lets run

i was RUNNING

A New Stride In 2010

This isn't the first time I've heard of this, but I'm finally starting to accept that I run incorrectly. Well I guess whatever propels you forward can't be totally incorrect, but I'm at least causing my body undue grief and am probably slower than I could be due to my inefficient stride.  No more heel striking!





So I am going to try to attempt to change my stride one mile at a time this year and see where that gets me.   Hopefully somewhere other than frustrated.

One more day of lazy and then it's on!

Organized Anti-

So I was speaking with my friend Liz the other night. Liz, who will be a Challenge participant, for some reason thinks that I'm rather charity minded. I'm not so sure this is true but I guess I shouldn't try to deny what could be deemed as a compliment.

So, as I was saying, I was speaking to Liz the other night and while discussing the Challenge she asked if I was doing this for charity or anything like that. Up to that point, I hadn't really thought about it but I suppose it wouldn't be a horrible idea. Instead of doing this just to be stupid why not do it for a reason? But then what charity?  And how?  Just donate myself, collect donations from others, start some sort of campaign? Oh, so many decisions! But maybe I'll figure something out.

Then Liz mentioned that there is also an anti-charity option. I wasn't following her crazy talk.  My first comment was, "Who hates charities?"  Well as it turns out, after only a few more lines of instant messaging we established quite a list of non-profits, causes and events that we hate.  I won't get into them as everyone can come up with who/what they hate on their own I'm quite sure.  But how does one get involved in something at an anti- angle?  Liz tips me off that there is a web site to organize your hatred and spur you on to victory in this or any other challenge called stickK.

In short, it works like this.  You go to stickK.com, choose a cause or organization you hate, put the details of your task/challenge/resolution/new leaf and give a form of payment. If you don't meet your goal your money goes to your hated entity.  So our plan here is to run a mile everyday for a year, right?  But you are realistic and know you're going to need a bit of a kick in the ass once in awhile to keep on schedule. Well you get stickK to be the leg propelling that kick and your hated charity is the boot on the foot making contact with your ass.

Let's say you decide you hate the National Rifle Association. You go to stickK.com, set things up and get down to the business of goal accomplishment. If you screw up and don't achieve your mile-a-day plan, not only will you feel like you've let yourself down for not accomplishing a goal you set for yourself, but also the hated NRA will have your money with your name attached to it. With that money they'll be pushing legislation you don't like, sending you crap in the mail, probably calling you to ask for more money, etc. Nobody wants that. So at some point in February when you wake up and you are a little hungover and you think about rolling over to get some additional sleep rather than going out for a mile jog in the cold, perhaps in the back of your mind you'll think about someone (maybe the ghost of Charlton Heston) at the NRA with a big smile on their face thanks to your donation and maybe, just maybe, that will be enough to drag you out to fulfill your daily obligation.

Self motivate or stickK motivate or go with some other method. The choice is yours.  Just be sure to motivate somehow.

So Warming

This may look good in video form, but most experts I have spoken with in the fields of chemistry, sports medicine, physics and dermatology recommend not lighting yourself on fire. Even if the weather outside gets below freezing, self ignition is not a good replacement for a pre-run warmup.

Fact.

Santa Time

Wanted to wish all of you mile challenge participants (and fans) a merry Christmas.  Hopefully Santa will bring you some flashy, new workout gear so you can look and feel ready for 2010.

In Santa-related thoughts, maybe to bust into the homestretch of our challenge year we should all take a little trip to participate in the WildHearts Aberdeen Santa Run next November in Aberdeen, Scotland?  Entry fee includes a santa suit (that you get to keep!).  I'm not sure if running can get much more fun than that.  And it raises money for charity.  Ho! Ho! Ho!

Hi. I'm Andy. Nice to Meet You.

