Clydesdale – Instant Coffee Wisdom

SUDDENLY, SUZAN!

When a runner dies…

I received a few queries about why there wasn’t a March 13th 2022 blog post, or a March 27th one either. The truth is I’ve been severely depressed and it’s hard for me to be enthusiastic , or even care about anything right now. I had two personal traumatic experiences in a six week period that have taken the proverbial wind out of my sails. I apologize for the personal tone of today’s blog. It’s very unprofessional, but no one’s paying me and InstantCoffeeWisdom.com only became a blog about running when running became the center point of my world three years ago. So let’s start at…

THE BEGINNING

My father was NOT a runner. The man could barely walk unassisted. He smoked, he drank, he ate meat. Exercise was unknown to the man. He weighed over 300lbs, most of it fat. When I was about 4 years old, my father was just a few years older than I am now, and one night he died in his sleep. The reason given by the old-time family doctor was ‘natural causes’. After all death is natural. Everyone of us from the moment we draw our first breath is on a journey to meet the Grim Reaper at some unknown point in the future. There is not a person alive that will go to bed at night with the guarantee that they will wake up in the morning. It’s depressing, but it’s still a fact. This is why it’s imperative that we take care of our bodies. Your health is your wealth, and if you continue making poor choices about your health, you will reap disastrous or possibly even fatal outcomes. You have one body, and one life here on Earth. Make it count. Be an inspiration, not a cautionary tale. Live a great story!

I have spent nearly my entire life trying to be better and more successful than my father. I live ‘clean’– free from the addictions of tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs, plus I’ve been a vegetarian since collage. As far as the exercise component, nothing really grabbed me until I started running. My times began improving with each race and training session, i rapidly made new running friends with whom I was now spending most of my free time with. This was much to the dismay of my non-running, couch-bound friends who just didn’t understand the whole running thing, even to this day.

2020 was a great year for me, with one PR (Personal Record) after another. I felt amazing, and I had great new positive and highly supportive friends.

THE MIDDLE

The trouble with being a Clydesdale is that your body is taking a beating due to the excess weight. Clydesdale is a term used to describe heavy-weight runners. Some women prefer the cutesy term Clydette or choose to be referred to Athenas. So because of our larger frame, we have a much slower pace and tend to be back-of-the packers, the turtle patrol, the sloth running team, etc. Whatever you call us, we’re the big horses in the race, and the only way we’re taking 1st place overall is if everyone else trips. So I found this second group of runners who had a similar pace to mine, and suddenly long races were being run side-by-side or within sight of other runners who you could match pace with. As we were running near the ventilatory threshold, it was still possible to hold conversations, and encourage one another. There is a difference between running in a race with someone, and running with someone in a race. And that’s how I met Suzan. I remember the first time she spoke to me, I had seen her at other two prior Third Thirsty Thursday 5Ks, but by the August 6th, 2020 TTTK5, I hit a new personal speed record and flew downhill from the turnabout point screaming a triumphant battle cry as I sped past a wide-eyed Suzan like a blur. After the race she was so impressed by my performance that she came up to me and said “My MAN! YOU ARE BADASS!” , then high-fived me and gave me her phone number.

From then on, we were texting each other often, looking for one another at races, running together for as long as we could match pace, and waiting for each other at the finish line. By October I could run a half-marathon every weekend, and in November I ran my first full marathon at the alternate Labor Pains 10-hour endurance race at French Creek. I fell, bruised my legs and injured my IT band, but I limped to the finish line.

Unfortunately the labor shortage at my job decided to derail my new-found happiness. Endless weeks of 20-25hrs of forced overtime quickly took their toll on my health. In 2021 personal bests gave way to personal worsts, and almost every race found me dead last. I spent the most of 2021 trying to fight my way back.

In 2021 Suzan and I we were ‘supposed’ to run seven half-marathons together. We actually ran 3 together. Gettysburg, The Dumb Dutchman, and BirdInHand.

She missed The Slyfox Dutch Half because she had signed up for a 2020 half that got rescheduled for the same day, and she really wanted to run that one. She overslept and missed the Lebanon Root Beer Half. She signed up for the Half-wit half-marathon. This is the hardest half-marathon known to man, a trail run up Mt Penn. Because she signed up for it, I did too. I told her, “If you can do it, I can do it!” The morning of the race she backed out due to a pulled muscle. I ran 13.1 miles up that damn mountain without her, and it was the worst experience of my life. In July I pulled my hamstring, so long runs were OUT, and I had hoped I could heal up by Fall. I did not. In September I had a half that I refused to miss. I struggled through BirdinHand, and honestly I could not have made it without Suzan. I texted her at the 10th mile that I was about to give up, and she texted back “YOU GOT THIS!” She was waiting for me at the finish line, took a bunch of pictures, helped me get my post race food, etc.

That race was my last half of 2021. I backed out of the End-of-the-Line half. Suzan ran it without me.

I decided to stick to nothing longer than a 10K for the foreseeable future, but even that was too much.

THE END

On February 19th 2022 I ran the Ugly Mudder 10k Trail Run. Once again I was dead last. I barely made it back to the finish line and into The Liederkranz (a bar) minutes before a blinding snow squall hit. So I’m sitting in the bar and I closed my eyes for (I swear) just one second. The next thing I know, everyone is yelling my name in my face, and not in the happy good way. They called 911, an ambulance arrived. Evidently I passed out two more times on the EMTs, but I don’t remember any of this. All I wanted to do was go home. I was FINE, I DID NOT WANT TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL! Well the only way I went was under to the threat of being banned from racing forever. One of the EMTS also made the comment that since I lived alone, if I went home and just went to bed without being checked, I could die in my sleep. (Remember what I wrote earlier about my older-than-me-now father dying in his sleep?) So off to the hospital I went.

