2023.02.08 - Keep running weird

The Super Bowl reminds me how quiet and private our sport is. When compared to the average American, who could and would not run a mile for any reason, we are a small, self-motivated bunch that finds pleasure in hard work. Chipping away at long term goals is our specialty, for sure we are on the fringe, dig it! Running is as far away from being a spectator sport as can be, when they talk about television ratings, the number of people who would watch the Boston Marathon would not even be a blip on the radar. All that said, coming up on Friday March 10th is a rare opportunity, a trail running film festival. I hope you can join me in Chelsea, Michigan at Robin Hills Farm for a motivational evening with a bunch of running nerds, without a run! Come for cocktails and a couple hours of incredible running films in a glass barn, a very cool setting. 2023 Trail Running Film Festival

Keep running weird,

Randy Step, an admitted obsessed runner, who will most likely sneak in a run before the show, what the heck.

2023.02.01 - Don't just run

I have a hard time with the non-aerobic stuff like strength and flexibility training, but understand they are needed to keep us off the injured list. Some of these windy or single digit days make it a bit easier to devote run time to this stuff and we will need this balance when we start upping the miles as winter moves on. So there! Now you have an excuse when the weather sucks, you can run short or skip the day. That said, I’m a fan of toe warmers, balaclavas and layer, any excuse not to get near a gym! Do as I say, not as …

Train smart, run forever,

Randy Step, an admitted obsessed runner, looking at 5 degrees, sunshine, and no wind, not bad, the yoga and weights will have to wait!

2023.01.25 - Never question the run

After dressing in a laundry load of winter run gear and strapping traction on my shoes, I headed out the door and soon found myself slipping around on the trail. The wet snow was building up on my Yaktrax and soles like bricks that had me looking for logs to stop and scrape them off on. With all the time this took from my run, my left foot went numb … I was thinking, what the hell kind of sport have I chose to torture myself with? And then I fell. As I checked myself over and looked around, for the first time that day I was struck by the beauty of my environs. Snow was clinging to every branch, twig, tree and stump for as far as I could see. I was reminded that winter views in the wilderness are incredible. I decided to ditch the traction and this resolved the build up problem. Up and running, I was one with the natural world and the miles flew bye. Moral of the story?

Never question the run, only your approach to it,

Randy Step, an admitted obsessed runner that should know better.

2023.01.11 - Resolve to run

I’m a fan of resolutions and the beginning of the year is the time I give it thought, though not necessarily on January 1st. I often think back to a New Year in the 80’s a time when I was feeling unsettled and had resolved to make some changes to a life that was making this young guy feel old, for sure I was in search mode. I was watching ABC Wild World of Sports on TV with my new bride Kathy (an incredible athlete) when the Ironman Triathlon in Kona Hawaii came on. We watched in awe as the competitors entered the 2.4-mile ocean swim, then headed off on a 112 mile, windy, hot, bike segment in the Kona lava fields only to get off and run a full 26.2 miles in the same searing landscape. Kathy turned to me and said, we could do that. I sat quiet for a while, trying to get my head around what we just watched, and then said, let’s do it. Life took a 180. A year later we were treading water in the ocean off the Kona pier when the starting cannon went off, and my old life as funeral director with a bachelor’s in Mortuary Science was left behind. Its pretty normal to go into the new year and give thought to where we are and where we might be. The hard part is how to get there. If we give it too much thought, the chance of something amazing happening will slide off into the would have should have pile.

Resolve to keep life amazing, just do it!

Randy Step, an admitted obsessed runner, who’s trip across the Kona finish line became the starting line of a wild and wonderful new life.

2022.12.28 - Cold Miles Count Double

The weather has been challenging to say the least. Single digit temps along with blowing and drifting snow turn the run into an expedition. After donning what will soon be a wet, full load of laundry, I headed out to see how far I would make it. The roads have become trails and the effort just to move forward seems heroic. For sure these miles should count double, perhaps they could make a double effort, double your miles feature for the running apps? I didn’t run far, but got out there. That said, it is a million percent better to get in a short run than none. An interesting thought, we pretty much wear the same shoes and socks no matter how hot or cold it is, I guess our feet are more like wild animals compared to our other body parts. That said, I have been putting handwarmers on top my feet, taping them down, then sliding into my shoes. Yes, I know they make toe warmers but the bulk box of handwarmers was cheap!

Always an adventure, always worth the effort,

Randy Step, an admitted obsessed runner, who messaged my running friend on Christmas to say I was going to chicken out on the run and ride the Peloton, she said she was going to chicken out and drink mimosas!

