Lack of posts

Sorry-- next two albums coming soon. Just in the middle of moving and unpacking. It's a good thing.

Best Artists (To Run To)

I hesitate to name many full-length albums to run to--agree with Megan's comment that mixes are normally best--particularly after Chris outed the Killers' Hot Fuss. That being said, at the moment I've been listening to Kanye's latest, greatest, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. It would lose points in the important category of consistent beat despite beautifully...dark lulls, but if you don't mind skipping tracks (or just deleting the slow ones from your queue), it's fine.

In any event, among modern artists, Kanye has some good stuff to work with. I think Lady Gaga is probably the most consistent contemporary singer to run to. Other artists on my recent running playlist:

Blink-182

Arcade Fire

Daft Punk

Jay-Z

The Cars

Outkast

Led Zeppelin

The Ting Tings

Electric Light Orchestra

Michael Jackson

LCD Soundsystem

This site may be of interest while we're on this topic: http://jogtunes.com/

Best Album #3: The Killers, Hot Fuss

Okay kiddos, let's get started. My first "great" running album is Hot Fuss by the Killers. Here are the stats as taken from Wikipedia.

Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine"   Flowers, Stoermer 4:04
2. "Mr. Brightside"   Flowers, Keuning 3:42
3. "Smile Like You Mean It"   Flowers, Stoermer 3:54
4. "Somebody Told Me"   Flowers, Keuning, Stoermer, Vannucci 3:17
5. "All These Things That I've Done"   Flowers 5:01
6. "Andy, You're a Star"   Flowers 3:14
7. "On Top"   Flowers, Keuning, Stoermer, Vannucci 4:18
8. "Change Your Mind"   Flowers, Keuning 3:11
9. "Believe Me Natalie"   Flowers, Vannucci 5:05
10. "Midnight Show"   Flowers, Stoermer 4:02
11. "Everything Will Be Alright"   Flowers 5:45

Total time: 45:39 -- Perfect for a 4-5 mile run.

Lotta great songs on there. For starters, you have the radio hits: "somebody told me," and "smile like you mean it..." both which will really get your arms pumping and legs floating across the pavement. But my favorite running song on the album...despite a REALLY slow start...is "All these things that I've done," which has the bridge section of "I've got soul, but I"m not a soldier..." very fun tune and great beat once it picks up.

Da criteria:

1) Has GREAT first song to get you psyched to run
When you click play on the album, you'll get the siren like thing and the helicopter thumps-- you get pumped. Jenny WAS a friend of yours! SO GET GOING! Rating: A-

2) Good, consistent beats
Really, I don't think you have to skip a song because it's too slow... Rating B+

Not all songs sound the same
Nothing really to say here. I guess you can say the songs are a bit too similar, but there is some serious variation, too... Rating: B+

4) Walks the fine line of "I'm embarrassed to listen to this" and "I'm proud I'm rocking this"
It's no longer "cool" to like the Killers, but I still think they're a solid band. I'll give them an A- here.

5) Has many shifts in songs-- mini explosions of excitement
As previously noted, good amount of this. Rating A-

6) Can be listened to over and over...
Arguably the album's best asset. Tough to get tired of this sucker. Rating: A

7) Songs are not too long, not too short
Shortest song, 3:11 ; longest, 5:45. Great lengths. Rating: A

Sombody told me, that you wrote a blog post, that looked like a blog post, that I wrote in February of last year...IT'S NOT CONFIDENTIAL, I'VE GOT POTENTIAL!

Sigh.

The best albums of all time (to run to)

I'm hoping this will spark a bit of a debate. Running music is a bit of a polarizing topic, and given that I've been running to the sound of silence (and I don't mean simon and garfunkel) for the last few months, I am not as attached to it as some folks.

That said-- a good beat can be be the difference between a good and a bad run. And back when I was running longer distance (training for the 2006 Brooklyn Half Marathon), I noticed that songs were the most consistent way to get a "runner's high." Let's debate if those exist another time-- for now, they do. Deal with it.

I think the best running songs consistently have one thing: a beat that is in time with the landing of your feet-- and hopefully one that pushes you to run just a tid-bit faster.

But making a running mix is really overrated. You spend way too much time crafting it like you're putting on a party-- and then what? You get bored on listen 3. Eventually, you get lazy and start playing albums instead. Don't lie-- you've been there.

SO. I've decided to give you a top 3 "run-to" albums of all time (with commentary). Here are my criteria:

1) Has GREAT first song to get you psyched to run
2) Good, consistent beats
3) Not all songs sound the same
4) Walks the fine line of "I'm embarrassed to listen to this" and "I'm proud I'm rocking this"
5) Has many shifts in songs-- mini explosions of excitement
6) Can be listened to over and over...
7) Songs are not too long, not too short

Stay tuned for the first album tomorrow.

