Warm Hearts 5k Race Report

We all race for different reasons and every race has its place within a plan. Last time I entered a race was the Christmas City 5 Miler in December, which I run every year but rarely ever race. Last time I raced was Ironman Florida this past November 1. After a laid back few months I decided the time had come to once again pin on a race bib at the Warm Hearts 5k this past Saturday, March 14, 2015.

The race has been around for three years, originally run in Nazareth before making the move to Bethlehem in 2014. Stating at the JBN building on Higland Avenue, the course is on slightly rolling roads, entirely within the industrial park. Roads were open to traffic but quiet. Start time was 10 am.

Normally for my Saturday morning runs I am out the door early for a 7 am or 8 am start time. With such a late start I took my time getting to the race site, giving myself enough time to get my race packet and a 15 minute warm up. A little extra sleep was a nice little benefit.

This race was very my a "C" race for me. I am not a runner and have been doing very little volume or intensity for the past four months. I did not taper (unless you consider the 4 1/2 months between IMFL and this race to be a taper). My only goal here was to get an idea of baseline run fitness. I was hoping to break 20 minutes but whatever the number on the clock I would not be disappointed as long as I gave it a good effort.

Weather conditions were not ideal. And by not ideal, I mean 37 degrees with a steady rain. So basically, the weather sucked. Being that it is the middle of March this did not come as a huge surprise - and it was better than icy road conditions or snow - but that didn't make it any better. In all seriousness, it really turned out to not be all that bad, and this is totally NOT the fault of the race organizers. Weather happens.

The Course

The course is a lollipop shape with a run out Courtney Street, a right hand turn onto Commerce Way, a loop around Commerce and Broadhead Road, then back to the parking lot via Courtney Street. You can see the course below or on MapMyRun here.

The Race

After taking a 15 minute warm up run I lined up near the front of a small field of runners. With the weather being what it was, organizers were quick in getting things started and right at 10 am we were off. About a quarter mile in I passed Mark A with a quick "hi" and settled into a hard but what felt to be a sustainable pace. At the turn onto Commerce Way I had moved into 8th place overall with the eventual winner slowly pulling away from the eventual woman's winner (Lauren, who ran a solid PR time of 18:08) who was slowly pulling away from the rest of us.

Over the next mile or so I passed everyone in front of me before catching the third place finisher at the top of the Brodhead Road incline (it is really not a hill). I managed to stay with her for a 1/4 mile or so before she got a gap on me. After the final turn onto Courtney I was simply holding on to the end. Just before the turn back into the parking lot I was passed for 4th overall. I did manage to hold off the two gentlemen behind me to finish in 5th overall (out of 174 finishers), 3rd Male, 1st in AG40-49 and a time of  19:47.

My Thoughts

Not every race we do is about getting a PR. Here, my goal was simply to run hard and determine my baseline level of fitness. I hoped to be under 20 minutes. From this perspective I would call this effort a success.

As for the race itself, I would recommend it to everyone. From packet pickup to a nice post run spread, the race itself was well organized. Out on course there were more than enough volunteers. The cost was a reasonable $25 and benefits the Sam Vlasics Foundation. The only negative on the day is the cold rain but, as we all know, you cannot control the weather.

Train hard. Stay focused.
Jon

Resources:

Warm Hearts 5k Website

2015 Warm Hearts 5k Race Results

Race Course at MapMyRun.com 

Fast After 50 by Joe Friel - Book Review

If you have been a cyclist or a triathlete for more than a day it is almost guaranteed that you know who Joe Friel is, and you probably have a book or two of his sitting on your bookshelf. Friel is the author of The Triathlete's Training Bible, The Cyclist's Training Bible, The Power Meter Handbook, and Triathlon Science, to name just a few. I personally own all these books and read his blog on a regular basis. I like to keep up on both the science behind training as well as the art of getting it right.

Yeah, he knows his stuff and, yeah, I'm a fanboy.

