We have finally made it back full circle to Florida and e.s.t. After finishing our last race in Townsville, Australia, Sekyen and I flew to Sydney, Australia to celebrate for a few days. Here is a photo from the Sydney Bridge:



Then we flew from Sydney to Los Angeles, CA to meet with one of my sponsors, HeadBlade based in Culver City. Here I met with CEO Todd Greene and Marketing Director Eric Romer. After running around the world in less than 30 minutes, Eric set up a "David Letterman" event and made me run around the Headblade building in less than 30 seconds. It was great fun and the video is posted at www.headblade.com. Here is the direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov5M35pkuGo



Then we flew from LA to Phoenix to meet my marketing director and some of my family. And then it was onto to Atlanta to stop into my sponsor, Sigvaris,(www.athleticrecoverysock.com) who is the global leader in the area of compression therapy. Sigvaris was with me on this tour literally every step of the way as I used their Athletic Recovery Socks on every airplane ride and the Sigvaris Performance Sock in every training, recovery run, and race. Their socks are absolutely the best and I thank them for being part of the www.OneMileRunner.com team. I had the opportunity to speak to their management team, take a tour of their operations, and have in interview with their marketing and communications coordinator, Melissa Gwozdz. Here is a photo with Melissa:



After our stop at the Sigvaris headquarters at Peachtree City, GA, Sekyen and I boarded our final flight to Sarasota, Florida. It was an emotional landing as we finally completed our world tour. We are going to spend a few days decompressing at Martha's Vineyard, MA then onto a hike in NH/Maine. We will stay in the east coast standard time zone for a bit of recovery.

        

As discussed and instructed before race time, I stayed upright and injury-free during my final leg of "Around The World In Less Than 30 Minutes." Due to my previous five races we thought we had enough time accumulated to enjoy this last continental mile race, so I went out in the first half of the race at about 2:28 and then just cruised into the finish enjoying the sights and sounds of the final 1/2 mile in 5:13.92. With 3 elevated sidewalks to cross over and 5 roundabouts to run through, this flat course had a few obstacles to be careful of as I raced.



The sixth and last race of our world tour took us to the Townsville Running Festival in Townsville, Australia. Townsville is a beautiful spot in northeast Australia that is about a three hour boat ride to The Great Barrier Reef. Here is a photo of Townsville behind me (with majestic Castle Hill in the background of Townsville) on our way snorkeling to The Great Barrier Reef.



The McDonald's Townsville Running Festival has a marathon, 1/2 marathon, 10K, and a 5K. President of the Townsville Road Runners, Anthony Hockings (in photo above with sign), and Race Director, Brian Armit, were kind enough to stage a special one mile course for me. We were happy to complete our world tour in Townsville, Australia. As you can see in the video, we had trouble with my start of the race, but we finely got things right. 



"Around The World In Less Than 30 Minutes" was successfully completed in 29 minutes and 25 seconds (34 seconds ahead of our target goal) on August 8, 2010. I know many of you have been asking me about 2011. We are in the planning stages of another world event and we will announce the 2011 event very soon as we confirm locations. For right now, Sekyen and I will enjoy a few days in Sydney before flying back to the States. We stop in to see our HeadBlade sponsor in LA, marketing director in Phoenix, Sigvaris sponsor in Atlanta, and then finally back into Sarasota for a few days of rest on August 18th. Thank you all for your constant support. It has been an unbelievable event that we will always remember.

At www.OneMileRunner.com this fall, we are going to have many interesting blog posts from our Consultants and others as we look forward to sharing new ideas on keeping you "accelerating at any age."

        

India was a magical week for us at www.OneMileRunner.com. Seeing old friends, meeting new friends, and giving two speaking presentations, we were busy from start to finish. It was a pleasure to see the boom of Chennai. Construction, business, and development is seen throughout the city. It has changed so much since my days when I lived in Chennai (Madras then) from 1986-91, before the days of the internet, cell phones, and email. I remember it took me two years to get a land line phone in my apartment. Now cell phones connect the country and IT businesses are all over the lands of India.



Our hosts for the week, Savera Hotel, www.saverahotel.com, and O2 Health Studio, www.o2healthstudio.com, both directed by Nina Reddy made our stay for our Asian Race very special. My race took place along Bay of Bengal as it is the second longest beach line in the world. I used to run with my tennis proteges in the deep sands of Marina beach in Chennai. After running up and down the beach for 4.5 years, I was suddenly chased by a crazy bull a few months before I was to leave for the USA. Luckily, I barely got away. The location of this run did bring back memories of me screaming at the top of my lungs back in 1991. This race in 2010, I escaped without disturbing any animals and actually felt in the best race form during our tour of Around The World In Less Than 30 Minutes. This is actually the best I can race on a flat, straight course recording 4:35.75 for race #5.

Please check out this video of our Asian stop, I think you will enjoy the warmth of India:



Sekyen and I are currently in Singapore on our way to Brisbane, Australia tomorrow afternoon. Then we fly to Townsville on the 4th of August as we prepare for our final leg of our around the world event. I race on Sunday, August 8th.

I had the great fortune of running tonight with Christy Guna Desa, the friendly concierge manager at the Singapore Marriott Hotel where we are staying. Christy is into marathon running and triathlons and I appreciate his Singaporean hospitality showing me around this wonderful city. Singapore is soon to be hosting the first ever Youth Olympics from August 12-26th. I am sure that the city of Singapore will do a fantastic job in hosting the youths of the world.

        

My second speaking presentation took place on August 30th at the Hotel Savera, www.saverahotel.com. This was a fitness talk sharing our new ideas for injury prevention with the audience from Chennai. Not only was Savera Hotel our sponsor for the week, but also the O2 Health Studio, www.o2healthstudio.com.

Nina Reddy, Executive Director of Savera and O2, was an exceptional host. She is a progressive leader seeing the boom of fitness in India before it happened. Below is a photo with Nina and two members of her fitness staff - Dinesh Vallavan and Earnest Vijay.