They checked me out, I was FINE, Combination of dehydration and exhaustion. After this I was pretty depressed. Then things got worse. I was texting Suzan thought this ordeal because I was burning a lot of sick-time. I had no desire to go to work. She texted me back that I needed to take care of myself. On March 2nd, I sent Suzan a text about probably going back to work tomorrow, and that I doubted they’d fire me. She texted back “nah, they need you too much”. I trudged away at my job working 10-12 hrs days, and sent a few unanswered texts. I texted that I was going for a run Sunday at Gring’s Mill with our mutual friend Denise, and she should join us. No answer. Called her. No answer. Ran with Denise, sent her a text with pictures and said she missed a fun run. No answer. Tested her that she was ‘awfully quiet, is everything OK?’ No answer. I figured she was mad at me for something . A couple of days after that I got a text at work from another mutual friend asking what happened to Suzan? She had just seen a post on Facebook shared by yet another friend that Suzan had died March 3rd. I fell to pieces. The next day I missed the March 13th Shiver by the River. The 1st time I ever intentionally blew off a race. I didn’t want to run, I didn’t even want to live anymore. I did go to the post-race banquet because I needed to be with my other running friends. Home alone was the worst place for me. Afterward I drove to her house, I was worried about her race medals possibly being tossed in the trash. And who was taking care of her dog? Her parents and an aunt were there going through her belongings. Her father assured me that they were taking her medals back home to Florida and would display them accordingly. Suzan ran the NYC Marathon, 75 half-marathons, and countless 5Ks. Her dog Sprout went to live with a friend’s daughter. They told me that Suzan had died from a pulmonary embolism caused by a blood clot in her lung. The ironic thing is that March is National Blood Clot Awareness Month. If you catch a severe blood clot early, you have a 90% chance of survival. If you ignore the warning signs, your odds are about 50-50. Suzan had been experiencing some breathing issues, but she assumed it was nothing. It was a fatal mistake and it cost her parents their only child. She was 42.

I’m still not in half-marathon shape physically, mentally, or emotionally, but Sunday April 10th, 2022 is the Gettysburg Half Marathon. This will be my 3rd time running in this race, only this time Suzan won’t be there running with me. I got permission from Gettysburg race director Lowell Ladd to place a memorial sign and some flowers at the race. Her father sent me a text wishing me success, and that Suzan will be cheering me on from Heaven. I’m going to cross that finish line Sunday if I have to die trying.

You can find me at the following upcoming local races:

April 2022

April 9th April Foolish 10hr Endurance trail run. @ 7:00am French Creek State Park Elverson PA (only doing ONE lap)

April 10th Gettysburg Half Marathon @8am Gettysburg PA

April 21st Third Thirsty Thursday 5K Race Series (#1 of 7) @7pm Reading PA

Be sure to check back on April 17th, 2022 for another article.

As always, I wish you success and happiness!

THE STRUGGLE IS REAL!

Everyone’s journey is different!

The joy of running! It is a feeling that cannot be conveyed to a non-runner. The non-runner views running as a form of punishment or self-torture. They cannot imagine running a marathon. They also will never know the deep feeling of personal satisfaction a runner feels after completing a marathon.

A runner runs! It’s who we are, it’s what we do, and it defines us. We are on a journey of self-improvement. All runners are not created equal. Each of us is unique in our own special way, and we come to the sport of running from different places in our lives. Everyone’s journey is different, and how we got here is not that important, what is it that we made it! Five years ago running a marathon was the furthest thing from my mind. It wasn’t until Nathan Maxwell (a Twitter friend who is an ultra runner) inspired me and encouraged me to start with a 5K and work my way up. Since I began my running odyssey three years ago, I have been smothered by accolades, encouragements, and numerous ‘thumbs-ups’ from the running community. I have been called ‘amazing’, ‘awesome’, an ‘inspiration’ and a ‘rock star’. I have made many friends. Iron sharpens iron and I would not be where I am today were it not for my running friends. In my division, I have placed in the top five twice, and the top four once. So what’s my division you may ask?

I am a Clydesdale. In addition to being a breed of horse, Clydesdale is a term applied to larger runners. We are in a different category because of our larger size. Distance running is broken into different divisions by sex, age and weight. A 4O year-old runner would have a hard time beating a 17 year-old. Same for a woman out-running a man, and a larger person beating a smaller, faster person. So by competing within your division, with similar athletes, you are encouraged to do your best without being discouraged by others outside your category.

The Clydesdale movement began in 1988 and was started by Joe Law who wanted to level the playing field to encourage larger runners. Their motto is “You don’t have to be thin to be fit.” There are male and female Clydesdale divisions as Clydesdale is a breed and not a gender of large horse. None-the-less, some women opt for the cutesy term Clydettes, or prefer to be called Athenas after the mythical goddess of strength and wisdom. I’m not a fan of the last term, but that’s just me.

WHAT’S THE SKINNY?

If you saw a man exercising alongside a woman, you might think something like ‘good for them’.

They’re both doing the same exercise. You wouldn’t think ‘she can’t do that, she’s just a girl and he’s so much stronger than her’. You’re a judgmental bastard if you do. Yes men are bigger and tend to be stronger than women, but this is just a physical reality. It is not an indication of one being better than the other. In reality, the woman is working that much harder than the man to accomplish the same exercise.

Now compare the next two athletes doing a simple planking exercise:

Again, if you though ‘kudos for her’ on the first athlete, but laughed at the second athlete, you’re not a very nice person and you need to check yourself. The overweight woman is working that much harder to do the same exercise than the skinny girl is. There is NO SHAME in trying to improve your health. This is the real importance of having a Clydesdale division in running. Winning a medal in a race is an incredible ego booster. Being able to say that I got off the couch, I trained, I worked HARD and I WON THIS! It’s an amazing feeling. Every person deserves to feel good about themselves and have a great life. The Clydesdale division gives us our moment to shine!

