It’s OK not to run. This seems like a strange post to publish on a running blog, but it’s taken me a long time to figure this out and I need to share. I have run fairly consistently for the last 15 to 20 years, taking a year or so off with each of my three pregnancies. Granted, I’m a casual runner. I usually average 3 to 5 miles, three or so days a week if I’m lucky. I have never had the desire to run competitively, or to conquer long distances. Rather, running has been my escape: an escape from the constant care of three young children, an escape from my lifelong battle with body dysmorphia, an escape into the outdoors to solve my everyday problems. As much as I love running, however, running doesn’t necessarily love me. I am extremely injury prone. I have had running related injuries in almost every part of my lower body: hips, glutes, IT band, psoas, illiopsoas, feet etc. You name it, I’ve had an injury there. Yet, I have always persevered. Why? Because, frankly, I was always convinced that running was my only recourse to maintaining a healthy body weight and staying active. Not to mention, I really do love the feeling of finishing a run…the high, the sweat, the accomplishment.

Then, this past spring, I fractured my right foot. By far the worst injury I’ve had yet. And, at the time, I was on the best running streak of my life. I had conquered a 10-mile race (something I never thought I could do) and was running at least 5 days (~20 miles) a week for over 6 months. I was in great shape, and at the age of 40, was feeling amazing! But, truth be told, I was becoming a bit obsessed. The idea of missing a run put me in a panic, so the 6-week setback due to my fracture nearly killed me psychologically. I think this was my breaking point. I knew my relationship with running wasn’t healthy, either physically or mentally. As a self-described spiritual person and regular practitioner of yoga, I kind of pride myself on self-reflection. My mirror was saying something needed to change.

I got out of shape pretty quickly (or so it seemed to me) given that I couldn’t bear any weight on my foot. That meant no running, no walking really, and no yoga. Ask my husband and kids, I was NOT fun to be around. During that time, I turned my back on running. It became my nemesis, the source of all my woes. Even after I could start lightly jogging again, it never really felt comfortable. I was always afraid of something catastrophic happening that would put me out again, making each ache and pain that much more intense. So, I’ve started doing other things. I’ve rediscovered my love for hiking by exploring the trails around our new neighborhood (we recently moved) and through a weekly hiking excursion with good friends. I have always been most comfortable in the woods and this has been like coming home! I’ve also started walking more in general. I’ve started biking more and have even taken a few intense barre classes led by a fellow yoga friend. As we in New England say, it’s been wicked fun! I’ve really enjoyed the diversity of activity. I’m not completely giving up on running either. I still average maybe one run a week, though it sure isn’t easy.

As I get older, my goals have changed. I am becoming less and less concerned about body image and more concerned about staying active and healthy. If I am so blessed as to reach my sixties and beyond, I want my body to be able to do all the things I love to do. I want to be able to travel and hike and get on the floor to play with my grandkids. I want to be able to move my body without pain. And, I believe the way to accomplish this is to keep moving now, anyway I can. This does not necessarily mean running. And, in fact, maybe for my body, running a lot isn’t the best thing for me. Now, I know myself, and I’m fairly certain that I will continue to run in some capacity for years to come, but it will no longer consume me. It is not the be-all and end-all to fitness.

I highly recommend switching things up a bit if all you do is run. I have a runner friend who just recently starting taking my yoga class on her doctor’s recommendation to cross train and stave off injury and burn out. And, much to her surprise, she really likes it. With the cold weather creeping in on us, this may be a perfect time shake up your routine. I really think you’ll be happy you did.

If you enjoyed this post, follow Erin’s other work by liking her Facebook page:

David Epstein’s Pro Publica Article: https://www.propublica.org/article/former-team-members-accuse-coach-alberto-salazar-of-breaking-drug-rules

Mark Daly’s BBC Article: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-32877702

Robert Johnson’s article on LetsRun: http://www.letsrun.com/news/2015/06/five-quick-thoughts-on-david-epsteins-nike-oregon-project-investigation/

Runner’s World’s take on the allegations: http://www.runnersworld.com/elite-runners/nike-oregon-project-subject-of-doping-allegations-by-former-team-members

The 119th running of the prestigious Boston Marathon ended recently, and needless to say the field was full of very fast runners. A good friend of mine finished in 2:59:50, though if I put his amazing time in perspective, the winner of the men’s race, Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia, broke the tape in 2:09:17. This is fifty minutes quicker.

Two days before the marathon, thousands of runners also participated in the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) 5K race. Ben True finished the men’s race first with a jaw dropping time of 13:22; Molly Huddle finished the women’s race first with a time of 14:50. Huddle and True are both sponsored by Saucony.

