The Olympic marathon trials are being held this Saturday in Houston Texas. This is the race that will decide the 3 Women and 3 Men who will go on to represent the U.S.A. in the Olympic games. Most people I’ve spoken with either don’t know or don’t care about the upcoming race. This is especially interesting because I work for a running shoe company. So how does the biggest race in 4 years go completely unnoticed?

The lack of interest in competitive running is a direct result of the complete failure of the USATF to market the sport in an effective way. Track is hardly televised and when it is, the broadcast is absolutely horrendous. Uninformed announcers, cutting to commercial break at critical moments of a race…it’s pretty much a how to guide on how NOT to run a successful broadcast. Compare a track broadcast to an NFL, NBA or MLB game and you will see what I’m talking about.

Another problem with distance running is that having swagger or any personality is discouraged and in many cases will land you a DQ. Do they think this will make the sport more popular?

Compare this to something people are actually excited about like the NFL playoffs. I live in New England so the big talk this week is about New England quarterback Tom Brady taking on the Denver Broncos rookie QB Tim Tebow. Tebow is constantly mocked in the media for being outspoken about his religious beliefs. This type of discussion keeps people interested in the game, even if they have never played football in their lives. It doesn’t matter whether you agree or disagree with Tebow and his religious beliefs, the point is – it’s this type of controversy that keeps people coming back for me. This is also interesting because the favorite to win the Olympic trials, Ryan Hall, is also mocked for his religious beliefs, only you wouldn’t know it unless you visit a running specific website, and even there you will have to check the message board as the main articles will rarely touch the subject.

Why? Simple. The marketing machine behind running in the U.S. is 100% focused on getting you to participate in a race and 0% focused on getting you to watch a race. I’m not saying this is a bad thing as It encourages people to get active and be participants so that’s good. It would be extremely difficult to charge a spectator fee for a marathon, but it’s easy to charge a participant fee. That’s why all of the marketing efforts go towards getting people to run the race, not watch the race.

It seems to make sense until you realize that marketing the top runners would, in itself encourage more people to run. How many kids pick up a basketball because they want to be like Lebron James? How many kids pick up a football because they want to be like Tom Brady? The marketing folks at the NBA and NFL fully understand that by hyping up the best athletes they will create a tremendous amount of interest in the sport itself. That’s why Tom Brady and Lebron James are swimming in cash, yet Nick Symmonds has to sell ad space on twitter.

Another challenge is the way the seasons are set up, in the sense that in running there really is no professional “season” to speak of. People get attached to the NFL, NBA and MLB because they can follow “their” team and “their” players over the course of a season. The excitement builds, growing stronger in the playoffs and reaches a pinnacle in the championship game or series. In track and road races there are a bunch of random races, some of them have “championship” attached to the name, some have “classic” but nothing really gels together to form a cohesive season. There aren’t even really teams. Sure there are grassroots running clubs that do a great job on the local scene fostering competition. I’m not saying nobody is trying here, just that the main organizations have been a complete failure in generating interest in the sport of running at the elite level. No teams, no interesting characters, no storylines and no trash talk.

Not that there is anything wrong with that. I don’t care that nobody cares about running. This post is not meant to be a rant on why anybody “should” care about running. I just find it fascinating that running is so popular in other parts of the world but not here in the U.S.

I’ve brought this up with people before and most people are under the impression that running is not popular because it’s boring. I don’t think that’s the reason. If broadcast correctly a track meet is incredibly exciting. 5,000 meter on the track going around, cut to pole vaulter trying to clear some gargantuan height, cut to long jumper flying through the air, back to the 5,000m with a lap to go. Definitely more exciting than golf and people watch that. Golf has characters that people either love, or love to hate. That’s what keeps them watching.

 In fact, people watch tons of boring crap on t.v. so I really don’t think that is the reason. I can guarantee that if someone put on a track meet with famous athletes from other sports people would watch and enjoy it. Imagine a few top NFL running backs up against a few NBA guards in a 100 or 200. Sprinkle some track athletes in there and you have tons of trash talking and excitement.

Basically, people will watch whatever has the best marketing, the best storylines, the best charecters, and the most personal meaning for them. This is another reason the NFL, NBA, and MLB have completely obliterated the USATF in the marketing department. I live near Boston so I’m a Celtics, Red Sox, Patriots and Bruins fan. How could I not be a fan of the BOSTON Celtics when I live in Boston? Yet in running we have a bunch of random runners running for random teams that nobody has any personal connection to whatsoever.