There is no such thing as a FAT PERSON.

Fat is a component of food. It is something that gets stored in our body for energy reserves when you overeat and do not exercise enough. As such, overweight people get slapped with the stigma of being lazy, gluttonous, or both. Every person you know is struggling with some inner demons or internal conflicts that you know nothing about. Fat-shaming is a real thing and overweight people are constantly humiliated by people mocking or criticizing them about their size. When I tell non-runners that I have a race coming up this weekend, I sometimes get comments like ‘you run?’ My former boss was famous for this. When I ran my first marathon, he asked me “how many days did it take?”.

Overweight people are laughed at and rejected in so many situations in the real world that they tend to believe that they are worthless, or not good enough. As a result, they lock themselves away from the world. It takes an incredible act of courage to make that first step and take action to improve your health.

You may be laughed at by callous people being jerks. Ignore them! I was 322 pounds before I started running. When I signed up for my first 5K race EVER in 2019, my non-running friends informed me that it takes months of training to run those races. I told them I had already been running treadmill for the past 8 weeks at that point. When I finished the race, Helene Horn told me I was amazing. Not one of my non-running friends showed up to watch my race.

FAUX PONY BALONEY

When is a Clydesdale NOT a Clydesdale? This is a controversial gray area. Some of my fellow Clydesdales and myself included are slightly upset when we see a runner who looks way too light to be a Clydesdale walk away with a medal. Is this stolen honor, or just sour grapes? The category is not a perfect division. Muscle is much denser than fat, but a pound of muscle is equal to a pound of fat. Some race directors rely upon a BMI formula based on weight and height, while others go by weight alone. In the weight alone situation, the limits are usually men: 210lbs+ women: 160lbs+ . Now here’s the thing what if a man is packing a lot of muscle on his frame, very little body fat at all, AND weighs in at 210lbs 1oz ONLY because he ate breakfast that day. Is he REALLY a Clydesdale? According to the rules of that race, yes.

A 250lb Clydesdale packing an excess of body fat, with a BMI of over 35 is going to get clobbered by such an athlete.

What if a very tall, skinny girl with very long legs and who weighs who 160lbs 1oz decides to sign up as a Clydesdale? Should she? Is it a fair race against a short plump woman with short legs who weighs 230lbs and is running her heart out to try to get a medal, only to see the tall girl walk away with the prize?

What about the 20-year-old Clydesdale who is competing against the 45-year-old in the same division?

The above situations have occurred at various races and at various times. Everyone wants a medal. Not everyone is going to get one, and there are some who never will. The Clydesdale division is a necessary race class, but it is NOT a perfect division. Until a greater number of overweight runners begin signing up for races there is no fixing this imbalance in the class. Unlike professional boxing which has 17 different weight classes, there is no way to subdivide the Clydesdale category when Clydesdales on average make up less than 10% of the runners in any given race. It sucks, it’s not fair, but no one ever said life was fair. Participation medals are worthless trinkets. If there is an imbalance in our beloved Clydesdale division, we need to use that to encourage us to push ourselves that much harder. And when we do earn that medal by our own merits, it will be the greatest feeling in the world!

You can find me at these upcoming local races:

February 2022

Ugly Mudder 9.5K Trail Race February 19 @ 10:00 am Reading PA

March 2022

Shiver by The River 10K Winter Race Series #4 of 4 March 13th @ 10:00am Muhlenberg PA

Be sure to check back on February 27th 2022 for another article.

As always, I wish you success and happiness!

SLOW AND STEADY!

80/20 wins the race!

At the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, runner Emil Zátopek of Czechoslovakia won 3 gold medals. He took running’s highest honor at the games in both the 5,000 (24 July 1952)and 10,000 (20 July 1952) meter runs, and then decided AT THE LAST MINUTE to run the marathon (27 July 1952) FOR THE FIRST TIME! Zátopek is the ONLY runner to win all three gold medals at the same Olympic games. Runner’s World Magazine declared him to be the greatest runner of all time in 2013. He pioneered the use of High Intensity Interval Training (H.I.I.T) known to most runners today just as intervals or speed-work.

Zátopek was a beast! A force of nature. His grueling training regiment topped out at 175 miles (281.63 kilometers) per week! Protégés who attempted to mimic his training methods burned out after a few years, or seriously injured themselves.

Speed-work is the most widely embraced method to improve running performance, BUT it is NOT the ONLY way. It is possible to get fast by going SLOW!

An unlikely coincidence

When Emil Zátopek first hit upon the idea of H.I.I.T (pun intended) he was working in a shoe factory in Zlin, Czechoslovakia. A couple of years later on the other side of the world, Arthur Lydiard was working in a shoe factory in Auckland, New Zealand. He came up with the notion that the key way to maximize running fitness was by tacking on distance running at a slow pace. A quantity over quality approach designed to build up stamina and endurance. Lydiard fancied himself to be in fantastic shape. He played rugby! One fateful day, his friend Jack Dolan (a central figure in the Auckland running community) goaded Arthur into running against him in a 5 mile race. Needless to say, rugby training doesn’t carry over well into short distance running. Lydiard got his ass kicked by Dolan. The race nearly killed him. His humiliation at the hands of his friend was what lead him to the idea of adding distance and decreasing the pace.

Lydiard realized that no runner, regardless of training or ability, can sustain their top speed for more than half a mile. After that, their pace would decrease incrementally over distance as fatigue set in. Any runner who has run middle to long distance races is familiar with the concept that it’s not the distance that kills you, it’s the pace. Runners who shoot out like jackrabbits at the start of the race sometimes find themselves being passed by runners who slowly crept back up by running at a much slower race.