Fast After 50 is a little different than much of his past writing. In fact, I read a fair amount of books each year and I do not remember reading anything quite like this before. If you are looking for information on how to prepare yourself to race anything from a 5k to an Ironman triathlon you have volumes of information available on either the internet or book form. All of this information, or at least what I have ever come upon, has never been focused on the needs of the older athlete. And as a 45 year old who has been racing for almost 20 years, I can tell you that it does get different as you age up.

Fast After 50 is a result of the research Friel was doing as he approached his 70th birthday. Then, starting in mid-2013 Friel began what became a series of blog posts on  how to limit the deleterious effects of aging on athletic performance. From those posts, and the research he did in writing them, comes this book.

Review

The book is divided into two parts and eight chapters. Part 1 (three chapters) is an overview of the literature and Friel's personal experience with aging and performance. Aging happens, but it is different for the aging athlete than it is for older Joe Average. Fortunately, those differences are for the positive for athletes. He even delves into how society is, in general, really not being helpful the the majority of us who aren't athletically active.

The final five chapters (Part 2) get to the meat of how to slow the aging process and continue to race fast into your older years. These chapters are designed to help incorporate the knowledge presented in Part 1 into your training.

So what is the key to continued speed and endurance?

"... we may draw the conclusion that both training volume and intensity are important to the maintenance of fitness as we age, but intensity is more important ... (T)his conclusion holds significant implications for how you should train: Maintain your weekly volume (hours, miles, kilometers) if possible, but place a great emphasis on how hard your workouts are. Is this realistic as you age? Yes, it is ..." (p. 35)

But, and I think this is big, staying fast and fit is not as easy as just cranking up the intensity. Designing yourself a proper training regimen is about proper dosing of the intensity. Too much work will cause the body to break down and not respond the way you would like. Sometimes the older athlete will need to spread things out more than they are used to doing. This is an important concept to grasp AND implement.

Along with training Friel touches on not just training, but also rest, recovery, and diet. Fortunately, in regards to the chapter on diet, he takes a very Matt Fitzgerald approach by not directing us to one style of eating. Yes, we need to avoid weight gain the best we can, but we all need to find what works right for ourselves. If you have an interest in diving deeper into diet, I recommend Fitzgerald's book Diet Cults as a good place to start.

Who Should Read "Fast After 50"?

In my opinion, any serious athlete who plans on staying fit and fast who is 35 years or older should pick up a copy of this book. If you are a serious athlete who is 50 or over this book directly addresses the issues you currently face as you try and dial in your training and racing. For those between 35 and 50 there is a lot of value here as well. I can tell you from personal experience that how your body reacts to your training starts to change as you approach your 40th birthday. Instinctively I have made changes to my training - most notably lower volume, more intensity, more flexibility in workload - every year for the past five or six years. If Fast After 50 were around six years ago I could have limited the amount of self-experimentation I did with my training.

Bottom line: I highly recommend this book. 



Train hard. Stay smart.
Jon


Resources:

Joe Friel's Blog

You can buy the book at Amazon.com here

Losing Fitness Can Be A Scary Thing ...

Many of us talk a good game about taking a "real" off-season. We say we will cut back on mileage. We say we will lose the technology and "just run" or go get in a casual bike ride with friends. And in our minds this is just how it all plays out. Reality, however, just doesn't exactly line up with how the "off-season" has played out to be in our minds.

Casual group rides turn into races. The weeks of short, easy runs get interrupted by a local 5k or two ... or three ... or turn into a short race season. We justify the races as being something that they are not, and (somehow) not detrimental to muscular healing. Because, how much damage could 3 hard miles cause?

I speak from personal experience. In many a year past I have done many stupid things when it came to my training and racing. A number of "off-seasons" ended up being cover for a continuation of my endorphin fix. I would take it easy most of the time. The key word in that last sentence is "most." I won't bore you with all the stupid things I have done, but be sure that I am one of the lucky ones who didn't suffer horrible race seasons filled with injuries as a result of my inability to treat my body right. Over 20 years of endurance sport I have just one serious injury to my name.

