The Obligatory Post-Race Post

So just to be clear, I don't really like writing much about actual running. I'd rather come up with something relating running to life or relating running to the cosmos or relating running to Nutella, or something I read or saw that really grinds my gears: that is to say, basically anything on Letsrun.com or anything published by "Dr." Jason Karp (who seems to have a strange preoccupation with the idea that women shouldn't run through menstrual cycles. Which begs the question of how many of those he's had to run through, and also if he thinks this is still the 1800's or something. But, well, that's a somewhat squirmy and uncomfortable topic for all of us, so moving on...) or anything that puts the Kardashians into the limelight (seriously, does anyone know why the hell they're even famous?!). Or I write stuff solely for the purpose of processing something that totally made my mind go "boom". I don't really like writing about workouts or how many miles I ran last week (see previous post "Magical Numbers" for a more detailed rant on that one) and I don't really write about races because I don't remember much of them other than bits and pieces because I think my brain goes somewhere else during that time. But since the first race of the entire year is in the bag (finally), I think that warrants a celebratory post.

I always wonder during times of mandatory downtime if all those hours and hours of cross-training my legs off truly does make the comeback trail a little less long than it would be if I just chilled out for a couple months and ate Reece's Peanut Butter Easter Eggs and lapsed into a sort of injury-induced pseudo-hibernation. Every now and then I'd find myself tempted to make an excuse, "GAHH I don't need to go to the pool today, it doesn't do anything anyway. Plus it's -10 outside." Then I go and Tweet my gripes to the running world. But thankfully the compulsive side of me that feels a need to never, ever leave a blank spot in the training log wins out about 98% of the time. Really though, I don't know why I always wonder this, because fitness seems to come back crazy-fast for the most part, and it makes me shudder to think about how much it would have sucked to start back from ground zero.

Anyway, not totally sure where that was headed other than to say that thanks to those zillion cross training hours and not to mention the sage wisdom and guidance of Coach Cody--without whom I would probably have been running as much as I could as hard as I could like a month ago, then finding ways to "sneak" in just a "little bit more," and therefore would probably be sidelined again right about now-- workouts are just as good (maybe better, but talk is cheap) as they were pre-injury, and last weekend's race went swimmingly.

I guess I could say that the Boulder Spring 5 Miler was pretty solid, but one of my pet peeves is when people describe runs as "solid". It's only annoying because everybody does it, and it makes me wonder what the alternative is to a "solid" run. Vapor? Liquid? Gaseous? I could go all sorts of directions with that last one. But instead I'll just say it went well, felt like a good effort, and is a good starting point for this year. Plus, it was neato that there was $400 bucks for the win and I got that and didn't even know there was money in the race. That's like, a whole paycheck. I love a surprise. Also I have to lend a special thanks to BTC's Chuy Martinez for not leaving me out there in windy no-man's land for the duration of the second half of the race.

Oh, but of course I couldn't just go away and say, "A win's a win! Yeaaaah buddy!' I just had to go home and geek-out and look at last year's results and make comparisons. This year's race was notably less stacked than last year's, no doubt owing to the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile (where Bri was second American) and the St. Louis Half (where Mattie made everyone her b***h. There. I'll say it so that she doesn't have to because she's too nice.) and my time this year would've put me about 3rd last year. This thought led to my usual How-About-Instead-Of- Focusing-On-Bettering-Myself-I-Compare-Myself-To-Everyone-Else thought train. In this case it went like this:

1) Runner X ran Y time at this race last year.
2) Runner X then went on to run Z time at W race.
3) Therefore, I will end up running Z time at W race because I ran Y time that Runner X ran at this race last year.
4) Freak out.

