The Friday Running Blog:
Coach Nick;
8/7/2026
Most Running Falls Occur Because of Running on the Entire Foot, Instead of Just the Forefoot.
The Forefoot Gives us a Reliable Platform. A Platform that is; Malleable to the Contours of the Ground, and Can Pivot with the Angles of the Ground.
In Contrast, If we put our heal down, We create a Long Narrow platform. This Long Narrow Platform has hardly any malleability relative to its size. And This Long Narrow Platform turns the body into a Mechanism that Favors Tipping Left and Right. Forcing left and right movements Instead of allowing for Any Direction of Pivot, Creates a High Torque Movement. This High Torque Movement is the Biggest Contributor to the common experience of; “Falling is Just Part Of Running.” It is the “Sudden” accident we can’t respond quickly enough to. When the entire foot is on the ground; The direction that our foot tilts, yanks the rest of our body along with it.
It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way.
Our Feet are Extremely Malleable. Our toes have many joints in a relatively small area. This Allows the bottom of our Forefoot to take on any shape it needs to fit with the contours of the ground. The toes can adapt and articulate to the ground. The conditions of the ground can change and shift, and the forefoot can change and shift with it.
Our Feet are Extremely Pivotable. By not having the heal on the ground; We Can Utilize the Range Of Motion in our ankle to let the Forefoot tip to any angle that the ground is at. Our ankle acts as the necessary extra joint to allow the foot a huge range of motion, without affecting the upright angle of the body. The Toes and the Ankle Work Together to Keep us Upright.
The Toes Tilt the Bottom Surface of Our Foot To Match the Ground. And the Ankle Tilts the Foot as needed, to not push the body from its Balanced Position. All Angle Changes occur from the ankle or lower. No Torque on the knees, because the ground is no longer yanking us into position. We are in our balanced upright angle, the ground is whatever shape and angle it is, and our Feet Fill in All of the Space in Between. It’s Geometry.
When Used Properly; The Human Foot has the Incredible Ability of filling in any shape needed, between our leg and the Earth. It can do so Extremely Quickly. It can change shapes before we even realize it needs to. This keeps us upright, this keeps us from falling down.
7/31/2026
Forefoot Running, allows us to use the elastic qualities of our body, in a Healthy and Balanced way. The Muscles, Tendons, Ligaments, and Joint Cartilage; Work In Coordination to Absorb Shock.
In Contrast; If we let our heels down onto the ground, we force our Joints to do the Brunt of the Work.
Our Meniscus, the Cartilage in our knees, is one of the best shock absorbers we have in our body. But it Can’t handle the impact of running by Itself. Running is too much for the meniscus to handle on its own. Heel Striking will overly impact this area of the body, causing knee damage, and sending the remaining force outwards to our other joints. Our other joints don’t have as good of shock absorption, and they will wear and damage as a result. Hence; hip pain, back pain etc. commonly reported “problems with running.”
Our Muscles, Tendons, and Ligaments are also great shock absorbers. When we stay up on our forefoot; We can take advantage of this. We can use all of our body’s shock absorbing features at once. This Distributes the Impacts Evenly. Additionally, the extra elastic energy is returned to us in our next stride. The Energy Works With Us, Rather than Against Us.
When we use all of our body in this unified way; We reduce the impact to each area. We reduce it to a level that we are actually designed to sustain.
Within this healthy level of impact;
We no longer wear and damage our cartilage and joints.
Instead; We gain strength in our muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
Our joint health improves, our body’s natural lubrication is present.
This strength and health then increases our body’s ability to respond to the ground. This further decreases impact, and further increases our ability to use our body’s springiness. The ground is the hard thing, we are the springy thing. And being springy with as many joints as we have, takes the right technique; Forefoot Running.
7/24/2026
Another Way That a Fast Cadence Keeps Me Safe From Injury; It Creates Less Impact than a Slow Cadence.
The Physics is; For us to run forward, we can’t just push forwards. We jump in the shape of an arc. No matter how efficient our stride is, we still jump in an arc. And No matter how flat this arc is; We still experience an impact from coming down, and we experience the force of pushing up from this ‘down position.’
