Success Story and another PR

Below is a testimonial from Aimee, who has been consistently training at PR Fitness over the past year. Currently, she attends class 2-3 times per week and trains with Richard once per week. Over the past year, Aimee has made huge gains in her strength, durability, and work capacity. That, along with improved nutritional patterns, has changed her life in many ways AND delivered an almost 40 minute personal record in this years Indy Mini Marathon. Check it out...

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I wanted to take a moment to thank you and the amazing "home" you've created for me at PR Fitness. This past weekend I ran my 2nd Indianapolis Mini Marathon and walked away in disbelief of my 1:57 finish time - a 36 minute PR! The disbelief came from knowing that I had only gone on a few short runs (6 miles or less) in the months leading up to this event. The strength I've gained from my time training at PR is clearly what carried me though that race. I will always believe that my time might have been better but I had to stop to dry the tears that suddenly streamed down my face at mile 10 with the realization of how strong I really, truly was and that I DID have every tool I needed to finish strong. The tools that were given to me at PR.........not only the physical but emotional.

Aimee, practicing her Windmill's, at PR Fitness.

How many conventionally trained "runners" are doing these?

Not only did I feel great during the race but my recovery after has been remarkable. My body wouldn't argue if I forced it onto the course again this weekend. What a liberating feeling!

When I think back to last year's race it's almost funny. Flashback: I spent the entire winter pounding either the road or treadmill trying to log at least 30 miles each week. Hours spent stretching my IT band and icing all my other aching joints. Lots of $$$$ spent on "traditional" running shoes and energy spent trying to steer clear of the weight machines - I certainly didn't want any extra body weight to run with! I didn't run for one month before race day because I was so beat up and sore; race day wasn't much better. I carb-loaded, laced up my heavy running shoes and ran to finish. It took me over 2.5 hours and I could barely walk to the car when it was over because I hurt like I've never hurt before. My take: I was never running again. I was going to try this crazy PR Fitness stuff my friend was telling me about.

Fast forward to year:

• Treadmills? No, I've learned that it's best to train outdoors.
  
• Mile logging? No. I've learned that less is more.
• Carb-loading? Uh, no! I finally took your advice and I'll never look back This one is where you get the biggest THANK YOU.
• IT band "issues"? No. With some coaching on forefoot running and mobility training those problems are non-existent.
  
• Big, bulky running shoes? I shudder at that one. The slow transition to minimalist footwear has been life-changing. I would snuggle with my Vibrams or New Balance Minimus every night if I could.

What a difference a year makes! Thank you PR Fitness for making the past year the most life-changing!

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Aimee's next personal challenge? The Howl at the Moon 8-hour Ultramarathon in August.

Congratulations to Aimee and all your hard work - it has paid off in more ways than one.

Have a "Success Story" you would like to share or a testimony of how PR Fitness has made a difference in your life? Email them to Chris: chris@prfitness.net.

Success Story

Congratulations to Sherry Campbell for finishing her first Ultramarathon, Dances with Dirt - Gnaw Bone, IN. Sherry is one of our "off-site" athletes who follows our workouts and does them on her own. In addition, she regularly attends my yoga and "bootcamp" classes that I teach for ProMotion Fitness at Delta Faucet.

What makes this accomplishment even more amazing and inspirational is the fact that Sherry came to me several years ago and shared that she was suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. At that point she was just looking to stay as active as possible and have the best quality of life she could maintain as her doctor didn't have much hope for her staying active.

Since that time, I worked with Sherry to change her lifestyle and nutritional habits. We shifted her to the Paleo, or Primal way of eating, which means no grains or dairy. Eating only fruits, vegetables, protein, and fat, those foods which would have likely been eaten by our ancient ancestors and the way we were designed to eat. The Paleo approach is not only a more healthful approach to eating, it is also non-inflammatory, meaning, unlike diets high in grains and dairy, it does not trigger inflammation in the body. She also began to workout more frequently in my classes at Delta Faucet and followed the workouts posted on the PR Fitness website.

As Sherry's "symptoms" improved, she began to be more active and take on bigger physical challenges such as sprint triathlons and 5K road races. She also joined us for trail runs at Eagle Creek and quickly became hooked.

