Friday Folies

 The end of the super busy time of year. Today is Friday and I’m home. Since the beginning of August I have been home on Friday-Saturday-Sunday less than I have been gone. 

• Falmouth
• Mexico City
• Berlin
• Chicago
• Toronto
• NYC

In between those I’ve also had events in. 

• Tokyo
• Amsterdam
• Valencia
• Marseille
• Frankfurt
• Warsaw 

Only 5 more events to go. 3 this weekend and then two in December. 

It feels good to accomplish work. Today I’ll pay all the bills associated with all of these events. That feels good too! 

Workouts Yesterday 

Run 57 min 6.2 miles 

Flower Fields (picture above) The area used to be covered in green houses growing flowers. Today there is a golf course and homes but most importantly trails. I warmed up to the first trail head. Then I worked the hills hard. There are 4 hills. They vary in length and pitch. The longest being one kilometer and steep at the end. On the way home I ran the last kilometer with some tempo. 

Yoga: 15 minutes at lunch time. 

Run 20 min 2.1 miles 

Shakeout 

So, You Want to Hike/Run Rim to Rim in the Grand Canyon

 

Before I get to my thoughts I will start with a car rental story. 

We rent cars because we have an electric BMW that is really great for where we live but not great for long distances. For our trip to the Grand Canyon we rented a small SUV to transport our dog with us. At the rental counter the happy guy said “just the basic coverage today?”. Before my wife could question it I said, Yes. As we were driving away in the suv my wife had buyer’s remorse. I simply said, we took the coverage for peace of mind. Anything happens to this car, we walk away. 

The Grand Canyon is dark when it is dark. There are no street lights and the roads are mountain roads. We were driving out of the park in the dark. Within 10 minutes or so we came upon some deer. I slowed and hoped they would run off. They did. I thought to myself “good thing they ran away from the car and not towards it or across the lane” Not 10 minutes later I was coming around a blind curve in the road. I was going the posted speed limit of 45. Deer. I swerved left towards the center of the road and slammed on the breaks. This time the deer ran towards us. Thwack I hit one of them or maybe two of them. I instantly felt sick to my stomach. I stopped in the middle of the road, put on the flashers and got out. While my brother in law surveyed the damage to the car I searched for a deer lying on the road. I found no trace of deer. They were all gone. Back to the car and in the dark I could see the damage. Broken headlight cover, compressed front quarter panel and a large dent in the rear passenger door. 

We turned the car in on Monday and other than an incident report the rental company let us walk away. Sure, your insurance may cover it but at what hassle? For 160 bucks we walked away from some real costly damage. 

The Canyon

I have attempted to run Rim to Rim to Rim and this past weekend my wife and her brother hiked from the South Rim to the North Rim. Below are my thoughts. 

- Prepare, my brother in law did not do much in the way of training for the hike. Meanwhile my wife did what she could during the week and on the weekend for 6 weekends put on her pack, carried more water than needed and walked the hilliest routes around for up to 4 hours. She made the hike in great shape, he did not. 

-Start hydration early. Your are going to start early in the day when it is cool in the canyon. You also start downhill which is deceiving. Start drinking early and stay on a strict drinking schedule. If you are feeling it at Phantom Ranch which is 3 hours in you are too late. 

-Separate Hydration from Fuel - Hydration is the most important aspect of the hike. The dry air, wind and oppressive sun/heat demand it. Mixing fuel and hydration is a mistake. I use LMNT for hydration and it is what my wife used. She then had real food to eat. 

-Load Hydration and Food - When executing an Ironman it is good practice to front load on the bike. This prepares you for the demands of the run. If you wait to try to hydrate and fuel during the run you are asking too much from your body. In the canyon you have a 3-4 or more hike up from 2400 feet to over 8,000 if your finish on the North Rim. You better be loaded for that hike, it will be hard to eat and drink your way up. 

- The I must be absorbing all of the water I am drinking I have not peed yet fallacy- Hot dry air is so deceptive it is not funny. When your body sweats it drys really fast in hot dry and especially windy conditions. If you have not peed much you are not drinking enough. 

-Pace, the Canyon is really difficult to pace correctly. The start is always downhill and you are fresh. You will want to gain time early. Don`t do it. You should feel as fresh at Phantom Ranch (South to North) or Cotton Wood Campground (North to South) as you did at the start. In both cases on my run and my wife`s hike our partners pushed the downhill. In both cases the warning signs of dehydration were there in Phantom Ranch. In both cases it was too late to fix. 

Hiking or running the Grand Canyon is one of the most amazing things you can do in your lifetime. The Canyon delivers beauty, calm and serenity all day long. At the end you will know you did something special. Your body will be tired but your mind will be alive. Ensure that happens with a few small tips I have shared. If you have more to add, leave a comment so more can learn. 

July 2019

It’s been almost a year since I last posted on this blog. Time does fly. A few stats before I dig into the topic. I must report that Niki is doing great. I know a number of people reading this also follow me on Instagram and know our dog Nike had a big scare with rat poison. We almost lost her. Lucky for us she’s made a full recovery.

1. 130,000 - That’s the number of miles I’ve flown since the last time I posted. 
2. 10 - That’s the number of pounds I added since the last time I posted and more importantly the pounds I’ve struggled to lose. 
3. 37 - According to Strava that’s the number of activities so far this month. Those activities include running, cycling and yoga. 

