My apologies to Robert Palmer and Jack Sh*t, who pioneered the fine art of the musical weight loss/fitness parody.
Your shoes are on, and you’re not home
Your legs are not your own
Your brow sweats, your calves ache
Another mile is what it takes
You can’t stop, you can’t quit
There’s no doubt, you’re into it
Your legs are tight, you can’t breathe
Another mile is all you need
You like to think that you’re immune to the stuff
It’s closer to the truth to say you can’t get enough
You know you’re gonna have to face it, you’re addicted to run
You see your splits, but you can’t believe
You’re running at a different speed
Your legs move in double time
Another mile and you’ll be fine, a one track mind
You can’t be stopped
Marathon is all you crave
If there’s Gu left for you
You don’t mind if you do
You like to think that you’re immune to the stuff
It’s closer to the truth to say you can’t get enough
You know you’re gonna have to face it, you’re addicted to run
Might as well face it, you’re addicted to run
Might as well face it, you’re addicted to run
Might as well face it, you’re addicted to run
Your shoes are on, and you’re not home
Your legs are not your own
You’re brow sweats, your calves ache
Another mile and you’ll be fine
You like to think that you’re immune to the stuff
It’s closer to the truth to say you can’t get enough
You know you’re gonna have to face it, you’re addicted to run
Might as well face it, you’re addicted to run
Might as well face it, you’re addicted to run
Might as well face it, you’re addicted to run
We all know people who are predisposed to being thin, we also know natural athletes who can pick up a new sport and are good at it in a few days; I am neither of those. I am blessed to have a wonderful family full of some of the kindest southern folks you have ever met; unfortunately it’s also a family that struggles with obesity.
Growing up I was always a little chubby. I wasn’t exactly the sort of kid you would hide food from, but I had issues with weight most of my young life. It wasn’t until I was in my twenties that I had my pivotal moment. I did have some success with various diet and exercise programs before this point, only I always gained every pound back, and every pound that came back to me brought friends.
Even after hearing, and knowing, that losing weight takes an entire shift in lifestyle I was still unable to make that commitment with myself. I remember the exact moment that changed. You might say I did it a little backwards because on that day, at about 240 lbs and unable to finish a two mile run, I signed up for a marathon.
Signing up for a marathon doesn’t exactly make my list of weight loss tips, but uncovering the cause of a weight problem and becoming passionate about fixing it does. The problem was I had always stabbed at weight loss for the wrong reasons; I needed a commitment to lifelong change and a passion strong enough to make it stick. I made the commitment and running provided the passion.
Since that day I have made an interesting discovery. What were once reasons not to exercise and eat right have now become my biggest motivators. Running has become much more to me than a means to stay in shape. It’s now how I deal with stress, cope with grief, and most importantly it’s something my kids will see me doing every day. Instead of running to stay fit, I now stay fit so I can run.
So with a nearly endless amount of information on how to lose weight and entire industries revolving around making it easier; for me it simply came down to passion and commitment. I know running has change my life and I like to think it will be the variable that puts an end to several generations of fitness struggles.
A Healthy Dad is always happy to take guest posts from like-minded bloggers. If you’d like to submit a guest post, just drop me a line!
I’ve talked about Operation Jack once or twice before on this blog, because I think what Sam is doing is really awesome. The love and dedication that he has for his son Jack is amazing, and I’m just immensely impressed with this guy’s running ability!
I had the great fortune to meet Sam and spend some time talking with him when he was in Anchorage for one of his many marathons in August (which was also when I ran my first 1/2 marathon).
Me with Sam from Operation Jack before the race.
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, let me give you the highlights. Sam’s son Jack was diagnosed with autism shortly after turning 3. This year, Sam has committed himself to run at least one marathon every weekend – in fact, he’s going to be running 61 marathons in total this year. And he’s doing it all to raise money and awareness for autism.
I can’t even begin to imagine what Sam and his family go through on a daily basis. But I think what he is doing here is terrific, and I want to help support him anyway I can.
And that’s where you come in… 🙂
Operation Jack has a donation program they call Race 4 Free, where they will pay the race registration for anyone who helps them raise at least $300. My goal is to help them raise at least that much, though I’d really like to see it reach $1000, because it really is such a great cause. Mac from Get Fit Slowlyrecently blogged about setting up a donation team for the #mizboorun in Las Vegas, and I thought I’d join him!
