Runner Vs. Runner's Ego

It was the last mile of the 5K race. It was my first year running, so I still was not really sure how to properly pace myself, so I would compare the way I was breathing with the way people around me were breathing to gauge how I was doing. I was passing another runner, I listened to his breath, ragged and gasping, mine was rapid, but still smooth so I figured I was OK for now. I started catching up with another runner, from several yards back I could hear him breathing and I knew he was really struggling. I could see that he was slowing down.

He turned his head to look over his shoulder. Apparently he heard me coming. When he saw me catching up to him a look of bold determination came into his eyes, he turned his head forward again, tucked his head and shoulders down, took a deep, labored breath and pushed. I maintained my pace. His push didn't last long, he faltered, actually stumbled a bit, then slowed down even more than before and I passed him.

I had a friend who decided he hated running. Whenever he finished with a run his legs were sore, he couldn't catch his breath, and he just felt like garbage. It turned out, he was looking at mile paces his friends were posting on facebook and was basically racing them on every run.

The thing I tell new runner's about this is, "Don't let your ego plan your run."

It is easier said than done. I was faster in my first year of running than I am now. This makes me want to run faster than I should be running on my training runs. So I have had to let go of how fast I ran before, and run the pace I need to run now.

Whether it is a run, a weight training session, a martial arts class, or a zumba class, it is important to get one's own workout and not try to keep up with someone else's workout. Not only does this keep the workout at an appropriate level, it also leads to being more at peace with one's body.

It exercises the body and the mind all at once.






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Save Your Sole: Run Barefoot -- Part Two

If you missed part one. It is here.

Now that you've strengthened and lengthened, it is time to run barefoot. So. . .

Take off your shoes and run.

As I have said before, there is no such thing as a barefoot shoe.

All the tips that you will hear about barefoot running, or running in minimal shoes become much more self evident when you get out on a hard surface with bare feet.

Listen to your body: It is much easier to hear the feedback from your feet when there are no shoes to dull their sensation of the ground.

Run slower: If you go out barefoot at top speed you'll pay for it quickly, so slow down, your bare feet will tell you if you are going slow enough.

Don't go too far: If you go out in minimal shoes, you can run for quite a long way with no pain, until the next day when your calf muscles and achilles tendon scream at you. Go barefoot and your feet will tell you when to turn around, don't ignore them, stop when it is time to stop.

Shorten your stride: Stretching your legs out and landing on your heels barefoot will hurt, listen to your body's feedback and shorten your stride accordingly.

Don't heel strike: Stretching your legs out and landing on your heels barefoot will hurt, listen to your body's feedback and shorten your stride accordingly.

Run softly and smoothly: Again listen to your feet, literally this time. Try to avoid a thumping sound or a slapping sound, run quietly, run like a ninja.

Did I mention to listen to your feet?

Save Your Sole: Run Barefoot -- Part One.

Well, at least toughen your sole anyway.

Spring is creeping its way north once again and people are getting outside to exercise. More and more people will go outside and lace up those running shoes and go for their first runs of the year or the their first runs ever. While it appears the "craze" part of the barefoot/nearly barefoot running thing has died down, sooner or later a new runner will be in a race or on a run in the park and see someone running barefoot, in "those toe shoes," sandals, or something that looks like slippers. A brief conversation with these minimalist runners may lead one to question what the guy at the running shoe store told them about over pronation.

There are some things to know before ditching one's shoes though. If a runner is accustomed to old there will be pain, oh yes, there will be pain.
fashioned running shoes (yeah, I said old fashioned) and enthusiastically jumps on the Tarahumara bandwagon without a solid transition,

Over the next few posts here I'll share some things to watch out for if you think you would like to switch to less shoe.

These are close, but still not barefoot.

Today I'm discussing heel - toe differential. If there is a 16mm difference in the heel and toe in your shoe, your heel is 16mm (more than half an inch) higher than your toe when standing in those shoes. If you switch from this to running in a shoe with zero differential, your foot will be in a more natural position, but your muscles haven't been operating this way so there is some adjustment to be done.

If a personal training client came to me complaining of some low back discomfort, told me they had a desk job where they sat in an office chair 8-10 hours per day 5 days per week, I'd already be betting on a particular cause. I would check to see if when standing their pelvis tilted forward. Sitting all day for large portions of life will cause some changes in the muscles. The hip flexors (which pull the knee forward toward the torso will get used to the sitting position, making them shorter and tighter. Meanwhile the hamstrings, getting used to their new position will lengthen and become looser. This is what causes the unnatural position of the pelvis and therefore the lower back pain. Stretches and exercises would have to be done to correct the muscle imbalances.