Arthur Lydiard spent many months perfecting his slow training method. At the height of his training, he was running 250 miles (402.3 kilometers) a week! This proved to be too much. Lydiard soon realized that he felt best when running 100 to 120 miles per week, and that he could always run again after a day of training if he kept the pace slow. He also played with the pace, alternating distances, etc.

Once he had it all figured out, his typical training week was:

Monday 10 miles
Tuesday 15 miles
Wednesday 12 miles
Thursday 18 miles
Friday 10 miles
Saturday 15 miles
Sunday 24 miles

Arthur Lydiard never personally won a Gold medal at the Olympics, but he did coach protégés who took 2 gold medals at the 1960 games in Rome. His training methods evolved into what is known as 80/20 running. the 80/20 rule of running training states that 80% of your weekly training time should be done at an easy effort level, with 20% consisting of harder running. Getting the miles is more important than speed-work. This flies in the face of logic for many, but the idea is about maintaining your heart rate in certain zones, while training your mind that this running thing ‘isn’t so bad’. Your pace should be below the ventilatory threshold, meaning that you can carry on a conversation while running, and you are not winded and gasping for air.

If I only had a brain…

Running is more of a mental discipline than it is physical. As your body grows fatigued, your brain begins to say STOP. You start thinking to yourself ‘I can’t do this anymore’. Here’s the thing, our bodies are capable of going further even though our minds are telling us that we can’t do this anymore. It’s like a fail-safe. We ‘think’ we are at our limit, so our mind tells us to stop, but in reality we can push ourselves much further than we thought possible. By focusing on distance rather than time, we train the body and the mind at the same time. By keeping our heart rate in a lower zone by running at a slower pace, we can run further without setting off the mental alarm bells telling us to STOP! It really is all in your head.

The week of SLOW

The biggest mind challenge for the runner is to keep a slow pace while knowing that you can run much faster. This is about distance, NOT time. When we race, we want the best time. 80/20 training is all about keeping it slow and steady. Training should never be at your race pace! 80% of your runs should be done at low intensity. You should feel like you can just keep running all day if you had to. You were born to run! Running is as natural as breathing. You wouldn’t stop breathing because you were too tired, would you? The remaining 20% of your training is done at moderate to high intensity, but also just shy of race pace.

AGAIN training is NOT racing. Save that burst of incredible speed for the big race, but don’t run so fast that you burnout 20% short of the finish line. Smile and wave as you pass the jackrabbits who shot ahead at the start.

80/20 vs the Clydesdale

Clydesdales are a race horse of a different color, and 80/20 training is a trickier proposition. A Clydesdale is a term for an larger, overweight runner. We are a separate racing division , pursing our own path to fitness. Depending on what source you site, the pace between running and walking transitions between 12mph and 15mph. Clydesdales usually run at a much slower pace than the average runner, so there is much less wiggle room to run slow. I am a Clydesdale, and the struggle is real. No Clydesdale is ever going to burn up the track and take 1st place overall in a race unless that horse is on fire!

My fastest pace mile to date is 10min 1sec. My average pace is between 12min and 13min per mile. I can sustain a 12 minute per mile pace for up to one hour, after that my pace drops like a rock. This is why I am studying 80/20 running vs. High Intensity Interval Training. This body was not built for speed.

A skinny runner who can manage a 6-minute mile can effortlessly transition to a 12-minute mile. A Clydesdale who already runs at a 12-minute mile is hardly running much slower at a 15-minute pace by comparison.

If a ‘skinny’ runs 5 miles at a 6min pace, they are done in 30 minutes. A Clydesdale running a 12min pace takes ONE HOUR to cover the same distance. Our race takes longer, and the mental fatigue telling us to give up is that much more intense at the finish. The ONLY way to overcome this is to condition our mind and body toward increased stamina and endurance via 80/20 training.

For more information on 80/20 running, I highly recommend the book 80/20 RUNNING by Matt Fitzgerald. The book also contains dozens of pages of training plans for 5K to full marathon, and was used as the source material for this article.

You can find me at these upcoming races:

JULY 2021

Third Thirsty Thursday 5K Race Series – Race 4/7 July 15 @7:00 pm Reading PA

Be sure to check back on July 25th for another article.

As always, I wish you success and happiness!

THE BARE FACTS!

The agony of ‘the feet’?

this is part two of a series on footwear. For part one, read JUST RUN WITH IT!

In the human foot, there are 26 bones, 33 joints and over a hundred muscles, ligaments, and tendons.

Having the proper sneakers that fit well are essential equipment for ‘most’ runners. Modern footwear provides protection to that other essential thing that most runners don’t usually even think about, their feet. Keeping your feet healthy will improve your ability to run. Shoes that fit improperly will cause all manner of foot aliments, from simple blisters up to and including: bunions, corns, and black toenails (from cramming your feet into the front of the shoe). Now if you’ve ever caught the toe of your shoe while running at top speed like I have several times on trail runs, you’re probably grateful for having the toe box of the shoe take the hit on that ‘invisible rock’. Slamming your naked toe full force into an immovable object is a surefire way to break a toe.

Tenderfoot

The soles of our shoes protect our feet as we run from any sharp or jagged items on the ground. The cushioned insoles soften the impact of our feet hitting the ground. This two step protection prevents the natural build up of calluses on the soles of our feet. Calluses are thickened layers of skin where friction, irritation, and pressure repeatedly occurs. Our shoes are like armor for our feet providing a barrier between our feet and the rough ground. They also alter the natural movements of our feet by restricting the ability of many joints in our feet to flex like nature intended, and in turn have altered the way humans run. Instead of striking the ground with the balls of our feet, we now strike the ground with our heals. As a result, we need added shock-absorption in the heal area of our shoes, so we are constantly walking and running with our feet on a slanted plane. We should be launching ourselves from the balls of our feet.

