Blogs | Zappos.com

Many people each year make a resolution to get fit, and a large number of these people look to some major event as their motivation, with many deciding upon a triathlon. So, books are bought and videos are watched, and then training begins: a light jog, a winded bike ride, and a humbling first swim workout in the pool.

Many who start this way have wonderful intentions, but they have not provided themselves with a real, definable goal. Before training, select a race, register for it, and create a training plan that seeks to peak you for that performance.

Most experts claim that a person wishing to enter the sport of triathlon should do at least one major race per training cycle. Obviously you will place yourself in the best situation to succeed if you match your training to your ultimate competition. Considering this idea, you make your job near impossible if you approach your triathlon experience with no goal. Training just to see offers a million chances to make excuses; however, paying for a race and obligating yourself, telling people about it, is more apt to keep you going.

Once you have locked into a race, you should plan on competing in several other, normally slightly smaller, triathlons during the training cycle. While you can certainly work to excel in these lead-up races, the real goal is still the race at the close of your training cycle. But these events will give you invaluable experience, as running in and out of transitions and competing with others in close proximity cannot truly be replicated in a normal workout.

Also, participating in lead-up races will serve as a barometer upon which you can measure your progress. No other workout you design can match actual competition, so give yourself the chance to gauge your current level. Doing so will allow you to adjust your training to address weaknesses and to have an increased level of confidence when the real race day finally arrives.

Thus, make a concrete commitment that disallows you from creating excuses. Set a schedule to train for this day, and use smaller races to get you ready. In the end, you’ll find yourself in incredible shape with a new found sense of confidence and purpose.

Sure you can take a short drive down to your local Outback restaurant to gaze at the mass produced Australian “artifacts” that adorn the walls, the ever-so-menacing warnings to beware of the crocodiles, and the fuzzy presence of a fake kangaroo. Once you sit, you can order the pure shrimp on the barbie, cleverly named kids’ meals, which each end with “roo”, and jazz all the dishes up with some serious spice. But, if you’re into something a little more authentic with a running twist, consider packing away some cash and heading to the real Outback, deep in the heart of Australia, for the Outback Marathon in late July of 2010.

The day’s events, which include a full marathon , a half marathon, an 11k and a 6k, take place primarily off-road on the famous red earth that is common across the central portion of the country. Carving your way through bushwhacked lands on unsealed roads and paths, you’ll run past a lifetime’s worth of scenery, none more spectacular than Ayers Rock and The Olgas.

With the 6k and the 11k open to all age divisions, this could be a nice family event to punctuate a once-in-a-lifetime vacation. The half marathon requires a minimum age of 15 whereas the full marathon calls for only those 18 and up. All participants, however, receive a commemorative medal at the conclusion of the race, and certificates are available for printing on-line.

Yes, you can run a marathon any place in the world, and most would be significantly closer to your home. But, how many times in your life will you ever be able to claim that you ran through something most only imagine, a place that most people only visit in books or on the internet?

Thus, a true athletic challenge awaits a half a world away, in a place offering memories for both young and old. Make a trip you will forever recall, and along the way interject a day of pure joy as you run through the Outback. For more information about the marathon, visit www.australianoutbackmarathon.com.

Understanding how to train with the proper intensity represents a critical skill for any triathlete, no matter how accomplished you are. Going at a rate too low can dilute your training and fail to prepare you for the actual race conditions. Conversely, pushing too hard during certain workouts creates a clear imbalance and disallows your body to adapt properly to that portion of the race for which you are training. Either way, not knowing your level of intensity can devalue the workout you thought you had planned so well.

To solve this situation, you should seriously consider purchasing a heart rate monitor . Most triathletes swear by these, using them to get immediate feedback during the bike or run portion of their daily training. Integrating the use of a monitor lets you stay within a prerequisite zone, one that gives your body the correct amount of work for that given task. If you can gauge your intensity in real-time you can make the needed adjustments so that your workout is maximized and ultimately relevant. Any time spent working out should always be good time, as preparing for triathlons is hard enough without wasting precious hours training in incorrect ways.