Over the past two years, Sherry has gone on to run road 1/2 marathons, the DINO trail race series, the Tecumseh Trail Marathon (a tough trail marathon held in December in Brown County, IN), and last weekend completed her first trail ultramarathon - Dances with Dirt, Gnaw Bone, IN. DWD is one of the toughest 50K races around with steep ascents and descents, multiple creek crossings, miles of shoe sucking mud, loads of bushwhacking, and several "stupid spots". Oh, and did I mention she has taken "minimalist footwear" to a whole other level? She completed these events in her trusty aqua socks! Here is what Sherry posted on her Facebook page last Sunday:

"I'm recovering from 31 miles of (mostly) trail running at DWD in Brown county yesterday. The legs are tired!! I'm losing a toe nail from the worst I've ever stumped a toe (I'll leave out the icky, oozing details). Was on the way to finishing in 8 hours until I twisted a knee on a downhill run that felt more like a jump off a cliff with only 8 miles to go. The were 3 climbs that were more like rock climbing than trail running. My biceps are tight from the pulling up. Finished 3rd in my age group. Only 4 of 11 in my age group finished. It was absolutely grueling but at the same time the most 'fun' I've had on the trails to date. An old pro that's been running DWD trails for years said it was by far the hardest he's done to date. He finished over an hour later than he expected. The best part of the whole race---seeing Gordon, Greg, Noland, and Eve in the woods ahead of me at the mile 21 aide station! It was a wonderful pick me up after the hardest 5k I've ever 'ran'--it took well over 1 hr 15 minutes. Nothing but steep up hills, bushwhacking, and MUD! And it was all done in my wonderful Beach Basics Aqua Socks."

Sherry at the Ogle Lake aid station during her first 50K race.

Here is what Sherry emailed to me a couple of months ago after a checkup with her doctor:

"Just wanted to let you know I had my 4-6 month appointment with the Rheumatologist this afternoon. I was afraid he wouldn’t be hip on not taking the meds for the last 5 months.

He was very happy that I had gone without the meds for this long with no pain or other ill effects although his medical training says it’s not possible. He did his usual mobility and swelling checks and found “NOT ONE SINGLE SIGN OF ANY PAST PROBLEMS.” He took detailed notes on my exercise activities and diet changes. He asked his PA to pull medical literature on the Paleo diet and shoeless running to study later. He was dumbfounded that I could run for more than 7 hours through the woods in the snow with no ill effects (Tecumseh Train Marathon in December 2010).

He said I could have blood test done to check the RA factor to determine if there truly is a reversing of the antibodies that bring on the RA symptoms but regardless of the results he can’t guarantee the RA won’t return. There are no long-term studies on the effects of diet along with regular exercise in those previously diagnosed with RA. I said no thank you. If the RA factor didn’t go down, way down, I would have a feeling of impending doom weighing on me. I’ll continue to do what I’m doing, enjoy each day as it comes, and thank God each day that I had one more pain free day. If the RA returns, I’ll deal with it then.

As long as I agreed to lose 25 pounds during the next few months (doctors always have to bring that up!), I don’t have to go back for a year or have the monthly liver function blood tests!

If just one person, or their family, can find a little bit of hope from my story then I’ll feel blessed. When I was diagnosed I felt like there was no hope for ever feeling good again. I wish I could’ve found just one little piece of positive information. There’s nothing out there about recovering from inflammatory diseases other than the general statement 'eat healthy and exercise moderately 2-3 times a week when you are able.' Gordon (Sherry's husband) would get so depressed even thinking about it that he could barely function for days. Even now he won’t discuss it with family if they ask how I’m REALLY doing---and they never ask me directly."

I'm extremely proud of Sherry, her dedication and hard work. Her story is proof that, often, medication isn't the only answer to our medical problems. Lifestyle, diet, and hard work can assist or even surpass what science and pharmaceuticals can do for us. Keep up the good work, Sherry, and thanks for the inspiration!

Be Well,

Chris

Gear Review

New Balance Trail Minimus:

To save you from reading this lengthy article I will tell you upfront that I give the Trail Minimus a 9 out of 10 stars and you can skip to the end of the post to read why.

After nearly a year of not-so-patiently waiting, I bought a pair fo the NB Trail Minimus within days of it's release last month. It was a tough year of waiting and to make matters worse, our friend Corbin was working for NB and occasionally dropping hints, updates, and taunts for the better part of the year. For an admitted shoe geek/junkie, this made waiting on the Minimus arrival both exciting and unbearable; much like a kid waiting for Christmas to arrive.

In all honesty, I have to blame Corbin for my shoe addiction. Several years ago, I was content to run trails in my clunky, over-engineered, overbuilt, "trail shoes". In fact, I had just bought a pair of Pear Izumi trail shoes around the time Corbin and I starting doing some training runs for my first Tecumseh Trail Marathon.

In all it's massive awesomeness - the Pearl Izumi SyncroSeek. Compared to the Minimus?
Think Hummer compared to Ferrari...

