by Coach Adolfo Salgueiro | Oct 3, 2023 | Article, Guest Perspective, Opinion, Reflection
In my last blog post, I wrote about learning the hard way. Within the same theme, today I bring you the story of Javier Mota, a journalist and friend who, despite going out of his way not to consider himself a runner, put together a 1000+ day running streak. Given his accepted stubbornness, he is currently paying the consequences of not listening to his body. With his permission, I am publishing an article he wrote about his experience.
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Good and bad consequences after running every day for 3 years and 21 days.
By Javier Mota
August 24, 2023
The diagnosis by Dr. Luis Valenzuela from the Meds Clinic in Santiago de Chile, which stopped my 3 years and 21 days of running every day, was forceful:
âYou obviously have internal femorotibial osteoarthritis, with a degenerative tear of the internal meniscus. Also, chondral lesions in the patella. There is bone edema of the medial femoral condyle and medial tibial plateau due to joint wear and overload.â
Javier Mota is a renowned automotive journalist and a friend. (Photo: courtesy of Javier Mota)
In simple words, the MRI results showed how badly I messed up my left knee, mainly due to a clear case of the fine line between stubbornness and stupidity.
In hindsight, I should have stopped running when the pain and discomfort began on March 15, 2023, but out of my stubbornness, rather than determination or discipline, I ran 5 additional months in pain, first trying to reach the 1,000-day mark and then, 3 years.
The additional 21 days only confirmed my lack of good sense and probably made things worse.
âPain is not normalâ, another orthopedic doctor once told me during a casual conversation in a bar in St. George, Utah, after I insisted on running for a couple of months despite the discomfort.
Long before that, when I reached the 2-year mark, in August 2022, Dr. Scott Lang, University of Central Florida´s Professor of Family Medicine, warned me: âNever run in pain. If you have muscle pain or joint pain when you run, ice it and rest. If the pain persists for more than a week, see your doctorâ.
Obviously, I did not pay attention and on August 21, 2023, at the end of my annual ski trip to Chile, I finally decided to have my left knee checked by Dr. Valenzuela, who after a quick visual and tactile examination, immediately determined that an MRI was necessary.
Of course, between the time that passed from the end of the MRI and the time I received the diagnosis, I went out for the last run (2.75 miles in 30:36) because I sensed the end of the streak was approaching, under medical prescription.
The truth is that the discomfort never reached the point of paralyzing me, although, between March 15 and August 21, 2023, I reduced the distance and speed of each run, thinking that the pain would be reduced. That didnât happen, but it didnât get worse either.
This is Javierâs messed up left knee (Foto: Courtesy of Javier Mota)
Dr. Valenzuela attributed this to the fact that through constant exercise for 1,115 days in a row, I was able to build enough muscle mass to absorb most of the impact on my knee.
Now, the next challenge is to dedicate myself with the same intensity to a rehabilitation program and incorporate other athletic activities, without impacting the knees to maintain the physical condition and weight (165 pounds).
Those last two were undoubtedly the biggest benefits of the running streak, which began on August 1, 2020, during the Covid pandemic, thanks to a private Facebook group, to get out of lockdown.
In all, I ran 3,257.3 miles, an average of almost 90 miles per month. The equivalent of driving from Miami to Seattle.
All this, despite the fact that I have never felt like a âreal runnerâ. If I was, I would have followed the 3R advice of the experts to replenish, rest, and recover, and not become a âslave to the streakâ, as Running Coach Adolfo Salgueiro warned me. But thatâs exactly what I did.
I never warmed up before a run, nor did I stretch at the end. I have never undergone a serious training program to achieve a specific goal. Nor did I pay much attention to the advice not to wear old and worn-out shoes or to buy ones specially molded for my feet. As a consequence, I never improved my time or distance in these 3 years.
And as I said before and I repeat now, I donât like to run. I think itâs boring, so much so that for the last few months of the streak I tried to entertain myself by picking up trash on the road, sometimes at an astonishing rate of 10+ pieces per mile. Thanks to that, and in a very unscientific way, I verified that the Modelo Especial has indeed become the most popular beer in the United States, given the number of empty cans I have found in recent months during my runs.