But I have learned from my own brand of stupid. The past three months has been a different experience for me than the one just described. Starting on November 2 I have really taken an extended time off from racing and training to rest and strengthen the body. The fitness I had at Ironman Florida is nowhere to be found. Both volume and intensity have been way down. I took a full 30 days off from running. Until the last few weeks I stayed away from hard intervals in the pool and on the run, while seriously limiting the interval work on the bike (mindlessly spinning on a trainer is not an option for me).

This week everything changed. This week, we start the process of getting back into shape. For twelve weeks I have gone from doing virtually zero exercise to exercise to a small bit of training. From a pure volume perspective I am doing roughly 50-60% of what I did during my 2014 peak training weeks. From an intensity perspective, other than the sanity-saving bike intervals mentioned previously, I have done a small handful of running intervals on the treadmill, more for my sanity than anything else.

(***Please take note, when I talk about being "out of shape" I am not talking about becoming a slug on the couch while gaining 30 pounds. In this context, "out of shape" is more like being fit, just not anywhere near your peak condition.)

Losing fitness can be a scary thing. In just the first few days of this week I know I am not where I was just 12 weeks ago. The longest bike ride I have done in 2015 is 80 minutes and a few weeks ago my long run cracked into the double digits. Yesterday I did some long intervals in the pool (4 x 500) that would best be described as survival. In the coming weeks similar sets will feel a bit better every week while slowly getting back to a pace I'm more accustomed to seeing.  I'm not sure I could race an Olympic distance triathlon today, let alone an Ironman.

It takes confidence to lose fitness. I think the reason some of us everyday athletes fear the diminishing of fitness in the off-season is the fear that it will never come back. The thought process, I am guessing, is that fitness can only go up or down, but once it changes direction it will never, ever turn around? Just seeing that written down it doesn't make any sense to me. Hell, even professional athletes are not on the top of their game year round. But they know that getting that fitness back will happen.

Rebuilding fitness is a fun process. Every year I enjoy heading out and feeling my body getting stronger every single week. It is easy to get out there when the gains can actually be seen on the Garmin. And because I generally will stick with a number of my regular run and bike routes, I can see when I am compared to years past. Keeps things fun. Keeps things interesting.

______

So here we are in the first week of March and I feel rested both physically and mentally. The next few weeks will be both challenging and fun as I start to will my body back into respectable (for me) shape. On March 14th I'll be doing my first race of the year, the Warm Hearts 5k, more as a test of where my run fitness is than anything else. Next up will be the Emmaus 4 Miler. Triathlon season will kick off at the Jerseyman Triathlon on May 16.

There's a lot of work to get done before my A-race in June. Needless to say, after a necessary, extended break in "real" training, I'm happy to get back at it.

Better weather, more fitness, racing ... can't wait.

Train hard. Stay focused.
Jon

Swim Bike and Run are All About the Fun

Just after 8 am this past Saturday morning I set out on a 10+ mile run with The Mayor. In case you have been living under a rock, the winter has been crazy cold in Eastern PA. When we started it had warmed up to about 4 degrees with just a very mild breeze. Not ideal conditions (in fact most everyone would probably call it nuts to be out there) but great, great fun. Because what's not to like - Saturday morning running with a good friend, shooting the s**t for 80 minutes.

In fact, it was the conversation that led to this blog post. Like many of us, The Mayor went through a period of time where he really wasn't enjoying the whole fitness thing and he had been struggling to keep up with the running and riding. Much like myself, he has been doing this for a long time.

After more than 20 years of racing I can assure you that if you are not having fun it is impossible to stay motivated to train and race. Here's what I've done over the years to keep my training mojo:

1. I Don't Take Myself So Serious

Yes, getting "better" and going faster is important to many of us. I would be lying if I told you I didn't care when I blew up those 20 or 30 times. But unless you are a professional athlete you are training/racing for the pleasure of it all. Sure, you may tell yourself that it's about getting a Kona slot or a Boston Qualifying time ... but really it's not. Or at least it shouldn't be. I enjoy the competition against myself and others. Truth be told, you race on Sunday and on Monday you are back at work and nobody cares what happened at your local 10k the day before.