Hello, Abridged Running History, Upcoming Posts

Good morning, folks. Chris, thanks for the...kind introduction. In terms of hand-eye coordination, my guess is Chris is more of a "natural" athlete than I am, but my long chicken legs do give me an advantage in distance running. We'll see how each of us does about a year from now.

The only thing more boring than training for a marathon has to be reading about training for a marathon, so I'll do my best to entertain over the coming months. For those who don't know me, I'm one of Chris's old college friends/running buddies. I moved to Washington, DC four months ago to attend graduate school after spending five years in New York.

One of the defining characteristics of my various homes over the past 10 years has been my running route. In college, there was the Charles River, which I always romanticized as the perfect spot. After graduation I spent a year in China, mostly in Beijing. While that city has many strengths, air quality is not among them. To keep up my running, I hit the dreaded treadmill in the glocal Bally's gym, accepting the near-constant ogling from curious Chinese gym rats/gym attendants who had apparently never seen someone run faster than 6 mph.

I then moved to New York a year and a half after having last run outside. I continued hitting the treadmill, paying $80/month for the privilege, until realizing the East River path was only a few blocks away. For the next few years, I dodged adventurous fishermen (do they eat those?), amateur tuba players, homeless people, and New School potheads on jogs through the dystopian Lower East Side industrial landscape. If they haven't filmed a climactic Batman battle scene there, they should. I wouldn't have gotten into these runs without a little help from friends Brian and Alex, the latter of whom most of you should know.

Today, I live in Kalorama Heights, Washington, DC, two blocks from Rock Creek Park. Man do I love this park. Beautiful rolling wooded paths hugging the Creek and cutting under grand bridges and arches. DC loses to New York in many categories, but not outdoor sports. The running and biking scenes here are legit.

So, that's the running path that has gotten me here. In upcoming posts I hope to share my thoughts on cold weather running, marathon motivation techniques, PEDs, and more. For now, it's time to study...

Chiropractic, Messenger Bags, and Running

Are they witch doctors? Maybe. I'm not sure. But I had been to the doctor multiple times for neck stiffness and pain, lower back pain, and rib pain on my right side...and nothing was diagnosed or helping. I was starting to fear that I had a running injury that was coming from the intense schedule that I was trying to keep up. Panic was setting in and the pain started fanning out.

(SIDE NOTE-- Go ahead and block WebMD. What a terrible site. Your nose is running? Well, you may have a cold-- or you may have liver failure. Pain in the base of your foot? That must be grustepahiejapia. It has a 97.3% mortality rate...)

The strange thing is that running was my greatest relief. I could be in a tremendous amount of pain, but if I got into a jog, after 3-5 minutes, I'd feel fine.

A friend told me he had had similar symptoms after carrying around a heavy messenger bag for a while. I did the math-- from school and tutoring, I'd been carrying a 30-40 lbs messenger bag on one side for the better part of a year and a half.

So for the last 2 weeks, I've been seeing a chiropractor. The jury's out on if he can help me, but he claims I have scar tissue along the right side of my spine and behind my right shoulder. I've been 3 times-- go again today for number 4.

Initial review:
1. I don't like the strange neck twisty/spine cracking thing he does. I did some asking around, it seems like they do that for all problems. Why? To convince us they know how to do cool stuff? What does it actually do? Just about everybody else I have asked LOVES this motion-- I think you're all on drugs.

2. I do like that he knows the spots that are hurting me without my needing to tell him. Makes me feel like he understands something that I don't.

3. I'm not sure if a massage would be a better means of treating me. For the moment, I think the answer is no? Stay classy San Diego?

Just a photo.

Winter gear and Bobo.

Feaster Five, and Sean

The holiday was great-- ran 5 consecutive days, felt like I earned my meals. Let me catch you up:

On the morning of Thankgiving, my brother J, sister K, cousin H, Dad, and sister-in law J and I all did our best running marshmallow impressions. It was my 10th race of the calendar year; my first out of the empire state. Clearly when you do a holiday run, it changes the population that shows up-- a lot of "I'm not a runner, but I'm doing this for the fun of it (or because my family peer pressured me into it)..." Anyway-- in all NYRR races I have never finished in the top half. At the Feaster Five-- my 8:39 mile pace was good for 600th place...out of 9,000 people. And I won a PIE. That's right. For finishing in 600th place, I won an apple pie! Do you know what the guy who finished in 8,000th place got? A pie! Okay. We all got pie. Dang it.

Massholes, you sure do know how to make me feel like an athlete. And for that, I thank you.

Other family highlights: sister K beat her goal time by 1:30. That's SICK. And papa bear impressed us all by actually running-- and finishing-- in good time. Good show by all. Feaster Five-- love ya, see you next year.

