After the Rocket City Marathon in Huntsville, Alabama on December 10^th, I went public with saying I was done with running marathons.  The reason for this announcement, which went worldwide on Twitter, was due to injuries to my feet.  I have been suffering for 18 months and I had enough – I needed to take time to heal.

I took a few weeks off from running – just did a little walking.  There was no improvement in my feet.  I started gaining weight due to inactivity.  So I decided to run in moderation.  Then it happened on New Year’s Eve – two of my friends, Alan Reynolds and David Millican started talking about running the Darkside Marathon on New Years’ Day, which was less than 24 hours away.  And like a drug addict, I decided to do it too — bad feet and all.

The Darkside Running Club was founded in December of 2002, by Al Barker and Scott Ludwig.  It’s a great group of members from around the country and solid leadership.  Scott is the President of this Club.  They do a great job serving the community by offering free events throughout the year.  I highly recommend that you join the Darkside Running Club.

The Marathon consisted of 5 loops and 5 short out-and-backs on the running paths in Peachtree City, Georgia.  My goal was to finish in 5:30 hours, but I was focused on doing 5:15.

The first 7 miles were really consistent (11.00 – 12.00 pace), but mile 8 I took an extra long break and my pace for that mile was 18.36.  Mile 9-18 I average a little less than an 11.00/mile pace.  On mile 19 I saw a friend, Ben Kirkland, who was out for an 8 mile run.  Ben ran with me for the next 3 miles which ended up being my best pace of the race.  Miles 22 – 26.2 were the normal gut check miles.  Overall I felt fine, except for my feet!  My last mile was an 11.03/mile pace.

The good news about my results is that I achieved a Negative Split:

• 1^st Half = 2:41:16
• 2^nd Half = 2:28:24

Darkside was my 11^th fastest marathon (out of 13).  Over the past 56 days I have run 4 marathons.  My times were: 4:08, 4.32; 5.24, and 5.09. 

The best part of a marathon is running with friends and other runners.  Alan and David finished the race strong.  And thanks to both for encouraging me to run the Darkside.

Run Strong!

It’s a good feeling to be done.  Yesterday I spent 5 hrs and 24 minutes questioning why I run marathons.  Rocket City was going to be a nice and easy marathon.  I was aiming for a 4:25 and with a little luck I would pull a negative split and run a 4:15.

Rocket City is a fast course.  With only 1500 runners and a flat course, many runners are able to BQ (Boston Qualify).  I joined the 4:25 pace group (which is a 10:06/mile pace) and met several first time marathoners.  I enjoyed encouraging and chatting with my fellow runners in our group.

One thing I noticed from the start was that I never felt good.  It was a struggle to maintain a 10/mile pace.  I stayed with the 4.25 group for 11 miles at which time I had to hide behind a tree and pee for the second time.  This time I would not be able to catch-up with the group.  The journey would be solo from this point on – or would it be?

In addition to just feeling bad (stomach issues, headache, and sluggishness), my feet were in intense pain.  I have been suffering with Metatarsal Bursitis in my left foot for 18 months and a Neuroma in my right foot since the Savannah Marathon.

Oh, that reminds me that this was my 3^rd marathon in 35 days.  I did Savannah Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon (4:08) on November 5^th and Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon (4:32) one week later on November 12^th.  Overtraining was another factor in this meltdown at Rocket City.

Miles 12-16 were a struggle (10:54, 10.36, 10.28, 11.37, and 12.45), but nothing like I would experienced later in the race.  Mile 17 is when the walking started – lots of walking!  My feet were killing me along with everything else.  After the race several people asked me if I ever considered quitting.  My answer is easy.  I don’t quit things I start.  Goals are made to be done.  So I limped along and ran a little and walked a little.  Along the way, I was able to meet a lot of other sufferers.  I have never talked this much to other runners before in a race.  People from all over the globe came to Huntsville to share this experience with me!

