New Balance Revival

After my gushing post about Flotrack Pro you may be wondering if I get anything out of promoting things. No. No I don't. I wish I did, but I don't. I want to just unbiasly share my opinions. That being said I wanted to talk about the only American manufactured shoe brand, New Balance.

As a sales person in the running industry there seemed to be a stigma attached to the brand. It seemed like a brand for older people; like old old. It was a brand that has produced some of the most popular full leather walking shoes. In fact at the store I was fitting every other customer over the age of 50 with a pair of the New Balance 920s.

I am assuming that serious walkers are not reading any of this blog, so what is my point? For years New Balance's running shoes were a lot like their leather walking shoes: chunky, heavy, and unappealing. Again I felt like they just could not come out with a shoes to keep up with the trendy, low-profile, flashy shoes.

Until recently.The shoes that stand out in my mind as the turning point for New Balance in the past 4-5 years is the NB1400/NB890. These two shoes offered a new look to the brand. They became more tapered at the toe box, sleeker overlays and a general lightness that makes their previous types of shoes seem like they were from the Stone Age. 

The 890 is one of the most popular everyday training shoes that New balance offers. It's high levels of cushioning makes it a comfortable option for any neutral runner. In some cases, those runners that are looking to move towards the minimalist approach, the 890 is an excellent segway shoe to start with if you suffer from mild pronation. 

The 1400 is a racing flat, but I have personally taken these shoes to their limit. These puppies are THE BEST ROAD RACING FLATS ON THE MARKET!!! I have had 12 pairs, and currently on my 13th pair, for a reason. Running over a 100 miles a week these flats have enough cushioning to remain comfortable enough on long run days and light enough to hit it on interval days. I can usually expect 400-450 miles out of these "racing flats." I choose to use the 1400 as my everyday trainer but I would highly recommend them as marathoning flats. A number of my teammates have the 1400 for thier interval days and love them. 

These two shoes have revived the American favorite brand. I urge you to try either of these two shoes on next time you go visit your local running store. Though New Balance may not financially compete with behemoths like Nike or best sellers like Brooks, watch out for New Balance to make a statement on the running shoe market!

My Sacrifice for College Running

Earlier today I had my final meeting with my academic advisor. We discussed the plan for my 5th year. The news was not too good. Two of the courses I needed were only offered in the winter term of our trimester schedule. The problem here is that I hoped I wouldn't have to pay for school that term. Without indoor track ellegibility I could have gotten away with finishing my degree in two terms, fall and spring, cross country and outdoor track. 

Well now I am faced with a conundrum. If I decide that a full year of school is too expensive ($40,000+) to try to do with zero scholarship money that I have received over the last 4 years, then I could just finish up the four courses I need for my English journalism major in a single term in the winter. With this I would effectively be ending my time as a north central runner this spring.

Alternatively I could pay $40,000 or more for 2 more seasons of Intercolliagate running and a double major in English Journalism and Interactive Media Studies. 

The question really is, how much do you think running is worth?

Flotrack Pro: Rip-off or The Way to Go?

Just last weekend a group of us were huddled around my laptop. Everyone cheering on Johnny Crain as he threw down with some of the best runners in Division I at the Stanford Invitational 10k. With my Flotrack Pro account we all got to witness Johnny run the second fastest 10km time ever run in Division III history, just 4 seconds off of the record.

I've had the account for only 3 months now but it has been a very solid investment. For $12.99/month (or something like that) for a year long subscription, I can access all the live feeds and in-depth documentary type of episodes they come out with every now and then. This content is what I want!

$150/year can seem steep, especially for a full-time college student, but in my opinion it is well worth it. Just being kept up to date with what is happening in college and professional running, and staying connected to the high school scene. The whole subscription is an immersion into the running world!

How much you spend on running shoes every year? How much do you spend on clothing? Let's face it for such a simple sport we tend to drop a little more money than you would think. 

The great thing about Flotrack Pro is that for anyone serious about improving or becoming more ingrained into the running culture, this is the ultimate tool. Their consistent and complete coverage of the biggest meets of the year as well as an array of interviews with professional athletes is the best out there.

Ryan Fenton, Alex Lohr, and most recently Gordon Mack are the new faces of track media. The old Track and Field News and Running Times are now falling to the way side. The British announcer that every runner loves to hear on television coverage of a marathon here and there is soon to be replaced by Fenton, Lohr or Mack's voice. 

American marathoning legend Frank Shorter is bound to remain timeless in his color commentary with the big road races of the year, but Flotrack is starting a take over. Their growing social media presence is staggering and I for one am hooked. 

I am certain, on a daily basis, I check at least the front page of Flotrack as often as I check my Facebook. 

If I haven't convinced you to get a Pro account, they still have tons of free content. Usually they post videos of almost every race that was on the live feeds a few days after the events for those without a paid account. Before I was a paying customer I tuned in every Tuesday for Run Junkie to get my fix.

