If you’ve been following Running Buddy over the past few weeks you know that I’ve battled a knee injury since April and have been pursuing a recovery that has kept me out of commission entirely since the beginning of November.  This has been hard on me because I’m usually at my best as a person when I’m running.

Much research has focused on the positive mental, emotional and physical side effects of running, and many runners will tell you that it opens up your mind and clears your thoughts – that it’s a time when you can do your best thinking.  I certainly believe this.  The oft-described “runner’s high” is an endorphin-induced state of joy and feeling of invincibility reached during the middle of a long run that no drug could ever create.

I’m under doctor’s orders not to run, nor to work out until my knee injury progresses.  The side effects of this prohibition on me have been challenging.  I have less energy.  I am not as consistently happy.  I am eating worse than I used to eat.  And I’m motivated less to excel at the things that I do every day.

I’m not in a great place, and I don’t want to stay here.

One of the worst side effects for me is that my injury has stolen my thinking time. On an average day, I have a million thoughts swirling around in my head: “Where am I going to be in one year?” “Should I drive into work today?” “Why is that person looking at me like that?” “I really don’t think there are enough losing adjectives to describe the Lions,” etc. and you get the picture.

Often, the only time I’m able to bring clarity to this amorphous blob of brain waves is when I’m running.  I’m astonished, sometimes, that I’m able to continue putting one foot in front of the other on some of my runs.  Because I kid you not, plans for world domination (okay, perhaps not that ambitious, but you get the idea), have been hatched more than once on one of my loops in many places across the country.  And after my run, I have a clear picture of the road ahead: the next project I want to undertake, my next self-improvement mission, or a solid picture of my one-, two-, or five-year plan.  Or I simply just feel good.

My injury has robbed me of this.

So I’ve been blogging.  It was during one of my runs (before November, when I could still run), in fact, that I decided I wanted to start this blog.  But the motivation to start it didn’t arrive until I found myself not able to run.  And it has proved therapeutic, to a degree.  There is still nothing that compares to the physical and mental release provided by a good run, but when you can’t sort through your thoughts during exercise, doing so in front of a computer (or a notebook, for the old-fashioned types out there) is a great alternative.

In a future post I plan to talk about logging information in general and the fact that we tend to monitor more closely those items that we actively measure (this seems obvious but trust me, there’s merit to the discussion).   One of the positive effects of blogging about my recovery is that I’m becoming even more invested in seeing it through to the finish.   And the thought-sorting that previously took place during my runs now plays itself out in front of a screen (and I’ve found myself writing everywhere – on the bus, on the ferry, in coffee shops, at home, on my BlackBerry waiting for all forms of public transportation, you name it).

So if you’re currently sidelined, unable to run or exercise, I recommend writing down your thoughts. It will get you motivated for the next step on your challenge, give you a record by which you can look back at your progress, and perhaps most importantly, clear some space for the other thoughts that are fighting for some room in your constantly active mind.  You’ll feel much better for it, and at the end of the day, it will make your road to recovery seem just a little bit shorter.

Photo by dbdbrobot.

Snow fell here today -- notice the palm trees in front!

A request from Running Buddy reader KN came in this week:

“You need to talk about running when it is cold out.  Once the warm days are done I have a problem going outside and running.  I don’t like not being able to sweat and getting all itchy…..”

On the occasion of the coldest day this winter in the Bay Area (it dropped into the 30s last night and the Marin mountaintops even received a rare dusting of snow), I thought today would be a good opportunity to answer the question: How do you force yourself outside to run in conditions only a polar bear could love?

There are plenty of practical tips out there for cold-running safety, which you can find here.  But rarely do these articles address the number one issue: getting out the door in the first place.  So, in no particular order, here are six tips to help turn you from Brr-some Billy into Toasty Tom (or, from Frigid Frieda into Balmy Betty):

1. Don’t run outside. This one might seem obvious, but it’s a great tip.  If you don’t want to run outside, run at your gym.  Or on a treadmill in your house, if you’re lucky enough to have one.  Trust me, I hate stationary running as much as the next guy, but there’s something liberating about running in a tank top and shorts while the poor souls outside trudge by your gym in their hats, boots, and scarves.   If you don’t listen to music when you run outside (and I don’t), I certainly recommend doing so inside.  People-watching in your gym is only entertaining for so long – after a while, the silent 24-hour news channels on the TVs hanging 30-feet away and the guy in the corner with the weird dumbbell technique get old.  Bring your iPod!
2. 

   Run with me!