As it turns out, another buddy of mine, who previously worked for Big Peach Running Company and is now employed by Saucony, also competed in the BAA 5K. He finished the 3.1 mile course in 14:51. To put his accomplishment into perspective, he finished in 15th place overall in a crowd of 8,892 runners. Wow is an understatement.

In contrast to these athletes, I recently completed a half marathon in 1:32:09 (which translates to a 7:02 mile pace). Though I’m happy with this finish time as it was a humid morning in Georgia, I believe it serves as an effective framework for pointing out how the word “fast” has great variation from runner to runner. Numerous people come into the store (Big Peach) for shoes and remark on how they are not fast or are not a runner.

Frankly, I’m asking myself more and more these days what fast truly means. I would say that my buddy who finished the BAA 5K in 14:51 is fast, along with my friend who completed the marathon below three hours; these guys might say that Ben True and Molly Huddle are wicked fast; we would all agree in unison that Usain Bolt is fast, perhaps the fastest man alive. Would Bolt nominate someone, or would he simply own that statement outright? I believe he can own it – for now at least. Is Bolt’s successor coming one day?

Fast should also be considered in the context of distance. Consider Usain Bolt again. As a sprinter in track races, he’s very hard to beat. How would he fare in a half marathon though, or a full marathon? Men like Meb Keflezighi, Lelisa Desisa, or Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot may have him beat on the 26.2 mile course.

Consider these words from John Bingham: “If you run, you are a runner. It doesn’t matter how fast or how far. It doesn’t matter if today is your first day or if you’ve been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass, no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run.” Bingham summarizes the simple art of running so well: “You just run.”

Though I’m unlikely to ever beat Ben True, Molly Huddle, or my Boston buddies, I can continue to improve my own speed. Every runner can become faster, and the way to do this comes down to one word – practice. And more practice. Think mile repeats; tempo runs; fartlek workouts; 400 repeats; 800 repeats and more. Fast begets faster. Incorporate speed work every seven to ten days to improve form, foot turnover, and that trusty finishing kick for upcoming races.

Though most runs are usually (or should be) done at an easy pace, there’s nothing like the thrill of a race. A crowded field of other runners stir up the energy level to heighten the moment the horn or starting pistol is sounded. I suppose that in this moment of the ringing sound and pistol smoke filling the air, the immortal words of legendary stock car driver Ricky Bobby capture the feeling of every runner stepping forward in anticipation: “I wanna go fast!” Go fast then.

by Austin Bonds (RunLore.weebly.com)

A week ago I was helping a man find some running shoes and noticed an older gentlemen slide into my peripheral vision. Since my head is usually turned downward as I tie laces countless times throughout the day, I glanced at his sneaks and observed that he had an older pair of shoes that were red and black with that iconic Swoosh. Though I don’t recall the model, he proceeded to tell me that his closet is full of Michael Jordan shoes. Speaking of which, The Cardboard Connection, like other websites devoted to number 23, has put together a visual history of Air Jordan shoes.

After leaving the store, I started thinking about that man’s shoes more and my mind wandered back into the days of middle school. As a burgeoning adolescent, the perception of being thought of as “cool” by my peers was constantly on my mind. We all wish to be liked and we all wish to be validated by our outward appearance. I can’t remember the shoes I wore at this time, but I do remember that the popular guys in my classes wore Air Jordan shoes, along with other emerging basketball stars at the time (e.g. Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway).

I remember pestering my mother to buy me some new shoes, shoes like my “friends” had, but like any wise mother she thought the cost was outrageously exorbitant; however, I persisted, and I even managed to earn some money by completing chores inside and outside the house. I didn’t purchase a pair of Air Jordan shoes, but I did acquire the Nike Air D.T. 4 Max worn by the talented Deion Sanders (who played professional football and baseball).

I wore Deion’s shoes to school proudly, but I still managed to receive some biting criticism from my “friends” who thought my new shoes were weird and inferior to their respective kicks. Thank God that middle school and high school are now over and comparisons like this about shoes are lost to the sands of time. And yet here I am again, surrounded by shoes anew as I work for a specialty running store. Thankfully, comparing my running shoes to others is now completely irrelevant; this is due to the fact that staying healthy and free of injury supersedes looking fashionable.

When I help people find new running shoes, I like to offer up this phrase as a guiding philosophy: “Form follows function.” In other words, how the shoe looks should always be secondary to how it feels. Unlike shoes worn by Michael Jordan or LeBron James or Stephen Curry, running shoes are usually not bought to garner comments of praise, though the designs continue to get better and more colorful. They are purchased to be beaten down on the roads and trashed on the trails. And then the process repeats again and again. Form follows function.