2. I Race the Races I Want to Race

If you want to do an Ironman, do an Ironman. If you decide you are happy racing Olympic and Sprint distance races, that's fine too. What is important is racing for yourself, not because you feel pressure to do a race or a specific distance. When I started racing triathlons I took a bunch of slack from a training partner who is a damn good runner. He couldn't understand why I would even think about Swim/Bike/Run when you could skip the first two and just run. It's his thing and he is damn good at it. Me? I really like riding bike. I also really like the challenge of triathlon. Needless to say I do pure running races, but haven't even thought about giving up triathlon.

Firecracker 4 Miler, July 4, 2014

3. I Race and Train With Friends

Can you get more work done - more specific work done - when you are training alone? Yes. Can a group ride turn into an unsanctioned race? Sure can. Does that mean you should do all your training alone? No. No. No. No. No.

Training with others might not be the "best" thing you can do for any specific goal you may have but it sure is fun. When you train with others it isn't all about you. Sometimes you will run too hard or lose some training time because someone punctured their rear tire. It happens. There are also times on the Wednesday night ride that you pull the boys for 8 minutes, nobody will come through to take a pull, then you have to lay the hammer down the rest of the ride. Or maybe that's just me ...

Anyway, what you lose in specificity you more than make up in smiles - be they a result of an easy day in the saddle or mutual suffering through a hard workout. And racing with friends gives you camaraderie while (hopefully) killin' it on race day along with people to share the experience with.

Also, if you train and race alone, who would you grab a post-training/race meal with?

What a fine looking group, no?

4. I Also Train Alone

As awesome as it is training in a group, there are times you just need to be alone. I do a lot of my training in the early hours of the day when few people are out on the road. From time to time I have a training partner with me but for the most part I'm out there alone. That time alone on the roads is some of the most pleasurable time I have while training. If I have a specific workout scheduled it gives me the ability to do the work I want to get done without worry of what someone else is doing. This past year I stopped riding with the Sunday morning group when I hit my race prep period for Ironman Florida. I always enjoy the rides with this great group, but I needed to be alone to get specific long rides.

5. I Enjoy the Process

Yes, there is always "that guy" who seemingly gets up off the couch on race day and manages to get to the finish line. I'm not that guy. Doing my best on race day means actually training for the race. Being truly prepared takes time and effort. You build fitness, gain strength, then do the specific training for your event. It's a process. No matter what happens on race day you I enjoy the journey.

6. Help Other With Their Training Goals

When I trained for my first Ironman in 2006 my training partner Low-Jack (of Jack & Jon's Saturday Morning Run fame) would call me every Friday afternoon and asked me what I needed to do on Saturday morning. Come Saturday morning we would do the work that I needed to do. There were a lot of running miles we put in on the roads and trails around Bethlehem together that year and I was truly grateful. Over the years I have payed this forward with a variety of people.

Heck, the run with The Mayor I referenced at the beginning is just that - helping a bud get to the start line. For 2015 a part of my motivation is to be out there helping friends get ready for their big races. I already know that I will be spending some quality time running and biking with some great people in support of their goals (Trust me Barb, there will be an epic bike day for you and I in the near future).



At the end of the day it is important to remember why we do this. Think back to the early days of your journey, when you completed that first 5k or time trial or swim meet. I bet you had a big smile on your face when you crossed that finish line. That smile came from reaching a goal, but it also was a result of your enjoyment of the sport.

If for some reason you have lost the joy that comes from all things endurance, I hope this helps sparks some ideas on how you can get it back.


Train hard. Stay focused.
Jon

2015 Race Schedule and a Training Update

There's a good reason why I haven't talked about training all that much lately: since Ironman I haven't done a whole lot of training. Yes, I have exercised. But very little of what I have done since November 1, 2014 could be considered training.