   Bring your dog. Ninety percent of the discomfort of running in the cold comes from your brain constantly thinking about the fact that it’s cold, not the actual fact that it’s cold outside. Bringing your dog with you takes your mind off the temperature.  Who can’t resist laughing at Fido when he bounds a few feet ahead of you, slides into the snow, and then turns around and looks at you with a newly snowed-on Santa’s beard?

3. Run with others. “But Phil, I don’t have a dog!”  Okay, it’s a lame excuse, but I’ll accept it just this once.  Perhaps you don’t actually have a dog.  Then find a person!  While your best running buddy might not be keen to dive headfirst into the fluffy stuff and show off his new Santa’s Beard, he’ll be the perfect conversation partner, doing a great job of keeping your mind off how cold it is.
4. Avoid running when it’s snowing out. While running through snow on the ground can be fun (though you need to be careful when doing so), running while it’s actually snowing out isn’t the best idea. The situation that actually makes running in the cold noticeably uncomfortable is being wet while doing so, and falling snow melts on your hat and clothes while you’re running. This helps to ensure you’re always encased in wet clothing.  Not only is this uncomfortable, but it can be dangerous.  If you’re running outside in cold weather and get too wet, you’re at risk for hypothermia and should get inside as quickly as possible, and follow these hypothermia safety tips.
5. Don’t wear clothing that is too heavy. Instinctively, when we hear it’s cold outside, we know we have to bundle up, piling layer upon layer to keep our body heat inside.  When you’re running, this is only partially true.  Yes, you need to keep as much of your skin and head surface covered as possible to keep your warmth inside.  But as you run, and especially when you’re running, your body does an incredibly efficient job of generating body heat.  So much so, that too many extra layers can cause you to sweat excessively, which makes you wet, and therefore cold, as we pointed out in Tip 4.  So while it may be counterintuitive to do so, staying warm while running in cold weather actually means wearing fewer and lighter layers.  That doesn’t mean you should head out into 25-degree weather with nothing but a long-sleeve t-shirt to cover your top, but you should make sure that you have a breathable inner layer, like a Dri-Fit shirt that will wick sweat away from your body, along with a weather-resistant outer shell that will keep the biting cold wind and any precipitation out.  It may take a few tries with a few different options in your running wardrobe, but you will find the right fit!
6. Move. Okay, this might be a cop-out tip, but I followed it, and it’s been working wonders!  It did drop into the 30s here last evening, but all winter long our high temperature only occasionally fails to reach 50 degrees, and when the sun is out, it’s positively delightful.  If frequent Abominable Snowman sightings during your daily run are not your cup of tea, move south!  The extra doses of vitamin D from the surplus days of sunshine will also be a boost to your spirits, helping to fight against Seasonal Affective Disorder.

With these five tips, you should have a new arsenal of motivation to get your butt out the door when all you want to do is curl up inside by the fireplace and take a nap.  What are some of your favorite techniques for motivating yourself to run when it’s cold out?

Snow photo by the Marin Independent Journal.  Puppy photo by jcptalbot.

One of the great things about making running your sport of choice is that the financial barrier to entry is very low. Sure, you need shoes, which can sometimes cost more than $100.  But if you’re smart about where you look you can easily find them for much less than that (just be sure you’re knowledgeable about running shoes or find a store employing someone who is).  I’m personally a big fan of the Sports Basement in San Francisco – the running knowledge sometimes leaves something to be desired but you can’t beat the prices.  I also recommend the nice folks at Fleet Feet in the Marina – they are very knowledgeable but beware that their expertise comes in the form of higher prices.

What about stores in the other places I’ve lived?  I recommend Princeton Running Company in Princeton, New Jersey.  I haven’t been to that particular store in a few years but had great experiences in the seven years I lived nearby.  In the Detroit area, you can’t beat Hanson’s Running Shop.  When I first went to Hanson’s (with my dad and his wallet) in 1994, the Hanson brothers, Kevin and Keith, had two stores and both were high school cross country coaches.  Now they have four stores in the area and have operated a highly successful Olympic development program, the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project, for several years running.

Once you have the right shoes, my guess is that you already have the lightweight and weather-appropriate clothes you need to get out the door (or into the gym) and run.