While running, We Do Not Fully unload our weight onto the ground. If we did; that would not be running, that would just be jumping from one foot to the next, pausing a moment, and then jumping again. And that would be a Very Slow Cadence.
The Math is; the faster the cadence, the less time our weight spends going down, so the less our weight is transferred to the ground, so the less impact we have with the ground.
Less Impact means Less Stress on the body, and less chance of breaking away unstable ground. This helps us Stay Safe From Running Injuries.
I only use the word “Fast,” because people tend to run slower than the ideal of around 180 steps per minute. Especially when running at slower speeds. But Everything has a balance point. Go at Too Fast of a Cadence, and that will also be inefficient and increase wear in other ways.
A cadence of around 180 Steps per Minute is The Sweet Spot for a Low Impact, Efficient Stride. This applies across a large range of speeds. It allows our legs to operate like rubberbands. It is the best combination of letting a low amount of weight down and not overexerting ourselves, while taking advantage of the body’s Elastic Qualities.
It is the closest thing we have to Floating on Our Feet, and it Feels very Fluid. It does Not feel like the “High Impact” Activity that Running is Often described to be.
7/17/2026
One Way That a Fast Cadence Keeps Me Safe From Injury; It Helps me not fall down.
The Reality is that The Ground is Not Reliably Stable. Uneven transitions, potholes, loose chunks of concrete, loose rocks, slippery mud, moss, motor oil...
Even a “perfect” professional track surface has some unexpected obstacles for our feet to contend with. We might step on another runner's foot. A gust of wind or bump from another runner can nudge us off of the edge. Onto an uneven surface, into the potentially lumpy grass…
It’s impossible to stay 100% vigilant at all times to avoid these dangers. It’s Impossible to Predict that Everything that Looks Stable, Really Is Stable. It’s impossible to stay perfectly balanced on Every Single Step that We Take. The unexpected scenarios Cannot be prevented.
A Fast Running Cadence of around 180 steps per minute, keeps us safe when the ground unexpectedly gives way. It keeps us safe when our grip unexpectedly gives way.
The math is: our next step is arriving so quickly, that our body doesn’t have time to fall down.
Even when multiple steps in a row give way, this fast cadence can keep us up. Like the Basilisk Lizard runs on water, a human running at a fast cadence can stay up on an unstable surface. (A fast cadence isn’t the only factor for them being able to run on water, but it is a crucial factor.) Stay too long on one foot, and the body will sink. Only a little push up from the next foot can keep the body from going down.
Of course we can’t run on water, it’s too unstable. But we Can keep ourselves from falling down, Across the Many Unexpected Obstacles found on land. We can stay on our feet, avoid injury, and be healthy to do it again tomorrow.
7/10/2026
Fresh Routes are Fresh Perspectives
Every trip out is an opportunity to look at the world around us.
Every time we see a fresh view of the world, we experience the moment.
It’s easy to choose the same route every time. We tend to just go with it. The risk of repetition is that we tend to develop a mindset of “I gotta get this done.”
What we'd rather develop is a mindset of “I am doing this.”
“I gotta get this done,” is a mindset about being at the end. But we’re not at the end (sometimes we are, briefly). We’re where we are right now. And Now is our Only Opportunity to Be Our Best Selves.
“I am doing this,” is a Mindset of Now.
“I am doing this,” is a mindset that comes from experiencing things in a new way, rather than experiencing them identically to yesterday.
I encourage us all to push our boundaries. To take a left where we always take a right, Try the “other” path. Go at a different time of day, when things are lit differently. See the world at a different angle, so we can see the moment more clearly. Always practice things in a way that encourages the moment, not the end. It is always now, rarely is it the end.
7/3/2026
Why I run in my Street Clothes;
It helps me Actually Go Run.
I highly recommend James Clear’s Book: Atomic Habits
One concept that he explains is that; We Don’t Want to have Too Many Steps Between Us and Our Good Habits. Make it as easy as possible to do the habit Now. Put Your Habits Within Your Reach.
The motivation to go run can be short lived. I found myself losing motivation before I even got the running clothes on! I would overthink my plan for preparing to run, and then I wouldn’t want to actually Go run..