Rocket City was my 12^th fastest marathon.  My PR was at the Saint George Marathon (3:48) in 2007.  I’m really proud of that PR, but this 5:24 is special too because I had to reach down and find something to keep me going.  It took every ounce of determination, focus, perseverance, and grit I could find.  My Rocket City medal will hang proudly next to my Saint George one.  In both cases the goal was the same – reach down and find what it takes to do 26.2 miles.  No small feat — one that I have done 12 times.

After logging more than 2000 miles this year as well as 2100 last year, my feet deserve time off.  My plan is to take the rest of the year off from running.  A little elliptical, but no outside running is on my agenda.  It’s time to heal.

I appreciate all of the emails, texts, and phone calls this weekend.  It’s great to have so much support.

“There’s no greater feeling in the world than the feeling of DONE”

Run Happy! 

PS I had a great time with Alan Reynolds.  He had a great race at Rocket City. 

Associated Press

TORONTO — A 100-year-old runner became the oldest person to complete a full-distance marathon when he finished the race in Toronto on Sunday.

Fauja Singh earned a spot in the Guinness World Records for his accomplishment.

It took Singh more than eight hours to cross the finish line — more than six hours after Kenya’s Kenneth Mungara won the event for the fourth straight year — and he was the last competitor to complete the course.

But his time wasn’t nearly as remarkable as the accomplishment.

Event workers dismantled the barricades along the finish line and took down sponsor banners even as Singh made his way up the final few hundred yards of the race.

Family, friends and supporters greeted Singh when he finished the race.

“Beating his original prediction, he’s overjoyed,” his coach and translator Harmander Singh said. “Earlier, just before we came around the (final) corner, he said, ‘Achieving this will be like getting married again.’

“He’s absolutely overjoyed, he’s achieved his lifelong wish.”

Sunday’s run was Singh’s eighth marathon — he ran his first at age 89 — and wasn’t the first time he set a record.

In the 2003 Toronto event, he set the mark in the 90-plus category, finishing the race in 5 hours, 40 minutes and 1 second.

And on Thursday in Toronto, Singh broke world records for runners older than 100 in eight different distances ranging from 100 meters to 5,000 meters.

The 5-foot-8 Singh said he’s hopeful his next project will be participating in the torch relay for the 2012 London Games. He carried the torch during the relay for the 2004 Athens Games.

http://running.competitor.com/files/2011/05/450×175-nrd-logo.gif

I look forward to the next 11,000 miles!

11,000

Top Month = 233 (October)

6 Events:

- Callaway Gardens Marathon – Georgia Half Marathon – Granite Grinder Trail Half Marathon – Warrior Dash Adventure Race – Peachtree Road Race — Hill Country Trail 15k at Serenbe

Total Lifetime Miles = 10,413 (since 1/1/2003)

How about Coldplay – 2000 miles!

Love the Woods

Jon suffered an injury at mile 2 when he twisted his ankle.  It was pure guts for him to finish the remaining 7.3 miles.  He made us proud.

Drake was unbelievable today.  This was his 1st trail run and he beat us all.  God designed him to be faster.  Congrats to Drake for being the 1st Run Club member to finish.

Steady Rick once again had a great race.  He’s the most consistent and dedicated runner in our group.  Rick is our hero!

This was Don’s 3rd Serenbe.  He said it was his most enjoyable one too.

Post from Business Pundit

Today is National Coffee Day, that annual day where you have a communal excuse to flaunt your usual cuppa.

To honor the day, companies are offering you…statistics. Last year’s National Coffee Day was full of freebies, but few providers are ponying up much more than numbers this year. (Scroll down to see who is offering freebies.) Here are some of the stats that various surveys found.

According to this National Coffee Association survey:

* 56% of adults drink coffee beverages every day.
* 84% of drinkers “have not changed their consumption habits despite the economic environment,” although 4% more people than last year prepare their coffee at home.
* 40% of coffee people buy is gourmet.