130,000 miles - It’s the work that I do. When I worked at Road Runner Sports I was the source of information for the brands. I would spend a great deal of time being prepared for every meeting I had with them. I wanted to be really knowledgeable about who what buying what and why. It turns out they wanted that kind of information too. When I left RRS and started working for the brands I still wanted that information but it was hard to come by. Nobody around the world could provide us that information. Yes, there were sell through reports from retailers but that was not the real picture. Just because a shoe is selling doesn’t mean the true end user, the runner, was buying. One year about 9 years ago I was heading to Kona for the Ironman World Championships. A friend of mine, John Duke asked me to help Newton with their shoe count at the race. I enjoyed that day and through the years have simply taken over the entire process. About 5 years ago New Balance contacted me and wanted to know if I could take my process and apply it to the NYC Marathon. That’s 2400 athletes in Kona spread out to 50,000 athletes in NYC condensed. I figured it out presented my ideas and they hired me to do 7 events the next year. The process today is not even close to that first year. The data is deep and rich. In the last year I’ve been to the following events, 5h Ave Mile, Bronx 10 Mile, Reebok Women’s 10K, Ironman, Kona Beijing Marathon, New York City Marathon, Shanghai Marathon, New Balance Indoor Nationals, London Big Half, New York City Half, LA Marathon, Boston Marathon, London Marathon, Brooklyn Half Marathon, Westminster Mile, London 10K and the New Balance Outdoor Nationals. The database is not in the millions of runners and the clients are the whose who of running shoe brands.

10 - At the end of last year I stepped on the scale which I rarely do. It said 160lbs. That kind of scared me. When I did my first Ironman which happened to be in Kona I weighed 129lbs. When I had my best string of years between 35 and 40 I weighed 145lbs. I was comfortable at 150lbs. I was not comfortable at 160. Over the last 6 months I’ve done a great deal of “training” and feel myself getting faster but I hadn’t lost a single pound. 3 weeks ago I made a big change in my daily diet. Low Carb/High Fat. For that three weeks I probably went too low on the Carbs. I could feel in in my workouts. My weight however reacted. I dropped 7lbs. It’s a work in progress but I’m quite happy with where I am today. I have a plan, my wife is bought in and I feel better today than 2 months ago.

37 - My fitness is a funny thing. When you get to a really high level of fitness it’s very difficult to feel fit. I like to feel fit. When I’m traveling around the world I do my best to keep that feeling. I save most of my running for the road, ride indoors during the week to save time and swim when I can which is usually twice a week. I maintain my 15 minutes of yoga ever day. Now that I have more time I’m able to up the workload which brings me to 37. My week right now looks like this, 3 runs with one on the track, one long on the trails and one off the bike. The bike is the big time consumer so I’m choosing frequency over single ride distance. This past week I did two rides of 2:15 or so and 3 rides of one hour. Swimming is where I feel my fitness good or bad. When I’m swimming well it feels really good and I feel quite fit. Right now I manage 3 swims. All three are master’s workouts between 3,000 and 4,000 years. One is done at the local 50 meter pool which I love. I’ve been in the 1:35 per hundred lane and it’s beginning to feel too easy. I’ll move to the 1:30 lane for one or two workouts next week to see how fit I’m becoming. When I’m really really swimming fit I can comfortably swim in the 1:25 lane.

That’s it after a year. I’ll try to stay a bit more current.

It’s a good life........

My Ironman World Championships Kona 2014 - One To Remember

I think there needs to be a voice of Ironman and then a voice of the Ironman World Championships. There is not another race in the Ironman family that comes close to Kona. Yes, doing an Ironman is hard but put the heat, the wind, the lava, the lore and the pressure you put on yourself and there is nothing like it. 2014 was no different than any previous year for the racers. It was hot and it was windy and it was magical.

But that is not why I will remember this day or be reminded every Ironman Saturday from here on out. No on this day October 11, 2014 my brother Bob finally fell to ALS. His passing was not a shock but it was a shock. There is no surviving ALS, we know that. But I'll bet everyone who's been through this knows the feeling I had on that beautiful Island. Why Bob, why now!

Outside of that devastating thought there were some other things that stood out in my Ironman.

1. I stayed in a room way above town that I got through airbnb. It was a hike to go down to town and back. On my first day I got a ride to town, did I my things, had dinner with friends then walked for close to an hour back to the house. On the second day I asked the "owner" of the house how much to rent the scooter in the garage. He said, " you buy me a new front tire and it's yours to use". While scooter rentals are $100/day during Kona week I got mine for $60 for the week. 
2. I had lunch or dinner with old friends, New friends and best of all, random athletes. I had a great time talking triathlon and running shoes with the athletes.
3. For race day I did things different. The past few years I have been on the pier at the start and on the bleachers at midnight. I could have gotten the passes to do this again but I chose not to. I watched the start from the opposite side of the pier. And I stood on the street with about 300 meters to the finish line directing traffic with a friend. We had a great time. Athletes are staggering at this point but when they see the lights of the finish line and know they have less than 2  minutes they become athletes again.
4. I saw Dave Mirra walking down Ali' i drive late on race day. I stopped him, introduced myself and asked him if I could have his Cervelo P5. My son Marco asked me to do that so I did. Dave said know Marco said "you actually did it?" It was worth it.
5. I made it home from Kona in the best way to finish Ironman. I took the train from the airport to my home town. I had no ride after that and I did not want to pay for a cab. My first thought failed so I started to walk the 2+ miles home with my roller bag in tow. I here "Dave Jewell, do you need a ride?" I still can't believe the timing. I won't drop the name but in1982 a woman crawled across the finish line making history. This October she gave me a ride home.