I also started stopping to say hello to all the dogs I saw on the trail, perhaps to justify my slower pace and to give my knee a rest, until one of them bit me on the left thigh, something unrelated to the injury, which eventually ended the streak.
Now the benefits
I always appreciated what happens when you run every day. You feel better physically and mentally, you sleep and work better, and you can eat and drink more. And you always feel good after every run, unless you get bitten by a dog.
Also, it was great to receive encouragement from other runners, non-runners and even from companies like New Balance and Apple who sent me products as an incentive to keep the streak alive; and from car brands that celebrated some of the streakâs milestones when they coincided with some of their test driving programs around the world.
One of the 1,021 consecutive runs that lead to the devastating injury (Foto: Courtesy of Javier Mota)
It was also a pleasure to run in 16 countries and over 100 cities.
But what I enjoyed the most was the daily challenge of finding the time and place to run every day, despite the complications of constant travel as part of my job as an automotive journalist.
The longest run (almost 9 miles) was in Munich, Germany, on September 2021, not because I wanted to run that distance, but because I got lost. The fastest run was a 10K at a pace of 7:58 minutes per mile, at home.
On December 31, 2022, I checked out at 11:30 p.m. to complete the daily 5k and then did another one starting right at midnight and ending on January 1st. 2023 to start the New Year.
Several times, I landed at an airport and got out of the car on the way to the hotel so I could run before the end of the day. I also ran inside various airports, before and after flights.
So, in the end, it was a good run while it lasted, but I have a few points to consider now that this is all over:
First, I do not recommend it to anyone! Itâs easy to become addicted, even a slave to personal achievement like this one.
And most importantly, as Iâve learned the hard way, itâs essential to recognize that running every day for an extended period, not only can, but surely will cause injury sooner or later.
In conclusion, listen to the experts and to your body; take adequate rest when necessary to prevent exhaustion and possible long-term health problems.
Without a doubt, this streak of three years and 21 days was an extraordinary journey, which some have called âan example of determination, discipline and the pursuit of personal goalsâ, but it is also important to remember that the physical conditioning process of each individual is unique and must be approached with care and respect for oneâs own body.
Maybe I will run again someday, but I will never run every day for 3 years and 21 days.
Javier Mota is a renowned automotive journalist and a friend. You can follow him on Instagram @javiermota, or at his website: https://autos0to60.com/. He made a YouTube video with his original post. If you want to check it out, you can do so by clicking here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8sdfsl0c9w
by Coach Adolfo Salgueiro | Jan 24, 2023 | Article, Opinion, Personal, Reflection
By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro
I still canât believe that it has been 40 years since my first marathon. Four decades since that unforgettable January 22nd of 1983 inside the old Orange Bowl Stadium in Miami. 14,610 days have passed since that unprepared 17-year-old higschooler crossed a finish line that became the gift that kept on giving.
Since I can remember, I wanted to run a marathon. Not sure why. Maybe because I read about the athletics exploits of Abebe Bikila, Emil Zatopek or contemporaries like Frank Shorter and Bill Rogers. Who knows? Somehow, I always loved the extremes. I started running when I was 12 or 13 while living in Caracas, Venezuela, and at 15, ran my first 10K race. Then, a couple of months after turning 17, my dad told me he was running the Orange Bowl Marathon in January 1983, and if I trained, he would take me to Miami. Maybe I just wanted the trip and a few days off school, or it could have been a legitimate attraction for the physical challenge. Regardless, what I know is that 6 weeks later I was lining up at the foot of the iconic home of the Miami Dolphins, who eight days later were taking on the Washington Redskins in the Super Bowl.
The Miami Orange Bowl stadium (1937-2008) seated 72,319, hosted 5 Super Bowls and was home of the Miami Dolphins from (1966-1986)
Iâve written before about that race. So, on this anniversary I donât want to reminisce about that particular day, but on what the race has meant to me throughout my life. Last year, on the 39th anniversary of the marathon, I wrote a memoir about that day because I didnât want details to be forgotten. If you would like to read more about it, please click here. I also wrote a post about getting my finisherâs medal 37 years later, back in 2020. If you want to read about it, please click here.
After that magical morning, 40 years ago, even if I never ran another step in my life, I was a marathoner. It is a label that sticks forever. It doesnât fade away with time, or by forgetting the exact date and finishing time, or by never wearing a pair of running shorts again.
