Running plans!

As summer approaches, for good reasons or not, many people either pick running back up or decide to start a running regiment for the first time.

If you are one of those people, I invite you to peruse the blog for form tips, training, tips etc and encourage you to ask any questions you may have!

A couple of thoughts for people about to launch into a running plan:

There are thousands and thousands of running plans out there, tons of 'couch to 5k' variants (including my own 'Dormant to Dominant'), some are good, some.... not so much.

Things to keep in mind:

• You do Not have to run 6-7 days a week, even 4 or 5 for that matter.  If you are starting out and want to be a runner, do 2-3 days a week and then you can move into 3-4 days if you like.  
• Make sure you take your rest days, they are important.
• Remember that (especially if you are just starting out), your body doesn't need 3 gatorades, goo packs, and a pasta dinner every night to sustain yourself on your 1-3 (or 6-10...) mile runs.
• Don't worry about stretching before your runs, just start your runs off slow and allow your own motion to be stretch out your muscles
• Do stretch afterwards (focus on calves, quads, and hamstrings)
• It's a slow process - you can't jump 2 miles in distance every week.  With that said, there's no magic number or formula (they Are out there... they are a lie) to calculate how much to move.  Listen to Your body.
• R-E-L-A-X 
• Just remember, if you are running solely to lose weight, you will not stick with it, it will not last (because you will not enjoy it).

Relax, keep your head up, and enjoy every step - run to relieve stress, run to 'get away', run to meditate, run to feel Alive --

Happy running everyone!

You Know You're a Runner if.....

1. If you plan to have your marathon medal, race bib and toenail framed in a shadow box together.
2. You have a key ring, then a separate single key to your car that you keep on you at all times...just in case.
3. The sound of a gun sends you into a state of anxious calm instead of fear 
4. The odor coming from your laundry hamper in the summer causes your pets to pass out
5. Your laundry room has a hamper for "darks" a hamper for "whites" and a hamper for "compression"
6. The "compression" hamper has a biohazard sign on it.
7. You have to buy a separate dresser for all your running clothes
8. You know the exact distance between every major landmark in your city - also in reference from your house
9. You can convert miles to kilometers in your head.
10. You forget your house key as you shut the door behind you, you can't remember your ATM pin number, you forget your own phone number, but you know your resting heart rate, 80% and 90% BPM, and every PR (to the hundredth of a second) of at least 4 distances.
11. You don't "drink" you "hydrate"
12. Resting HR, BPM, lactate threshold, anaerobic threshold, and VO2 Max are all standard vocabulary terms for you.
13. Fartleks aren't funny.
14. You use 2 band-aids and you don't have any cuts.
15. You just laughed at number 14
16. Your 2 favorite food groups are carbohydrates and naproxen
17. Your calves are bigger than your biceps
18. You often wash your shorts in the shower
19. You know that bodyglide has nothing to do with sex
20. When you talk about an "easy 3" you don't mean it as a joke.

Happy spring everyone!  

Storelli

Levi Dodd

April 2012

Storelli

Storelli is a very unique company.  In an industry dominated by the few, where even fewer have chosen to specialize in soccer specific products, two people (an Italian attorney and a PhD biochemist) with a great passion for the game set out to revolutionize the tools in the player's arsenal.  In 2 short years the concept for Storelli was taken from napkin drawings doodled out in a NYC indoor soccer locker room to launching products to mass acclaim.  It's a company that you just Want to like (and I do)!

Storelli BodyShield Sliders

Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect when I received these new "shorts" in the mail.  In The Beautiful Game, equipment is basically limited to your boots and a pair of shinguards - I wasn't sure what a company could do to innovate on a pair of undershorts, nor did I know if I really liked the idea of someone touting their ability to revolutionize soccer equipment!  Well.... I stand here pleasantly surprised and quite impressed (and truly thinking about the implications for this young start-up company). 

So here's the deal:  yes, they have pads in them, and yes they're foam... but nothing like I (and I dare say you) expected.  The material they use is 3mm polyurethane foam but somehow the padding is very thin, very flexible, yet very protective.  Though this is really nice in slider shorts, where the implications appear huge is in their goal keeper line.  The reason is this:  the foam's energy absorption (rebound killing) properties are quite staggering. 

If you do nothing else, watch this video demonstrating their material's amazing ability to stop force dead in its tracks: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmvRy97iCGw

First things first:  What are they?  It's a pair of compression slider shorts for soccer (come on... is there another Beautiful Game!?).  As most of you know, my first requirement for compression gear (in any circumstance) is that it must disappear.  So, in order to test these soccer shorts, I first didn't use them for soccer at all - I took them on a 6 mile run just to check the feel when there were no other distractions.  They felt great, they truly disappeared.  What makes this even nicer is that the reason I tested them this way is that they padding looked so, well, padded, that I was very afraid of the rubbing, bunching, and (most importantly) restricting movement.  On the run test they performed great, I could just forget they were there and run.  The padding wasn't noticed at all, I felt no restriction, and the level of compression was spot on (not too tight - not too loose). 

