THE BROOKS BLOG

You’re all going out with friends for a run to celebrate tonight, right?  Here are some pics from our Seattle St. Paddy’s Day Dash and Leprechaun Lap last Sunday. We were all feeling lucky because it wasn’t snowing like it did last year.

If you didn’t get to a race last weekend, get in touch with your local running store to see what’s coming up near you.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Treadmill running can be one of the most mentally taxing activities that a runner embarks upon, but it can be a valuable tool when used correctly in training. And, it will certainly be a whole lot safter on a rainy night than taking to the the streets.  Here are a few tips to consider when hitting the treadmill:

• Use a mirror. This is a great opportunity to really see what your form looks like and to make adjustments in your technique. You can do wonders to your running economy by eliminating inefficiencies in your form. A coach can tell you that your hands are held too high or that your head is lifted back until their face turns blue, but often it takes actually seeing it for yourself to really drive home what your coach has been telling you for months.
• Don’t succumb to the acceleration button. Because running on a treadmill can be very monotonous, the greatest danger is succumbing to the urge to speed up and run as fast as you can just to hit a daily mileage goal. Running too hard on a designed recovery day is one of the leading causes of injury and burnout among distance runners. For this reason, I advise all of my athletes not to worry about their mileage volume, but to instead measure their runs on duration in minutes.
• Practice Hydrating. If you’re training for a half or full marathon then a run on the treadmill is a great opportunity to practice taking in fluids and sports gels. Find out in advance which mile markers the race organizers will have aid stations. Plan to take in a small amount of fluid, including some sort of glycogen, from sports drink or gel at regular intervals. Use the treadmill to simulate this by keeping your fluids and gels in the cup holder and then practice taking them on the run at the same interval the aid stations occur in the actual race.  Pure sports drink is usually too concentrated for optimal absorption. I’ve found the best ratio to be 1 part sports drink to 2 parts water. Do the mixing before you get on the treadmill. If you insist on doing this on the treadmill you may want to set up a video camera to capture the spectacle as you’re flung off the back and into the aerobics class behind you—you might just end up the next Youtube sensation.
• Make your runs progressive. Begin your runs at a slower speed than your intended pace and gradually work up to pace over 15 to 20 minutes. Many running injuries are caused by starting runs too quickly so doing so will help keep you healthy long term.
• Use the incline. The incline can be a great way to mix in hill repeats to an otherwise monotonous run. Many runners train under a program that includes hill repeats on an incline of between 4-6%. These perfect hills are tough to find. Thankfully, the treadmill solves this problem.

Thanks to Matt Koenigs for the treadmill tips. Matt is a National Accounts Manager here at Brooks. He also coaches cross country and distance track at Everett Community College—2009 Women’s and Combined NWAACC XC Champions!

January 22, 2010

An Open Letter to the Running Community ,

For many of us, running is an inseparable part of our lives—we need it. When we run, we improve our health, relieve stress, achieve personal goals, compete, raise money, and have fun. On any given weekend, check out a running event in any city across the globe and you’ll be inspired by runners spanning ages, speeds, motivations, and goals—each with their own stories. At Brooks, inspiring everyone to run and be active is our reason for being.

Given the passion felt about our sport, it’s easy to understand how everything about the run is actively studied, critiqued, debated, and questioned—including shoes. People strive to run faster, longer, healthier, more efficiently, and injury-free mile after mile, and they’ve traditionally looked to their footwear to deliver that. But many people have recently questioned whether running barefoot is better, so we feel it’s time for Brooks to join the public dialogue.

Let’s call a spade a spade. We make running shoes: High-quality, biomechanically mapped, performance running shoes calibrated for runners’ unique needs. We hope runners buy our shoes and we’re confident they’ll enjoy them. But this isn’t about selling shoes. And, quite frankly, this isn’t even about running barefoot.

So what are we talking about here? First and foremost, we’re all talking about running, and that’s a great thing because we believe to our core that running is a positive force in our world. We want everyone to run and be happy. But to get there, whether you should run barefoot is not the great debate. We are all unique. The focus should be on how you run and train, and then finding the right shoe that addresses your unique biomechanical needs. "The Perfect Ride for Every Stride," as we say at Brooks. Let’s look at a snapshot of the running population:

• At one end of the spectrum, we know there are runners who lack foot strength leading to severe pronation. They may strike heavily and need a great deal of support to run injury- and pain-free. We hear repeatedly from them that the Brooks Beast "saved their lives."

• At the other end of the spectrum are the biomechanically blessed (and/or conditioned through training) who have natural healthy gaits and enjoy great efficiency. These gazelles may wear shoes, they may not.

• The vast majority of runners (including this middle-of-the-packer !) fall in between. And for us, we strongly believe most of our mileage should be logged in a performance running shoe, not barefoot . For us, supportive, cushioned footwear is not only beneficial, it also plays an essential role in delivering a comfortable, injury-free running experience.

Elsewhere on our Web site, you’ll find a robust discussion on this topic (or you can view it as a downloadable PDF here ) from our Brooks footwear team. We also asked people we respect in the running industry to chime in with their perspectives on the barefoot running discussion. These experts include accomplished runners, coaches, researchers, doctors, and specialty running retailers, who see more runners (and their feet) each week than many of us see in a lifetime.