If you I have the time, and I assume you do if you are reading my small, insignificant blog, then go check out Flotrack right now. Any avid fan should feel compelled to support their undercovered sport, but I realize money is an issue for some. 

Fenton, Lohr and Mack (as well as the staff at Flotrack) are doing a great thing for the sport! Please make sure they can continue to bring us the best running content around.

Here's the link:

www.flotrack.org

John L. Parker Jr. Is the Man!

Earlier today I finished up Again to Carthage the sequel to John L. Parker Jr.'s Once A Runner. I have to say that I am astounded, and admittedly envious, of Parker's ability to make racing and training  into a poetic and fantastical thing. 

In his first book, Once a Runner, probably the most well known running novel ever, the end paints the picture of an intense mile face-off versus the fabled New Zealand runner, John Walton. Though the book works through different motifs and themes that runners are able to associate with, especially college athletes. 

When you strip away the rich literary value, a reader is easily drawn to the final chapters of the book. The race. What every reader looks for is the action and spice of a story and the end is hard to over-hype. In the interest of any readers that may not have gotten the chance to read Once a Runner, I'll leave it at: READ THIS BOOK (or at least the last 30 pages)!!!

Talking with a lot of my friends, the general consensus was that Again to Carthage fell short of its famed predecessor. Reluctantly, I bore through the first 80 pages or so before the real running started. By the end however, I was grateful for having the general sense of our hero' emotional and mental state. 

Much like the first novel, Again to Carthage provides an ethereal and theatrical account of Cassidy's race at the Olympic Trials. 

The difference between the first and second race is: the first has four laps on a track to work with, and the second has a freakin' marathon! The race in the first book was an intense and powerful description of speed. A real ballad, or an ode if you will, to the triumphs of a finely tuned racing machine.

With the marathon, it's different. Naturally the race is 26.2 times longer, and gives more time for the write to fill the reader in with every single detail of Cassidy's experience. Unlike it's predecessor, the race description brings in more of the real life pain and experience that anyone could go through. 

Instead of the final race of Cassidy's life being about physical triumph, it is about the mental conquest of a race longer than anyone thought he could succeed in. The reader is taken through the pain, the mental ups and downs, as well as the emotional fluctuation in the 2+ hour race.

I wish I could talk more about this final passage without giving anything away. If you have read Once a Runner, (and if you haven't read this cult classic, GET ON IT) you need to read Again to Carthage! Make it through the first half of the book any way you can, but be ready for the last race, it might just make you stand up and cheer, or cry, for Cassidy.

Next on my read list is Parker's Runners and Other Dreamers.

Why Do You Run?

Everyone learns to run at an early age. We take to it so naturally. A faster way to get around. A more exciting way to play. A way to escape. In any case, we run.

Some people run to be well, some for a cure, or some for a medal. I train to race, but recognize the triumphs many others can achieve without a piece of $2 steel dangling from a ribbon hung around their neck. But, me? I run to get faster and keep going until Mother Nature, or life, slows my roll.

I think one of the most difficult, yet simple questions, like much of our sport, asks what gets you out the door to punish your body?

I run for a team.

Last fall we were going for our 3rd straight national championship. That day still haunts me as underdog St. Olaf College stole the trophy from us by 2 measly points. I train to avenge that loss. Not just for myself, instead to provide some odd sense of closure; for those graduating seniors who will not get the chance at redemption.

So before I get too off track, I want you to ask what makes you run? 

That single motivating force is often enough to get out the door and bust your hump. However, without it, running seems more like a chore, something to get out of the way, rather than enjoyed.

Photo courtesy of Loraine Klein:

Welcome to the Blog

My name is Ryan, though most of my teammates just call me Root. I am a senior distance runner at NCAA DIII powerhouse North Central College. I've had both success and failure (at times, more of the latter) in my now 11 year career. In all my years running I've picked up little tricks and tips of an unusually simplistic sport. In addition to my field experience with distance running, I have also worked 3 years at the local running store in my hometown Champaign, Ill.

Getting paid to fit different people with different feet, I feel like I've seen almost anything. At times I can recall seeing the grotesque over pronation of some customers while I perform gait analysis. I've researched and been trained in the majority of the major brands of running shoes and admittedly have somewhat of an obsession.

I've seen both sides of the pasture. I've been that underdog runner, grinding it out to just get noticed on his own team, and I've itched my way closer to the top (still a work in progress however). I hope with this blog I am able to both inspire new (young or old) runners to better themselves, and provide perspective to those that are at the peak (or near).

Everything from racing to shoes, and experience to philosophy. Runners are a part of a brotherhood (or sisterhood) that is hard to explain but the blog's purpose is to bring all the different aspects of our sport into a common place.