I love you Bob Jewell. I hate you ALS.

It's a good life.....

Spartan Up and Diet Cults

I've been reading quite a bit recently. Trying to read one book a week. At least the last two weeks I've been on track. Both of the books I read came from Podcasts I listened to. I know one of the Authors and know the events of the other. 

 I heard an interview with Joe De Sena and really liked what I heard. He's the co-creator of the Spartan Race series. It's really cool how it got started. Joe was working on Wall Street, didn't like how he felt and started running. He then turned to Triathlon which turned to Ironman which turned to adventure racing. When that wasn't enough he created his own crazy events. Through all of this he developed a philosophy about life. Boil his story down success comes from great purpose, great consistency and great habits. This man does 300 Burpees to start his day and in the Spartan Race if you can't do one of the obstacles you have to substitute 30 burpees. I can do 30 right now and I'm a long way from 300. Maybe this week I'll do 31. This is a fast read and it's full of good motivation.

There is one thing that I want to call out. I only call it out because it's repeated in an article in the recent Outside Magazine. The statement is that Spartan Race has 650,000 annual entrants spread over 35 Events. That's just over 11,000 per event. If this were true it would be setting records for race series. I did some counting on the Spartan Website. If you search results you get really easy view of total entrants. On the website they have results for 35 events.  Some of those events are multiple races on the same weekend in the same city. There are a handful of those multiples that have more than 11,000 entrants. There isn't a single event that has 11,000 entrants. In total over the 35 events there are just over 169,000 finishers. Again that is a really big number and very successful for such a young series. But it in fact is not 650,000 and even if it is only a subset of the year, it's at least 1/2 of the year which still doesn't add up to 650,000. I blame Outside Magazine for not checking facts.
Clearly the US and even world markets are looking for something other than running or gym workouts. Spartan Racing, Cross Fit and others like this are growing and that's great for the overall fitness of the world.

I met Matt Fitzgerald the author of Diet Cults years ago when I was working for adidas in Germany. That's right he lived in San Diego working for the Competitor Group and I lived in Germany at the time and that's when we met. I really like his new book Diet Cults. It's a no nonsense historical view of our relationship with food. As you may or may not know there is an assault on the Potato. Dr. Atkins started it and many more have taken up charge. One of my favorite quotes in the book that really explains the gist of this book goes something like this "Imagine telling the Irishman who is dying of starvation because of the Potato Famine, hey those potatoes aren't really good for you anyway".
As you know I travel frequently. What I've noticed is the American diet of fast food is invading the rest of the world. Rarely do you see a fat Chinese unless of course they are sitting at KFC. The same goes for Europe where in Germany people eat a hearty breakfast of cold cuts, muesli and bread. Often you see people eating a sandwich while walking from place to place for lunch. Dinner is meat and potatoes and of course Beer. Dr. Atkins didn't quite make it to Germany I guess. Or if he did they laughed him off.

My point is we Americans are not sensible. We are overly obsessed with food. We eat too much and we jump on fads. To be truthful I'm Gluten free not because of any reason other than my wife Mary. She had major issues with her gallbladder at around the time our son Marco was born. The medical community said "we have a fix, we'll remove the gallbladder". We declined and went the holistic approach. A 6 week test for Gluten sensitivity came up positive. She's been off gluten since then and her troubles have gone away. By the way her heritage is Russian Jew and if you search Gluten sensitivity and Celiac you'll find this culture to be heavily at risk.  So it's easier for me since I do the shopping to simply shop and eat gluten free. I do that everywhere but Germany where of course I dive into the great bread at breakfast.

Diet Cults is a quick read and quite entertaining. Just the history of where food comes from is worth the read.

It's a good life….. 

No Taste, No Energy Hit the Reset Button

I landed back home on Wednesday of last week in a wreck. Two trips to Germany and two sales meetings later this was my state:

1.  8 pm was the most I could get out of my body. By 8:30 I was very crabby. 
2. No Taste - Since I got back from Germany the first time I couldn't taste anything. Or better yet I couldn't enjoy the taste of anything. Nothing at all. 
3. Water - The more I drank the more I felt dehydrated. 
4. Soreness - Like I haven't felt in a long time. Sore back, tight legs, even my head was sore. 
5. No Energy - Even when I was awake I was not in good form. 

So what do I do when it comes to this? 

1. Sunday Massage - Even he felt my pain at points. 
2. Fasted - I had a small light dinner Saturday and had lunch Sunday afternoon. Nothing in between. 
3. Ice Cold Water - Normally I drink room temperature but on this day it was Ice Cold. 
4. A standard in the Jewell house for dinner. 

They say it takes 1 day for every hour of time change. I did 9 hours of time change twice in two and half weeks. Nothing was working the way it should. As the Massage Therapist said "Your organs shut down, your fluid is all whacked and your brain has no idea what time it is" 

If I didn't stop and reload with the 4 steps above I'd be in this state of fog for at least another 9 days or so. This reload is my way to fast track the recovery of all these trips. 

Now don't think for a minute that these trips are worthless. 

Monday - I road for 2 hours with two former European Professional Riders - It was good hard fun. 

Tuesday - I ran with my buddy for exactly 1 hour on a path every runner in the world would kill to run on. It wasn't this awe inspiring beautiful path but it was peaceful always in the shade and flat. 

