Christmas is right around the corner and if you’re like me, you’re nowhere near ready. A fact that I’m fully becoming aware of is that the older I get…the faster time seems to fly by. So in the spirit of the holiday season, we’re giving away a FREE large ORB running shirt. We’ll pick a winner by random Christmas Day and you’ll have the shirt before the new year. Make sure to include your email when you login to comment.

Simply comment on this post and let us know what running gift you would most like to see under the tree (or in your inbox) December 25.

To help start things off, I’ll start:

1) I want to run the Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon with my 11-year old son in 2012.
2) Entry into the 2012 Disneyland Half Marathon (registration open January 18)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM ORB!!!

In my mind, the thought of turning 40 didn’t bother me. Besides a few more creaks and groans in the morning, I don’t feel older so why should it bother me? Well I’ve been reflecting this week while I recover from my ankle injury and have come to one conclusion, I’m consumed about turning 40!!! I still have 9 months until the fateful day but realized that I’ve actually been preparing for the date for several years.

In the last ten years I’ve always had some facial hair. For the most part of the decade the goatee was the style of choice. After taking my daughter to attend school in Scotland in 2008, I didn’t shave the entire trip and have been sporting a beard ever since. Here begins the preparation.

Growing up, my dad had a mustache. I don’t know if it was just that mustache’s in the 80′s look different from today but looking at it now, it looked very “porno-ish.” I digress. The point is, when he shaved it, he looked at least 10 years younger. So that became my plan on the flight back from the British Isles. Keep the beard until I turn 40, shave it and look like I’m 30 again. Will it work? I have no idea but that’s all I’ve got so I’m sticking with it.

Now to my latest project. After watching “The Franchise” on HBO about the San Francisco Giants, I was transfixed by relief pitcher Brian Wilson. The dude is a character and noted as much for his talent on the field as his gnarly beard. I am in no way as colorful or brash as Mr. Wilson but I do dig the beard.

From now until June 21, I’m not going to shave my beard (or at least try not to). With the blessing from my wife, kids and boss, I’m the only thing standing in the way of this project. I do reserve the right to color some of the gray that’s found my face but thought this would be a fun way to end my youth.

After shaving on my birthday I hope to be running on 30-year old legs and enjoying the advantages of being on the younger side of my age group once again. As the clock ticks down, I’ll post photos of my progress to the ORB Facebook page.

RMFR

Since I transformed my lifestyle 6 years ago, it’s been my goal to try and inspire others to get rid of their sedentary ways and get active. I personally saw what it did for my health and well-being and wanted to share that with as many other as I could. While I was less successful than I had hoped, I’ve taken satisfaction in the few people who joined our ranks. It’s also fun to watch as they have in turn inspired others to take up running as well.

With that being said, I pose a challenge to all runners. To combat the challenges our country faces with childhood obesity, it’s time to ingrain in our kids our healthy, active way of living. If you have kids, you’re already having an impact and you don’t even know it. Kids are extremely receptive and just seeing you head out on your training runs or supporting you at races already is making a huge impact.

Now it’s time to take it to the next level…let’s get them out there with us!!! It’s going to take a little sacrifice on our parts. You’ll need to change up your training schedule to get some short runs in with your kids but it’s going to be well worth it. I have so much fun running with my boys. You’ll share more with each other on the roads and watching them achieve goals you’ve set is rewarding for not only them but for you as well.

This weekend’s Running with the Devil 5K will mark the first timed 5K my kids will run. I’m hoping that the competitive juices will flow thru their veins and they will experience the same joy and rush we adults get out of races. This is where the foundation will be laid for what I hope will be a long, rewarding lifetime of fitness.

While I’ve had to change my own running goals, I can’t imagine a better reason to change course…can you?