The monitor itself normally consists of two parts: a strap with a sensor that goes around your upper torso, near the heart, and a watch you wear on your wrist that communicates the information as you train. Most are entirely comfortable and do not inhibit your training in any way. Some more expensive versions offer only a watch piece.

Therefore, you would do yourself a true favor to purchase and get acclimated to a heart rate monitor. You don’t need to spend a bundle to get the basics you need, so make the investment and watch your bike and run training improve almost immediately. You’ll love it on race day.

All across the country, turkey trots will fill streets and parks on Thanksgiving Day morning. From serious runners who show up to win or set a personal best to a family looking for a bonding experience, Thanksgiving offers everyone the chance to pull the shoestrings tight and put left in front of right.

While each race certainly has its own significance and charm, the folks in the Cincinnati area may very well be in for the best treat. The 100th Annual Thanksgiving Day race, which begins and ends at Paul Brown Stadium and is set to start at 9 am on November 26th, 2009, will bend and curl through the streets and over the bridges of Cincinnati, ultimately covering a 10k (6.2 miles) distance. The urban setting serves as the picture perfect backdrop for runners and walkers alike, all gathering to celebrate a national holiday and a city’s tradition.

After registering, each participant will receive a high-tech long sleeve commemorative t-shirt, have access to a customized running program, and can read 100 Footprints, a series of stories about the race on a newly designed blog. McDonalds, the race’s official sponsor, will provide each 100th person to register with a $10 Arch card, and Local 12, a area news channel, will include every person in a race commercial—and you’ll get a special place on the starting line—who can help register one hundred people.

Inundated with incentives and family fun, the race also seeks to support seven area charities and, in addition to McDonalds, has fifteen major sponsors. With entertainment and camaraderie, participating in the event will surely allow you to spend the holiday in style, and it will provide a wealth of family memories on a day that should be about just that.

So, slide the turkey in the oven and grab your sneakers. For more information about race specifics and registration, visit http://thanksgivingdayrace.com .

When you think of style, comfort is usually not in the cards. What would you say if there were a pair of dress shoes that were worthy of being jogged in and worn with a suit? Ladies and Gentlemen, The RockPort Dressport !
Our Lead Blogger Brett H.is in New York city to show everyone in the world’s greatest city that comfort and style can go hand in hand, in a very fashionable way. Also, CLICK HERE to enter the Run Rockport Run Sweepstakes!

Pictures of professional triathletes mounted on bikes that resemble rocket ships grace the pages inside virtually every triathlon magazine. These images, while presented there to support the article or to advertise the product, serve an additional function, one that is not necessarily intended: they inspire budding triathletes to be just like the pros. As a result, when beginning triathletes enter the sport, they confront a multitude of decisions, with one of the most prominent being what type of bike to buy.

Generally speaking, as you first start out, never spend a huge amount of money on any gear , let alone a bike. Borrow one or buy one used. Ride a hybrid. Do something rather than spend a month’s wages on a bike you may only ride once. Basically, try the sport first. If you fall in love with it, then invest in it.

Now, if you do decide the sport is for you, then you must choose between a road bike and a tri bike. The road bike is normally the best choice, especially for the recreational triathlete who competes for himself, as it is built to be considerably more flexible than a time trial bike. Road bikes work better when riding in packs, cornering, and climbing, and they are constructed for a more upright position, making shifting and pedal transfer easier. Therefore, the bike offers quite a wide range of services for any rider. Conversely, a tri bike, made for flatter surfaces and predicated on the need for speed, forces the rider down into the aero position the majority of the time. The positioning is less comfortable but far more aerodynamic, thus creating faster times. The geometry of the tri bike also places more emphasis on the hamstrings during pedaling, which leaves more energy in the quadriceps, which is of critical importance when transitioning to the run.

Overall, you need to evaluate your goals and commitments. If you are dedicated to triathlon and want to compete and train regularly, then a tri bike may work for you. If you want to ride leisurely with friends and compete in some smaller, less rigorous events and train part time, throw some aero bars on the road bike and stick with that.

