My sister Kirsten (blue) and her friend Liz just got back from an extended weekend in New York City. Of course when she first told me of her trip, my first reaction was “you have to run in Central Park“. I was very excited for them to hear that it was already on their itinerary.

This got me thinking…what other places would you like to go, just to run in a historic or memorable spot?

Would it be Central Park or the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge? How about historic Hopkinton, Hayward Field, London, Berlin or even the Comrades in South Africa? Share your thoughts on your “Dream Running Hotspot.”

Titus 2:7
And you yourself must be an example to them by doing good works of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching.

My run this past Saturday (well pretty much all my long runs are on this road) was on a long stretch that leads out to Red Rock Canyon. This stretch of road is well traveled by cyclists and a few runners lured by the incredible scenery and the long inclines for training. There’s a lot of of strange things you’ll see dumped on the side of the road (makes you wonder if anybody remembers the old PSA commercial on pollution).

On this particular morning, I happened upon a rubber glove on one of the road markers greeting every person that passed by. At first, I took notice and kept on going since I was almost to my turn around point. On the way back, there it was again, greeting me for the second time in all it’s unglory. Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve been known to forget to raise my other fingers on occasion but never this publicly. I kept running downhill for another 100 feet before I crossed back over the road. I couldn’t let that glove stay there in it’s current state. Without having a means to transport the glove to a trash can in the middle of the desert, I decided to change its greeting.

The title of this post has nothing to do with your stride, frame or running style but with the way we should lead our lives. In Roger D. Joslin’s book “Running the Spiritual Path,” he talks about the “Mother Teresa Run.” As you run, offering blessings to everyone you meet whether they acknowledge you or not. It can be as simple as a smile or a wave or a prayer to God to see them safely on their journey. That’s what I was trying to do on my run, take something negative and turn it into something positive.

Grace is something that was gifted to us when Jesus died for our sins. As a follower of Christ, it is my responsibility and honor to lead by His example. Enjoy your run, be one with nature and love one another as He loves us.

The Disneyland 1/2 Marathon course has been released. I would say FINALLY but I haven’t checked in a long time and to their credit, it may have been posted for quite awhile. As a fan of all things sports, I’ve been eagerly awaiting the course route. I’ll explain…

In 2007, the first year I ran this 1/2 Marathon, the course wound around the Honda Center, along the Santa Ana Trail and then looped thru Angel Stadium. We entered thru an entrance in the outfield and ran down the first base line, rounded home base and then exited down the third base line. It was a total “geek out” moment for me as I’d never been to Angel Stadium. They had a camera on the runners and up on the huge video monitor. To add to the coolness of this moment, they had an announcer behind home plate who would call out peoples names based on their bib numbers.

Last year, the Los Angeles Angels were in town and that meant no running thru the stadium. Talk about a letdown!!! Disney then replaced our baseball running experience by routing us underneath the “the Big A”. Ummmm, no, not the same thing!!!

This year the Angels are again on the road. Rejoice runners!!! We now get to run thru the “Big A” AND make our victory lap thru the stadium. Let’s just hope that this trip down memory lane doesn’t include the weather from 2007 where the race was almost black flagged due to the heat and humidity.

Click here to view a larger map.

Now that I’ve taken up running as a lifestyle, I feel it’s my duty to encourage as many people as I can to do the same. I’ve encouraged a couple of people into full time runners but I now my biggest fans are joining my team. My boyz and I started training for the Disneyland 5K (the day before the Disneyland 1/2 Marathon) this week and we couldn’t be having more fun!!!

I’ve read different sites that frown on excessive training for kids so we’re taking it easy. We’re starting out training a couple of times a week with slight increases in time and distance. This week we plan on doing a little over a mile and we’ll build gradually for six weeks. I’ll see how our training goes and I’ll post our training regime if it proves successful.

I’ve already promised both of them that they can post on how they’re doing in their training and I will let them do the review of the 5K after we run. Why should adults get to be the only ones promoting running? Keep an eye out in a couple of weeks to check out how they’re doing.

So, I did it.

Scared stiff by my latest physical, I took a leap of faith and joined my wife down the Vegetarian Road. To be honest, it hasn’t been a huge lifestyle change. I wasn’t eating mass quantities of meat in the first place – unless you count fast food burgers and pizza by the box!!!

The biggest change has come in the grocery aisles. I no longer grab food that just looks good or fills and urge I might have at that moment. No, now every shelf item is scrutinized by it’s nutrition facts label. Low fat, low sodium and low cholesterol. I’m starting to grow fond of tofu and rice cakes and have a LONG way from the first time I tried them.

I think it’s going to stick. If my energy levels stay high, the scale keeps getting lower and I can assist my chances of spoiling my grand children in the future – it shouldn’t be an issue. Thank goodness Bonnie’s Country Classic Barbecue Sauce is on the “approved” list.

I just finished reading John Brant’s book “Duel in the Sun” and if you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend it. Being fairly new to running, I didn’t know much about Alberto Salazar or Dick Beardsley except for the fact that I knew who they were…or so I thought.