And to be completely honest it has been a great thing. Getting ready for an Ironman is a huge task, taking up not just massive amounts of time, but also major amounts of mental capacity. I have done enough long distance racing to understand the need to give it a break. As someone with a long-term perspective on sport, I always pick and choose what I do with the big picture in mind.

Source

I raced my first race in 1995 and have been around the Lehigh Valley scene ever since. I have witnessed many fine athletes come and go for a variety of reasons. Most leave the scene because they either physically beat their bodies up to the point where they can no longer do it, or they burned out so bad they just flat out quit. And here I am 20 years later, just like the Energizer Bunny, still going and going and going. Not the best athlete you will ever meet, but consistent.

The difference has been my ability to kick it back and embrace not always being "in shape." My off-season has never included a race schedule. Yes, I have done races - specifically xMas City 5 Miler - during my down time, but always as a fun run, never pushing the envelope.

Right now, I am not "in shape" for much of anything. I am weighing in 7-8 pounds heavier than my race weight with my longest workout this year being an 11 mile run with The Mayor two Saturday's ago. Hard to believe I ran a marathon off the bike just 3 1/2 months ago.

January had two goals: 1. Start the process of getting strong again and 2. Train consistent.

Win! Win! The first four weeks of the year I stuck to an unaggressive training schedule with what I consider to be low volume. Monday's were no-cardio days and I was lifting weights 2-3 days per week. Some of the strength training has been done in a traditional sense with functional strength workouts thrown in on a regular basis. Long workouts have been limited to 1 hour.

The first two weeks of February have been a continuation of January with a slight increase in what a long workout looks like. In the pool I have not done more than 3000 yards in any one session, no run longer than the one 11 miler, and there is no way in hell I'm spending much more than an hour sitting on my trainer.

Six weeks into the year I can honestly say I am in nowhere near competitive race shape ... which is perfect. If you are in race shape in February, come June you could be in trouble. And by October ... maybe you are more hardcore than I am, but I would be physically and/or mentally wrecked.

Been there. Done that. Not going back.

Anywho ... I have always felt that racing is a personal thing. When I choose to do an event or a distance I choose to do it because I want to do it. Yes, I will race with friends, sometimes even to just help them reach their own goals. But even when doing that, I am there by choice.

Which brings us to 2015. After so many years of racing long I am taking a much different year for myself. One thing with racing long is you can only do so much of it. When I was running marathons I would do 2 or maybe 3 each year. Ironman years are dedicated to one or two races at the most. For a few years I have been talking about changing things up and racing bike and racing shorter events. This is the year.

For triathlon my goal race is the TriRock Philly Triathlon in June and the NJ State Tri in July. In Philadelphia I am looking to grab a PR at the Olympic distance and (finally) win my age group. I know you can't control who shows up, but I still want to win my age group at this race. It is one of my favorites and I have come so close in the past. In NJ I want to put together a great race. The bike is long (25.5 miles) so it is not a true Olympic distance. I always love racing in my native New Jersey as the competition is always high quality and it feels like being home.

There is also the possibility of a September Ironman 70.3. I haven't made a commitment to it yet. Honestly have to see how things go and if I want to commit to the work necessary to be in shape. Right now I'm leaning yes. Getting ready would be committing to long runs of 1:45 and long rides in the 3 hour range, not 3 hour runs and 5 hour rides.

On the bike there is a Thursday night crit series in Trexlertown. My plan is to start riding these races on a regular basis and try my luck at one or two of the local time trials that are held in the Summer months. It is time I test my bike and see what I can do without the need to run to the finish line.

Current 2015 Tentative Race Schedule:

March, 22 - Warm Hearts 5k (paid)

April 12 - Emmaus 4 Mile Classic (paid)

April 26 - St. Lukes Half Marathon (paid)

May 16 - Jerseyman Sprint Triathlon (paid)

May 31 - Black Bear Triathlon (OLY) (tentative)

June 28 - TriRock Philadelphia (OLY) (paid)

July 19 - New Jersey State Triathlon (OLY) (paid)

August 9 - Steelman Triathlon (OLY)

October 16-18 - Runners World 10k or Half Marathon (tentative)


And there you have it. For the first time in years I plan on racing more and racing short.


Train hard. Stay focused.
Jon

Rest, Recovery and the Aging Athlete (Me)

Training is easy - get up, loosen up, out the door, then work your ass off. Depending on the day it may be intervals or something as simple as an aerobic-paced run. No matter what the schedule says it is fairly easy to get up and put the work in when you are a motivated, Type-A kinda athlete. Triathlon is a sport made up of Type-As.

Science tells us that once we hit roughly age 35 the body starts to fight us a bit. Now I am not talking about your average Joe who spends more time sitting on the couch or a bar stool who "suddenly" realizes he has a 42 inch waist, surprised by the whole situation. No, I'm talking to you, the athletically inclined soul who wakes up at 4:30 in the morning to get that run in before work or sits on the trainer, pedaling away at 9:30 pm because that was when you finally had the time to get it in. Even as we deny it, things get different as we age. Vo2Max levels decline over time and the body doesn't recover from hard workouts as fast as in the past.

As we get older we need to adapt. Joe Friel said it better than I can:

"... it appears that aging athletes are fighting an uphill battle. But for most I don’t believe the issue is aging so much as it is detraining, misuse and disuse. We simply fail to adequately and appropriately change our lifestyles and training regimens as we get older. When younger one can make more mistakes in lifestyle and training without significant negative consequences for performance. As we age there is less latitude for mistakes." Source

Change my lifestyle and training regimen? Are you crazy!!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE my routine!!!

Yeah ... reality is, just like everyone else, I'm getting older. Doesn't mean I need to give things up, just means I need to adapt. I have the whole nutrition thing down as well as the must lift weights thing. Sleeping 8 hours a night is something that will never happen (I am sure I fall on the need less sleep spectrum) but I do get more sleep these days than I ever have. I love the Saturday afternoon power nap!!!

The problem for me is the whole rest thing. I remember the days of training for my first few full Ironman events with some crazy, crazy workloads. I had a peak week that included 14k in the pool, 300+ miles on the bike, and 45 miles of running. Sounds nuts because it is. But just like any other motivated athlete I remember those days and see no good reason why I shouldn't be able to do that now. 

Just as a little side note: if you've ever been out for a post-run breakfast with me and you think I eat a lot of food today, should have been there 8 or 9 years ago.

Anywhooo ...back to that age thing. Can't put in the type of workload I did "back in the day." In fact, back then I remember training like I was trying to bury myself in a training hole. Now that I'm in my mid-40s I can still make that happen. Difference is, too much training today is not only digging that hole but also jumping right in. For example, read this. 

And while I would have to admit that killing myself with intensity and/or volume is fun, the days of suck that follows I could live without. Thus, I have continued to modify my training to fit the reality of the workload my body can handle. 

1. Redefining Rest Days - Ten years ago a rest day might be an easy morning run and an aerobic/casual bike ride in the evening. Today a rest day is either a complete day of rest or a short, easy swim.

2. Diet - In 2010 I was having trouble recovering from workouts and made the decision to eat more fruits and vegetables. Today I give zero thought to calories in/calories out and focus more on the nutrient density of what I consume. Is my diet perfect? Heck no. But 80-90% of the time I'm eating real, high quality foods. Basically I follow the wise words of Michael Pollan - "Eat real food. Mostly plants." A synopsis of his seven rules for eating here.

3. Recovery Weeks - This is really new for me and am currently in the middle of one right now. Some of you would call it barely training. With the crappy weather we have been having in Eastern Pennsylvania this hasn't been so hard to do. This will take some work to do when the weather breaks and I can get outside on my bike every day. 