The same goes for the foot.

Changing the angle the foot with shoes that lift the heel off the ground allow the calf and hamstrings to stretch less, therefore they shorten and tighten. A sudden change in how far those muscles have to stretch could overload the muscles and tendons causing calf pain or injury, hamstring pain or injury, achilles tendon pain or injury. . .

Don't give up though, there is hope.

First of all, thanks to the pendulum swing towards barefoot, and the swing back looking for balance, it is pretty easy these days to find out what the heel-toe differential in your shoe is. If you've been running in a 16mm drop shoe and you want to make a change you don't have to go to zero. Talk to your trusted running shoe person about your goals and they can help you find a shoe with a less high heel.

Another tool in your toolbox is stretching. Find a good stretching routine to lengthen your hamstring and calf muscles. You will here a lot about how stretching doesn't prevent injury and impedes performance, and how you shouldn't stretch before a workout. The purpose of stretching is to improve the range of motion. In this case, a runner needs to improve the range of motion, so after a workout, stretch those calves.

Strengthening. Running requires eccentric contractions of the calf muscles on each footfall. Get those calves ready with some good strengthening exercises. Meanwhile, since we are lengthening the calves with stretching, lets also strengthen the front of the leg with some exercises for the anterior tibialis.

Slow down, and shorten your run. If you switch from a 40 pound weight to a 50 pound weight you would reduce your repetitions. The same applies here, the muscles are working more on each footfall, so give them fewer footfalls at a slower pace.

Use these tips and you can start a transition to a more natural running style. This is only one aspect of the difference between old fashioned running shoes and much older fashioned running on your feet, so stay tuned for more.

2%

Picture this.

Don't just read through, don't skim, engage your imagination.

You walk into the gas station and this woman is handing out scratch off lottery tickets just for the fun of it. She hands you one walks out the door and drives away. You laugh a little then head over to the counter, pull a dime out of your pocket and proceed to scratch away. Several other people are doing the same. The guy next to you scratches, then says, "Dang, I had my hopes up." He looks your way and says, "I lost my wallet yesterday and I just ran out of gas, I was hoping to win enough to fill up so I could get back home."

As you go back to scratching your ticket you realize you have been given a winner. You just won 1,440 dollars.

Would you give that guy $30 for gas?

30 dollars would be 2 percent of what you just won, you would still have 1,410 dollars from your winnings.

Would you do it?

Every morning when you wake up, you have 1,440 minutes before the next morning.

Would you give yourself 2%? Would you spend thirty minutes per day investing in your own health? Get up, go out the door, walk briskly for fifteen minutes, then turn around and come home.

That is all, two percent of your day.

The benefits?
Increased Cardiovascular health.
Improved immune system
Lowered chance of obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer. . .
Improved mood
Improved mental function
The list goes on.

2%

New Study Quantifies Common Sense

Well of course, I already knew this from personal experience, but now there is a study that puts it out there as being more than just my personal experience.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19424280.2012.742141?journalCode=tfws20

Basically it says that the harder the surface, the more likely there will be a forefoot strike.

Credit to Runnersworld.com for finding the article for us.

Are You Laughing at My Shoes?

When I was a kid, I had the audacity to be less financially well off than my peers, and as a result I often wore the wrong brands of clothing to school.

In sixth grade, I had on my newly purchased Trax shoes, and some of the other kids started poking fun at them and by extension me. I had no idea that Trax was an unacceptable brand to wear to school, but apparently there was some unwritten rule that I had not figured out yet about wearing the same brand clothing as everyone else. 

You will be assimilated.

I learned to either get the right brands, or somehow hide the fact that my "Jams" were not "Original Jams", but were in fact made by my mother. I was very sensitive to ridicule. I'm not sure if my sensitivity was a result of being picked on, or if being picked on was a result of my sensitivity.

I'm still not over that sensitivity, but lately I've discovered something about being an adult.

A lot of people never got over that need to make fun of something different from their way of doing things.