This post might seem harsh but consider this: The upcoming Olympic trials race is not being televised. There isn’t even a live internet stream. So even the 1,000 or so people who might actually be interested in watching the race can’t do so unless they travel to the event. It’s hard to build interest in the sport when the biggest race in 4 years isn’t even covered. Oh well, at least the Patriots are playing that day and that broadcast shouldn’t be hard to find. I’m sure any business with a T.V. will have the game playing. And to be clear, I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. I’m saying kudos to the NFL for doing a great job marketing and providing exceptional entertainment value to the fans.

What are your thoughts? Am I missing something? Why has interest in the sport of running declined so rapidly while participation in the activity has increased?

Some thoughts about Gurus, Kripalu Yoga, Chi Running and my recent race recap at the end:

Last week I had a wonderful experience teaching a Chi Running and Kripalu Yoga retreat at the Kripalu center in western MA. The reason I love Kripalu yoga is the same reason I love Chi Running...

Both approaches are a non-dogmatic inquiry based approach led by a community of people seeking to grow their understanding through experiments and experience.

This is very different than traditional yoga and running methods which rely very heavily on gurus telling people what they should and shouldn’t do. People generally recognize yoga as being guru based, but are a bit confused when I tell them running is not much different. Allow me to explain.

Once a distance runner enters high school they can expect most of their runs to be completely planned by a coach. This coach is most likely following the plan of either Arthur Lydiard or Jack Daniels, both of whom are regarded as top running coaches, and rightfully so. You can go on message boards and read the debates on which guru system is better, Daniels or Lydiard. There is very little emphasis on running by feel. Everything is structured. Everything is planned often months or even years in advance. Yet, somehow the runners miss the fact that they are blindly following the guru without much room for personal experimentation.

The huge irony here is that the same community that worships Lydiard and/or Daniels as their guru will criticize Chi Running for being a guru based system when actually the opposite is true. There is a reason the author titled the book “Chi Running” and not “Danny Dreyer’s running method.” It’s because he is trying to remove the guru system and offer the option of a run by feel method.  I’ve met at least 60 Chi Running instructors and all of them encourage personal experimentation, finding what works for the individual, and avoidance of cookie cutter training systems. This is in sharp contrast to the number of track coaches who have told me I *need* to do high mileage, or I *need* to do 400 meter repeats, or I *need* to do this, that and the other thing. Luckily, none of my own track coaches have had this approach, I’ve just had to hear it from other coaches in the community. I even hear it from other runners who have no credentials as a coach and have few, if any results to back up what they are saying.

Chi Running was not the first approach to talk about running by feel, but it has certainly had the largest impact. For many, running by feel is a scary concept.

Wait…you mean I should actually pay attention to the crazy stuff that’s happening in my body when I run? Forget that, just tell me how far and fast to go and I will throw on the headphones and grind my way through it.

The concept of a guru was once a huge subject at the Kripalu center. Kripalu started out as a guru based community, with Swami Kripalu as the guru, Amrit Desai as his main pupil, and a few dozen other students rounding out the close knit community. After Swami Kripalu passed on, Amrit Desai became the main guru. He was loved by the students and revered to the highest degree.

Then a scandal broke where the students found out that Amrit Desai had been having sexual relations with some of the students. It really rattled the Kripalu community pretty hard. So what did the community do? Sweep it under the rug? Find a new guru? Force Amrit to repent for his wicked ways? No. They asked Amrit Desai to leave and then took a long hard look at the community and how best to move forward. What they decided was to eliminate the guru system completely and have a community of yogis that are all viewed equally. The learning seemed to grow exponentially as the community shifted from 1 teacher/30 students to 30 student-teachers. This is why I love Kripalu yoga. Kripalu is one of the first yoga systems to completely do away with having a guru, and shift the focus towards personal experimentation and experience.

This doesn’t mean there aren’t experts and teachers. I’ve had the good fortune of learning from many of the long time Kripalu residents and it is very clear to me that I have a lot I could learn from them. I love learning from experts. I get turned off when a guru starts telling me I *need* X in order for Y to happen.

One of the phrases we use in both the Chi and Kripalu communities is “nobody knows your body better than yourself.” In my teaching I have found that this comes as a bit of a shocker to many. People have seen so many experts (gurus) and have been bombarded with so much technical jargon they think said guru must know their body better than them. It is my belief that you know your body better than anyone else. Chi Running and Kripalu yoga are both approaches that aim to help you gain greater understanding of your body in a format that makes it easy to share your experiences with the group so everyone can learn and grow together.