2022.12.21 - Run Dirt

We live in a world that separates us from the earth, the dirt. Make 2023 the year to get back to the land and set your soul free. I have running friends who avoid the trails. They either worry about tripping on uneven ground or that they run road races only and feel they should train on roads. At times I feel like a fuller brush Christian as I preach the trail message.

When running or walking along playfully like Peter Rabbit, we develop the ancillary muscles that go underdeveloped when running or walking on a flat surface with a narrow range of muscles going through the exact range of motion over and over. This often leads to overuse injuries because once tired, our body goes to these ancillary muscles to keep stable, and for the road runner, they may not be there. Trails increase our proprioception, that is, our body's ability to sense its location, its movement, it allows us to take that next step without thinking where to place our foot. Use it or loose it. Trail running not only teaches the mind and body to flow over rough terrain, it helps us flow through life with a grace and efficiency that is often taken away by an aging, overly careful, or sedentary life.

Flow wild and free forever!

Randy Step, an admitted obsessed trail runner who along with the Dirt Crew at RF Events, has created a year long calendar of trail events to escape the man-made world for bit. We will run, walk, hike and frolic together in nature! Check out The GOAT Trail Series that kicks off with Trail Weekend!

2022.12.14 - Every run is amazing

Yesterday I had a glorious morning run that was followed by a long tough day of I.T. problems and little accomplishment. Several times during the day I reflected back to the run and each time it gave me renewed energy and hope. I was reminded that much of what we get from a run comes to us far after the work is done. There have been difficult days that I’ve thought back to hard earned marathon finishes I’ve had that continue to push me forward and will for life. The run is so much more that it seems on the surface, each run comes with lifelong mental, physical, spiritual, and inspirational benefits.

Run today, you may need it tomorrow,

Randy Step, an admitted obsessed runner who also realized that during a run, my body refuses to let me be angry. The run is smarter than we are!

2022.12.08 - The run takes center stage

In the midweek emails, my thoughts and ideas about the value of the run and what a gift it is for us to have found running are nothing new to us. As runners, we know them from personal experience, I just happen to put them into words. These midweek pokes are reminders of the gift, because like so many of the most precious things in life, it is easily taken for granted. We may be frustrated at the world, overwhelmed by the to-do list and unread emails we need to get to while our precious run slips under the layers and out of mind … Then, when scanning the inbox, there is the midweek, and the run comes into the spotlight at center stage!

Run first, so you will be ready to face the problems of this world.

Randy Step, an admitted obsessed runner who promises a daily read of my book (“Get Your Butt Out the Door”) will be a tool that will keep the run center stage through the holiday crush and seemingly endless winter.

The book gives 365 daily dated pokes. I’m just looking at today’s, 12/8 entry titled, “I will not be feeling happy and smart today”, tomorrow’s title, “We are as tough as our runs”. If you have the book, you get to know the rest of the story! If you don’t have the book, ORDER IT NOW! If you do order the book, shoot me an email and say, I just ordered the book and tell me your goals. I’ll sign it with a personal poke to you, or if it is a gift, let me know who to write it to.

2022.11.30 - Be proud of your run

On Thanksgiving Day, we are reminded of all the people, and all in life, that we are thankful for. There is also a time to give yourself credit for your efforts to enrich your own life, thus, enabling you to have more to give to others. When you wake to a dark, cold, windy morning and head out for your daily run, you are doing something heroic. You do this without fanfare or encouragement of any kind and there is nobody to hand you a medal at the finish line. The effort it took is known, experienced and appreciated only by you. It is important to recognize your dedication and accomplishment. Yep, you rock! The run was far from selfish. The run helped to make you physically and mentally healthy, it added to your self-confidence and left you ready to be productive in your family and work life. The run prepared you to be ready to help others and left you far less likely to need to be helped.

Love one another, yourself, and today’s run!

Randy Step, an admitted obsessed runner who does yoga just to give myself a pat on the back occasionally. Ha. And I’m proud of your run, just sayin’ …

2022.11.23 - Giving thanks to the run

The run has helped and continues to help us discover who we are and who we might be. It has given, and continues to give us, insight into what we are capable of and what we might yet achieve. The run has expanded our lives and our limits, turning dreams and goals into reality. We can be thankful that once a runner, we will always be runners, even if the run is taken away from us. We are thankful that every hard-earned mile we put in becomes part of us, never to be taken away, and each of those miles has helped to mold the stronger, more resilient person that we have become. No mile is easy, every mile is worth it.

Let’s get our butts out the door and give thanks,

Randy Step, an admitted, thankful, obsessed runner who will be a runner until the day they throw the dirt on.