Runner Insight

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This first paragraph here is basically a PSA for you. First off, Mother’s Day is just around the corner…and if you’re stuck for a gift suggestion and your mother likes to walk or run, or hike or bike or jog, go over to the right hand sidebar, and  get your free ebook “Gifts For Runners – More Than 50 Unique and Creative Gifts for the Runner in Your Life.” It’s got tons of great ideas, not just for runners but for anyone who enjoys walking, biking, hiking, etc. And Father’s Day is coming, too. So go get it…it’s free. Right now…what are you still reading this for…you should be over there under the FirstGiving Donate Box———>

This second paragraph here is to remind you that I’m now starting the third week of my 1,222.25 mile Run Over To Ellen’s on a quest to raise $30,000 for Guide Dogs for the Blind. So if you haven’t donated your $1.00 yet, why not click on the Donate button on the FirstGiving box in the sidebar and do that now…while it’s on your mind…I know it’s on your mind…because I’m putting it there right about now     Anyway, once you donate at least $1.00 you get special access to the private website set up for donors only, where we update you daily on our progress and post announcements and hold special VIP giveaways for donors. I know you can handle a $1.00 donation…so go for it. Over there ———>

And now, back to your regularly scheduled content…. 

Breaking Through Barriers…Or Not

Once I started running again after my back injury, I got stuck at about 3 miles when I’d go for my runs.  Don’t get me wrong…3 miles was really good considering I was out of commission with lower right back pain and sciatica for over 2 months. 

But I knew that what was happening to me had nothing to do with my physical ability to run longer or the lower right back pain or even my diminishing vision.  I had simply hit a wall.  Albeit a mental wall, but a very real wall to me, nonetheless.  I knew that I was now capable of running longer, but my mind was playing games with my body, telling me I was too tired to go any further and that I needed to take it easy on myself.

So after some consideration, I decided to call the Discovering Wellness Coaching Program that is provided free of charge to clients of my chiropractor’s office.

I knew I needed some gentle nudging, and that’s exactly what I got when I spoke with Rodrigo the Wellness Coach. No Biggest Loser show Jillian-style rants for me…as much as you’ve got to respect Jillian and what she’s accomplished on the Biggest Loser TV show, I just don’t respond well to that. I love Jillian, but of the Biggest Loser trainers, I would definitely perform better with Bob…Anyway, back to the point…Rodrigo’s immediate and simple suggestion was that maybe I could run 5 extra minutes 3 times a week. 

Well yeah…I could do that. 

We also discussed my diet and decided I was not eating enough carbs, and this would account for my low energy.  So we upped my carb intake too.  Along with some other suggestions and small goals, I was set, and Rodrigo would call and check in with me same time next week.

When I hung up the phone after talking with my coach, T looked at me and said, “I’m pretty sure I told you all those things, too.” 

Of course she did, and she was right, but sometimes I think we just have to be hit over the head with the same information multiple times before it finally sinks in! There’s also the added authority that sometimes exists when information comes from an outside source.

So the next day I started out my run with the intention of going 5 extra minutes.  When I got to the place on the trail where I had been stopping to turn around, I simply stepped around the wall in my mind that had been blocking my progress.  You see the wall wasn’t very big at all; in fact, it was quite small. I had just made it big in my mind. 

But once I moved around it, I was free.  I ran an extra mile.  About 10 more minutes!  It felt great.  I could have kept going, but I also knew I needed to be smart and not increase my mileage too fast at the risk of injuring myself. 

So what mental barrier have you thrown up to block your forward progress? 

Sometimes it just takes a little outside coaching and encouragement to help you realize that you don’t always have to expend all that energy trying to break through the wall.  You can just find another way around it. That’s what I did.   

How ‘bout it?

-Vision Runner

Popularity: 16% [?]

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Here we are at the end of an amazing and life-changing 2008. I thought I would take this opportunity to thank all of you: my loyal readers from the beginning four months ago, the ones that have joined us en route, and to thank and welcome all the new friends that have joined us from Twitter and MySpace and other avenues more recently. We appreciate you all, and truly hope that all of you are getting as much from this blog as we are.