After engaging in that thought process and acknowledging that my tiny victory in Boulder paled in comparison to what many of my teammates have been doing, I decided at that moment that I'm not thinking like that anymore because those thoughts are stupid and self-defeating and serve no purpose. Nope. Just not going to do it. They say that "Comparison is the thief of joy," because rather than being thankful for your own milestones and accomplishments, you stack them up against everyone else's milestones and it's positively soul-sucking. And guess what? Everyone else's milestones are none of your business anyway, and those people went through their own peaks and valleys to attain them. So be grateful for what you were able to do on a given day, acknowledge it and give yourself a quick pat on the back, then get back to work. Rant over. Anyway though, the end result of the race looked like this, or maybe this is just Art looking bashful with some of his lady friends:

Dear Lord my forehead is enormous. Shoot, there I go comparing again...

Before I forget, major props to Andy, Scott and Art for upping the amount yellow on the podium.

Well this has been quite the conglomeration of verbal vomit so I'll wrap this little guy up. Next up is the Mt. Sac 5k which will be a more honest test and I'll get to chase women instead of Chuy.

Toodles.

Divide For The Weekend

When I get time off work, I usually head up to a higher elevation. Whether it be Woodland Park or Divide, I never stay long, but long enough for my body to get a red blood cell boost. Coach Scott Simmons is like a mad scientist and his theories are very intriguing to us all. He is very intelligent and will approach every angle of training, never leaving a stone unturned.

So why do we go up to a higher altitude? Well, studies have shown that an increase in altitude will naturally increase EPO production and boosts the red blood cell count. These cells are responsible for carrying oxygen to the body's tissues (including the muscles). This is typically why people live at altitude or have altitude tents. Studies have shown that EPO production is greatest the first 2-3 days and usually plateaus and starts to decrease shortly after that time period. If we lived permanently at such high altitude, our bodies wouldn't be able to recover properly and we wouldn't get the boosts in our red blood cells that we are looking for. Due to these factors, we try to get to a higher elevation 2 days a week, if our schedule allows us.

Where do we Stay? Well American distance project has set up several different housing opportunities. Cathedral Ridge in Woodland Park is where I usually stay, but currently I'm at Stonehaven Inn Bed and Breakfast between Divide and Cripple Creek perched on the western slope of Pikes Peak.

Shortly after arriving at Stonehaven, Craig and I were greeted with warm smiles and pleasant conversation by owners Janis and Ferrel. Isolated and remote, this beautiful 3 story cabin is decorated with rustic furniture and would be a lovely get away for anybody looking for a quiet vacation. The hospitality of Janis and Farel is incredible and today after our run we were surprised with a home cooked breakfast. Fruit and yogurt parfait, followed by scrambled eggs, waffles, and sausage with orange juice to wash it all down. YUMMY! I can't help but feel like I am on a small vacation. If I wasn't writing this blog, I would probably be lounging in the hot tub, reading a book (psyche), or playing air hockey with Craig. Instead I am overwhelmed with the luxury of having the world wide web. Ha!

The running is an entire different story. With not a flat surface to run on, it's hard not to be out of breath shortly after stepping out the door. I guess 10,000 ft of elevation will do that to you. Thankfully we have beautiful snowcapped mountains to distract us from our shortness of breath. Easy running is all the doctor ordered!

Craig and I will be here until tomorrow morning before having to return to reality.

Until next time....

Brandon Birdsong

February Fun, Snow, and IT Band Issues

So much to talk about! February was a busy month. I accepted a job at the best running store in the US (sorry Luke's...but really, it's been named the best in the US) Boulder Running Company! Everyone there is so nice and knowledgeable. Besides the usual running, yoga, and climbing activities, February brought some pretty great adventures: Mardi Gras party, sneaking into a paint party concert and getting my ITband massaged to the point I wanted to cry...ok, maybe that last one wasn't as fun, but still necessary.

Despite being born in Louisiana, I am sorry to say I have never properly celebrated Mardi Gras, so I was thrilled to find out Andy's friend was a part of a Mardi Gras show/party downtown. The only downside to the experience is that now I have another thing to add to my to-do list: become a professional aerial artist. There's just not enough time in the day!