Hello Everyone. My name is Andy. I'm going to be running a mile a day with you all and I'm also going to help blog about it. Some of you may know me from my wildly controversial sports/video game blog (currently shut down due to safety concerns) or from my insanely popular beard blog (soon to be shut down because I'm sick of having a beard). And while my blogging credentials are unquestionable, you may be asking yourself, "What kind of insight can he give on running?" Well, I'd like to take a little time to answer that question, and justify my existence (on this site).

In the year 1998 I was a sophomore in high school. If that makes some of you older folks feel old, well, that's because you are. It was my third year running cross country after a very failed attempt at CYO football. During my sophomore year I ran a 5K in 18:47, by no means a good time. At my high school you had to run an 18:45 to get your varsity letter, or you could just run for the team for two years straight. My coach told me he'd give me the letter for the 18:47, but we all know that I got the sympathy letter. Regardless, my mom bought me a letter jacket right away and wrote "Cross-Country" on the back. Hyphenated. Despite the fact that the sport has no hyphen.

Fast forward to my senior year and my personal best still being that 18:47 from sophomore year. What can I say? I peaked early. But I knew my place on the team. I wasn't there to help the varsity 7 win the state meet, I was there to provide moral support and to make sure the freshman didn't get too rowdy on the bus during road trips. Speaking of road trips, we used to watch Without Limits on the bus on the way to every meet, and we'd watch Something About Mary on the way home. I don't know how familiar you are with the Something About Mary DVD (although it could have still been VHS at this point) but at the end of the movie they do a sing-a-long for "Build Me Up, Buttercup." So just try to imagine thirty teenage boys from an all male highschool cheerfully singing "Build Me Up, Buttercup" on a bus. I can only assume it was quite a sight.

But back to my place on the team, the moral support. Well, I almost quit my senior year because I sucked so bad, but then I realized I didn't have any other friends in high school and if I quit the Cross Country (no hyphen) team, I'd rank right up there with the nerds in the PEZ club. So I stuck through it and actually became a team captain, due to my amazingly positive attitude (which came out of nowhere). Along the way, my buddy Dan, who was a member of the elite Varsity 7 said to me, "Andy, you're such an important part of this team, I wish you could run the state meet with us." I laughed it off and said, "Dan, I'll be there to support you, that's all that matters." Later that night I may have cried but I'm not going to say yes or no to that.

Fast forward AGAIN to one week before our State meet. It was a big day for us. Not only was it the day the seniors got to do the Underwear Run (that's a story for a different time), but it was the day of the long standing tradition of all the seniors giving all the freshmen wedgies until the bands on their underwear ripped off. "Oh happy day!" you must be thinking. Not for everyone. When I was a freshman, I was spared of this tradition by a senior, and I was told it was my responsibility when I was a senior, to not participate and to save one freshman. So while everyone is having a great time giving each other wedgies, me and some low life freshman get to hang out in the gym and play floor hockey until practice starts. As you can imagine, life sucks at this point.

But all is not well in high-school-cross-country-ville. Turns out one of the freshman had to go to the hospital after practice (nothing to do with the Underwear Run), because of "swollen testicles" (whatever that means). His parents throw a fit for some reason, call the school, and long story short every senior on the team gets kicked off. Except for 2. Some guy who just wasn't there. And me.

So, to wrap this all up, coach says, "Andy, you've been a model team player. Dedicated. Loyal. Full of team spirit. But awful at running. But since we have no chance of even competing in States at this point, you might as well run on the team." So, 2001, guess who finished second last at the Division 1 High School State Cross Country meet? This guy. Look it up. You think I don't know about running? Suck on that!

Back To The Finish Line

Look at this showoff. Almost two weeks worth of challenge all at once ... backwards*: Teacher Runs 13.1 Miles Backward


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*Call me British, but I like the "s" on there -- backward vs. backwards

Time Is Ticking

15 more days until Mile Challenge 2010 begins.

Minimalist Style

Perhaps this guy is onto something?

Sandals for running? Intriguing.

