Run to Win

There’s one thing that I keep getting asked over and over again for the past 2 years:

“Do you offer private coaching?”

Until now, the answer has always been, “I will, but not at the moment.”

For those local to Southern Maine, I help out with the coaching at Maine Running Company for those that don’t mind being in a group, but other than a couple of close friends I haven’t offered private 1 on 1 attention up to this point.

Well, this week I’ve finally gotten the biggest hassle out of the way (insurance) and will be offering a program at the beginning of November.

Now, this opportunity is only going to be open to a small number of people. I’ll have some more details and a video available for you on Monday (November 2nd) that should answer any questions that you have.

If you are interested in private coaching, then enter your name and email address to sign up for the early bird notification list:

Once you click on the submit button above you’ll receive a confirmation email. Click the link in the confirmation email, and you will be notified first when the coaching program opens!

In the meantime, run safe and stay healthy!

Regards,
– Blaine

P.S. If you have any specific questions about what you’d want in a private coach, just leave a comment below and let me know and I’ll try to address your question on Monday.

The following article was written by Mary Gorski to the UltraList. Somebody was asking what gains can be made from barefooting on the treadmill, and how this can be translated into better performance on the roads or trails. Here is Mary’s response (reprinted with permission):

I’m just commenting from personal experience — I have no expertise in physiology. I started shoeless (I keep my socks on) running on the treadmill two years ago. For years I have had off and on frustrations with my lower left leg — a snowball of issues related to repeated ankle sprains.

Two years ago on a snowy winter day I was doing a run on the treadmill at the Y. About a mile into it my achilles started to act up. I got irritated since I had been doing all the things that I thought that I was supposed to do keep that cranky lower leg happy, including the use of expensive prescription orthotics and proprioceptive exercises. I thought that I was prudent in my mileage.

When the achilles whined I thought of either moving to the eliptical or the bike. But then I remembered some casual discussions about barefoot running.

Advocates promoted it as a way to strengthen your lower legs and feet. Thinking I had nothing to lose and knowing that I could stop at any moment while on the treadmill, I took off my shoes and tentatively gave it a try. It seemed so counter-intuitive but surprisingly, my feet felt great. Everything felt fine. My achilles was fine.

That first day I only did a very slow mile. I then put my shoes back on and ran again. After a mile barefoot, the shoes felt like little stiff tanks on my feet.

I added a shoeless running session one to two days a week, doing it on the treadmill because it was cold outside. I built up my shoeless mileage very slowly.

I have no empirical evidence, but my feet and lower legs felt stronger after a few weeks. Wear patterns on my shoes now indicate that I have more of a forefoot touch than a total heel smash as I did before. I slowly stopped using my prescription orthotics and have not touched them in probably a year. I moved to less structured over the counter orthotics but now rarely use those.

My taste in shoes has changed. I used to look for a lot of structure and control, thinking it best for my pancake flat feet, and now I am most comfortable in lightweight, less structured shoes.

My ankle is still as loose as a wet noodle (after months of accident-free running I tripped on an easy ski trail last week and did a minor sprain) but I seem to twist it less often than before. I feel more confident in my foot plant with the less structured shoes and without orthotics. I generally don’t have the shin, calf and achilles hassles that I used to.

Coincidence? Perhaps. My lower leg concerns may have finally begun to heal on their own. But I attribute much of my success to the shoeless running. I think of it as a strength workout. I don’t do much shoeless running, but do it frequently enough to maintain the lower leg strength that I believe it developed.

So, that’s why I run shoeless on a treadmill.

– Mary Gorski

Have any barefoot treadmill running experiences of your own? Did you get the same results as Mary? Leave a comment below and let me know what you think.

Runners are presented with a unique challenge during hunting season that they rarely have to worry about for the rest of the year. Usually, we do not really have to worry about getting shot while we are out getting our run in, but in many areas of the country that could be a real possibility right now or in the near future.

Here in Maine, Youth Deer Day is this Saturday, with the normal hunting season beginning on Halloween. For most of the month of November, running on the trails isn’t quite as safe as it normally is.

Here are a few things to bear in mind when you are hitting the roads or the trails that will help to keep you safe: (Click here to continue reading…)

Aussie Ruth Frith recently won quite a few gold medals and set a new world record in the shot put at the World Masters Championships this past weekend. Her throw was 4.07 meters (13 feet 4 inches.) Ruth turned 100 years old earlier this year, and hopes to compete in the next World Masters championship in 2013. She began competing at the tender age of 74.

Here’s a video with her world record toss:

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(More Info: Back Porch Fan House – Hat Tip: Pete Magill)

On our recent trip to Greece, I got some more ammunition against my wife’s dislike of eggplant as she not only enjoyed eating the Imam but even ordered it for herself after trying mine earlier in the trip.