Would you like to win $120 in merchandise credit to purchase Rockport shoes at Zappos.com? Keep reading!

Our blogger/runner Brett H. is running around New York City this week in honor of the New York City Marathon! Brett has been working with Rockport, one of the finest shoe brands in the land, and he, along with the team at Rockport, will be in Grand Central Station on Thursday for a very special event: If you’re in New York, stop by to try on a pair of Rockport shoes and you’ll receive a free shoe shine! Look below for full times and places.

Now, back to that Free Shoes thing:)

Check out the link below to enter to win $120 in free Rockport shoes from Zappos!
http://www.zappos.com/c/run-rockport-run-sweepstakes

Thursday:
Try on the new DresSports and receive a complimentary shoeshine!
Meet Brett from Run Brett Run and give him advice on running his upcoming marathon and fun things to do in NYC.
When:

Thursday, October 29, 2009

7am-7pm

Brett will be available 7am-9:30am, 11:30am-1:30pm, and 4:00pm-7:00pm
Where:

Grand Central Terminal -the Main West Entrance at E. 43rd/Vanderbilt Ave.

The Major League Basebal All Star game has recently become a star-studded event, with two full days of festivities to celebrate America’s pastime and to highlight the game’s best and brightest stars. People come from all over the country to partake in the events that surround the game itself, so naturally the opportunity exists for charities and organizations to spread their word to the masses and to generate exposure for their causes.

Major League Baseball, in an attempt to reach out into the community and serve the country’s best interests, this past July staged its first ever All Star Charity 5k and Fun Run. With all proceeds donated equally to three charities supporting cancer research—the Prostate Cancer Foundation, Stand Up to Cancer, and Susan G. Komen for the Cure—the MLB wished to raise funds and awareness in one remarkable morning.

With participation in the thousands, officials designed a baseball-themed course punctuated along the way with baseball legends and team mascots. Runners and walkers alike traversed the course at their own pace, all in the name of the greater good. With the Fun Run being an un-timed event, participants could enjoy the atmosphere, socialize, and soak in the scenery. The 5k portion, a timed event with official results, offered serious runners the chance to not only run in the shadows of an enormous national event, the All Star game, but also, and far more importantly, it gave them the chance to make a real difference in the lives of others, most of whom they would never even know or meet.

With great anticipation, MLB looks to generate this event again next year when early July rolls around. If you want to experience an amazing baseball event and, while you’re there, become part of something that truly matters, set your course for Anaheim, California, home of the American League West Division Champion Angels. Help raise funds to fight our nation’s leading killer. Donate your time and your legs to find the cure for those who need it now and those who will need in it the future.

Hi, my name is Brett, and I’m officially addicted to Running.

If you’ve been following this blog, you’ll know that I have been training for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon that Zappos is sponsoring. It wasn’t actually my idea, and I was a hard sell on doing it. But, after all these weeks, I am running in upwards of 7 miles at a time….that is not normal for me, or anyone in my immediate bloodline. But, I’m sold. I love it. I now have a form of stress relief. I sleep like a normal human being, and I even started lifting weights. (again, not normal for anyone in the Brett family, going back generations)

Now, ladies and gentlemen, I want to know WHY YOU RUN? Check out the video below:

Record a short clip telling us what makes you get out there every day, and set it as a reply to this video….“I run because”............

We want to hear about it, yo!

Countless people join the sport of triathlon each year. Many become severely addicted and grow into everyday trainers with long-range goals. Others, however, struggle and fail, competing in only one before selling their bikes and using their swim goggles for protective eyewear on home improvement projects. Any person who has ever been involved in a triathlon can understand why people become attached, but the harder concept to comprehend is why some quit so early. A good possibility is that they simply did not plan well at the beginning, thus setting themselves up for failure.