RMFR

Other than a select few elite athletes, the rest of us have to learn how to juggle running with our family, jobs and life’s other obstacles. Life can just get in the way sometimes and it’s up to you to put the train back on the tracks. I’m currently in one of those spots in my life. 60 hour work weeks, wife’s new work schedule, my family obligations and a recent injury have derailed my running routine – and it’s tough to get back. Here’s a couple of things I’ve set in motion to get back in motion:

Family
This one is number one and always should be. No matter what, family comes first. It’s easier to reschedule a run than to miss a once in a lifetime moment with your kids or hanging out with your spouse. If you’re one of the lucky ones and can run with your spouse and children you’ve got this one covered. Kids grow quickly and you can’t get those days back – move that run and cherish the moments with your loved ones.

Work
This is the hardest one to overcome. Putting in long hours make that 5:00 am or evening run difficult to mark off your training schedule. I’ve missed countless runs because of this and has been the biggest derailment issue in my life. The best thing I’ve found to combat crazy work schedules is to power through it. Ditch your scheduled run days and get your runs in on the least crazy days. You have to be flexible (with your schedule) and requires some quick planning to not conflict with other things in your life – but it can be done. If you have the weekends off, try running both days. They don’t have to be hard or long efforts but you’ll be able to take advantage of your time to fill up your miles.

Injury
If I’ve learned it once, I’ve learned it countless times – you need to take time off to heal…PERIOD! If you don’t heal your injuries or going to either get worse or be bothersome longer. Mentally, injuries are the hardest to deal with since you don’t have those external obligations filling your down time. REST – this is the easiest answer but hardest to apply.

Change in Schedule
The good and the bad. My wife didn’t have a job for a good period of time. While this made an economic impact on our family (the bad) it had an effect on my running schedule (the good). I new that at any time I could go for a run – with a couple of younger boys in the house there still needs to be supervision. Now that my wife is employed again, I’ve had to schedule runs according to when she’s home. I love running in the morning but know that’s not always going to be possible so evening runs are going to have to be inserted. It’s going to be strange but putting on the shoes and getting out the door will solve all timing issues.

Hopefully your life isn’t in quite a tailspin as mine is right now but follow these tips when running grinds to a halt and you’ll be able to overcome and hit the roads in no time flat.

RMFR

You’ve probably seen this on Twitter, Facebook or YouTube. If not, here’s the movie trailer for HOOD TO COAST. The movie follows four quirky teams on their epic journey to conquer the world’s largest relay race. Winning isn’t everything in this character-driven documentary that takes a celebratory look at motivation and attempting the extraordinary.

If this doesn’t make you want to head up and take part of this “funfest,” I don’t know what would. Anybody run in this relay or have plans to this year?

When I was in high school almost 20 years ago, I tore my anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in a football game. After going thru arthroscopic surgery and a full season of rehabilitation, I completely tore the ligament in my first football game in college. This time I had to have ACL reconstruction surgery and decided that maybe football wasn’t meant for me. During follow up appointment with the doctors, I was also told that the cartilage (connective tissue that provides a cushioning effect in joints) that I did have in my knees wasn’t plentiful either.

Fast forward to 2006. I’m running and seriously overweight. My knees constantly ached. With my knees taking the full brunt of my HUGE body, there were not many days that I didn’t have to pop ibuprofen just to make it up and down stairs. As I dropped the weight, the aches and pains were not as severe but they hadn’t gone away.

Today I’ve found my best friend. My wife introduced me to fish oil omega-3 and omega-6 dietary supplements. Besides the claims that omega fatty acids may reduce the risk of coronary heart disease there is research to suggest that those with Rheumatoid arthritis have also experienced the benefits – myself included!!!

Ahhhh summer. School’s out, vacations are planned and runner’s lament. While basking in the sun’s glow is appealing to most, for those of us in the desert southwest it’s a little different story. When I first moved to Las Vegas I used to joke with my family back in the upper midwest that our low temperatures were typically their high temperatures. Now as a runner, I’m not gloating anymore.

Typically during the summer months we must rise before the sun can make it’s way this far west. Even then, we’re still looking at running in the predawn hours with temperatures in the mid to high 80′s. If you oversleep by a half hour, you’re screwed. If you’re never been to Las Vegas in the summer, try driving at midnight with your windows down.