The barefoot running movement.

Abebe Bikila was an Ethiopian marathon runner who won back-to-back gold medals in the 1960 and 1964 Olympics. Amazingly, he ran the 1960 Olympic marathon completely barefoot with a record time of 2:15:16.2. Think about that for a moment. 26.2 miles on the soles of his feet without any footwear what-so-ever. AND HE WON! 4 years later at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, he won again, this time wearing shoes. His time was over 3 minutes faster at 2:12:11.2. If you’re curious, he was wearing Puma Osaka sneakers. These were an innovative design with a minimal sole and a nearly non-existent heal-to toe wedge providing a ‘barefoot’ feeling. In modern footwear, we refer to this as a zero-drop shoe, meaning that the heel and the ball of the foot are on a flat horizontal plane with no slanted wedge.

The best of both worlds

A zero-drop shoe is designed in a way that the toes and the heel have the same distance from the ground allowing your feet to sit in a natural position that helps with spine alignment and posture. Minimalist running shoes all have zero-drop platforms with super-thin, ultra-flexible soles and fit your foot like a glove. Perhaps the most widely recognized brand in this category is the Vibram Fiver-Finger shoes, sometimes referred to by the slang term as ‘toe shoes’.

“Traverse City, Michigan, USA – August 7, 2012: A variety of Vibram Five Finger shoes, marked down in price for a sale, are seen on a display table placed outside a Traverse City, Michigan retail store.”

You don’t do ballet wearing combat boots!

The super thin soles, lack of insole padding, and soft flexible upper shells allow ‘barefoot’ shoes to provide the wearers with fully uninhibited motion of the entire foot. Unfortunately, this comes at the cost of all the protective properties of traditional running sneakers. Proponents of the barefoot running movement claim that this natural foot movement eliminates many of the physical problems runners sometimes develop such as shin splints, knee pain, IT band syndrome and a host of other ailments. As a person who has always worn traditional sneakers, I can neither confirm nor deny these claims. I personally like to think that the padding and thick soles protect our feet in much the same way that boxing gloves protect a boxer’s hands as they’re pounding their opponents. As a Clydesdale, I’m pounding that pavement a lot harder than thinner runners, so I’m very hesitant to try this fad.

Full disclaimer: I am neither a podiatrist nor an expert in biomechanical muscular-skeletal movement. I’m just an avid runner making a guess from personal experience. It seems to me that perhaps it might work, maybe, but I’m extremely skeptical.

The bottom line:

I’ve seen runners run in 21°F (-5°C) wearing nothing but shorts and sneakers because it ‘felt good’ to them. Everybody is different, and every body is different. Listen to your body and do what you feel is good for you. I may give barefoot running shoes a test at some future date just to see how it feels. I am eyeing a pair of Xero-shoes sandals, but they never seem to have them in my size when I shop online. IF I ever do score a pair to try, it will be on flat pavement. So do what you think is right for YOU. Whether you choose tradition sneakers, minimalist running shoes, or no shoes at all, the choice is up to you.

I will recommend one thing though. After a long hard run, treat yourself to a therapeutic foot massage. Your feet will feel amazing afterward!

If you have additional running tips and tricks, please leave a comment. If you are local to me, you can find me at these upcoming races:

April 2021

Shiver by the River 10K April 11 @ 10:00 am Muhlenberg, PA

Third Thirsty Thursday 5K Race Series – Race 1/7 April 15 @7:00 pm Reading PA

April Foolish 10 Hour Endurance Trail Run April 18 @ 9:00 am – 7:00 pm Elverson, PA 19520

Be sure to check back in two weeks for another article.

As always, I wish you success and happiness!

SNOW IS A ‘FOUR-LETTER’ WORD!

Are you running in a winter wonderland?

Idiomatically a four-letter word is a swearword, considered rude and unacceptable in certain contexts.

Today is February 14th 2021 and its 23°F (-5°C) here in Lancaster County Pennsylvania. I was ‘supposed’ to be running a 10K race today, but it was postponed until the 28th due to safety concerns. The recent heavy snowfall has left many city streets narrowed down to single car widths with few accesses from the curb to the sidewalk due to the mounds of snow. Even where streets and sidewalks are cleared, there are still patches of snow and ice. So road races are not very safe under the present conditions.

Last Sunday, I drove 27 miles in a blizzard to run 11K (6.75 miles) up and down a snow covered mountain. Mount Penn is a small mountain in Berks County where Pretzel City Sports holds several trail races during the year. I ran up this mountain last year for the first time for the UGLY MUDDER 13K back on Feb 23rd 2020. It was warmer then, and there was no snow. This time the mountain was covered with two feet (66cm) of snow, it was still snowing, and it was much colder. This was my first snow-trail run, the CHILLY CHEEKS 11K.

193 runners showed up for the race that day.

Ron Horn race director, owner Pretzel City Sports

Whenever I do trail runs, I swap out my Nike Initiator running shoes for my Inov-8 X-Talon 200 trail shoes.

I always wear Mud Gear brand socks. I’ve run in cold weather, but I have never run in snow before, so I had no idea how the Inov-8s would perform. The aggressive cleats built into the sole of the shoe worked great on mud and dirt, and ‘should’ work as well on snow and soft ice. They also meant that I could not wear STABILicers ,YakTrax or any other brand of ice spikes. I briefly toyed with the idea of trying out a pair of electric socks to keep my feet warm, but opted instead to wear two pairs of socks.