I kept running for a handful of years after my first marathon. By the time I turned 21 I had four under my belt, with a couple of them in the 3:30 range. I ran through my first three years of college and even had escalated disagreemtns with my girlfriend, who at times was fed up with not going out with our friends on Saturday nights because I had a Sunday morning long run. Many a time I had to put my foot down and state that I would drop her before my training. Today I would have handled it in a different way, but that was then.
As I have mentioned in other writings, as I was training to go sub-3 in 1986, I had a devastating non-running injury on my left knee that left me on the sidelines. It was such a demoralizing blow that I stopped running for decades. While not running I discovered the pleasures of sleeping in on weekends. I didnât want to have the same issues with new girlfriends, so I went out partying on Saturday nights, and on Friday nights, too. I focused on getting my career in sports journalism started, graduating from college and all the stuff ânormalâ people do when they donât need to wake up early to run long next day. The day I turned 18, I went to bed at 8PM because I was running 30Km (19 miles) next day as part of my training for the NYC Marathon. What a weirdo!
There is not much to be found online about the 1983 Orange Bowl Marathon. Surprisingly I found this cotton race shirt in eBay for âjustâ $149,99. Thanks, Iâll pass.
Yet, somewhere deep inside, I always knew I had one more marathon in me. Just one, to remind myself I could still do it, or to fool myself into thinking I was still as good as when I was a teenager, or to revisit old glories, or to show my young son what you can accomplish when you work hard towards a difficult goal. Whatever it was, I still wanted to hit the asphalt and take that 26.2 trip once more. Just once.
But sometimes you cross paths with the wrong people and they clip your wings. At 39, after a 2nd knee surgery in July 2004, I told the doctor I still had one more marathon in me and asked if he thought my knee could take it. He told me in no uncertain terms that I shouldnât and couldnât. I was stupid enough to take his word for it.
But one day, out of the blue I started walking for hours at a time, feeling good about it and experiencing the runnerâs high once again. I found racewalking and then racewalked four half marathons, transitioning to the 26.2 at the 2012 Philadelphia Marathon. Three years and two more marathons later I realized that I just took the doctorâs word and did not run because he said so, not because I tried and failed. So, I got my running restarted and ran my first marathon since 1985, in 2017. Five years, four marathons and an open-heart surgery later, I am still running and looking towards my next 26.2-mile adventure.
The Marathon Training Academy podcast runs a great tag line: âYou have what it takes to run a marathon and change your lifeâ. I certainly had what it took to run it again, and my life hasnât been the same since I completed that 2017 NYC Marathon after I became a runner for the 2nd time; nor since I racewalked the Philadelphia Marathon in 2012 after a 26 year hiatus, nor after that magical morning at the Orange Bowl Stadium, 40 years ago, this week, when my lifetime love affair with the mythical 26.2 monster got started.
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by Coach Adolfo Salgueiro | Jan 17, 2023 | Article, Guest Perspective, Opinion, Reflection
By Ruben Urieta*
As a ânaked runnerâ (1), for many years I enjoyed the freedom of not being attached to tech gadgets. Gadgets that most runners use to measure mileage, pace, heart rate and what not. They come in different forms of watches, headphones or wearables. These days most smart phones can track you, just as your significant other does (just joking).
What is it that a naked runner enjoys? This is a good question for a podcast, as it may need a long answer. I can only tell you about my experience. I enjoy the conversational running, the sound of the waves by the beach, the flapping of bird wings and even the occasional âget out of the f*$%ng bike lane!â reminder. With this mindset Iâve ran 5K, 10K, plenty of half marathons and even one marathon without proper training, where my buttocks hit the ground (literally). In some smaller races I even placed in my age group, including a 2nd place in the birthplace of Ricky Martin (San Juan, PR).
However, events involving my close family happened this year and made me reconsider my comfort zone. What I mean by that is that I felt like I got into a comfortable running routine that my body just got used to. It took a doctorâs advice to snap me out of it. He said: âsometimes you have to endure physical pain to obtain unique benefitsâ.
