11.21.2024 - The Three Mile run

If you read my book, you will know that this obsessed runner is a huge fan of the 3 mile run. Sure I love the adventure of the long runs, but 3 miles gives us a huge return for the time invested. Getting out the door for 3 miles is mentally easy, not stressing too much on how to dress for the weather, nutrition needs, hydration or the mental gymnastics sometimes needed to wrap our heads around the long runs. 3 miles gets us out the door and into the natural world and gives us the mental and physical benefits of an aerobic workout. A mile to get into the groove, a mile to hammer, a mile to cool down, or just 3 steady miles to clear the mind and live in the moment. Instead of a day off, the 3 mile run is a great option.

Choose long or short but choose to run today!

Randy Step, an admitted obsessed runner getting ready to put on the Ann Arbor Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day next week, the perfect 3 mile investment to prepare you for a day of turkey, football, family, friends and the couch!

11.13.2024 - The elusive enjoyable run

What happens on the run is not totally explainable. How can working so hard to get from point A to point B become our passion? I’ve been asked this through life, “Do you really enjoy running, it seems hard and pointless?” Always followed up with, “I hate running.” I get it that they don’t get it. Some days the run is as hard and seems as dumb as the sedentary world portrays it, but once it’s over, we are always happy we got out the door. But then, some runs are magically effortless and take us to a state of nirvana, runs that we wish would never end.

I believe that it takes a lot of runs, a lot of miles, to fully understand the run and its nuances before it becomes a passion. I seriously think everyone has the potential to become a passionate runner, including all the run haters. The obstacle to our sport is the time and hard miles it takes to finally get to, and understand the magic of the run. I’m so glad we made it through the gauntlet, I am so glad to be a runner. Let’s keep trying to explain the unexplainable and help change the lives of our sedentary friends.

May todays’ run be magical,

Randy Step, an admitted obsessed runner who continues to attempt to bring more people into the light, or perhaps it may be better explained as over to the dark side. Magic is mystically cool stuff!

2023.04.19 - Running is pure

There is no I in team, but there is in Running! Sure, there are teams in

running, but the sport itself is strictly individual. Whether on a team or in a club, members are there just to encourage and support each other. Our sport has no referees or bad calls, just a start line, finish line and a clock running. We just run, it is pure, simple, and we love it! We might call a run, training, or we may call it a race, but it's really just us, putting in the miles we need for fulfillment. Our running disappointments are trivial, injuries keep us learning, and our successes keep the fire lit. May running be the meaning of life? For sure it's leading us to it.

Run forever and ever, amen,

Randy Step, an admitted obsessed runner, who like you, gets it.

2023.04.05 - Run Proud

My running friend Jane claimed that this week's long run was 1000 times easier because of running with me, as opposed to running it alone. Perhaps an exaggeration, but it puts the difficulty of so many of our daily runs, that we do alone, in perspective.

That said, each mile we put in proves we are just plain awesome, badass athletes, getting in the miles while much of the rest of the world staggers on in a couch potato haze. You can be proud of every run, short or long, fast or slow because you got your butt out the door and NO mile is easy, and that’s what makes our run so rewarding.

Running is tough, so are you,

Randy Step, an admitted obsessed runner, who like you, can be proud of lacing them up and getting it done, every time.

2023.03.30 - Run Wild

We can all use a camping weekend in the woods, especially where there are miles of trails and country dirt roads to run on, not to mention, hot showers, a lake to swim in and the 120 acres of pure Michigan woodlands to wander. Now is the time to make plans so that it happens, and signing up early will save you a few bucks. Expect group campfires and group runs. Bring the non-running family and friends along to enjoy it with you. All camp fees are a charitable donation to Washtenaw Promise, a nonprofit that gives a leg up to the preschool kids in Ypsilanti and Willow Run. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with questions.

Camping dates and info HERE.

Let’s get our butts out the door,

Randy Step, an admitted obsessed runner who loves the mission of Washtenaw Promise, and the camp where we host Run Woodstock in September, and where we will be enjoying the spirt of peace, love and running one weekend each month this summer! Dig?