In a couple of days...no pressure here Sean...Endorphus will have a second writer. I'm going to maintain writing roughly 2x per week, but I've invited my friend Sean, who is training for the Marine Corps marathon, to write as well. He's a jerk and he's really boring so you won't enjoy hearing from him. Just kidding-- Sean is more of a natural athlete than me-- but he's no Carl Lewis, either. He'll be adding his two cents on training and the every man experience.

Hope your Thanksgivings were wonderful. Stay warm.

Whole Foods Thanksgiving Samples

Ladies and gentlemen,

Last Friday, my wife and I went to whole foods to buy some ingredients for a small dinner party we were throwing. Much to my delight, it was Whole Foods Thanksgiving Sample day! DOUBLE RAINBOW, ALL THE WAY! What does this mean?

It means there is such thing as "free lunch." And I had it. Turkey with two kinds of gravy, delicious stuffing, creamed spinach, sweet potato puree, apple pie (there were more things to try, but I decided to be half hog instead of being a whole hog).

But it also means that the Turkey Trot 5k is right around the corner. So I figured I'd share my running schedule with you for the next week in anticipation of the race.

Wednesday: No run (practicum and class)
Thursday: Afternoon 3 miles
Friday: 6 miles
Saturday: 3 miles
Sunday morning: 3 miles
Monday: No run (practicum and class)
Tuesday: No run (class all day)
Wednesday: Morning 3 miles
Thursday: Race (5k)

I don't have a choice about the schedule...sadly when I'm in class, I'm in class. BUT I think this will work well because I'll have a chance to exhaust my legs, then rest them. And the Wednesday run next week is especially important so I'm not running the race on overly rested muscles.

My Trip to Marathon Sports (Part II)

I asked Marathon Sports Anthony how often we should change our running shoes and he informed me that conventional wisdom on the subject suggests we should toss them between 300-500 miles. I did the math and had put about 425 miles on the orange "Inspires." If you're wondering if it's time to swap out the shoes, Anthony told me you kind of have to "feel it," but a surefire sign that you need to replace your shoes is if they are cracking along the outside of the cushioning at the bottom.

Here is an article with more info on the subject.

www.sportsmedicine.about.com/od/tipsandtricks/a/replaceshoes.htm

One final recommendation about your new shoes-- if you consider yourself flatfooted or if you have a history of running related injuries, check out "superfeet." For all the money that running shoes cost, they come with almost no internal padding for your feet. It's like buying a winter coat that has no insulation. But for 30 bucks, you can buy an insole that will help with the pounding your bones take on each and every running step.

Though you won't be "gellin' like a felon named Magellan," you will be doing the running equivalent.

My Trip to Marathon Sports (Part I)

Today, I went with my brother-in-law J to Marathon Sports to get a new pair of running sneakers. This was my first purchase at Marathon Sports, and I expected that the experience would mimic my trip to Jack Rabbit in New York. Truth be told, they were quite different, but the results were close to the same. I bought a pair of Mizuno Inspire...except mine are blue. I tried on a pair of similar Sauconys and Brooks. I probably would have been happy with any of the three, but stuck with Mizuno because the last pair worked well for me. Plus Mizunos fit my foot shape just slightly better. I think Brooks are for a thinner foot than mine.

I worked with a guy named Anthony, and he seemed to know his stuff. He took me outside and had me run in all three pairs of shoes in order to see how my feet pronate. As I knew from my last experience, my right foot pronates more than my left, which requires me to have a more supportive shoe. But because my left foot is normal, I want a shoe that is supportive, but not overly supportive. This cheesy video explains pronation. It's helpful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h0BrkOeFbk

Marathon Sports has a fine selection of shoes and expert advice. The main difference between Marathon Sports and Jack Rabbit is that Jack Rabbit actually films your feet while you're on a treadmill in order to diagnose your pronation. While I trust that the experts at Marathon Sports know what they're doing, I think it's easier to walk out of Jack Rabbit with an understanding of why you bought the shoes that you did.

I don't give too much advice on this blog, but this is one of the times that I'm gonna. So suck it up.

I wish that I had gone to one of these stores a LONG time ago. If you don't have a professional look at your pronation style, you're way more likely to get injured and not understand why. I've learned that I need a light weight, supportive shoe. If I don't have that, my right ankle will get injured, which leads to knee and hip tightness-- basically old man syndrome. For others, the wrong pair of shoes can lead to shin splints or even stress fractures. The mind blowing part? After you get your style checked out, you'll probably buy a cheaper shoe.

Stay tuned for Part II tomorrow when I'm going to talk about insoles (Oooo La La!) and my first run in my new shoes.

Long Runs, Future Posts, and New Shoes...OH MY

A couple of you seemed confused-- I did not run the marathon yesterday-- my entry is for the NYC 2011 Marathon. Road Runners (the NYC nonprofit that organizes the event) makes you run 9 races to get automatic entry into the FOLLOWING year's marathon. So I'm in, but not until 2011. When I run this thing-- you will know. Hopefully, you will be out there to watch.

