About Me:
Greetings! My name is
Chas and I like to run…a lot. But there
will be plenty of running talk to come.
Outside of running, I am an elementary school teacher in Kannapolis,
North Carolina, and I am a part-time musician who plays local bars and coffee
shops near my home in the Lake Norman area and in nearby Charlotte. Two years ago, before I started running in
earnest, I was seventy-five pounds heavier and subject to most (legal) vices
that cause one’s life to shorten. After
fifteen months of obsessive running and cross-training and unwavering support
from my then fiancée, I acquired the highest level of physical, emotional, and
spiritual fitness I had ever known. For
the past year or so, my running obsession has driven me to love racing and pursue
increasingly lofty goals.
My Running:
After numerous adaptations to my form and style, and an
equally numerous list of running shoe models, I have found my niche as a
minimalist runner. I run nearly all of
my workouts in lightweight shoes with a heel-toe differential between 0-4mm
(whereas conventional running shoes average a drop of 12mm). Most of my running footwear is designed to be
worn either with or without socks, so I opt to go sockless whenever possible—hence
the handle of this blog. Although I
occasionally go running in completely bare feet, I would not consider myself a
barefoot runner. I am too much a fan of
shoes! Besides, on long runs exceeding
20 miles, I am known to wear shoes with some more conventional cushion. My complete transition into minimal shoes
remains a work in progress.
As far as my training, my area of focus is preparation for
marathons and ultra marathons. While I
have only one marathon and one 50K ultra under my belt, I currently am
registered for more of these long distance races in the near future. Two of my intermediate goals are to finish a
marathon under 3:30 and to complete an ultra of 50 miles or greater. I still love to race half-marathons, 5K’s,
and everything in between, but I often schedule these shorter races only when
they conform to my training plans for the longer distance events. I do most of my training on roads, but I love
to hop on the trails whenever possible.
I am lucky to have found a really positive running club that
has caused my progress as a runner to slingshot forward over the past several
months. The Davidson Area Running Team
(DART) continues to be a big inspiration for me, and I enjoy contributing to
their ranks both on and off the courses.
You may find some of my recaps appearing on the DART blog (davidsonrunning.com)
as well as here.
The Purpose of This Blog:
I love to teach. I
love to play, write, and record music. I
love to run. I read whenever I can, but
I also love to write, so I would be lying if I said this blog wasn’t at all
self-serving. That being said, I do not
intend this blog to be a virtual trophy case for me to boast my own personal
achievements. Rather, I want this to be
a place for me share successes, hardships, and discoveries with the rest of the
running community in hopes to perpetuate an ongoing dialogue about training,
racing, nutrition, and physical maintenance.
I also hope to provide entertainment as well as information. I do not pretend to be a scientific authority
in the realm of running, but like everyone else, I enjoy a good conversation
among peers.
I look forward to posting race recaps, gear reviews,
training epiphanies, nutritional input, and whatever comes to mind for your
reading enjoyment. Thanks for browsing,
and keep running!
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