So, I registered for a half marathon in Panama, where the humidity would likely be 100% and my goal was to smash my PR on the distance by almost 10 minutes. To accomplish this, I decided to get a coach with enough experience to turn a ânaked runnerâ into a âdressed runnerâ.
I needed guidance, arduous work and some luck to transition into this new chapter of my running life.
Fast forwarding to race day, luck ran out. I started to cramp up at mile 7. But suddenly, I recalled on the sacrifices Iâve made to get here. Waking up early, watching and timing my food, pushing my body to a certain pace, trying new goals, sometimes with uncomfortable results. And then, the lessons learned as a âdressed runnerâ started to pay off.
I looked at my Garmin and I adjusted my pace. I also timed my intake of salt and fluids the way I trained for. At the end, I was able to shave off six minutes from the same race back in 2019. Not what I wanted but I was satisfied with the result.
Was I disappointed at missing my PR? Of course! God willing, I still have 2023 to accomplish it. Now as a âdressed runnerâ.
I want to thank Coach Adolfo, my running partners Dmitriy, Wayne, Luis and Luis âChamoâ, as well as the rest of my running group for their support during my quest.
*Ruben Urieta is an experienced runner based in Pembroke Pines, Florida. He has completed multiple half marathons and one marathon. He runs with No-Club Runners on Saturday mornings, and he is also a good friend.
(1) â A naked runner is one who runs exclusively by feel, with no assistance from any type of tech gadget or wearable gear. It has nothing to do with running in the nude.
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by Coach Adolfo Salgueiro | Dec 27, 2022 | Article, Guest Perspective, Opinion, Reflection
By John Mounteer *
We all run for different reasons, including losing weight, improving our health, making new friends, or competition. I run for all these reasons. As a senior runner (68 years old), one of my motivators is a hope to delay the onset of dementia which is common in my fatherâs side of my family. I also enjoy the excitement and competition of races.
As we get older, we inevitably slow down. When I do training runs with my old high school buddies up north, we mostly jog. Theyâve had more health issues than I have, and although they are still mobile, they donât have much speed left. For most âserious runnersâ, getting faster means running and competing with faster people. One of the reasons I enjoy running with younger people when Iâm in Florida is that they motivate me to run faster.
John in one of his 27 podium finishes (Photo courtesy of John Mounteer)
Winter in South Florida is a runner paradise, especially compared to the cold, snow and ice in upstate NY where we live in the summers. The humidity is a factor to deal with, but it beats frostbite. The number of fall and winter races here, is extraordinary. Every weekend we have a choice of multiple races at all distances within an hourâs drive. We can choose from very competitive, fast, large races with thousands of participants and thousands of dollars in prize money for the top finishers, to a local Fun Run and Walk. There are benefits to both types of events.
Large competitive races have the benefit of letting you know how you measure up against other serious runners your age. This can have two effects: motivation to train harder or despair that youâll never get a spot on the podium. You may have to face the fact that you are a small fish in a big sea. I am a small fish. I was never fast. Even in my high school. cross country team, where the first 5 runners count, I was lucky to place 4th or 5th, way behind the fast guys. My âage percentageâ (my finish time compared to other runners of my age and sex) is around 60-66%. That means that at least a third of runners my age, are faster than me, and some are much faster.
In comparison, smaller races allow you to be a big fish in a small sea. Some small races still give medals in each five-year age group, although ten-year groups have become more common. The competition does thin out as you move up the age groups. Iâve run in races where almost everyone who showed up and ran was a winner! It feels good to get a place medal even knowing that youâre not the fastest runner in the area, but you were the fastest in that race that day.
You must do some searching to find the local, smaller races. Since we moved to Florida, Iâve run in dozens of small races, so Iâm a lot of email lists and get notices for many of them. So can you by searching your local listings online.
John and Coach Adolfo after the 2022 Tamarac Turkey Trot, in Tamarac, Florida
Iâve been running mostly 5k and some 10k races in Florida for about 10 years, and in that time, by cherry picking small races Iâve gotten 27 age group awards â ten 1st place, nine 2nd place, and eight 3rd places. And, in really small races I have a 2nd and a 3rd overall. Thatâs crazy fun!
Iâve had great luck by searching for a couple of key phrases, â1st Annualâ and âfun runâ. Another thing to consider is what other competitive races are occurring on the same weekend. Itâs likely that the fast runners will be there and wonât rain on your parade.