But when I just go out the door in what I’m wearing, there’s no time to lose motivation. And once I’ve started my run, the thrill of adventure takes over. I am on my way. And once I’ve established the habit, the motivation is not so fleeting.
The clothes that I’m used to, are also the clothes that I’m confident in. Starting a new habit can already make us feel vulnerable. We don’t exactly need the extra discomfort and lack of confidence that comes with wearing some skimpy overpriced clothes. We need all the confidence we can get when we’re establishing a new habit. We deserve to feel comfortable when we embark on uncharted territory.
We want to learn how to feel good about ourselves as we establish our new habits. We don’t want to feel weak, exposed, and over budget. We want to be able to do recovery walks or respond to a schedule change, without feeling half-naked.
It’s important to feel like ourselves, and that we are Improving Ourselves, not trying to be someone else. Maybe we will eventually like wearing those skimpy clothes. Maybe we will eventually be motivated enough to get through an elaborate preparation process. Maybe we can afford those fancy clothes, or maybe we can’t.
But maybe for now; it’s best to just go. Go make it happen Now. Improve our gear situation later, if we want. Not Let the Gear Postpone the Goal. After all; running can and should be the athletic activity with the least obstacles to entry. We can help put the habit within our reach.
6/26/2026
Remembering to be Thankful to Those that Inspire Me.
Having Good Role Models is important for Staying Inspired. They can help us Remember Our Ideals. They can give us a positive outlook on things, which can be particularly helpful on those days when; “I’m really not feeling this.”
I highly recommend choosing some good role models from the community. A variety of people. Some may be popular or not, some may be in your household, some may be a random dude who was nice to you when he didn’t have to be. The point is; If you find yourself respecting something about them, then maybe they are worth looking up to.
Good people occasionally inspire us. When we make the Conscious Effort to Choose Our Role Models; We can use their Inspiration on a Regular Basis instead. We can pin up a list of their names with Our Goals. This list can remind us of what we respect about what they do. We can make an effort to tune in to the things they are doing.
I want to give a special shot out to This Messy Happy. I encourage you to go check out their UTube Channel. They are Running Coaches that Teach and Inspire an entire community. They are Good Role Models for encouraging Healthy Lifestyles and Healthy Attitudes around training. There are days when I’m feeling down, and a 10 minute video of theirs, reminds me how good it feels to take care of myself. I head out for my run with a fresh outlook, and never look back.
6/19/2026
Big Goals Help Us Choose Our Habits, Small Goals Motivate Us to Do those Habits Today.
We tend to think of big goals as being big motivators. And while they can be the kick in the butt that we need, big goals only motivate us for a short time, and only when we’re being inspired by something around us. The reality is; we don’t always find our surroundings inspiring. Inspirations Come and Go Unpredictably. Inspiration can be Rare and Unreliable as a source of sustaining lifelong habits.
Motivation is Not a permanent state of being. Big goals only motivate us when we set them, or when we are reminded of their importance. We might not be reminded often enough to stay involved.
Big Goals are; Us Choosing Who We Want To Be. The Purpose of having big goals; is to Align Our Habits with Who We Want to Be. Big Goals give us a Reason to Choose a Habit. The reason is; “I want to be; blank … ,And, So I want to live this way to be that.”
Big goals take a long time to reach. Unfortunately this is not good for our Daily Motivation. It feels like “I’m not getting anywhere.” Progress is slow, and it is Discouraging to Feel this way. Big Goals are not achieved on a regular basis, and are not updated on a regular basis. We can forget to maintain them at all. We can lose sight of them. Time passes and we find ourselves asking, “What happened to my goal? I was Inspired and Motivated to do this, and somehow I stopped.”
Healthy Habits Require Small Goals to Generate a Reliable Source of Motivation.
It’s the Small Goals that are Routinely Achieved and Routinely Updated. These are the goals that are maintained on a regular basis. These are the goals that Generate Inspiration on a Regular Basis. They Inspire us because we Commonly Experience Being Successful at; Reaching the things That We are Reaching For.
