Favorite Running Routes: Minneapolis, MN

Minneapolis in my opinion are a great city for runners and bikers. There are so many running paths throughout the city that the casual runner all the way up to the more obsessed, like me, has plenty of trails to run on. Not only are there a lot of trail but they are maintained all year round and have bathrooms and water fountains every couple of miles.

I can run for 50 or more miles without having to carry more than a handheld water bottle and some gels, because there is enough water stop along the routes that I run. And if you are like me and don't like running around in circles the Minneapolis trails provide a lot of areas to explore and enable you to not have to just go out and back. I have included some of my favorite routes below, check them out and let me know if you know of any other good ones. Enjoy!

Frequently Asked Questions: Ultra Running

Since I've started running marathons and now especially ultra marathons I seem to get a lot of questions about why I do it and a how. I have compiled some of the most frequently asked questions that people ask me.


Q: Why? This by far is the most commonly asked question I get.
A: This is a question for a separate blog post.


Q: Do you stop and sleep during the 50 or 100 mile races?
A: Nope, you do stop at aid stations for a few minutes to refill water bottles and grab some food, but only for a few minutes. There are certain ultra races that happen over several days but the ones that I do you go straight through.


Q: How much do you run normally?
A: Actually I run less miles weekly than I did when training for a marathon. On average I run about 50-70 miles a week, most of the miles coming from the 1-2 longs runs of 20+ miles.

Q: What do you eat when you running?
A: During training I normally just eat Clif Bar Shot Blocks and gels. I prefer the black cherry shot blocks and Powerbar Tangerine gels. I'll drink mostly water but sometimes on really long runs I'll drink Gatorade, EnduroMax or coconut water.


Q: What is your normal diet?
A: I don't really follow a specific diet and over the past few years I have really experimented with my diet to see what will be the best fit for me. Right now I follow something close to the Paleo diet and the Slow-Carb Diet. I follow them fairly loosely but they are my general guidelines as of now, my search for the optimal diet is still a work in progress.

I have tried numerous things from a Raw Food Diet, to Vegetarian, High Protein Diet, High Carbohydrate Diet, Low Carb Diet, Standard American Diet (SAD) and even an all Liquid Diet.
As of now I'm settled on a hybrid of the Slow Carb and Paleo diets.


Q: Don't your knees hurt or aren't you afraid that you'll do long-term damage to your knees?
A: No, running is like anything if done properly you should not have any long-term issue with your knees or legs. The problem is that there are a lot of people that have very poor running form which leads to injuries and long-term damage.

My knees are very strong and I have never had any issues with them, I'm probably doing more damage to them by sitting at a desk 8-10 hours a day than any running that I'm doing. Generally people with bad knees are people that play sports like basketball, football, soccer ect. Yes, there are runners that have bad knees, but that is more often the exception not the rule.


Q: Is it healthy to run a marathon, 50miles, 100mile.

A: Short answer No, No and No. The human body is designed to go up to about 20 miles and anything longer than that is really taxing on the body from a nutritional, structurally stressing and muscular stand point. However, the unique feature of the human body is that if you stress it and allow it to properly recover it will become stronger. That is the simplistic basis of all training programs for marathons or longer. So no it is not healthy to run these distances, but the overall net health gains by eating and training for these types of events is generally a net gain from those who do not participate in other physical activities.


Q: You are probably a natural runner or generically inclined towards running right?

A: This is a classic nature vs. nurture argument. My response is that I do not believe that I have any more physical or genetic inclination or advantage as a runner than the average person. I would say that my desire and passion towards running is much higher than the average person. I was born with cold weather and exercise induced asthma which does not lend itself well for distance runners. Standing at a intimidating 5ft 8 inches, most of which is my torso, my limb ratio is not bad, but it is certainly not advantageous for me as a runner. I have never been tested for my VO2 max or lactic thresholds, so I do not know if I have any genetic advantage there or not.

