Where have I been?

It's been over a year since I've left Switzerland. Of course I miss living there!

I spent my final three weeks in Switzerland at Saanen, trying to get in as much flying in the Alps as I could before I left Switzerland to go back to the US.

Starting around October of 2009 or so, I decided I needed some exercise, and started running regularly. I was inspired by the book "Born to Run", which I picked up on the Kindle for no apparent reason. After reading this book, which starts out as "Why does it hurt when I run." I had an epiphany and started running with very minimal shoes.

It's been 10 months now, and to date, I have logged over 628 miles in 2010. I wasn't able to run very long or far between October and January, and didn't start becoming consistent (and logging it) until November. I religiously followed a program to get up to 10k that I found on the Internet, and was able to run 6 miles by the beginning of January.

In March 2007, I ran my first race. I didn't run this race to win it, I just ran it to see what a race would be like. This race was a 10k, which I finished in 1:06:47. Strangely enough, I haven't run a 10k that fast since. I've come close with 1:08, but I've never been able to match that speed again.

Along the way, I got dozens of people asking me about my shoes. These shoes don't look like your typical runner's shoes -- they have no arch support, no heel support, no cushioning at all. They operate on the principle that those modern comforts of running in marshmallow shoes end up being more damaging to the body after time. I became a believer after I started running again, and never had that knee pain that I used to have when running in New Balance Shoes.

In fact, there are a lot of things about running that I never experienced until about July. I never had a running injury, outside of a few blisters (up until July). I never felt like running was a "pounding" experience, mostly because when you run with very minimal shoes, you tend to have a softer stride.

I have signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon, which takes place on 31 October 2010. There is a 14 minute per mile rate that I must beat. I've been following a training program, and have been running quite consistently to that goal.

You can check out my running progress on the Daily Mile, to which I post my progress quite regularly.