Revival

I'm starting a Youtube channel.

Why?

I've spent the last two years obsessed with a question: How can I run well and consistently, while staying healthy and keeping it fun? 

I still don't know the answer, but I've noticed that people of all speeds tend to ask themselves the same question. So I've decided to make my own search for fitness and health public. Here is an update of where I am in my recovery:
 

The background:

Two years ago was the last time I felt optimistic about my own running. I had just run my personal bests: 3:47 in the 1,500m and 14:28 in the 5,000.

It was around the time that people were debating over the attractiveness of the dad bod and whether they heard Yanny or Laurel. Trump had just called himself a "very stable genius" and some people still believed him. 2018 was a lifetime ago.

Since then, I've been stuck in an injury cycle that's lasted roughly 22 months. That's so long that when a baby gets that old, the parents stop counting his age in months and finally just say "he's almost two."

The ailments were joint patellar and hamstring tendinopathy on my left side. At their worst, they made walking painful and running impossible. The timing of their onset was terrible - I stopped running two weeks before Runners of the Nish was published.  After my book came out, I found that even more of my life revolved around running, in a time when I couldn't do it myself. It was a weird and hard thing to live with. 

But lately, I've regained some health. I'm running 50km per week and can do the odd workout without feeling like my hamstring is about to peel off my leg or my patella is starting a localized bonfire. I'm not yet able to put my body through a full training load, but am currently durable enough to admit that I want to make a comeback to competitive running. 

So these videos are meant to entertain and connect with others of all speeds who want to run faster, more consistently, and with more fun. 

So what is this channel for?

A place to share content like the workout video above, training recaps, discussions with friends and experts, new training ideas, and maybe a parody song if I ever see Nick Falk again.

A documentation of my own attempt at staying healthy, running well and finding fitness, and eventually returning to competition.

A means of connection with a community of runners trying to keep things fun and light in less-than-fun-and-light times.

What's this channel not for?

Teaching - I hope to explore ideas for better training, but I mean for those stories and exchanges to be taken as anecdotal. I have a kinetics degree but that doesn't mean I know what's best for you or that I listened in class.

Speed flexing - I am not here to show off my own running (there are many faster runners out there). I aim for my videos to be fun and helpful for runners of all speeds. 

Promoting - There is no agenda here. If someone does send me as much as a rocky road granola bar, I'll make it clear that the wrapper on my desk is a prop. 

Thanks for reading and watching, see you soon.

AC