Valentine's Day:
I missed making cards for all of my Rice teammates and sneaking secret admirer letters to randoms in the library...don't worry Becky, it will happen again! This year I just made one silly poem for Andy.

ITband treatment:
One of the most painful experiences ever. All runners out there, don't wait till you're IT band is hurt, roll out now! You don't want to deal with this silly injury, trust me. Oh, and Mark and Heather are the best! Even if they make me want to cry at times...

First seriously snowy run. Frozen eyelashes :/

BRC Adidas kits arrived!


I'm so excited to be on the BRC Adidas team. Can't wait to race in the bright yellow!

Signed up for the MCAT. Lots more of this to come:


Well, that's about it for February happenings. So far I've been able to somewhat train through this annoying IT band injury. I'm hoping it will resolve itself soon so I can start thinking about racing!
Nicole M.

Gate River Run

Once a year, in March, one of the biggest road races in America descends upon Jacksonville, Florida: the Gate River Run. Doubling as the USA 15k National Championships, the race brings out some of the world's top elite runners to stride alongside 20,000 participants.

This is an event I would highly recommend to any runner: elite or recreational. It boasts great March weather and a cool town perfect for Spring Break.

Highlights
•All-around wonderful organization, encouragement and hospitality by Richard Fannin
•Also thanks to Bill and Heather Johnson, BRC/Adidas and many more
•Visit to Sanctuary on 8th Street
•Pre-Race talk by Craig Virgin
•Equalizer race and finish over the Hart Bridge
•Picnic diner hosted by race directors Doug and Jane Alred•After Party at 1904 Music Hall

First off, I owe enormous thanks to BRC/Adidas, Richard Fannin and all who helped in getting me to Jacksonville! I have never felt so welcomed, encouraged, and well taken care of, as a runner, as I did for the US 15k championships. So seriously, THANK YOU!

Friday, March 8, 2013
One of the great events Richard and all assembled was a visit to the Sanctuary on 8th Street.
This is an after school program for children living in poverty, often without even one parent to support them. The program offers food, help with school work and outdoor recreation. We as runners, visited the sanctuary to have a little Friday afternoon exercise with the kids. Lee Troop, a local Boulder, CO and Australian marathon legend, showed his amazing education skills organizing some games and stretches and really getting everyone involved. It was a sincerely hartwarming day, just seeing how excited many of the kids were to have a little one-on-one attention, even for a short time.

Friday night culminated with a USATF meeting and pre-race talk by Craig Virgin. Craig is a great motivational speaker, and true American hero. If you ever have the chance to meet him, do it.

Saturday, March 9, 2013
-The Race
In the hubbub of a cool spring break morning, I found myself, wondering through crowds reminiscent of Disney World. Navigating out of the fairgrounds, by kegs of beer, palm trees, port-o-potties; the ride is about to begin. If, like this runner, at this exact moment, you have never been in a road race the size of a small city: get ready for a do-it-yourself sporting event, parade and city tour rolled into one!

The gun goes off, signaling the massive start, traveling down Bay street on the North side of the St. John's River. The catch is that the elite women have already started, 6:35 ahead, leading to an all-out battle of the sexes and a chance for the equalizer bonus of $5,000 to the first person, be it man or woman, to cross the finish line.

After a crowded 4:40 first mile, the pack takes three 90 degree turns and heads onto the Main Street bridge. After a quick introduction to the far bank of the St. John's, you enter San Marco and what remains as a blur that I can only describe as "the neighborhoods". I hit the fist 5k in 14:40 just behind the lead pack of 13. Another couple twists and turns and we head onto Hendrick's Ave. With a long straight stretch, Michael Eaton and I push to make up the gap, in a confusing tornado of long-haired, blonde Adidas runners. We begin to catch the first elite women.

I still can't bridge the gap (not a pun). At 8k, I'm 23:40, one of my fastest times ever, running solo. I blend into the chase pack, and cross 10k in 29:29. Now, here is what Craig Virgin, the honored pre-race speaker and two time World Champion, would refer to as a moment of truth. I could tough out a couple miles with the chase pack or I could ease off and hope for a couple stragglers near the end. Rookie mistake, I let them go.