FilterFresh’s survey found that:

* 95% of people get their caffeine fix from coffee (rather than soda or tea).
* More people would give up their cell phones before giving up coffee.
* 71.5% of people drink coffee with their coworkers.
* 68% of people would not tell someone if they had coffee breath.

More fun facts from this Dunkin Donuts/CareerBuilder survey:

* 40% of young American workers (18-24) can’t concentrate as well without coffee. 43% of 18-34-year-old workers have less energy without coffee.
* 24% of 18-34-year-old American workers “buy coffee as a way to treat themselves for a job well done.” (How about buying it as a way to congratulate yourself for getting up in the morning?)
* Nurses, doctors and hotel workers drink the most coffee out of all careers surveyed.

Freebies from Around the Web

Free coffee at LaMar’s Donuts with this coupon.

Some Dunkin’ Donuts shops are giving away free coffee to celebrate National Coffee Day. Check your local shops to see if they’re participating.

Boca Java is offering free shipping on all of its products today.

Dunn Bros. is giving away a free cup of coffee to its email subscribers.

Florida’s Barnie’s is giving away free coffee.

Runners who have run the most miles over the last 7 days

1. Swinsei (57.4)
2. Running Teacher (51.1)
3. Humvee (48.1)
4. Ron Gierut (44.0)
5. orddad (43.0)

For the past 3 days i2ileadership (aka Samurai) has led the way.

Runners (Male – Ages 40-49) who have run the most miles over the last 7 days

1. Samurai (101.3)
2. Rob Williams (69.0)
3. DreamCrusher (59.0)
4. LAFohlen (50.7)
5. Shawn Aebi (46.0)
6. Freddie B (42.5)

In the next age group Grand Master Sensei (aka Swinsei) has been ranked #1 for 4 days.

Runners (Male – Ages 50+) who have run the most miles over the last 7 days

1. Swinsei (78.3)
2. orddad (52.4)
3. Humvee (50.3)
4. Running Teacher (48.7)
5. Will Run (47.1)
6. DonMan (46.1)

Samurai and Swinsei will continue their drive to remain #1 for a few more days.  #ultratraining

by Serious Running

I started National Trail Running Day last year because I love trail running and I wanted to share my love.  So there it is, I love Trail Running and I’m not scared to admit it.  Although, it wasn’t love at first run, my love grew.  First, I was a track runner middle school, then a cross-country runner in High School, then a road runner in college, and I finally became a trail runner in my first job after college, United States Army Officer.  Every morning at 630 my unit would venture out into the forest of Ft. Bragg, NC trails.  Running is what defined many Army Officers and I was serving in the 82nd Airborne Division which prides itself on being the most fit unit in the Army.  Just to pass Airborne School you had to complete a run test that many could not conquer.  So the leaders in the 82nd were expected to be fit; and there is no greater test of physical fitness than a long run in the woods.

One of the reasons I joined the Army was that I love  the outdoors.  Running trails in the morning was my favorite time of day while serving.  The early morning dawn coming through the pine trees, everyone trudging through mud and sand; an exhilarating way to start the day.  It was a time to reflect on the task in front of you while also pushing your body to its limits.  At the time I didn’t even know trail running was becoming a sport of its own, I just knew that exercising in a natural environment made me happy.

After two deployments and over four years of service I separated from the Army to take on new challenges.  At the time of separation I had to decide where I wanted to live, which graduate school program to attend, and what type of job I wanted.  I had gone straight from college to the Army and up until this point, the Army had always told me where to live, what schools to attend, and what job to do.  I now faced some major life decisions for the first time.  I was up for the task though, I had been a Platoon Leader in Iraq conducting combat missions and making decisions effecting 30 men’s lives.  I was used to making important decisions.  However, I quickly learned that these new decisions that lay ahead of me were much different than the quick, reactive decisions I was used to making for the Platoon, now I had more time, more variables, and the decisions only effected me.  I began working on these decisions with the same fever as if I was still deployed, working 16 hours a day, 7 days a week.  I was maintaining my work-out schedule, but I was often drained and exhausted, running on fumes. (pun intended)