The thing that most caught my attention in this book was not what you would think. Yes, the narrative of the 1982 Boston Marathon was gripping. Yes, Dick Beardsley’s addiction and recovery is an inspirational story everyone must know and learn from. Yes, Alberto Salazar’s health problems and inability to recover from the aforementioned battle evoke sympathy and praise. The thing that really touched and inspired me was reading about Alberto’s faith.

Without ruining a great read, when Alberto Salazar was at his lowest battling depression and his health, he turned to God. It was nothing that happened right away. He didn’t pray one day on a long run and BAM he was cured. In fact, when he rededicated his life to God to the time he finally found a cure for his ailment was nearly 3 years later.

“I believe that God guided me to keep the faith through all the years because the answer – in my case, Prozac – would be coming,” Salazar said. All those years unable to run and he never gave up faith.

We sometimes get inpatient when our prayers go unanswered. We sometimes question our faith and wonder if God is even listening. Remember that we’re His children and he loves us. There’s a plan for each and every one of us and when it’s time, He’ll lead us where He wants us to go.

“Run toward God and know that far in the distance God is running toward you.”
- Roger D. Joslin

You ever have one of those luxury items that you think you can’t live without but it’s priced high enough that you can never pull the trigger? I’ve been drooling and fantasizing about getting a Garmin watch for years – three to be exact. After visiting my first Expo at the Las Vegas Marathon in 1996, I sat thru a 15 minute demonstration followed by a 15 minute Q&A with one of the Garmin representatives. I was hooked from the minute I saw my reflection staring back at me thru the water resistant watch face.

Fast forward three years and I finally have my Garmin Forerunner 205 (thanks mom and dad). How DID I live without this modern miracle of the 21st century? I’m a statistics guy and I’ve found every way possible to analyze my runs (during my run and after). Has it improved my running? form? pace? endurance? Maybe.

When it comes down to it, I don’t care. I love to know that my last run had an ascent/descent of 688 ft. I love to see how high I can get my max speed and how long I was able to hold an 8:30 pace. The GPS watch isn’t the end-all-be-all…but to me, it’s close.

So, you started running to get healthy. Dropped a few pounds, lowered your heart rate and you don’t lose your breath coming up the stairs anymore. Feels good doesn’t it! If you continue to run and cross train, you’re in the clear right? WRONG!

I’ve fallen into this trap. Didn’t even think about. The first year I started running, I lost 65 pounds and felt on top of the world. I was able to get myself off anxiety medication and my heart rate and blood pressure were things of legend among local nurses (I actually had a nurse take my pulse three times because she couldn’t believe it was so low). I was the definition of health – I run. Of course, there was that one thing I didn’t do…

Blood work. Who likes to fast and then go get 2 liters of blood taken out of their arm? I certainly didn’t. I could always find an excuse not to go do it too. Work, sleep, kids, it’s a long run day, it didn’t matter what the excuse was, I would find a way out – I run. This year was a different story. First, my wife can be very persuasive and secondly, my doctor ripped me a new one for skipping my previous tests. After receiving a letter from my doctor to come get my results, I humbly returned with my head between my knees – I knew this was going to get ugly. There had to be something wrong but why – I run.

My family has a history of high cholesterol. I knew it but rejected the notion because I’m a runner – I run. I watch what I eat, I don’t eat a lot and that’s a bunch of bull. While I had fooled my brain to believe these things (and others) I like many others is prone to snacking and eating when I feel like it because – I run. It all accumulated into a giant ball of shame and fright last Friday when I was told my cholesterol levels were dangerously high. It can’t be – I run.

I am writing to you today to ask you, no beg you to go get yearly physicals. Don’t skip your blood work and follow through with your results. If I continued down my same path, there’s a good chance one of my “long runs” could have been longer than I (or my family) had EVER planned.

Don’t be fooled like I was. Just because you run doesn’t give you a free pass on the healthy train. It sure doesn’t hurt but it’s not the only thing. I’m back on track and hope to be running for a very, very long time.

I run.

I was contacted by the Fresh Air Fund to pass on some information to ORB readers. If you are searching for another race this year, check this out. Registration is now closed for the NYC Half Marathon and this could be your opportunity to still gain entry AND run for a good cause.

The Fresh Air Fund is looking for runners and sponsors to join their Fresh Air Fund-Racers Team for the NYC Half-Marathon on August 16th. This is a great way to participate in NYC’s premier summer road race while helping Fresh Air Fund children.

Last summer’s NYC Half-Marathon was a huge success and the Fresh Air Fund-Racers raised more than $125,000. They are also still in need of Friendly Town Hosts for next month. Host families open their hearts and homes to a NYC child who would not otherwise have the opportunity to escape the hot, crowded city streets.

To register with the Fresh Air Fund-Racers Team, CLICK HERE. If you have additional questions or are interested in becoming a sponsor, please contact Kate at runners@freshair.org or call (800) 367-0003 ext. 8890.

Recently we have been receiving numerous requests. Kudos to those of you who, through our web links, have found our emails. Nobody should have to do that much research to get in contact with us so we’ve made it a little easier. Please note there is now a “Contact Us” page on the navigation. That’s your direct contact with the Lobes of ORB. If you have things you’d like us to touch on, races/organizations to promote or products you’d like reviewed, contact us and we’d be happy to look into them.