What do your Running Shoes Say?

What would your running shoes say to you?

Hey, you are wearing me out here.
Man, my bottom is killing me.
Boss, can Kayano take my place on Friday, I have a date!
I'm jealous, you are always putting your feet in 2150's soft cushion.
Big boy, you wanna dance today in the rain?
Can I take a vacation this week, ......really!
You just had to make me crunch over that dead bug....now I have bug juice all over my underside.
Get that Adizero away from me, he has no brains.
Quick, untie me, I am suffocating here.

So tell me, what do your running shoes say?
If they don't say anything, you are either injured or you have the LB syndrome.

**Disclaimer-so you might be wondering where I got this idea? Been to Taco Bell Lately? Hahahaha

Motivating Shoes? ...Talking Shoes!!

So.........today I went to the Running Store to pick up some stuff. (They called and told me that they got some stuff in that I was wanting). Well, as I was checking out, I heard the most craziest thing in the world. I heard it too, about 2 months ago inside the same store. A customer comes in and wants to take up running. Their question is as follows:


Do you have any running shoes?.........as they look at the wall full of them (A whole wall)
Do you have any running shoes that will motivate me? ............hmmmmmmm

"Do you have any motivating running shoes?
So......my quest is to get with asics, nike, and whom ever to develop shoes with a speaker on them like a doll that says things like.....
Great Job Runner
Keep those legs turning
Burn up the track

Well...........in the meantime, the above picture is the best thing I have that will get you burning down the road or wherever.

Do you often hear silly things at the running store?

Taper Time / Running Stores...."Get it Together Man!!!"

Smoke House BBQ Cheesy Fries with Onions from Sheetz -Healthy Carbo Loading for Runners!

It's my favorite time! It's taper time. Now, I know that a lot of runners complain about it. They are use to running 70 miles a week, and now, there time running has been reduced. Well, I don't mind taper time, because my body loves it. If my body loves it, then I love it. Now, I love going out and having one of those weeks were I run 20 miles with a 12 mile tempo, and a speed session, but I know all good things must end at some point in time. Transitioning into a taper for a marathon can be quite tricky. You are not running that long so you have some extra time on your hands. That extra time can lead to boredom, and boredom can lead to ........well....eating cheesy fries from sheetz at 3 in the morning? I use all of that extra time to catch up on a lot of things that I normally do not do when I am training hard, like reading blogs and stuff. Just because your over all running volume goes down during the week, it doesn't mean that your intensity should go down as well. Your number of runs during the weeks leading up to the marathon can actually and should actually stay the same. You might should just want to take an extra rest day the week before the marathon. So now that I am tapering, I will be catching up on some blogs and other stuff. Just gotta watch that cheesy fries craving since I am not running as long to burn that sucker off.

Now for a rant! Yesterday was Sunday, and I decided it was time to stock up on some GU gels. My favorite is Roctane Pineapple with 2x caffeine. Can't wait till they have mango flavor. .....so I head over down up around somewhere to my Running Store. They had 1 GU gel Roctane with no caffeine. and then 5 (chococate and expresso lovers) flavors. You gotta be kidding me man. Should I start running with milk? Really, no wonder why these are the only ones you have left. (Here's your sign!) There is a major marathon in the area in a few weeks. What is up with your stock levels dude? .....response - "well, I can call another store and have them bring here what they have and you can pick it up later this week". "My long run is tomorrow, it will be too late". Now, I would not be ranting about this if it was the first time this happened. This has been on going for a year or more. Yeah, they have shoes, and socks, and other stuff, but I want my GU gels. So I wrapped it up and went to Dick's Sporting Goods and they only had 4 Roctane orange vanilla GU gels. I snagged them and asked if they had any more in the back. "I'm sorry sir, this is all we have". OK, I'm ready to check out here, but I do notice that you have every golf ball imaginable on the planet. I didn't say what I really wanted to say, because in general, I am a positive and cheerful person. After all, the world is not coming to an end because no one likes to stock up on stuff that sells out all the time. That should be their "CLUE" for business. Maybe I should just open up a store and just sell gels. Better yet, GU gel should have those thingies that you can just walk up to and swipe some plastic and out pops some GU gels. The Gel Kiosk! Maybe I should get with the program and start doing what normal people do now.............Order Online!!!!! Now, where is that site! I'm gonna save some gas! By the way, I think it is costing me more to run per mile than it is for me to drive a mile. I am going to have to research that.