I’ve had the website/blog up for four months now, with about 60 posts in those four months, and readership is continuing to grow! You’ve been hearing from me, so now I’d like to hear from you. What do you like about the website? What would you like to see more of? Is there something you would like us to do that we are not currently doing? If so, please leave us a comment. We want this website to be a place where you can come to be inspired, or even to have a laugh or two. We truly want to make your time at the website well worth spending here. So with that in mind, if there is anything we are doing right, please let us know, and if you want to see something else or even if there is something that we’re doing that you want more of, tell us that too! It would be cool to have enough feedback to put up a great testimonial page with written and photo and video testimonials from our readers! In fact, since I just thought of that … why not do it? I’ll tell you what. We’ll look into setting up a way and a place online for our readers to upload content…we’ll keep you informed, and let you know once we figure it out. In the meantime, use the comment form, and be sure to participate in our Top Ten commenting contest (explained below and on this recent Monday’s post).

I am absolutely having a blast writing the posts and making the videos. The videos have been especially fun for me, as I’ve always enjoyed the visual arts. It’s obviously harder now for me, with my vision issues, but I still love doing them, and I just have to ask for help from my lovely assistant and editor now and again.

As a recap of 2008, I started this blog at the end of August/beginning of September, with a desire to share my passion for running and inspiration for making great things happen in life. We’ve personally seen any number of miracles happen this year on several fronts, including in our health, our relationships, our standard of living, and spiritually. We’ve learned to expect great things to happen, and it is producing magic and miracles for us. We’ve got even greater goals to manifest this year, and I’m expecting huge, major breakthroughs now that we’ve cleared the way with some grace and spiritual healing. We’ve recently written and adopted the philosophy of Be Here, Be Open, Surrender and Allow…and it’s working. Great things are coming.

Once I started this blog, we quickly came to the conclusion that three times a week would be a good middle ground for the number of new posts I could come up with. More than that, and it would just be too much; less than that, and I wouldn’t be able to create a good connection with you. Although I have had multiple requests to publish new content every day, that’s probably not going to happen. Three times a week seems to be a good balance.

In order to make things more interactive, we held a Halloween contest, with several interesting submissions, and the winner’s true Halloween story about a Cowboy and a Princess was given the place of honor as our blog post on Halloween. We’re looking forward to even more great submissions for the contest next year.

I wrote a book this year, a simple little free downloadable eBook that’s available to everyone. It’s called “Gifts For Runners – More Than 50 Unique and Creative Gifts For The Runner In Your Life” We got this out just before Thanksgiving to satisfy the demand from holiday shoppers as non-runners looking for great gift ideas for the runner in their life. And the best part of the book is that there are easy links to online resources to see pictures and descriptions of the items mentioned, and some can even be ordered online, directly from the link.

As straight-forward as running is, it seems as though the whole psychology of running is kind of a mystery to the non-runner. And as my partner (still a non-runner…so far …diabolical grin) is wont to say “Why would I want to run unless someone was chasing me?” So, thanks to the non-runners and quite a few runners as well, we’ve had over 60 downloads of the free eBook in the past month, and it’s still available by filling in the form on the sidebar. And just to let you know, the gift ideas are not just for the Christmas season; they can be used all year long, for your runner’s birthday, anniversary, Easter, Valentine’s Day, Halloween, etc. So if you haven’t downloaded your free copy yet, you should do so immediately, if not sooner

And oh yeah, don’t want to forget to tell you, I’m working on another book that will be done sometime this year (2009) about my training as a legally blind runner to run in my first marathon. So watch for it!

We had a great review of our website come from Traxee.com, a website designed specifically for women runners. So thanks a bunch to them. They also helped to promote our give-away of the eBook, “Gifts For Runners” as did the blogsite RunWithDogs.com. So thanks to them as well.

We published a few articles online, as well as sent out a press release about the launch of the RunnerInsight.com website, so we’re getting the word out there, slowly but surely.

We set up a MySpace page this fall, and recently joined Twitter, so you can follow me on those sites as well. And Twitter is great for more frequent short updates of what I’m doing off and on through out the day.

