A Little About Me

I'll make this short and quick so you can move onto the good stuff.

I started running about a year ago, in my late-20s. Before that I could never make it more than a mile without succumbing to severe knee and shin pains. On the other hand I've always been good at sprinting short distances, faster than most others. I've also always been involved in high impact sports, particularly in a laundry list of martial arts which I still practice. So athleticism-wise, it just never added up that I couldn't run more than a mile before breaking apart.

So about a year ago I ran into a strange shoe at the sports shop called the New Balance 730. It caught my attention just for being so ridiculously light and connected to the ground when I put them on. As I read deeper into it I discovered the concept of minimalistic running and mid-foot striking, which I plan to go deeper into for the new runners.

And that's what this blog will be about: a blog for new runners. As I see myself at the tail end of the beginner stage of the sport and at the same time, more athletically inclined than most others who are starting off, I feel I'm good position to share knowledge to new folks just starting off. Sort of a "all the mistakes are still fresh in my mind and I can relate" kind of thing. I've also coached martial arts through the years and one of the key aspects I found to being successful at it was the ability to empathize with a beginner's mindset. So all in all, take my personal anecdotes and advice with a grain of salt.

Some additional information about me is that I'm a fourth year student in professional school in the healthcare field. I get sent all around California for my rotations but I'm primarily based in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles. I also compete in triathlons (still only in the sprint category) and am always learning some kind of martial art at the moment (right now I'm exploring the different areas of MMA). I'm most interested in 5K distances and my favorite distance is the 1 mile. My best mile time so far is 6:21, my 5K 22:30 and in about two days I will be competing in my first half-marathon with a goal of 7:55/mile. I'm very open to new athletic areas and going back to my martial arts background, my first goal in any new sport is to study the correct form and technique before diving in deep with sheer willpower and athleticism.

And so that's it. I'm sure I'll keep revealing more as I blog. Here's to us newbs.