Case in point, I like Vibram Five Fingers shoes. It amazes me how many grown adults feel the need to make fun of my shoes. "You've got monkey feet." "Look, he's got webbed toes." "Do you need me to buy you some real shoes?" "Those are too ugly to wear." "I can't believe you've bought in to that barefoot running thing."

The list goes on and on and on. . .

Sure I can make good natured responses. "Actually they are shaped like people feet. I couldn't wear these shoes if I had webbed toes. I'll let you buy me another pair of these, they're pricey. You should see my feet without them. You might not have noticed, but I'm not barefoot." 

I've had plenty of practice shrugging it off, but it is a weakness of mine that I take criticism pretty hard.

So, geez people grow up and stop making fun of my shoes! Are we back in sixth grade or what?

It boils down to this. You can put whatever you want on your feet, you can run in whatever shoe makes it most enjoyable for you, but not everyone is going to do it your way. Let the slow runners be slow, let the VFF wearers wear their toe shoes, let the Brooks Cascadia wearers wear their shoes. Let the guy in the toga tied Xero shoes do his thing too. We are all on this planet together, let's make it pleasant for one another.

Why You Can't Keep Your Heart Rate In Your Range

Lately I've read lots of posts from runners having a panic attack about their inability to run slowly enough to stay in their target heart rate training zone.

Guys, chill, there are lots of reasons that you could be exceeding your target zone.

Reason 1. Your heart rate monitor is wrong.

I've had heart rate monitors tell me my heart rate was in the high 50's during an interval workout. I had one that wouldn't pick up my heart rate if it were below 40 degrees Farenheit. Before you stress, find out how accurate your monitor is.

Reason 2. Your ESTIMATED heart rate zones are wrong. Did you notice the emphasis I put on the word ESTIMATED? In case you didn't let me emphasize it some more. ESTIMATED. How did you decide what your target heart rate is? 220 - age times a percentage? Did you MAF it and go with 180 - age? Did you know that 220- age could be off as much as 30 beats per minute?  For perspective, I turn 38 next month. According to the MAF method my maximum heart rate for aerobic work is 142. 30 bpm error factored in it could be 112. What if I tried to run my long run at 142 when I need to run it at 112? That error could also put me at 172 for my maximum aerobic capacity, at 142 I'd be barely working.

Unless you've had your maximum heart rate tested you really don't know what it is.

Reason 3. You are running too darn fast. Slow down.

So what is a fan of Phil Maffetone to do?

Chill guys, I got this. If you are running down the road and you say out loud, "Oh geez, my heart rate is ten beats higher than 180 minus my age. What am I going to do. I just can't seem to run slowly enough to stay in my heart rate range. This is really embarrassing I don't want anyone to see me running that slowly. Oh well, I guess I either have to embrace the shame or ruin my workout."

If you can say all that out loud, you  haven't exceeded your aerobic zone, you're OK to keep going at that pace.

It's called the talk test. If you can say about a paragraph's worth out loud you are aerobic, if you can't you've crossed the threshold.

Links to other articles on this are below.

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/24/health/maximum-heart-rate-theory-is-challenged.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
http://www.runwashington.com/news/1134/310/The-Problem-with-Heart-Rate-Monitors.htm

"Something Would Have To Be Chasing Me. . ."

If you are a runner and you haven't heard this one, keep running you will.

"You ran how far? Why, was something chasing you?"

You don't even have to be logging that many miles, I once heard it in response to a 2 mile run. It is a pretty common comment from non-runners. Actually, you'll get lots of comments from those who choose not to run, and you will find your own way to respond to their well meaning, or sarcastic, or down right snarky comments. You might respond with grace, or return the sarcasm, or just ignore them and move on, but you will find what works for you.

If you want to know some of my favorite responses, I have some good news for you. Here are some comments I've actually heard and the responses I thought up during my next run when it was too late to actually say them.

You know that's bad for your knees don't you?
Actually, no it's not. (I know, dull, but straightforward.)

You're going for a run right now? You're crazy.
One of us will spend 30 minutes today doing running, the other will spend 30 minutes inhaling toxic smoke to indulge their nicotine addiction. Which one of us is crazy?

I get tired driving that far.
In that case you seriously need to go for a run.

RUN FORREST! (usually shouted from a passing car).
Stupid is as stupid does.

You ran how far? Why? Was something chasing you?
Yes, something is chasing me, and it is chasing you too, Obesity, Heart Disease, Type 2 Diabetes, High Cholesterol, OH NO they're coming, they're right behind you!!! 