I don’t know of anyone who hasn’t wanted to fly like Michael at one point or another. You start to wonder if he has jet packs in those shoes of his. Spike Lee even asked the question. But as Jordan has pointed out in a very pointed ad, it was never the shoes. His success was based on many, many hours of practice. So it is with running. Practice builds strength, speed, and endurance. Practice improves form and lowers the risk of injury.

I suppose that a picture from a race is the closest that runners feel to flying. This snapshot is a reminder of a good moment in time. I’ve seen many race pictures of myself, both good and bad. The ones I like, as you may gather, are the ones with both feet off of the ground. I’m not barreling towards a rim like Michael to dunk a basketball, but I too am defying gravity for a fraction of a second as I feel fast and free.

I’ve come to the realization that running safety can be easily neglected in the middle of a great run. The weather feels fantastic, the feet are moving swiftly across the sidewalk, and the beat of a favorite song is pulsing through the ears. We run and we return home – it should be as simple as that. Sadly, this is not always the case.

As a resident of Georgia, I recently read about Tina Waddell, a runner who was brutally beaten on the Silver Comet Trail (which runs from Georgia to Alabama). As of this writing, the suspect has not been located; no motive is known either. This is sickening and saddening to me as a runner and as a human being. Being married to someone who sporadically runs, this post is for my wife and for all female runners and walkers.

The solution to avoid being attacked, or so it would seem, is to not run alone. Unfortunately, finding a running partner each time you step out the door is unlikely – and probably unrealistic for most. In fact, many runners prefer to exercise alone. The decision to go solo, be it made out of of necessity or choice, should not be hindered by fear though; it should instead be bolstered by a sense of awareness.

In light of today’s society where people simply feel less safe than days of yesteryear, along with the fact that summer will be ending in a matter of months and shorter daylight hours will be upon us, I’d like for this post to serve as both a reminder and an encouragement for running safety. Here are a few helpful thoughts to keep in mind when you prepare for the day’s run.

1. Avoid running alone when possible. Take your dog for extra company – provided he or she is large enough to protect you. Call a friend and see if she can join you. If you do run alone, make eye contact with everyone you pass.

2. Seek out group runs. Visit your local specialty running store and find out if they host a weekly group run; if not, ask them to consider starting one. Many cities have running organizations or clubs (e.g. the Atlanta Track Club) that you can join for an annual fee, though some are no charge. Group runs give strength to the truth that there’s safety in numbers.

3. Mix up the music with some meditation. Music is a great way to power through hard workouts or long runs, but avoid letting it become a distraction for what’s going on around you. Keep one earbud in if needed. Be open to leaving the music at home from time to time as well. As an alternative to tunes, listen to how your body is feeling that day and enjoy the scenery. Use this time to gather your thoughts and mentally prepare for the day.

4. Revise your routes. As creatures of habit, we like the familiar, and this is no less true for running. For the sake of running safety though, familiarity should be periodically discarded. In other words, keep changing your runs. Run a familiar route in reverse; go to a local park or school track (where others are present too); run on different days of the week. This approach will lower the likelihood of your paths being picked up by a less than honorable person who might do you harm.

5. Use your phone for more than status updates. Social media based apps are a great way to share the days accomplishment from a particular run (e.g. a new personal record for distance or time). Though this is a fun activity, be sure to check the app settings and the phone settings that can potentially display the exact location of your run for the world to see. Speaking of location, a recent Runner’s World article lists four apps that highlight safety by sending notifications to contacts of your choosing after periods of inactivity.

Needless to say these are but a handful of the many running safety tips I could share. Many, many more exist. In summary, I suppose that the best defense is a good offense. Run smart. Use your eyes to take in the surroundings. Turn the volume down. Let someone know where you are going and how long you plan to be gone. Run in different spots. Run with your phone or with some pepper spray (you local run shop may carry this) – or both. Run with others. Download a running safety app.

Though I’ve written this post with female runners in mind, I believe that men should heed the importance of running safety too. Though they are less likely to be followed and attacked while out for a run, men can be equally vulnerable too. Hard runs and long runs lower the physical strength and tire out the mind for all runners – men and women alike. Stay sharp and stay aware. Here’s to returning home safe and sound.

What are some of the ways you stay safe during a run? What tips would you add to this list?

I met Lynn Jennings for the first time last summer. She had emailed me out-of-the-blue earlier in the year to ask if I might be interested in coming to Craftsbury, VT in July to be a coach/speaker at one of the annual adult running camps. It’s not every day that you get an email from an Olympic medalist, and I was a bit star-struck by the experience. Spend a week in northern VT hanging out with other runners and learning from an Olympian? My decision didn’t require much deliberation.