Recent Race Recap:

Christmas Weekend I was back at BU for another indoor track meet. I started off with the 3K and felt very good. I was in a faster heat this week and had some guys to work with. I ended up running 9:15 which is a 10 second improvement over the previous week. I then attempted to race the mile and this did not go so well.  I was feeling good through 800 meters when someone decided to run right into my legs, trip me up and send me flying into the track. Not cool. I walked off the track shocked at what had just happened. I then walked over to one of the officials and asked if I could run the 800 just to get a second race in for the day. He graciously let me get into a heat of the 800 in which I ran a 2:10. I felt relaxed but definitely had to work a bit to run that speed. Overall it was a good day despite the fall in the mile.

New years eve I was again at BU for the last meet of the series. The 3K felt pretty similar to the previous week and I managed to cover the distance about 4 seconds faster than the week before. I was happy that I at least got faster but was a little surprised I was only 4 seconds faster. I then gave the mile another try and for whatever reason I just didn’t have it. I ran a 4:43 which felt easy, but I thought I could have run faster than that. I’m not sure exactly what went wrong but I think limited sleep due to a busy holiday schedule was the main culprit.

For my next event I’m stepping a bit outside the comfort zone and running a half marathon on an indoor track. I really do not know what to expect from this event and that’s a good thing! I’m entering the race totally open to whatever happens. At the very least it will be a nice opportunity to get in a solid run in a warm, dry climate in the middle of winter. At best it will be a great chance to run a fast time on the controlled setting of an indoor track. The track is about 300 meters, so bigger than a normal indoor track, smaller than an outdoor track. The race is limited to 60 participants, so it shouldn’t be *too* crowded, but I imagine it will be somewhat crowded. Honestly, I don’t know what to expect. Things could get very messy if people start lapping other runners. Luckily the race is chip timed and your name is displayed on a t.v. screen each time you complete a lap. This way, my lap and times are taken care so I don’t even have to calculate how many laps I have left. If the race gets really messy I am not planning on forcing anything and weaving around a bunch of runners to get a fast time. If it stays relatively clean I will attempt to open it up a bit and see how fast my fitness will allow me to cover the 13.1 mile distance.

Mike Mahon is a cross country legend. Mike and I are from the same town, Framingham, MA. Mike recently made a few Christmas carol videos that I wanted to share. Enjoy the videos and thanks to Mike Mahon for all you do for Cross Country!

And if that wasn't enough, here are a few more videos where I ask Mike his all time runners from the Mahon cup, Mike's facebook roster and Mike signing the national anthem.

I had a great run with Matt this morning. Matt brought up an interesting point that really got me thinking. He found it interesting how so many runners and coaches are more than happy to take credit for success but refuse to accept responsibility for failure. The amount of excuses that Matt and I hear from runners on a daily basis is staggering.

When a runner does well you will usually hear them explain how everything they did in training allowed them to run well. You will hear confirmation from the coach that his training plan worked. You will hear congrats from teammates and friends, telling the athlete great job on what they did. Everyone is so happy about what the runner did. The runner feels proud because the training payed off.

When a runner runs poorly or gets injured you will often hear every excuse in the book including people blaming injuries on “bad luck.”

Bad luck? Really?

I would guess at least 90% of running injuries have nothing to do with luck and everything to do with bad training, bad form, wrong shoes, poor mentality, insufficient recovery, poor nutrition and other factors. One of my teammates got hit by a car while she was running on the sidewalk. That’s bad luck. Getting spiked in a race might be bad luck. Getting a stress fracture is not bad luck, it’s bad training.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I have no sympathy for someone who is injured. I feel bad and want to help anytime someone tells me they have a running injury. But I feel even worse when someone tells me they have an injury because of “bad luck” or they “can’t catch a break.” Not only is the person injured, they’re delusional. When they start running again, they will continue doing the same things that got them injured in the first place. When you refuse to accept responsibility for your failures how can you grow?

This is one of the reasons many track athletes have been so resistant to running form. Why work on technique? It’s not poor form that got them injured, it’s just random luck, apparently. When an athlete refuses to acknowledge the reasons for their injuries, correcting the root of the problem will never happen. So we start the cycle of rest, ice, drugs, surgery and then go right back to doing the same stuff that caused the injury in the first place. After all, it wasn’t anything we did wrong that caused the injury, it was completely random. People often run very fast before a major injury, so they think “well my training was working because I ran a PR, then I randomly got injured so when I heal this unlucky injury I will continue training the exact same way that got me the PR."