Run!! 

Run now before it's too late!!

Only Run On Natural Surfaces

Not the "natural surfaces only" line again.

I don't know how many times I've been told that I can't run on man made surfaces without "properly cushioned" shoes.

If natural surfaces are so much easier for running why does EVERY track meet have a man made surface?

Oh, you meant a golf course when you said natural surface? I see, that would be a man made surface. The rock trails at Mammoth Cave National Park would be natural surfaces.

As I run on the roads around my house, I sometimes have to hop over onto the natural surfaces as cars come by. These natural surfaces include bare limestone, prickly pear cactuses, and fields of chest high wildflowers and prairie grasses.

When I trail run at Mammoth Cave it gets so much faster and easier when I hit the boardwalks and sidewalks.

I think most people that tell me to run on natural surfaces have never run on natural surfaces and never run in anything but heavily cushioned shoes.

I happen to love natural surfaces, but not because they are easier to run on. I love them because they are harder to run on. Running on trails forces me to use more awareness, better technique, a larger variety of movements and therefore a larger variety of muscles.

So yeah, run on natural surfaces, then when you need some active recovery take it easy on a sidewalk.

Natural Surface

Man Made Surface

Are You Asking The Wrong Question?

It is very easy when starting something new to begin by asking the wrong questions. I have been seeing this a lot online lately as people are admirably firing up their New Year's fitness resolutions. "Should I run with a weighted vest?" "Should I be doing hill sprints?" "What shoes should I buy?"

These questions are like a phone call I got once while working at a local tour cave. Some guy called and asked, "How do I get there?" I responded, "I'm not sure. Where are you starting from?"

The first two questions you need to know the answers to in travel are, "Where am I starting?" and "Where do I want to go?"

The same applies to your fitness goals.

Where are you starting? If you are on google plus asking people how to achieve a fitness goal, the first thing you need to tell them is where you are right now. Have you been fit and want to improve? Have you been sedentary? Do you have special orders from your doctor? Do you get out of breath walking across the room?

If you ask someone how you should get fit and they throw out a simple answer without knowing these questions, ask someone else.

The next thing you will need to know is what your goal is.

Do you want to get fit enough to get through your regular daily activities without aches and pains? Do you want to get a faster time in a 5K race? Do you want to do strength training and find out how much you can lift? Do you want to run your first marathon or your first triathlon?

Different goals produce different answers.

Know where you are, and where you want to go first, then plan your workouts.

One more thing. I just can't let this one go. Please don't go online and say, "I just started running, what shoes should I buy?" And please don't answer, "Anything by (insert your favorite brand)."

Is Too Much Exercise Bad For Your Heart?

Since the death of ultrarunner Micah True, there has been a good bit of news making the rounds debating on how much exercise is too much exercise. Some have said that more than 25 miles of running per week is too much. Others have said that more exercise is always better. Still others are still sitting on the couch and using these headlines as an excuse to not get up and exercise.

The full formula on what is too much is probably very complicated. It is probably different for every person, and probably different for a person at different stages of his or her life.

My two cents: Get up and exercise, chronic over exercise might be bad for the heart, however a sedentary lifestyle is bad for health.

If you are worried about the health effects of over exercising, don't run 5 marathons a year, but do run for fitness and fun. If you are running less than 20 miles per week, you have nothing to worry about. If you spend 8 hours per day sitting, you have a lot to worry about.

Meanwhile, I will leave the search for the facts on this issue to the exercise scientists and cardiologists while I train for my trail half marathon and olympic triathlon next year.

How about you? Do you plan to change your training based on these reports? Comment below.

Why I Run In "Barefoot" Shoes

First, I'll say it again. I am very disappointed that the phrase "barefoot shoes" has caught on. Barefoot means roughly "not wearing shoes" so barefoot shoes would be the shoes one wears when not wearing shoes.

I guess I need to get over it.

This line of thinking got back in my head after talking to a few different runners who don't think minimal shoes are good for running. I tend to discuss this subject mostly with other people who run either barefoot or nearly barefoot, so I forget how weird it still seems to others.