2023.03.22 - Run, or volunteer

With so many cool races out there, it’s easy to overload our schedule. Yes, too much of a good thing rears its head especially in running. When back to back events that sound fun leave you flipping a coin, consider volunteering at one of them. Volunteering is not only a great way to preview an event, but being part of the staff gives you a bit of a celebrity status as an insider. When someone asks if you have run a certain event, you can say, I help put that race on, and can answer any questions you might have.

So, if you are thinking of running long at Trail Weekend on April 29th, but think it also sounds pretty cool to run 2 mile loops at Island Time a week later, perhaps trying to run farther than you ever have before, but knowing it’s not really enough time to recover, volunteer! Working an aid station at Trail offers serious quality time in the woods. Working the aid station on a 2 mile loop of a 24 hour event can be as grueling, and as rewarding as running it. When you become part of the team that helps runners meet their goals, you might get just as teary eyed and emotional as a person who hit 50 miles, perhaps due to your constant encouragement. Dig it!

Get out and race, or, make the race possible,

Randy Step, an admitted obsessed runner, who hopes to see you on a starting line soon, or perhaps in the finish chute handing out medals!

P.S. Running at the Martian Invasion of Races? Consider stay at the host hotel, Courtyard Detroit Dearborn. Special rate of $122 - $132 per night, BUT ONLY UNTIL 3/24! I promise it will add to your event weekend experience!

You will receive goodies from the race as you check in, and will be welcomed like the running celebrity you are! Check out the Martian decorations and get a coffee and grab and go breakfast in the morning. The tables, chairs and a fireplace in the lobby give plenty of space to hang out and runner watch! Late check out and a pool to recover…book your room today HERE!

2023.03.14 - The elusive good run

Just when we finally start to get a bit of light in morning, kaboom, they move it away from us by an hour, dang. That said, I had one of those elusive good runs today. I’d say they come about every 10th run or so, just often enough to keep me putting my money back in the slot. And like good runs, the weather Gods have also been fickle. I thanked them for the glorious Saturday morning they gave us to get in the long run, then they crap on us for a couple days before finally releasing the sun again. I picture them looking down at us and thinking, these runners are tough characters, we chased everyone else into the house and they keep coming back for more!

Every run is a win,

Randy Step, an admitted obsessed runner who, like many of us runners, was born a rambler and a gambler and guess we always will be until they throw the dirt on. Amen.

2023.03.01 - Same old run story

I’m tired of repeating myself but ... Yesterday, I was tired, sore, in a funk and just knew if I went out to run it would suck, but due to the short window time I had to get it in, the misery would be over soon. I was frowning and grumbling as I charged on down the street. I kept the hammer down knowing I might soon throw in the towel and start walking. About 2 miles in I was still flying along with my body loving it, perhaps faster than any recent race pace when I finally got it through my thick head that I better enjoy the magic that was being presented to me. Live and never learn … Is it just me? So much for being the author of the best-selling running book “Get Your Butt Out the Door”, duh.

Never trust your gut when it comes to getting out the door, just go,

Randy Step, an admitted obsessed runner who admits to being a head case some days, but still taking credit for my great run yesterday! Ha.

On a fresh note, The Run Woodstock Half Marathon made it to USA Today’s short list of the greatest destination races in the US, please click this link and vote it to number one if you dig it! Dig? httpse,://www.10best.com/awards/travel/best-half-marathon-2023/

2023.02.22 - Ageless Running

I’m surrounded by friends who are retiring, luckily I’ve never had a job so I can’t retire! That said, some of my running friends seemed to have retired from running at the same time as the job, while others have upped their game, which seems to make a hell of a lot more sense with them having the extra time. We know that going for a run has nothing to do with age, it’s only related to being healthy and being able to run. Looking at age group records, Gene Dykes, at age 70, ran 2:54 for the marathon just this year and the record for over 80 is 3:15. The woman’s over 70 record is 3:27 and over 80 is 4:12. Of course, these are world records but like all world records they motivate us all at any level to know we are in a ageless sport, dig it! Let’s never play the age card and we shall stay ageless, like our sport!

Run forever,

Randy Step, an admitted obsessed runner who loves the T-shirt with the words, Dumb Asses in Shoes! That’s us! Let’s get out there in the weather and prove this to the world! Ha

2023.02.15 - Happy Running