What makes this even more bizarre is the amount of hate I see people like Ryan Hall getting for expressing his beliefs in god. Ryan Hall gets absolutely blasted on the internet for giving credit to god for his performances. People make fun of him for thinking that god has something to do with his running. NO! It’s hard work they say. It’s his talent. It’s his training. It’s anything BUT god. They make him out to be crazy.

But ask these same runners who are hating on Ryan Hall how they got injured and they will say “I was just unlucky” or “I just caught a tough break.” It seems a bit hypocritical to mock Hall for believing that an invisible, mysterious force (god) was a factor in his running, and then turn around and declare that it was an invisible, mysterious force (luck) that gave them their injury.

I understand that owning up to your errors can be challenging. Admitting a failure is uncomfortable. I can see why people want to blame mysterious, invisible forces for their shin splints. I certainly sympathize with injured athletes who aren’t quite ready to admit defeat. If a runner wants to live in a fantasy world and think that everything good is created by them and everything bad is created by random luck, then great, no problem. That is their choice and I don’t begrudge them for it.

My issue is with the COACHES who promote this type of thinking. You might remember me mentioning a local coach who told me I *needed* to run 100 mile weeks to run under 32 minutes in the 10k (despite my repeating to him that I ran 31:15 on 50-70 mile weeks.)

Well this same coach, (and YES this is a true story) was once going on and on about how he trained a local runner to some very fast times. He spoke at length about the training he gave her and how she ran very fast times specifically because of the training he gave her. He was very clear that it was his training plan that allowed her to run such impressive times. At the time of our conversation the girl was in a wheelchair with stress fractures in both legs. When I made a comment about the stress fractures he said that had NOTHING to do with the training plan he gave her.

It must have been bad luck.

Sadly, this coach will likely never adjust his approach and continue running kids into the ground. This is a huge problem in our sport. Overtraining is right up there with eating disorders as the elephants in the room. If we continue to ignore the problems and write every injury off to bad luck we will never progress.

Today I had the pleasure of competing at the Boston University Mini Meet. B.U. hosts three of these meets per year and they are a great opportunity to get some track races in on a fast track and low key environment. The races are especially cool because it is an all-comers meet, meaning there are kids, masters, high school, college and so on. Only a few events are offered, making the meets quick and efficient. Choosing from a menu of 3,000 meter, 1 mile, 800 meter, 400 meter, 200 meter and a 60 yard dash I decided I would run the 3,000 and 800.

The somewhat tricky thing about track meets are that you have to enter the time you expect to run so the officials can place everyone into heats of the same ability level. Not having run on a track in ages and not racing much recently made my seeding process more of a thought process than it usually is. In college my coach did all that stuff for me, which was great. I sent in my entry early in the week making it even tougher since I would have to not only guess what type of shape I'm in, but also guess how I would feel in five days. After a little bit of thinking I decided I would go with 9:20 for the 3K and 2:15 for the 8. My reasoning for the 3K was that I felt I was in shape to run 9:10 or possibly faster, but wanted to enter on the slower side so I didn't take up a spot in the fast heat to a more deserving runner. Having been to this meet multiple times, I knew that the second heat was where I wanted to be, since the first heat would likely go out a bit fast for me at this time. The 800 presented even more of a challenge since I don't even remember the last time I competed in the half mile event. I figured I should at least be able to manage a 2:15 so I went with that.

Unfortunately for me, there was a mix up with my seed and I was down for a 9:30 and wound up in the third heat, not the second. I realized this before the first heat started, and thought about asking to be switched but decided against it. I figured rather than spend energy trying to get switched at the last minute I would just run in the third heat. Even though it was their mistake that landed me in the third heat, I didn't want to bother the officials. They are doing their best to run an efficient meet and it just wasn't a big enough deal to me at the time.

Before my race I got to watch my teammate Adam Malek run in the first heat of the 3K. Adam has been running great lately and I was excited to see him run. Watching Adam run was truly inspiring and motivating. In college Adam ran for Worcester State, one of my school's rivals. The thing I remember about Adam was that he used to race hard. Adam's favorite sport is actually hockey and he pretty much used to run like a hockey player. And I don't mean one of those finesse players like Gretzky, I mean the big brutes who bash and thrash all over the ice. He had a good deal of success but also had some set backs with injuries. 