I never intended to join the barefoot/minimalist running craze. In fact I didn't even know there was one when I got my first pair of VFFs. As I was checking out with my Bikilas, someone else in the store asked me, "So do you do barefoot running?" I was confused. How could my purchase of a pair of shoes lead someone to think I'd be running barefoot? He quickly followed his first question with, "What do you expect to accomplish in shoes like that?" I was still confused, I was very new to running and had not been indoctrinated into believing that I needed shoes with a medial post, or that running in traditional running shoes would cause me to go blind from too much heel striking. I just knew that when I ran in the shoes I was running in it felt bad, and running in these shoes felt good.

Looking back on it a year and half later I can say this.

With no running training whatsoever, I was a sloppy runner. The less shoe I wear, the less sloppy my running. The less sloppy my running the less I hurt. The less I hurt the more I run. That is why I wear weird looking toe shoes, moccasins, and sandals to run.

And here is the evidence.

Me running in shoes.

Me running in much less shoe.

This One Weird Trick Will Help You Lose Weight and Get Fit!!!

Exercise.

A Disciplined Mind In A Disciplined Body

I did not want to go for my run that morning. Thanksgiving was just a week away and the sky was black as coal with tiny diamonds sparkling throughout and a rosy scarf on the horizon. In the light of the moon I could see the frost on the grass sparkling like a sugar cookie on Christmas morning. My alarm had rudely prodded me out of bed only thirty minutes earlier and I was just not in the mood to go out in the cold and exert myself. It was only a short run, like routine maintenance, but I did not want to go.

I was not in the mood to smile and think happy thoughts. The accumulated stress over the last few years was taking a toll, my wife had gone back to school, I was juggling part time jobs and caring for our young daughter, she was juggling school and caring for our daughter. She got her first teacher job and the schedule got worse. Now, five days a week she leaves before seven and returns some eleven to thirteen hours later. The bills had piled up, but finally we had enough income to slowly start digging out of the hole we were in. I was, however, stressed and did not feel like being positive.

I got out of bed even though I didn't want to. I put on my layers and my leather Runamoc Dash running shoes. I put on my balaclava, strapped on my Princeton Tec headlamp and headed out into the cold. Even though I did not feel like doing it, I knew the importance of it. The exercise would improve my body and give me a chance to clear my mind. Routine maintenance is important.

I put on a smile even though I didn't want to. I made a conscious choice about my thoughts instead of letting them drive themselves. I directed my thoughts instead of allowing them to progress into a downward spiral. I knew the importance of it. This exercise would improve my mind and keep me out of the ruts I sometimes find myself in.

I run, I exercise, I train kung fu because without it, my body will atrophy and decay and become gradually more and more useless. I train to stay strong and healthy so my body can withstand more of what the world throws at it.

I discipline my thinking because without it, my thinking will deteriorate into stress and depression. I train to stay strong and healthy so my mind and spirit can withstand more of what the world throws at it.

Time To Take Charge

It seems that I have become a little off center lately, so it is time to do something about it. I've been good about my fitness, I run, I bike, I swing kettlebells, I do Hung Gar, but all that falls under physical fitness. I've been neglecting the other aspects of my health. I have not been taking time to train and maintain my mental, emotional, spiritual, and community fitness. 

So it is time to take charge.

How do I plan on going about this?

I will take inspiration from how I train my body. I know how to get up and go for a run even if I don't feel like doing it, so I will take time to read even if I would rather mindlessly cruise google plus. I won't read just anything, I will read things that are helpful to me. Thich Naht Han comes to mind. I will take time to sit quietly and pray/meditate/be. I will get back in the habit of healthy food. I will practice patience. Patience for myself, for those around me, patience in situations that I am powerless over.

I will look for opportunities to do random acts of kindness and to encourage others to do them as well. 

I will start planning community improvement projects.

It is time to take charge.

Tattle Tail!!

I've been examining my sole.

Soles actually. I've been studying the wear patterns on the soles of my shoes. I can see the evolution of my running form in the soles of my shoes.

New Balance 622.

I started off by running in the shoes I had. My running form was completely awful. I knew nothing about running and these shoes completely shielded my feet from any feedback I would get from slamming my heels into the ground. They are worn from the outside of the across to the big toe area. My toes stick out to the sides when I walk (duck feet) and when I ran in these shoes I did the same thing. Not only did I heel strike, I also zig-zagged somewhat when running.

Vibram Five Fingers Bikila:  The majority of the wear was on the outside edge of the forefoot, with some minimal wear at the heel, and another large area of the wear on the sides of the toe units.