It was a wonderful evening as the audience was eager to learn new ways to exercise without creating injuries.



Then it was time to race on Saturday morning...race #5 in Chennai, India representing the continent of Asia.

        

It was great to be back in Chennai, India after a 14 year leave. I worked in Madras (now called Chennai) back in 1986-91 and then returned for a short visit in 1996. But since then, I have not been back to the special lands of India. I could have used the services of my good friend and co-host, Ranjini Manian, when I first came to India in the 80s. Ranjini directs her company as CEO called Global Adjustments Services Pvt. Ltd., www.globaladjustments.com, assisting ex-pats coming to live in India and Indians going to live abroad. Below is a photo with Usha Sridhar of India Immersion and Ranjini Manian of Global Adjustments on the night I spoke at their Chennai location:



Here is an excerpt from my speaking presentation at Global Adjustments on my new book, Creating Amazement.



I wanted to thank all the staff at Global Adjustments. Not only Ranjini and Usha, but also Chandrika Raman, VP of Business Relations, and Anupama Arvind, VP of Sales, and the rest of the extremely hospitable staff.

Thanks also to Sankaran Raghunathan and Sundari Ramakrishnan, Dean and Assistant Dean of The National Management School for attending my presentation and arranging to have my talk webcasted live.

        

Sorry that I did not write earlier this week, but I was in the "village" or "bush" in Nigeria unable to get internet services. Sekyen and I just arrived into Dubai on our way to Chennai, India for the Asian Race on August 1st. It was a remarkable week in Nigeria. We flew into Abuja, Nigeria and drove 3 hours to the city of Jos where many of Sekyen's family reside. The next day we traveled another 1.5 hours to Ampang West, a village in Plateau State where Sekyen's grandparents live. It is a very rural location where her grandparents still farm today. This was the first time that Sekyen has met most of these people in 25 years since she left Nigeria when she was 6 years old. As you could understand, it was a very emotional time. 

 



We had the opportunity to take a few easy runs in the village as well.



Plateau State is situated in the middle of Nigeria on an elevated plateau providing cool temperatures and quiet living. Recently Jos, Nigeria has been in the news due to ongoing violence troubling the region. This has escalated a military presence and roadblocks. Our event directed by Daniel Mutfwang entitled the "Peace Race" was to use sports as a means of peace in Plateau State. We hope that the region stabilizes in the near future. 

On July 23rd, we had the opportunity to present a fitness seminar to the coaches and athletes of Plateau State and check the race course in the hard driving rain. On the 24th, the "Peace Race" took place with many of the good runners from the area. We had the most difficult head wind yet on our trip as you can hear and see in video. Combine this with altitude and my strong cough and I was fortunate to run a 5:07.38 for race #4. We really thank all the participants and organizers of this special race representing the continent of Africa.



We fly to Chennai, India on July 25th evening. I speak at Global Adjustments on my new book Creating Amazement on the 28th and speak at our sponsors at the O2 Gym on my new fitness regime on the 29th. This should be our most humid and hot conditions on our world tour.

        

We have had a wonderful week in Symi, Greece. It was indeed a long journey from Argentina, but well worth the trip. Sekyen and I had the chance to take a boat ride around the entire island on Wednesday. The beach and cliffs of St. George were breathtaking. However, I paid for my day of swimming around in the cool crystal clear waters as I had developed a head cold/fever and spent the day before the race just resting. I did walk with the group wheeling out the course and setting up the 1/4 mile markers. This gave me good information to visualize the race over and over as I rested. Being a bit under the weather, I really focused on the task at hand and did not get "lost" in the middle of the race as in Argentina, because I knew where I was at all times. I also took advantage of two downhill spots on this course enabling me to run a 4:29.02. In the past, I have floated on some downhill portions, but today I attacked thinking I need every second before the altitude of Jos, Nigeria. The photo above at the end of the race with me from l to r: Austin Moench (who participated in the race with me as he is on the island for a summer internship with a local doctor), Deputy Mayor Haskas, Symi Visitor sponsor Wendy Wilcox and Dominic Lillicrap.

The video below shows our journey into Athens and Symi, a bit of the race (sorry for the shaky footage), and our cooldown through Tilos Harbor:



It was a special race as the Deputy Mayor of Symi, Ilias Haskas, who I met in Tarpon Springs in 2008. He traveled to Tarpon Springs, FL to establish a sister city connection between Symi and Tarpon Springs. On that evening, I promised the Mayor of Tarpon Springs and Deputy Mayor of Symi that I would take www.OneMileRunner.com to Symi in the next couple of years. So here we are two years later fulfilling our commitment to the sister city connection through athletic and cultural exchanges. Many thanks to Wendy Wilcox, Symi Visitor Accomodation www.symivisitor.com, for setting everything up for this European stop. She worked magic on the island during our few days here. Thanks to Nicholas Shum who was the race director for the Symi Mile - he did a great job getting everyone positioned in the correct places so the race went off smoothly. Thanks to Michalis and Fiona Nalkitis (in the photo below) and their son Nick as our hotel sponsor from Hotel Fiona.





We are departing this afternoon after the race as we will catch the boat back to Rhodes and then fly back to Athens for the night before departing the next day for Amsterdam. We fly to Abuja, Nigeria on the 19th evening as we have a speaking presentation on the 23rd and the race in Jos, Nigeria on the 24th.

        

We have finally arrived in Symi, Greece where the European race will be held this Saturday the 17th. After a 10 hour plane ride to Atlanta, 9 hour layover, 11 hours to Athens, 6 hour layover, 1 hour flight to Rhodes, and then an hour boat ride to Symi, Sekyen and I got some sleep on the 12th night.