Luckily, Adam improved his approach, studied training methods, kept a positive attitude and joined the Sisu Project. As we warmed up we had a great conversation about the role relaxation plays in running. I was so happy to hear and see how far he has come. I knew I was in for something special. Adam's previous best time in the 3K was 8:58 which he ran last week. Today I watched adam cruise to an 8:50 and it almost looked effortless. Today was by far and away the most relaxed I have ever seen Adam run. I have video proof:

Yet another example of someone relaxing more, not trying so hard and running massive PRs.
As the second heat was going around I did a few strides and some jumping to give my strings one final tuning. I didn't have much of a plan for the race and didn't have a clue how I would feel once I attempted to run fast, but it didn't matter. I was just happy to be racing on a track! I love track. Luckily my college coach Jamie Aubuchon was there to run the mile and he helped make sure I didn't let off the throttle. I got a bit of wisdom from Jamie once per lap and that was a huge help. As you can see from the video below, I ran in front the whole time, pretty much solo for the entire race. This is definately not my preferred style as I tend to like to hang back behind guys that are faster than me, but being outside my comfort zone was good for me and I think it helped give me a little confidence boost. Since I was running by myself the whole race I got a chance to focus even more internally than I usually do in a race. Normally I'm focused internally as well as keeping an eye on the runners in front, to the side and behind me. Today the competitors melted away and I was really able to focus on myself.

The coolest thing about this race was that I managed to get my face so relaxed that my eyelids would flicker and shut every time my foot hit the ground. Taking about 180 strides per minute, this makes for a very cool special effect. There were a couple times where I looked around and lost focus, but I quickly gained it back and once I was able to deeply relax again, my eyes would start the flickering. 

I think this was the most relaxed I've ever been in a race. I had felt the eyelid flickering thing on a few training runs before, but getting there in a race was just awesome. I cruised my way in for a 9:25 finish and stepped off the track feeling fresh as a daisy. I think had I been in the second heat I could have run about 9:15. I felt like I had a lot more in me, and had there been some guys around me, I'm confident I could have easily run ten seconds faster. The good news is I will have two more cracks at the 3K on upcoming Saturdays. 

After the 3K I had a couple hours before my next race, the 800. I watched my coach Jamie run a smooth 4:39 mile. Pretty good for a 44 year old father of 2! Unfortunately my camera stopped working seconds before Jamie's race and I could not obtain video footage. This is not surprising as Jamie Aubuchon is more like a myth or legend than an actual person.

After watching Jamie I sat down for a little while, drank some coconut water and ate an energy gel. About 30 minutes before my race I ran around the outside of the track for a little while in my socks and was just springing along feeling great. I was thinking through the 800 and playing out various scenarios in my head, preparing myself for just about anything. After about a mile I decided I would do some walking around the track. This felt really great for my hips and pelvis. I felt loose, relaxed and ready to go.

Once it was showtime I got on my spikes, did a few jumps and set my mind on running fast. There were only about 5 or so other guys in my heat, so it wasn't a crowded race at all. For the first two laps I was a little bit behind the first place runner, and had a good distance on the runners behind me. I tried my best to stay with the runner in front of me, but he ended up pulling away during the third (of 4) laps. Since I haven't run in an 800 in years and was never great at it in the first place, I did not run a very well paced race. I ran the first half in 62 seconds and the second half in 70 seconds, finishing with a 2:12. This was not a well run race by any means but I'm still happy about it. The reason I am happy about it is that I was willing to step outside of my current comfort zone today in order to improve for the future. Another positive was that once again I felt totally relaxed and at peace while racing. The race didn't feel as fast as I thought it would, but then again, I didn't really run that fast. I thought I would be winded heavy afterwards but I felt great after finishing, so that's promising. Since my camera stopped working right before the Legend Of Jamie Aubuchon crushed the mile, my camera crew (the lovely Fawn) had to film the 800 with my phone.

Next week I will return to BU for the second mini meet. I plan to run the 3K and one other event again, but probably something different than the 800. I might go with the mile, but I'm also contemplating doing a 200 just out of curiosity of what I could run in a sprint. Unfortunately, athletes are limited to two events per meet, or else I would just run all of the races. 

Yesterday I posted a blog listing what I consider to be some of the worst running tips still making the rounds. The post was written as a joke intended highlight how ridiculous some of this “expert” advice really is. Today I will briefly revisit each point, this time giving my actual advice.

Tip 1: If the engine is hot enough, anything will burn!

While the above phrase sounds cool is it even true? It might be. But just because your body burns something, does it absorb it? Furthermore, if the trash you are eating is completely void of any nutritional value, does it even matter if it burns? Any coach worth their stopwatch will tell you nutrition matters. While I agree that many diet salesman take things way to far causing stress and confusion, there are plenty of people out there who can help you find a nutritional strategy that works for you.

