GO Marlow!

Have you ever seen that person at the gym with those ridiculous looking shoes that individually wrap each toe? Some call them “Glove Shoes” and some call them “Just Plain Weird” shoes. You know the ones I’m talking about. Well, I’m officially that person at the gym who has their feet stared at like they are from another planet.

Vibram FiveFingers is the actual name for these (though some other companies have started making similar styles – such as Fila). There’s a lot of back and forth between runners, doctors, monkeys, and mankind about whether or not these types of shoes (for what is called “barefoot running”) are good for you.

I’m a believer of people doing what they feel is right for them. Each of us are different, individual humans with unique levels of strength, endurance, agility, and injuries. Maybe these shoes aren’t right for everyone but I say don’t knock ‘em ‘til you try ‘em!

I had thought about buying these for awhile and was eventually completely sold when I tried them on at REI. The sales associate told me I could wear them for a day, a month, 50 years, through the mud, over the river and through the woods, and if I wasn’t satisfied with them down the road I could return them – no questions asked, full refund. Yes, you read that right… a FULL refund when I’m 80 if I change my mind about them. If only Yogurtland would give me a full refund after scraping my bowl clean, then the world would be in perfect unison.

Here’s the deal with these shoes: You need to break them in and a great way to do that is by running on grass, sand, or a treadmill (which has more give than pavement) gradually increasing from low to high mileage. I think a majority of people would actually really like them, but they take getting used to. And if you’re not careful you could really hurt yourself or just be sore as hell the next day and hate them from the get go. But, if someone gradually learns to love the weirdness of them, these shoes could potentially fix common running injuries (or so the barefoot experts say).

My review as of this moment: They make me feel like a kid again. They are lightweight and don’t weigh me down when I run, it’s rather freeing. Running in them reminds me of running barefoot through the front yard while growing up… carefree, excited, and probably soaking wet from sprinklers.  My workout is a little harder I will say, only because I’m technically training some new muscles. But who said a little pain wasn’t worth the fun?

Click below for:

The Vibrams I run in

Finding a store that sells them

Finding an REI in your area so you can buy them without the stress of “What if I hate them?!”

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This past weekend was the LA Marathon; a race I was originally signed up to run. I trained hard, I was in it to win it, and then my body threw me a foot injury I wasn’t exactly expecting. I contemplated back and forth about running it (even though I missed two months of training) to the point where I was driving myself crazy. I thought to myself “If I finish that’s all that matters, right?” But after being talked out of it by some sane people in my life, I ended up not running it.

Have you ever noticed how when life involves a personal dilemma more times than not we try to do what we want to do but yet that thing we want to do would never be something we’d advise someone else to do? If someone had come to me the week before the race and said, “Listen, I signed up for this marathon. It’s my first one. I want to do it and I think I’m gonna do it. I was training hard. I’m just a little worried about this foot injury I have and I haven’t been running much lately…but it’s fine. It’s totally fine. Right?”  I would say “Hell. No.”

“Hell. No.” … That’s the advice I would have given to anyone. For me, pride, frustration, money already spent, and the desire to accomplish something I set out to do were all walls I was putting up to block out my own advice. More times than not, we know the answer to our own questions but sometimes we just refuse to listen and accept it. Luckily I have people in my life who care about me, my well being, and my future of running.

Moral of the story: Practice stepping outside of the walls you put up around you in all areas of life. Listen to yourself and take your own advice. There’s always another race to run.

…Now time to start training for the next one!

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After two months of watching runners frolic freely along the streets of LA while I drooled in envy, I’m finally back in the game.  I’ve ran four times in the past week and a half (super low mileage) which is nothing compared to what I was doing previously, BUT it’s progress and my foot is healing slowly but surely.  I really feel like this injury happened to me for many great reasons and in some odd way I’ve actually come to appreciate it. I’ve learned a lot about myself in my down time.