Symi is a remote island deep in tradition and history that is adjacent to the Turkey coastline. It is a small island with picturesque views. Symi was chosen due to my relationship with Tarpon Springs, FL as they are sister cities sharing cultural and political events with each other. In 2008, Tarpon Springs was my host city for the 20/20/20<5@45 event and I promised the mayor at that time that I would have an athletic endeavor in Symi in the years to follow. So here we are preparing for our race in July 2010. Here is as photo of Yilos harbor where I will be racing:



Sekyen and I had took a boat ride around the entire island today. We saw one of the most beautiful beaches in the world at the romantic hideaway of St. George. We have found internet access at small cafes in the harbor as we stay connected to the busy world outside:



We look forward to the 3rd race of "Around The World In Less Than 30 Minutes" on the island of Symi, Greece at 8am on the 17th. I will post the video and blog of the race immediately after the race as we need to catch a boat to Rhodes, a flight to Athens, and then a flight to Amsterdam before traveling to Nigeria, Africa on the 19th. 

        

We just flew overnight from Buenos Aires to Atlanta. We leave for Greece in a few hours, so I thought I would post our latest video from Argentina during our layover. Juan Lapadula from Urban Running Tours based in Buenos Aires, www.urbanrunningtours.com.ar, did a great job hosting our one-mile race. He was able to find a flat part of the city where we could run on Saturday morning and Juan organized all the details to make it official. If you ever take a trip to Buenos Aires, please contact Juan so his company can give you a running tour of the city. You will love the way you can see Buenos Aires!

Unfortunately, the "fair winds" of Argentina were in my face and not on my back during this point-to-point race. I ran a 5:07.72 and have now given back the seconds I gained in North America last week. I hope to run better in Symi and gain a few seconds before my difficult races in Nigeria and India.



We had a chance to experience America's Independence Day in our first race in North America on July 4th and then travel to South America to celebrate Argentina's Independence Day on July 9th. It was a long trip to Buenos Aires, but well worth the trip. Traveling from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Symi, Greece will take different modes of transportation.

It was 10 hours from Buenos Aires to Atlanta, it will take about 11 hours from Atlanta to Athens, then we take a small plane from Athens to the island of Rhodes, then a boat from Rhodes to Symi. It will be an exhausting couple of days, but I hope to recover from the long travel and find some speed on the island of Symi. I am supposed to race the final mile of their marathon course on the island as it enters into Yilos Harbor. 

Time to catch our flight to Athens, Greece on our way to the island of Symi as the European representative in "Around The World in Less Than 30 Minutes."

        

Sekyen and I arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina early Tuesday morning. We flew through the night from Atlanta. With only an hour difference in time zones, the time change was not that drastic. We were met at the airport by Juan Lapadula, owner of Urban Running Tours www.urbanrunningtours.com, who is running our event. Juan showed us the race course on Wednesday in Puerto Madero. Buenos Aires translated means "fair winds." Let's hope that the "fair winds" on this point to point race will be at my back and not in my face on Saturday morning.

Sekyen and I had the opportuniyt to train and to check out the beautiful, European style city of Buenos Aires.



We also had the opportunity to be amongst the passion for soccer during the semi-final of the World Cup in South Africa. Even though Argentina had lost earlier (the country was very disappointed), people still entered the plaza to watch the semi-finals on the huge big screen television. We will be on a plane before the final on Sunday afternoon, but we enjoyed being part of the throngs of people supporting and cheering the World Cup.
 


We race tomorrow morning in the cool temperatures of the Buenos Aires' winter. Then we take the long trip from Argentina to the Greek island of Symi.

        

We began "Around The World In Less Than 30 Minutes" on July 4th at 11:00am at The Boom Box Mile in Willimantic, CT. It was a hot day in New England and The Boom Box Mile started this year an hour later since July 4th fell on a Sunday. The Boom Box Mile always goes off an hour before the famous Boom Box Parade (which started at noon this year).

Thanks to The Last Mile Racing Management Company (www.thelastmileracing.com) for putting on another superior quality event with their new My Laps Bib System. This new and dependable timing system is state of the art as we no longer need to be lacing up chips in our shoes. The My Laps Bib System has the disposable chip on the back of your race number. There is no need to return the number, no need to return the chip - there is no need to worry. My Laps records your time when your chest crosses the finish line, just as the USATF desires. You will be seeing the new My Laps Bib System at the 2011 Boston Marathon.

I came in third place overall with a time of 4:52.16. Below Kyle Dunnack, one of the owners of The Last Mile Race Management Company, presents me with a commenorative plaque for my world tour:






It was a fantastic way to start our 2010 event! We now travel to Buenos Aires, Argentina for the South American Race. It is about an 11 hour flight from Atlanta to Buenos Aires. We will try to recover for race #2 as we race in Argentina in 6 days on July 10th morning.
I will post a blog mid-week in Buenos Aires letting you know how we are doing.

        

We had the pleasure of having our Mental Preparation Consultant at www.OneMileRunner.com, Jacqueline Moore, fly up to the North American race. We had the opportunity to discuss the mental preparation needed before we set out on our adventure around the world. Here is a photo of Jacqueline and I after the Boom Box Mile on July 4th:


Please check out the short video as Jacqueline and I discuss faith and service in "Around The World In Less Than 30 Minutes."
We will be following up at the conclusion of our tour with another video summarizing what we learned in this journey.

        

On our travels for the North American Race in Willimantic, CT, we had the opportunity to stop in for lunch with the OneMileRunner.com Nutrition Consultant, Marc O'Meara. We had a great luncheon meal the day before the big race with his family out in his yard on a beautiful July afternoon. Here is a colorful picture of Marc's nutritious spread:

        

This final warm-up video shows the full program with all three parts of the program: blood flow, mobilization, and power preparation. Why should you warm-up anyway before strenuous exercise? Warming up your muscles and joints will not only help you avoid injury, but also it will give your body a chance to peak perform. Instead of elongating your muscles, or stretching, before your next event, try to mobilize your muscles and joints. Squats, lunges, and balance reaches are the best combination to mobilize your lower body muscles and joints. The punching matrix is a great way to mobilize your upper body muscles and joints. You will know when you are adequately warmed-up when your skin is moist and you can run at top speed freely.



