Obsessed Runner Blog
2013-05-22 - Nice run!
Yo run gang,
May 22, 2013
Often in a race we are so caught up with our own experience that it's easy to forget that in every event we enter, we are surrounded by people that are accomplishing amazing personal goals, perhaps heroic feats! Finishing times and place don't tell much of a story, only the runner knows the effort it took to get to the starting line. They may have lost 100lbs or are running again after years of recovery from a near death accident or perhaps their run is a celebration, a return to a normal life after a struggle with loss and grief. Their run may be the culmination of the long road back from addiction or any personal struggle, we just don't know. That said, even if it's not life changing effort, perhaps just a personal best from putting in the training and reaping the reward from the effort, each runner has a story and we are playing a part in it as we race together. We never know when our words of encouragement or just a clap or cheer will bring a tear to an eye and joy to a heart. When we race, we are all in it together, on the home team, pushing each other to greatness!
Nice job, good work, you're awesome!
Randy Step, an admitted obsessed runner ... who never gets tired of clapping, cheering and kind words, even on days I don't deserve it.
September 10, 2008 - I am NOT going to rehab!
Yo Run Gang,
Ah, the good old hunter and gatherer days, todays life is busy, complex and stressful. The daily run seems to shed off the mental load as the miles add up. The head clears from 1,000 thoughts at once down to a singularly clear mission of movement. What would we do without running, this simple, physical and psychological gift?
Yesterday while listening to some tunes I thought up a design for the back of the shirts we offer to the Big House Big Heart Obsessed runners team. The art will say, Obsessed Runner! Said I aught to go to REHAB, I said, NO, NO, NO! Ill post the art on the website when its ready.
Please join me on Sunday, September 28 at for this amazing run that finishes on the 50 yard line of the University of Michigan stadium and is for a great cause. Enter at www.bighousebigheart.com. No additional charge to join my Obsessed Runners team, just click on Make it a 10K, or More. There is a charge if you order the obsessed shirt. Join me and make it the worlds longest 5K by running a loop of the course in advance and making it a 10K or running a 7 mile course with mile marks and aid, then running the 5K course in advance, then running the 5K, making it a half marathon! We have someone running it all twice for a full marathon if you want to join her! Yikes!
Get obsessed, stay obsessed,
Randy Step, an obsessed runner who is NOT going to rehab!
May 6, 2009 - We are gearing up for longer races.
Yo Run Gang,
For many of us, along with spring running, comes an increase in weekly mileage. This is not because we were wimpy in winter its because we are gearing up for longer races, right? Anyway, as we increase mileage the body must adapt to this new level of running and there is always a risk of too much too soon and developing some new pain. Many of us are at that stage now, getting up in the morning with a sore heal, arch, hip, knee pains that go away as we warm up and get moving. I call these the good pains, not that they are good but they are better than a pain that comes up during a run, pain that increases as we continue on the run, the pains I call bad pains. The good pains call for ice after the run (Ice we often skip because, heck, the pain went away during the run.) and perhaps a day or two off to calm them down, skip these steps and the good pain might turn into a bad pain. When a bad pain comes up during a run and if we continue to run into increasing pain, we run the risk of needing weeks or months off to get back. When these pains come up, stop the run, walk home or get a ride, ice, and take several days off. If you follow this strategy, you have a good chance of dodging the long term recovery bullet. What Ive just explained is the hardest part of being a runner, which is, not finishing the planed run or race, feeling like a wimp as you do something that is just the opposite of being a wimp.
Tip of the week, go to downtown Ann Arbor Friday night for dinner, and catch the all downtown merchants moonlight madness sale, including Running Fit, open to 11 PM!
Enjoy every healthy day,
Randy Step, an obsessed runner, flirting with the edge