I continued on this pattern for 3 months straight before I finally broke down.  I stopped everything.  I had reached my decision benchmarks and now I could relax.  Slowing down forced me to think and understand everything that was happening.  I realized I really didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life.  Was this the path I wanted to take?  I had quickly made all of my life decisions and began executing them before thinking if they were truly making me happy.  I quickly became depressed under the weight of my ignorant direction.  While in the Army I had such great responsibility, respect, and prestige for what I was doing.  All of a sudden it hit me, I was just like everyone else.  But I wasn’t like everyone else; I was a civilian with no valuable skills, specific direction, or contemplated long-term goals.  I had to reinvent myself.  Not knowing how to attack this problem I started running more.  Training gave me goals to work toward without life changing commitment.  I decided to start each day the same why I did when I was in the Army, starting with a trail run.  Eventually I decided to stop doing the job I had picked only because I had to pick an industry for my MBA applications and started doing something that I love; running and writing about running.  That is why I started SeriousRunning.com with my brother and later National Trail Running Day.

National Trail Running Day is a day to celebrate the benefits of Trail running with runners taking to the trails of varying difficulties and distances, connecting with nature and the environment, slowing down their lives and getting back to the basics.  For more experienced runners, Trail Running offers a more technical version of road running that allows runners to challenge themselves.  The fact is, everyone can enjoy Trail Running and National Trail Running Day is a great way to increase awareness of the sport.

Trail Running changed my life forever and it could do the same for you.  Take a friend trail running on August 21st, 2010 and enjoy the trails.  It’s all about happy trails.

Related posts:

1. National Trail Running Day, August 22nd!
2. Happy National Trails Day! A National Trail Running Day is cooler.
3. Inaugural National Trail Running Day a Success!
4. Happy National Running Day!
5. SkirtChaser Denver, Saturday August 29th

Tags: Army

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 20th, 2010 at 7:05 am an

VISION

To be the best run club on the planet we inhabit

PURPOSE

The Run Club USA exists to help people achieve their wildest dreams and at the same time encourage them to develop and grow relationships.

CREED

“it’s all about the coffee”

CORE VALUES

·         Confrontational Accountability

·         Obsessively Committed to Whatever

·         Fearless Pursuit of Goals

·         Focus on Results

·         Empower Personal Growth

·         Expand Sphere of Influence

OBJECTIVES

·         Build lasting relationships

·         Encourage one another to achieve personal goals

·         Advance the concept of community

·         Never remain silent on the truth – debate relentlessly

·         Serve others

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

·         We really love and appreciate our good members.  They are the reason for our success and we want to make sure we keep them happy.  It is for this reason we actively seek to discourage certain personality types from joining the Run Club.  These people just tee everybody off and spoil the fun for everyone else.

·         The Run Club is not a politically correct organization.  If you are easily offended, then there is a good possibility that you will be offended here.  The Run Club was not designed to be a “feel good” club.  We call it like we see it.

·         The Run Club is not a fraternity, it is a privately operated club and as such we enforce a very strict “No-Whining” policy.  We are sorry if you are offended by obnoxious comments, or if you feel that the feedback you receive is too harsh, but if you need to have total control over your environment then you really need to stay home.

·         As a Run Club member you do not have rights.  The Founding Members are the only ones with rights and we reserve the right to rescind your membership, especially if we think that you’re a great big jerk.  We strive to keep the Run Club an official “Idiot-Free Zone” at all times, so if you’re acting like an idiot we’ll be sure to let you know, right before we kick you out.