It's a good life….

Travel Tips From the Glamorous Life of Running Shoes

The life in running shoes, this is my schedule the next two weeks.

Wednesday May 14th - Fly to Munich, Gemany
Thursday-Friday-Saturday - European Sales Meeting
Sunday May 18th - Fly home to San Diego
Monday - Friday - US Sales Meeting
Saturday May 24th - Fly to Frankfurt Germany
Sunday - Monday - Tuesday - Meet with retailers
Wednesday May 28th - Fly home to San Diego

The prevailing belief is that on average it takes a person to fully recover from time zone travel, one day for every hour in time zone difference. Germany is currently 9 hours time zone difference. My goal is to make sure my recovery stays in the 1 day per hour window and hopefully to accelerate the recovery. I believe with this trip it's a full 18 day recovery. Recovery mean's fully functioning sleep, mental focus and play. Below is how I will do it:


Air Travel

1. I use the same airline network all the time. I use United although I'm not loyal to them. They simply cover the majority of my routes in the shortest time. So far I've flown 29,000 miles on 13 flights. Total travel time is critical in this scenario since actual flying time is long. 
2. To build miles for the family I book all my travel and almost all the groceries and daily stuff on the United Visa. 
3. If I can upgrade to business class I will. The difference between laying flat and sleeping or sleeping in a economy cabin seat is dramatic. I honestly believe it cuts down on the number of days in recovery. The actual cost is crazy an the company won't pay it so I use my status regularly. Unfortunately on the upcoming trip only the outbound to Munich is upgraded. 
4. If I'm not in business class, I choose an aisle seat. Moving around, doing squats in the galley, and using the toilet to relieve all the water is critical to feeling good later. 
5. I take my own food. Even in business class I usually take my own food to eat. I don't use a microwave at home so why would I eat microwave food on a plane? 
6. 32 oz of water or coconut water before the flight and water all the time on the flight. By the time I land I hate water. 
7. 800mg of CoQ10 before the flight and 200 mg every hour on the flight. A long haul flight is equivalent to running a marathon. Lots of cell damage going on. 
8. Zoot Recovery Socks - Sitting for longs periods of time pools blood in your feet. Ever wonder why you have Kankles after flying. Sitting and air pressure is why. So the compression socks keep the blood circulating out of the feet. 
9. Alcohol - Oh my this is an entire post. Business Class is open bar and it amazes me the amount of drinking people do on a plane. Want to turn 1 day/hour into more, drink the entire flight. I have my glass of wine and that's about it. 

Arrival 

1. No matter what time it is I do this. I once landed in Singapore at 1am and still did this. So it really doesn't matter how tired I am or what time of day it is on landing this is my protocol. 
2. I go straight to the hotel. If you tell them you've been flying all night, they will check you in. I've yet to be refused by anyone. 
3. I take a cold shower. Wakes me up. 
4. I put on my running shoes and head outside. If it's real late I'll head to the pool to swim but the goal is to get the body moving and blood flowing. Nothing will feel good at this point. You won't feel like running and you won't feel like sleeping so running is better. 
5. If I can find it, I will find a patch of grass, take off my shoes and do barefoot drills and strides. The earth has an electrical charge and putting skin to earth grounds your body. Ever wonder why going barefoot on the beach or in grass is so relaxing? 
6. I force myself into the time Zone. If I land at 7:00am in Germany  I spend the entire day doing. By 9:00pm I'm trashed and out cold. 

Supplementation: I sat across the table from a really good friend the other day. He asked "How many pills do you take a day" I couldn't tell him because I really don't know. He said "I take none, should I?". I didn't know how to answer him or don't suggest that what I do is for everyone. I do know that I feel great at my age and in fact I think I feel way better than most people my age or younger so I'm doing something right. I'm just going to keep on doing it. 

1. CoQ10 on the flight. 
2. REM Caps once in Country. Your body releases Melatonin based on the setting of the sun. When you are out of your time zone it doesn't know when the sun sets. So when I travel I help it out 
3. When food quality is everything traveling can be a challenge. If you are obsessive about the quality of the food, you would never eat. So instead of that I fully enjoy the food presented and then fix my gut with Activated Charcoal. 
4. Damage Control - This has been my source for repair for years. Last year I flew 130,000 miles in the air, stayed 100 nights in a hotel, did an Ironman and I got sick a total of zero days. 
5. My Brain - I have to be on form from the time I land until I sit on the plane coming home. I used to take Motivator  which  works great when you are racing but leaves you a bit edgy if you are simply trying to execute effective work in China. It worked great but the feeling wasn't great. I've since switched to Alpha Brain and am quite pleased. I'm on point, stay on point all day and can sleep well at night. 

This is a ton of information. For 8 years this has been my life and for 8 years I've been hacking away at it. This is what works for me. I'm confident there are nuggets in here. 

It's a good life….

Where's Dave?

The last two weeks have been a blur. Amazing places, amazing people and great time with a great kid. It started out with Spring Break. Marco and Mary have different weeks for Spring Break so he and I always do something. This time we took a drive. 

 In a cast climbing a fence. I threw the Frisbee over the fence. 

 Los Banos Pool not a great name but what a setting. 50 meters of bliss in Santa Barbara

 Look closely and you can see Hearst Castle. 

 The California Coast is simply amazing. 

Father-Son

 We took a hike in the Redwoods. 

 German Plates on an American Truck

 We stopped in Santa Cruz so Marco could visit a friend who goes to UC Santa Cruz

Of Course we shopped for shoes. 

