Zero Drop It Like It's Hot

You may have noticed…..by the large pictures staring back at you, that I've been chosen as an Altra Zero Drop Ambassador for 2014.

Me?
Me!

I was probably more surprised than you are….and with good reason. In most races I'm an absolute threat to finish squarely in the middle of the pack. Maybe in smaller races my chances improve…but for a guy who used to weigh 240 pounds and was headed to an early grave, just finishing is a major charge.

So…why would Altra want me?

Good question…..it's not like I was going to stop wearing the shoes if they didn't. I like to tell people that Newtons re-taught me how to run….Altras allowed me to run properly without blisters and hot spots.

I remember my first Altra run around Tempe Town Lake at the start of Ironman Arizona in 2012. On the advice of a friend, Arne Leonard, I ran out to Roadrunner Sports the night before the race while my wife was repacking her transition bags for the 15th time. I found a pair of Altra Zero Drop running shoes and wore them to spectate and volunteer the next day. Arne and I ran the perimeter of the lake once the swim started and the first thing I remember was this weird "my toes aren't jammed together" feel. When my foot would strike there was actually room to move in there….the exact opposite of what I'd been taught…that you need "snug" shoes that don't let your feet move around to avoid blisters.

Hmmmm…maybe these Altra people were onto something?

I continued wearing the Provisions and they gradually won the majority vote to banish the remaining Newtons on my shoe rack.

Not only do I run better in Altras…..but I feel better too. Other running shoes are like your mother over your shoulder yelling at you to put your foot this way….move your toes that way….strike here, strike there. I have an Italian mother…and I know from yelling.
Altras are like your cool, younger aunt who just tells you to go with it if it feels good.

Thanks, I think I will.

So again, why would they want me?

Well….as President of EO Racing, I do speak to a lot of people in the running and endurance sports community regularly. As a coach, I do work with athletes to help them improve and enjoy their sport more. As a speaker, I do get the stage in front of sometimes sizable audiences from time to time. And finally, as a guy who was given his life back by running, I do love to preach the word whenever anyone will listen. So maybe, just maybe….Altra sees something in me that they see in themselves….an underdog who started at the back of the pack and thru relentless effort keeps moving up. Slowly, surely….keep moving up. Me and Altra….cool.

I'll be wearing Altra Zero Drop shoes at the following races this season:

Tough Mudder Arizona - April (what pair am I going to sacrifice to Big Mudder??)
Albuquerque Half Marathon - April
Jay Benson Triathlon - May
HITS Full Distance Triathlon - May
Toughman AZ Triathlon Festival - June
Ironman Coeur D'Alene - June
Survival of the Shawangunks Adventure Triathlon - September
SOMA 70.3 Triathlon - October
Seattle Half Marathon - November

And….here's the deal. If you pass me, I'm going to tell you how freaking awesome you are. If I pass you, I'm going to tell you how freaking awesome you are going to be when you pass me back in a half mile. If you fall, I'll pick you up. If you fall again, I'll stay with you until someone else can come and pick you up. And if you cry, well hell….I'll probably cry too. When I finish, I'm coming back to the finish line to scream you all in….because that's just the way I roll.

Deal?

See you out there….

#rethinkingrunning
#rethinkingthemeaningofracing
#zerolimits
#zeroegos

Thoughts at 50

So…I turned 50 a few weeks ago.

50….as in a half a century old.

That thought doesn't freak me out the way you might think. I have no cares about getting old…..no one stops the clock (except Ronnie the Limo Driver) and so there is no use worrying about it. The thing that blew my mind was that I was 50! A half a century. I remember as a kid, I couldn't imagine living to see the year 2000. That would be the year I turned 36. It was almost a definite that I wasn't going that far….for reasons that are cloudy now. So 50 was completely out of the question…yet here I am.

I was proud to turn 40. I'd just done my first marathon…..did my first Ironman at age 40. I felt like I was better than 40 when I reached that landmark. At 50….I'm not really sure what I feel. It's kind of a no man's land.

I don't feel old….but no longer feel young. Maybe that's exactly where I'm supposed to be. I hear those ridiculous sayings "50 is the new…." It's the new and the old freaking 50…that's what it is! Why try to make it something it's not?

So…where does that leave me? Not sure really….I'm just here. I do realize that there are some things in life that I'm simply going to run out of time on….not that I can't do them….but I won't have enough years to do them. Even with that, I plan on a pretty accomplished resume by the time I check out of here.

This Sunday I'll run the Sweetheart Run 10K with my sweetheart Michi…..my first race as a 50 year old. I expect that I'll run hard, it'll hurt…and I'll either have a good race or a bad one. In other words….no different than when I was 49.

Except I'm not 49…..I'm 50…..