Unentertaining Fill-in-the-blanks

Ok, here’s some more fill-in-the-blanks info about me and my running background, to further help you understand where I’m coming from.

My Specs: I’m 6’ 1”, and weigh approximately 167 pounds. A bit taller and heavier than an “ideal” runner’s physique. I shan’t be changing my height, but I do hope to get down under 165—it’s not much of a change, but I’m hoping it will mean that I’ve toned up where I needed to (I’m talking to you, stomach)…and also like the idea of carrying around less weight as the miles drag on.

In high school (in midwestern Ohio), I played soccer instead of running cross country (much to the chagrin of both my father and track coach), thus the longest distances I competitively ran were the 800 and 1600 (not factoring in the very-occasional 5k, for which I didn’t know how or want to train). I credit much of my raw speed to my background in these shorter races, as well as my time on the soccer field. During college and the couple of years directly after, I only dabbled in running—the occasional jog or last-minute sign-up for a 5k, and only recently—the last two years or so—did I begin running with any sort of regularity or purpose. I’m still not entirely sure why—it’s likely a mishmash of “I haven’t done this yet” and “I wonder how fast/far I can push my poor body”—I decided to run 10k and up, but this is when it began. Consequently, I’m still a relative newcomer to distance running, and hope that means I still have a lot of room for growth—faster is better, after all (wink wink). I’ve listed my PR’s during this time span below, and believe this highlights the discrepancy (according to Marathon Guide’s Race Results Predictor--http://www.marathonguide.com/fitnesscalcs/predictcalc.cfm—I “should” be able to run a 2:39:31 marathon when based upon my 5k time, and only a 17:51 5k when it’s based upon my marathon time), between my speed and my stamina, further backing my hope that there is still plenty of room for development.

5k—16:24 (7/4/08)
10k—37:47 (10/25/08)
Half-Marathon—1:23:28 (8/31/08)
Marathon—2:53:40 (1/25/09)

Gear: I am a firm believer in shoe-rotating (not running in the same pair of shoes on consecutive days). Not only does it extend the lifetime of the shoe itself (as it takes more than 24 hours for a midsole to recover its shock-absorption properties), it also reduces my risk of injury because of that factor. I actually rotate between three pairs of shoes, as this allows me to “retire” my oldest pair of shoes while still having two others in the mix. Because of the width of my forefoot (which helps my mother liken my feet to skis), all of my training runs are done in Asics, which offer a spacious toe box and decent amount of support. I currently use the GT-2130 (pictured below), GT-2140 and Gel-Kayano 15 (the latter of which I tend to utilize for my lengthier runs, as it offers a bit more support…though it is slightly heavier as well).



As for clothing, there’s mostly no rhyme or reason to what I wear—it tends to be whatever’s clean(est), though I will confess to most of my gear being Nike, as I must grudgingly admit that they make a pretty good product…especially when you live within an hour of one of their outlet locations. The exception being Balega running socks; even at $10 a pop, they are well worth their proverbial weight in gold. They keep my feet dry, and generally pain and blister free. No matter how fast you could have run, if you can’t run, then it doesn’t much matter.

In Summation: This is a kind of “tweener” post—I haven’t run anything since my last entry, and feel this was brought about more out of necessity than its own merits. But it is what it is, and I’ll try to be more amusing next time. In the meantime, enjoy this picture of me holding a 82-pound king salmon while I grew a beard in Alaska, as well as this picture of my dog in a small hat (both of which constitute what is most likely the most enjoyable part of this entire blurb).