It's Gonna Be A Long Cold Winter

I went to see the Steelers/Browns game last night and if this is the way winter is going to be, I'm a little nervous about getting the miles in. It was cold. It dropped down to 15 degrees. Unpleasant. Oh, and let's not forget the gusts of wind getting into the 40MPH range making the temperature feel like -5 degrees. Brutal.

Somehow the players are out on the field and standing on the sidelines with exposed arms but me in the stands?  No way.  Listing of my layers, top to bottom I wore two hats, a long underwear top, a T-shirt, a long sleeved shirt, a zip up fleece, a jacket, gloves and mittens with handwarmers in each, boxers, long underwear bottoms, jeans, my snowboarding pants, two pairs of socks, boots. I still was cold. So was beer.  Beers purchased became beer slushies.  No joke.

How is one supposed to run in that sort of business? Even a mile.  Clearly I won't make it a point to run at 9pm during the winter, but quite honestly the daylight hours weren't much better. We didn't even hit 20 degrees.

I guess my point is ... well, I'm not sure what it is really. I suppose I'm going to have to toughen up. Or move somewhere warmer.

5 Cities In 5 Minutes

So this isn't really running related, but it's a challenge that has piqued my interest.  It involves eating.  And perhaps you'll say, "Eating all of that, that quickly can't be good for you" and I'll say to you, "The engine needs fuel for all the running ahead."

No matter which side of the argument you choose, here's the challenge:

Tucky's Division Dog Challenge: 5 Cities in 5 Minutes

Rules:
Can you eat all five of the division dogs in 5 minutes or less? If so, you will earn a Division Dog Challenge t-shirt, $15 in Tucky's Bucks, and have your photo placed on our wall of fame. If your time is in the top ten, then we will place your name on the record board.

Cities (aka hot dogs):
Chicago - $3.50
Skinless Old Vienna hotdog on Poppy Seed Bun, with Sports Peppers, Emerald Relish, Diced Onions, Tomato Wedge, Pickle Spear, Yellow Mustard and Celery Salt

Detroit Coney Island - $3.50
Natural casing smoked hotdog, Coney Island New York Chili and Diced Onions with Yellow Mustard

Cleveland - $3.50
Natural casing smoked hotdog, Potato and Cheese Pierogies with Stadium Mustard

Kansas City - $3.50
Natural casing smoked hotdog, Amish Creamy Coleslaw and BBQ Sauce

Minnesota - $3.50
Natural casing smoked hotdog, Shredded Cheddar and Grilled Polish Sauerkraut with Caraway Seeds

So obviously I want to try this.  I will report back when I have gathered up my sense of competition, adventure and intestinal fortitude.

We Know

Before any of you online comment-obsessed jerks start complaining, you should know that we're all well aware that we are not the first people on the planet to do this. Other people have run a mile everyday for a year and beyond.

Now it's our turn to do it our way.

Mile Challenge 2010

Here we go ... a little blog to keep participants and fans of Challenges informed entertained mindlessly staring at something.

After a successful Bacon Challenge back in 2008, 2009 was a challenge-free year. Well, 2010 is about to start* and it's lookin' like things are back to Challenge mode. The challenge for this year? 365 miles of running in 365 days -- it's The Mile Challenge! Or Mile-A-Day Challenge or Mileage Challenge. Whatever you'd like to call it. Perhaps we'll have a vote.

Anyway, as with the bacon eating in 2008, you can do it however you want. Ideally it would be one mile a day but if you want to do 5 miles at a time, 10 miles at a time or 365 in one day you can do that.

Rumor has it Bob will have some sort of password protected tally site rigged up so you won't have to keep all of these numbers tallied up in your brain. So join in the fun and if you're participating and would like to be a contributor on this site just send and e-mail and we'll make it happen (pending a thorough background check of course).

Get those sneakers out, dusted off and checked for lace/tread wear. Pounding the pavement begins January 1, 2010 at 12:01 a.m.

*How is it 2010 already?

The Countdown Begins

Coming soon ... Mile Challenge 2010.