Sunday Chat...

Sunday, July 17, 2016 · Mike Davis

Good morning! Grab some coffee and pull up a stool. No doubt running has been a challenge the past few weeks and will be in week ahead. When the temperatures are closer to 100 more often than not, it makes anything outside challenging. Even the beach can be difficult to sit on! Thursday I ran for 40 minutes and if you look at my Garmin data the temperature was 97 degrees and my wife informed me that the actual “real feel” was 103. Yes it was a struggle and I accepted that I had to take a couple walk breaks in order to get through the run. Yesterday around 8am, Kathy and I ran with the temperature at a nice 74. However, the humidity was at 100 percent! I was able to hang in and actually run 50 minutes non-stop though, I certainly would have had no problem walking if I felt I needed. Attempting to run as if we can overcome any condition is not smart and totally contrary to “No Finish Line Running”. Keeping it healthy and fun means, accepting what the conditions give you. There will be another day to run faster or further. Personally I am under the gun a bit as I have to get my mileage up quite a bit and not a lot of time left. I will adjust my goals and strategy some if it becomes apparent that I cannot get where I want to be. I thought a 120 minute long run would be a good place to be going into “Reach the Beach” but, I may have to except 90 minutes and that will be okay. Pace is a whole other matter and I will accept whatever is dictated by my body as I add on time/distance. Next Saturday I would like to increase my time to 60 minutes and move into August feeling strong and confident. As I said, yesterday my wife Kathy joined me for my run and it was her first time running in 4 weeks. Back on Father’s Day we were out on the golf course and I made a bonehead decision to pull around Kathy’s golf cart just as she was putting a club in the back. Well she moved to get in the cart and I hit her, actually pinning her down on the ground. Pretty scary and resulted in a severe ankle sprain and deep inner bruise. It has been so bad that she has only this past week been able to put on running shoes. I have heard many jokes about it but, I have not found any humor watching Kathy have to go through the process of healing. I was so happy and thankful that she was able to run any distance yesterday and the fact that it was over 2 miles was awesome! Between her foot, the humidity and the layoff, she was amazing to have run as much as she did. No let’s hope she feels okay today. “No”, I was not drinking the day we played golf! Though her doctor did have a funny line when he offered to give Kathy the name of a “good lawyer”. Great to see Kathy back in her running shoes! This weekend “NFLR” has 4 folks taking the “Road Runners Club of America” coaching certification course. A few weeks ago “NFLR’s” Julie Butterfield completed the course and turned around and followed that up by getting a 97 on the certification test. Nice job Julie! Once these four ace the test, they will bring our total number of certified coaches to nine! Our goal is to have coaches that are not only great people but also technically prepared. Getting certified is important but also continuous learning will be essential. I could not be more grateful to have found a team of coaches that can provide the best group training throughout the Seacoast. As I said it is essential that NFLR continues to continue to educate ourselves on running and that requires a lot of reading. Right now I am reading the “Science of Running” by Steve Magness. This book is about as dry as it gets but it has a lot of great running knowledge in it. Right now I am in the section that breaks down what each part of the body does during running and this is helpful with us and our “running form analysis” resource. We do a great job of helping people improve their running form through our professional “Medical Motion” gait analysis system but it is important to continue learning about every detail as well as what science is determining to be the best running motion. NFLR definitely is definitely the best resource for “smart, fun and successful running.” We are not for everyone but we can help most! Time to say goodbye. Have a great week and be smart! God Bless! Mike