I wound up spending almost two weeks in Crafstbury last summer, and Lynn quickly became a good friend. She’s an amazing runner to be sure – 9 time US cross-country champion, 3 time World cross-country champion, and bronze medalist in the 10,000m at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. However, it quickly became clear that Lynn is also an amazing and inspirational person. She’s a dog-lover and a naturalist. She’s kind, smart, and she has a will as strong as that of anyone I have ever met. She still runs almost every day (and competes quite well as a sculler – won her age group at the 2012 Head of the Charles Regatta), and her running camps are all about learning, working hard, having fun, and being healthy. And I have to give special props to someone who is willing to stop by my house on her trips to NH to deliver me growlers of Hill Farmstead beer!

A few weeks ago Lynn and I were discussing scheduling for this summer’s Craftsbury camps. We had pretty much nailed things down when I received an email from her saying that something had come up that she had to attend to. Several weeks went by. I worried maybe something had happened to her beloved dog Towhee.

Last week I received an email  from Lynn that stopped me cold. She had almost died. But she didn’t. She is alive today due to a toughness developed in competition and a physiology built by a lifetime of running.

After exchanging a few emails, Lynn offered to write up her experience and wanted me to publish it here. To say I was honored that she wanted me to help tell her story is a monumental understatement.

Lynn’s story should remind everyone of why we run. PR’s are great, Olympic medals even better. But running saved Lynn’s life, and life is more important than any achievement in competition.

Read on – Lynn’s story in her own words:

There’s nothing quite so gentle, deep and irrational as our running – and nothing so savage, and so wild.”

-Bernd Heinrich

Like every other long-time runner I had spent the waning days of December planning for and dreaming about the fresh year ahead. I may not race any more, yet running is a solid daily cornerstone and an ordering principle in my life. Long past my salad days as an elite runner, I am now an avid daily trail runner and a competitive sculler. Being bicoastal between the Craftsbury Outdoor Center in Vermont and my home in Portland, Oregon means I get to sample the best of two alluring places.

When in Portland, I run on the extensive trails in Forest Park which is about a mile from my front door. I’d been logging daily trail runs, but on January 10, 2104 I started a run and within 100 meters had to stop. I was so breathless that I had to put my hands on my knees and walk. I persevered through the run by walking when I needed to (definitely a first for me), and by the time I got back to the Leif Ericson gate, I was sure I was anemic and made plans to go for some blood work.

Four days later, walking around the block in the pre-dawn hours with my dog Towhee, I was suddenly unable to breathe. I was blacking out. My hands and feet were icy. I was dizzy. I sat down on the sidewalk, in the dark, unable to stand or continue on. Towhee pressed against my side and stood stock still. I sat there until a man passed by and asked me if I needed help. He was persistent and kept asking me over and over until I was able to whisper, “yes” and he helped me up. Alone, I forced myself to cover the remaining 300 meters home on foot, willing myself to get there. I struggled up the front steps and realized I was in big trouble.

I texted my neighbor for help and she drove me less than a mile to the hospital. I staggered into the Emergency Room. I wasn’t even able to tell the people behind the desk my name. They shoved me into a wheelchair and took me into the back. It was terrifying.

It turns out I survived an acute bilateral pulmonary embolism. The doctors couldn’t decide whether to stage me as sub-massive or massive, my lung involvement was so large. Since I survived intact, I guess they went with sub-massive. I don’t really know. Both of my lungs were loaded with clots, many of them large. My right lung was not working and my left lung was severely compromised. I was told in no uncertain terms by cardiologists, pulmonary specialists, internists, radiologists and ER nurses and doctors that the size, strength and power of my lungs and heart are what saved me since my heart was under severe strain and pressure. The lung involvement that I had with a less able set of lungs and a less able heart would have lead to a different outcome.

My attending physician told me she believed that my push to get up off the sidewalk and my extreme will to drive for home exerted enough pressure on my lungs such that some clots might have moved around a bit, buying me more breathing capacity so I could get home and then to the ER. Short of that happening, she had no explanation why I was still around.

After 5 days in the hospital and a staggering amount of tests, lab work and exams, it appears the cause is idiopathic. I had none of the usual risk factors and no symptoms other than the breathless run four days before. I didn’t feel great the weekend between the breathless run and having to go to the ER, but I chalked it up to the possible anemia.

Being a runner saved my life. The redundancy in my left lung, my strong and powerful heart and my honed tenacity and iron will are what got me home that morning.

I have been a runner since I was 14 and the only girl on the boys’ cross country team in Harvard, MA. Whether I was toeing the line at the Olympics, at the World Cross Country Championships or running 100 miles a week in training, I did it because running reminded me exactly who I am and what I am made of. These years later it remains purely so.

