A few weeks ago I volunteered to review “The Ultimate Beginners Running Guide – The Key to Running Inspired” by Ryan Robert and provided was access to a Kindle version of the book free of charge by the author, which will be deleted after the review is published. The thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.

Here is the link to The Ultimate Beginner’s Running Guide on Amazon.com.

After reading the book, I found it a no-frills guide to running with a lot of common sense views and suggestions about running, that many intermediate runners could use, not just beginners. It almost seemed like I was having a conversation with a veteran runner who was talking about his opinions on how and what it takes to be a runner.

Who is the Author?

There was no author bio in the book or website/blog to find out  more about who he is. The Bio on Amazon.com didn’t give me a lot of information either. Ryan Robert is not a known nor a famous runner who has decided to write a book and honestly I was wondering about his background and experience as a runner. Read the full post »

Posted by hshawjr on February 11, 2012

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Posted by hshawjr on February 10, 2012

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At some point I knew that this would happen, a minor running related booboo. No it is not serious, yes I will definitely live to run again.

However, it is the first time since I returned to real running last October that anything besides my knee has bothered me. That is why I am being a drama queen about it tonight .

It is my first injury – post injury and it was running related – it seems that I am back to being a real runner . The worst part is that it was self-induced by my own training mistakes.

The Snowmobile Trail Run

Last Friday, we walked almost 4.0 miles on a pretty tough snowmobile trail in the morning and then that afternoon I ran just over 5.0 miles on the same trail. It wasn’t an easy run and on one of the moguls in the beaver bog, I slipped and tweaked my left calf pretty good, but finished the run without a lot of problem. Read the full post »

Posted by hshawjr on February 10, 2012

aveteranrunnah.com/2012/02/10/who-is-the-running-minimalism-dummy-now/

Image via Wikipedia

Over at #RunChat they are having a contest where you list the 10 Things I Love About Running for Valentines Day, which I thought was a great idea and enjoyed putting this list together.  It did make me stop and think about why I do love to run.

Here are my ten things I love about running:

1. Running clears my head and keeps me closer to “normal” whatever normal is. I go run when life gets tough, like it did when my dad was in the hospital recently. It gives the stress someplace to go productively, instead of food, booze or taking it out on other people. Going for those runs made it so that I was still someone people wanted to be around and I didn’t go down a dark path, which many people do in those situations.
2. Running gets me out of the house, so that my wife doesn’t encourage me to go back to work. Since we have retired TheWife has been very supportive of my running lifestyle, but at time it becomes rather expensive and from time-to-time she hints that it might be time to look for a part-time job, if I want to continue running or start racing again. Read the full post »

Posted by hshawjr on February 10, 2012

aveteranrunnah.com/2012/02/10/10-things-i-love-about-running/

Today was a beautiful day in the neighborhood for a great run – mid 30′s and bright sunshine. Even though it was a scheduled day off, I ran – I really wanted to run in my new MT-20s, they felt that good yesterday.

However, today they didn’t feel as good, not bad, but I definitely knew when I got lazy and didn’t focus on my form. Also I can tell that I am using muscles differently, that little calf strain is definitely one of those “hi guy”, but is reacting well to heat and massaging. The bottoms of my both feet are most definitely being used differently than they were in the Peregrines and are telling me all about it. Read the full post »

Posted by hshawjr on February 9, 2012

aveteranrunnah.com/2012/02/09/what-a-beautiful-day-to-run-2-9-12/

2 Days worth of Running Clothes

If you live in colder parts of the country – you know those places that you need to dress in something besides shorts and a t-shirt to run during the winter. Someplace, where since October/November you have dressed in layers, to keep yourself reasonably warm while enjoying your daily run outside.

Well I have run outside a lot this year – since October and as a result of running so much and the layering system I use, I have worn a lot of clothes and have done a lot of sweating in them (yes I sweat outside even in the winter). Unfortunately, as a result of all this sweating, my winter running gear is getting rather fragrant.

Well to be honest, according to my wife – they #$%$ing stink!

My winter running clothes have developed The Winter Runner Stink. Read the full post »

Posted by hshawjr on February 9, 2012

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New Balance Minimus Trail 20

This morning I got to try out my New Balance Minimus Trail 20 shoes. How did it go?

The first run

For the first run in a completely different kind of running shoe, it went very well.

The first mile I was focusing pretty hard on running completely forefoot and getting used to the feel of the shoe. The forefoot striking was causing some aches and pains in my left calf (the one I strained on last Friday’s snowmobile trail run), so I went to a more of a ChiRunning whole foot strike, which really seemed to make a huge difference with these shoes. Read the full post »

Posted by hshawjr on February 8, 2012

aveteranrunnah.com/2012/02/08/first-run-in-new-balance-minimus-trail-20/

New Balance Minimus Trail 20

I have researched what my next pair of running shoes would be for the past couple of weeks and had a good list of shoes that I thought would meet my needs very well. Which I discussed in my Narrowed the Choices Down to 5 Running Shoes post. Sometimes you have to throw your plan out the window and go with Plan B, that is what happened to me.

Oh Crap

During my recovery run down-back yesterday, my left heel started to get a blister from the hole in my of Saucony Peregrines, it was more a question of when, not if I would get a blister.

I was afraid that this might happen, before I could get down to Portland, Maine (not Oregon) and check out all of those shoes on my list. Read the full post »

Posted by hshawjr on February 8, 2012

aveteranrunnah.com/2012/02/08/unexpected-running-shoe-shopping/

Today was just a slow recovery run after yesterday’s 8+ run. I ran down-back to Bartlett Rd and came back up and added Howard Circle to give me a good 3+ run.

The footing was getting a little treacherous down there, because there is still ice on the road, with a surface layer of melted snow/ice that is turning to slush, along with short stretches of mud. So it is slightly challenging and you have to pay attention to where you put your feet. Read the full post »

Posted by hshawjr on February 8, 2012

aveteranrunnah.com/2012/02/08/i-saw-mud-down-back-a-sign-of-spring/

Sign of Spring? Cat on the rails - you can see them!

We are entering that time of year known up “heah” as The Winter Blahs. It is a combination of being tired of winter, being cooped up inside, not getting enough warmth or sun and knowing that we still have 4-8 weeks before the weather really breaks.

The experts talk about Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.) or Vitamin D deficiency  and give fancy labels for things that have been negatively affecting people in snow/cold parts of the world probably since “We” have been around.

I really think that my Great-grandmother Bertha’s definition for this time of year was more accurate than many of the expert’s labels. She called this time of year “The Winter Blahs”. Read the full post »

Posted by hshawjr on February 7, 2012

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