Some Random Thoughts about Marathoning

The Harrisburg Marathon is in 25 days. I can say that I am very excited, and ready for this one. I have put in my long runs, speed endurance, speed work, and some hill sessions every other week. I would like to point out that the Long Run, is my favorite run. On my last 20 miler, when I was done, I felt like you do at the end of a roller coaster ride...."Is this it". Though I wanted to run more, I stopped and called it a day. After the Marathon, I will then put on some Longer Runs, but for now, I don't want to smash my body up so I blow to bits on race day. This Marathon serves more purpose than just a race. I have one more Long Run before it's time to taper. Taper? Is that a person that likes to tape notes all over the office wall? Seriously, the Long Run does so much more than builds up your endurance and what not. It gives you confidence in knowing that you will cross the finish line no matter what "as long as you taper". Well, this leads me to point out something about the Marathon. A friend of mine, told me a few weeks ago, "Hey you did a half, all you have to do is do that twice". I had to explain to him that it does not work like that.

A Marathon is 26.2 miles......or 42.1648128 km.

Not 2 half marathons
Not a 20 mile warm up for a 10k
Not 8.451613 5ks

It is 26.2 miles and should be treated as such!

Which I would for the record like to state that I do NOT like the term Half Marathon. They should just call it a 13.1 or something else. In terms of effort, in a Marathon, you are NOT half way to the finish at the 13.1 miles, you are there around miles 18-20, in terms of "effort", not "distance".

With in doing marathon training, I noticed that with the long run, you really have to get your pacing right from the start. Starting out too fast even when you think you have the strength and endurance that day can be a mistake that is hard to salvage. So, these Long Runs have a lot more purpose to them than people think. They teach you race prep. What's your strategy going to be?

Although I have been doing a bit of speed work now, That will come to a halt after the Marathon. I might pick up speed work or high intensity runs after March of 2011.

Lastly, I just recieved in the mail the other day yurbuds that I won from Teamarcia's Blog. I tried them on briefly and they fit pretty stable. The ear buds I would use before, I would have to keep pushing them in my ear every 10 seconds on my run. Today, will be my first run trying these out. We will see. So those mixed with Audiofuel that I have been also trying out should make for a good run today. Will write another post on Audiofuel later. I will say that I was surprised to know that one of my host from my favorite podcast, MarathonTalk.com, is behind it. If you have not checked out Marathon Talk, check it out.

Second Lastly, I have not posted in a while, and I have not read any blogs in a while. Training and work has got every second of my day spent. Lord only knows if I will even get a chance to blog after my Marathon up till March. hehehehehehe

Third lastly, Meg, the picture is for you per your request!

Pre and Post Run Beverages that will Boost Performance

For Pre Runs I usually have 12 ice cold oz. of Coke as it provides energy to my system and fuels me for those extra long runs. I tried to break into the Willie Wonka Factory to steal some fuzzy lifting drinks to see what that might do, but got tackled by those Oompa Loompa midgets. Won't try that again, so I just stick with Coke. With over 100 calories, over 27 grams of Carbs, over 27 grams of SUGAR, (*****and other stuff), who could go wrong?

As for my Post Run Beverage of choice, it all depends on whether or not I have to go to work in the next few hours or so. See Below.



***Now, whether or not these can boost performance, that is still up in the air. The Post Run Beverage helps me go faster, as I can not wait for it's fizzy bubbles and crisp cold taste. (esp on those hot runs) As for fluid intakes During my runs, ...........still in experimental phase III.

Charities and Races

I think that it is a great idea to promote major and minor races through the use of charities, but has it gotten out of hand with celebrities begging for money practically? For some one that would want to run NYC marathon that has not yet gotten in through a ballet, it is a great way to experience the race and to help out certain programs via charity. In fact, the London Marathon is one of the World's largest charity events. I think that running for causes are great too.

*******This just in via telegraph - Oprah Winfrey and Will Ferrell training for 2012 Badwater Ultra Marathon coached by none other than..................Richard Simmons. I suppose they will dance there selves to the finish by chasing after "Deal a Meal" cards.




So what do you think of this video and Edward Norton's Plea?

Wife Helps with Organization

My kind and very supportive wife has allotted unto me my very own drawer to place my running stuff in. I came home from work to find this. Now that is a very nice surprise. ....Had to take a picture of the moment. The cabinet underneath supports our camelbaks and other stuff. It is these warm gestures that can really help boost our motivation through gained support of our loved ones. Thank you sweetie pie, as I know you will be reading this. hehehe

What has your spouse or significant other done for your running craze lately?

**Note - All of this stuff was gone in about 2 weeks or so, minus the body glide, Vaseline, and headlamp..........and I will be needing a lot more space than this (maybe 10 more drawers) for the long road that I am about to traverse!