Spring awakening - try something NEW!

Happy Monday to all, it is a beautiful Spring day here in Beantown. I hope everyone had an amazing weekend and did something fun, new, and active! I spent the weekend in Philly for the 2011 Penn Relays. I love being surrounded by a bunch of fellow track crazies, and Penn Relays attracts a really diverse international crowd, so that was great. As Andrew said [very accurately] it was a home field advantage for Jamaica on Saturday, what a showing. The U.S. vs the World races were exciting and everything went off smoothly. It is such an interesting meet, as you sit there you watch the entire range of athletics from prepubescent high school boys to world champions and Olympians, even >75 masters races [new >75 world record in the 100m, who knew!]. It was a great race day on Saturday [albeit very chilly at the start, jorts were a poor choice] and overall it was a fun day of competition. Felt sort of weird to be a 'commoner' just watching the meet and not competing, but we sat with a bunch of other track alums which was great.

The theme for Spring 2011 is 'try something new.' If ever there is a season for diving into something new, different, and exciting, Spring is definitely it. Sun comes out, temp warms up, flowers bloom, pollen infiltrates your eyeballs, and Mother Nature awakens. Coincidentally, I FINALLY started Born to Run [barefoot running book] this weekend on my bus rides to/from NYC. 200 pages later, I am totally obsessed. The best part of the book is that McDougall isn't trying to sell anything to the reader. It is an honest and unbiased account of his experience with the Tarahumara tribe, as well as the most prolific ultramarathoners of all time. Barefoot running sounds crazy/nerdy/who the hell does that to the average runner, but I highly encourage every single runner out there to pick up this book. Not only is it a very entertaining read, it also covers so much information essential to a successful lifelong running career.

To me, barefoot running is one of those 'don't talk until you've tried it' activities. After you read the endless evidence of the modern ['supportive'] running shoe causing - yes, CAUSING - the majority of foot and knee problems modern runners experience, there is just no way you won't want to try barefoot running. The modern running shoe wasn't developed until the late 1970's and early 1980's, coincidentally when all the modern foot, ankle and knee problems spread like wildfire. Putting the injury analysis aside, barefoot running is simply freeing. Our feet were designed to be extremely receptive of our environment, the nerve endings are superbly sensitive. Next time you are on a soft grass field, take off your shoes and socks and give it a shot. If you are willing to look a bit granola [I am!] and have some extra cash, pick up a pair of Vibram FiveFingers and go for a quick jog. It is an amazing feeling - try something NEW!

There are so many other options, beyond running, for new fun activities during the Spring season. First of all - GET OUTSIDE! Pump up those bike tires, find those hiking boots and go explore your surroundings. You don't have to be in picturesque locations to go exploring [not everyone can be so blessed as to live in Colorado], so take advantage of your current situation and bike/run/hike away. Take a tennis or golf lesson, find a running club and tag along, sign up for a sprint triathlon [GO MOM GO]! On Shannon's Spring to-do list: mixed martial arts and rock climbing. Thanks to Groupon [and sites of the sort], I have opportunities at a mixed martial arts gym right by my apartment and a rock climbing lesson at one of the best climbing gyms on the East Coast. So excited to try something NEW! So make your own list and get excited for your own Spring awakening.