 The Coast in Santa Cruz - Nice Slow Break

 The day was a bit much. 

 We drove across the bridge so we had to stop. 

 If you love running trails, there may be no better place than Mill Valley, CA

 At the San Francisco Running Company in Mill Valley, a few Dipsee Trophies and both guys working the store had Western States Buckles on. That mean's the both did the Western States 100 in under 24 hours. 

I love California. Pools Everywhere. 

 Last stop was Fresno home of the California State Championships for Track and Cross Country. Field of Dreams. 

 Straight from there I flew to Colorado. Love the high mountains. 

 More Running Stores. Legendary at that. 

 Familiar Food is always good. 

The competition is heating up in the running store space. This BRC challenges the Road Runner Sports San Diego store in Size. Monster stores both of them. 

It's a good life…..

Rambling on in this Life

 It's been a rough three weeks. Travel to China is always a challenge especially when things don't go the way you expected. With the trip and the rough days at the office sleep was a challenge. The best sleep I got was 5 hours on the plane from Bejing to Chicago. Then it was off to Chicago to drive some business and see the family for a short time.

1. 5 hotels
2. 2 Overnight flights
3. 16 hour time change one way 2 hour time change the other
4. 30 hours on a plane

 By the time I got home I was wasted. I should have taken time off from work but the things in China caused me to push on. Finally on Friday I slept. 9 hours straight and it felt great. I've found over the years, Sleep is the biggest problem. When I don't sleep well, I get cranky. The people around me should know when I don't sleep well. I get mean. When I sleep well stress melts away. As my friend Chris says, excessive time change travel and a lack of sleep is a sure path to an early grave. It's a good thing I slept really well for 6 weeks before this travel and that I'm now back on good long sleep again. Minimizing the off sleep days is a big goal. I did not do so well this time around. But move on I must. 

The day I started running at the age of 17 I was sitting on my couch stuffing my face with Oreo cookies. Now Nabisco has invaded my Kindle and is tempting me with more Oreos. I haven't had one in 20 years and I don't think I'll start. Nice try Nabisco. Running over Oreo Cookies any day. 

The day before my trip to China. Marco the Runner broke a small bone in his hand. It's the one that allows our thumb to work properly and it's a bitch to heal. So little Marco is in a cast for 3 months. The great thing is against doctor orders he's still running. 3 days a week he runs 3-4 miles on the track. Last Sunday he and I ran 40 minutes side by side down the coast highway. Even with the cast he simply floats when he runs. It's so much fun to watch.

With a full cast on his arm he's not able to participate in the track meets. Thursday marked the first track meet at SDHS in years. The new track is beautiful and it was awesome to watch a track meet there. He'll get many opportunities to run here but even I was bummed that he couldn't run on this day. 

Snoopy here is my brother Bob's dog. Snoopy about says it all in this picture. Bob is not doing well. My only other experience with ALS was with John Blaze. John was able to do the Ironman World Championships with ALS. My brother Bob went from diagnosis, to Wheel Chair to Hospice Care in less than a year. He can't do anything without help and it's sad. His family is hurting, he's hurting and Snoopy here is struggling. ALS sucks, there is no cure and it's just a matter of when. I love my brother and it's tough to get through each day knowing that I'm able to do what I love and he sits in his chair waiting. His faith is strong and I'm glad he has such a supporting wife and son at home. There will be more trips to Chicago in the near future.

It's not very often that you randomly pick up the Wall Street Journal and find one of your products listed.  It was fun to see a running shoe I worked on show up in a feature article. This feature though was funny. They were putting the best of the best triathlon gear in this section and the retail price tag for all of it was $21,000. Not a motivator to jump into the sport.

Travel to China, Chicago and wherever else I have to go is always ok as long as I get to come home to this. This picture was taken at 11:00am this past Saturday. Not a cloud in the sky 75 degrees and the bright blue Pacific in the back drop. This never gets old and it's such a great place to call home. 

I hope everyone has a great week. You may not have Cardiff by the Sea but there are things to be grateful for. Find them and some sleep and maybe like me you can melt the stress away.

It's a good life....

Running Stores of the World: Running Central Peoria IL

My recent travels took me home to Peoria, IL. Well at least it was home from the time I turned 8 until I graduated High School at the age of 18. I still have family there so it still feels like home and I love going back. But this trip was also part business. When I was 17 I took up running. My girlfriend at the time ran track and cross country (we didn't have a boys CC team). I was sitting on the couch one day stuffing my face with Oreo Cookies, got up, put on a pair of "running" shoes and ran 3 miles. I have not stopped since.

Not long after that first run I decided I needed some real running shoes. So I drove to Running Central and bought a pair of New Balance 373s for the outrageous price of $45. Soon after I was out running and decided then and there that I was going to work in the running shoe business.

So it was great to be able to go back to Running Central and to help teach the great crew there about the Zoot Footwear they had on the wall. I spent 4 hours at the store listening to the staff service runners and I fell in love with their method.

First off they are as midwestern as you can get. So there is an honesty and work ethic about them. You know when you go there, they are giving you their best. Instead of treadmills they ask you to take off your shoes, they get down on the floor and they watch very closely as you walk back and forth in a straight line. Then they make their functional suggestions.