That said, I did do my first long run in a while this past weekend. I ran 7.5 miles around Lexington (in giant figure eights). At this point, I think it's official that I'm slightly banged up: my right achilles tendon gets a bit tight when I'm running and I feel it on stairs. Historically, all of my longer term injuries start with that one, because I compensate with the rest of my legs. I'm not sure what caused the tightness, but I did do the math and realized I put 400 miles on these "new" shoes. That means, it's time to retire them. Shocking.

I've spoken to a few of you about this blog and what types of posts you enjoy reading most. I had a couple of requests for more discussion of "gear" and the process of going to buy new shoes. As a result, I'm going to incorporate pictures onto the blog for the first time and do a photo documentation of my coming trip to Marathon Sports. I'm pretty sure I'm just going to buy the same shoe again-- it really worked for me. But for the sake of entertainment, I'll let them give me a couple test drives.

For those of you who did run the NYC Marathon yesterday-- congratulations! I hope your recovery is smooth and quick.

T-365 days.

Running is my Yoga

Yesterday, I submitted an application for an apartment in Jamaica Plain. Gentlemen, picking an apartment for you and your wife without her there is high pressure. I don't recommend it. But I remembered to look for closet space, so 10 points for me.

Jamaica Plain should be the best of both worlds for the 2 of us. I'll have lots of great running spaces and G will be surrounded by the Vegeletariet (voting block of vegetarians). I see JP as Boston's Hippieviille. Actually, more luck Hippie-Yuppie-ville. JP is for the Hippies and Yuppies who think and act like they're Hippies. It's AWESOME.

It shouldn't be too hard for G (G is my wife) to find yoga nearby. She got into Yoga at the same time that I started running. I venture to say it has changed her life. Go look this one up on google images-- it's only a matter of time before she's in the Scorpion pose. She can already do a headstand. BADASS. Meanwhile, I can ALMOST touch my toes.

It's kind of a running joke that I won't ever try yoga. But I'm finding my own ways to meditate while running. Since the move to Boston in August, I have not once run to music. I've been running to the beat of my own drum. What I've noticed is without musical distraction, running provides the best time to step back and evaluate what's on your mind. I'm embarrased to admit that during roughly half of my runs, I'm thinking about sports, sports news, fantasy sports, fantasy sports news...sigh. I need to get a life.

Fair warning-- the next paragraph of this post is nacho cheesy.

But recently, I've been thinking a lot about G. She's a trooper. She's the one who got me into this running thing in the first place. A year ago, G is the one who reminded me how much I liked training for the 2006 Brooklyn Half Marathon. And then she reminded me again. And when my initiative for signing up for the first race was roughly equal to my initiative for cleaning the bathroom, she's the one who went on the website with me and made me do it. She's the one who came out in the middle of a sub zero January race to cheer me on (though we didn't see each other at the finish line). The New York City Marathon is on Sunday. One year for Sunday (knock on wood), I will run this race for me. But I would not be there if it wasn't for her.

Back to NYC

Just a quickie today. I'm going back to NYC tonight...hope to beat the traffic. Maybe do a treadmill run tonight. Any television on demand advice for running would be appreciated for the weekend.

Demoralizerization and Incentiveator 3 and 3

We're overdue for one of these sections.

Demoralizerization 3: Running Shorts...On Men

I'd like to meet the man (or woman) who designed these. To be fair, the fabric is typically good for running. And I suppose if you're professional or even just really into running, the shape of these suckers is perfect. No unnecessary fabric on skin rubbing...I get it. In fact, I feel it's an inevitable moment when you are getting serious about running that you go to the store and try a pair. "Hey, these are really comfortable! I get it! And only 20 bucks! Super!" So you leave the store. But let me ask you a question. Have you noticed that all running stores have mirrors only for your feet? There's a reason. And that reason is my pasty white legs.

Gentlemen, I know a healthy dose of confidence is important. I'm all for you wearing the thing that you feel good in. But if you "feel good" in running shorts and you're not Kenyan-- well, I beg you to reconsider.

True story, I bought a pair and realized they were too short only when I had gotten to the park. Fabric has a way of moving differently when you're running...can't really explain that one if you don't get it. Maybe the "uh oh" eyes of all living creatures in a one mile radius clued me in. Needless to say, those shorts were retired after just three miles. Dad, please note...this post can also be applied to ALL of your running gear.

Incentiveator 3: Running in the Rain

Let's not get carried away. I'm not saying it's wise to go outside during Hurricane Gargamel and pull a Lieutenant Dan. But on those misty days-- or even in a heavy drizzle-- you'll feel like a bad mama jamma. Think of it this way-- if you run hard enough, you're going to sweat anyway. In the summer a nice rain can feel like auto-cooling system. Everybody who sees you out there will think-- "dang, that guy's hard core." And you'll think, "you know what? I am hard core." Cause you are. So the next time you hear yourself say, "Nah, it's raining. Can't run," give it a go. You'll see.