I was still in the school of thought that the more tread, the more stability, the more "meat" in a shoe, the better. Corbin, on the other hand, had for years been wearing racing flats and altering his shoes to make them lighter, as in cutting off anything that wasn't absolutely necessary to keeping the shoe in one piece. His view was, "less is more" and often talked about running barefooted on the IU Cross Country course. I thought he was nuts... for a minute... then I starting listening to what he was saying, and watching how he ran compared to how I ran. Unlike most of my fellow endurance fiends (yes, fiends, not "friends"), Corbin is a bigger guy, such as myself, and his results were often better than mine so it was time to take some notes.

Fast forward over the course of a year and I was on board with the minimalist footwear idea, and yes, I was doing some barefoot running as well. Keep in mind, this was at least a year before "Born to Run" dropped and the minimalist crazy blew up. During this time I had made the transition into less and less shoe and by last year, I found what I thought to be the best damn trail shoe God had ever blessed upon the trail running community - the New Balance MT 100.

New Balance MT 100 - no frills, light weight,
all business and one heck of a minimalist trail shoe.

I've done distances up to 35 miles in the 100's and hit just about every condition you can imagine including snow, wet grass/leaves, shoe sucking mud, hard pack, etc. and I still feel this is an exceptional trail shoe in every regard. Personally, I give it a 9.5 out of 10. The only thing I would change would be to add a little more room in the forefoot.

Now that running in minimalist shoes has gone from a fringe, underground movement to a more mainstream craze, all the big guns of the shoe industry are scrambling to meet the demands of the booming market - New Balance has had a head start and is still one of my personal favorites. While I won't waste the time and energy to slam some of the ridiculous shoes being passed off as "minimalist", I will say that among the "minimalist snobs", if a shoe isn't zero drop (meaning no difference in height relative to the heel and forefoot) than it isn't truly minimalist. If you narrow it down to that criteria alone, you are left with only a handful of trail shoes to pick from. That being the case, you find that many of these shoes 1) suck, and 2) most people are not physically ready for a zero drop shoe. Besides, if you are that much of a purist, you should be running unshod at all times and leave us tenderfoots alone.

The much anticipated Minimus was expected to lead the way in minimalist trail footwear; a collaboration between New Balance and their minimalist elite ultrarunners, such as Anton Krupicka. Additionally, they worked with Vibram for the outsole. With a trail shoe recipe like that, I was thinking the Rapture was gonna happen the day the Minimus came out - I mean, it was just too good to be true.

Ultrarunning Elite - Anton Krupicka... looks a lot like the dude tattooed on my forearm, right?

After my first couple runs in the Minimus I was fully ready to give the shoe 10+ stars. Here is what I liked:

• Crazy lightweight
• Unbelievably comfortable. Probably the most comfortable shoe I've owned, i.e. I didn't want to take them off when the run ended and Jody put her foot down when I wore them to bed. I mean they designed it so you don't even need to wear socks, for Pete Sakes!
  
• Great handling and ground feel - again, probably the best I've ever experienced
  
• Water clears out of the shoe quickly after a water crossing and dries exceptionally fast
  
• Enough barrier between feet and Earth, but not too much. A lapse of attention while trail running in my Vibram Five Fingers means you pay the price. Hitting a rock or acorn in the Minimus will get your attention, yet it's much more forgiving.
• Great on road runs as well as trail runs
• I have also tested them in workouts at the gym and found them to be a great all around training shoe; excellent when doing Double Unders, Box Jumps, Olympic lifts, Rope Climbs, and even Overhead Squats.

After having more time to test the Minimus, I have to give it a 9 out of 10 stars. Why not 10? For me, in muddy conditions the outsole/tread pattern is worthless and in that, I'm hugely disappointed. I've never lacked confidence in a shoes traction capabilities as much as I find in the Minimus. Unlike the MT 100's, where I never think twice, even when downhilling in muddy conditions, the slightest mud with the Minimus makes me feel like I'm one step away from ending up on my ass.

Another outstanding shoe from New Balance, yet not quite "perfect"

My last two long runs at Eagle Creek have been in wet and rainy conditions. Two weeks ago it was in the Minimus and last Friday's was in the 100's. There were several sections where I was forced to walk in the Minimus due to sketchy footing and several downhill single track sections where every time my foot landed it slipped causing me to slow down or risk doing a face plant. Muddy inclines? Forget about it - I was doing the goofy "I'm gonna eat it going up this hill" walk and slipping like a fool. During this past Friday's run I hit many of the same areas and the 100's performed flawlessly; at every point the Minimus failed, the 100's showed who's boss.