Small Goals are Fresh, they are Currently Important in Our Minds. When we have up to date, small goals, we are not waiting around for some Outside Source to Influence us. Small goals can be adjusted Up AND Down to fit with our ever changing lives, week after week. For a Lifetime.
Small Goals give us the motivation to Do The Habit TODAY. In a way that is Healthy for Our Bodies TODAY. Small Goals will do that again tomorrow and the next day…
6/12/2026
Maintaining Healthy Habits, Requires Maintaining Up to Date Goals.
Something strange can happen when we reach a specific running goal time or goal distance. We find that we start to lose our healthy habit of going running. This is an ironic detail about Sports Psychology. A detail that’s important to learn about, if we want to Maintain Healthy Lifelong Habits.
One thing that happens when we reach for a specific time or distance goal, is that we get in the specific habit of reaching for that specific goal.
So our habit isn’t just to; ‘go run’, It’s to; ‘go work on our specific running goals.’
Then when we reach the goal, the running habit loses its exact purpose. Sometimes weeks after reaching a goal we realize we haven’t been running much. “Wait, What happened, I thought that I had a good resilient habit of ‘go run.’ Why don’t I Feel Motivated?”
It can be difficult to see that the real habit was; ‘go work on our specific running goals.’ It can be difficult to see that we’ve lost the goal by reaching it. That we don’t actually have a goal Now. We’ve lost having a desired destination. And by losing having a desired destination, we’ve lost our ability to choose a path to get there. We don’t realize that we’re lost because we were so comfortable knowing our goals were in order. It became a way of life. but Now it’s time to update things.
Establishing New Helpful Goals should be done soon after we reach our previous goals. Yes, take a couple days to focus on feeling accomplished, to feel pride in what we’ve done. And then; Establish New Goals to Focus On. Give ourselves the specific motivation needed to strengthen our healthy habits. Let’s not get thrown off by this strange detail of sports psychology, let’s just keep our goals up to date instead. Let’s keep our healthy habits that we’ve worked to establish.
6/5/2026
Running the Newport Marathon was a Healthy and Positive Experience for my Body and Soul.
The run felt very successful for me. I tried to run the entire thing, but wasn’t quite able to. I ran 22 miles, then walked ~3 miles, then ran the last 1 mile. I am proud of this distance, my previous longest run was 21.2 miles. Making it this far feels like a great next step in my progression. I was able to cut about 26 minutes off of my Personal Record from 2 years ago when I did this race (my only other time doing a marathon).
I went at a bit of a faster pace than I had planned. Which did make it more difficult than it needed to be. I think I underestimated how much the crowd can amp me up. In the future I’ll have to focus, and remind myself to keep my pace under control when people are cheering. Overall I feel like I did a good job backing off of the pace after noticing I was overdoing it.
I understood My Limits. I understood when my body had done all it could. I understood when my body had Reached the Limits of What I had Trained For. I knew when to walk. I wanted to keep running, and get a better time. But more than that, I wanted to do what was Safe for my body's current abilities. I feel that my training calibrated me well to know what that feels like.
I remembered that I was not obligated to reach any certain times. That I was here to try my best, and that includes doing my best at taking care of myself.
I remembered to run my own race. Not to try to judge where I should be in the pack.
I found peace in the difficult moments, by reminding myself of those I inspire.
I found inspiration in the people around me, reaching for their goals.
I left it all on the road, without hurting myself.
I took 2 days after the race to go on walks instead of runs, and then I was back to running. My body feels amazing. No strain in the joints. No strains in the ligaments. No strains in the muscles. Just sore muscles. The kind of sore like I just got the best workout of my life, and I’m ready to keep training.
Because of my healthy running form and process, The Newport Marathon was an experience that helped build me up, not break me down. I cherish the experience, and my body and soul thank me for my approach to Success in Running.
5/29/2026
Reminding myself what ‘Running Success Means to Me’, helps Keep me Safe From Injury during the Marathon.
Having a Goal Distance and Goal Time; help me keep my training calibrated for these goals.
Goals also keep me motivated to improve gradually.