Turkey Trot

Point of reference-- I decided not to use anybody else's name on this site early on. But for my sibs, K = older sister, J = older brother, M = kid sister.

J is close to my opposite when it comes to running. He likes to go as hard as he can right out of the gate-- and he is more motivated by a fast mile than distance. Reminds me a little bit of a six year old entering Toys R Us. In high school he and I played many of the same sports, but we had very different skill sets. J was an endurance and speed guy. His best sports were cross country, track, and though he may get angry with me for saying this, he sucked at baseball and soccer. My greatest skill was always hand eye coordination. I pitched on the baseball team, almost never struck out, la ti da. But if you lined the two of us up and had us race-- J would dust me road-runner-ditching-the-coyote style. Little chunkopotomus that I was and Gumby that he was-- the best match we always played was one-on-one tackle football in the backyard. He had 4 years and half a foot on me-- but if I connected with him, I don't think he enjoyed it. Oh one-on-one tackle football. Only us, J. Only us.

As we've gotten older, J and I have actually become more sports compatible. Sometimes he pisses me off with his time obsession on races, but he's done something truly great-- he's gotten many of my family members to sign up for a 5-K on Thanksgiving morning. I probably would have run that day anyway, but probably not in a race. I'm really excited to have a race again. Haven't had one since June. It's a fun feeling, dodging bodies, playing predator/prey, hearing the collective kalump of thousands of feet. Even if you hate running, it's tough not to get at least temporarily jazzed about it.

Just 5-K. But something tells me it will make the 2nd slice of pumpkin pie a little sweeter.

Brian Boitano

Ha! How great is this? I can write from my ipad. it's pretty rockin to be honest with you.

It's getting cold in Boston. I suppose that mean that it's time to invest in some nicer, warmer, running clothes. It also means that the difficult decision is nearing: Do I get a gym membership? The roads won't be ice-less forever. I wonder what Brian Boinano would do...

What would Brian Boitano do if he were here right now? He'd run an extra mile or two, that's what Brian Boitano'd do. When Brian Boitano was in the Boston Marathon, running for 1st place-- he say to run real hard, suck it up, and keep up with his pace. When I asked Brian Boitano if I should buy a gym membership, he told me that's a good idea so on my ass I do not slip. So what would Brian Boitano do if he knew I was writing this post? He'd probably file a suit or two cause that would hurt the most...

Happy Monday everybody!

Looking for guest bloggers

Must be on the running topic, but looking for a once a month kind of person. Let me know if you're interested!

As for me, short update today. Running is good. School is good. Going to write a "theory of change" article for the blog on running shortly.

-Chris

WTF, legs. Seriously, WTF.

I'm proud to say this blog has been mostly positive. But today, you'll have to pardon me. Cause I just ran and it sucked.

As I've been saying, my schedule has gotten tighter and tighter and so for the first time since July-- I went three days without a run. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. I was really planning on running Tuesday, but it was frickin cats and dogs out there, and I'm not running in a rain coat.

So, I confess, I built today's run up in my mind. This was going to be a five miler in good time, make my day kinda run. But 4 steps in, I knew it was wrong. What happened? It honestly felt like somebody strapped on those 10 lbs weight belts around each of my thighs.

My biggest accomplishment today is that I didn't stop and beg the fine people of Lexington, Massachusetts for a ride home. I made it, charlie horse legs and all. Somehow.

I'm really not sure what happened. My guess is I did too many stairs yesterday at school. Or maybe some trolls came out from under the bed last night and injected me with suck juice.

The shoes. Gotta be the shoes.

SHOUT OUT! My brother and his lovely wife just had their first child. Do they make running shoes for 1 day olds?

Today, I ran 4.5 miles. It's my first run over 3.5 in a couple weeks, mostly because I've been running 6/7 days a week. Distance is in the back seat for the moment. But it felt good. This shift from running 3/4 days a week to 5/6 days a week has happened in the last 3 months. I have to say it's been an adjustment, but it's felt right. Part of this, I think, is due to the shoes from the Jack Rabbit Experience.

The brand of my shoes is Mizuno. I tried on some Brooks, New Balances, Saucony, etc-- all part of the experience of going to Jack Rabbit, but the ones that felt right on my arch and had me landing evenly were these Mizunos. They are ugly as ----. Have a look.

http://www.holabirdsports.com/m/Shoes/Running-Shoes/Mizuno/p1/Mizuno-Wave-Inspire-6-Men-Charcoal-Orange/044209.htm?utm_source=Google_Base&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=Mizuno%20Wave%20Inspire%206%20Men%20Charcoal%2FOrange&utm_campaign=Google_Base

So the description may be accurate. I'm not a shoe expert. But what I will say is this-- I've noticed that pre these shoes, my hamstrings were tight, my knees got sore on occasion, my feet would get hot, and I was having toe pain. ALL of these thing have been corrected.

