Sunday, September 28, 2008

Happy Feet



The NYT has an article on sports related foot injuries.

Here are a few excerpts that will sound familiar if you have shopped at our store:

"Many foot injuries are, in fact, the result of wearing the wrong shoes or the wrong shoe size. Studies have suggested that Americans too often wear shoes that don’t fit, and athletes are no exception."

"Some of these [injuries] are caused by innate deficiencies in a person’s gait..."

"The best way to prevent and treat early-stage plantar fasciitis [or other common injuries] is simple and cheap: Stretch, stretch, stretch."

"The majority of sports-related foot injuries are preventable...if people would just start paying attention."

In summary:

Right shoe + gait improvements + stretching + listening to your body = happy feet!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Way to go kiddo!


This Saturday Gregor completed his first triathlon. He raced the Kirkland Kid's Triathlon with 150 other kids, ages 5 through 12. What an experience for kids and parents alike!

Gregor was nervous the night before, but we assured him this was a good sign. After a bowl of Cheerios and getting his transition gear organized, we drove down to the starting line with plenty of time to review the course and the transition process.

Twenty minutes before the start he wanted to play tag, so we did. I guessed this was his way of dealing with prerace anxiety, just like adults like to jog back and forth just before a marathon.

We knew the swim would be the trickiest part of him, so we suggested to take it easy. He felt better when we told him he could always stand up if needed.

Once the race started, Eric and I had to sprint from one place to the next to cheer him. He always had a smile when he saw us, but when he didn't see us, he was deep in concentration.

He sprinted to the finish line, and for us, his finish was more exciting than our own finishes at races. He smiled when he received his finisher's medal and said "My first gold medal!!!".

When Eric took a picture of us, my hand rested on hist chest. His small heart was still racing, ten minutes after crossing the finish line.

Many more races await him in life, and we will always be the eager spectators watching him overcome his own obstacles.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Cle Elum 50K





This year, two balanced athletes joined Eric and me to run the Cle Elum Ridge 50K ultra-marathon. Marty and Rob ran their first ultra distance, and they both had a blast (which they didn't realize until they had their second beer at the finish line :-)

Eric felt good, except he could not charge the up hill as he usually does. These days he is more of a road runner than a trail runner. Of course, he still managed to run a fast race.

I discovered a new mental trick to run the last 10 miles faster. I was impressed at how well it worked. It consisted on making my watch beep every 10 minutes, and I calculated that it would only take about 10 beeps to be done. All I did was wait for that beep, which allowed me to concentrate on one mile at a time. I caught up with three of the top women.

Beautiful day, views of Mt Rainier, and brownies at the end. What else can one ask for in life?

Thanks to Glenn Tachiyama for taking pictures