Tip 2: Any training other than running is a complete waste of time

Just about everyone I’ve seen make a solid effort with core and stability work not only gets hurt less they perform better. Every other sport encourages cross training, why not running. When you get injured and go to physical therapy, they might have you do some stability work, like standing on a balance board. My theory is – why wait until your injured? Start training now so you are BULLETPROOF. The main argument against this that I’ve seen is “in order to get better at running, you need to run.” Yes, that is true. Cross training is done IN ADDITION to running, not as a replacement for it. I would also suggest you take it even further than doing crunches for 2 minutes followed by planks for 2 minutes. Build yourself up to handle TONS of core stability work. More coming on this soon...

Tip 3: To perform your best don’t think about what you are doing

Great athletes are in the moment. Great athletes can focus during clutch time. Great athletes think a great deal about what they are doing. The problem – runners are notorious for being OVER-thinkers. Over thinking will hinder you because you will be more and more removed from your body. Remember, mind body connection is 50/50. Practicing focusing on your regular runs and you will be more focused come race day. Look at the people winning races, most have incredible focus.

Tip 4: Don’t change your form

I’m not sure how this theory came about but it is so ridiculous I can only chalk it up to lazy runners who don’t want to work on their skill, they just want to run. In order to maximize your running potential it’s important to find your optimal stride. This is done by listening to what your body is saying and making the necessary adjustments to your technique. It’s an ongoing and GRADUAL process. As long as you make small tweaks and do it in the spirit of playfulness, you will likely notice benefits.

Tip 5: Wear the right shoes to change your form

Shoes are good. I like shoes. I work for a shoe company. I suggest buying shoes based on comfort, not on what the shoe salesman recommends. You know your body better than anyone else. Dig around online and make sure you listen to both sides of the story on this one. For decades runners have only gotten one side of the story – specifically “the only way to improve your running is to train more and get better shoes” story. Thankfully, leaders in the natural running movement such as Danny Dreyer and his team of Chi Running instructors, along with folks like Dr. Mark Cucuzella are now offering their thoughts on the other side of the story.  Finally, when it comes to shoes, my personal advice is to not even bother looking into the science. It’s not that I think science is bad, I think its great. The problem is that the current science tells us next to NOTHING about the relationship between shoes and injuries. It is a confusing, muddled mess. In my estimation, we are AT LEAST 20 years out from having some solid data to really understand this complicated relationship.

In conclusion – find a shoe that will COMPLIMENT your stride. Don’t rely on the shoe as a magic bullet cure all band-aid. Be very skeptical of anyone telling you not to change your form but to buy a shoe that will change your form.

Tip 6: Never run barefoot

I think the majority of runners can get some very significant benefits from barefoot running. The common knock I see against it is that for competitive runners doing all their mileage barefoot is unreasonable. Well, the good news is once again, IT DOES NOT HAVE TO BE ALL OR NOTHING. Remember – the better the performance, the less things need to change. If you are running well, consider adding some barefoot strides after a run once or twice a week. If you aren’t running well consider slowly building up your barefoot running until you start to get the magic back in your stride. Barefoot running is fun and interesting. You will learn things about your running. Be aware of your surroundings and start out with just a little barefoot running, monitoring how you adapt to it.

Tip 7: Copy what the elite americans do

This one seems to make the most sense at first glance, but is copying an elite runner reasonable for the majority of the rest of us? I see this advice given out all the time on running message boards. “Just run like the elites. Do the same workouts as the athletes." Unfortunately, copying elite runners with no idea how they get to where they are is dangerous. Don’t copy other runners, find your own path.

Tip 8:  If you aren’t hurt you aren’t running enough

If you aren’t hurt, good job! Running should feel GOOD. If you feel good then great! Don’t let anyone convince you that running should hurt. Don’t let anyone convince you that you are under-training because you aren’t hurt. It’s completely possible to train yourself to your potential with NO PAIN. My senior year of college was the best year ever for me running wise. I ran many of the best races of my life that year and I wasn’t hurt, in pain, sore, or sick AT ALL that year. There wasn’t a single day that I felt pain from running. I ran 31:15 for 10K that year and during the race I felt FREE and HAPPY. At the conference meet I ran a 10K in 32:20, a 1500 in 4:10 and a 5K in 16:00 all in the same day, with no pain or soreness. If you train smart, you should never be in pain.   Earlier in my running career I would feel pain during races. Looking back I realized something – the more pain I was in during the race the worse I did. The less pain I was in, the better I did. The “no pain, no gain” attitude is completely bogus.