So I’ve setup my own donation page here where people can donate money to Train 4 Autism. If all of you wonderful folks can help me raise at least $300 (and I know you can!) for Operation Jack, you’ll be helping me to support a great cause, and I’ll get to run the Las Vegas 1/2 Marathon for free!
Having met Sam, I can say without a doubt that he is a really cool, down-to-earth guy that really cares about his family. Operation Jack also has a special place in my heart, because my own son’s name is Jack 🙂 I know that every single dollar donated will be greatly appreciated and put to good use.
I had one other thought on Vibram Five Fingers that I realized I forgot to include in yesterday’s post. Now, I don’t have any personal experience in this area, but it seems to me that they would be the perfect thing to wear for a triathlon. You could wear the same pair of “shoes” for all 3 events, with no need to change in between. Obviously, you would have to train qute a bit in them to be proficient in all 3 sports wearing VFF’s, but I think it could work out pretty well, and save you some transition time.
If I ever do a triathlon – and I think that I probably will – I’m pretty sure this is what I would do!
What do you think? Crazy idea, or pure genious? Has anyone tried this?
Ever since Christopher McDougall’s book Born to Run came out in 2009, barefoot and minimal running have become quite the topic of conversation in the running community. I have been interested for a while in trying the Vibram Five Fingers (VFF), a minimal running shoe that is little more than a glove for your feet. The idea is that it gives you nearly all the benefit of running barefoot, while giving your foot a bit more protection. Besides, it seems like everyoneand theirsister is running in them these days – I had to try them for myself!
I kept putting off the purchase because it seemed like not so long ago that I had bought my last pair of running shoes, but my wife and I decided that it would be a little congratulatory gift for me after finishing my first 1/2 marathon. That actually worked out really well, because in our goodie bag for the race, there was a 15% off coupon at REI, and guess what I used it on??? I ended up going with the KSO’s (keep stuff out) because they seemed like the best all-around general use model, and I figured that at some point, I’d likely want to do more than just running in them.
I took a little bit of a chance because I just ordered them from REI’s website without actually trying some on at the store. But they actually have a very detailed sizing guide, so I measured out my feet, and according to their guide, I’m a 46 (they use European sizing). Lucky for me, they fit perfectly! When I first got them in the mail, I was very interested to try them on and see how they felt on my feet, especially the individual toe holes. Five Fingers are meant to be very form-fitting to your foot, and they took me a few minutes to get on the first try. Now that I’ve had a bit more experience with them, I can get them on rather quickly. What I’ve found that seems to work pretty well (for me anyways) is starting with my big toe, and sliding one toe into position at a time, instead of trying to just ram them all in at once.
Because I just couldn't bring myself to order them in plain black.
My First Run in Five Fingers
Everything that I’ve ever read about getting started with running in Five Fingers is to start slow. You are exercising different muscles in your legs, because being nearly-barefoot forces you into a different (but more natural) stride. As I’ve talked about before, my wife is current doing Couch to 5K, so I used one of those runs together as my first in Five Fingers.
My first impressions:
It definitely was a lot different than running in “normal” shoes.
You feel a lot more of the ground (for better or for worse), so you have to watch your step a little closer.
I absolutely love how light my feet feel.
I also love how silently I run without big clunky shoes on. I did my first couple of runs in VFF’s without headphones so I could pay close attention to what I was doing. The most striking part of it was that I hardly made any noise as I ran.
Many people warned me about having horribly sore and cramped calves when I first started running in VFF’s, but I really didn’t have much trouble with that. I mostly credit that to the fact that I’ve already been running with a mid-foot strike for quite some time, so it wasn’t as quite as big of a change in running form for me as it was for others.
In 2 weeks, I’ve gone for 4 runs in my new VFF’s, and I’m extremely happy with them. I enjoy wearing them so much, I often just wear them around the house. I haven’t gotten a chance to yet, but I’d really like to try some hiking in them. I’m trying to ease into this as much as I can at this point and not overdo it. But I definitely plan on working up the distance I can run in the VFF’s. What I would really like to do is run the Las Vegas 1/2 marathon in them, but we’ll see how that goes.
Have you tried running barefoot or in a minimal shoe like the Vibram Five Fingers? If so, how do you like it? If not, what’s keeping you from trying it?