·         We know that we can’t please all of the members all of the time and the Run Club has absolutely no intention of trying.  We are a small, privately-owned club.  Unlike the running clubs in your local communities, we really don’t want to please everyone.  We believe that when you try to please everyone, you end up catering to the lowest common denominator.  That’s something we really don’t want any part of.  Then we’d end up average and ordinary, and we’d have to tolerate jerks.  No thanks.  Our operation has been designed to welcome and serve only that group of people who appreciate what we do, and how we do it.

Swinsei

The Peachtree Road Race (“PRR”) celebrated its 41st anniversary on Sunday in Atlanta Georgia.  And Drake Dale celebrated his 1st PRR and his 1st ride on MARTA.  He was one of 55,000 runners who participated in the biggest road race in the World.

This event was started in 1970 by Atlanta Track Club — 110 runners participated.  Drake must have been about 30 years old back then (just kidding, but how old is he?).  Over the past couple of years Drake has participated in 10-15 events per year.  Often he’ll run 2 races on the same day.  But the PRR was never on his resume, until now.  Drake — Congratulations on this accomplishment!

Other Run Club members to run this year’s event were: Rick Harrell, Scotty Redmond, John Bermudez, and Mark Jeffares.  Congrats to all!

Run Strong,

Don

PRR Finisher 1985, 2003-2010

• You think a 100-mile race is easier than a 50 miler because you don’t have to go out as fast.
• You say, “Taper? Who’s got time to taper? I have a race coming up this weekend.”
• You’re tapering/recovering, and you’d rather drive 50 miles to watch Ann Trason’s heavenly running style for 20 seconds than the Super Bowl.
• You have to rent a car to drive to a major event because you and your pacer own stick shifts and neither will be able to drive them on the return trip.
• You actually DO drive a stick shift home with a severely pulled left hamstring
• You meet someone of the opposite sex on the trail of a 100 and all of conversation is about what color is your urine, can you drink? and were you able to dump.
• You know you’re and ultra runner when a girl changes her tank and her bra in front of you and all you do is take another drink of water, look at your watch, get up and tell your pacer “Let’s hit the trail.”
• On a long drive you see the road signs listing various mileages to different places and think of how long it would take to get there on foot rather than by the car your driving.
• You’ve started a race in the dark, run all day, and finished in the dark (if your lucky).
• Your non-Ultrarunning running friends look at you strange when you tell them that 10:00/Mile is a fast pace for a 100 mile race (not to mention most ultras).
• You don’t hesitate to lie down in the trail (anywhere) when you are falling asleep on your feet during the early morning hours on the second day of a 100 miler; and it feels so comfortable.Finally…
• You know your an ultrarunner when you actually sit down and read all of the postings about, “You know your an ultrarunner when…” and can laugh and relate to all of the comments.

Special thanks to my FB Friend Norma Bastidas for the post:  http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/norma.bastidas

