Wear ID
It’s a good thing to wear ID while you run. You never know what might happen. I prefer dog tags, which I wear always, so it’s a “set it and forget it” solution. They are available for cheap on line.
Your Bones Aren’t Smart
Your bones aren’t smart, so you have to be smart for them.
Your joints don’t naturally articulate in the correct way. They just move and twist and crunch together however it happens when you throw your leg out there.
Be cognizant of how your posture and gait affects your joints. Modify as you move to get everything working in the easiest way. I’ts a mechanical puzzle, and the clues to getting it right are how your joints and muscles feel.
For example, I often get a dull pain in my right knee after about 45 minutes of running. One of my solutions is to change the way I point my foot as I strike with that foot. My right foot stike looks like this as I run:
Strike pointing towards 12 o’clock.
Strike pointing towards 11 o’clock
12 o’clock
1 o’clock
12 o’clock
11 o’clock
12 o’clock
1 o’clcok
12 o’clock
Repeat
Eventually I find a strike that reduces the dull knee pain. Sometimes this can take a mile or more. Usually it’s pointing my foot at 11:58 as I strike, but not always.
You need to be the brains for your bones.
Modify Your Shoes
As your shoes wear, it can be helpful to modify them. Your natural thought might be to add shoe goo and cushioned insoles to the worn spots, but consider going the other way, especially if the wear is more pronounced on either the inside or outside of your foot.
In my case, I get some wear on the outside of my heels, even though I try to use a forefoot strike. When my heel becomes worn on the outside, I then trim the inside with a knife. This allows me to continue wearing the old shoes, and I feel it actually improves the mechanics of my gait and foot strike.
Snot Rockets
You either shoot snot rockets, or you don’t.
I do.
The technique is to hold one nostril shut and forcefully exhale air out the nose, clearing the open nostril of all debris. It’s healthy and good for you to expel all that bad gunk, although don’t be so forceful that your ears pop.
The best way to learn the technique is by running in the rain. That tends to get the fluids flowing, and if you are sloppy, cleanup is much easier. Probably alone is best.
You should learn this. It’s good for you. Sometimes you just need to trust me.
Wind Chill
Today I will get soaked on my run. But the weather Gurus believe it will actually feel like the actual temperature actually. Go figure. Why don’t they calculate “Rain Chill?”
The concept of wind chill means it feels colder when it’s windy. For a runner, this just causes more extreme feelings. Running in to the wind I suppose you experience super-wind chill, but running with the wind, it sometimes feels like wind… warmth.
I tend to not believe the wind chill, but to read the actual temperature, and then not if it’s windy or not.
Runner’s Demons
Demons often hound the runner. They are tenacious and merciless. But run towards the morning and the demons are made irrelevant.