Run to Win

This week last year, I got married. Despite that, the website was pretty busy even after I started to ignore it. The end of this week last year and a good portion of the next week were devoted towards a series that I wrote ahead of time about shoes: how to choose them, and how to maintain them so that they last as long as possible.

• WCSH6 offered finish line videos of the entire Beach to Beacon in 5 minute increments: very cool!
• I explained the difference between RICE and RID and why either method is a good way to treat your injuries. Not that the two methods are all that dissimilar…
• Over in the UK, cross country running was declared a brand of abuse and was equated with bullying. It seems a little ridiculous to myself.
• The first half of my Shoe Maintenance Series went live while I was busy getting ready to be married. I introduced the series, and then offered up a central theme in the tips which is to keep your shoes dry when you are not wearing them. How you keep them dry is important, as well, which is why I continued on the second day by explaining how effective pulling out insoles can be and why you should remove rocks and mud after your run. The next day was the wedding itself, and then on Sunday there was one tip where I explained what to do if your shoes are sopping wet.
• For those following all of the doping scandals and couldn’t keep them straight, I offered up the difference between Lance Armstrong and Floyd Landis. The jury is still out on Floyd Landis.
• I began offering this website in 8 new languages after installing Translation Gold.
• Two years ago, at the world championships in Helsinki, Kenenisa Bekele won the 10,000m, Bershawn Jackson won the 400m hurdles, and the United States took the top 4 in the 200 meters final. This year’s world championships will be in Osaka, Japan starting on August 25^th. I also reviewed my casio wristwatch and the book, Run Fast: How to beat your best time every time.

When I was running high mileage in college (high mileage being defined as 85-105 miles per week in season, or 95-120 miles per week in pre-season) there were very often minor aches and pains associated with the high mileage. Often times, there were not so minor aches and pains as well. I can not think of anybody that was even slightly successful in the program that was not hurt at one point or another. Not everybody was able to handle the high mileage the same way. For myself, I managed to work really well in that system for about 2 years before I broke down with a stress fracture in my left leg and tendonitis in my right knee.

On the team, we had a way to deal with injuries. The process that we preferred was to get “RID” of injuries, where RID stood for Rest, Ice, and Drugs. For most of us, we skipped the rest and went straight to the ice. Others skipped the rest and the ice and went straight to the drugs; they have the ulcers now to prove it. Another popular acronym in running communities is the “RICE” method: Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation. I will expand upon each element below.
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