• When you meet the opposite sex you see:
  • A possible crew.
  • A possible pacer.
  • A possible search and rescue team.
  • A possible race director.
  • A possible source of race entry fees.
• You ask advice of hundreds of people on a list, looking for answers you have already determined to be correct, taking hold of only those, and running with ‘em.
• Your wife asks you the morning after your first 50 miler if you’re still planning on that 100K in five weeks, and you say “Sure!”
• You strap on your water bottles and walk the hills… in a 5 K race and consider that your 10 minute pace is a blistering pace.
• People praise you to the high heavens for being able to finish a marathon, and you feel insulted.
• You do a triathlon and it is your RUN time that is slower than the years when you specialized in triathlon.
• You are told *not* to run another marathon during the next few months (because that would be bad for your health), and you really follow that advice – by immediately sending off the entry form for your next 50/100 miler.
• Somebody asks about the distance of an upcoming race and you, without thinking, say, “Oh, it’s just a 50K.”
• You’re running a marathon and at mile 20 say to yourself, “Wow, only 6 more miles left, this is such a great training run!”
• You know you are a clumsy ultrarunner when after running headfirst into the trail for the third time get up and continue running even though you are bleeding and covered in maple syrup where your gel flask exploded and you have another 20k to go.
• You go for an easy 2 hour run in the middle of a Hurricane and think it is fun to get wet, muddy and run through the rivers that were once trails.
• You get to the 81 mile point of a 100 miler and say to yourself, “Wow, only 19 miles left!”
• You try to tie double knots in your Oxfords.
• You pass a swamp towards the end of a run and think ‘How bad could it be?”
• Livestock salt blocks look good after a run.
• You’re embarrassed that you’ve only done 50K’s…
• Your wife/girlfriend/significant other asks you the question and you say:
  • “sorry, I don’t have time, I have to go running”
  • “sorry, I’m too tired, I just went running”
  • “sorry, I would rather go read all my messages from the ultra-list”
• You go down a flight of stairs, uh, backwards, after an ultra and everybody laughs.
• No one believes you when you say “never again”.
• You refer to certain 100 mile races as “low-key.”
• You number your running shoes to distinguish old from new, since they all look dirty.
• Prior to running a difficult race, you check to see if local hospitals and urgent care centers are in your PPO.
• The only time major household projects get done is in a taper or race recovery.
• Everything in your life, everything, is organized in different sized zip-loc bags.
• You call a 50-mile race “just another training run”.

Special thanks to my FB friend, Norma Bastidas, for the post:  http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/norma.bastidas

• Peeing in the toilet seems unnatural.
• You start wearing running clothes to work so you’re prepared for afterwards.
• Running trail is better then sex.
• Vaseline isn’t just for fun anymore.
• When the start of a marathon feels like a 5K and you’re wondering “Why is everyone in such a rush? Where the ##@@**!! is the fire?”
• As an infant you were dropped on your head.
• Nobody recognizes your power T’s. Met a guy at the market the other day who was wearing an AR50 T. So was I. I gave him a hearty, “Ta-da.” He said, “Oh yeah, I tell people we were all acquitted and the charges were dropped.”
• You sign up for a 10K and
  • you strap on your fanny pack because you never know where the aid stations are.
  • you bring your own drinks.
  • you bring potatoes and salt.
  • you start fast and a six year old passes you.
  • you are the only one walking the up hills.
  • you run it a second time because its not far enough to call a training run (and you were racing the first time through).
  • you are the only one around who is eyeing the bushes THAT way.
  • you punch the lap button on your watch instead of the stop button at the finish.
• When “NEXT GAS 36 MILES” signs start sounding like tempting runs.
• Your pedicure kit includes a pair of pliers.
• Your number of toes to toenails doesn’t match.
• You drink from a water bottle at the dinner table.
• You consider the mold and mildew in your bottles extra electrolytes.
• You just found out Poison and Oak are words by themselves.
• You see a 1 quart water bottle colored like an Advil bottle, and don’t realize that it’s not in fact an Advil bottle.
• You know you’re married to an ultrarunner when Valentine’s gifts come from Ultrafit.
• You know you’re married to an ultrarunner when she helps you up and says, “Come on, suck it up, keep moving!” and you know she means it in love.
• You know you’re an ultrarunner when a prospective employer asks for a photograph and all you have is race photos.
• You know you’re an ultrarunner when the races you enter end in a different area code. -and pass through several different Zip codes enroute.
• You know you’re an ultrarunner when your crew tries to keep you motivated by saying, “You’re in second place and only 6 hours behind first with 25 miles to go!”
• You know you’re an ultrarunner when you go to your 8:00 a.m. college geology class and you can use the salt crystals, still caked on your glasses frames from your early morning run, in your talk on the category of sedimentary materials called evaporites (and I’m not making this up).
• You know you’re an ultrarunner when, on the night of a bad thunderstorm and downpour, you ring for a cab, and your announcement that this is the *first time* you’re not getting home under your own steam causes a stunned silence in the office.
• You bother to argue about (discuss the meaning of) what an UltraRunner is!!!
• when you don’t finish on the same day as the winner.
• your dogs can drink out of water bottles