Their inventory in the back is laid out by size not by brand or by style. So it's a guarantee they will have shoes for you to try on but they don't really care about which brand they are brining out. They are choosing by function. So in the first few days of Zoot being in the store, our shoes were just included in the mix. People tried on our shoes with no preconceived notion except that it was brought out for them to try. The results have been great so far. Of course I think that's good for Zoot but I think it's good for runners too. You are not going to get stuck on a favorite shoe this way. You are going to be open to options which I believe is best for every runner. I see so many runners get upset because their shoe changed or worse yet don't realize that maybe their running gate has changed and that the favorite shoe just may not be the best for them. So the Running Central method keeps the variety in running shoes going and keeps you on your toes if you will.

There is nothing fancy about Running Central. It's just a hard working well managed running store and as they say "If it plays in Peoria, it will Play everywhere". Their method would be a welcome change to some of the stores in the market today.

It's a good life…..

The Top 10 Things I Learned In my Recent Travels

The past two weeks I traveled into China to work on shoes and then to Illinois to talk shoes and to see family. This is what I learned.

1. Change takes time - We are in the process of evaluating the supply chain. Any change in the supply change takes a great deal of time. You should always plan on the unexpected. 
2. Trains are better than cars - When I arrived in China I waited 4 hours for the driver to show up at the hotel to take me to the factory. When I left for the Airport on the last day I took the train. There is no waiting for the train. It shows up on time and is faster than the car. 
3. Sometimes there is no Class in Business Class - The flight attendants are always trying to make the long flights more comfortable for everyone. It would be great if everyone appreciated this fact. I witnessed some classless people in Business Class. 
4. Sleep is everything - The more I dial in my functional life the more I understand that we do not function well for long periods of time on poor sleep. I departed on Monday morning and the most continuous sleep I had that entire week was on the plane from Bejing to Chicago. It was 5 hours non-stop. I was not at my best. 
5. Find the Silver Lining in everything - That sleep on the plane was Devine. I can't imagine going through the winter Chicago went through this year but the Silver Lining is you made it through. It probably won't ever be worse than that. 
6. Corn is better than Snow - Driving through Illinois in the summer all you see is corn. This past week all I saw was white fields. I like the corn better. 
7. Bald Eagles rule - I see wildlife everywhere. I love it. I've swum with seals, paddled with Dolphins, and even been tracked by Mountain Lions. The Bald Eagle I saw on Saturday was special. So regal, so beautiful. The symbol of freedom. 
8. Pot Holes - I think this winter will mark the worst pot holes in history. There were holes in Chicago big enough to fit my entire car into. 
9. -5 degrees - I visited a running store in Wisconsin. Their Tuesday night run cut off temperature is -5 degrees F. Last Tuesday 60 runners showed up to run, it was - 4 degrees. That is amazing. 
10. ALS does not wait - ALS is a brutal disease. Everyone involved knows the progression and the disease simply does not wait for you to get ready. Two months ago my brother was standing with aid. Today he can move only one hand with extreme effort. There is no cure, there is no hope just progression. It sucks. The Silver Lining is I've spent more time with my brother and his family this year than all the years before combined and I love that. 

It's a good life….

Top 5 Running Memories #3 Running in Kenya

 I was lucky to go to Kenya early in 2002 as part of a running tour with the Discovery Kenya team from Fila.

The Highlights

We were invited to lunch by Moses Tanui. I just remember shaking as we walked up the steps. Moses is a Champion among Champions. 2 Time Boston Marathon winner, first runner under 60 minutes for the 1/2 marathon. 2 time world Champion. World Records on the track. He had a wonderful career and here I was eating lunch at his house. It was simply an amazing day to be with such a humble man who once took it out on any runner who tried to beat him. Moses could live anywhere in the world with the winnings he had but he chose to live in Eldoret, Kenya where he can further the lives of people through running. 

Running with Paul Tergat. A humble man with some very fast legs. At the time Paul was the Current World Cross Country Champion (Many times over). It was such fun running with this man. Everyone knew him and waved to him. I mean everyone young and old. He was a legend then and the legend only grew when he ran 2:04:55 in Berlin.

But the real highlight of the trip was a group run. There were 20-30 runners who started out. The run started on a mountain road at 8,000 feet elevation. It finished 15K later at 10,000 feet. The record for the run was in the 49 minute range. The run finished at a high elevation running camp where injured runners or runners not in competition form stayed. They had no electricity or running water. We took showers under buckets and were fed a feast by the runners. It was fresh lamb and lots of Kenyan flat bread. It was simply an amazing day of running.

It's a good life….

Long Flight Protocol Results

In my last post How to Fly and Live to Tell about it, I described a new protocol I was going to try on a long haul flight. I have the results of the first test. My results say you should try this the next time you fly.

On Sunday I woke up early, ran the Carlsbad 1/2 Marathon and then headed to the airport for my flight to Frankfurt. I highly suggest you don't attempt this. The running puts you in an inflamed damaged state and unless you are ultra diligent about hydration and recovery the flight could do more damage. I consumed about 50 ozs of water along with a good solid food intake and my recovery drink before the flight. At the airport I had more water and 800 milligrams of Co Q10. I used Premier Resaerch Labs. During the flight I drank roughly 30 oz of water and had 200 mg every 2 hours outside of the time I was fast asleep. Monday when we landed we got moving straight away. We landed at 11:00 am and had a meeting at 5:00pm. My body felt rested and most important there was no swelling in my feet or legs. I was able to get up the next morning and run for 60 minutes no problem.

