My Adidas

In November of 2011 I managed to tweak my back. Despite going to a chiropractor, giving up running and generally trying not to make it worse, by May 2012 things had deteriorated enough that I had an MRI and was diagnosed with "severe spinal stenosis." In other words, a severely herniated disc in my back. A few months and two cortisone shots later, I was back in business, as long as business involved doing nothing more than a brisk walk. Over the winter of 2012/2013 I gradually was able to build strength in my core and back to the point of being able to run on a treadmill for 30 seconds to a minute at a time. I had pretty much given up any hope of really being able to enjoy running as a sport again.

However, we had already started ME Against Myeloma and had some long-term goals of getting out there and raising money. By the end of the 2012/2013 winter I had resigned myself to the fact that it was going to be a long, long time until I could really run a road race and set a goal of doing a sprint triathlon in August. I figured that was far enough away for me to slowly build up to being able to run five kilometers without shooting pain in my lower back and legs. 

In order to help motivate us, we had signed up for Runner's World magazine. We kept seeing advertisements for a shoe from Adidas that would "change the world." So right around this time last year we took a trip to our local running store. It was as if the engineers at Adidas knew of my injury and were doing their best to design a shoe to help.

And help it did.

The first time I put on the new Adidas boost shoe was the first time I could run without pain in over a year (the difference was almost freaky). These shoes quite literally changed my life. No longer was I confined to brisk walks outside or "running" on a treadmill (by running I mean holding on to the railings the whole time). I could now go for a run outside. And run I did. In the past year I have put over 470 miles on my Adidas boost and another 30+ miles on a pair of trail shoes, topping 500 miles total.

Thanks to my Adidas I have been able to go for beautiful runs with my wife and kids.

Morning run at Niagara Falls, Ontario (American Falls in the background)

Thanks to my Adidas I have been able to show my kids one way to live an active and healthy lifestyle.

Thanks to my Adidas I have been able to compete in multiple races, including my first triathlon. 

Thanks to my Adidas I have been able to raise awareness of multiple myeloma.

So to the team at Adidas that invented the cushioning of the boost that makes it so different from other running shoes, I say thank you 500 times over (and counting).

L.L. Bean 4th of July 10k