We’ve had some great comments on the blog posts, and look forward to even more this year. Right now we’re looking to define the Top Ten Runner Insight Blog Posts of 2008, so vote for your favorites by leaving comments on your top ten favorite posts. Every comment left between now and Jan 30th will be entered into a random drawing for a fabulous prize. See all the details in our Monday December 29th post.

Once again thanks for coming back to check out the new content, and re-reading the old. And thanks for telling all your friends! Remember if you click on any of the links at RunnerInsight.com and end up getting something from that linked site, we get a small percentage to help support some of the costs of running this blog. Hey, every little bit helps. And don’t forget that you can subscribe to all the new posts on the blog via email or RSS feed absolutely free…There’s a spot to do that at the top of the sidebar

Okay. I guess that’s it for now, but I’m here to tell you that I’m looking forward to 2009 being even better with all new content and more exciting contests and some fabulous surprises, too!
Thanks again…We appreciate you!

How ‘bout it?

-Vision Runner

Popularity: 36% [?]

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This is the third (and last one before the end of the year) installment of our “Gifts for Runners” series. Because sometimes it’s hard to know what to get the runner on your shopping list, to help you out, I’ve written an eBook that you can get for free. It’s called “Gifts For Runners – More Than 50 Unique and Creative Gifts For The Runner In Your Life” It’s written in an easy to read, relaxed style in a quick downloading .pdf file format. It’s yours at absolutely no cost, just by clicking on the link above or filling in the web form just below. It’s also available via a link in the sidebar under “Pages” if you know someone that wants to download it later.

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In the meantime, here’s an excerpt with clothing accessory items that make great gifts for runners….the links are active, and they should all be formatted to open in a new window. So you can click on them to see pictures or get more information or even go ahead and order online and not lose your place on this page…

Not only do runners need the basics like running shirts and shorts, they need other accessory apparel items, giving you the opportunity to choose from a plethora of great gift ideas.

• Running Socks – The double-layer socks are great for preventing blisters. I wasn’t sure about these socks at first, but with a blister-free guarantee, how could I go wrong? I tried them out, and they were right! Not even when breaking in a new pair of running shoes did I get blisters. So keep these in mind as a great gift idea for your runner.

• Running Hats – I wear a running hat all the time. Any generic visor or baseball cap will perform the basic function of keeping the sweat out of my eyes, as well as blocking the glare. In the summer, it’s relief from the hot sun baking the top of my skull.

However, a cap designed specially for runners is even better, as the style and fabric is specifically designed to vent out the heat and wick away the moisture from sweat. Even in the winter, I can usually still wear my running hat most of the time, but there are days when it’s cold enough on my ears that I need a skull cap or fleece hat.

• Gloves – I like to wear the stretchy knit gloves. They are kind of a one-size-stretches-to-fit-most thing. We just got some on sale a few weeks ago for $1.99 per 2 pair of them.  We stocked up. They come in all sorts of colors, and if you lose one, who cares. At $1.00 or $2.00 a pair, it doesn’t hurt so bad to lose them. But some runners need warmer gloves, and there are many styles to choose from.

• Sweatband/Headband/Wrist Bands – There are so many different styles and colors, it’s hard to choose. They have the elastic band style; they have Velcro closures; they even have one called the Sweat Gutr Headband, which I haven’t seen in person or used, but looks like it channels the sweat from your brow away from your eyes – like a rain gutter. Hmmm. I’d be curious as to how well that one works. If you’ve tried it, let me know.

• Neck Wraps/Warmers – I like the kind by Turtle Fur. I use it as a neck warmer when I’m running in windy and cold conditions, but I also use it to tuck into my running tights over my belly.  It’s important for anyone (but especially an outdoor athlete) to avoid losing too much heat from the body’s core, so that’s one of my strategies to keep one of the most important spots warm.

If you still need more ideas, and haven’t downloaded your copy of the free eBook yet, you’ll want to do so post-haste. Just click here right now – “Gifts For Runners – More Than 50 Unique and Creative Gifts For The Runner In Your Life” The price is right anyway…

How ’bout it?

-Vision Runner

Popularity: 7% [?]