While the Inov-8 X-Talons 200s did indeed work, the double socks failed to keep my toes warm. I SHOULD have purchased toe warmers, but as with doing anything the first time, you only discover these things after the fact.

Several of my fellow runners also used trek poles, a set of folding walking sticks that resemble ski poles and can help with navigating tough terrain. Unfortunately I have zero experience using these, so I had to rely on grabbing trees as I made my way up or down steep climbs. More than once, I chose to slide down the icy landscape feet first in the seated position like a sledder without a sled.

For half of the trek, I fell in with a group of 3 other runners led by Barry Elder.

We were the last group of runners on the mountain, and three of us were Clydesdales. People come in all sizes and shapes, and there is nothing wrong with being a Clydesdale. We may not be as fast as ‘the skinnies’ , but it takes a lot more physical effort for larger runners to maintain that pace. At about mile three, I could no longer keep pace with Barry, and stepped to the side and let Erin and Vanessa pass me while I took a breather. I almost managed to catch back up to the group twice, but eventually I lost sight of them and was alone on the mountain.

Once again, I had come to a new challenge, only to discover that I had way underestimated the difficulty level. CHILLY CHEEKS is the toughest trail course Pretzel City Sports has developed. When you run with a buddy, you motivate one another to keep pace. Iron sharpens iron! Alone, you begin to play mind games with yourself as you begin to experience mounting levels of self doubt. If you’ve done something before, you know you can do it again, but the first time really tests your metal.

Just as I had hit the point of giving up, one of Pretzel City’s employees showed up.

Jules’ job that day was to remove the trail markers at the conclusion of the race. For the last half of the race, she managed to keep me motivated to press on and not give up. If she had not shown up when she did, I would probably still be up on Mount Penn sitting in the snow like a frozen Buddha. My quads were beginning to cramp from the effort, I was out of water, and my toes were numb from the cold. I was also sweating profusely since I had worn several layers but couldn’t really remove them because I had no place to stash them.

Now DFL is not a palatable position for me, I hate being last. Yes, I know ‘someone’ has to be last, but I’d rather that someone not be me. It’s a matter of personal pride. Of course DFL is much better than DNF, or DID NOT FINISH. This was only the second time I’ve ever come in last, the first was my 1st ever trail run, The Chobert Challenge 15K in 2019. That was in the summer, and here I was in mid-winter forcing myself to dig deep, being prodded onward by Jules as she keep telling me “you’ve got this, you’re almost there!”

And after 3:34 minutes, I did crawl up the final hill to the finish line, to cheers of Helene Horn calling me a rockstar, saying that she’s proud of me, and telling me I’m awesome!

The moral of the story? If you don’t push yourself to the limit, you will never know how far you could go. Many of your limitations exist only in your mind, and you will never have a positive life if you have a negative mind. So instead of saying ‘I can’t’ TRY, and if you struggle, don’t quit! There are people watching you and rooting for you that you are unaware of, and your accomplishments fuel their hopes, dreams and aspirations. No one wants to emulate a loser, so be a winner! If you can’t do it for yourself, do it for THEM. Like Sir Winston Churchill once said, “If you’re going through Hell, KEEP GOING!”

If you have additional cold weather running tips and tricks, please leave a comment. If you are local to me, you can find me at these upcoming races:

February 2021

Shiver by the River 10K February 28 @ 10:00 am Muhlenberg, PA

Arctic Blast 5K February 20 @ 10:00 am Reading, PA (Relocated to Trooper Thorn’s)

March 2021

Ugly Mudder 10k Trail Race March 7 @ 10:00 am Reading PA

Shiver by the River 10K March 14 @ 10:00 am Muhlenberg, PA

As always, I wish you success and happiness!

WHAT’S YOUR MOTIVATION?

Carrot or stick?

WHATS YOUR MOTIVATION

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.– Jeremiah 29:11

coffee-1587078_1920

Wishes and dreams are very nice things to have, but they remain just that unless you set plans in motion to accomplish them. This is why we must have goals in life. The human spirit cannot thrive without hope. It is hope that allows us to make plans and set goals for a better future. It is hope which provides us the impetus to strive to achieve those set goals. However, If we TRULY wish to achieve those goals, we must believe that they are absolutely possible. The moment we say to ourselves “I can’t”, or “it’s impossible”, we have defeated ourselves and we are done! Despair is a dream killer. A positive attitude is fuel for the soul when you are running on empty.

The Cake is a lie!

cupcake-279523_1920

The phrase “carrot and stick” is a metaphor for the use of a combination of reward and punishment to induce a desired behavior. There are some people that for whatever reason cannot ‘self-start’. They sit idle in a vegetative state, unable to take that initial step on the path towards their goals. When someone else is dangling a carrot in front of you while threatening a stick for punishment, they are motivating you to do their work. You are accomplishing ‘their’ goals not ‘yours’. For just a moment, think of this concept at your place of work. The ‘boss’ tells you to get to work, you do your job because you don’t want to get reprimanded or fired (the stick). So you work either willingly or under duress, and you earn wages or bonus pay (the carrot). Now ask yourself, who is getting rich off ‘your labor’? This is why you have to find your own carrot! It’s out there waiting for you. Probably gagged and tied to a stick in the forest of despair.

carrot-1512079_1920

Motivation is self-motivational!