Wait, what? On the sides of the toes? How does that happen?
after discovering this wear on the sides of the toes and the outside of the heel I started really trying to see what my feet were doing. I was landing on the forefoot, with my duckfootedness still happening, as my heel lowered, my foot would rotate into a forward pointing position causing the sideways wear on my toes and the sideways wear at the heel.

Soft Star Shoes Runamoc Dash:
Running in this shoe overlapped with running in the Bikilas and had a similar wear pattern.

My new Bikilas also feature the sideways wear at the toes, but lack the sideways wear at the heel. I think my foot is coming to the forward position more quickly than before so that by the time the heel lands the rotation is completed.

Time will tell what my new Xero shoes will tell me with their wear pattern, but they are already tattling on me quite a bit. I get feedback faster from them thanks to the construction. There are more details on that here.

What do your wear patterns tell you?

Electric Wheelchairs

Electric wheelchairs make running a 5K, 10K, half marathon, whatever easier and more comfortable for inexperienced runners. If a runner has poor running form and is concerned about injuries from running, electric wheelchairs may cushion and protect the runner from impact forces, as well as stepping on sharp things.

I am willing to bet that a person uses less oxygen racing any distance by racing in electric wheelchairs.

Electric wheelchairs prevent overpronation, and oversupination.

Given this information, shouldn't everyone be racing in electric wheelchairs.

Did I say electric wheelchairs? I meant modern running shoes.

Halloween Monsters That Runners Will Survive

I was thinking about things like outrunning zombies, and that of course led me to thinking about other monsters that a runner would fare well against.

The Mummy. As long as we're talking about the shambling revenant style mummy a runner should do fine. If the mummy is using magic and mind control there would be some trouble.

The Wolfman. Sorry runners, not much hope here, with wolf augmented strength and speed runners would be overtaken.

Frankenstein. Runners against the old black and white movie Frankenstein would do fine, the Frankenstein from the novel would be to fast and strong.

Dracula. Running itself isn't any good against Dracula, but if you get enough garlic at the pre-race pasta dinners. . .

What other monsters could you outrun?

Thanks To My High School Track Coach

Anyone who knew me in high school is thinking, "You didn't run track in high school?!?!" Well, I was on the track team for two weeks. I was looking for something new to do and I decided to join track. I told the track coach and he told me when practices were. I went to every practice for two weeks. The coach was never there. Sometimes one of the other track kids would have a note of things to do, a sort of work out that was written in what was to me at the time some secret track code. There wasn't much running going on.

Having not had one session of coaching, a track meet was coming up. I had no idea what I was doing, so I went to the track coach after a class and told him I was quitting track.

He laughed.

Then he asked me why, I told him there was a track meet coming up and I was not ready for it.
He said, "Well whose fault is that?" I walked away, he laughed a little more. If I had been as bold then as I am now I'd have said something back.

I didn't even consider running again for twenty years after that. When I did, it turned out I was kind of good at it.

So I'd like to thank my high school track coach for some important lessons.

Always be there for others.
When you are the one in charge of something, be involved.
Never laugh at a kid.

You Could Get Those Cheaper Online, but. . .

With just a little search engine magic, one can often find amazing deals on running shoes. When budgets are tight that is a great way to shop. I will often go ahead to my local running store even though it means my bill will be a little higher, there are a variety of reasons I'll do that.

I can't give a list as to why you should support your local running store, but I have a great list of reasons that I will support my local running store.

Before I go into it I need to say that Trax Running does not pay me, sponsor me, or otherwise attempt to persuade me to say nice things about them, I just like to say nice things about them.

1. My local running store is staffed by runners and triathletes, people who have tried various shoes and watched others try various shoes and have well informed opinions on shoes and other running gear. I have been there more for free advice and tips than I have been there to buy things.

2. Supporting my local running store helps support their community efforts, Trax hosts a variety of free running clubs, 0 to 5K training, bike rides, elementary school running clubs, and so on. I'm happy to think that buying a hydration belt there instead of on the web helps support these efforts.

3. I can try things on before I buy them.

4. The people at Trax will watch you run, look at the wear on your shoes, ask questions about what you need in a shoe before they sell you a pair of shoes to make sure they give you the right shoes instead of the ones you think you want.

5. They know when all the running events are, support the local running events, and even put together my city's first marathon.

And finally, when I shop online, I feel like a customer, when I shop locally I feel like a part of the running community.