The climax of the race, culminates with a race grinding up and blazing down the 150 foot tall, mile-long Hart Bridge and a sprint around the Jaguar's stadium. With all my strength I push through the remaining kilometer and sprint in at 45:09, 22nd place, glad to be done, disappointed, but wiser.

It was a great experience for my first road race. Not the place or time I wanted, but a learning experience to help me sharpen up for the rest of my spring season. Next time I'll have to make a few subtle changes, and I'll be pushing the top 10.

After the race, I was lucky enough to spend time with my Dad and travel down to the coast. That's the great part about racing in at 8:30am: you still have an entire day post-race. The weather cooled, but Atlantic beach was nice enough for a quick knee-deep dip in the salt water. Fish taco's at Poe's Tavern near the beach, completed a lazy, well deserved and restful afternoon.

At 6pm, a huge group of the elite runners bussed over to the race director house for a catered outdoor picnic. This was a great chance for me to meet many of the other elite athletes.

Being a professional runner isn't like other professional sports. Many people have other jobs to support their running. For instance, I am in grad school, teach and tutor to earn enough to almost cover the month's rent. Thats it. I still need my parent's support just to make it through day to day. So, it was really interesting to see how, dedicated and talented runners all over the country make their way in life. Some are on teams that pay for housing and more, others are engineers, mothers and PhDs. In general, it is amazing and encouraging to see so many bright, and kind people that work really hard for the small (really small) amount of money and (trivial) fame involved in being a pro runner.

Some of the fantastic people I met include the magnetic Tim Richie, blonde charmer Michael Eaton, bearded Scott Smith, tree-tattooed Michael Crouch, master's all-star Kevin Castille, future prom king Anthony Solis, Jeff Sadler, the charismatic Giliat Ghebray, the illustrious Morgan Haws, Sarah Crouch, Katie Di Camillo, Addie Bracy, and D2 all-star Tyler Pennel. These guys and ladies are AWESOME. Cheer them on, make them your new best friend.

To kick off the weekend, we finished our night at 1904 music hall. Enjoyed a beer with Richard in congratulations on a weekend to remember. Not to mention, celebrated Brandon Birdsong-Johnson's birthday.

All in all, an awesome weekend and a great first encounter with big time road racing. Much more to come soon, from this young runner.
Andy

It's All In Your Head. Not.

I stumbled on an article the other day entitled "Rethinking Running Health", I was drawn to it as it seemed fitting for this particular time in my running life. "Injury is a frame of mind," cheered the introductory sentence beneath it. My hackles rose. "Oh isn't this just like Runner's World," I thought, maybe a little cynically, "Three days to your best marathon ever and now you can think away all of your injuries! Fantastic. Where do I sign up? Will it help if I wear a hat made out of tin-foil too?"

So before even reading the article, I automatically went on the defense as I initially thought that it was going to be another sports psychology article claiming that most injuries are "all in your head" and that pain is merely a physical manifestation of stress or some other negative emotion(s) like fear, anger, anxiety, or sadness. Pyschosomatic, they call it; where the brain takes negative, repressed emotions and reproduces them as physical pain (that's the psychology major talking there). Granted, I absolutely buy into that idea to a certain degree, in certain circumstances, as it has been proven a number of times. To apply it to everything is just hogwash, but everyone's experienced it at some point, whether you "believe" in the so-called psuedo-science of psychology or not. Who hasn't at one time gotten a headache after a few hours or a couple days of being really stressed out? There you go. If you've ever taken a Sports Psych course, you know that when it comes to athletes it's been shown a time and again that more highly stressed, type-A athletes get hurt more often, and that athletes who get injured are often in a negative state of mind when they became injured, and while these two examples don't really fall 100% into the "it's all in your head" mentality, they still go to show that when it comes down to it, you really can't separate the brain from the body.

