TheDailyRunner.com

Ladies: Be careful while you're running. Lots of attacks being reported

If you do a "Google News Search" for joggers or jogging, you'll be surprised by how many news stories there are each day from around the world about women being attacked while their running. 

Be careful out there!  If you can, run with a buddy.

If this doesn't motivate you to run, I don't know what will -- 73 yr old crossing the finish line of the Hard Rock 100

Video of John Dewalt finishing the Hard Rock 100.  He's 73 years old.

Running barefoot kicks up mixed emotions

There's no way I could ever run barefoot.  My feet are way too sensitive.  If I step on a pebble, I limp for 10 minutes. 

Here's an article about running barefoot.  Even though I'll never do it, I do love to read about those are passionate about it.

The pavement begins to warm under the summer Colorado sun as Michael Sandler jogs up Flagstaff Road near Boulder. Normally, this shouldn't concern a runner. Sandler, however, is jogging barefoot.

"When you are barefoot, you are forced to run the way ancient man ran, which is a soft dance," Sandler said. "Even my upper body got stronger."

He claims he can run farther and with less chance of injury now that he has left his running shoes in the closet. He's far from the only runner who believes so. The number of barefoot runners appears to be a growing niche among the running community. Those who run barefoot maintain it helps them keep a stride that delivers less shock to the foot, helping prevent injuries.

But experts caution that only a small percentage of runners can successfully train sans shoes.

"Your muscles, tendons and bones are balanced if your shoe is properly fit and your foot is properly supported," said Eugene Rosenthal, a local podiatrist, who said he would never recommend running barefoot.

The concept of running without shoes can be hard to wrap your mind around, mainly because so few people in this country have ever tried it.

"I would say 98 percent of the U.S. do not grow up barefoot, walking barefoot, going to school barefoot," said Mark Plaats, a physical therapist and owner of Boulder Running Company. "If you do not grow up barefoot, it is a really difficult thing to do."

But Ehiopian  Abebe Bikila did grow up running barefoot, and he won the 1960 Olympic marathon in  Rome unshod.

The beauty of running barefoot, say its true believers, is that your feet will adapt naturally to almost any surface.

Here's the rest of the article

A jog through British Open golf course history in Scotland

Remember how Golf Digest had that thing "Worst Avid Golfer"? I'm the slowest avid jogger. Your grandmother is faster than me. I don't care how old she is.

At least at my pace you see more, and on my last night in Scotland I saw a lot. I left the Marine Hotel, beside the Royal Troon Golf, with no particular plan, except to jog to the Prestwick Golf Club and back. Prestwick is where the first British Open was played, 149 years ago. You could say the first Open, as there were no other opens then. Your Tom Morrises of St. Andrews, father and son, won almost every year in the early Opens, all held at Prestwick. It's a fantastic course, not just as a museum piece but as an everyday place to play, and it's on all the golfing tourist itineraries.

But the thing about Scottish golf are the courses off the tourist trail. You could write a book about the subject, and my friend Jim Finegan did, one I heartily recommend. But the best thing to do is make your own discoveries.

On Thursday night of Open week, a fellow typist, Alan Shipnuck, played Royal Troon. It was expensive ($175) but excellent, and if you're going to cover Opens you have to know the courses and bounces in the Open rota. (I may need that sentence for my expense report, but you do the damn thing on a computer and you get Twitter-like lengths to make your case.) Every course I know in Scotland is, in some regard, public, even ones with posh names like Royal Troon or the Honorable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, aka Muirfield.

Most of the time these clubs are closed to "outside play," but they all have designated times when they permit it, and if you approach the club the right way, and you're willing to pay, you can get on. Maybe that's a better system than what most private American clubs do, which is say no to everybody, but have these enormous Monday outings where everybody takes a cart and leaves behind a trail of cigar butts and lost Pro V1s. Of course, the best course in Scotland, and the best course in the world, is an absolute muni: the Old Course at St. Andrews, where the Open will be played next year, 150 years after the first one.

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"A Dummy Runs Smart" -- A short video I made after learning a valuable lesson

Here's a video I made after learning a valuable lesson while running.  Click the "Facebook Connect" button to watch it.

If you'd like more information about uVizz, click here.  It's a great way to raise money for your favorite charity or monetize your running website.

Video: Monetizing Your Running Website and Raising More Money for Charity

Here's a video that gives you information on a fun way to monetize your running website or raise money for charity.  Click the "Facebook Connect button" to watch it.

Here's a short video about the uVizz Campaign:

Here's a video that was submitted to the campaign:

 

If you have questions, feel free to email me:  matt.johnson at uvizz.com

To visit uVizz on Facebook, click here

To learn more about uVizz, click here to visit uVizz.com

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Runners' goal: Marathons in every state

Running can become addictive.