In my two-month hiatus from running I added the following 10 items to my list-of-things-I-should-have-incorporated-into-life-a-long-ass-time-ago:

• A lovely bond with the stair master
• An understanding of why the elliptical is favored by many
• Yoga
• Meditation
• Correct walking (which has now lead to correct running)
• Books that changed my life
• Knowledge and understanding of my thoughts and how they can affect me physically
• More time for family and friends
• What it means to “use your core”
• A deeper love and appreciation for the ability to run; I truly am lucky that I’m able to

These are all things (big and small) I wish I would have understood a little more in depth before I dedicated so much time to running, but it took running to get me to this point and thank God for that. I plan to share a little more on each of these in future blogs because I think it’s necessary to share what you learn with others. This is what we’re all here for… to learn, to understand, and to re-teach.

Unfortunately I will not be running the LA Marathon (unless by some miracle I knock out a twenty miler in the next few weeks… and I suppose crazier things have happened), but the good news is I am 1. On my way to being a stronger, faster, and better runner and 2. This sport has races somewhere every weekend so when I’m ready I’ll just jump on board with another one.

It feels good to be back. I’ve missed this.

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A friend passed along an email to me the other day about something in London called “The Good Gym”.

“The Good Gym pairs runners with isolated less-mobile people in their area.  Runners jog to their house, deliver something nice, have a brief chat and are on their way again. It helps people get fit by providing a good reason to go for a run and it helps the person being visited by providing them with some friendly human contact and a newspaper or piece of fruit”

How awesome is this?? It takes running to an entirely new level; a level of motivation and humanitarianism. I can appreciate it from both sides – Side One being that some days you really don’t have the energy to run but knowing someone is counting on seeing you/receiving something from you is a HUGE motivator. It’s also nice being able to see the end result before you even get there.  Side Two being the person who may be isolated, elderly, and less-mobile looking forward to seeing that sweaty runner show up at their doorstep to greet them with endorphins, a smile, and some groceries or mail. When I had jaw surgery I would have totally loved to have had a runner show up with a milkshake.

Check it out at http://www.thegoodgym.org/

The wheels are spinning in my head on how to bring this to LA…

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Every runners biggest frustration is probably if they are ever faced with an injury that sidelines them. The worst possible thing to do is to try and push through though when your body is trying to tell you something and sidelining is usually for the best. Your body may not be able to form words but it will talk to you in other ways, it just needs you to listen.

I’ve been training for the LA Marathon since September. In the middle of a 16 mile run about a month ago my foot gave out on me. I’ve had pain before from running but it’s usually something that was dull enough to withstand or something that went away after a few minutes. This pain was different; it was instantaneous, sharp, and almost brought me to my knees. I took a running break for about a week hoping it would get better but when it didn’t I visited a podiatrist (foot doc) to get it looked at.

The Diagnosis:

• Overuse injury in my big toe joint (inflamed and aggravated)

The Treatment:

• Orthotics (custom insoles)
• Physical Therapy

I was given the option to get a shot of cortisone which would make the pain go away for the time being so I could continue running, but I turned it down. I figured it was best not to mask the pain (which a lot of runners do) but rather address it and fix it so I could continue running, training, and racing.

I’ve been in physical therapy for roughly a month now and I’m told I have another month left before I should/can run. Apparently, my flat, overpronating feet, and my subconscious desire to slouch and hide my body as an overweight kid really took a toll on me. I’m told I run with my back/neck and carry my mileage there instead of with my core and legs, so in return my feet are just smacking against the ground improperly. Walking improperly is one thing but running 30 – 40 miles a week improperly is bound to effect you eventually. I’ve read tons of articles on running properly and preach it to everyone, and even though I thought I was running properly I apparently wasn’t…my body informed me of that very clearly.

With the glass half full though, I really think I’m going through this sideline injury to learn and to teach. Having someone point out what I’m doing incorrectly and show me how to do it the right way will help me show it to others and hopefully prevent them from being sidelined.  Physical therapy is really like school for me, I love going. I learn something new about myself almost every time I’m there and I know that being patient and listening to my body will only make me a stronger runner in the end.

On the brighter side of things I’ve become one with the Mr. Non-impact Stairmaster…

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Tis the season to be jolly.. fa la la la laaa la la la la.

This holiday card is the epitome of why I love running. This. Right. Here.

Thank you Peter, for keeping me motivated. It’s the little things like this that really mean more than all the things money can buy during this holiday season. The feeling of gratitude, motivation, accomplishment, and love all wrapped into one little folded piece of paper. This is what the holidays are about…and this is exactly why I love running.

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The best time of the year has officially arrived: aka The Holiday Season! Visiting family, lots of good food and drinks, festive parties, shopping, and traveling make for some very happy individuals. Add marathon training to the top of that list and you’ve got the makeup of a happy yet exhausted runner.

Even though it’s the season to be jolly and relax, for myself and a lot of other runners out there it’s also the season of spring marathon training. Unfortunately, attending a holiday party doesn’t mean you get to skip a training day, it just means you get to add that on top of it. Traveling to another city to visit family doesn’t mean you stop running, you just run in a new area. And even though it’s a little exhausting at times I do have to say that this sport being so flexible and mobile makes it rather easy to stay on track.

I traveled to Montana over the Thanksgiving holiday and the only concern I had wasn’t “Will I have time to run?” but rather “Will the higher altitude be the death of me?” The slight problem with training at a lower altitude and then attempting to train at a higher altitude is that it can sometimes mentally psych a runner out…“Sweet I just ran a 4 minute mile in California….” Cut to epic climax scene of “Vacation in the Rocky Mountains” movie “OMG why did that mile just  take me half a day?!” The reason behind this is that there is a decrease in oxygen pressure. The thinner air results in your heart having to work harder and your muscles having less strength. Kind of like if you put a plastic bag over your face and tried to run (do not attempt to try this at home), the oxygen supply is slowed and your muscles (including your cardiac muscles) aren’t getting the oxygen they normally receive. If a person isn’t used to training in high altitudes they are bound to notice a difference in their performance when they travel to these types of places.

Training in high altitudes could only mean one thing though right? First place medals and trophies in low altitudes! I can guarantee if any marathoner in Montana or other higher elevation places came and raced with me in LA they’d probably finish their race before I could even get my foot across the start line or say “Where are we going for pancakes afterwards?” I noticed when I was training for my first half-marathon and I was doing weekly runs in the mountains that my runs in town were not only easier but much faster. For those runners that live at sea level but want to get some good training in or prepare for higher altitudes, I definitely suggest some trail running from time to time.

Tips for running in high altitudes if traveling over the holidays:

• Try and do some higher altitude trail running before you travel
• Run slower. If you’re having a hard time breathing, your heart is beating harder than normal, or your legs feel like 100lb bricks are attached to them slow it down! Running slow is still running.
• Run the first day you arrive in the new place. Theory has it that your body will adapt quicker or not be affected as much in the new altitude (Why? I really have no answer here BUT I will say the first place I went after stepping off the airplane when arriving in Montana was the gym and I busted out 8.5 miles and then three days later busted out a 12 miler. I train at zero feet of elevation and somehow managed to run those at 4,000ft… is it because I ran the moment I stepped off the plane? No clue, but I’ll continue to do that every time I travel just to be safe.)
• Remember that you ARE a runner even if at the moment your body isn’t telling you so and you start second guessing yourself.
• Keep on keepin’ on

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I tell people “running saved my life” because I really do believe it did. Maybe I wasn’t on the brink of death but I sure wasn’t helping myself by not taking care of my body and partying like a rockstar almost every night of the week. It was a physical and mental savior for so many reasons. This blog though in particular isn’t about me, but instead a little story about a friend of mine who I believe literally had their life saved by running.

Meet Chris. A hilarious guy and my running buddy Saturday mornings during training. On day one of running beside each other he mentioned in passing “If it wasn’t for running I’d probably be dead like a lot of my friends…man do I have some stories for you.” Flash forward to this past weekend (several weeks later), the last mile of a 14 miler when during our conversation he mentioned, “I thought running would be cheap but now I have to buy all these new things! Though, I guess anything is cheaper than the 300 dollar a day drug addiction I had.” This statement left his lips and I of course was intrigued so I asked him to elaborate. The nutshell version of the story that I received was as follows…

A few years back, Chris worked in the entertainment industry and ran a successful moving company on the side. Things were going good and life was working out like he had planned until he started getting messed up in drugs. Before he knew it he had (like I previously mentioned) a 300 dollar a day drug addiction with cocaine and heroine. He found himself losing his apartment/house, losing his job, and living out of his moving van that he had been using for his company. After finally losing his van, he then resorted to couch surfing at his drug addicted friends houses until they didn’t really want to deal with him anymore. His family wouldn’t speak to him and things just sort of spiraled it seems. Eventually he checked himself into rehab, got clean, and then fell right back into his addictions. Again he cleaned himself up, but wasn’t quite sure he’d be able to stick to it seeing as previous experiences didn’t work out so well.

One day while at the gym and trying to stay on track with his second shot at sobriety, he noticed all his usual machines were taken. He decided to hop onto a treadmill and give it a shot. He began running, got the endorphin rush that most runners get, and decided this would be his new found addiction….

Today, 365 days later, Chris is still clean and sober. He has a steady job, a car, an apartment, and is training for his first ever full marathon. It’s stories like these that make me realize the positive power running can truly have on someone. Running beside him every Saturday morning knowing how completely turned around his life is because of this sport is all the more reason for me to wake up at 5am.

Chris, if you’re reading this…CONGRATULATIONS! Happy 1 Year!! xo

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There are two things that continue to motivate me and reset my mentality in this sport of running. 1. Setting a record time/running at a new pace 2. Hitting a new distance.

Last week I was having a little bit of a mental block when it came to running. Finally when my leg started feeling better I began finding it hard to motivate myself, which let me tell you is one very frustrating thing when you know you’re supposed to be training. (Mind: “You have to get an 8 miler in before you go to bed.” Body: “But it’s Wednesday!! And I want to sit on the couch and watch the Food Network”)  But there was a light at the end of that motivation blocked tunnel, I knew Saturday would be the day I’d push through. Until this past weekend the furthest I had ever ran at any given time was 13.1 miles (a half-marathon), and my distance on Saturday’s training session was set to be 14 miles. From previous experience with having a mental block and then running a new distance, I knew this would help reset my mentality. If I could just hit that mileage number I would show myself that I can do this and that I’m continuing to get better and grow as a runner.

I did indeed hit 14 miles this weekend and immediately I felt the gratitude and excitement of reaching a new distance. I realized at that moment as well that I was truly training for a full marathon and that this was no joke.  I tend to envision races as schooling: 5k = elementary school, 10k = middle school, half-marathon = high school, and a full marathon = college. And on Saturday it was this moment of “Hell yeah I got accepted into Yale!!!” …or something haha

14 miles…  sometimes I can’t even believe my legs carry me that far. This coming weekend is 15 miles, then 16, etc. It’s rather exciting wondering what your body will do on that new mile that it’s never reached before. I feel like I’m finally part of the “big leagues” and it’s a good feeling.

There’s definitely a word of advice within this post and that is: If you’re feeling unmotivated and frustrated (in anything, even outside of running), challenge yourself. It’s when you push yourself mentally and physically that you feel alive, motivated, and rejuvenated.

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There was bound to come a time where my body started to give me the middle finger. I’ve read a lot of articles from runners talking about the different ways their bodies break down (ie. stress fractures, plantar fasciitis, knee injuries, etc.) and how the biggest mistake they ever made was not listening to what their body was trying to tell them. We as runners may be one of the most stubborn breeds known to man. (“I don’t care if I have to run with crutches! I’m running!”) There are times when I run and push through pain…mental and physical. Why do we do this crazy sport if it causes pain in the first place though? The answer?  The feeling once you push PAST the pain because for the most part it’s really only temporary.

I told myself I would listen to my body if I ever felt like it was trying to tell me something and tonight I did just that. I logged nearly 40 miles of running last week and was totally fine (minus being exhausted at some points) and yet this week (my cut back week which really only involves half of what I ran last week) as I was 20 minutes into a run tonight I had to stop. I was having crazy sharp pain in the lower part of my tibia (shin) area right where it meets the top part of my foot. I’ve had shin splints before but this was a little different so I walked (if you ever wanna see frustration at its finest, make a runner walk) the rest of the way home. It could be a few things: really bad shin splints, bruising, inflammation, or (the two words I never want to hear a doctor say to me) a stress fracture.

Running is great for you and one of the best tools for getting in shape, but with that it is also one of the most high impact sports which leaves you with more chance of getting injured. My leg is propped up with ice and I’m praying I wake up and this feels better. The moral to this story: listen to your body because for the most part it’s on your side and it will be your only source to help you foresee the future and quite possibly prevent a bigger problem.

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