Thursday, June 7, 2012

Guest Post: Function and Fashion for Running Dudes « Barefoot Monologues

Behold!  My first ever guest post in which I discuss function and fashion in guy's running gear.  In this post, I extol the virtues of some companies making seriously cool products.

Guest Post: Function and Fashion for Running Dudes « Barefoot Monologues:

thanks Trisha!

Cheers

'via Blog this'

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

120 days of running- a wrap up?




This is me roughly at the start of the 120 day challenge back in Feb. I'm not certian but I weighed somewhere between 205-210 lbs. I was in decent shape logging about 12-15 miles per week and felt pretty good about it.

Since then, I have run every day for 120 days straight.




This is a picture of me from my 120th run today.

From a numbers perspective, here's the breakdown.
Days running:120
Total miles logged: 482
Average distance per day: approx 4miles
Longest single day: 50Km (31 miles) Ultra-marathon
Weight at the start: 205 to be conservative
Weight after 120 days (today): 176 lbs.
Total weight loss: 29 lbs and I have found 4 out of my 6pack.

I have benefitted hugely from the challenge in a number of ways that are not quantifiable. I've discussed some of this in my midway post. but here are a few new ones.

- Rather than sour me to running, this challenge has only deepened my passion. I can't image stopping any time soon. Sure I might take a day of eventually, but I really hope that running and specifically trail and ultra running is a part of my life for a long time.

- I'm waaaaayyy more conscious about what I eat in an unconscious way. The weird part was that this happened naturally. As I started to build endurance and fitness, my food cravings changed. I just realized that I basically eat a quasi-Paleo diet now without even thinking about it. It just happens to be the food that is appealing to me now. I can't even fathom eating a bowl of pasta at this point and would rather eat a giant salad.

- I have come to the conclusion that I really want to see others realize some of the benefits I've seen. This is the pay it forward stuff. This is happening both actively and passively. I am actively trying to get kids into running in my community through the 100 mile club (100mileclub.com) and I'm taking every opportunity to help folks run with better form. In a passive sense, there are a lot of my family and friends who are either getting into running, returning to running, or amping up their workouts. I'd like to think that my journey and my incessant Facebook posts have had a small something to do with that. One place where I'm 100% sure I am a major influence is with my 6 yr old son. This spring he has completed his first 5K and his first trail race. I'm so proud of him and I hope that some day he can pace me when my wife lets me do a 100 miler.

Bottom line is that I am not even remotely an athlete or a superhero. Anyone who can put one foot in front of the other can do this.

Try it out. It doesn't have to be 120 days. Give it a try for 30 days. I bet you get hooked!
- Cheers!

Monday, June 4, 2012

A birthday run in your birthday suit - sorta

 

So it's your 41st birthday. You've had a pretty good day. The family had a small cake for you and now the kids are in bed. It is 50 degrees. It is drizzling like a Scottish moor and it is dark out.

What are you to do? <<Cue the Al Green music>>. Alright, yeah there is that but I am also on Day 119 of 120 days of consecutive running. There's a streak to maintain damnit. I've got to run at least a mile.

It's my birthday so I feel the need to go just slightly over the top.

So what do you do when it's rainy and cold and it's your birthday? Run in your birthday suit.... With a kilt on!

I
My Stillwater Thrifty Kilt is just a tad too big now that I've lost some weight so I had to wear a belt for insurance. It stayed up like a champ. Thank God because I forgot to wear anything underneath. :-)

Thanks for all the birthday wishes folks!

- Cheers!


 

Friday, June 1, 2012

Pineland Farms Trail Running Festival Race Report - Part 1. The short races

My family and I arrived in Freeport, ME on Friday night for a weekend of running. My two kids are 6 and 2 and both love to run. My wife wants to love to run and really tries to like it because she loves me. My college buddy Jabbar had come up from Virginia to run with me in the 50K ultra. It would be a first for both of us.

Saturday was really hot and humid at Pineland for the shorter distance races. We got there early and went to say Hi to Jason and Shelly Robillard who were in town to run and help out Merrell. The races Saturday were a 5K, Barefoot 5K, 10K and the 5K Canicross where you run 3.1 miles attached to your dog. The Canicross is absolutely hysterical and chaos ensues immediately. Apparently, dogs too have nervous bladders during races.



My wife and 6 yr old son ran the 5K which started at 11AM. I'm very proud of them both as this was their first trail race.


My daughter and I were doing the barefoot 5K that started at 11:10. My daughter is 2 so she rode in the jog stroller.


Our plan was to run our races and I would catch up to Pam and M at some point and run in out with them. The barefoot 5K was listed as a premier barefoot event in Runners World and it didn't disappoint. The course is fairly barefoot friendly and whatever barefoot hazards are there are easy to spot. Unless you are pushing a jog stroller. The addition of the jog stroller amped up the difficulty considerably. The uphills were not runnable due to footing. The downhills were killer because I had to brake the stroller. The stroller also hampered my ability to see the hazards to some extent. All that said, it was a blast and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.


Photo Credit: Maine Running Photos

We ended up finding M and Pam at the aid station but A and I continued since she was getting a bit antsy. Somewhere along the way, she fell asleep and slept through our 36:30 finish which is pretty good considering the difficulty added by the stroller. This barefoot experience just adds to my esteem for my friend Adam who ran the 50K barefoot in less than 6 hours the next day. He is badass. But I digress, Pam and M crossed the line looking strong shortly after us.


Photo Credit: Maine Running Photos

We stuck around for beer and food and enjoyed the party that is Pineland. The Pineland grove (start finish area) is a giant old timey BBQ party. It is awesome. For an addicted runner such as myself, this place was like an opium den. Race Directors Erik and Ian put on one hell of a show. M even got to show all the grown ups his good running form during Jason Robillard's Bareform clinic.


My wife was finally able to drag me out of there and we went back to the motel to clean up before venturing into Freeport with Jabbar for dinner and LLBean.


How else would LLBean celebrate their 90th anniversary but with a giant BootMobile.

Unfortunately, my wife developed a touch of food poisoning and spent most of the evening sick. I was concerned for her and called Jabbar to tell him it was likely I wouldn't be racing in the morning.


Since this is titled Part 1, I'm sure I've blown the cliffhanger aspect. Spoiler Alert: I got to run in the 50K

Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of Pineland Farms Trail Running Festival.

- Cheers!

Location:Pineland Farms - New Gloucester, ME