Of course, that just meant we had to try to recreate the dish at home. (I will state, by the way, that despite her always saying how much she dislikes eggplant, she always enjoys the dishes I make with it, so I think the statement is unfounded.)

Imam was originally a Turkish dish that was adopted by the Greeks. The full name is actually Ιμάμ Μπαϊλντί (Imam Baildi or Imam Bayildi), and there are a few stories about a fainting priest that gives it its name. Some say he fainted when he saw how much olive oil was used, and others claim he fainted at the wonderful taste.

Either way, our Imam didn’t taste like what we had in Greece. It tasted very good, and I’ll make it again, but wasn’t exactly the same thing. I cooked it the same way I always try something new…we found a few recipes online, I read them over, and then I went and tried what I could to see what would come out based on the general trends in the different recipes.

Here is how I prepared it:

Ingredients

• 2 Eggplants
• 2 Tomatoes
• 3 Cloves of Garlin
• 1 Onion
• A little Salt
• A fair bit of Oregano & Thyme
• More Olive Oil than anybody should consume in one sitting

Procedure

1. Chop the stems off of the eggplants, cut in half lengthwise, and slice a flat spot onto the rounded (skin) side of each half. Slit the eggplant lengthwise without breaking the skin on the bottom. Sprinkle the flesh side of the eggplant in salt and put them aside in a colander to let the juices drain out a bit.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees (approximately – I put ours at 400 which is probably about 350 in other ovens.) Chop the garlic, tomatoes and onion. Preheat some olive oil in a skillet.
3. After the eggplants have been sitting aside for 15-20 minutes (longer if you plan ahead, 30 minutes is how long I usually leave the eggplant to drain but I was hungry tonight) put them in the skillet flesh side down until they are a golden brown, which should take 4 or 5 minutes. Put them aside on a paper towel to drain.
4. Put some more olive oil in the skillet, and add the onions, then the garlic, then the tomatoes. Don’t let them burn, stir regularly, and mix in the seasonings. Stir regularly but otherwise keep it covered. Get a baking dish prepared and cover the bottom with water – our 9×13 dish needed 1/3 to 1/2 of a cup.
5. Put the eggplant in the baking dish skin side down, add a little more olive oil, and then coat with the tomato/garlic sauce. Cover and bake for 45 or 50 minutes.

I just got home this week from a vacation in Greece, and it was a really good time.

I got to run barefoot in the stadium at Ancient Olympia, did a lot of hiking through Athens to visit all the ruins, and relaxed for the last few days at the beach on the island of Sifnos. No running, but I still managed to get quite a lot of walking in and my foot seems completely healed. Since then, I’ve run for the past 5 days straight with no problems.

So I got home late on Sunday evening, and had a few voicemails waiting for me from one of my best friends, John Tomac.

I ran with John in college and we’ve remained good friends since. In 2006, I paced him through his first marathon. That’s us to the right around mile 8 on route to his 2:55 finish.

John’s an ever positive individual, a great runner, and a talented illustrator (he designed my logo, as well as the cover for the first version of my book on marathoning.) He’s also in need of some help.
(Click here to continue reading…)

A friend of mine sent me the following email about an upcoming race in Portland, so if you are looking for a relatively flat 5k where you can run a fast time and peek out over the Western Promenade, this is the one:

The second annual Reiche International 5K road race – celebrating the more than 30 nationalities that attend the Howard C. Reiche Community School in Portland’s West End – will start at the school on Sunday, Oct 18th at 9:30. There are slots available for both racers and volunteers.

Last year’s race, won by top male and female competitors Scott Gorneau, 37 of South Portland (15:56), and Lauren Fecteau, 17 of Portland (17:55), drew more than 160 runners. That was an impressive roster for a first-year race, and this year, the race is on track to reach a goal of 250 runners.

This community event celebrates Maine’s most ethnically diverse school and its amazing student body that, at last count, came from 32 different nations.

The race starts at Reiche Elementary Schoot at 166 Brackett Street on Portland’s West End. The well-marked single-loop course begins on Brackett Street and continues through the streets of the West End including Chadwick, Neal, Pine and Spring Streets. It includes one climb — behind the Western Prom Cemetery. Otherwise it’s fast and flat.

In honor of the upcoming Halloween holiday, participants are invited to wear a costume (by no means mandatory). Walkers are welcome as well.

Games, music and a giant yard sale are planned as part of the post-race festivities. The race is being organized by the Reiche PTO, and proceeds will fund Adventures Thursdays—a program to boost student physical activity through use of the Reiche pool or the outdoors.

If you are interested in running or volunteering, you can get all of the details at the race website: www.ReicheInternational.com