Some might think that âcherry pickingâ races is a form of cheating, and maybe it is, but winning medals helps motivate me to keep training. My method also works better in the younger and older age groups where there is less competition to begin with. I donât recommend that anyone does just easy races. I find that it still important to do the competitive races so that I donât become complacent, but the feeling of standing on the podium is addicting.
Final words: Pay attention to your body and donât overdo it while youâre young. Iâve had some injuries, but not as many or as bad as some of my contemporaries who ignored pain and did permanent damage. The secret to being competitive in older age group running is just to make it to next age group. Thanks to all my South Florida running family for keeping me going!
*John Mounteer is a runner who splits time between Upper State New York and Broward County, South Florida. While in Florida, he runs with Hollywood Run Club, Runnerâs Depot Run Club and No-Club Runners. He is also a good friend.
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by Coach Adolfo Salgueiro | Nov 29, 2022 | Article, List, Opinion
As daylight gets shorter and the further north you go the less opportunity there is to run under natural illumination, and the more we need to adjust if we want to keep active in our favorite sport. I wrote this post two years ago, but I find it important to revisit as we adjust to our new running reality.
By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro
If you canât run without headphones, do not get into this setting. Jump on the treadmill, instead.
With the autumn months in full swing and the winter ones in the on-deck circle, there are longer nights which present a slew of challenges for runners.
It is paramount to understand that our safety is our individual responsibility. In this litigious world where nobody takes responsibility because they think they can sue whoever hurts them, you must be aware that as a runner, it doesnât matter who had the right of way, who had the obligation to see you, or who will win the argument in court. If you get hit by a vehicle, you are the one getting hurt. Is up to you to make sure you are seen by those who could harm you.
The following are nine recommendations to keep you safe while enjoying your runs in less than ideal lighting conditions:
1.    Do not improvise your routes: When you are running in the dark is not the appropriate time to be adventurous. Select routes you know are safe, well-lit and familiar to you. This is not the time to cross a street and find out there is no sidewalk, or that you are lost.
2.    Wear at least one light/reflecting device: You must prepare to be visible at the time you end your run, not just at the start. You can run lit like a Christmas tree, or you can use a reflecting vest, or you can wear blinking lights on your shoes, shorts, or hats. The options are plenty and they fit every budget.
3.    Run against traffic: It canât be easier than this. By running against traffic you can be alert to any danger ahead of you. Drivers maybe playing with their phones and heading towards you. You wonât see these idiots unless you are facing them. This doesnât mean to run in the middle of the road, make sure you obey all traffic guidelines.
4.    Rethink your usage of headphones: Running in the dark has its own challenges. Donât handicap yourself by not having your auditive sense available and/or half of your brain distracted with music or a podcast. If you canât run without your headphones, jump on the treadmill or choose a well-lit, familiar route where you donât have to cross any streets.
5.    Run with your phone: Well into the XXI Century, phones are ubiquitous. Not even sure why we still call them telephones. Make sure you run with yours when you are in the dark. It is better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. Sharing your location on WhatsApp or any other app is a good practice. There are so many options to carry a phone these days, that there are no excuses to leave it at home if you are running into the dark.
6.    Always tell someone where you are going and how long you plan to run: Even if you are taking your phone, but especially if you are not, make sure someone knows what your route is and how long do you expect to be gone. If you are going for 5K around the block and it has been two hours, someone should be checking on you.
Reflecting vests are good and affordable options. They also made you seen from both sides.
7.    Run in groups whenever possible: There is always additional safety in numbers. It is easier for a driver to see a group of runners than to see just one. Plus, more eyeballs, more brains and more safety devices together can only increase the safety of your run in the dark.
8.    Carry ID: I am not paid by them, but I do believe RoadID is the best alternative for carrying identification with you. I have been using it for years and they have plenty of unobstructive, affordable options so someone can take care of you if you are ever found in a ditch. Worse comes to worse, carry your driverâs license in a pocket.
9.    Carry pepper spray: Having it is not enough. It must always be accessible. The moment you need it is not the time to figure out where it is or how it works. Mind the wind, or you will pepper spray yourself.