Not sure where all I was going with that. So back to the psychosomatic side of things. While there's certainly some truth to it, I guess you've got to take the idea with caution as it is certainly not applicable to every situation and can really downplay actual injuries, which are never "all in your head." Even worse, putting too much stock into such a belief can make athletes feel like total wimps, which is something any competitive athlete at any level is hardwired to never allow themselves to become. At least for myself, and I know I can't be the only one, that "all in your head" attitude really instills a tremendous amount of self-doubt when it comes to paying attention to what your body is telling you. It's like, "Geez, is my hamstring really that sore or do I just think it is?" "Does my foot really hurt this bad or am I just nervous for such-and-such race?" "Am I actually this tired or am I just imagining it?" "Well everyone I know runs 130 miles a week and they're not hurt, so I can't possibly be and I should do that too." For chronic self-doubters like myself, it's really not good.

The problems arise when you get to the point where you don't know the difference between being smart and having a strong sense of self-preservation, versus being paranoid or being a total headcase. Which is unfortunate, because who wants to be known as the latter two? I will readily admit that at this point I can't honestly figure out if you can even be "smart" in this sport without being a certain amount of both of those other things. And for the record, being aware that you have the issue of being seemingly unable to differentiate between whether you're a headcase or smart really doesn't fix the issue one bit.

Man, back in my college days I used to want to be a Sports Psychologist, but now I am pretty sure that my head would explode before my first patient even walked through the door. Maybe that wouldn't be the greatest career path after all.

Anyway, that's my rant about that, I'm getting off track here. All of this thinking went on before I actually even read the article, and that wasn't really what it was even about so I never needed to get my bunhuggers in a bunch in the first place, but that's how I feel about things, in case you were wondering.

So when I actually clicked on it and read it like the studious, well-learned person that I pretend to be, I found that in saying "injuries are a state of mind," it didn't mean that "injuries are all in your head," which is a complete insult to athletes everywhere, but basically what it was referencing was the fact that in a typical, driven, highly competitive, type-A-never-deviate-from-the-assigned-task-at-hand athlete who is unwilling to adjust training or accomadate obstacles along the way, injuries are often a result of that type of thinking. So to that end, injuries can be the result of a state of mind. That's like a two sentence summary, so if you want to read it for yourself, it's right here:
http://www.runnersworld.com/injury-prevention-recovery/rethinking-running-health

Anyhow, creativity has really been waning these days for some reason, so in other news I pierced my nose the other day and was reading the after-care instructions later on. "Mix salt and warm water in a glass," it said, "Then, simply invert glass of salt water solution over site of piercing to create a vacuum 3x daily." 'Simply invert'? 'Create a vacuum?' WTF?! Have you ever tried to "invert" a freaking glass of salt water on your face? Much less "create a vacuum"? Well I tried it and so should you. Let me know how it works out.

Boost Revolution

It was 1960 when eventual Olympic Marathon winner Abebe Bikila cruised through the shadows of a Rome night, barefoot. Bikila would become immortalized for his win, blisters and all. Sure, we all know this story, the one small credit towards barefoot running. What didn’t fall into folk-lore, was what Bikila whispered after the race. The one important word that would go silent for another 53 years. What the world missed after the exuberant Ethiopian crossed the finish line, forever marking history with his feet, was the then tiny word he shared to a race official upon finishing. “boost” he said quietly. The confused race official didn’t understand the broken english, so Bikila said it again, “BOOST”, this time louder with power. His eyes grew wide and he said once again, “BOOST” before faltering to his knees and being carried away. The race official stood perplexed, and shrugged off the incident as it would forever be lost in history before transforming into fiction here.

But now, it’s coming back. Can you hear it? Like a heartbeat, it’s getting faster, and faster. Like Godzilla taking quicker steps, closer, and closer. You can’t see it yet, but you can feel it. 

BOOST.

Like an explosion, blowing everything sky high into the stratosphere. 

BOOST.

Like Sonic The Hedgehog’s pack, ripping through the roller coaster to the finish.