Special thanks to my FB Friend Norma Bastidas for the post:  http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/norma.bastidas

• You visit a national park with your family and notice a thirty-mile trail connecting where you are with the place your family wants to visit next, which is a 100-mile drive away, and you think “Hmmmm”.
• Someone asks you how long your training run is going to be and you answer “seven or eight … hours”.
• People at work think you’re in a whole lot better shape than you think you are.
• You actually are in a whole lot better shape than you think you are.
• Your weekend runs are limited by how much time you have, not by how far you can run.
• You always have at least one black toenail.
• You buy economy-sized jars of Vaseline on a regular basis.
• You tried hashing, but felt the trails were too short and easy.
• You think of pavement as a necessary evil that connects trails.
• You rotate your running shoes more often than you rotate your tires.
• Your friends recognize your better dressed in shorts than in long pants.
• You really envied Tom Hanks’ long run as Forest Gump.
• You carry money around in a zip lock bag because store clerks complained that your money’s usually too sweaty.
• Any time a plain old runner talks about her aches and pains, you can sympathize because you’ve already had that at least once.
• You put more miles on your feet than on your rental car over the weekend.
• You don’t need to paint your toenails; they’re already different colors.
• You start planning the family vacation around races, and vice-versa.
• When you start considering your next vacation location on the merits of its ultras only.
• You spend you entire paycheck on running gear, ultrabars, and entry fees.
• You miss a work deadline cause you just had to have that “one more minute” on-line writing to the list.
• You become a quasi-expert on different detergents so as to not “hurt” your tee shirts.
• You leave work early to hit the trails.
• You wear t-shirts based on if you’ve had good work outs when you’ve worn them before.
• Have a trail shoe collection that would make Imelda Marcos envious.
• You walk up the stairs and run down them.

Special thanks to my FB friend, Norma  Bastidas, for the post: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/norma.bastidas

• Your wife tries to introduce you to your three children and you reply “Three?”
• You spend more time in the drug section than the food section of the local market.
• You wonder why they don’t make all running socks a dusty brown color.
• You have more dirt on your shoes than in your garden.
• You think that ibutrophin belong on the breakfast table.
• You get more phone calls at 5:00 AM than at 5:00 PM.
• You don’t recognize your friends with their clothes on.
• You have more buckles than belts.
• You postpone your wedding because it will interfere with your training.
• You keep mistaking your boss for Norm Klein.
• 6am is sleeping in.
• Your feet look better without toenails.
• Your idea of a fun date is a 30-mile training run.
• You’re tempted to look for a bush when there’s a long line for the public restroom.
• You don’t think twice about eating food you’ve picked up off the floor.
• You can expound on the virtues of eating salt.
• You develop an unnatural fear of mountain lions.
• When you wake up without the alarm at 4AM, pop out of bed and think “lets hit the trails”.
• When you can recite the protein grams by heart of each energy bar.
• You don’t even LOOK for the Porto-sans anymore.
• Your ideal way to celebrate your birthday is to run at least your age in miles with some fellow crazies.
• Your ideal way to have fun is to run as far as you can afford to with some fellow crazies.
• You know the location of every 7-11, public restroom, and water fountain within a 25-mile radius of your house.
• You run marathons for speed work.
• You have more fanny packs and water bottles and flashlights than Imelda Marcos has shoes.

Special thanks to my FB friend, Norma Bastidas, for the post:  http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/norma.bastidas

It’s all about that first step! Running is an incredibly healthy, easy, and accessible form of exercise. Whether it’s five minutes, 15 minutes, or 45 minutes, every little bit of time spent running makes a difference in the goal to live healthy, happy, and heart strong.

Join me for National Running Day on Wednesday, June 2, as we come together as a nation to take strides toward leading healthier, fitter lives!