While having these running goals are important for the process, They are NOT the metrics of Running Success for Me. “Push yourself to reach your goals,” must be done With Caution. It is not worth getting a Personal Best if that means getting an Injury Too. Think ‘Big Picture,’ I want to be able to run later this week, to keep my routine strong, to keep the habit relevant in my life. To continue from where I am, Instead of potentially taking a major step back.
Stress Injuries Caused by the ‘Push Yourself’ Mentality, can last months or years. So it is No Joke. While many consider the ‘Pushing’ to be the successful strategy, it is critical not to push beyond what the body is ready for Today. On race day I must listen to my body, just like I do on training days. I must keep myself safe from injury, just like I do on training days.
Success on Race day Is;
Trying to go the Full Distance
Trying to go for the Time I Think I can get
Backing off of these goals if I need to, to keep myself safe. Only I can judge the limits of my body today.
Remembering that I am Not Obligated to reach a certain distance or time because; I thought I could, or told someone I could, or because I paid the race fees and want to get what I paid for.
Not changing speed because of my judgments of those around me. “They look like they should be slower than me, so I’ll go faster.” That is not the logic of success. That is not the Positive Thinking Needed to Move Forward.
Success for me on Race Day is not much different than success for me on any other day. The only difference is that I don’t try to save any energy for the coming days. I leave it all on the road, knowing that I will take 2 or 3 days of walks instead of runs.
Ultimately; Running the Marathon should be Healthy for my Body, Not Detrimental to it. Run in a way that Honors this Virtuous Process. Running Success for Me is; Doing what’s Right for my Body and Soul Today, race day or not. This is the success that makes me Proud.
5/22/2026
A part of the Story of How my wife’s running inspires others (and herself);
My wife was walking along, getting her legs warmed up for her run. An average day for her at this point. You see, she’s on an incredible running streak of well over 300days in a row at this point.
Then a neighbor unexpectedly stopped her to say how they had started a running routine because they were inspired by seeing her running every day. This is a great thing that happened for the neighbor, as she quite literally changed the way she’s living her life. And it’s a great thing for my wife, as she got to see a peak at how the community is affected by her actions. Her healthy habits are influencing others.
A big part of her original motivation to run and stick with it; was to be a good example to our daughter. To be a good role model. To be an influence on her as she grows and makes her own health choices and routines in life. This drive to inspire has been key to her own motivation as a runner. The motivation goes both ways.
On days that she’s feeling less motivated, I sometimes remind her that she never knows who she might inspire. We won't often get feedback, but someone might notice what we are doing, and it might just be what they need to unlock the feeling of; “I Can Do This Too.” It can be just the confidence needed to get out of the door.
Today is Day352 of her running streak. This is possible because of her dedication and her motivations. This is possible because of her consistent good running form, using the technique of running on her forefoot, not letting her heels touch down, and cadence of 180 steps per minute. This is possible because she listens to her body, and when she needs recovery, she runs a mile, and she embraces walking as necessary to keep her heart rate low. She embraces the easy run. Not everyone needs to, or wants to run 7days a week, but if you want to, it is possible, with the right reasons, form, foundation, and patience.
Let’s cheer her on as she goes for a year straight of running. Woooo, You Got This!
5/15/2026
Walking is the Foundation for Running.
Healthy Routines are built by putting our Time and Attention towards those routines. Every Day. That is how Healthy Habits work in our lives. But there’s a problem. Beginner runners can’t run every day. Even many advanced runners don’t run 7days a week. The truth is; when we first start a running routine, we find that we can’t do much. We tend to struggle for a few minutes of exercise. We struggle through those workouts a few times a week, whatever we can fit into our schedule. In total, it doesn’t add up to much. Our lack of involvement in it makes us forget our goals. The importance of our fitness dreams fade away.
Walking is something that we can do every day. Walking is accessible to us if we are too unfit to run, and it can start our fitness foundation. Walking is accessible to us when our muscles and tendons are healing from our last run. Walking is accessible to us when our heart rate needs an opportunity to recover from running, and then we can run a little more. It’s a daily opportunity for us to practice getting our bodies outside to move. It becomes an opportunity to practice mindfulness in keeping our feet and knees straight in line with our direction of movement. To practice calmly breathing through the nose. To notice our heart rate changing.