Once you learn to become a ‘self-starter’, starting is easy. Like the Nike mantra, you “Just Do It”! Habits both good and bad are easy to form, and hard to break. When I started running at the beginning of 2019, I had a lot of bad habits. It’s very easy to be lazy. I had set a personal goal on New Year’s Eve 2018 that I would start distance running in 2019 with the goal of eventually running a marathon. I was still fat although I had been dieting for over a year at that time. My goal for the first official 5K race I ran was not to be last. I wanted to finish, I knew 1st place was IMPOSSIBLE even with roller-skates and a rocket-powered backpack. It just was not going to happen. So I contented myself with the goal of finishing the race, any place except last. A runner runs, and I wanted to be a runner! On April 28th, 2019 I ran and finished the Beat Beethoven 5K race at Alvernia University in Reading PA, and I was NOT last! Moreover, I received a plethora of compliments from complete strangers that for a first attempt I ‘did great’. I now knew it was possible to run that distance, that people were rooting for me, and that next time I would do better. I was a Clydesdale ( a heavy-weight runner) and I had found my ‘carrot’!

mold-3291095_1920

Life throws curve-balls!

After the first year of running, I had set goals in place to run twice as many races, more than two dozen with the big race being The Philly Marathon on November 22,2020. This would be my first marathon ever and the coveted Liberty Bell Finisher’s Medal would be mine! Running a distance of 26.2 miles was no longer an impossible dream, it was a developing reality that was growing from hard work and determination. Also I had made new friends in the running community, and we had formed a make-shift running club which I dubbed ‘The Pack’. And then mid-March, COVID-19 AKA the virus that shut down the world cancelled all my slated races in Spring, Summer, and possibly even some in Autumn as well. Now, here’s where being a ‘self-starter’ and having good encouraging friends comes in handy when you’re running down a dream.

Gina, one of the more competitive runners in the group stumbled upon a virtual running series from Run The Edge which was called The Un-Cancelled Project. When the information about the FREE series was disseminated to the group, I was a little skeptical. Joining a FREE series wasn’t going to cost me anything, and besides, with all the official races cancelled, it was the only game in town. It also convinced me to finally purchase a professional runner’s smart-watch,( a Garmin Forerunner 945) so that I could record my time and distance during these virtual races.

Each week had a theme.

gratitude
hope
humor
inspiration
courage
commitment
dreams
kindness
joy
community
perseverance
life

Initially, the series was set for 6 weeks, with 5 races a week. Two ‘beginner’-5K and 10K, one ‘intermediate’- a half-marathon, and two ‘advanced’- a full-marathon, and an ultra-marathon. Due to both the popularity of the free series, and the continuing coronavirus lock-down, the series was expanded to 12 weeks, and two additional races were added to accommodate the beginners (a 8K) and intermediates (a 15K). Also added was the ability to purchase an optional series t-shirt and finishers medal.

series

Considering that most races cost $30 and up anyway and did come with t-shirts, I immediately jumped on the opportunity to purchase a series t-shirt and medal so that I had something to show for my hard work. I mean we did get free ‘virtual bibs’ for each race that we could customize with pictures and print out, but t-shirts are nice conversation starters and medals look great hanging on a trophy wall.

Speaking of the virtual bibs- a runners ‘bib’ is the paper number they wear pinned on the front of their shirt while running to identify them during a race. With official timed races, a record is kept by the race officials of each runner and their time. After the race is done, many runners like to keep their bibs for posterity. So the virtual bibs that you could customize lack a runner number and show the distance instead, but you could add a picture in its place. I did that with a few of the 33 bibs I earned thus far.

gr10

GRATITUDE WEEK was a before and after body shot showing how much weight I’d lost my first year as a runner.

uncancelled

COURAGE WEEK was my first virtual half-marathon and friends who ran it with me.

joy week

JOY WEEK was a collage showing my personal bests, courses, and the friends I ran with that week.

PERSERVERANCE

PERSEVERANCE WEEK highlights my fastest 15K ever!

I must say that these last 11 weeks have been awesome, and Monday June 15th, 2020 marks beginning of the final week of the series LIFE WEEK. Once again I plan to run FIVE races 5K through half-marathon like I did during JOY WEEK, and possibly break at least ONE personal record doing so. And that is the importance of having a goal! Quitters never win, but winners never quit and EVERYONE loves a winner!

horse-934534_1920

As always I wish you success and happiness!

RUNNING ON EMPTY?

Do you have what it takes?

RUNNING ON EMPTY

There are different types of fuel offered at gas stations, and each type is meant for a specific type of automobile engine. Diesel fuel has more chemical energy than gasoline, but gasoline engines cannot combust diesel fuel, so the car would stop running. The reverse situation would be similar, and would more than likely destroy the diesel engine because the gasoline would combust at improper intervals. In either case both vehicles would be going nowhere fast.

Some people also live and die by their little gas gauge. Either they fill their tank only when it’s empty, every time it hits half-full, or always fill it only when they use it with just the pennies in their pocket which they hope will be ‘enough’. The last situation is often referred to as ‘running on empty’. Every now and then, you see one of these people walking to a gas station with an empty gas can, IF they even have one.

As you travel down the proverbial road of life, you are the vehicle that gets you to your final destination. Just as there are different types of car fuel, there are FOUR different types of fuel that keep you going. How far you go in life is determined by how much ‘fuel’ you have. Are you ‘running on empty’, or do you have what it takes to go the distance?

The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. –Romans 14:3

salad-2756467_1920

1) Physical Fuel (AKA food) – There are seven types of nutrients that every human being needs to survive. These are: Water, proteins, carbohydrates, lipids (fats), vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber. Depending on your body type, age, and sex, you will need different quantities of the seven nutrients at different times of the day, in differing amounts. Eating too much of the wrong foods at the wrong times will have disastrous health implications. The same can be said of not getting enough of the right nutrients in your diet.

There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up. –Proverbs 20:21

dollar-1443244_960_720

2) Financial Fuel – Taking care of yourself requires money. There is very little in life that is free. The reality of consumerism in a capitalist society is that you get what you pay for. The higher the quality, the more expensive the cost. Professional athletes may earn millions of dollars in their respective sports, but they also send far more on maintaining and improving their physical health. More money means a better quality of life, better food, and in some cases, less stress. Here is a real life example, today I paid $90 for three pairs of socks. Socks as in what you wear on your feet. I am a runner in training for my first marathon at the end of this year. These socks are high quality compression running socks from a trusted brand, MUDGEAR. Yes, you can buy socks at the dollar store for $1, but I guarantee you that they will not be good enough for professional running.

