Galen Rupp 26:48.00 AR! ...and also a Brian Sell video

Whaaat?!

This photo is not mine. It belongs to Steve Richie of steverichieontrack.com. And that mask belongs to Galen Rupp, who is one BAMF.

Cadence and the Magic Number of 180

It seems that everyone has been told that the ideal cadence is 180 steps per minute. The great Jack Daniels himself has stated that a slow cadence is associated with overstriding and increased injury rates. For a long time, this has been undisputed. A cadence of 180 was king. However, lately this magic number seems to be something people are questioning. Is a cadence of 180 really ideal for every person at every pace?

Pronation and Midfoot Striking, Forefoot Striking, and Heelstriking

Every so often I hear someone say that they know they have a neutral gait because they are a midfoot or forefoot striker, and overpronation is the domain of heelstrikers. They claim that because they don't heelstrike, it's impossible for them to overpronate and they don't need a shoe with any stability (though the idea that neutral shoes have no stability is also a myth). Similarly, I sometimes hear of someone well-meaning but ill-informed trying to push a minimal shoe on someone just because they midfoot or forefoot strike, without actually doing a gait analysis. While a midfoot or forefoot striker may or may not actually have a neutral gait, the idea that every midfoot and forefoot striker is a neutral pronator is absolutely false.

Gear Review: Oakley Flak Jacket

I've had Oakley lust since I can remember. As an elementary school kid, I bought a pair of $10 Foakleys at a flea market because they looked almost exactly like the Oakley Twenty (which I believe went by a different name back then, but that name escapes me right now). Unfortunately, as you've probably guessed, while they looked like a genuine pair of Oakleys, they were not made like a genuine pair of Oakleys, and they broke within a few months. Come to think of it, they probably didn't offer very good sun protection either, but I digress. It wasn't until after undergrad that I finally bought a quality pair of sunglasses, and while my running partners at the time all sported either Zeal or Rudy Project, I was unable to resist the siren song of Oakley. The guy I was dating at that point had a pair of Oakley Flak Jackets, and after trying on his, I decided that the next pair of sunglasses I bought were going to be Flak Jackets.

Oakley Flak Jacket with XLJ lens

Cutting on High School Cross-Country Teams

Recently, Running Times published an article by renowned coach Greg McMillan that got quite a bit of attention. This article seemed to be geared towards high school cross-country (and track) coaches, listing the different types of runners and how to best coach each personality. While it does play up stereotypes, the article still seems pretty spot on for the most part, and most high school runners fall into one of those categories. I think anyone who's run in high school (or college for that matter) can think of teammates who fit into each of the categories fairly well. Additionally, I think McMillan's methodology for handling each type of runner is very good (for the most part...read on for the actual controversy). However, the paragraph that's been getting the attention is about the runners that McMillan labels the "Necessary Evils," the talented runners who didn't put in the necessary work over the summer and come in out of shape. McMillan says to cut them.

Gear Review: Skullcandy Ink'd Headphones

At some point in their running career, most runners use a pair of headphones. It might be on the treadmill, it might be lifting or cross-training in the gym, or it might be running outside (hopefully in an area devoid of cars, cyclists, dogs, and other hazards). When I'm looking for a headphone to use while working out, I want something cheap (because it will inevitably get ruined), something with at least passable sound quality, something small and light (preferably an in-ear monitor), something that's going to stay in my ears, and something that can deal with a little bit of sweat. My current workout headphone of choice is the Skullcandy Ink'd.

Oh hey, it's a personal life entry!

Apologies for the lack of updates this past week. I just had surgery to fix a lingering problem that was keeping me from training the way I wanted to. One of those things that probably could have been prevented had I taken time off or even just cut back when I first started having a problem, instead of continuing to run through it and letting myself overcompensate, but no sense dwelling now, and pushing the limits comes with the understanding that getting hurt once in a while is inevitable. So, in the meantime I'll leave you with a quote from steeplechaser Anthony Famiglietti as well as my Twitter account that I just started, in case anyone feels like reading about my personal life (which, for now, will probably involve me being emo about not running).

"You are going to face obstacles. You are going to get sick. Everyone gets sick in running. You are going to get hurt. Almost every single runner has been hurt at some point. That's going to come. The athletes that succeed are the ones that understand how to deal with that." -Fam

And as long as I'm quoting Fam, here's another quote, just because I love this one:

"I used to have a background in skateboarding when I was in high school. It was a really exciting individual sport to me. It was all about what you put into it is what you got out. The amount of time you learned a trick, the aggressiveness and the guts you had to go down a flight of steps; you knew you were going to go down the first 10 attempts on it. You might crack your skull open, but eventually you were going to land it. That takes a certain attitude to be able to do that. And so that was the attitude I took towards running. It was a little reckless." -Fam

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