10 April 2014

on the run ... with kyle kranz

welcome to another interview in the on the run series ...
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he's not one to necessarily tout his 'before' and 'after' photos, but kyle kranz has a story to tell.  in his own words he's said:
"9 years ago I was a 230 pound high school student.  Someone finds out I run marathons or 140 mile triathlons and they say 'oh I could never do that'.  Well I'm proof that whatever your origin is and whatever your goal may be, it's possible!  9 years ago you would never have even considered this size 42 waist would cross the finish line of a 100 mile ultra marathon." 
kyle's story doesn't end there - he's continued to develop himself as an athlete, becoming a professional runner, coach, and social media coordinator for the oregon-based running company Skora.  

. . . . .

1.  Having transitioned from the 230-lb. "Big Kyle" in high school to full-time professional runner, I've discovered that:

(a) Nothing is impossible
(b) Being in poor physical health is about more than too much gaming and fast food
(c) I was my own worst enemy and greatest ally
(d) I could not have gotten here without the help of some key people
(e) This version of me was always there waiting to be unleashed

KK:   "D" (with a little of "E") is the answer that stuck out to me most, because it was honestly one single person that opened my eyes to where I was in my life and where I could go.  In all truth, I think many people who are unhealthy lack a true idea of what their current status actually is.

2.   Working both as a coach and with Skora it seems your personal running philosophy is to 'run real'. The biggest mistake that you find runners making is:

(a) Heel striking
(b) Low stride cadence
(c) Poor breathing control
(d) Overstriding
(e) Bad posture/upper body form

KK:   Actually, none of the above. I actually just started working with an athlete who has only been running for two months, and he wanted to do a half marathon in 3.5 months.  Now, I explained to him that he could get there, but that half would be both very slow and possibly quite painful. It would also probably include a great deal of walking, going from zero to 13.1 in six months is a leap.  We decided that the best course would be to instead target the 5k on that day, instead of the half marathon.  With the 5k he can work on improving his speed, run safer because he does not have to increase his weekly volume as much, and hopefully finish the event feeling good and happy with doing more than "just covering a distance".

It's on a much longer scale, but I feel I moved into ultra distance races too quickly.  Ironically, I'm now 1.5 years into my training back at the 5k-13.1 distance races, and it will likely be 5 more years until I do another ultra.

If I had to choose from the above options, it would probably be a combo of "D" & "B", however they all tie closely in with each other.

3.   Nutrition is a huge part of athletics and most certainly critical to endurance sport training. What are the key factors that determine your current plant-based diet regime?

(a) It's all about ethical choices, baby
(b) I'm still convinced that it's the ideal human diet (yeah, you heard me paleo people)
(c) I'm just not a crazy fruitarian like Michael Arnstein
(d) Until I find a diet that serves as better fuel for my running performance I'm sticking with it
(e) None of the above / Other

KK:  Definitely "A".  Ethics is my reasoning behind my plant based diet.  I don't particularly think there is anything wrong with eating meat, just the way 99.9% of meat is raised and harvested is where my issues lie.  I can see myself fishing and hunting at some point in the future.  I think the only "ideal human diet" is one made primarily of whole foods.  Other than that, we have cultures thriving off of anything from the extremely high fat diet of the Native Alaskans to the very high carb diet of the Blue Zone populations.  The one constant is they all eat minimally processed food.

4.   Being a social media coordinator a lot of my life is out there for all to see. Something that you may not know about me is:

(a) I'm trying to collect a coin from every country in the world, and right now I could really use one from ________!
(b) I may have run a 100-miler, but I'd love to focus on being a super-fast 1-miler
(c) Tucked in among my closet of Skora Cores, Forms and Phases is a pair of Brooks T7s
(d) Exercising make me feel energized - blogging make me feel tired
(e) As disciplined as I am, I still have control issues around Oreos

KK:  Haha, you know me and my Oreo issues all to well.  A couple months ago I walked around the grocery store with a container of the (new to me) cookie dough Oreos, before finally putting them away prior to checking out.

*** for more on kyle's coaching work and running endeavours, visit his website at http://kylekranz.com/

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