What? Me Run?

I am not a runner.  I have never been a runner, and I have never even wanted to be a runner.  I always felt that guys my size (greater than six feet and 200 lbs) weren't built for running.  This view was reinforced when I started looking inside athlete's knees, especially runners', and saw the amount of damage they were doing to their joints, and it was further supported when any attempt at running after my back injury 12 years ago sent shock waves of pain up my spine.  Any cardio activities for me have been destined to be relatively low impact.

That being said, I was watching one of the news magazine shows last year and they had a piece on the rise in barefoot running.  One of the primary premises behind the movement is that the current method of running that most westerners use where the heel strikes the ground first is unnatural, inefficient and a primary contributor to the multiple injuries and pain associated with running.  There is increasing support for a more natural style of running where the strike of the foot happens more towards the ball of the foot and the heel doesn't even really touch the ground.  This stride goes by many names, including midfoot or forefoot strike running (FSR), depending on who you ask and the exact technique.  Regardless of the name, however, this running form allows the natural shock absorber of the lower leg to soften the impact and promotes a more efficient forward lean. Proponents also contend that you not only don't need a thickly cushioned soled shoe, but that you should have as little sole on your shoe as possible (if any) to allow the foot to naturally adjust and respond to the terrain (leading to one of my favorite new oxymoronic, marketing terms, “barefoot" running shoe). Indeed, all major athletic shoe manufacturers and many boutique brands now offer minimalist running shoe lines with little or no angle to the thin midsole.

From a biomechanics and an evolutionary perspective, this all makes perfect sense.  I wasn't convinced that I should be hitting the jogging trail but it provided some perspective that maybe roadwork wasn't necessarily evil.  I had further conversations with a colleague who is a forefoot strike runner that provided additional support to its benefits, and she suggested a book called Born to Run by Christopher McDougall for more details. 

Fast forward to 2012 and I found myself looking for more variety in my cardio routines.  My trainer wanted me to try spin classes but it definitely wasn't for me.  I'm not even that big a fan of regular bike riding.  With the weather turning so nice, I also wanted to get off the machines and get outside a little. So last week I decided to go for a walk and maybe try out some FSR.  If you've never tried it before, it's a little odd at first; it almost feels like your prancing around on the balls of your feet.  After a while, though, it begins to feel somewhat natural and the stride becomes quite a bit easier.  What I noticed immediately was that there was no jarring in my spine.  In fact, unlike heel strike running, the impact seemed to lessen with longer strides.  It felt comfortable enough that what was intended to be a 45 minute walk with intermittent running became a 40 minute run with only about 5 minutes of walking toward the beginning. After not having run more than a hundred yards at a time over the past 15 years, I put in 5K on my first morning out!

Now, I'm not going to tell you that it was all a beautiful thing and I'm now a runner for life.  For starters, as you might imagine, after running more than three miles with my heels never touching the ground, my calves are letting me know that they weren't quite ready for that kind of abuse.  Although, I could imagine they would be the size of cantaloupes if I did this full time. I've spent a great deal of time over the past week stretching them out and keeping my tracks a little shorter. It was also very apparent during the run that I've done some damage to my knees carrying around all that extra weight for the past 12 years, and my need to get those joints scoped and cleaned is coming soon.  Until that happens, I'll still mostly stick with the lower impact cardio, but what is encouraging is I now have another option for my cardio routines to keep things interesting and this one that doesn't require anything more than some open space and a good pair of shoes (maybe).  

Willpower

I heard a great interview on public radio this past weekend with the author of a book published Aug 2011 called "Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength". They were discussing willpower and weight loss and I thought there were a few very interesting points that I would share. 

1. People who give themselves continuous feedback on results are more likely to succeed. One study showed that people who weighed themselves everyday were more successful at losing weight than those who only weighed themselves once a week. It certainly has been my experience (see blog below).
2. In order for your brain to function optimally and exercise willpower, it must have glucose. If you are not getting enough nutrition, than your resolve will weaken; a dietary Catch-22. This sounds like one more good reason to eat back those exercise calories and ensure your daily calorie deficit isn't too low. 
3. The author mentioned that the people with the best success set moderate, reasonable goals, like 1 lb a week. This goal would also ensure that brain's getting enough fuel. 
4. People that exhibit the most willpower construct their lives to routinely avoid situations that test their resolve and so they have a store of willpower for when they really need it. 

The discussion was intriguing and made me add the book title to my "want to read" list. 

Advice is worth exactly what you pay for it

When I was first learning to play golf, almost every person I’d play a round with had some sort of advice to help me with my game.  In an effort to improve, I not only listened to these various volunteer coaches but I’d buy the magazines, books, videos and devices that all pledged to straighten my slice, improve my iron play or help me putt like a pro.  They each had their own unique perspectives and opinions on the right way to hit a little ball into a hole in the ground.  With apologies to a few individuals who actually did help me, what I came to learn during those times is that advice on improving your golf game is worth exactly what you pay for it.  The more you spend on help and instruction, the more you benefit from it in performance and over time; and free advice is generally worth exactly that, nothing.  If you really want to improve, you need to do two things; go see a professional who can analyze your swing and game and work directly with you on your specific needs, and then go out an apply what you learned with attention and intention.  It’s much more expensive and time consuming than the other options but its the only way to see real results.

I’m quickly realizing that fitness is much the same.  Especially this time of year, we are inundated with information on diet programs and fitness routines that promise us results for our New Year’s resolutions fast.  We also get loads of advice from family, friends and coworkers who are more than willing to tell us what worked for them (for a while, anyway).  Even the websites that we join with forums to support one another are filled with opinions and suggestions that can be confusing, contradict one another, and are sometimes not even medically sound.  So, again, I remind you that advice is worth exactly what you pay for it.  Infomercials are free, even if there products aren’t.  Their recommendations that you need to join their program or buy their DVDs aren’t even advice but advertising.  Recommendations from friends you have in person or in cyberspace are worth what you pay for them also.  The only way to get real results is find a fitness professional that can assess your individual needs and develop a program designed specifically for them, and then go out and apply that program with attention and intention.  

That’s my advice to you, and you can take for what its worth knowing exactly what you paid for it.

Then and Now pictures

Most of my blog posts are about my journey to health and fitness and have even posted my weight loss ticker from myfitnesspal.com in the margin on the right----> but I've recently had some requests for pictures.  Since not everyone has access to Google+ yet where I have my pictures posted, I thought I'd put then and now pictures here.  I'm still a work in progress but making good headway.
Thanks to everyone for your support and encouragement.  If you want to see more of the journey in pictures, you can join Google+ and I'll add you to my friends and family circles and share the photos.  (With apologies to many, I'm moving away from Facebook.)

Then (July 2010)                                   Now (Dec 2011)