Thursday, November 29, 2012

YOU NEED TO GET ANGRY!!

One of the best terms to describe our existence today is complacency.  We have our stressors, to be sure.  Raising kids, paying taxes, work, bills, etc.etc. .   We are, for the most part, however, PHYSICALLY complascent. Admit it, most of us have a physically easy life.  We don't have to chase down our dinner, or run fast and climb trees to avoid providing something else with dinner.  We sleep in soft beds with warm covers, we have nice shelter, plentiful food.   That is precisely what is making us FAT and SICK.  I see people, seeming relatively content, hobbling down the street using a cane, and hugely obese.  Well, when you ask a knee  or an ankle to carry an extra hundred pounds long enough, it's going to give out.  If you just ACCEPT such limitations, you will DIE with them.  That body of yours, old or young, fat or slim, tall or short, was meticulously designed over 2 million years of evolution.  It will perform if you let it.  Get angry at your limitations.  Overcome them.  If you are under the care of a health practitioner, ask him or her what you CAN do, considering those limitations.  Once you get the medical all-clear, get started!  DO WHAT YOU CAN DO!  Whether its an Ultra Marathon or a walk to the mailbox.

Friday, November 23, 2012

Xero Shoes 3rd Anniversary Sale

If you've looked at them, but talked yourself out of buying a pair, no excuses now!
XERO SHOES (Invisible Shoes) is having their THIRD ANNIVERSARY SALE.  Now you can finally pick up a pair (or more) at 20% off.  Check their link to the right.  You really need to try a pair of these.  I have 3 pair, and running (and hiking, and walking) has never been so much fun.  Liberate your feet.  TRY 'EM!
Sale is for a limited time only, so if you're thinking about it, now's the time.



Tuesday, November 20, 2012

ARE YOU A RUNNER?

I'm a runner.  Not a fast runner, don't run the LONGEST distances like many, not a great sprinter.  Doesn't matter.  I'm a runner..............because I run.  If you run, you're a runner.  A friend of mine has competed in a dozen marathons, from Big Sur to Boston.  He gave me some real wisdom.  He said "You won't come in first, and you won't come in last, so just go run and have fun."  Best running advice I ever received.  I've been running since high school.  Didn't win any trophies then, either.  Ran in the Marine Corps.  (Wasn't a lot of choice there !)  I enjoyed every mile.  I've competed, got the T-Shirts, obsessed over split times, and have come to the conclusion that in the end, it doesn't really matter.  Roger Bannister will be remembered.  Jim Fixx, Dean Karnazes, and a handful of other names.   The rest of us, ................just run.  We aren't famous, but we are legion.  We're on the road or trail in the dark with a headlamp while our families are snug in their beds.
     If you're a runner, you know it.  Most of your friends and coworkers don't understand it, and most never will.  Sometimes it hurts.  Sometimes you're hot or cold or wet, but you run.  Run for health, sure, but mostly to continue to claim the title "Runner".  It has become part of you.  It's who you are.  That's why you're cranky when you bang up an ankle or a knee and have to be relegated to the stationary bike or elliptical trainer for a while.
     Runner is the noun.  Distance Runner, Trail Runner, etc are just adding to it.  You feel different when you run.   You acknowledge runners on the road when you drive by them.  It doesn't matter if they are big, little, fat, thin, fast, slow, young or old, barefoot, shod, or something in between.  You feel that kinship, and you respect the fact that they had the fortitude to get out there and run.  It special.   If you are a runner, you'll understand.

Friday, November 16, 2012

Tarahumara Running | InvisibleShoe.com

Thanks to Xero Shoes for putting this on their site.  Christopher McDougall with a great video talk about why humans evolved to be distance runners.

Tarahumara Running | InvisibleShoe.com:

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