Tip 9 – If you are hurt you aren’t running enough

Interesting that conventional running wisdom suggests running more for both lack of pain and too much pain. If you are hurt there is a lot you should start looking into such as nutrition, form, imbalances in the body, overall stress level, sleep, other activities etc. The last thing you want to be doing is upping your mileage through an injury. You should REDUCE the mileage if you have an injury.it's amazing I even have to write this here, but unfortunately I still hear and read people telling injured runners they need to run more so they don't get injured.

Tip 10 – 100 miles per week is a magic number that produces magic results

The truth is, there is no magic number. Everybody is different. Some people do well on high mileage, others do well on low mileage. It’s a matter of finding what works for you. I have NEVER run 100 miles in a week and have done pretty well.  My Prs in high school were around 4:48 mile and 16:41 5K cross country (franklin park course) I went on to run 4:05 1500, 15:28 5K (track), 31:15 10K (track) on about 70 miles a week in summer base training and 50 miles a week during the season. Yes, that’s right I was running HALF of the magical 100 mile number and managed to improve a great deal. Basically, I took my high school 5K pr – took a minute off and was able to do it twice in a row. I am sure I’m not the only one who has done well on relatively low mileage. As Matt Germain always says "if it's been done, it can be done."

So there you have it. A brief summary of my response to the worst running tips ever. I will go into more detail on each point in future posts.

What are your thoughts? What is the best and worst running advice you have ever gotten?

In my last post, I exposed why the phrase “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” doesn’t apply to athletes and is possibly the worst bit of advice an athlete could ever receive. In this post I continue with the theme of bad advice, exposing the ten worst running tips ever. Below I will tell you what you want to hear. I will tell you good things about your bad habits. I will help you justify your lack of cross training, junk food eating, and lack of receptivity to anything new. Enjoy!

(Please do not take the below advice seriously. It’s just a joke and is meant to expose some of the lingering dogma that exists in the running community. In a follow up post I will counter each of these tips with real advice. For now, let’s have a little fun)

Tip 1: If the engine is hot enough, anything will burn!

Don’t worry about what you eat. Don’t waste your time trying to eat healthy. As long as you are running enough miles you can eat just about anything. In fact, eating as much junk food as you want is one of the best reasons to run in the first place!

Tip 2: Any training other than running is a complete waste of time

Any time you spend doing core work, stability work, weight training, or yoga is time that you COULD be running. Other than improved strength, range of motion, body awareness, reaction time, focus, balance, agility, speed, endurance and quickness there is NO reason to do anything but RUN. You are a RUNNER, not a weight lifter. Do you think running backs lift weights?

Tip 3: To perform your best don’t think about what you are doing

In order to have a great race, it’s best to put your mind as far away from your body as possible. Running HURTS and you do not want your ability to sense pain anywhere near the battle between you and the road. The longer you can ignore the pain the better you will perform. Pain from running is just like any other problem – ignore it long enough and it will go away. Using an ipod during a race can help distract you from the event. Sure you will be oblivious to the runners around you and a huge nuisance, but that's besides the point.

Tip 4: Don’t change your form

Your running form was hardwired into your body when you were born. You cannot change your technique and attempting to do so will surely land you an injury. The same thing goes for everything else. Trying to improve your skill at anything is only going to make you worse. Do you think master musicians spend hours perfecting their skill at their instrument? NO! They just wail on baby!

Tip 5: Wear the right shoes to change your form

Go to your local running store and have them watch you walk barefoot. If there is any rolling at all of your foot you are going to need to change your form by being properly fitted for a shoe. Correcting your biomechanics with a shoe will keep you running along with no problems.

(side note: I work for a shoe company and think running shoes are good. I’m not anti-shoe by any means, but giving out tip 4 immediately followed by tip 5 is ridiculous and happens way more than you’d like to think)

Tip 6: Never run barefoot

You know those shoes you got that corrected your form? Never take them off. You should be so adapted to shoes that it is painful to stand barefoot. Running barefoot will pretty much cripple you. No elite runners ever run barefoot.

Tip 7: Copy what the elite americans do

No matter what your objective is with running, the best approach is to copy what elite American runners do. Africans are good because of their genetics, Americans are good because of their training. Just because elite runners run for a living, and you just want to run a decent 5K doesn’t mean you should consider a customized or scaled down approach. Just because elite runners plan their whole day/week/life around their workouts and you have a job and kids DOES NOT mean you should be slacking off by only running 50 miles a week. Just because many elites have an extremely high tolerance for volume and intensity does not give you a free pass to be slacking and taking days off. Objective does not matter. Everyone should train exactly like elite runners train, regardless of goals and objectives.