A trip to the store can be adjusted so that we walk instead of drive, or park our car across the parking lot. A dreary winter day can become a chance to see the beauty of nature, and keep us inspired to keep going out. A bout of cabin fever can be eliminated or at least eased, to put us in a fresh healthy mindset. We can invite a friend (shocker; more people are likely to join you for a walk than a run.)
Walking can allow us to get enough time exercising so that we can solidify an exercise lifestyle. It can give us the necessary incremental step, between sitting on our butts and running. It can be our easy workout that we can seamlessly fit into our day, no special gear required. It can be just the warm up our muscles need, so that we can stretch and refresh. We must learn to walk, to learn how to run.
5/8/2026
The Hardest part about Going Running, isn’t Running, it’s Going.
It’s critically important to learn this about ourselves. We can talk all day about running mechanics, but if we don’t get out the door, we wont be running.
We fear the difficulties. We fear not being at the level we think we should be at, and what that might look like to others. We think the weather wont be comfortable enough, and on and on…
Good news; The fact is; it does not take long to change clothes, put on shoes, and head out the door.
If we are Fully Aware that; Going out the door doesn’t take long, and that our Biggest Struggle is the Mental Struggle of the ‘Going.” Then we can push through this tough part. We can push through the rationalizing. If we have a previously established habit of not going running; we can push through that too.
If we can push ourselves to get out the door, we can run. And contrary to popular belief; the running part, really is not about pushing yourself hard. It’s about Remaining Consistent with the Habit of Going out to run, and making Tiny Incremental Increases to training time/ distance.
Sure, the running part can be hard too. There are a lot of physical adjustments at first that can be uncomfortable. And at any level of fitness, there will be some days that really just don’t feel great. Knowing that some days are tough is important, so that we don’t let them discourage us. We can walk when we need to. We can rest, we can stop when we’ve reached the limit of our body for today. Also remembering that every day will feel different, regardless of exactly how you are progressing overall. We can take pride in ‘the Going,” even if today’s running didn’t go well.
Going wont always be a challenge. As you develop the habit of running within your life, your confidence and comfortability with the process will improve. You will experience many days where you feel motivated to get out there and explore. You will develop a Desire to Go. Yes you will actually develop a desire to go running. Healthy Habits feel good for the mind, body and soul. So over time, our resistance goes away, and is replaced by satisfaction in the process. But there will still be the tough days that sneak in. And it’s those days that we remind ourselves, “This is the tough bit, I can push through this, I can seize the day.” It’s this process that keeps the habit alive and healthy.
5/1/2026
Transitioning to a ‘Forefoot Running Style,’ is a gradual process. And I mean extremely gradual. There are no short cuts here. The muscles and tendons are being used in a new way that the body is not used to. It’s plyometrics. It’s using the tendons and muscles as springs. It takes time to adjust.
How gradual? How much time? You will likely only be able to run about 10% of the distance you’re used to running with the ‘common running style,’ (in which the entire foot touches down). It will likely take months to get back up to that volume of running. But when you do get back up to those distances, your overall form and strength will be far superior. And throughout the entire process, you will be far less susceptible to injury. (note: you don’t need to have a pre-established distance with the ‘common running style,’ if you’re starting from scratch/ ‘couch potato’, you can do a few intervals of less than a minute.)
The gradual nature of this transition, is what helps it become a way of life. Since there’s no shortcuts, there’s only healthy routines. These healthy routines can build upon each other.
The truth is, it requires a lot of faith in the process. We’re all for ‘Couch potato to Marathon.’ ( or wherever you’re starting from, and wherever you’re heading to). But you can’t predict where you’ll be by race day, nor can you predict exactly what times you will accomplish as you progress. It’s much safer for the body to let it take as long as it takes to get there. Goal times and race dates are important if you want them, but never at the cost of going beyond what the body is capable of; Today. What your body is capable of; is different every day. Whether you are gradually getting healthier, or gradually getting less healthy, your abilities will vary from day to day. Learning to listen to what your body is capable of today is crucial for a healthy, injury free running experience.