BOOST.

Like when you’re halfway through a long run and you want to let something slip out between your (southern) cheeks, and it ends up being more than you bargained for.

It’s getting louder now, can you hear it? The Adidas Boost is almost here. With a revolutionary midsole that has an unrivaled energy-return, it’ll be sure to give you a boost in every run. We used to want to prance around like fairies along the trails, no wings, no dust, but now with a little boost in our step, we can chase bears and tackle mountain lions. “Boost Runner Sighting” will liter the trails and roads. Wild animals beware. With a little extra boost, we’re no longer afraid to run - fast

The term “Aggressive Running” will be thrown around more frequently with three-stripes on your feet. They’ll make t-shirts and warning signs. Runners without Boost will fear those with Boost, fearful of the savage three-striper hunting them down, and leaving them behind. “Boost Runner Sighting”. Too late, they’re already gone.

The Revolution has begun, and it didn’t start with a gunshot, it started with a BOOST. Which side are you on?

It’s coming. February 27th - at the Boulder Running Company - Boulder store, Adidas will rally the troops and officially launch the BOOST. Come join the Boost Revolution at 6pm, and also be a part of the most epic “Harlem Shake” ever. Bring your green hat, and be ready to RUN. See you Wednesday!

Running Stronger

Well it's a Sunday afternoon and after a nice long run, I figured it would be a great time to get back to some blogging. For those of you who didn't know I have finally gotten back into serious training again after about a 10 month period of off and on running due to a nagging ankle/achilles injury.  I was typically running about 2 to 3 days a week, just to stay in some kind of shape, but was running through pain most of the time.

About a month and a half ago I finally found a way to get my ankle feeling back to 100%.  I started wearing a night splint that kept my foot in dorsiflexion throughout the night.  I started getting immediate relief after about 3 days, and after about a month, I finally got my ankle to basically feel normal again.

So on to the good stuff, I got a new coach on the first of Febuary named Jon Sinclair.  For those of you who haven't heard of him, he was one of the nations top runners during the 80's and even held the 12k US National record.  Training has been going really well, even though we still having been keeping the mileage relatively low as to not reaggrevate my ankle injury.  I am finally starting to feel stronger and more fit again, along with loosing about 8 pounds.

I am still hashing out my racing plans for this spring and summer as we will be having a new addition to our family  in about 2 weeks and I'm not sure when I will be able to free up some time.  I plan on doing some St. Patty's day race and then a couple local races in April, before trying my hand at some bigger/longer races come may/june.  Anyway that's it for now, and hope everyone is training hard for this upcoming spring so we can all take some names!

Boost

So, I’m pretty bad about blogging overall. I don’t usually feel like I have anything super interesting to say. I train hard, but it’s relatively standard stuff. My life right now is mostly made up of eat, sleep, run, work repeat.



There is something that has brought me out of blogging semi-retirement. The adidas energy Boost. Hands down these are the best shoes I have ever put on my feet. I love running in them so much that I can’t even bring myself to wear a different pair of shoes on my four mile easy runs. My big fear right now is that I won’t be able to get replacement pairs throughout the year because I am told that the quantities are pretty limited in the initial stages of Boost.



For full disclosure, I am on the BRC adidas club team and the man of my dreams works for adidas. However, I am not on a contract with adidas so I am in no way obligated to blog about the Boost. I am going to try to convince you to try them on and I hope that you love them as much as I do.



Since this is my blog, I am going to talk about myself a little bit. I have been on the BRC adidas team since 2006. In the last couple of years, I feel like adidas and myself have both really stepped up our game in the running department. I committed myself 100% to training hard and becoming the best runner that I can be and adidas has committed resources towards becoming a leader in the specialty running industry again culminating with the Boost. I only hope that I can perform up to the level of Boost this year (too bad it isn’t an Olympic year).