I’m not saying the desert heat is the most abusive for training (I couldn’t deal with the heat and humidity of the south), I just feel like complaining. The only thing that keeps me going during these hot training runs is looking forward to the cool fall running schedule. Its nice to dream!!!

Click here to check the current temperature in Las Vegas.

This is my first real post related to RUNNING and I have to admit I am having a bit of a challenge clearly organizing my thoughts. Why? Well there is a phenomenon that occurs before every major individual running event. I have officially branded it TAPER TORTURE.  If you are a newbie to running marathons, the “Taper” is the segment of your training that includes a gradual reduction in mileage and intensity. At first, you might think the taper sounds great giving your body a much needed break from the pounding and beating you have been dosing it with the past 16 plus weeks. While your body deserves and needs the much needed time to rest and recover (rebuild muscle damage), the psychological torture that comes with this segment of the training can be difficult to manage. Water boarding sounds pretty good right about now.  

Intellectually I know and understand the benefits of the TAPER, but psychologically, it can play tricks on you.  Makes you question your training, your fitness level, your weight, your speed, your VO2 Max, your max lactic threshold limits, your marathon plan, your pace…you name it and I have thought about it, obsessed, fixated, worried and mentally tortured myself about it.

With less than two days before my next marathon event, the torture is becoming increasingly more intense. There are moments I feel like an untreated adult with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder for you DSM and mental health folks). All joking aside, the Utah Valley Marathon is a BQ (Boston Qualifier) and is an important pre-summer race for me. My last full marathon was California International- CIM (Sacramento, California) in December of 2008. Running fitness isn’t my worry at this point. I trust I have worked hard enough in my training to have a good run on Saturday. I had planned to run two marathons in the spring only to cancel due to relocating to the Boise, Idaho area making travel to a marathon nearly impossible during a life move. I did however, run several half marathons this year (including a PR 1:26:29 Boise Famous Potato Half Marathon) in the Boise area that were used as part of my overall marathon training plan. I realize as I become battle bourne, it is the mental aspect of running that is sometimes the most difficult to master. I had a great running friend once tell me that running is totally cerebral (thanks “E”). Intellectually I understood what he meant, but after running and training extensively as a marathoner, I truly understand what he means. 

Training your mind is equally as important as training your legs and your body. What have I done to help prepare mentally for this upcoming race?

1. Trust my training
2. Sleep
3. Cross train on “rest days”
4. Iced an injured arm (cross-training accident; post forthcoming)
5. Stretch and Roller Massage.

Now, there’s a lot more in terms of details, but simply stated, I have really focused on those 5 areas to try and remain relaxed prior to the starting gun. It will be a short, but long couple of days, including a 3:00 a.m. wake up call on Saturday morning to catch the marathon bus to the start. Race time: 6:00 a.m. Start: Provo Canyon and Wasatch Mountain Range Finish: No public predictions (I like to keep those to myself). 

Taking your mileage from 60-70 mile weeks down to 20-25 is not easy.  Your body and brain are telling you to run, cleanse the soul, feel some pain, crank up your heart rate, get some fresh air, clear your head, burn some calories, stay fit…while my mind and body are telling me to GO, I know they’ll be plenty of that in less than 48 hours and this resting time known as the TAPER TORTURE will be well worth it.

- RITN, Schritter

Scanning the financial headlines this morning, one sort of leap off the page. “Hot in Recession: Chocolate, running shoes, Spam” is the name of the AP article and to me it came as no surprise. He’s an excerpt from the article that talked about “us”:

Those on the go are not shying away from footing the bill for sturdy running shoes. Sales increased 2 percent in 2008, said Tom Doyle at the National Sporting Goods Association in Mount Prospect, Ill.

“Runners aren’t going to hurt themselves to save a few bucks,” he said.

How true is this? Are you going to go with a pair of those cross-trainers for $39 or invest in your running health? Personally, I’d rather sacrifice the chocolate and Spam (not that it resides on our family’s shopping list) before my shoes.

I’m no Jim Cramer but as a runner, I’d be taking a look at those running stocks right about now.