These are by no means all the safety precautions you must take to run safely in the dark. For one, make sure you trust your instincts always, so you donât have to second-guess yourself when it is already too late. If something doesnât feel right, get out of there immediately.
Anything else I forgot, or you would like to recommend to your fellow readers?
by Coach Adolfo Salgueiro | Oct 4, 2022 | List, Opinion, Personal, Reflection
By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro
When I started thinking about my running pet peeves, my first though was: âwhat tin the world is a pet peeve?â Â Well, according to the Oxford Dictionary, it is âsomething that a particular person finds especially annoying.â Merriam Webster defines it as âa frequent subject of complaint.â Â While the term it is rooted in the XIV Century word âPeevish,â the term as we know it today originated around 1919. I havenât finished the first paragraph and I already went on a tangent.
We all have pet peeves in our lives and running in no exception. We are all annoyed by certain behaviors by certain runners at certain times in certain situations that we happen to find particularly irritating. And, since pet peeves are by definition, individual, here are mine. Maybe we share some of them.
 I am not trying to be mean or condescending here. But, since I am talking about what annoys me, please forgive my tone.Â
There is a reason why this is listed #1 in my list (Photo: Matheus Bertelli, Pexels)
1.   Runners with loudspeakers: I donât understand why in the age of light weight headphones, Bluetooth air pods and bone conduction headphones we must put up with runners carrying loudspeakers. How can anyone assume I want to listen to his/her music while I run? This is regardless of my liking or not of their choice of music. Do you like to run with music? Great! Keep it to yourself.
 2.   5K Marathons: Marathon is a fixed distance, not a multitudinous foot race. A marathon is 42,195 meters as measured in the metric system or 26.2 miles if you prefer the imperial system. If referring to things by fractions of a unit (half marathon, quarter pounder) is appealing to you, I suggest expressing the distance as a tad above 1/9th marathon, 5/42nds of a marathon or 11.85% of a marathon. Other than that, it is just a plain and simple 5K.
 3.   The Full Marathon: Because of the booming popularity of the half marathon distance, talking about âthe full marathonâ has become a thing now. The entirety of a unit should not be preceded by the qualifying full, as it is implicit unless stated otherwise. A full marathon is just a marathon. Yes, petty, I know, but it does bug me.
 4.   Finish line shoppers: With your race entry you get to take part on the post-race spread as well as access to whatever the race sponsors have to offer. This doesnât mean supermarket day. All runners that also paid and should have access to whatâs offered. Weâve all seen runners with cases of hydration products, boxes of cookies and entire pizzas. Come on!!!
 5.   Oversharing on social media: Sure, youâre proud of your race result, or you want to receive accolades for your PR, or long run while preparing for your marathon. Yet, we donât need to know about your half mile on the treadmill, or the two-mile brisk dog walk around your neighborhood. Unless these are true personal accomplishments, of course.
 6.   Running fast on recovery days: Our body doesnât get stronger when we complete a long run, or when we nail a hard speed workout. Quite the contrary, it weakens. It is when the body repairs from that effort that it gets fitter and stronger. You wonât see the benefits of todayâs hard workout for at least 14-21 days. So, make sure you recover on recovery days. Hence the name.
Is this really appropriate when you have over 40,000 runners around you?
7.   Racing in bulky costumes: I dislike the clowning of the bulky costumes. As if running a marathon wasn\’t tough enough, certain runners make a mockery of it by doing this stuff. Sure, you can have fun dressed as Superman, a caveman or Pheidippides. The problem is with the bulky ones that restrict movement or view. Organizations like the London Marathon unfortunately encourage this behavior. When someone gets seriously hurt, it will stop being funny and by then, it will be too late.
 8.   Skipping runs because your watch ran out of battery: The watch is not the director of your running life; it is only the record keeper. The fact you missed recording one session is not going to diminish your health, your fitness returns or your ego. Hit the road and make sure you donât run out of battery the next time.
 9.   Ruining other runnerâs race photos: We all love race pictures, and they are ubiquitous these days. You want to look good for the photographers, and that is great. But must you go out of your way, cross the racecourse cutting runners, or jumping in between a runner and a photographer so you can have an extra pic?
 10. Rude Runners: Do I need to explain?
 What are your running pet peeves?
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