Now, on to the good stuff. Like I said, I do pretty much every run in the Boost except my tempo runs and track workouts. I used to trade off between the Glides for my easy days and the Aegis or Bostons on my long runs. Now, I just wear the Boost. I have run over 350 miles in my Boost and they feel as good as the day I got them.



I try to run on dirt as much as possible. I don’t really like to do much running on the roads because I feel like it beats up your body a bit more. We have been getting a fair amount of snow lately, so I have been relegated to the roads the last few days. It is a different feeling running in the Boost. I feel like I am actually getting return from the road as opposed to feeling flat.



In general, my legs haven’t felt nearly as beat up since I started running in the Boost. Elite runners are always walking that fine line between injury and staying healthy. I honestly haven’t run in them enough to have a good sense of whether or not they will have a positive impact on injury prevention. I do know that my legs feel much better after an 18 mile long run in the Boost than they do in other shoes. Cushion has always been an important part of my running shoe make-up (not sure why anyone would ever run barefoot, ouch), which I believe is why I feel so good in the Boost. It is just the right amount of cushion that allows your feet to move and stay strong.



Last thought on the shoes – they are heavenly in the winter time. They don’t feel rock hard in some of the colder temperatures that I face on my 6 am runs. Also, sometimes I leave my shoes in my car during the day, only to be running on bricks for my second run. That doesn’t happen with the Boost.



I have my first race since training in the Boost next weekend. I have no idea what to expect from this race as it is my first race back from the marathon. I do know that I will be relying on Boost to help with my recovery from the race.



adidas is going to have several unveiling nights at local running stores with test Boost for you to try out. Before you start thinking “yeah, yeah new midsole, heard that before…” I urge you to at least go and try a pair on you just might fall in love like I did. It’s a good year to be running in adidas.

On the Comeback Trail (again)

Welp, I will say that it has been a wee bit of a long 7 weeks and 2 days composed of a lot of bike-time and even more pool-time. But finally, and I say this while throwing the entire shaker of salt over my shoulder and crossing my fingers...light at the end of the tunnel!

The estimated downtime assigned back in December was "4-6 weeks off." I had happily determined this to translate to "2 weeks off", owing to the week I took off after Clubs in combination with fact that I was only running 3 or 4 days a week for the month leading up to Clubs, so that had to add like 3 more weeks in there somewhere, right? Give or take a few days. So one week plus 3 more weeks is already 4 weeks, so if I took off 2 more solid weeks then BOOM I took 6 weeks off. This seemed like completely sound reasoning. Easy peezy lemon squeezy! Silly broken toe.

But apparently it doesn't really work that way.

Whatever. So here we are 7 weeks later, and while it was longer than my initially anticipated Dr.Payne prescribed 2 week layoff, I am pleased to say that I made it through 29 of those days without a single irrational or psychotic thought darkening my psyche, that's a PR by about 28.5 days! But after watching my teammates kick ass at Fast and Flurryous up in Boulder a few weeks ago, for some reason I got back home from the race and went to the pool, started "running", and was suddenly consumed with the unreasonable notion that I would never run again. Ever.

"THIS WILL NEVER HEAL," screamed the voice of Unreason, "NOT EVER. I WILL BE RUNNING IN CIRCLES IN THIS POOL FOR 2 HOURS A DAY EVERY DAY FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE UNTIL THE CHLORINE EATS AWAY MY AQUA-JOGGER AND SWIM SUIT AND I, NAKED AND WEAKENED WITH DEPAIR, WILL SINK SADLY INTO THE FAKE-BLUE DEPTHS NEVER TO BE SEEN AGAIN. Please, no one save me."

Thus ended my 29 day streak.

I don't know how I always seem to forget that this point seems to come with nearly every prolonged setback, yet my worst fears have never actually come to fruition. In retrospect, I'm not actually sure why I ever even bother worrying in the first place. Even though sitting on the sidelines was no less difficult than usual, and even though watching the live-stream of the U.S. Cross Country Champs was something akin to watching a beloved, much-adored pet screeching and writhing in its death throes while dying some kind of terrible, drawn-out, agonizing death from which I could not save it (although I did really enjoy watching our girls and guys and my college coach running around out there. Good job everyone, and thanks Runnerspace.), and even though I learned that I really need to stay off Facebook, Twitter, Letsrun, Runcolo, Flotrack and any/all other forms of social networking/media running-related or otherwise during downtime in an effort to avoid hearing all about everyone else's awesomeness, the healing process did not fail.

