knees paid a dear, dear, price at first which landed me in physical therapy.  Fortunately my wife recommended her physical therapists Steve and Karen at Orrock Mendenhall Physical Therapy.  They are great.  Both of them are runners and understand the stresses running puts on the body.  After working with them my knees and IT bands are good.  Well, about as good as any runner could ask for. 

I love to run.  I am sad that I gave up on it 15 years ago due to tendonitis and thought I would never run again.  Now, at 33 years young I am planning on an eight mile long run tomorrow.

So, the overall purpose of this blog is to help other beginners, like me, avoid the same mistakes I made when decided to start running again after so much time off.  Also, as the name implies, this blog is to help people get into running who don't have tons of discretionary cash or think it ridiculous to pay $70 for a pair of shorts.  Yeah, I'm cheap.  But I am out to prove to other runners you don't have to spend a ton of money to enjoy a great experience.

Coming back...Slowly

Nearly no one follows this blog so next to no one knows that since late December of 2011 I have been somewhat sidelined with some hip problems.  After about three weeks of physical therapy, I can say they are getting better and I am in a place to get back into running. 

The mistake that led to being sidelined was twofold.  First, I abruptly changed my training routine from running just for time to running for mileage.  This led me to doing too much, too fast, which is a pitfall that becomes the downfall of many beginning runners.  As I start from the drawing board, I am going to focus on running for time and will leave running for mileage until I am actually training for something.

Mistake number two was not watching what I eat in the belief exercise alone was all I needed to lose weight and get healthy.  I am not sure if this was a cause of my injury, but until someone more knowledgeable than myself tells me otherwise I am going to think so. 

For Christmas I got a new pair of Mountain Masochists from Montrail.  They were way to narrow in the toebox so I exchanged them a pair of Salomon XA Pro 3d Ultras (perhaps the longest shoe name ever).  My brother-in-law recommended them and so far taking advice was a good thing.  So far the Salomons have been great and I am considering buying another pair once my Brooks Adrenalines wear out.

Though I said the cause of my injuries was twofold, I realized there was a third clue to the cause of my hip injury, not enough cross-training.  Running is my favorite form of exercise.  However, for a beginner like me, it is not something to be done everyday.  From the little I have read it is a good idea to take a week or so off to do things like cycle, elliptical, or swim to allow the body time to recover from the pounding and stress running places on the body.  Speaking of pounding, now that I am the proud owner of a great pair of trail running shoes, I am planning on spending more time on the trails near my home in the hopes that my body will thank me for running on these softer surfaces(Thank you this year's mild Utah Winter).

I have dreams of doing marathon and beyond distances but for now have to focus on building a base, eating right to lose weight, and training at a pace that will allow this body of mine to adapt to the stresses of moving being overweight to in-shape.  I am excited as ever to run and hope to make it healthy to at least one starting line in 2012.

My new Salomons.  Not to be confused with Saruman :-)

Best Run Ever!!!

Though it may sound like a bold claim, that was how I felt today on the Provo River Trail.  Instead of connecting with the PRT by work, I decided to head up the canyon and man was it worth it.  I made it through my run walk without feeling tired at all.  Part of why today was so good was I cross trained on Saturday and took Sunday totally off.  When I slipped into my shoes I had no idea what I was in for.  Thankfully it was so good.

This Week

I did some of my best running this week.  What's more, I figured out how to shorten my stride and make it feel natural.  The key was landing mid-foot as opposed to heal striking.  I noticed a difference immediately.  Instead of the shock of impact going totally to my knees, it was absorbed by my whole leg.  I was far less fatigued when I finished my run and was far less sore the next day.

Making this change to my form forced me to use muscles in ways they are not accustomed to but with subsequent runs and cross training I will be able to sustain good form for the entirety of my runs.

So, does this mean I will be trying barefoot, or minimalist running.  Probably not.  Here's why.  Barefoot, or minimalist running, might work for some people but it is not a panacea.  It won't solve everyone's problems.  Now I am all for natural, and getting the body to do natural things, but what do you do when you are running on unnatural surfaces?  I would consider a minimalist shoe for grass or trails but not for pounding it out on the roads. 

Trails are fun

All of my running has been divided between parks, my neighborhood, and the Timpanogos high school track.  These are all great places but sometimes they can get kind of monotonous.  Thankfully there are trails.

I spent the weekend with my family at Island Park, a reservoir in eastern Idaho.  Island Park is beautiful and is full of great trails.  The beauty of the scenery absorbed me as I made way down the dirt roads and trails.  I didn't go far, probably about the same distance as normal, but the experience made me a convert.  I am going to take advantage of the trails in and around Utah County and beyond.  Trail running is a great way to experience the great outdoors and to change things up.

Good form old boy

Form.  I never would have thought my form was a factor in the injury I sustained about two weeks ago.  My trip to the physical therapist has me convinced that I need to give serious attention to training my body to run right.

Getting my running form evaluated was kind of cool.  The therapist put me on a treadmill and then videotaped me running for about three minutes.  After that, she compared my form with the form of another running and I was amazed at how bad it was.  My two biggest problems are overstriding (taking steps that are too long) and not getting my upper involved as much as it could.  Both of these are easily corrected.  To correct overstride, I am counting how many steps I take a minute.  If they are somewhere around 83-88 steps then I am doing well.  If my steps are down in the 70s then I know my steps are too big and I am placing too much strain on my knees.  Today was my first day counting my steps and I was surprised at how good it felt and how less sore my knees felt after today's run/walk.  Of course loosing weight will be a big factor in improving my form, but doing some things now to fix some problems is definitely a good idea.