After two nights in Germany it was back to the airport for another flight across the water back to the USA. I followed the same protocol with 32 oz of water prior to boarding and 800 mg of CoQ10 and then 200 mg every two ours. I drank 32-48 oz of water as well. The only issue with drinking this much water on the plane is that I had to get up to use the bathroom 5 times on the flight. Yes that seems like quite a bit but the flight was 9 hours so not too bad.

I had a long layover including a 2 hour delay in Chicago so I decided to continue with the 200mg every 2 hours until I finally landed in Salt Lake City for stop #2 of my trip. After a good nights sleep and an easy morning, I got outside and had a great run in the SLC sun. Again, no swelling of the feet or feeling of thick blood trying to pump through.

Some other thoughts.

1.  I used upgrades on all the flights so I flew business class. I believe the flat seats help to keep the blood from pooling in my feet. If you can't do that than it's more important that you get up an move around often. I will have to do that test at some point. 
2. I had a glass of wine on each of the long haul flights but kept it to one glass. I am constantly amazed at the amount of drinking that goes on during flights. For instance on the way back from Germany the guy next to me drank 6 - 8 cans of beer in a 9 hour flight. I am sure he did not go for a run the next day. 
3. I did eat the first meal on each of the long haul flights. Staying away from bread/gluten or over eating. They serve Ice Cream Sundaes in business class and I declined. I always skip the meal just prior to landing. I have enough snacks with me and I surely don't trust food that's been prepared the previous day and then zapped in a micro wave. 

Again this was the first test. It's the best I've ever felt coming off long haul flights so I'm convinced it's good protocol. If I do it again with poor results I'll comment on that too. Neither flight offered Wi Fi so I chose not to test the grounding of my bare foot to the seat stay in front of me. I'm sure there will be plenty of chance to do this in the near future. 

It's a good life...

How to Fly and Live to Tell About it

"Shift work and jet lag are short cuts to an early grave...literally!" - Chris Maund

This was the last sentence of the first paragraph Chris wrote in a lengthy email about my hyper active Thyroid. Chris is a great friend and he has no filter. It's why I love him. It made me stop and think for sure. He then went on and said Go to Herbs and More tell them that you travel all the time across multiple time zones and tell them you are an athlete. I did and walked out of the store with a host of new herbal supplements. One to calm my nerves, One adaptive herb and two different Omega 3 fatty acid supplements. That was 12 days ago and so far so good.

I wasn't 100% satisfied with my direction for the actual travel part of the trips and I have this trip looming where I fly to Germany on Sunday the 19th, back to Salt Lake City on the 22nd and home on the 23rd. I searched the internet for tips of the trade for those who fly often. Nothing that I don't do already stood out. I already drink 32 oz's of water before I board and at least that much on the flight. I already limit my food intake on the plane. But I still come off feeling like crap. 

Then On Monday I listened the The Bullet Proof Executive podcast with Dr. Jack Kruse and the pieces started to fall into place or at least a test for me on this next flight. The breakdown of the discussion was this, flying is hard on you, flying over multiple time zones on long haul flights is really hard, and the new allowance of wi fi on all flights turns the plane into a microwave.  That was enough for me, I listened intently on what to do. Below is my protocol for the two long flights. 

1. 32 oz of water before boarding
2. 800 mg of CoQ10 before boarding
3. 200 mg of CoQ10 every 2 hours for the duration of the flight
4. At least 32 ounces water on the flight
5. Find the metal Legs of your seat or the seat in front and put your bare foot on it to ground yourself. 

I first ran into CoQ10 as an athlete in 1988. We were doing heavy training and trying to recover enough to work at night when the first Race Caps got to us. We started using them and they were magic. Our recovery improved dramatically. Since then I've used Race Caps for my stints in heavy Ironman training but not recently. Recently I stuck to basic nutrition. Then Dr. Kuse said something that really hit me. Taking a long flight is like doing a race. It ravages your body, The major thing the CoQ10 will do is prevent Blood Clots. It all made sense. I've thought often that I feel worse after a long flight than I do after a race and Dr. Kruse confirmed it. 

The grounding. Think about this. You have to know that a Wi fi signal is harmful. Now think about 250-300 cell phones or computers running wi fi inside a metal box. That just can't be healthy. According the Kruse grounding your body to the plane is the best way to limit the damage by the Wi Fi. 

I'll report on this in the coming week or so as I hit this major trip. 

It's a good life..... 

Ironman Lake Tahoe Training Update

Coming off a big week of riding last week I new the start of this week would be challenging. First the week that was last week.

6 days and 11 hours on the bike

4 days on the feet

4 days in the water

Adding to the challenge for this week was a mid afternoon flight to Dallas Monday for a 2 hour meeting today. Sunday night after 5 hours on the bike the new sick lab started crying and convulsing at 1am so she and I spent the rest of the night on the couch. Ok she wasn't on the couch but she might as well have been. 

The morning was easy with a tired swim and then drive to the airport. I had soup for lunch at 3 pm in San Fransisco. Then it was a 3 hour flight on a small plane to Dallas. By the time I got to Dallas everything was closed. I ended up having Tuna on crackers for dinner at 11:30pm. 

Up at 6 this morning I was out the door to run by 6:30. My legs were dead my head was dizzy and I was starving. Last night on the plane I read You Only Faster by my friend Greg McMillan and got inspired. 25 minutes into my "run" I found grass and threw down 10 x 100 meter perfect form fast as possible strides. That was exactly what I needed. My legs got the snap back and my head and stomach forgot about food and stuff. 