My personal opinion is that there is certainly genetic or nature characteristics that help athletes, such as Lance Armstrong's lactic threshold is off the charts. I believe that most people have the necessary physical ability to become very very good at any sport, skill or activity if they put the necessary time and effort. The genetic features come into play certainly and when you put the time and effort and have the necessary natural abilities that is when you get a world-class athlete or performer.


Q: Don't you get bored? Do you use an ipod when running?

A: I don't really get bored when running. I personally think that it is very meditative when I'm doing my longer easier runs and when I'm doing tempo or speed work I'm concentrating on my pace too much to get bored. Long runs are great times to workout any problems that you have, I have yet to have a problem that after a 3 hour run I didn't feel better about. Another plus is that elevating your heart rate in any activity releases a lot of endorphins similar to the ones that are in antidepressants (runner's high effect I suppose).

I generally don't use an ipod when running, but sometimes during the winter on my long runs and when I run on the treadmill I will use one. When I started running I never had one, so I guess I have always been used to not having one.


Q: What do you think about when you are out running?

A: I think about the same thing I do every time I run. I think about way to try and take over the world.


Q: Did you just drop a Pinky and the Brain reference?

A: Yes, yes I did.


Q: What do you think is the most important keys to running well.

A: I think that the number one thing for almost all level of distance runners to focus on in injury prevention. At most levels whether you are a serious competitor or just running for fun if you can avoid injuries you will be able to not only enjoy running more but you will also be able to progress as a runner a lot more effectively.


Q: How many shoes do you go through?

A: Thankfully I can usually get about 500-600 miles out of most of my training shoes. I have been slowly transitioning into a more and more minimalist shoe which has allowed me to get the most out of my shoes. With normal mileage I will generally buy a new pair of shoes every few months, but I also buy different trail running shoes and racing flats for road races so I spend plenty on shoes each year.


I hope that will provide some good info for those of you wondering about running these types of events. If you have any other questions feel free to post them in the comments below and I'll certainly do my best to answer them.

New Years Resolutions: 2011

As I have stated before I'm not much for new years resolutions, mostly because I don't really think you need to wait for the new year to make changes in your life that will improve it. It is important to always trying to make changes for the better. That being said here are some of the things that I want to work on in the new year.

1. Get Less Sleep
Yes, that's right I want to try and sleep less in the new year and in subsequent years. Personally I hate the thought of spending 1/3 of my life lying in a bed unconscious and I have heard of many different people being able to sleep significantly less than the average person and still feel rested and be productive. Some examples are Albert Einstein, Leonardo Da Vinci, Dean Karazes(famous ultrarunner). From what I have been reading about people like these and from some of my own experiences, I believe that I can get as little as 4 hours of sleep a night and still be rested and very much functional, mentally and physically. I have heard of people going off as little as 2 hours but I feel that working my way to 4 hours of sleep is the most practical for me.

The reason why I believe that I need only 4 hours is that I currently get about 6-7 hours on average and feel just fine and again there are examples of people getting only 2 hours. Plus Dean Karnazes only gets 4 hours of sleep a night and he runs far more than I do and has a wife, kids and runs his own business, so if he can get by on 4 than so can I. I will do a separate post on how I plan to do this and why I believe I can still thrive on nearly half the recommended amount of sleep. Stay tuned...


2. Train smarter
Timothy Ferris is the author of the 4-Hour Work Week and 4-Hour Body, both of which I highly recommend, he is a remarkably productive person probably best known as a productivity guru. He basically tries to deconstruct activities or skills such as language learning, swimming, even sleeping, and yes distance running. Though I am not really going to use any of Tim's direct advice for my running, due to the fact that he is more focused on simply finishing endurance events I want to win them, I am more than intrigued at his approach to improving whatever craft or skill he tries to master. So this year its smarter nor harder. I have already been doing a lot of indoor cycling and started to try some yoga classes, so this might be a year of experimenting too.

3. Run 100 Miles
That's it just run 100 miles at one crack.

4. Drink More Red Wine.
I've heard it can make you live longer, and it tastes great.


These all seem pretty doable. The only problem is that #2 will be hard to define but I think that as long as it is a constant focus on quality training is maintained it shouldn't be a problem.