Gift Ideas for Dad

Father’s Day is coming up this weekend and you’re stuck with crickets on the brain when thinking of the right present for Dad. Why not a present of fitness? Give Dad a gift certificates to Fleet Feet Sports for a pair of shoes also include the proper fitting! You know the right pair of shoes for your feet are monumental in controlling injuries, what about Dad? Get him the right pair of shoes and he’ll thank you as knee pain, hip pain go away. Many forget about the benefits of our cooling craft fitness apparel, why not get a shirt for Dad? Even if he isn’t out running the Buena Vista roads, our Craft shirts are a great way to keep Dad cool on the boat, on the beach, and even working in the yard! Hats for the family bike ride, even our Orthaheel sandals for those lazy days of summer. Fleet Feet Sports not only carries shoes and apparel for the fitness Dads but the shoes and apparel that the weekend warrior Dads will love. Stop by for Father’s Day suggestions or make it easy on yourself and purchase a gift card and let Dad get what Dad WANTS!

How fast can a human being run?

The fastest a human being can run is 27 miles per hour. The fastest ever recorded was Usain Bolt in the 100m, during his 9.58 second run, his speed averaged 23.3 mph but during the 60m stretch he increased it to 27mph. The strange part is that there isn’t much distinction between faster animals – cheetahs, dogs, ostriches, their tendons and muscles are not much different from ours.

Another surprise is that it doesn’t matter how many legs you have on your speed. The key to speed is now how fast the legs move but the force they exert on the ground. In a study, the slowest runner of the group repositioned her leg the same way Donovan Bailey repositioned his leg. A fast animal can exert 2.5 times their body weight in force on their feet. Human beings at this time can exert 4 times their body weight on their feet. Researches see our speed increasing by 5% as muscles get stronger.

Why are sprinters more muscular that distance runners? Distance running is more cardiovascular running that sprinting. The most important part of the body is the heart, not the muscles. A 100 pound antelope can run a marathon in 45 minutes compared to our marathoners clocking in under two hours because that antelope has a heart twice the size of ours, it increases the number of red blood cells in the system.

Sprinter, distance runner, recreational runner-it’s all in the genes. Let us make sure you have the right equipment on your feet.

Is Competitiveness Gone from Kid's Sports?

My son competed in his first Kid’s Triathlon this past weekend. As a parent I wanted this to be a positive experience for him. For my son’s age group, this kids triathlon was a 100yd swim, 1 mile bike, and a half mile run. The older age groups went to a 200 yard swim then to a 300 yard swim. The swim seemed long to me and they allowed the younger kids to use kick boards to help them. All the older kids were expected to swim their distance. As the older kids swam the pool, I noticed a young girl halfway through the swim at the end of a lane crying. My heart went out to her because I’ve been in that situation, wondering if I could finish, willing myself to finish. Some volunteers talked to her as she cried, then let her swim under two ropes to swim one less lap. I lost track of her as my son jumped in the pool.

He finished in 18 minutes and 49 seconds.
“Well, what did you think?”
“It was great. I had fun. The swim was really hard though.”
“Are you glad you did it?”
“Yeah, I feel really good.”

I thought again about that girl. Were the volunteers right to let her swim less than others in her age group? She recorded a shorter swim time but didn’t swim the distance. Will that bother those that swam the entire length of the pool and finished after her?

I know that this is just a kid’s triathlon, a more casual race. Was this the right thing to do?

Facebook Fast Pick!

Fleet Feet Sports is starting a Fast Friday Pick in coordination with our Best 50 Running Stores Campaign! Here's the deal:

Go and vote for us www.competitor.com/50best

Print off your confirmation sheet, then come into the store on Friday and receive a 50% discount on a single pair of socks!

50 Best Running Stores, 50% off....can't get any better than this! Vote today!

Help us win 50 BEST RUNNING STORES!

Fleet Feet Sports is reaching out to all customers to vote for us as one of 2010’s 50 BEST RUNNING STORES. We need your votes! This award is given out annually by Formula4Media, the industry’s media leader. The selection process of the 50 Best Stores begins with stores being nominated by consumers and members of the trade. Nominations are edited, and then more than 100 stores will be mystery shopped and “rated” by Franklin Resource Group, the leading retail merchandising company serving the sporting goods market. Stores are also evaluated based on ratings from vendors and their involvement in and support of the local community. Emily, Keith, and the Fleet Feet Sports staff are so proud to be part of the fitness community in the Triad and hope you will continue to show your support by casting your vote for us!

www.competitor.com/50Best

What have YOU seen on a run?

Facebook status update from a runner: "Saved a bird today on my run! Found a hawk hit by a car on Walker Road. Took of my shirt threw it on the bird, picked it up and ran the last mile home with the bird under my arm. Got ready to call Wildlife rehab but it must have been stunned because it awoke under the shirt and flew away (enter me screaming like a little girl as the bird moved.)"

Everyone has that story, something strange you’ve seen on the run. Sometimes it makes you run faster as you pass it like a deer leg sitting by the side of the road out in the middle of nowhere. (pondering how did it get there, where’s the rest of the deer, if something ate the deer is it hiding in the bushes looking for me?) To the outright outrageous, like a man running ahead of you in WAY to short shorts without any type of support! (Is that what I think it is? Oh my goodness, it is! Do I say something? There it is again! Don’t look, don’t look, don’t look)

It’s fun to swap these stories after a good run, these little things are what makes life interesting and why we lace up the shoes and step out the door. Much more interesting than the treadmill and watching TV. These experiences add color to what we thought when we started was going to be a mundane, long, lonely run. What about you? Have ever seen something that made you pause on YOUR run? Want to swap stories?

Have you found your "sweet spot?"

What is your running form?

Take your shoes off and run a little bit. What do you find? Your gait is different? You feel lighter on your feet? Your posture has changed? Most runners find that just a few steps barefoot they change from heel striker to mid to forefoot striker.

Enter Newton Natural Running Shoes, the way for runners to achieve that “natural” gait. If you’ve had injuries and issues with your running, tried inserts, tried different shoes, tried everything, think about Newton Naturals to get your body back to its “natural” state. Newton Naturals are designed to help you find your “sweet spot,” the optimal way for your foot to hit the surface and help you run injury free. Getting your body back to the way it wants to run is the natural way to run.

According to the book, Born to Run, humans are designed for distance running. “That was the real secret of the Tarahumara: they’d never forgotten what it felt like to love running. They remembered that running was mankind’s first fine art, our original act of inspired creation. Way before we were scratching pictures on caves or beating rhythms on hollow trees, we were perfecting the art of combining our breath and mind and muscles into fluid self-propulsion over wild terrain.” Getting back to basics helps you remember what it was like to run like a kid, to enjoy it without the nagging injuries.

Find your natural state with Newton Naturals and get back to enjoying your run! Stop by the store anytime and find out if Newton works for you!