Back home tonight satisfied that I am on track and managing fine.

Running Around the World: Singapore

Quote of the Day: You Look Too Healthy! Man in the hotel elevator commenting on my appearance after a run. 

A fountain in the Mall that is attached to the Sands Casino. That's Salt Water that runs into a flowing river where you can take a Gondola Ride. 

For such a small country this place really packs a punch. Everything you hear about it is true.

• It's clean. It looks 100% manicured but I think much of that is just natural. 
• Traffic flows. For such a tight space with a good sized population traffic is rarely backed up. 
• Security - where much of Asia is full of a present police and security force Singapore is just as present without one. That doesn't mean they aren't there, it just means they don't show themselves. 
• Rules - Again where much of Asia (specifically China) ignores many rules the Singaporeans obey like Germans. 
• Active - There is a huge community of active people running, cycling and the like. 
• Friendly - Everyone gives you a smile, shakes your hand and offers help. And what's amazing is that it's a huge mix of cultures and it doesn't matter which culture you meet up with it's always the same. 

We ate lunch at the Country Club. It reminded me so much of hanging out with Dad when I was young. We were always at the country club. I think he was smiling down on me today. 

I love traveling the world and finding gems like this. This is the second Olympic size pool I found in the city. What a great setting to workout in. I wish I had my suit and goggles at the time. 

This has been my view every morning as I drink my coffee. That is the Sunrise shining on the tree. It's much more beautiful then the picture. Just really cool the way the light begins to show itself. 

There are a couple complaints I have and they have nothing to do with this city. The more I travel the more I'm disgusted with the behavior of the travelers. 

1. The man who walked into the lounge this morning with a t'shirt that read Addicted to Bitches. Who wears a shirt like that? 
2. The man yesterday walking around at breakfast in his bare feet. This is not your home. 
3. Just the general rudeness in people who travel. 

I can't finish on a rant. I'll finish on Food. Great food is all around in Singapore. The issues I have with Asian food are really limited to China. It's actually quite funny to hear a Singaporean man tell me he doesn't trust the China food either. The two things you can't trust in China are substitutions. They eat everything and you know there are substitutions. Even the wine they serve is probably not the orignal wine from the vineyard. The other major thing is cleanliness. It's just a major issue when you walk into a dirty smelly "kitchen" to pick your live fish out. So landing in Singapore those old reflexes kick in. It took me a couple days but they are gone now. The food is fresh here and it's really well prepared. You can find all the world foods in the city.  I've had amazing Indian, fresh Seafood and last night:

We ate at a Teppanyaki place. Outstanding food and quite entertaining. That's Lamb on fire.

It's a good life....

Dave

Running Around the World: Country #29, Singapore

Quote of the Day: Jet Lag cures include a 2 hour workout and a 15km run. How does a 45 minute nap sound instead? www.beready.net

Photo Courtesy of time.com


Singapore marks the 29th country I've run in. I think I'll try all the suggestions in the Quote of the Day today. My impressions of Singapore so far after 1/2 a day.

1.  Stay at the Traders Hotel if you want to be close to good running (The Botanic Gardens are 1 block away and there's a golf course across the street). If you search on google the Botanic Gardens are usually at the top of every list of things to see in Singapore. I took care of that in my first morning run. 
2. I've also checked out the pool and the gym. The pool although not square is large enough (3st. 30 meters end to end) to work on your swimming form. The gym is good but it looks like it will be hot in the day. 
3. Singapore is known for its large Ex. Pat community and I think I found it. The runners in the park, the folks walking the streets, and everyone at Starbucks is not from here. Sure many could be from the hotels around but you can tell a local from not a local and there are lot's of local western faces in the crowd. 
4. Singapore is home to the largest Marathon weekend in the world. Something like 100,000 runners take part in one of 3 or 4 races. That is evident in the number of runners I saw today. I didn't ask where to run this morning. I walked out the hotel found a group of runners and followed them. They showed me the way. 
5. The other thing this location is good for is cycling. On my run I saw 2 riders tucked into their aero bars. On the elevator back up to the room I shared the ride with an Aussie guy and his bike. He had just ridden 2 hours on the streets around the park. He stays in this hotel each time he comes and he brings his bike. 

It's a good life....
Dave

the Week in Review

1. Wear Testing running shoe is awesome when you feel nothing. 2. Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France 7 times. 3. USADA Pot calling the Kettle Black. You say Armstrong will pay for his win at all cost methods. Your attitude is simply that, Win at all Costs. 4. I would prefer my tax dollars go to fighting real crime. Hint. Wall Street 5. The Saints were fined and suspended for Bounties (cheating). They still retain their Super Bowl Title. 5. Barry Bonds - wiped all those home runs away right. No because it was history. 6. I wish my high school would have had cross country. 7. There are times when it's best to close your mouth. Still learning that. 8. It's nice to be home. It's a good life.....

London Day #6

 The local print shop getting in on the act. 

 Alistar Brownlee was providing weekly material all season for the Metro. The payment was the cover the day after the Triathlon. 

 I took a break from the Olympics to visit the War Room used by Churchill and his team while London suffered severe bombing during WWII. 

 The office of the Prime Minister. 

 Members of the team slept in their office. I'm not sure that would work for me. 

 Watch any war movie from WWII and this room is in it. The Map Room. 

What an amazing journey. It started 18 months ago and finished in these 6 days. Days I'll remember forever. 

It's a good life...