4. Taking the Warm Up and Cooldown More Serious - There was a time when I could go from head on the pillow to out the door for a run in about 10 minutes. Today it is more of a process.

5. Foam Rolling - This is something I have done on and off for some time, but have been more consistent about this year. 

6. Massage - I have the best massage therapist who I see on a regular schedule. If you don't do this you should call Joe (610-865-1418). You can find his website here.


Simple but not easy. I'm not a physically gifted athlete. I'll never be the fastest runner, strongest cyclist or best looking swimmer. My results come from hard work. If I have a default mode it is to put my head down and work, work, work. For 2015 I'll be taking the more cerebral approach my body needs.

Thanks for reading!!!

Train hard. Stay focused.
Jon

Ready to Run by Dr. Kelly Starrett - Book Review

There are many books on the market available today that will give you a training program to complete every race distance from the 5k all the way up to the marathon. Heck, you can save some money by searching the internet for a program if you really want. I don't recommend that as there are some classics available that should be on every runner's bookshelf. Running to the Top by Arthur Lydiard, Pete Pfitzinger's Advanced Marathoning, Daniel's Running Formula (Dr. Jack Daniels), and the Hanson Marathon Method.

There are other books out there that are designed to teach you HOW to run. The POSE Method is probably the most well know system. But there is one book that is missing from the world of running - the book designed to help keep you running. Running is a destructive sport that can play havoc on the body. You can have the best training program in the world or the world's greatest coach, and it doesn't matter if you keep getting sidelined with running injuries.

This is where Ready to Run steps in. Dr. Starrett is not who you may expect to buy a book on running from. While he surely does some running in his life, I am fairly certain he wouldn't describe himself as a runner. What Starrett is, however, is a man obsessed with movement, mechanics and mobility. What he strives to do in Ready to Run is help those of us who are runners improve performance and reduce the risk of injury. Or, as the first chapter is titled, he wants to help you become a durable runner.

The book is divided into four parts. Part one is Starrett's philosophy and basic ideas on running. Part two is a breakdown of his twelve standards with each receiving it's own chapter. The third part introduces the mobility work that relates to runners, and part four goes into specific running injuries and the applicable mobilizations.

As a runner or someone who runs you will want to concentrate on part two and the twelve standards where everything from posture to footwear is addressed.  Some of what he discusses here you may find controversial (flat shoes) while some is just common sense (hydration). You need to go into this with an open mind, understanding the standards presented are designed based on science and research, not myth and folklore.

Within each chapter there is a briefing, a "runner to runner discussion," a test for the particular mobility being discussed, as well as recommendations for mobility exercises (where applicable) located in the third part of the book. If you are good with the standard you can either move on or use the information presented to make your body even better at the standard. Your choice, of course.

Personally, this is a book I have been waiting for for a long time. I purchased Starrett's first book, Becoming a Supple Leopard in hopes of keeping my body highly functional for the long term. It has been helpful, but a bit overwhelming. There was all this information but I had trouble connecting the information to practical application. This book connects those dots, allowing anyone the ability to get your body to where it should be on a functional basis. This book shows you how to get your body organized, eliminate pain, and get your body ready to run.

Who Should Read Ready to Run?

If you are an athlete who has to run in your sport of choice or while training for your sport, this book is for you. Staying healthy should be the number one goal of anyone who is active in sport. Staying healthy, unless you are a freak of nature, takes some work. When you run you put stress on the body that will help you improve performance, but it also puts stress on the muscles, tendons, ligaments and bones. If you run you will inevitably have some "issues" at some point ... most of us sooner rather than later.

As someone who loves to run I want to be able to continue doing it for as long as possible. If you are reading this I suspect you feel the same. Over the years I have been relatively injury-free, which I am grateful for, but am always concerned about my body wearing out from the stress I put on it. Ready to Run is the resource that will allow me to continue on for years to come.


Thanks for reading!!!

Train hard. Stay focused.
Jon