To plan properly, that is once you have decided to go all in and actually do a race , whether it is a sprint, Olympic, Half Iron or Full Iron, you must select the best time frame for training. To begin, pick a race that is at least twelve weeks away. Anything closer will cramp your training and prevent your body from being totally prepared. Race day then will be a nightmare, for attempting a triathlon when being undertrained rarely results in that warm, fuzzy feeling needed to come back again and again.

Next, generate a training pace that allows your body to adjust. Throwing yourself into a massive workout will hurt your body, which again sours the experience. Ease into a pattern that has logical, safe increments. This will give your body time to rest, recover, and progress, and it will let you feel more accomplished and confident as the race date grows closer.

Finally, when scheduling your workouts, plan all of your swims first. Time in the water, either in the pool or open water, is the most difficult to attain, so make swimming your planning priority. Training for the running and the biking can be done just about any place at any time, so fill those in once you have mapped out your aquatic times.

If you begin early and establish a realistic plan that takes into consideration both time and patience, you stand a far better chance of enjoying the actual race. The goal of a triathlon is to get you to come back and be a true member of the sport, so plan well and you can change your life in ways you previously didn’t think you could.

Not all running events get listed in the local news bulletin or have major sponsors promoting their existence. Not all running events are found on a calendar eagerly awaiting a registration fee. In fact, not all running events are even events. Some of the best runs, those that are born from pure desire and adventure, come to fruition because a person decides to create his own path and set out on a journey that means something.

No where is this ideal more apparent than in the story of three men who decided to run the Sahara Desert, a trek that took them over 4,300 miles and through Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Libya, and Egypt. Using handheld GPS navigation systems , the three-man team finished the expedition on the shores of the Red Sea some 111 days after they began.

As they traveled, they encounter picturesque beauty as well as pure poverty. They faced near impossible conditions only to realize that the human spirit can endure anything, as they watched small village children shout to greet them and run along side them. The true value of the event buried itself deep beyond mere running, and it unearthed itself at a finish line that was more symbolic than final. The three men emerged from the trip changed people whose cores became something of legitimate substance knowing that they had accomplished something no ordinary man would even dream to attempt.

The expedition, which will soon become a documentary film narrated by Academy Award winner Matt Damon, should send one simple yet clear message to all runners: Blaze your own path, one that is laced with passion and reason. You don’t always need to wait for someone else to create an event for you to run. Take your life into your own hands and use running as the vehicle to carry you to a far greater understanding of yourself and the life around you each day. Let your mind generate your inspiration, don’t just sit back expecting someone else to do it for you.

People get bored very easily. That is a fact that is about as certain as death and taxes. Think about the high school kid who falls asleep during a forty-minute lecture on the Italian Renaissance or the security guard who drifts off during the graveyard shift. When a person experiences something that spans a long period of time and offers no alterations or adjustments , there exists no possible way for a legitimate focus to occur. As a result, body and mind change course, looking to either rest from exhaustion or re-stimulate itself with something else.

Training for triathlon is no different. While following a detailed, structured workout schedule will give you the format to stay consistent, doing the same routine day after day will result in two situations: a serious loss of mental motivation and a seemingly unbreakable physical plateau.

Mentally, when you continually change your patterns, the brain stays sharp, as it constantly has a new goal to reach. You provide the stimulus your brain requires to keep your body moving in a manner that permits progress. For example, using a swim workout based on stroke count one day, always working to lengthen the body’s reach to reduce the number of strokes it takes to cover a given distance, and the next day swimming against the clock, a place where strokes are less important and time rules, provides you with a different set of challenges. Your brain avoids the patternization that generates boredom and fatigue.

Likewise, physically, if you can repeatedly alter your goals, you can keep your body from reaching those plateaus that stunt growth. Confusing the muscles, making them work similar groups in a variety of ways, dodges the monotony of identical workouts. For example, running an endless string of treadmill workouts will never produce the long-range results you need. Instead, get outside and hit the trails or do a track workout. Try plyometrics or Kenpo. Mix in multiple variations that will strengthen the muscles while keeping them fresh and stimulated.

Overall, you will be a happier triathlete if you mix it up. Failing to do so will not only hurt your performance, but also it will take away the pure joy associated with the sport. Keep yourself mentally and physically excited and vary those workouts as much as possible.

Running events always seem to have a purpose, and not one designed for the individual alone. Charities and fundraisers normally serve as the backbone for countless running events with folks coming together for a common cause. The spirit wrapped inside these types of events displaces the running itself, and instead makes the experience one of empowerment and generosity. And while each event holds a sincere significance to all involved, the need associated with the Marysville Marathon Festival is dynamically real on so many levels.

Marysville, Australia, a cozy town nestled in the Victorian Alps, home to an endless string of tourists and the former stop-over for those on their way to the goldfields at Woods Point in the late nineteenth century, was nearly obliterate on Black Saturday, February 7, 2009, in a fiery inferno. With a devastating loss of life, the town now seeks to rebuild and rise from the proverbial ashes; however, the task exists as near impossible without the help of others. Thus, the Marysville Marathon Festival was born.

A place that was once teeming with tourist accommodations and events, Marysville now has little left, and calls upon runners, walkers , and virtually anyone to come join this critical inaugural and possibly annual event. The festival holds four trials: a full marathon, a half marathon, a 10k run/walk, and a 3k run/walk. Serious runners can cover the full or half course while those who just wish to support a more-than-worthy cause can bring their families and walk the other distances . The roads are wheelchair and stroller accessible, except for one small portion of gravel, and the race officials permit pets on leads, especially on the short course.

The community needs you to help, so make your way down if possible. People in the world must embrace each other, and reaching out to those in need, even on other continents and under foreign flags, makes this planet a better place to live. Run the Marysville Marathon Festival to not only support a town’s recovery, but also, and maybe more importantly, to show the real strength in humanity.

Hey there! I’m still working on racking miles up, and last week was a good one.
Monday-3 miles
Tuesday-4 miles
Wednesday-7miles!!!!

It was hard, but I finally arrived at the halfway mark for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon. Below is a video of the afterthoughts and one tired country boy. And his dog.

After months of training, the night before a triathlon can be one riddled with anticipation and nervousness. You often wonder if you have done enough to prepare for what will soon come. Yet all the worry and concern the night before will do absolutely nothing, for nothing can be done to better you physically except for a good night’s rest. Instead of mentally destroying yourself with unanswerable questions, focus on getting organized and prepared. Doing so will let your race morning flow easily, with little to no stress. The last thing you want is to concern yourself with all the minute details that distract you from your real purpose, which is to swim, bike, and run as best you can.

First, the night before, take the time to thoroughly pack your triathlon bag. Include such items as goggles, swim suit/wetsuit, socks, towels, bike helmet, shorts, racing top, sunglasses, sunscreen, petroleum jelly, nutritional supplements, money, race information, a permanent marker, sneakers, bike shoes, bike repair kit, water bottles, a hat, a watch , race number, tool kit, and fresh clothing for afterward. In fact, write out a detailed checklist prior to starting. This way you will not forget any needed gear. Nothing could be worse than beginning your walk down to the water for the ocean swim, only to find that you have forgotten your goggles.

Next, the morning of the race, arrive early and register as soon as possible. Once that is done, take the time to properly plan out your transition area. Consider how many transitions the race has, as some will have one common area while others will have two. Either way, organize the area so that you can rhythmically get in and out. Have a place to drop the wetsuit and towel off before throwing on your biking gear. Make sure you have your race number pinned to your jersey or on a race belt that you strap around your waist. Put your stuff in a logical order, one that you have hopefully practiced before race day.

Finally, once the transition area is set, head out onto the course to look around. If you arrived a day or two early, you should have already hopped in the water for a short swim and ridden a few miles on the actual bike course. If not, take the time to get comfortable with the race course itself. Talk to other competitors about what they see or know; you’ll find that triathletes as a group are highly supportive and will share readily. Overall, get there early so that all the hard work and dedication you invested in the previous months can come to fruition. Make the moments leading up to the race relaxed and enjoyable, not stressful and panicked.