For many, it might mean jogging three or four times per week.

For others, doing an occasional road race or even a marathon might satisfy their cravings for hitting the roads.

However, for three Van Wert running enthusiasts, doing something out of the "ordinary" is what fuels their passion for running.

And sometimes doing something "way out of the ordinary" is what is needed.

On June 20, Ed Jacob, Kyle Minnich and Brendon Moody all completed the Mayor's Marathon in Anchorage, Alaska.

Yes, Alaska.

Moody finished third overall in an impressive time of 2 hours, 39.54 seconds. Minnich placed 10th in 2:55.48, while Jacob finished in 3:51.41, good for 163rd out of 913 finishers.

Many of you might be wondering right now, why would you want to travel all the way to Alaska to run a 26.2-mile race through the wilderness (where bears live, by the way) and across gravel roads.

That's where the addiction part comes in to play.

Jacob, the oldest of the group at 51, started out years ago with the goal of wanting to join an elite group of marathoners across the nation who have completed at least one marathon in each of the 50 states.

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Using gait analysis to find the perfect pair of running shoes

A worn-out pair of sneakers can be considered a runner’s best friend. Hector Yuzon’s goal is to make that a more lasting relationship.

Yuzon owns Second Wind, a store that specializes in all things running located in Teachers Village in Quezon City. He introduced video gait analysis when he opened the store in March.

Already common in other countries, video gait analysis allows runners to identify certain factors in picking out the ideal pair of running shoes.

“Its advantage is you can actually see the foot in motion, assess the proper biomechanics and rate of pronation since running shoes are designed not only for comfort but also to address those kind of needs,” said Yuson.

A runner himself, Yuson understands the needs of other runners and tries to help them in their quest for the perfect pair. He also envisions Second Wind to become a converging point for people passionate about running.

It begins by making the customer run on a treadmill for less than a minute – barefoot and preferably in shorts (or pants folded up past the knees). Why? Because the entire portion of the knee to the heel will be captured on video while running.

“From there, we playback the video and assess their foot pronation,” said Yuson.

Pronation is the movement of the subtalar joint between the talus and calcaneus, anatomically speaking. Overpronation, Yuson pointed out, poses risks of injury for runners.

“With a static assessment, some will just recommend them to use a stability shoe but with gait analysis, we can assess if it’s just a mild overpronation and further prescribe which shoe suits best,” said Yuson.

Running shoes also come in different categories. Lightweight shoes are ideal for people a five-minute phase per kilometer.

‘Stability’ shoes are often suggested for overpronators, although depending on the level of pronation. Cushioning is recommended for beginners who aim for comfort while improving mileage.

“Runners always set a goal in every race that is why runners need shoes that will give them optimal performance, not distract their focus,” Yuson said.

Article from Inquirer.net

Do you wear Newton gear? Newton Running July 4th Special Package Deals

This is not a paid advertisement for Newton.  I'm not affiliated with them in any way.  The only reason I'm posting it is because some of you wear Newtons.  Looks like they have a sale going on....so I thought I'd pass it along.

If you're interested, click here to read an article about it

64 days, 6 nations, and 6 pairs of shoes -- Secker completes Trans Europe Footrace

On the 65th day, Russell Secker rested.

That's a good thing, too, because for 64 days straight, the Austin runner pounded out an average of 45 miles a day, on his feet, as the only American competitor in the Trans Europe Footrace.

In all, he ran 2,800 miles, burned up six pairs of running shoes, endured hip and foot pain, slept on the floors of school gymnasiums and church halls, and lost nearly all his body fat as he crossed Italy, Austria, Germany, Sweden, Finland and Norway.

Secker, who turned 54 on the third day of the race, retired from his job as a vice president at Hoover's, which provides online information about businesses, and forked over $8,000 to enter. He was the only native English speaker among 68 runners in the competition, which began April 19 in Bari, Italy, and finished June 21 in Nordkapp, Norway.

Secker is not new to ultra running. In 2005, he completed the Transe Gaule , running 725 miles across France in 18 days. Two years later he finished the Deutschlandlauf — 800 miles in 17 days.

But the Trans Europe Footrace is the granddaddy of them all.

Each day the racers ran the equivalent of nearly two marathons. Some stages stretched far longer. "These are hellacious distances on fresh legs — in our weary state, they are really daunting," he wrote about a 60-mile day in a blog he kept during the race. For Secker, who struck a conservative pace of 12-minute miles to thwart injury, that meant 13 hours of running.

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