"Find your FAST!!" with Blue Benadum

No matter how fast or slow you think you are, finding a little more speed can be a fun pursuit, if not completely addicting!! I think we all crave a little speed and adrenaline and running fast can be as intense as bombing a mountain slope on a snowboard or finding the top speed of a sports car! I happen to be totally obsessed with this pursuit, running or otherwise, so I'm creating the "Find Your FAST" movement! I'll be taking you on my journey of this glorious pursuit and offering my insights and lunacies as I see them! Welcome, and... Good luck!

Today I offer this...
First, give yourself permission and then set the intention, that you are gonna haul some ass today! By comparing ourselves to others we have this lameo tendency to downplay our own speed, or, even worse, are convinced we are incapable of it... Screw that! Leave the watch at home if it's just telling you that you're slow! And who cares what the MPH is, it's ALL legal in running! Good, now that we've gotten our heads out of... somewhere not to be mentioned, let's get down to it.
You have now decided you are going to kick some running ass, AND that you CAN kick some running ass! So... Bust it out!

For a guarantee that you'll hit some good speeds, head to the hills. What goes up, must come down... And gravity works baby!! Running downhill doesn't hurt your knees, if you are doing it right! Land below your center of mass with each foot strike (not out front), keep a slight bend in the knees always, drive the hips down toward the ground, let the heel come up to the butt and focus on putting it down below you again as fast as possible, open your hip angle to increase stride length without overstriding, let the gait happen behind you... Have fun and FLY!!

SPEED TIP OF THE DAY:
Right before footstrike, try to activate the glute muscle to help "fire" the foot into the ground. It is this force production and the energy return you get from it that generates speed.

Until next time speed demons...

Find your SPEED! Find your FAST!

Blue Benadum

MALIBU CREEK STATE PARK

Today was another day of training for the boys of LASP... Sprints around the rock track on top of the Santa Monica Mountains in the middle of a 15 mile trail, road and rock run. Thanks for bringing the COLOR boys!! 

LASP new hangout- HappyFeet- Pacific Palisades

We found our boys Blue and Crispin enjoying some live music at their new hangout HAPPYFEET at Pacific Palisades. Cynthia was also present keeping up with these crazy mofos as they ran through the beautiful Pacific Palisades.

If you want a chance to run with LASP team, just show up Every Thursday 6:30PM and get ready to have some fun!

HappyFeet
843 Via de la Paz
Pacific Palisades, CA 90272




Thanks 3,2,RUN Sessions for the awesome live music and Noah's Bagels, Accelerate, HoneyStinger for the Grub.

The Devil is in the Details

We tracked our Boys during the 2013 New Year's Race to see what was their physiological response  to the elements and course.  At every mile split we tracked: Elevation Gain, Elevation Loss, Average Pace, Average Heart Rate, Max Heart Rate and caloric expenditure. 

 

 

With this information we are able to determine their strengths and weakness.  Both Blue and Crispin have been VO2max tested, so we can easily determine how hard they raced.  Seeing their HRs in the 170s tells us they put in a good fight.   

 

GOOD JOB BOYS! 

You Drank your beer...kissed some girls NOW Get back to Work!

Dominating LA- Road and Trail!!

Check out the photo play by play as we followed our Boys and Gals through their weekend of Racing Insanity. Two events: the New Year's Race Los Angeles and the Xterra Boney Mountain Trail Race... Let the running begin!!

Starting the night with a little pre-race patrol...

...after trying to figure out how to fuel before an evening race, the team hits the VIP room for some dynamic stretching and warmups... at 8pm!! So bizarre!

Crispin demonstrating the LASP Lee high kick!

 Beauty and the Beasts!!! Thank you Nadia Ruiz Gonzales for the VIP treatment!! We love you! 

 One last prayer to the running gods... and we're off!

Miss Laura Conley and Blue head to the start

 ...and wearing more clothes than ever ???, Blue races to a 3rd place finish, Laura takes 4th female, Crispin with 11th overall and Scott Wandzilak 2nd in the 5k!! LASP!!

 After party time!! Chillin with the Race Director

Yes indeed.. Sierra Nevada!! Crispin cant believe his luck! Which leads to...

...dancing to Bob Marley with the Coyotes and kissin Chan!

Fast forward a couple sleepless hours to the Boney Mountain Trail Race... with no sleep in between, of course...

 And not much changes! Giving LASP runner Cynthia Zarate some LASP pre-race speed/love

 Shawn Waco celebrates 2nd place overall and a course PR

 El Coyote- Jimmy Dean Freeman. His Coyotes took 5 of top 10

Howl!!!!

 Cynthia takes 2nd place AG and 12 overall finish

 A great weekend for LASP and the Coyotes with Blue and Jimmy

Until next time...

Shoutout to Jake Klim!!

LASP was joined by speedy runner, Jake Klim of Georgetown Running Co in D.C., this morning as he preps for a marathon PR in the 2:20s in Phoenix this month. Great running with you Jake!! We'll be routing for you in Phoenix!

Click here for Jake's bio with Georgetown Running

Happy New Year from LASP!!!

So here's to another AWESOME year... CHEERS RUNNERS!!! This is the view from Pepperdine this morning at our first workout of the year... Pilates, drills, stretching and a little running, of course!!! 

Bring on 2013!!!!!!!!!