A Passion for Running

That title definitely will have come across wrong but I had to get your attention right?

I did not pull my groin swimming. However, Thursday night I lifted Christopher and while doing so, turned a bit funny and BLAMMO – something weird happened in my inner thigh. OUCH! Talk about pain. I definitely pulled something in the groin area.

Am I getting old? Garsh, nothing like that has ever happened to me before?

The good news is that the pull doesn’t bother me doing any kind of activity – it just hurts like an SOB when I bend at more than a 45 degree angle at the waist. Weird huh?

Swimming rocked on Saturday. I did 1000 meters for the second week in a row and got stronger at it too! My goals for the next several weeks are to eventually eliminate breaks between the 20 laps and improve swimming time for those 1000 meters. This Saturday, I didn’t take any breaks for the first two laps and then took only a 10 second break between the other laps.

The result was a four minute improvement over last week’s 43 minute “record”. This week I got the job done in 39. The “anticipated time” I wrote down on my triathlon registration for finishing the swim was 35 minutes so I’m feeling pretty good about things!

How was your weekend? Did you pull anything in your groin? How about someone else’s?

I know I know – that was a BAD one.

Our favorite Running Chick has been published in an article in Runners World Online! (you have to scroll down the page a bit)

Thanks Dianna!

So, when does the money start rolling in for all of us?

Went out for 40 minutes today. This time, I focussed on running lightly on the balls of my feet. You see, I tend to be a heal-striker and that is not so good for the ol’ feet and shins.

I figure since I can’t do a lot of mileage right now, I am just going to focus on being light on my feet and improving my form. This, in preparation for my upcoming barefoot running adventure which I will start soon in the spring.

While I’m talking about barefoot running, I thought I’d mention I found a yahoo discussion group on the subject. It is a really buzzing group! I’m going to school on this folks!

Is it scary, funny or am I just all powerful to be able to create a word one week and be ranked #1 in the world for that word by google the next?

Getting google’s attention wasn’t my intention but it sure is awesome how effective it can be huh?

Is there a word for doing this kind of thing? Google-ising or something?

You gotta try this! Some words I put in: Marathon, running, and Einstein. Very cool!

Today, I know the true meaning of that famous FDR quote because today was a real milestone for me. A milestone in both the physical and spiritual sense.

Today, I swam 1000 meters. One whole kilometer.

I’m blowing my horn because this really is a big deal for me. Why? Because for years I’ve been afraid of the water and during my 37 years on this planet, never thought I’d swim anywhere near 1000 meters.

Not only did I swim that kilometer but I did it without being afraid. Not even the least bit afraid.

After our swim, Aaron talked about swimming at Hubble Lake – a very small but very deep lake located west of Edmonton that sees a lot of triathlon action.

You know what? I can see myself swimming across that lake this summer. How cool is that?

We have nothing to fear but fear itself. You can swim a kilometer. You can run 5k or a marathon. You can do whatever you set your mind to but in order to do those things you first have to do another thing…

…you have to start

Some of you have heard me talk about trying barefoot running. Well, I’ve been doing a lot of reading on the subject and am bound and determined (and excited!) to make it a part of my life.

Here are a few terrific links on the subject:

Barefoot Running is a terrific site maintained by a barefoot runner who looks a lot like Forest Gump (when he was running and had grown a beard)!

Here’s an article on barefoot running from Sportscience.org

Here is a really terrific on-line book written on the subject of barefoot hiking. This fella hikes barefoot in all kinds of terrain!

Lastly, here is a website discussing barefootedness from a more global perspective. That is, not just within the context of running or hiking. It might make you parents think twice before making your kids wear shoes all the time!

In doing the reading, I looked for arguments against barefoot running and you know what? They are pretty hard to find. As Ken Saxton (the Forest Gump lookalike) says, all the big money is on making people dependant on shoes, orthodics and foot doctors. On his website, he says $26 billion per year is being spent by Americans on shoes and another $28 billion/year is being spent on foot ailments. Conversely, there is next to no $$ going toward supporting barefoot running.

Interesting huh? I’m curious to hear your thoughts on this!

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after the fact edit: here’s an article involving Nike that I found interesting! Here’s Nike’s website for the product. Not exactly the same as barefoot running but it sure seems like a near admission of the problems inherent with running shoes.

I’m a bad boy. I often don’t bring my lunches from home so a) I don’t always eat very healthy and b) I spend too darn much cashola on my lunches.

But I have a heckuva time thinking of good things to eat.

Here are my requirements:

-should be fast and easy to prepare.
-healthy would be nice but you don’t have to be a puritan about it
-I can’t afford caviar every day.
-I have access to a fridge and microwave at work so stuff can be stored and then heated up.
-I like variety. Meaning, not a lot of food turns me off. In other words, I am on a “see food” diet.

Got any ideas?

Nope. Nadda. No squilching today…a little sploshing though. And some skating (swooshing?). Gotta love it when there’s ice on the running path.

I had a great albeit slippery run in the sun with my co-worker running buddy Nick. Nick’s been battling injuries for about the last two years so, now with my ankle thing we make a good team!

Anyway, ’twas a lovely run. Fourty minutes of perfection and we managed to figure out every single problem facing public health care in Alberta while we were at it. We are pretty clever fellas don’t ya know.

Now, if only someone would listen.

Bet you never thought you’d see this huh? (I found it by following a comment left on Marisa’s blog)