As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. Proverbs 27:16

20191229_111132_Burst01

3) Emotional Fuel – When you feel good about yourself, there is a special type of energy generated. There is no way to explain it properly. It just radiates outward, and people respond to it. Since I began training to become a runner, I started losing weight as a result of the combination of diet and exercise programs that I was adhering to. People noticed, and I started getting compliments and praise. This of course adds fuel to fire, and I felt even better. Some people have told me that I’m an inspiration. If my example has managed to fuel the fire of another person to improve their lives, then I count that as a win. Words have power, and the right word at the proper time can make all the difference in the world. When I ran my first 5K on April 28th, 2019 I told all of my closest friends where and when the race would be. I was excited about the race, and I was also terrified because I have never done anything like that before. It was my secret hope that my friends would take this subtle hint and make a point to cheer me on at the finish line. None of my friends did. What did happen was that other runners, and officials of the race encouraged and cheered me on. And I felt empowered as I crossed that first finish line. As I continued running in more events and for longer distances, I began to make new friends in the running community who share my passion. Now these friends are waiting for me at the finish line cheering me on, and I feel amazing!

20200112_111826_Burst01

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. – Psalm 42:1

bible-1136784_1920

4) Spiritual Fuel – As the apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the church at Philippi, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). The Holy Bible is the inerrant word of God and is a source of incredible strength and wisdom to everyone who chooses to read and follow it. I can honestly say that I am a far better man with Jesus in my life than I am without Christ. There is power in that book and I urge you to read it and discover the truth for yourself. As always, I wish you success and happiness!

THE CALL OF THE WILD!

The benefits of teamwork!

THE CALL OF THE WILD

“For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.” -Rudyard Kipling

Alaskan Malamutes are the oldest breed of domesticated dog originally bred for their strength and endurance to haul heavy freight as a sled dog. Although they resemble wolves, they are not wolves. However , wolves and dogs are interfertile, they are capable of interbreeding with one another, and their resulting offspring are likewise capable of producing offspring themselves.

winters-1970037_1920

Just are there are many types of dogs, there are many types of people. Claiming that all people are equal in all aspects is as ridiculous as an NFL Quarterback deciding to take ballet lessons, or replacing a Klondike sled dog with a Chihuahua. Not everyone can be part of a team ‘just because’. Over a hundred years ago, the poet Rudyard Kipling pointed out that a wolf pack, like a team of sled dogs or athletes, is only as strong as its weakest member. A weak teammate brings down the entire team. But, when every member of a team is the strongest they can be, exceeding every expectation, they form a ‘Dream Team’ such as the 1992 USA Olympic Basketball Team which was the greatest collection of players ever formed on the same team. Strong teammates work together, encourage one another, and are stronger together! Together everyone achieves more!

Everyone has dreams. Some dreams are just that, flights of impossible fancy which will never come to fruition because the person dreaming the dream never did the work. Success in anything is not guaranteed, but you will never achieve success without hard work.

horses-717285_1920

The Budweiser Brewing Company used to sponsor Superbowl commercials featuring their world famous Clydesdale horses. One of these ad spots was ‘The Donkey who wanted to be a Clydesdale’. The tale was told from the point of a donkey who wanted to be on the Clydesdale team his whole life, so he trained hard, did the work, and went for his interview. He made the team.

Clydesdales are one of the largest breeds of work horses. These strong powerful beasts are the malamutes of the horse world. They are not as fast as race horses, but they are bigger and stronger. So again, putting a much smaller race horse on a Clydesdale team weakens the team.

Vive la différence!

The Clydesdale movement began in 1988 and was started by Joe Law who wanted to level the playing field to encourage larger runners. Their motto is “You don’t have to be thin to be fit.” Instead of being compared to a horse, some larger women have instead adopted the term Athena, after the mythical goddess of strength. I’m not particularly fond of the second term because it’s sexist, but I’m a guy and horses are thinner than cows anyway.

western-riding-1796188_1920

I will never be 18 again. We all get older. We do not have to be fat! The important thing is to train hard every day to improve ourselves and not to just give up and quit.

‘Vive la différence’ is a term borrowed from the French and means ‘long live the difference’. In other words, be happy as you are, but don’t be unhappy about what you are not. Celebrate yourself and be the best that YOU can be. There will always be someone who will be stronger, faster, smarter, richer, thinner, or better looking. YOU are not THEM. THEY are not YOU! YOU are YOU! YOU are the only YOU in the entire world, and the only YOU who will ever exist. So do everything YOU can do to improve YOURSELF and ignore the criticisms of those who are eager to see YOU fail. YOU have to do the work, YOU have to live YOUR life, and YOU have to be the success you so desperately desire to be in your heart of hearts. If YOU do NOTHING, nothing will happen, nothing will change, except maybe that the situation will become worse.

I have been working on improving my life and health for years. I have had many failures and false starts along the way. The key is that I never gave up, and if something wasn’t working, I searched for something else that might and tried that instead. Eventually, I stumbled upon a system that worked for me. The terrifying part? Some people have been inspired by ME. This just means that I have to work even harder, because people are watching and basing their goals on how I do. A few have tried to do what I have accomplished, failed and gave up. Don’t QUIT! I encourage YOU to pursue YOUR path to success, and I wish YOU all the happiness and success that God has planned for you in your life. The journey is the important part, so stick to the path until you reach your destination. As always I wish you success and happiness!