There are certainly many other running-related gadgets and clothing on which you can spend your money.  But sometimes you don’t have money to spend. One of my favorite blogs is Get Rich Slowly, a personal finance site started by JD Roth in 2006.  JD has a great post quoting Chris Zdeb of the Edmonton Journal who created a list with his readers of Forty Frugal Fitness Solutions.  I’m of course partial to #5.  But I know that my brother, an expert at frugal fitness (and one of the most fit people I know), has used several of the tips on this list:

Forty Frugal Fitness Tips

1) Walk.
2) Buy a pedometer to help keep track of your steps.
3) Take the stairs every chance you get, even if it’s only one flight.
4) Park farther away from work or from the front door of the shopping mall or grocery store.
5) Jog or run.
6) Don’t use your children as an excuse not to exercise.
7) Buy a dog from the SPCA or borrow the neighbor’s pooch.
8 ) Turn on your radio, CD player or MP3 and dance up a storm for 20 to 30 minutes in the privacy of your own home.
9) $12 buys you a library card and borrowing privileges for all sorts of exercise videos or DVDs.
10) Use the lowest stair or stairs in your home or outside and create your own step workout.
11) Turn your canned goods into weights.
12) Grab a chair or the kitchen counter and do some push-ups and leg lifts.
13) Pair a favorite TV show with some sit-ups.
14) Take the treadmill/rowing machine/exercise bike hidden away in the basement or under a pile of laundry and move it into a prominent place like the TV room.
15) Thinking of buying a piece of equipment to workout on at home? Check out the classifieds for a good deal.
16) Pick up a ball or play tag with your kids.
17) Pass on hired help and do your own housecleaning and yardwork.
18) Call up some friends for a game of shinny street hockey or pickup b-ball at a neighborhood playground.
19) Pick up cheap, used sports equipment at second hand sport stores and discount department stores.
20) Check with your community league or local rec center for any exercise classes or team sports you can join for a pretty affordable price.
21) Got rope? Jump it for a total body workout.
22) Exercise with a friend.
23) Dust off the bicycle you forgot about in the garage or pick one up cheap at a garage sale.
24) Swim.
25) Laugh. Great big belly laughs. Every day. It’s good for the soul as well as your abs.
26) Carry around a computer bag or backpack weighted with five or 10 pounds of stuff for exercises like one-armed rows or squats you can do throughout the day.
27) Buy a stability ball.
28) Stand up and go for a walk or just stand by your desk and stretch for five to 10 minutes every hour.
29) Check out the company gym if you have one.
30) Ask your employer for some free space, send out an e-mail to see if others are interested, and bring in someone to teach a yoga or Pilates class on site once or twice a week and split the cost.
31) Organize a hockey, basketball or baseball game with the people you work with.
32) Check with your boss or human resources department to see if there’s a program that will help pay for all or part of a gym membership.
33) Find out if your local gym offers discounts to recent college grads.
34) Go to fitness club open houses.
35) Sign up for a gym during peak sale periods.
36) Paying $40 or $50 for a monthly gym membership may seem like a lot, but if you thrive in such a high energy setting and actually do work out regularly, it works out to about $2 to $4 a visit if you go three to six days a week.
37) Check if your health insurance company offers lower premiums to people who workout regularly or have a club membership.
38) Call up a trainer, tell him or her you’re on a budget and see what they can provide you for $50 or whatever you have to spend.
39) Call up a trainer and arrange a session for you and a couple of friends to split the cost.
40) There are lots of sport drinks on the market, but water is cheaper and will quench your thirst better while you exercise.

Photo by Don Hankins

I’ve always known, psychologically, that running with someone else is better than running by yourself. Admittedly, the solitude of running is one of the great things about it – few other sports offer you the freedom of being able to choose your own path, your own pace, your own journey.  It’s also great thinking time.  But at the end of the day, running by yourself consistently, day after day after day, is hard.  Even those with Herculean motivation will find it hard to keep going.

At the Nike Training Blog they have an article this week with the simple tip: Run With Others. It’s so simple yet fit what I’m trying to do with this blog so well that I thought it would be a perfect place to start.

I won’t spend too much time on my background or my plans for this blog in this post.  For that, you can check the About page, or keep coming back as the story here at Running Buddy unfolds.  But I’ve been on a mission since the beginning of this year to get myself back to the running shape that I once had when I ran a 15:59 5K.

The mission hasn’t gone exactly as planned – I started out well, then suffered the first serious injury of my nearly 20-year running career in April, at age 29.  I tore my MCL, then made the all-too-common mistake of running again before I was completely healed, and increased the severity of said injury.

Eight months later, I’m still in physical therapy, and because this journey has not been easy, I thought, why keep on running by myself? So welcome, and I hope you come back soon.

Photo by liquene.