I'd love to hear if anybody has tried those "toe" running shoes. The ones that are shaped like a foot? Please write if you've tried them.

Chipotle.

Back in Beantown and things are looking up. While school has packed on the reading and writing assignments, I have dodged packing on the pounds. It doesn't help that Cambridge has added a Chipotle. The only problem with that place is you feel like a car being put together on an assembly line. Example:

Chipotle lady (vaguely smiling with hand already on tortilla...)
Me: I'll have...um...
CL: Your order.
Me: Yeah. Um. Fajita burrito bowl.
(Food somehow already assembled, there's rice, onions, peppers already down)
CL: Meat?
Me: Sure.
CL: WHAT KIND.
Me: Oh. Barbacoa.
(Introduce CL partner who has one hand on a spoon with salsa, another with sour cream...you get the idea.)

The whole interaction takes about .46 seconds. And if you're too slow, NFL draft style, the team behind you is allowed to take your pick. Very stressful. But also, very delicious. NOTE-- if you eat Chipotle, it's usually best to NOT schedule a run the next day. Buyers beware.

Meanwhile, scheduling runs has gotten a bit tougher. I have full days working in a school on Mondays and Thursdays that start at 7:30am, and Tuesday is class all day. And the evening run is getting harder because September is turning off the lights and it's dark by 7pm. Oh Summer, we hardly knew ye. Anyway-- if you're in town and up for a run, I could use the company. Let me know. Here's the current schedule.

Sunday: Prefootball run. Must be done by 1:00pm so I can cry in front of Arizona Cardinals games. DEREK ANDERSON. Sigh.
Monday: Day off
Tuesday: Run in gym (but what gym?) at 6:00pm OR day off
Wednesday: Morning Run
Thursday: Afternoon Run
Friday: Run anytime
Saturday: Run anytime

Rinse and repeat. That's the recipe for 20 miles per week that will have me set to go in Summer 2011 for official marathon training. Holy crap. Later skaters.

Where did Chris go?

No seriously, where did I go?

I'll tell you. I started school and it has been incredible. Pair that with the wife's birthday, a boatload of readings and...well...OKAY I'M ASHAMED. FEEL BETTER NOW?!?! But seriously folks, I ran 6/7 days this week and have been working it all in. Though I've dealt with a couple minor health issues, nothing has kept me off the road and things couldn't be better.

Now I'm well aware I owe you an article about my current running shoes, and apologies, but I'm putting it off again. Why? Because my friend Ben found an interesting article that is most enlightening.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/01/phys-ed-does-stretching-before-running-prevent-injuries/

So I'm not sure if this article is a "game changer" or anything-- but certainly thought provoking. And since stretching apparently doesn't matter all that much, it seems to make getting the right shoes all the more important. So there's that.

Incentiveator #2

Incentiveator #2-- Go to your local really awesome running shop.

In new york, it's Jack Rabbit hands down. In Boston, Marathon Sports. Feel free to name your store in other cities.

I know what you're thinking. A shoe is a shoe is a shoe. You're right...kinda. Full disclosure, I ran on New Balances (the 990 series) for about 6 years. And I was happy with them. I picked that shoe because it was really cushiony and had a wide toe-box. Both of these things matter a great deal when one has a mangled left foot that looks more like the state of New Jersey (in the shape of the state, it's much more attractive than the landscape...), but I had never had the professional treatment. When I started all this running craziness this winter, I went out and finally bought "Happy Feet," an insole that really made a difference. I noticed an immediate difference on those-- so I didn't really think that a Jack Rabbit trip would make a big difference.

Note-- so far I've said I felt good a lot. My pain issues (when I had them) were toe pain (in the big toe of the left foot), knee soreness (on occasion), and tightness in the ankles and hamstrings (kind of all the time). None of these kept me off the roads except the ankle in 2006.

I don't mean to sound like a commercial, but what impressed me most about Jack Rabbit was the fact that the first sales woman could not diagnose my running style well enough, but she sought help. After 5 pairs of shoes, she brought in another guy who worked with us-- and he really knew his stuff. Why is this important? Cause they care-- perhaps too much. Too much to let me walk out with the wrong shoe or to lose me because none of those shoes were as good as my NBs. This hand-holding is a style thing-- if you want to be in and out, this is not friend. But then, this guy made a rec and I found my new shoes.

I'm saving the name of the shoes for the next article, but for now, just know that it really is a personal fit thing. In retrospect, it reminds me a lot of how jeans fit. Not everybody can wear low-rises. And sometimes the baggy ones ain't workin. When you find the ones that make you feel good, well-- you see where this is going.