I hope this helps you and your teams get ready for peak performance!

        

Here is video of the Advanced Warm-Up program. Be certain to have the beginner and intermediate warm-up moves down before you add these high intensity steps. Next week I will be showing you the entire program in a concluding video of our warm-up exercises.

        

We just returned from a wonderful weekend in Atlanta. We picked up our Nigerian visas at the Nigerian Consulate on Friday. Then I attended The MidSummer Music Festival for one of my sponsors, Sigvaris, the global leader in Graduated Medical Compression - their new line of socks can be found at www.AthleticRecoverySock.com. I was doing a "meet and greet" at the expo. I had the opportunity to meet some of the dedicated Sigvaris staff as well (as their North american base is in Peachtree City just south of Atlanta). Here is a photo below at the expo (left to right) with 790 The Zone model Ashley and me with Clay Walker and Melissa Gwozdz from Sigvaris - all donning the Sigvaris Compression socks.



This is our last full week in Florida as we depart July 1st for our "Around The World In Less Than 30 Minutes." Final preparations are under way. We are excited to get things started in North America on America's Independence Day!

        

Our warm-up series continues at www.OneMileRunner.com with the addition of this Advanced Power Preparation video. These are the final bounding exercises added to your beginner and intermediate progams. These plyometric drills, bounding exercies, are an integral part of your warm-up program. The exercises are not something you do once in a while, but before every speed activity.Enjoy the workout!

        

Just returned from our speaking presentation at Good Earth in Bradenton, FL. Not only were we treated to a wonderful raw foods meal hosted by Lori Johnson, but also we were supported by my Vega sponsor with local representative, Marissa Zaremba, in attendance. It was a great time to share ideas on how to take care of our bodies and minds. Here is a photo of Marissa and I before my seminar:



We ran a time trial half-mile this morning as we practiced the start of the Boom Box Mile on July 4th (race #1 on our tour of the world). I ran a 2:19 half which would be great beginning for the race as third quarter is a long incline and will slow you down.

We travel to Atlanta this weekend on behalf of Sigvaris to be a guest at their booth for the Midsummer Music Fest June 19th from about noon-4pm at Candler Park. Please come on out if you are in the area!

        

Here is the Intermediate version of the Power Preparation. The intermediate version adds a few more difficult drills to the basic bounding moves. I hope you can add these speed drills to your warm-up program.



We will be posting the parts of the Advanced Warm-up Program over the next couple of weeks. You will be able to have some fun preparing your body for your best summer performances.

        

Here is the video of the Intermediate Warm-Up.  The intermediate level takes you deeper into the squat, lunge, and balance reach warm-up. Before you begin the intermediate level, please be proficient in all the essential movements showcased in the beginner video. I hope you can use it to warm up for your next event.



Have a great week of training!

        

We posted the first phase of the www.OneMileRunner.com warm-up program last week featuring how to mobilize your joints and muscles. This week we share another part of the warm-up: Power Preparation. The Power Preparation follows your mobilization and gets you ready for speed for any sport. The beginner version is in the video below and we will add the intermediate and advanced videos in the weeks to come.



Every injury I have had I have done to myself. When I get injured from an exercise, it is due to bad form or bad habits -  unknowingly. When my orthopedic doctor reviewed my MRI, he said that I did something to cause trauma to my left leg. I did not accidently fall or trip in any of my various workouts. So I was wondering how did I traumatize my leg? We felt if I remove the trauma - I would remove the source of my injury. So I searched in every workout I did. I did not come up with the answer until my return to the track this past week since I strained my left knee and right hip flexor in March. Whenever we begin our track practice we warm-up in the opposite direction of our speed training. Most athletes who use the track go counter clockwise with the left leg on the inside to practice their speed training as every race takes place in this direction. I decided to switch it up a bit this week as I was trying to find how I traumatized my body as seen in the MRI. And I found the answer. The trauma occurred on repetitive workouts with my left leg taking a pounding on every turn. I felt a huge difference when I practiced my speed in the opposite direction (clockwise) with my right leg on the inside - no pain.

After years of training my speed in only one direction. It was only a matter of time that my left leg would break down. It felt strange at first to run speed with my right leg on the inside, but my body loved it. I thought warming up in the opposite direction was enough, but it was not. Please learn from my experience and be mindful of your workouts in whatever sport you do. Repetitive habits must be good ones to build your body, form, power, and speed properly. The best way to train speed is straight ahead without any turns at all. This is the ideal way to keep your body in balance.

 

 

 

        

My 8 week training program has begun. The countdown to our first race in the North American continent (The Boom Box Mile in Connecticut) is just 7 weeks away on July 4th.

At www.OneMileRunner.com, this is the start of our new video series. We will be sharing videos on how to warm up, how to cool down, and how to train speed and power in our movements. We begin with how to warm up for any sport for the beginner - part 1 and part 2. In these videos you learn the basic and essential moves for muscle and joint mobilization. Whatever sport you participate in, preparation is the first step to a great performance.  We believe that the warm up is not about elongation (stretching), it is about 3 steps: blood flow, mobilization, and then power preparation.



We hope this helps in your training programs. We will be adding a new video every week. So we look forward to hearing how you use these movements in your life and/or in your children's lives.

        

We travel out west to film our new website photographs and video at the beginning of May. This new video will give every athlete the proper exercises for injury prevention in their chosen sport. We are excited to share this with our growing audience. You should understand how to warm-up, cool down, and prepare yourself for peak performance. We hope to be able to post this video by the end of May. Also, we will be shooting new photos for our home page and other web pages as we launch our 2010 event, "Around the World In Less Than 30 Minutes" beginning on July 4th in America.

My running portion of my training begins on my return on May 8th. We will be providing weekly reports on the training for our world tour and video and written articles to help you with your speed training. I am looking forward to 8 weeks of training in the Florida heat!

        

SIGVARIS PRESS RELEASE

Medically endorsed SIGVARIS, the global leader in graduated compression socks & stockings, proudly announces its partnership with David O’Meara – The One Mile Runner and world-renowned coach, speaker, author and athlete.

Atlanta, GA: SIGVARIS continues its quest to inform and educate patients, medical professionals and consumers about the benefits of graduated compression socks and stockings. This time around it’s by bringing on board a well known coach, speaker, author and athlete by the name of David O’Meara, also known as the “One Mile Runner” www.OneMileRunner.com.

David, on behalf of SIGVARIS, will undertake various speaking engagements, attend sporting events and other athletic forums, wearing and actively demonstrating and educating his audiences about the real benefits of the SIGVARIS line of true graduated compression socks.

The One Mile Runner – David O’Meara wearing the new performance socks from Sigvaris

"I have been wearing compression socks for better athletic performance and improved recovery over the last couple of years. The new Performance and Athletic Recovery socks from Sigvaris are absolutely amazing! The socks have helped me increase my running speed and decrease my recovery time. I will be wearing my new Sigvaris socks exclusively during my worldwide event this summer called "Around The World In Less Than 30 Minutes." From the airplane to the race, Sigvaris will be an essential piece of equipment for me to succeed in difficult conditions."

A growing trend among competitive athletes and weekend warriors is the use of compression therapy socks to help improve athletic performance and speed up recovery. Compression therapy is a hot topic in sports media right now as a growing number of triathletes, marathon runners and professional sports athletes are using compression socks during and after performances to improve their results. Whether it’s during the actual event, after the event, or even while traveling, athletes are making graduated compression socks part of their everyday attire.

Wearing compression during and after strenuous exercise or competition can help flush out lactic acid and also provide symptomatic relief of delayed onset leg muscle soreness. Graduated compression socks can also be worn to help support, by stimulating blood circulation, recovery from sports injuries.

SIGVARIS created www.AthleticRecoverySock.com to provide athletes and weekend warriors with information on sports compression socks, as well as a forum for athletes to discuss their compression therapy experiences and results.

SIGVARIS has other high-visibility partnerships in place with, among others, the Indianapolis Colts, NFL’S WINNINGEST TEAM FROM 1999-2009; www.colts.com, and LPGA’s Brittany Lincicome; http://brittanylincicome.net/

SIGVARIS, through the Athletic Recovery line of socks, also has strategic partnerships in place with established endurance sports organizations in North America, such as: Road Runner’s Club of America (RRCA), USProTri, Southern Crescent Cycling Club, and Cross Country Canada (CCC-skiing).                  

About SIGVARIS
SIGVARIS® North America is part of an internationally active medical device group headquartered in Winterthur, Switzerland that focuses on the development, production and distribution of medical compression garments, including hosiery and socks. With distribution in more than 50 countries on six continents, SIGVARIS is recognized as a global industry leader in the area of compression therapy for the management of venous and lymphatic disorders. Our US manufacturing plant is located in Peachtree City, GA. For more information, please visit www.sigvarisusa.com. SIGVARIS, LIFE FOR LEGS and the leg icon are registered trademarks of Ganzoni & Cie AG, St.Gallen/Switzerland and in many countries worldwide.

        

It has been a busy couple of weeks. In my last practice in Florida, I pulled a hip flexor. I still traveled to Boston in an attempt to run at Indoor Nationals. After seeing my Chiropractic Consultant in NH, Dr. Brian Bigelow, he taped my injured areas with kinesiology tape, an amazing tool  (see photo), and said to give it a shot. I ran a couple of laps, but felt the hip was tearing more so I stepped off the track. It was the right move as I have a big event to prepare for starting with our heavy training in May. I have not had many injuries in my life. It is tough to get me to slow down, but I will let things mend over the next couple of weeks.



On my return to Florida, Brendan Brazier, who formulated the vegan products that I use everyday called Vega, was in Sarasota speaking about his new book, Thrive  Fitness. I am sponsored by Vega and appreciate Brendan's work in creating great products for all of us to benefit from in our nutritional intake. The Vega Optimizer is a complete whole food meal replacement made exclusively from natural,plant-based ingredients, Vega is an ideal meal for people on the go, providing high quality convenient nutrition without compromises. Vega features 25g of complete protein, essential fatty acids, fibre, vitamins,minerals, antioxidants, probiotics, enzymes and a full dose of ChlorEssence and MacaSure in every serving.



I had three talks scheduled after the race in New England on my new book, Creating Amazement. I had the chance to speak to 1000 kids at my old middle school in NH on the topic of short-term and long-term goal setting. It was a great experience sharing our message.

        

I had LASIK Eye Surgery last week in Sarasota's Center For Sight. Dr. William Lahners performed the state of the art IntraLase LASIK surgery on 2/25/10. It is an all laser, blade-free procedure. The major decision I had before surgery was what I wanted to actually improve. I have been near-sighted and wearing glasses to see the school blackboard since the 5th grade. Contact lenses were my favorite invention as they removed the bulky glasses to play sports. Now that I am approaching 47 in April, the "dreaded" up close vision was vanishing too. Doctors tried to make small corrections with my contact lenses taking away a little distance vision to make the up close vision better with bi/tri focal type lenses. After a while, you seem to compromise in both areas. My new eye doctor, Dr. Altman, suggested I go for a LASIK consultation as he thought I would be a good candidate for LASIK surgery.

Then, Dr. Lahners said I had two choices. Option #1: correct my distance vision to the best of my ability (that is 20/20 in my left eye and 20/15 in my right dominant eye) leaving me without contact lenses and glasses for distance, but still needing "readers," or Option #2: correct my distance vision in my right eye and correct my left eye for up close vision - thus leaving me without contact lenses and glasses for distance and no readers for up close - sounds attractive right, no glasses at anytime if things go well!?

Dr. Altman's advice and my initial purpose in having LASIK Eye Surgery was to correct my distance vision to the best of its ability. I would for once not need contact lenses or glasses for distance, and be left to wear readers for everything up close. After further research, I stayed with my initial purpose for the surgery - fix my distance vision. With my outdoor lifestyle as a coach and athlete, I felt that I would greatly compromise my ability for fine motor skills with "mono vision" - one eye for distance and one for up close. Even though it sounds so attractive - no glasses at all - with the brain adapting to see properly through each eye's role, I did not want to compromise my abilities as an older athlete. I wanted to see the tennis ball better than ever. One of the obstacles for older athletes in hand-eye sports and fine motor skill activities is the diminishing ability to "read" what is coming from a distance. Thus, making  reactions slower. Mono vision would be a good choice for someone who works in an office all day, but in the future another surgery must be performed on the eye for up close vision to remain sharp as the capacity to see up close continues to diminish with age.

I will happily break out the readers to see my Iphone, computer, or read a book knowing that I now can see crystal clear distance. I am no longer a near sighted person. Dr. Lahners has successfully changed me to a far sighted person. A week after the surgery I am continuing to heal. I am finishing up the eye drops. I still have the redness in my eyes from the scarring of the surgery. This will go away over the next week. With the cornea being the fastest healing part of the human body, I was 70% healed by the day after surgery and I should be 100% healed in no time. You can check out more at www.centerforsight.net

        

The end of January took us at www.OneMileRunner.com to Gainesville, Florida and the University of Florida for the Jimmy Carnes Indoor Invitational. It was a special weekend as I had the opportunity to try out my new New Balance spikes with my new orthotic and race against many college runners. Stacie Nevelus, the www.OneMileRunner.com Massage Consultant, traveled up to "gator land" as well for the event. We were glad that she came along and we took advantage of her services for a pre-race and post-race massage. Please check out our informative sports massage video below:



I ran a smooth 4:46 for my first race in 2010. It felt good to race indoors again (last time was 2007) and confirm that my training for The Indoor Nationals in March and for our July event, "Around The World In Less Than 30 Minutes," is right on schedule. Please check out Stacie at www.stacienevelus.com for more information on her cupping massage therapies.

        

Escaping the cold of the northeast, Tom Webb and his girlfriend Betsy Suda came to Sarasota to visit our good friends, Kim and Mark Sheffield. Tom came out to our track practice last Saturday morning. He was nice to pull me through my 3/4 mile time trial and workout with everyone who attended that day. Tom (no relation to Alan) is currently finishing off his senior year as a captain of the Providence College track team. He has been searching across the country  for the best location to train after his graduation. On his trip to Florida, Tom visited Gainesville (home of University of Florida and The Florida Track Club).Tom aspires to become an Olympian in 2012 and beyond focusing on the 5K and 10K. Tom currently holds a personal best of 14:12 for the 5K and looks to break the 14:00 minute barrier in a meet this spring. If any of our readers know a place Tom should make his home base for training after his May graduation, please let me know and I will pass on the news so he can make a visit there soon. It would be wonderful for Tom to find the "right" place to maximize his potential and accomplish his aspirations. Combining the geographical location, an inspiring coach/mentor, and a great group of training partners creates an invaluable base for his pursuit of excellence.



To my right (in order) is Tom, Betsy, Lauren Lumely, Kim, and Wayne Johnson.

We travel to University of Florida to race an indoor mile at the 3rd Annual Jimmy Carnes Invitational on January 31st. Stacie Nevelus, the www.OneMileRunner.com Massage Consultant, will be in attendance. After the race, the next blog will feature the role of massage therapy in post race recovery.

        

Happy 2010! 

I just was fitted for my new indoor race orthotics and I thought I would share what takes place at Faklis Orthotics (www.faklis.com). The process of finding the right pedorthist, getting evaluated properly, and learning the value of professional foot care is important step for every over-30 athlete.

I want to especially thank one of my consultants, Mike Forgrave, who is responsible for making my orthotics in 2009 and 2010. Vasile and Mike work together to make sure my biomechanics are optimal. Thanks to them I am injury free.



I am planning to participate in an indoor meet at the end of January to try out my new spikes and new indoor race orthotics. After indoor nationals in March, it will be back to the roads as I prepare for our 2010 event - Around The World In Less Than 30 Minutes.

        

Today we finalized the 6 host cities for our 2010 event - "Around The World In Less Than 30 Minutes." It has taken us the last couple of months to complete the selection process for the cities representing their respective continents. We might not have chosen the easiest places to race, or the most well-known, but we did choose cities that will welcome us for our one-mile race and fitness presentation with open arms and make the 2010 world tour an absolute running adventure. Here are the selections and the order of our tour stops:

We will begin our world tour with The Boom Box Mile on America's independence day. The Boom Box Mile was the USA representative thanks to race director, Charlie Olbrias, who was an integral part of the 20/20/20<5@45 event in 2008 and The SmoothToe New England Marathon...One Mile At A Time in 2009. Due to the interest of Juan Lapadula from Urban Running Tours, Argentina rose to the top for representing South America. One of the sister cities of Tarpon Springs, Florida (my host city for the 20/20/20<5@45 event) is the beautiful and remote Greek island of Symi. Nikos Halkitis from The Symi Visitor and Fiona Hotel will be our host on our long trip (by plane and then boat). I met Nikos at a Tarpon Springs dinner in 2008, we discussed racing in Symi at that time - so it is exciting to see our talks come to fruition.

From Greece, we visit the most populated African country - Nigeria. Thanks to their Athletic Association and television interest, we are looking forward to making this stop in Jos a memorable time. Then we travel to a place I still call "Madras." Since my time in India coaching the national junior Davis Cup team from the mid-80s to the early-90s, India has resumed their Indian names and now it is called Chennai. Due to the efforts of Nina Reddy with O2 Health Studios and Savera Hotels and Ranjini Manian from Global Adjustments, I am looking forward to returning to the city where I began my coaching career. We conclude our world tour in northeast Australia at the Townsville Running Festival on August 8th in Townsville, Queensland. Thanks to the President of the Townsville Road Runners, Anthony Hockings, we will try to break the 30 minute mark at his event.

We will keep you updated now that the selection has taken place as we prepare for the event coming in 7 short months.

 

        

I met with my trainer and One Mile Runner Consultant, Juan Ruiz-Tagle, this morning as we planned the details of our upcoming fitness program. In February 2010, we are shooting a video for You Tube as we share part of our upcoming Fitness DVD. We will take this DVD opportunity to teach our unique methodology. During our 2010 event, "Around The World In Less 30 Minutes," we will be giving a free fitness seminar in every host city on our world tour. It will be a wonderful chance to share our message with the public across the globe.

Next month, we will announce the 6 host cities for the "Around The World In Less Than 30 Minutes." We are trying to find the best locations to handle our fitness presentation and one-mile event. We will be going to a few hot climates for these races, but the people and companies involved in each of these cities will do a fabulous job with this unusual event.

Please check out a few of the You Tube videos that Juan and I shot in early 2009 at www.OneMileRunner.com. This will give you a head start on the new material coming with our step-by-step program in 2010.

        

Residents of southwest Florida converse about the break in the humidity not coming in until mid-October. In 2009, it will be a welcome entry. With many parts of the country feeling the cooler temperatures of autumn, we are still feeling high humidity here in Sarasota. We hope by next weekend that exercising outdoors will be a more enjoyable.

At The Bath and Racquet Fitness Club www.bathandracquet.com (my training base and headquarters for my coaching), we just finished hosting the 50's National Clay Court Tennis Championships. There was no surprise that the ambulance had to come by yesterday afternoon because players were experiencing heat induced problems. I was on the court teaching this morning and it looked like I jumped into the pool and then went on court.  That is how wet I was in October!

One of the new products I will be testing this month is the Vega Sport - the natural plant based performance optimizer. I am looking for this product to replace the other energy drinks I use and assist me in restoring the electrolytes that I lose during exercise. The other product that I am using daily in this heat is the Khepra Botanical Foot Mist that provides a cooling burst for my active feet. I have been using the incredible Khepra lotions in my training and races for massages and skin treatments. All these products can be found on the "online shopping" page at www.OneMileRunner.com. 





 

        

In 1997, I traveled about 35 weeks that year coaching on the professional tennis tour. When I came back home, I actually had forgotten where we kept the plates. This year I had a little deja vu...when we returned home to our Sarasota home, I actually went to the wrong cabinet to get a glass for water. I love being on tour for an event, but it is nice to be back in our home after racing so much this summer. I am being careful on my return to the tennis court. Last year after completing 20/20/20<5@45, I tried a new pair of tennis shoes and this brought on plantar fasciitis for 5 months. This year I was a bit smarter...

We returned to Florida just before Labor Day. 13,000 total miles on my car from the end of June until early September. We went all over New England and enjoyed visiting and racing in so many cool towns and cities. Sekyen and I took off to Dublin, Ireland for a little getaway before I started coaching. It gave me time to decompress after finishing the event. I am in the midst of preparing my body for the toll in 2010. I have increased my strength workouts and I am only doing easy running every other day. My speed workouts will begin in mid-December to prepare for the Masters Indoor National Championships in Boston on March 27th.

To my surprise in 2009, I had no injuries throughout The SmoothToe New England Marathon...One Mile At A Time. I think this is a testament to my new training program, the recovery products that I endorse, and to the dedication of Sandra Bello (my massage therapist in Tynsboro, MA) and Dr. Brian Bigelow (the Chiropractic Consultant to the www.OneMileRunner.com based in Nashua, NH).

I will be announcing in November the six host cities for our 2010 event, "Around The World In Less Than 30 Minutes." In December, we hope to have my new book, Creating Amazement, released and ready for the public. And in early 2010, we will be shooting our new One Mile Fitness video.

I will keep you up to date on all that is happening every week throughout the end of the year.

        

After successfully completing the 20/20/20<5@45 event in 2008 and The SmoothToe New England Marathon...One Mile At A Time in 2009, many doors have opened up for us. In 2010, www.OneMileRunner.com is going international. The 2010 event is called "Around The World In Less Than 30 Minutes." That is 6 one-mile races, on 6 continents (no interest in Antarctica), in 6 weeks. The tour will begin in North America on July 4th and finish in Australia.

I also have committed to participate in the National Masters Indoor Championships in Boston at the end of March. I have only run indoors twice, but I look forward to trying to break my mark of 4:37 which I ran in Boston at the 2007 Indoor Championships.

I wanted to thank everyone who supported me during my long summer of racing. It seemed that I was racing all the time. The theme of the summer was recovery and we put it to the test. To my surprise, I did not have a race where I could not "go." Even when I felt tired or my legs felt "heavy," I was able to muster up some speed for each race. That is a testament to my new training regime, the recovery products that I endorse, and to the dedication of my massage therapist, Sandra Bello, and my chiropractor, Dr. Brian Bigelow.

I will begin my speed work for the Indoor Championships in mid-December. Until then, I will work on my strength and aerobic base.

Here's wishing you all a great autumn race season - enjoy the cooler temps and the speed that can go with it!

        

The grand finale of The SmoothToe New England Marathon...One Mile At A Time took place on Boylston Street in Boston, MA. The Boston Marathon finishes directly in front of the Boston Public Library. We ran the last .2 of the Boston Marathon to mark the end of our event. We started with the first mile of the Boston Marathon on July 1st and ended with the last .2 on August 30th.
 
In looking over the distance that I was going to run for the finish, I became aware of the history of the marathon. .2 of a mile is 352 yards, but ever since the 1902 Olympics when the Queen of England wanted the marathoners to finish in front of her, the official marathon distance became 385 yards. So it is really about 26.21875 miles...I thought it was exactly 26.2 miles, but I was wrong, it is 33 yards more. Here is short video of our finish down Boylston Street:



The official time for completing The SmoothToe New England Marathon...One Mile At A Time was 2 hours, 7 minutes, 9 seconds. I finished way below the cumulative 2 hours and 11 minutes. I was shocked how good my body felt throughout the event. We all thought that there would be days that this 46 year old body could not crank up any speed, but there was not. 27 times I put my toe on the starting line, nervous and excited, and 27 times I felt some speed in my legs. This was all due to my recovery methods, recovery products, and training. Here is photo with the clock at the finish line with the Official timer from The Last Mile Racing Management Company, Charlie Olbrias:



It was a bittersweet celebratory breakfast as we were so pleased how the event went, but sad to see the tour come to completion. It was an amazing journey around New England. The challenges that The Last Mile Racing Management Company overcame setting up and running this event were many, but we came through tired and successful. Thanks to The Last Mile Racing Management Company for making The SmoothToe New England Marathon...One Mile At A Time such a professional, well-run event. It could not have taken place without them.



Thanks to our title sponsor, SmoothToe Energizing Socks for supporting this amazing trip around New England. The short recovery time between races showed how important The SmoothToe Energizing Socks were to my preparation, performance, and recovery.

As some of you have already heard, www.OneMileRunner.com is going international in 2010. We will shortly announce our 2010 event as we attempt another challenging feat - this time overseas.

        

Race #26 took us to the capital of Connecticut - Hartford. This was the 5th Capitol we visited on our journey. Charlie Olbrias from The Last Mile Racing Management Company had run the Hartford Marathon five times. He knew a good, flat spot around mile marker #12 for us to put on The Capitol Mile #5 race. We had an opportunity to show a different look at running the mile. Check out this short video of my last quarter mile. You can hear me breathing from far away. If you run the mile hard, it hurts. This race was no exception.



All that is left is the .2 of The SmoothToe New England Marathon...One Mile At A Time taking place down Boylston Street in downtown Boston Sunday morning. Let's hope for very little traffic!

        

Here is a video showing The Toe Touch Matrix. This exercise really works the proprioceptors in your feet. It mobilizes your hips, knees, and ankles. Instead of touching with your hands in a balance reach, touch the 10 matrix spots with your toes. Spend close attention to the back corners of the matrix as those spots really hit difficult areas of your body. Again, this is a multi-directional, multi-joint, and multi-muscle exercise.

Take a few moments to shake up your balance and fire this one-legged exercise that you will feel way up in your glutes!

 

        

The last couple of days have been one of my highlights of "The SmoothToe New England Marathon...One Mile At A Time" as it marked the first time that I presented a speaking engagement and raced in the town that I grew up in - Hudson, NH. For many years, one of my oldest friends, Bill Nadeau, has been asking me to speak in Hudson. We thought that 2009 would be a great opportunity to present two talks: one to the teachers of Memorial School where I attended junior high and then a sports talk for the public taking place at The Hudson Community Center. I presented both talks on Tuesday and then raced to The Community Center on Wednesday evening. It was very special to see the support of so many old friends and their families. It was a very windy night and I was fortunate to break 5 minutes in 4:59.08.



Thanks to Bill and all his preparatory efforts. We had a wonderful time sharing The O'Meara Process with the teachers of Memorial School. There were still a few teachers on the 2009 staff at Memorial School that were there when I was in 8th grade in 1977! In the evening, I spoke about some of the new fitness exercises at my talk at the Community Center.



Here is a video of Race #25:



Now we travel to Hartford, CT for Race #26 and our 5th capital of a New England state. We race in Hartford on Friday evening and then finish in Boston (6th and last Capitol) for a quick .2 on Sunday morning.

        

It was an end to a busy week and a half as I completed 5 races in 9 days. Race #23 took us to The Derby Mile in Salem , MA. The Derby Mile is put on by the Salem Parks and Recreation www.salempd.org. Race Director, Doug Bollen, does a fantastic job and I was happy to make his race Mile 23 on The SmoothToe New England Marathon....One Mile At A Time. I raced The Derby Mile last year as part of my 20/20/20<5@45 event in 2008 posting a 4:56 on their demanding course. You can check out the blog post from last year under "My Daily Journal 2008."  It was a stronger and larger field this year and we had to run into a head wind the whole point-to-point race, but I managed to run 5 seconds faster in 2009 at 4:51. This was a great sign that my recovery in 2009 has been very successful. Here is a photo of Doug Bollen addressing the crowd at their fabulous post-race party: 



Race #24 brought us back to the country roads of New England. Sunday evening we raced in Brooklyn, CT which hosts the oldest continuously run agricultural fair in the United States.



Our race took place out by the beautiful area of Hillandale Farms. It was a wonderfully flat course, but I did not have much bounce left in my legs and could only record a 4:58.43.  Here is a photo of Charlie Olbrias from The Last Mile Racing timing company. With only a week remaining on our tour, Charlie and his crew have been invaluable in making The SmoothToe New England Marathon...One Mile At A Time a professional event. Due to their creativity, care, and dedication, we are in the final leg of our logistically and geographically challenging tour around the New England states.



Race #25 brings us to Hudson, NH where I grew up. I have two speaking presentations on Tuesday. I speak to the teachers of the school district in the afternoon and then a sports presentation to the general public at the Hudson Recreation Center at 7pm. The following night I race to the Hudson Recreation Center for Race #25...this will be the first time I speak and race in Hudson.

        

In this training video, I am working with my trainer, Juan Ruiz Tagle. These are some of the stretches that I use in my post workout. After training or competition is the best opportunity to elongate muscle tissue. These exercises are not used as a warm-up, but as a cool down.

After suffering from Achilles tendinitis and plantar fasciitis in late 2008 and early 2009, I added these moves into my program.This video shows some of  stretches that I do to protect and stretch my lower extremities. I can continue to do these diligently throughout The SmoothToe New England Marathon...One Mile At A Time. I hope these stretching exercises help you develop greater flexibility.