Obsessed Runner Blog
2022.12.21 - Run Dirt
We live in a world that separates us from the earth, the dirt. Make 2023 the year to get back to the land and set your soul free. I have running friends who avoid the trails. They either worry about tripping on uneven ground or that they run road races only and feel they should train on roads. At times I feel like a fuller brush Christian as I preach the trail message.
When running or walking along playfully like Peter Rabbit, we develop the ancillary muscles that go underdeveloped when running or walking on a flat surface with a narrow range of muscles going through the exact range of motion over and over. This often leads to overuse injuries because once tired, our body goes to these ancillary muscles to keep stable, and for the road runner, they may not be there. Trails increase our proprioception, that is, our body's ability to sense its location, its movement, it allows us to take that next step without thinking where to place our foot. Use it or loose it. Trail running not only teaches the mind and body to flow over rough terrain, it helps us flow through life with a grace and efficiency that is often taken away by an aging, overly careful, or sedentary life.
Flow wild and free forever!
Randy Step, an admitted obsessed trail runner who along with the Dirt Crew at RF Events, has created a year long calendar of trail events to escape the man-made world for bit. We will run, walk, hike and frolic together in nature! Check out The GOAT Trail Series that kicks off with Trail Weekend!
2022.12.14 - Every run is amazing
Yesterday I had a glorious morning run that was followed by a long tough day of I.T. problems and little accomplishment. Several times during the day I reflected back to the run and each time it gave me renewed energy and hope. I was reminded that much of what we get from a run comes to us far after the work is done. There have been difficult days that I’ve thought back to hard earned marathon finishes I’ve had that continue to push me forward and will for life. The run is so much more that it seems on the surface, each run comes with lifelong mental, physical, spiritual, and inspirational benefits.
Run today, you may need it tomorrow,
Randy Step, an admitted obsessed runner who also realized that during a run, my body refuses to let me be angry. The run is smarter than we are!
2022.12.08 - The run takes center stage
In the midweek emails, my thoughts and ideas about the value of the run and what a gift it is for us to have found running are nothing new to us. As runners, we know them from personal experience, I just happen to put them into words. These midweek pokes are reminders of the gift, because like so many of the most precious things in life, it is easily taken for granted. We may be frustrated at the world, overwhelmed by the to-do list and unread emails we need to get to while our precious run slips under the layers and out of mind … Then, when scanning the inbox, there is the midweek, and the run comes into the spotlight at center stage!
Run first, so you will be ready to face the problems of this world.
Randy Step, an admitted obsessed runner who promises a daily read of my book (“Get Your Butt Out the Door”) will be a tool that will keep the run center stage through the holiday crush and seemingly endless winter.
The book gives 365 daily dated pokes. I’m just looking at today’s, 12/8 entry titled, “I will not be feeling happy and smart today”, tomorrow’s title, “We are as tough as our runs”. If you have the book, you get to know the rest of the story! If you don’t have the book, ORDER IT NOW! If you do order the book, shoot me an email and say, I just ordered the book and tell me your goals. I’ll sign it with a personal poke to you, or if it is a gift, let me know who to write it to.