I've read several reviews of the Minimus, including one from an ultrarunner/writer I respect, Bryon Powell. For a more detailed review, I highly recommend reading his review by clicking HERE. Not one of the reviews I've read have mentioned what I've found to be a chink in the armor of the Minimus. Sure the minimalist pure have poo-pooed it for not being zero drop, a few have complained about the forefoot strap, and a few (including myself) are not too hip on the orange color, but not one word about the sole being an issue. That said, maybe it's just a personal thing for me, or the way I run. Have others not fully tested the shoe in these conditions? Not sure. What I can say is that the Minimus is an OUTSTANDING trail shoe that I highly recommend to anyone looking for a great all around minimalist shoe. However, I'm still left here longing for the Second Coming upon which will arrive the "perfect" trail shoe. Now, if next year the Minimus version 2.0 comes out with zero drop and a sole similar to the MT 100's, ya'll better be getting right with God!

Feel free to email me if you have questions or post your thoughts in the "comments".

Peace,
Chris

Fox 59 Female Focus

Once again, PR Fitness is featured on Fox 59's "Female Focus" highlighting why women should be picking up heavy stuff and putting it over their heads.

Coach Jeremy at "The Pit" Field Report

Below is a field report from Coach Jeremy who spent last weekend at "The Pit", training with CrossPit founder, John Hackelman and his team.

Thanks for the report, Jeremy!

Enjoy...

Jeremy (in the red shorts), on a training run with "The Pit Master" (over Jeremy's left shoulder)
and the rest of the crew.

"This was my third time out to the world famous "Pit" in Arroyo Grande California where "Pit Master" John Hackleman has trained some of the best MMA fighters out of what he calls his family oriented, traditional Karate school. This was my third time training at the Pit, and as usual, I had a great time. The conditioning workouts were hard, but I have to say that it gets SLIGHTLY easier each time, and I have give credit to my Pit/Crosspit training at the Indiana Pit in Kokomo, as well as, my training here at PR Fitness.

Admittedly, I was quite intimidated on my first trip out, and who wouldn't be. I'm a skinny, 165 lb guy walking into a gym that has trained the likes of Chuck Liddell. But, in my opinion, one of the keys to John's success is that anyone can walk in and immediately feel comfortable. There are no egos, and everyone seems to be there to help out. Ohana is a word that gets used over and over again, which is Hawaiian for family (John grew up and began all his training in Hawaii). Many of his fighters and casual students (if there is such a thing) have this word tattooed on their bodies, and the feeling is tangible. That is one of the main reasons that I like to train at The Pit, the Indiana Pit, and of course, PR Fitness: no egos -- just good people who like to push each other and work very, very hard. I don't think I am alone in this sentiment, but I digress...

Each day at the seminar was fairly long and included about two conditioning sessions and about two didactic/technique training sessions. Conditioning included pushing wheelbarrows 2-3 hundred yards uphill, 100lb D-ball clean & tosses (up the same hill), 20lb sledge hammers, double unders, sand dune sprints, and a run/hike almost 2 miles up the nearby Mt. Madonna.

We did technique training with John, and UFC fighters Court Mcgee and Antonio Banuelos. Luigi Mondelli (3rd degree black belt) gave us several hours of Jiujitsu training. I had the honor of rolling with him, and he gave me the double honor of awarding my instructor and I our first ranking in BJJ under Bestway/American Top Team. I think I might have some insider info regarding the next season of The Ultimate Fighter as well!!

I always wish I could stay longer and just train, but the real world calls. I feel refreshed and ready to continuing my training with the PR Fitness "Ohana", and I hope I can make a positive contribution to the gym."

"The Runner in Winter"

As if being sidelined from running with a torn calf wasn't bad enough, I had to go and come across this video which just made it about 100 times worse. Check out this ten minute film featuring elite ultrarunner Anton Krupicka. Tony is very much a minimalist runner with impeccable running form and one of the best ultramarathon runners around.

Anyone else ready for a snowy trail run?

Click To Play

Ice, Ice, Baby...

Iced/Snowed in today (and possibly tomorrow)? No excuse to not train. Be creative! Mix in some calisthenics, yoga, and core work. Have stairs? Create a circuit and run stairs between rounds! Finish up with some mobility work.

Here is what Jody and I (and Christian) just did -
5 Rounds of:

• Hindu Squats X 20
• Hindu Push Ups X 10
• Sit Up with Russian Twist X 20
• Stairs X 3 trips - Christian won each race! If you don't have stairs you could use a jump rope X 50 jumps or do a "Milli Vanilli" and just pretend you are jumping rope.
  

Cool down with mobility/yoga.

Yes, I was feeling very "ethnic" today. What can I say?

Go slow with all movements, make it challenging and work range of motion/mobility. This isn't a lung searing, puke producing workout, it's meant to be a good full body strength session where your heart rate is elevated and you finish feeling tired, but energized.

Now we are ready to settle in for a night of listening to the ice fall and praying for the electricity to hold up : )

Here is "The Man", Steve Maxwell demo'ing the Hindu Squat: