Thursday, July 28, 2011

Running for the Hansons: by Sage Canaday


What else do you do after having hip surgery, but fire up the Kindle with a few motivating books and read away. The first book I read post surgery is the newly released Running For The Hansons: An Insider's Account of The Brooks-Sponsored Marathon Training Group Made Famous by Olympian Brian Sell (Volume 1) by Sage Canaday. If you ever wanted to know what it is like to be a struggling professional runner hoping to make it big in the running world than this is the book for you. Sage Canaday joined the Hanson's Brooks Distance Projects soon after graduating from Cornell and wrote about his and his teammates experiences with the team.

I enjoyed the book and found it an interesting read. The organization of chapters kept it humming along. It wasn't strictly a linear journal as it bounced along to other topics to keep a flow going. Athletes like Brian Sell and Desiree Davila are highlighted. You get a good feel for what it would be like to train full-time while trying to work and progress as a runner. It doesn't sound easy!

If you are a fan of running, you might find inspiration in the book. It seems written for the Letsrun.com crowd, with even a singular reference to Kip Litton. Another Letsrun mentions involves Sage reporting from the January 2010 Boston Indoor Games, where he talks about trying to be the first to get results up on Bernard Lagat's World Indoor record 5000m run. Here is his video:



Here is my video:



I had a better view of the finish right at the line. Lagat handed his victory flowers to the girl next to my daughter. I am not sure who got the video up first!

Sage on pursuing his dream, " Within 5-10 years my body is going to be done in terms of being able to run a national class marathon time. I already hobble down the stairs like and old man, feet blistered, tendons swollen, and muscles banged up. The body can only take so much before it breaks down. We seek to capture our youth, cherish it, and utilize it to our advantage!" Sage most recently ran 2:16 for 8th place overall at the 2011 San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon.You have to give credit to the runners who are pursuing their dreams and if you never had the talent, it can be fun to just read about what it takes to follow those dreams.

3 comments:

jdawg said...

I can't tell you how glad I am to have found your blog. I too am lopsided and wondered if it was a short leg. Severe tibial torsion on the right leg and left hip pain. Did you ever use a heel lift? Did it help you? Waiting on orthotics by Footmaxx, a pressure plate design. I'm 41 and have been trying at least the last 10 years to figure it out. Thank God for the heavenly body we've got waiting for us, right?

Jim Hansen said...

I have tried heel lifts throughout the years to no long term benefit. I think the imbalance is in the hips and not the legs, so they just threw more things off. Of course the rotataion in the tibia could have caused my hip problemI. I have left side tibial torsion and it was the left hip. Just had surgery for the hip, and I will be curious as to what that fixes, maybe even straighten out the leg more? I hope I can run again someday before that new body! Best wishes as I know it is not fun trying to figure things out on our own!

jdawg said...

I just know how hard a time I've had and, from what I've read here, you too. That new body that never gets tired or hurt is looking pretty good to me.
Course I won't quit trying here either though. That's the way I am and I've been reading and studying this for years. That's why finding your blog was so great. One might even say Providential!