So with the first basic wear test out of the way, I decided to put them through their intended paces:  on the pitch.

Again, the bases were covered:  the shorts held in place, they were comfortable, and also cooler (temperature) than expected.

From there I went and played striker with a group of overzealous, testosterone charged, high school varsity boys (coaching high school provides an excellent pool of test subjects).  At this point, the shorts went from being really nice to amazing. 

The tackles on plush Tennessee grass (aka clay, stone, and gravel pit covered periodically by out of season Bermuda grass) were unreal.  No cuts, no abrasions, no strawberries, no bruises.  Not only that, the tackles were smoother (turns out their NASA inspired super foam slides better than epidermus - who knew) and stronger (because you didn't have to worry or even think about your legs).

What impressed me even more than the fact that the back of my thighs weren't all cut up was that the shorts themselves showed no sign of the abuse I had just put them through. 

MIA

First off, let me thank all of you.  All of the readers, researchers, and supporters who visit this blog everyday and for your emails and notes - I Love them (keep them coming!)

I have been MIA lately and want to apologize and dive back in!

Several factors resulted in my disappearance (job and family - so many things going on that I just couldn't come up for air and in those times, things that aren't my wife and my daughter get the boot until I can reset), but one reason has been a bit of a personal (running related) issue that I've been keeping pretty locked up.

I've had asthma from the time I was a toddler.  Over the years I was able to push and fight and condition (playing year round soccer) and 'beat' it for a long time (Please hear me - this is NOT saying that 'if you just got in better shape you wouldn't have asthma' consult your doctor for Everything, this is Not often the case... keep reading).  I went about 6 years or so without ever having to carry an inhaler.  However, after college I took some lazy time, stopped playing soccer all the time, got busy with life and didn't keep running, and my asthma returned.  I was able to keep it at bay with the doctors help as I did my part as best I could.  I've always had it.  I've never talked about it.  I've tried to not let it stop me anymore than it had to.

This past 9 months or so it's been increasingly more troublesome.  The week before Christmas I came down with walking pneumonia and it just crippled me.  I was down for almost a month and 1/2 where I went from my short 6 mile 'comfort' runs to I couldn't walk up a flight of stairs without being out of breath.  After the 3 months I began to rebuild (those with Asthma know - after you have a bought like that you basically have to start from ground zero and build Everything back).  Then I took a trip out of town and had an asthma attack like I hadn't had in probably 20 years:  fingertips turned blue, lips went numb, the whole bit.  Luckily I was on the trip with a lot of close friends (one of whom is a State Trooper - handy man to have around when you have to get somewhere fast!) who rushed me to the ER. The doctors took great care of me and after steroid shots, adrenaline, breathing treatments, and about 10 days of oral steroids I was okay.  But it was a big hit.  Physically my lung capacity was shot.  My runner lungs were just gone and my resting heart rate of ~40 would now spike walking to the end of the driveway.  It took a big toll on me mentally in that it was so stressful, so frustrating... and what do we do when we get stressed or frustrated?  We run.  And I couldn't.

These events have all just played out and are still playing out.  My years of not carrying an inhaler have turned into several times a week, and that's when I'm just going through my normal life without getting to run at all.

I'm ready to turn it around, but everytime I take a few steps, I get hammered back -- I Will turn this around, I will beat this (me), I will run, I will escape - but it's tough, and it's frustrating, and (until now) I've largely kept this hidden.

I appreciate so much your support and prayers -- more blogs coming!

-Levi

Seattle gait watching

I have a disease.  I am incapable of Not watching people run.  I drive down the road looking for runners like hunters who crane their necks for deer and shoppers who slowly jerk and drive, stopping at every store front to window shop along the road.  My wife has finally gotten use to it and doesn't even bother to ask me what I'm looking at when a girl runs by in spandex shorts and a sports bra because she knows:  what's on her feet, and how  she's running.

Seattle was a smorgasbord.  I was staying with family in the Green Lake area and went down to the Green Lake itself which is a large man made lake (I believe that's what the locals told me) surrounded by a walking track that was about 3 miles.  This particular week in Seattle was breathtakingly beautiful, as the natives would say, "the mountains were out today".  The preceding week people had been snowed in, stuck inside, and now it was sunny, clear, and temperatures in the 50s.  As such, everyone in Seattle was out - runners were everywhere!

Around that 2.8-3.1 mile track were more runners than have been present in some of the official races I've run; truly an amazing sight to behold.  I, of course, was in heaven.  Watching runners of all shapes and sizes, 5 years old to 75 years old, men, women, and dogs (I would have felt more out of place running without a dog I think than running with a purple boa and loin cloth).

I was, admittedly, a bit surprised at what I saw:
First off, I naively expected to see more minimalist footwear than I did.
I had this ridiculous notion that going to Seattle, home of Barefoot Ted, the first Born to RUN store in the country, and an extremely active city, I would find droves people in barely-there-footwear running with perfect, effortless gaits.  Like I said, ridiculous notion, but my foolish expectation none-the-less.  What I found was par for the course in terms of gait:  there were gazelles, ballerinas, elephants, and noodles.  What there were the gaunt and miserable faces of those who are running "hard" today and likely to never run again by this time next year (or perhaps even next month), and there were very few, but still some, who glided along with effortless strides, with feet underneath them, and smiles on their faces (the real dead giveaway).  At one point I leaned against a tree, closed my eyes, and listened to find good gates.  Clop, clop, Clop - thump, bump, Thud, - crash, crack, crunch, - slide, drag, scuff - but in the midst of all the painful noises, you could pick out one in the pack, a muffle, almost the absence of sound where someone should be, and opening my eyes would reveal 1 smiling face in a sea of misery gliding along the path:  effortless, silent, efficient.

I'll leave you with this ;)

Podiatry Today:

Good article in Podiatry Today by Dr. Nicholas A. Campitelli, DPM, FACFAS

"Tackling The 10 Myths Of Barefoot Running"

SKINS!

Happy New Year!

My first post of the new year is an Excellent product review (2 actually)!

These products come from Skins (Skins.net - how a Legitimate company ever got that web address is beyond me lol).

Skins is a science based compression company that is taking the sports world by storm, largely due to the fact that the amount of research published on the functional parameters of Skins is unrivaled within the sports compression market:
So far, ten studies carried out using Skins have been published in independently peer reviewed medical journals.


First up we have the
Skins A400 Compression Short Tights         Skins A400 Compression Tights

 

First off, I realize the craziness of this description, but they are extremely simple-extremely technical tights.

Let me explain:  

There is a Lot of technology crammed into these things while fitting/wearing very simply (good technology without bulky bells and whistles).  They include highly researched gradient technology in all of their compression gear.  

Additionally, the full length tights include a knee pocket (my term - not theirs) that was a huge plus for me, as most of you know!  The pocket (seen in the picture) is bio-mechanically placed Memory MX fabric that surrounds the knee, the IT band, and the TFL muscle group to provide even better constant, controlled compression while allowing for truly unrestricted movement (which of course is very important around the knee - and a place where many companies screw this up).

The pants and shorts both feel fantastic, no rubbing, no felt seems, no irritation of any kind.

The compression is nothing short of perfect.  

Many lower quality 'compression' companies simply squeeze you to death (thereby destroying what they are claiming to help), others fit so loose there is also no benefit at all.  With the Skins (they tout their "unique BMI/anthropometrical algorithm" fitting process), the fit is truly second to none!  

I wore these tights and shorts during runs as well as post run (even to sleep in post long run) and always felt comfortable and I truly felt better on my runs and less DOMS.

For this last part, ladies forgive me for TMI - the crotch on these makes them.  Really.  The fit, comfort, and support in the crotch fixes everything about that... region that makes me dislike (and some runs Hate) compression gear.  Their purpose designed "comfortably shaped crotch for better ball control" is a Huge benefit of the Skins line!

In Tennessee, like most places this year, we have had a crazy 'winter' so far.  As such, over the course of one week alone we had a day of 28 and a day of 67.  Remarkably enough, Skins claim of being able to wear these in any weather proved true - the long tights were great in the cool, but even on the 67 degree day, the long tights did not feel overly hot and did an excellent job at regulation temperature - largely due to the fact (I'm sure) that they transfer (wick) moisture extremely well.

Perhaps one of the greatest benefits of the Skins long tights is their sizing.  As most of you know, I am a towering 5' 6" (on a good day...), so, needless to say, getting gear that fits properly is exhausting, if not impossible.  Skins has solved this issue (thank you. Truly.) by implementing their Size Matters sizing system that offers their tights in short, regular, and long configurations in every size!

• Best sizing system of any company I've seen (S, R, and T options in all sizes)
• Best (and very accurate) sizing chart (as seen above) of any line I've seen so far
• Gradient Compression technology throughout
• Memory MX fabric
• Comfortably shaped crotch (ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh)
• Excellent temperature and moisture management
• 50+ UV protection built in
• Lifetime antimicrobial treatment

In conclusion, I think the Skins line of compression gear is truly world class.  They Are expensive.  As the company puts it,

"Why should I choose SKINS over a less expensive pair of tights?
Because no -one's invested as much time or money into research - or been able to replicate the benefits SKINS have been proven to deliver.  SKINS' unique engineered gradient compression has been developed by leading sports physicians over years of scientific research.  And the medical benefits that SKINS provide are backed by independent testing."

What I can say, is that for me, these shorts and tights have become my go-to staple on every run -  I love them

For more information, check out Skins own FAQ page: