Posted on by wzwiener

Happy Feet

This Sunday, March 1st my long-time running buddy Dave will be running his sixth of the six original “major” marathons.

He has already run Boston, Chicago, New York, London, and Berlin and will be running in the Tokyo Marathon.

Dave has been looking forward to his last major for quite a while now and it is for that reason that we both paid special attention to the results of last year’s Tokyo Marathon, which drew 37,000 participants from around the world. And why it was a topic of conversation during a Saturday morning long run about a year ago at this time.

Dave was more interested in the winning times of the 2025 Tokyo Marathon while I was more interested in the fact that Harry Styles had run it.

“Who’s Harry Styles?” Dave wanted to know.

He’s a musician who was in the popular “boy” band One Direction and now is a very successful solo artist, I told him.

That was news to Dave, as he mostly listens to classic rock and country. He seemed to be only mildly interested in Harry’s pop-star status but quite impressed to hear that the he had run a time of 3:24:07 at Tokyo.

I’m impressed as well. Obviously Harry has been doing a significant amount of time pounding the pavement in between cranking out hits such as “As It Was,” “Late Night Talking,” and “Adore You.”

Harry Styles’ running Tokyo got me thinking about some of the other musicians that I know of who are/were runners, such as Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie and the late Joe Strummer of the Clash.

It also got me thinking about how closely related running and music always have been for me. I don’t run with ear buds, but I often have a good song going through my head while doing so.

I’m not sure if it’s music that helps to keep me running or running that helps to fill me with music. It’s probably a case of both.

Running and music do much the same thing for me. They help me to relax and to boost my mood. Some of my best runs are when I get a good song going through my head and get a case of what my late running friend Rick called “happy feet.”

It was Rick’s term for what is often referred to as “the zone” or “flow state.” It’s when things are clicking and our run feels easy and joyful.

Sometimes a case of happy feet on the run brings a fast time. Sometimes it brings a good time. Sometimes it brings both.

Here’s hoping that Dave gets a good song in his head while running the Tokyo Marathon this Sunday. It most likely won’t be a Harry Styles song, but hopefully it is a song that gives him a case of happy feet.

Posted on by wzwiener

Hydration is Good for the Nation

During a recent hot (85 degrees or so) and humid 9-mile run I found myself conjuring up some memories related to hydration.

One memory dates back to an event that I worked at a decade or so ago.

It was a “Safety Days” vendor demo that highlighted home and childhood safety products. A band called “McGruff and the Crime Dogs” played at the event and one of their songs was called “Dehydration is Bad for the Nation.”

This song popped into my head during the recent hot and humid run, probably because about halfway through it I was starting to feel pretty parched. The nearest water fountain—or “bubbler” as they are referred to by some here in Wisconsin—was at a park several miles up the road.

Fortunately I was able to make it to the park without any issues other than slowing considerably and sweating profusely. As I was rehydrating at the fountain I caught sight of another runner passing through the park, who turned out to be longtime friend John Konkel.

Our first and only topic of conversation was—you guessed it— the heat and humidity. John mentioned Grandma’s Marathon that was taking place that morning and how the last time he ran there it was a “black-flag” event.

An event that is black-flagged means that it is cancelled while a yellow flag means to proceed with caution and red with extreme caution.

John’s mention of Grandma’s brought back another memory I have related to hydration.

The last time that I ran Grandma’s—also my last marathon—I don’t believe there was yet any kind of flag system used for rating distance-event weather conditions.  There also wasn’t near as much knowledge about the importance of staying hydrated.

As I recall, it was a sunny, fairly warm day—probably in the low 60s. Besides that I don’t remember much other than that I finished the marathon and the last few miles seemed to take forever.

Back at my motel room afterwards, it wasn’t long before I had a splitting headache and was throwing up. I spent a long, miserable afternoon lying in bed with a cold rag on my head while learning a painful lesson about dehydration.

A couple of my takeaways from that unpleasant experience were that the marathon is not for me and that it’s important to take in fluids during a distance event.

During my last warm-weather race—the Steamboat Classic 15K in Peoria, Ill.—I stayed hydrated by doing something that I never would have dreamed of doing back during my more competitive days of running. I took the time to stop at the water stops and take in fluids.

It’s something that I’d never done before because I always figured that I’d lose too much in the way of finishing time and place.

What I found out, though, was quite the opposite. Whatever time and place I lost by stopping to take a drink, I more than gained back after I resumed running. Taking the time to stay hydrated, I learned, can definitely save time in the long run.

More importantly, I’ve learned that staying hydrated can save a lot of suffering. Not just in running but in life. As anyone who has been dehydrated can tell you, it is not a pleasant experience. Not to mention that it can lead to a whole host of health issues.

McGruff & The Crime Dogs are right–“Dehydration is Bad for the Nation.”

It’s almost always a good idea to take the time to take a drink of water.

Posted on by wzwiener

Celebrating Our Freedoms Through Running

This year I did the fourth 4th of July run of my life.

In Minnesota I have run the Langford Park 4-Mile in St. Anthony Park, the Firecracker 10K in Excelsior, and Grandpa’s Run for the Walleye 5K in Cross Lake.

Now I can add the Mondovi EMS 5-Mile in Wisconsin to the list of 4th of July fun runs I have done.

When I say “fun run” I can just hear a chuckle from Landon, one of my former co-workers.

“Huh,” he chuckled, when I invited him several years ago to a fun run that I was helping to organize through the ITC running club that I am involved with. “Fun and run do not go together.”

I totally understand why running is probably not on many people’s list of fun things to do on the 4th. If you’re not trained for it—and oftentimes even when you are– running can be pretty painful.

This can especially be the case when the weather is nasty, such as on hot, humid mornings like we had this year on the 4th.

Despite the steamy conditions, however, running the Mondovi EMS 5-Mile was a great way to kick off Independence Day. And a very fitting one as well.

Some of the many things that running on a regular basis helps to give us freedom from are obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, anxiety, dementia, and depression.

Another thing that participating in fun runs can help to give us freedom from is loneliness, which many reports have found is a significant problem for many people these days.

While it’s certainly possible to participate in a running event and not talk to anyone, my experience has almost always been quite the opposite. At most every running event I have participated in over the years—and there have been hundreds of them—I have almost always made some new acquaintances and/or reconnected with some long-time friends.

While running is not a cure-all for any of the above-mentioned issues, it definitely can be very helpful in giving us freedom from them. That is why I plan to keep running and walking for exercise on a regular basis for as long as I am able to do so.

Posted on by wzwiener

Welcome to Mid-Sole!

Our Mission: To promote wellness through the regular practice of Christian faith and aerobic fitness.

Our name: Just as the midsole of an athletic shoe provides the spring and cushioning to keep us moving forward in a healthy way, so too do the regular practice of Christian faith and aerobic exercise help us to build physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual fitness.

Our practice: To share Daily Mile posts on a regular basis. With the hope that doing so helps us to keep moving forward in a healthy direction, with gratitude for all the gifts that God has blessed us with.