I’ve got a long trail ahead of me in order to recover and get better. Tucked into my thoughts is the memory of being a consistent stop on the morning rounds of the doctors, cardiologists and internists when I was in the hospital. Every one of them wanted to come and talk to the Olympian whose resting and sleeping heart rate hovered between 29 – 38. Some mornings my bed was surrounded by residents, 3rd year medical students and the presiding doctor – all of whom were eager to learn from an aerobic specimen.

I, in turn, wanted them to see what running did for me aside from records, medals and national titles – it saved my life.

I seem to be in the minority among those I know who have run in the Sayonara since the shoe seems to be very popular. I even posted a very positive guest review from my friend Brad Patterson. However, after having run in the Sayonara several times I’ve concluded that it’s just not a shoe for me.

When a shoe doesn’t work out for me I spend a lot of time mulling over possible reasons why. With the Sayonara my initial thought was that it was the relatively high 10mm heel-forefoot drop. I rarely ever run in shoes with greater than 8mm drop – 8mm is the upper end of my preferred range, and most of the time I run in shoes that are 0-4mm drop. It seemed like a logical conclusion that the high drop is what did in the Sayonara.

Then I met the New Balance MR 1400v 2.

The NB 1400v2 is also a shoe with a higher drop than I typically run in (9mm), and stack heights for the two shoes are almost identical – 24mm heel, 14mm forefoot for the Sayonara, 24mm heel, 15mm forefoot for the NB 1400v2. However, after putting 30-40 miles on the 1400v2’s I’ve determined that they are one of my favorite shoes of the year so far. Simply fantastic. I wrote up my review of the New Balance 1400 earlier this week, but couldn’t stop thinking about why they worked so well but the Sayonaras did not.

Yesterday I pulled out the Sayonaras for a bit and things started to crystallize. I’ve been wearing the 1400v2s a bunch casually in addition to running in them, and have never had an issue with comfort. Putting on the Sayonaras they immediately felt stiff and mildly slappy to me even while walking. I started playing around with the two shoes and here is my hypothesis about why two shoes with such similar sole dimensions yielded such different responses on my feet:

The Mizuno Sayonara is killed for me by “technology.”

When you compare the back half of the Sayonara to the back half of the NB 1400v2 (see photos below), two big differences jump out. First, the Sayonaras have a massive plastic heel counter, whereas the 1400’s have no heel counter. Second, the Sayonara has a hard plastic “wave plate” that extends from the back of the heel to the midfoot, the 1400’s have only a plastic shank that begins at the front of the heel and ends at the back of the forefoot. The 1400 shank is also narrow, and it does not extend to the inner and outer margins of the sole – the purpose is presumably to add a bit of longitudinal stiffness since the shoe is built for racing and speed. I’m not sure what the intended purpose of the wave plate in the Sayonara is.

The wave plate in the Sayonara makes the back half of the shoe very rigid, with very little flexibility in any plane, but in particular it lacks torsional (twisting) and mediolateral flexibility. The heel counter really locks the back half of the foot in place. Why is this a problem for me? Here’s what I think.

I’m usually a midfoot to mild heel striker in cushioned shoes, so I tend to land with either most of the outer edge of the shoe contacting, or at a point somewhere between the posterolateral corner of the heel and the midpoint of the arch. The problem with this is that I am contacting along the outer edge with essentially very little cushion between my foot and a big sheet of hard plastic, and this creates a fairly rigid lever that forces my foot to torque very rapidly at contact. You can see how close the plastic wave plate comes to the base of the midsole under the midfoot in the photo below – pretty darn close to where my center of pressure at contact is located (I had this measured earlier this year on a force treadmill).

Mizuno Sayonara – note the grey plastic “wave plate” above the yellow cushion in the heel, also note how the wave plate approaches the bottom of the sole near the midfoot

My hypothesis is supported by what I feel running in the shoes – they feel jerky and slappy, not smooth. It’s kind of like what I’d image running in a dress shoe with a hard rubber heel would feel like. I can adapt my stride to make them more comfortable, but not sure I want to do that (more on this below).

In contrast to the Sayonara, the NB 1400v2 is torsionally more flexible, and the sole is much softer under my contact zone. As such, when I contact the midsole compresses, there is a bit of flex, and the transition into pronation is much smoother and not as rapid. I feel none of the Sayonara induced jerkiness in the 1400, even though the sole dimensions are so similar.