My new shoes are peanut-butter Puffins in chocolate milk good (think about it-- yeah, that's delicious). More on this tomorrow or the next day.

Singing in the Rain

Well, I'm all settled in in Boston. I'll make my first trek into Cambridge tomorrow, though school doesn't really start until Wednesday.

But I didn't let all the commotion stop me from getting my first two Boston runs in. Today there was a very pleasant drizzle which kept me cool-- thus the headline.

A couple of you have asked me how I track mileage when I'm not running a track I'm familiar with. Well, isn't google great for everything? Try out this site.

http://www.geodistance.com/?id=60797

I have entered my most recent run-- but you can put anything in there to track your distance. It's actually really gratifying to track how far you went, and can help you to be creative with future jogs.

Have fun!

I'm leaving, On a Jetplane-- errr-- Volvo!

So folks, I've been busy. The delay has been packing related. Tomorrow morning, I'm loading up the car with all my stuff and heading off to Boston.

The limbo is finally over.

From a running perspective, this means things are about to get tough. I'm going from deciding if I'd like to run at 11:00 am or 3:00pm to 6:00am or 8:00pm. Woe is me.

Okay okay, I've been spoiled. I know. I promise a more detailed posting soon.

How Frank Bruni Inspired Me (but was just off the mark)

First things first-- I ran 5.5 Brooklyn miles today (from the house to Prospect Park, the loop, then back) and it felt pretty darn great. The weather today is low 70s-- perfect for running. Slight breeze, too. But today I want to talk about Frank Bruni. I promise not to spoil anything for those of you who wish to read Bruni's "Born Round," but if you haven't gotten around to it yet and want to go into the book with zero knowledge of his life, I suggest you stop reading now.

The truth is, for roughly the first hundred pages of Bruni's book, I related to the guy more than I can explain. Sure there were differences-- I mean, it seems his family really did eat twice as much as the rest of us, but I too was a second son who fought to keep up with the portion size of an older brother (especially mac and cheese. Jamie, I get HALF. You know the deal, you split, I choose). Bruni says he felt like he had a bottomless stomach-- I thought a third slice of pizza always sounded like a great idea (even in first grade). I don't need to get into the details too much-- but the way he describes his childhood obsession with food-- it was all me. And my favorite sport is still late night snacking. I'd be a first round draft pick.

I admire his courage for putting it all out there. And again, for the first hundred pages, I really believed that the stigma that eating disorders were exclusively a female phenomenon (other than for wrestlers and other athletes with weigh-ins) was starting to break. Then he introduces sexuality into the equation, and his story no longer fits my own. His book becomes a fair amount about date prep, and we just don't share that experience:

"He calls two days later," Bruni writes. "You're thrilled. You're panicked. When he asks if you have plans for the coming weekend, you tell him you have an out-of-town friend visiting, even though you don't. You just can't see him this weekend. More accurately, you can't let him see you. The weekend is only three days away, four if you sign up for Saturday as opposed to Friday night, and that's not enough time. In four days you might be able to lose three pounds, tops, and that's assuming several five-mile runs. You'd like to lose four to five."

Though I still greatly enjoyed reading it, I no longer related to Bruni in the way that I wanted to; we are simply too different, and that's fine. I applaud his efforts and thank him for sharing his experiences. His excellent writing kept me interested, no doubt, but I'm still waiting for a straight male role model to join him and help to break the mold and talk about male eating disorders. Frank Bruni helped us to take a step. But for now, we'll have to settle for Mike Golic talking about the NutriSystem diet in ESPN infomercials.

Treadmill Running

I completed my first week of "blog" runs with a treadmill jaunt yesterday and 4 loops around Ft. Greene Park today. Both runs were 3 miles long, and those 6 miles rounded out my week total to 19.1 miles. The goal will be to fall between 16 and 20 miles every week until my official marathon training begins. But since I ran 3 miles on a treadmill and then 3 outside, I wanted to take a moment to talk about treadmill running in general.

Before I started training for the NYRR runs that I completed in the last 8 months, I was almost exclusively a treadmill runner on cold days. When you live in the Northeast, you almost don't have a choice-- the pavement is often covered in ice which can land you on your rump faster than...well, fast enough. I also really enjoy running to televised sporting events and programs, so there was an added incentive to run indoors. The fact that Crunch's TVs rarely work is a story for another day-- but I often found myself in the purple gym and on a machine.

Once I started running outside, I noticed that my hamstrings were tighter. To be honest, I have never been a great stretcher-- so I attributed my tightness to that. Certainly, some of the blame belongs there-- but then I got a tip from a trainer about treadmill use and how it improperly trains you for running outside.