There is something about seeing your embarrassingly slow walk-jogs (wogs) gradually transform into actual pain-free running--or what passes for running right now anyway--that suddenly makes me realize that once again, there was no need to fear, it's actually going to be okay, and I did not stop loving it in the meantime.

I'm not 100% sure what's coming up in terms of races, first things first for now. Possibly a St. Pat's day rust-buster race or who knows, maybe I will end up on the track later this spring. Although as previously mentioned, on a track everyone else looks like this:

Meanwhile, I more closely resemble this guy here on the left:

So try not to get too excited.


Thanks for reading! Until next time, in recognition of the upcoming Valentine's Day, I will leave you all with this hug-train of koalas:

And a hug-train of cats:

First Blog

Since it's my first blog, I figure it is my responsibility to fill you in on some details about my life.  After college I moved to the Woodlands, Texas, having the opportunity to run with an olympic development group and one of the greatest high school coaches of all time, Danny Green. After being plagued by injury, I had to do something different. 

I decided to move back to Colorado, to be surrounded by optimal weather, altitude, and hundreds of thousands of miles of trails. So I packed up everything I owned (which wasn't much, considering I could fit it in my VW Golf) and traveled across the country. I didn't really know where or what I was doing, but I needed a change and a different outlook on life. I moved to Alamosa for the summer with my girlfriend. Although I hadn't really run for the last 4 months or so in the Woodlands, my life was surrounded by running and it was the reason I was there. It was getting to me... badly. I was depressed!  Moving to Alamosa gave me a physical and mental break from running.  I was living with no direction, no job, but I was happy, surrounded by friends, and getting healthier by the day. 

I met with coach Scott Simmons in July at the Olympic Training Center.  After speaking with him, I knew he was going to help me get back to running again.  His training philosophies were very similar to mine and I loved his optimism.  We were going to start fresh, almost as if I had never taken a step in my life.  Most importantly, he was flexible and was going to work with my injuries with a gradual progression.

So that's what we did. I packed up my bags and moved to Manitou Springs, Colorado. It is the home of Pikes Peak, the Cog Railroad, and Garden of the Gods. Overwhelmed by the beauty, I wake up every morning and remind myself that I'm not on vacation, this is where I live. I live a simple life, in a very simple cottage, nestled snugly on the side of a mountain.... and I love it! 

In august I started running 15-20 minutes every other day and with a gradual progression, my training is almost where it needs to be.  I train with the American Distance Project with runners I only wished I could be like when I first entered college.  My shape progressed faster than I thought it would. I am now doing workouts that I couldn't do even in the best shape of my life and running workouts with Robert Cheseret, Augustus Maiyo, Leonard Korir, and Kyle Heath really gives me confidence for the future.  My weeks are getting bigger and my intensity is increasing.  Here I come 2013!

Currently, I work at Boulder Running Company (who paired with Adidas is my sponsor).  Working at a running store gives me the flexibility to be able to train and travel when I need and my boss does a great job working with my schedule.  It is greatly appreciated. 

Oh yea.... I failed to mention that I also live with 4 of my closest friends. My girlfriend of course, along with Drew Soucy, Scott Kimbell, and Mario Macias.  They are living with Addison and I until they find a place. According to Scott, that will be early February, but he has been saying that for months now :) Anyway, I really don't mind. It keeps things interesting.  I always have a running buddy and there is always something to do.  So.... if you are planning to move to the area you can come stay at Hostel de Birdsong. Ha! 

There is not much more to say. I hope you enjoyed my first blog and I will see you guys soon.

Cheers