New Balance 1400 v2 – no plastic plate in the sole

As a way to compare the slappiness between the two shoes, I shot this quick video – listen to the difference in sound the two shoes make as a invert and evert my foot:

So how is it that the Sayonara can work so well for some people and not so well for me? As I stated at the outset, running strides vary highly from person to person, and I think this is a case where a shoe is just not a good match for my own stride. In fact, most Mizuno shoes with a wave plate that I have tried feel clunky when I run in them. In contrast, Mizuno shoes like the Universe and those in the Evo collection (Cursoris, Ferus) have worked great for me since they lack a thick plastic waveplate like the one in the Sayonara. Sadly I’ve heard the Evo collection is going away, so the Universe, Ekiden, and Hitogami (depends on how rigid the Hitogami wave plate is, the Musha and Ronin were iffy for me) may be my only workable Mizuno shoes going forward.

What’s interesting about all of this is that I don’t think my issue would be as noticeable for a forefoot striker or a more pronounced heel striker. A true forefoot striker avoids the wave plate completely so it’s not much of an issue (my friend Thomas is a good example, I’ve seen him run and can confirm he is a true forefoot striker – see his Sayonara review). A more pronounced heel striker may not create as big a lever at the lateral margin of the shoe and would tend to roll forward through the wave plate rather than medially across it like me (the wave plate also appears to have flex grooves in the back of the heel which may help – see photo to right). I think the reason I can make the Sayonara feel better while running is that I can go to one of these different foot strikes and make it work, but that’s also probably why it doesn’t feel smooth to me, it’s making me adapt in a way my body is not used to (and I’m content with how my foot lands).

I’ll end with a brief commentary on shoe “technology.” One of the things I’ve observed is that shoe companies too often feel tied to a signature technology and in my opinion it can stifle creativity. Newton has their forefoot lugs for example, and Mizuno seems tied to having a plastic wave plate in its shoes. Even when they make shoes that don’t really have a wave plate, they feel compelled to color the sole to make it look like it has one.

For most of the six years I have been running seriously the Mizuno Universe was the only non-Evo Mizuno shoe I really had a great experience with. The Ronin 2 was decent, but even there if I could have ripped the wave plate out I would have (I did remove most of the heel cushion under the wave plate on one of my Roning 2s, but never finished the job on the other side so didn’t get to run in them). I would love to try a version of the Sayonara with the heel counter and wave plate removed. Better yet, give me a 4-6mm drop Ronin 2 with no wave plate and I’d be dancing in the streets. Unfortunately for me, the reality is that in this case “technology” kills the shoe.

Obstacle course racing and I haven’t always seen eye to eye. I’d love to say that my passion for this sport was a “love at first barbed wire crawl”, but that would be a bold faced lie.

During the spring of 2010 I was a somewhat fanatical, amateur, road runner. I had stumbled across the sport of running just about 3 years earlier, as a means of weight loss after giving birth to my oldest son. Very quickly the weight loss sessions became viewed as training runs instead, and I progressed from local 5 & 10K races, to running half and full marathons. I had fallen in love with living a healthy, active lifestyle, and even more so, the wonderful endorphin driven runner’s high.

Over those next 3 years, after another baby, and countless miles and races under my belt, I decided it was time to get serious: I wanted to qualify for the Boston Marathon. So I did what any amateur runner with big dreams would do: I registered for a couple of marathons and hired a coach. Coach was a great guy, but he certainly meant business. There were weekly training goals to meet, miles to run, and paces to hit, with no excuses allowed (not even babies or college classes, believe me, I tried). Extracurricular activities, such as small local races signed up for on a whim, were absolutely frowned upon.

So needless to say, I didn’t tell Coach about this “Warrior Dash” race I had heard of.
While today it seems you cannot sign onto Facebook without seeing another friend post a muddy profile picture; back in 2010, mud runs and obstacle course races were still pretty unheard of. I honestly can’t remember how I stumbled upon the Warrior Dash website, but I was instantly enthralled with the idea of crawling around in the mud and climbing over walls. My inner 6 year old could not resist: I found a race location relatively close to my home at the time, and immediately registered.

As the mud run race day approached, I started second guessing my decision. Technically, I wouldn’t be missing any important long runs…as the Warrior Dash coincided with taper week. That’s right, I had a marathon, one I was hoping to set a big personal best at, the following weekend. The last thing I should have been doing that weekend was racing, never mind a race that required a two page injury waiver. But against my better judgment, and my fear of somehow falling while tackling the obstacle requiring me to jump over two rows of flaming logs, I went to Georgia and ran in the race.

And guess what? I fell after leaping over the second row of flaming logs.