Though this guy is cornier than me (and that is saying something), this article does a nice job of explaining the problem. If you can't stand his writing-- just google the topic and you'll find something similar.

http://jamieatlas.wordpress.com/2009/03/07/treadmill-running-vs-outdoor-running-which-is-better-the-debate-continues/

Bottom line is a 50/50 outdoor/indoor split won't kill you. But running exclusively on a treadmill can lead to injury. Thankfully, I avoided one and my butt and hamstrings are in fine form. Um. Yeah.

Day off Note

I ran the Prospect Park loop yesterday, so I decided to give myself today off. The plan as of now is to try to average 4.5 runs per week.

I'm interested in hearing recommendations for good running music. All my music is a bit stale at the moment.

Demoralizerization and Incentiveator 1 and 1

Today I finally crossed the Brooklyn Bridge on foot. I have to say, I should have done it long ago. The New York City iconic bridge offers a beautiful view of the skyline while you get to marvel at the fact that somehow, a bunch of engineers figured out how to cross a body of water using a system of arches and what not. In the great words of Jesse Pinkman, "Yeah Science!" I know, I know...science and engineering...not the same. But I have Breaking Bad on the brain. For those of you Brooklyn running junkies-- the incline is not as bad as the Prospect Park hill-- but it is longer. Total mileage for the run: 4.75.

Which brings me to a segment I'd like to call "Demoralizerization and Incentiveators."

Demoralizeration #1: Don't run with your athletic friends.

So. Running doesn't come easy to you. In fact...MOST exercise doesn't come easy to you. But you strap together a few good weeks and you've lost 5 pounds. Nice job. People start to notice. You actually start to think, running isn't so bad! In fact, I'm kind of looking forward to it! And then, someone close to you-- someone you would never expect...invites you to go for a run.

Do you remember what it was like to play NBA Jam against the kid who had already had the game for 3 months? Don't do it unless you're up for a 86-2 drubbing. Running is an individual activity and to pretend that we're all created equal (in running...I'm not evil) is as silly as it is wrong.

About a week ago I ran with my college roommate Alex who routinely "dusts" me around mile 2. It always happens the same way-- the sidewalk narrows and a baby carriage comes at us from the other side-- our conversation stops as he goes in front to create the single file formation, and then he's 3 steps ahead of me. Wait-- make that 6 steps ahead. He must need to pee pretty bad-- he's kind of sprinting. Do I smell? Of course I'm used to it, so it's no big deal-- but there were times I wanted to keep up. But the simple fact is that I've kicked ass if I've run a sub 9 minute mile and that's pretty average for him. So we're not running compatible beyond that warm up phase and that's okay.

Incentiveator #1 Run to Fun places

It's pretty simple really-- if you run the same track every time it gets boring. I think if you run 4 times a week, one of them should be something silly-- today's run across the Brooklyn Bridge and back was perfect because it was fresh and kept me interested. Good idea.

Until next time.

Endorph Us Launch

The New York City 2011 Marathon is likely to be held on November 6, 2011. Weather reports for that day call for a partially sunny skies and a high chance of yours truly. After running 9 New York City Road Runners races in the last six months and volunteering for an additional race, I have earned a guaranteed spot in the 2011 NYC Marathon.

So what, you ask?

Well-- to all you long-legged, fit, thin, "I can run fourteen miles before breakfast" people out there-- you, I am not.

No, I'm the kid who struggled through the mile in seventh grade and vomited from exertion as I crossed the finish line. I'm the kid that consistently opted for the extra serving, and the one who found it easier to skip a meal or two to make up for it rather than pound the pavement.

Sadly for me, adulthood caught up with me and exercise was not my highest priority. And as I reentered my college campus for my five year reunion fourteen months ago, I outweighed my college self by twenty-five pounds. And none of it was muscle. What's more, I was about to lose my job and I was severely depressed.

So-- I started to run. It wasn't completely foreign to me because I had dared myself to run a few times before. I was called the bomb squad on the cross country team in seventh grade (they had to send me in first so we'd all finish at the same time) and I sucked it up and trained for a Brooklyn half marathon to prove to myself I was capable of running for distance. I completed that in 2006. But for the most part, I was a running virgin. It started as a means of doing something positive with my new-found free time. I ran 3-4 times a week to get in shape and lose weight. Then, my wife recommended I sign up for a five mile race to give myself something to work towards. I ran it, then two weeks later found myself signing up for another. Before I knew it, I was halfway towards my marathon spot and in a fit of passion, I signed up for the remaining races so that I would have no choice but to keep it up.

I confess one of the largest reasons for this blog is a selfish one-- I am hoping that this blog will give me extra incentive to stay in shape and actually run this marathon. I'm also hoping it will be therapeutic to read and write. And now that my difficult year is behind me and my career is starting to be back on track, I'm hoping that having readers will force me to find the time to get my miles in. So thanks for reading. I'll check back in after my next run.