Lately I've been catching myself getting hung up on total miles and the average pace of my daily runs no thanks to technology tracking on Strava, Garmin or whatever... you get the idea. I realize these stats are often a trap that keep us from getting in the hard and invaluable workouts we should be doing; runs with killer hills or tough courses with tricky footing that develop our balance and strengthen the ancillary muscles. These are the kind of runs that will keep us from overuse injuries and make us stronger, faster, and tougher. Flat paved runs produce numbers that on the surface may look impressive but don't tell much of the real story. As I've said, I write this blog pretty much for myself and what I know I need to hear. That said, I ran 5 miles today at an average pace of 11:24 ... I'm sure I could have easily ran today's 5 mile lunch run at 9:10 pace on subdivision streets, but kicked myself in the butt and hit the steepest, toughest, 5 mile trail route locally that I know of, with 673' of gain and brutal, root leaping downhills. I'm sore, spent... and smiling. Dig it.

Don't let ego get in the way of an awesome run ... A run only you will know was awesome,

Randy Step, an admitted obsessed runner who admits to running wimpy routes at times ... But not today. Dare to run great.

PS: CHAMPAGNE, BEER, GLAMOUR, MUSIC... Do I have your attention? Join me on Belle Isle August 12, 2017 for a Saturday evening 5K with a Champagne finish! Shirts to all entrants and medals to all finishers. Check out redcarpetrun.com for all the details!