I obviously didn’t see that dura-flame log that had rolled out of the fire. In fact, I had no idea what had even happened until weeks later, when the official race photos appeared in my email inbox (look to the right for the evidence). All I knew at the time was that I took off with all of my might to try and avoid the hot flames, and the next thing I knew I was on the ground. I fell, and I fell hard. I tried to stand back up and run the last 20 or so yards to the finish line, but every time I put pressure on my left leg, my ankle would completely give out. I hopped my way to the finish line, sat down on the ground, and thought to myself “Coach is gonna KILL me.”

The fall caused a second degree tear of my anterior talofibular ligament, resulting in a week on crutches, a couple of weeks in an air cast, and about six weeks without any running. Needless to say, I not only missed the marathon I had trained so hard for, but also missed another one I had registered for at the end of the summer. I was upset, Coach was disappointed (which as any parent can assure you, is code word for angry), and I fell into an “it really sucks to not be able to run” depression over the next few weeks.

Alas, time heals all wounds, and eventually I was back to logging countless road mile after mile. It would be a year before I ran another obstacle course race (you would think the first one would have been enough), and another two years before the passion really took hold. While I enjoyed each mud run more than the previous one, it is hard to pinpoint the moment I realized I’d much rather trek through the muddy forest carrying heavy objects instead of run Yasso 800’s, but I can tell you it came at the perfect time. While running had been something I ‘d enjoyed for years, I was finding myself becoming burnt out with training, as well as goals that were at that point in my life, unrealistic. I loved cross training, but was finding it incredibly hard to do the fun things while keeping my mileage up to meet my marathon training goals. I began to dread training, because it seemed I always fell short.

And then I moved to Vermont, which pretty much sealed the deal. After spending the first five years of my running career in a suburban area In South Carolina, it now felt like an utter shame to run on pavement, when I had countless mountains and trails to choose from. My race calendar began to change as well, from countless road races to trail races and more “fun” mud runs…and eventually to more intense, competitive obstacle course races. Last year my season culminated with the Spartan Ultra Beast, a 30 (ish) mile obstacle course race up and down the unrelenting face of Killington Mountain. And I have never loved running more than I do today.

Transitioning from a traditional road racer to an obstacle course racer has significantly increased my overall fitness levels. In the beginning, I quickly realized that while I was a decent, front-of-the-middle-of-the-pack runner, I was far from being considered in “great” shape. In obstacle racing, a Boston Qualifying time means nothing if you do not possess the upper body strength to pull yourself over a ten foot wall, or to the top of a muddy rope climb. On the other hand, upper body strength means nothing in this sport if you cannot run. Obstacle course racing, it seems, was a match made in my athletic heaven.

My training sessions are far more versatile now; runs are almost always taken off road in hopes of finding any and every natural obstacle to traverse. Intervals of body weight strength and plyometric exercises, such as pushups, squats, burpees, and lunges, are added into tempo runs and speed work. And the versatility is not just a fun change in pace, it is required: many of the obstacles and challenges in these types of races are kept secret until race day. You must be physically prepared for anything, and mentally prepared for the unexpected.

But without question, the best part of transitioning from a road racer to an obstacle course racer has been rekindling my passion for running and fitness. The necessity for my training to become more varied has allowed me to stop worrying about how many miles I ran that week, or if I hit every single prescribed pace. Instead of constantly focusing on increasing my running endurance, I am now allowed to focus on conditioning my whole self, physically and mentally. And let’s face it: who doesn’t love to crawl around in mud pits and leap over fire? It appeals to my inner child, and goes against everything my mom always told me not to do.

The obstacle course racing circuit is growing at an astronomical pace, and there are races for beginners to elites, and even some that contain no mud at all. My suggestion for anyone who is feeling burnt out by their running is to give an obstacle course race a try. You don’t have to become a muddy convert, or leave your Boston Marathon dreams behind, but I promise you will have fun.

Just be sure to warn your coach.

Heather Gannoe is an ACSM certified Health Fitness Specialist, new mud running addict, and running mom of two. Previously known around the web as Run Faster, Mommy! , Heather now blogs at www.relentlessforwardcommotion.com, and can be found on twitter @RunFasterMommy

Spartan Race – Free Entry Giveaway

In conjunction with this post, Spartan Race is also offering up a free race entry for readers. To enter, all you need to do is follow the directions in the Rafflecopter widget below:

Want to try your hand at an obstacle race? Now through the end of the year you can take 10% off a Spartan Race entry fee using the code FINISH10. You can find race locations and dates here.

I met Louise (or Weez) this summer at a running workshop that I co-hosted here in Concord, NH – she drove all the way down from Bangor, ME to attend (quite a long drive!). I’ve since corresponded with Weez frequently over email and Twitter, and her story is an amazing one.

