4-12-14 Running to Creativity

So my run today, I fought doing it with a lot of energy. I almost came home after we got gas and picked up GU for next Saturday. Today I had 6 miles to do with picking up speed on  my last two miles. I almost didn't make it out for the run, and was regretting it as I tried to justify it to myself about not running. I was able to hit that running zone today while running a couple of times. It was a really nice feeling. There is only a week left until the SLC Half Marathon!

Today I was reading one of the many blogs I follow (Muddy Colors). Since I am an aspiring artist I follow quite a few illustrators blogs (I put illustrators because they are the artists I really look up to, for business reasons as well as style choices). This may sound strange, but there are quite a few illustrators who are fitness and health buffs. Like Boris Vallejo & Julie Bell (weight training), Randy Gallegos (Running), and Marc Scheff (overall fitness buff). I have found over the past year that fitness has been a key to any portion of success that I can achieve in art and in regular life. I have worked hard to run a marathon, which was to accomplish a goal, and not I am running half marathons because it keeps pushing me. It has helped me with focus, increased my discipline, and allowed me time to clear out my head when it gets clouded. I believe it applies to every career that someone can pursue. So I wanted to share this post from muddy colors about fitness and thought someone out there may find it interesting. The Art of Fitness

Running and creativity, I hear people talk about how they are able to think and really get life in perspective when they run. When I think and run my thoughts are fragmented and jump all over the place. If it weren't for music and audio books I would probably get distracted by the first shiny thing and start after that. When I have those times of clear thought as I run they are great, and it probably means I just realized I have to start running faster. With creativity and running, I strongly believe that running allows you to filter through all of your trash thoughts for the most part. You know those random thoughts that come to mind, like what if there were a monster like Godzilla... really what if we had monsters like Godzilla! But the filtering of the useless thoughts allows for the clear head that's needed for me to be creative at least.Right now for example, I just finished my run about an hour ago, and I am ready to sit down and start hammering out more ideas for an up coming assignment. Monday morning I head to school after I run three miles, and will be able to focus better because of it. So does running make you more creative? No. But it does allow for more free space in the brain to think more clearly.

I wanted to talk a little more about shoes and running. I run in a pair or Instinct 1.5's by Altra. I go on an on about Altra because they have been great shoes. Some people don't like zero drop shoes and I understand. It's often because of the way the work with high arches, or with Altra's because of how wide they are. Some people don't like them because of the way they effect the knees, and calves as you transition to them. I have been wearing zero drop shoes for a couple of years now, and am use to them and quite like them. When I run in them I feel like I am able to get a solid mid foot strike, and my heels don't drag in them. Altra makes shoes with a wider toe box, which works well for me and my wide feet. I am limited on what other shoes I can wear because of the width of my feet. I like Brooks, but all there wide shoes all a little uncomfortable to me now and their regular shoes are too narrow.
Silvia wears Brooks PureFlow's and they work really well for her narrow feet, and provide enough support for her. I really wish brooks had a pure flow shoe wide enough for my feet. My neighbor Sarah who runs wears Saucony Kinvara's and loves them for her high arches. Lisa (my trainer) loves traditional running shoes with a 10mm - 12mm toe to heel drop in a neutral shoe. So back to my second pair of shoes, the only draw back to them is that they are a bit heavy, but the Mizuno Wave Rider 16 are giant yellow beasts that are really comfortable. Kinda like a Ford F-150. I will most likely try some other shoes out with a slightly lower heel to toe drop shoes than my Wave Riders when it comes time to retire
them, and they are bright yellow so they may not make it to the casual shoe transition. So I cycle through two different types of shoes, so each time I change shoes my run is different than the previous week. It keeps variety. I wish I would have known the effect it would have had when I was wearing two of the same shoes.

When it comes to shoes they are crucial. If the shoes are on the way out they can really do some damage to the body especially if you are used to training with support, or a certain level of cushioning. My shoes I just retired still had life left in them when it comes to cushioning, but the upper was starting to give out. I have rambled on long enough. Thanks for reading!

-Riley