Tip 8:  If you aren’t hurt you aren’t running enough

If you actually feel good and aren’t in any pain this makes it very clear that you aren’t running enough. Remember, running hurts and you should be in pain. A well trained runner is always right on the brink of collapse. To maximize your running experience you should always be right on the cusp of a stress fracture or major illness. If you feel like absolute crap during your taper week, you know you have done a  good job with your training. If you ain’t injured, you ain’t trying!

Tip 9 – If you are hurt you aren’t running enough

Similar to tip 8, if you get an injury it is a clear sign that you aren’t running enough. Injuries happen when the body is not adapted to running. The only way to adapt to running is to run more, so we must conclude that the best way to prevent injuries is to run more.

Tip 10 – 100 miles per week is a magic number that produces magic results

It’s not enough to say just run more, we need to be specific.  Runners need to be told exactly how far and how fast they should be running. While your body will magically figure out the best form for you, it has absolutely no way of telling you how much is too much and how much is not enough. Luckily we have conventional running wisdom that tells us 100 miles per week is the magic number. Why 100? Well for starters 100 is THREE DIGITS instead of a measly two digits. Also, 100 is such a nice round number. Once you hit 100 of anything, you are good to go!

*End Sarcasm*

As sad as it is many people actually buy into the above advice. I see people actually giving out these tips on a regular basis.  I once had a track coach tell me the only way to get better is to run 100 mile weeks. I explained to him that I took over 2 minutes off my 10K time and was only running AT MOST 70 miles a week. Despite clear evidence against his absolutist viewpoint he continued to lecture me that the only way to get better is to run 100 miles a week. The scary thing is this guy coaches youth athletes!

In a follow up post I will revisit each of the above tips and give actual advice, so stay tuned for that.

When reading about running form I often see naysayers using the phrase "if it ain't broke don't fix it." I can somewhat understand hearing this phrase from someone who is just running for fitness, and doesn't want to be bothered by learning the fundamentals of the exercise they are partaking in.

Hearing this phrase come out of the mouth of athletes completely baffles and saddens me. It's even more upsetting when I see supposed mentors encouraging student-athletes to keep repeating the same things over and over while producing the same mediocre results. I understand that tinkering with a successful formula TOO MUCH is not wise, but the notion of not trying to improve at all is completely ridiculous and completely against the spirit of athletic competition.


The formula for success in athletics is pretty simple:
Great performances indicate that very little needs to change
Horrible performances indicate that a lot needs to change


Evaluate how you are doing, decide how you want to be doing, calculate the difference and fill the gaps.

Even if you're doing great, there is room to improve! There is ALWAYS more to learn, more to experience. Add in a few new drills, new exercises, small tweaks to your form and see how much better you can be. Never be fully satisfied until you are done competing. If you consider yourself an athlete, strive for the best.

If you are doing terrible, hate running, can't run without pain, then you may want to consider making some major changes to your routine. 

For track and cross country runners, don't get tricked into running like a robot, especially if you run cross country. If you want to be a great cross country runner, you will need to run with your WHOLE BODY, not just your legs. Run like an ATHLETE not a RUNNER. 

An Athlete acts and reacts from their body. An athlete thinks about form. An athlete has an understanding of the basic fundamentals of their sport because they were taught the fundamentals, probably at a young age.

Not runners. Runners just run. Runners act from their heads. They run by 100% thought/0% feel. Don't believe me? Go to any track meet and undoubtedly you will hear multiple people yelling various split times, and advising the runners to speed up or slow down based on their average pace. In this case the runner is not even running from their own head, they are running from their coaches head.

Could this be why a random soccer player decides to come out for track every year and ends up being faster than the majority of the cross country team? The soccer player runs like an athlete. Runners...we just run. 

What makes an athlete great? Lots of things. But one thing they ALL have is a superior mind-body connection. Runners appear to be one of the few sets of athletes that purposely try to sabotage their mind-body connection by running themselves into the ground. 

I think we've hung onto the insanity from the running boom but lost the essence. We forget that the good old boys from back in the day were having a blast as they crushed 160 mile weeks, week after week. It was FUN. Now all we care about is getting in the mileage. Actually, we prefer it NOT to be fun because we think if we hate it we will somehow get better results? No one has yet been able to explain to me how practicing suffering produces happiness. It seems to produce more suffering to me.

That's why I choose to practice happy. 

In my world, having fun is what its all about. Not only because it's more fun, it also produces better results! Having fun is how you learn and get good at something in the first place. 

Working on your running form is FUN if you have the right approach and right guidance. 

And remember, just because something "ain't broke" doesn't mean it can't be improved.

Stride to be your best.