In January of 2012 Weez weighed 285 pounds. She hadn’t run in years, and she realized that she needed to make a change or her health would continue to suffer. So she started to run. Here’s how she describes her progression on her blog:

“…when I started going to the University fitness center, I felt VERY self conscious and out of place amongst all those thin athletes there. I could barely walk the 1/10th mile track without having to sit down. I am serious. It was baaaaad. So many times I would think about running, but basically couldn’t remember how… I know that sounds stupid but I was so overweight that I felt like an elephant with every step, making the ground shake.

Eventually I worked my way up to 1/10th walk, then 2/10th, then 3/10 and before I knew it, I was walking a mile. I made a decision to wait on the running until I felt I had lost a good amount of weight, in order to minimize the chance that I would get injured again.  When I finally lost 25lbs or so, I started jogging a bit at a time. It was slow. It was NOT fun. I hated it, but in my mind I knew that I had to keep it up to be able to get back to where I was as a runner years ago. Now it’s September 30th and I feel like I have made a fair amount of progress… I in fact HAVE loved the journey. Every drop of sweat involved has been worth it all the way. Little by little I have mustered the courage to wear compression shorts without shorts on top. I bought some sports bras like everyone else wears. I run in skirts… I’m getting there, coming out of my comfort zone, little by little.”

These are the kind of stories that keep me going because they remind me so much of myself and how running has changed my own life for the better. Weez has accomplished a lot in 2012, and I’m looking forward to seeing what the future holds for her.

You can read Weez’s full story here and here.

This morning I had to take my wife’s car in for some recall work. My usual tactic on such occasions is to drive the car in, then run the 6 miles back home. However, the temperature this morning was pushing into the 80’s and I really had no desire to run, but alas I really didn’t have much choice. So, I told myself at the outset that I’d walk if I needed to in order to maintain a relatively constant level of exertion (I had used this approach last year over the same route with temperatures pushing 100 degrees – it actually does get hot in NH on occasion in the summer).

About three miles into the run I was actually feeling much better than I anticipated, and my strategy of walking up the hills was working out pretty well. I decided to take the long way home, which would be 11+ miles – longer than I have run in quite some time. I continued my walk uphill, run on flats and downhills strategy, and ultimately completed 12.25 miles at just a shade under 8:30 min/mile pace. For hydration all I had was a single hand-held bottle of water, which was more than enough to get me through.

Why share this story? Mainly because I often find it hard to force myself to walk when out for a run, even if it’s the wise thing to do. But, by doing so today I’m pretty sure I actually completed the run faster than I would have had I attempted to run the entire way. I finished feeling better than I have even after some recent five milers that left me completely trashed because I attempted to run too hard. And I got my first long run in for what I hope will be a return to the Smuttynose Marathon this October.

So, I sometimes need to write things like this down as a reminder to myself – it’s ok to walk when conditions warrant it. In the long run (no pun intended!) my body will be better off than if I tried to push through.

For more information about Dick and Rick Hoyt, and to learn about their charitable activites “to help those who are physically disabled become active members of the communit,” visit the Team Hoyt webpage.

The St. Charles Children’s Home in Rochester, NH, is a group home for abused and neglected children ages 3-12. The Home is run by a group of Roman Catholic women dedicated to taking care of these children, with the hope that they can eventually be placed with a family. Given the troubled past of many of these children, adapting to group life can have its rough patches, and the Sisters of the St. Charles Home, better known in these parts as The Running Nuns, have turned to daily running as a way to provide these children with an outlet to work through some of their behavioral problems. Here’s a description of their running program from the St. Charles Home website:

“Founded during the summer of 1996, the running program at St. Charles was developed to help the children cope with the stress and anger often accompanying placement and separation issues. A natural antidepressant, running enables the enhancement of each child’s self esteem.


The levels of training and competition vary, depending on each child’s age and ability, up to 4 miles a day, 5 days a week. The children participate in 5k and 8k road races in the Seacoast area.”

In addition to the daily runs, the St. Charles Home also sponsors an annual 5K race in September, the St. Charles Children’s Home 5K. I haven’t run this race yet, but I have seen the Running Nuns at races that I have participated in here in NH.

I’m honored that one of the Running Nuns, Sister Mary Agnes, has been a regular reader and supporter of this blog. And now, she’s joined dailymile.com to start chronicling her return to running – you can find her profile here: http://www.dailymile.com/people/SisterMaryAgnes. Lets show her, and her fellow nuns, some support for the great things that they do!

Below is a video about the Running Nuns of the St. Charles Home from CBS:

Watch CBS News Videos Online

You can also read stories about the Running Nuns on the New Hampshire Public Radio Website (by Keith Shields, a member of my local running club!), as well as Runner’s World.