Join us in this conversation and be active in your decisions. We were all born to run. But the ultimate goal, of course, is to keep running for the long haul.

Run Happy,

Jim Weber
President & CEO
Brooks Sports, Inc.

How do you follow up being a contestant on OXYGEN’s hit show Dance Your Ass Off ? For Karla Guy, the next challenge is P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona ½ Marathon on Sunday, January 17. Karla is running in the Adrenaline . We’re so excited to be part of Karla’s first ever race.

Have a great race, Karla! You’ve done the training, now enjoy the ride—and Run Happy®!

UPDATE: Karla finished strong. Read about her race strategy here. Congrats, Karla!

>> Follow Karla on Twitter @KarlaGuy .

>> Check out Karla’s sweet dance moves at KarlaGuy.com . Scroll to the bottom and watch the video of her winning the first competition.

Woo hoo! We are thrilled to announce a multi-year partnership with Chrissie Wellington, world-renowned British triathlete and reigning Ironman World Champion, as her official footwear sponsor.

That’s right. Those Brooks T6 Racers Chrissie wore and won in during the last three Ford Ironman® World Championships ? She chose to run in them because she liked the T6 and they worked for her—and boy, did they! In 2009, Wellington set a new women’s world course record of 8 hours, 54:02 minutes in Kona.

“With that trademark smile she flashes even after finishing a grueling race, Chrissie Wellington embodies the strength, passion, and drive to succeed that we look for in brand partners,” said Jim Weber, president and CEO of Brooks. “We’re pleased to welcome her and proud to have such an inspirational athlete representing our brand.”

Wellington is the first triathlete to join Brooks’ strategic group of professional athletes.

>> Read the full press release here .

Brian White from Fleet Feet Sports Carrboro (NC) writes:

This is Katy and Will’s creation getting ready for a big debut in the Fleet Feet Sports Carrboro window display. Made of Brooks shoe boxes, it’s named “BROBOT.”

If it could talk, we think it would say: “People of earth, I come here in the spirit of Run Happy®. Run Happy®, humans, Run Happy®.”

A quick recap of our very fun Run Happy® Place Promotion, which happily and successfully concluded on March 31, 2009.

There were 152,196 online entries in the running for a chance to win Brooks’ awesome Run Happy® Place—a Modern Cabana outfitted with treadmill, flat-screen HDTV, stereo system, and water cooler. And, while there were daily random prize winners of Brooks gear and other nifty schwag, only one person won the big enchilada.

Congratulations Barbara G., Jacksonville, FL, the Grand Prize Winner of our Run Happy® Place Promotion! We imagine she’s definitely running very happy these days.

Running shops and other U.S. specialty retailers who sell Brooks shoes and apparel were eligible to enter our Run Happy® Display Contest in March.

The Columbus Running Company of Columbus, OH, was named Grand Prize Winner for its video and song. Their prize? A brand-new treadmill for the store. Congratulations!

The Display Contest had two First Place Winners: Luke’s Locker of Plano, TX, pictured above; and Fleet Feet Nashville in Nashville, TN, pictured below. Each store won Tienkin II Jackets for everyone on its staff.

Finally, The Running Center of Tampa, FL, was the winner of the Bonus Code Retail Store Contest. A grand total of 66,656 store bonus codes were redeemed online. The Running Center led the way with 1,743 online bonus codes redemptions.

Congratulations to all for helping to spread the Run Happy® in March.

Thanks to everyone who entered our impromptu #Run_Happy® contest on Twitter yesterday. We asked runners to tell us “What Makes You Run Happy®?” The prize? A limited-edition Run Happy® Mesh Cap to the top four entries—as deemed by our panel of judges. As you will see, it was tough to pick just four. Congratulations to all of the winners! Each is definitely worth following on Twitter, as are we: @brooksrunning.

The Top 3 Vote-Winning Run Happy® Tweets (Winners 1-3):

@amlemus: #Run_Happy is finding peace on a 10 miler when your world is in chaos. That and eating pizza whenever I want.

@TheHappyRunner: #Run_Happy — Just getting outside and running hard, enjoying what my body is capable of, makes me happy!

@disneyrunner: I run because every stride I can take , like every breath and every day, is a gift not to be wasted

A 3-Way Tie for Run Happy® Tweet Winner 4:

@jeherv: when all the pain goes away and it’s just me and the street and that wonderful feeling of moving

@jboeve: #Run_Happy Running in the Dunes until I get lost. Running until I find my way back is one of the most empowering things I do.

@mitchmajeski: #Run_Happy “Lazy Me” lives on a path of least resistance. When I run, he loses & that makes me happy

A Trio of Run Happy® Tweet Honorable Mentions:

@ahanu: min or miles gritting your teeth in antic of moment all pain ebbs & reach perfect stride and u feel u can accomplish anything

@mudsweatbeers: The moment when feet that’ve been pounding in a slowly-building rhythm suddenly… disappear. Http://bit.ly/UV2EA

@npjohnson: I’m not giving birth this year so I decided to train for a half marathon.

Winners and Honorable Mentions need to send or DM me their name and shipping address. Your cap should arrive within 2-3 weeks (probably sooner).