I spent my entire weekend going from event to event.

It’s not that I’m that outgoing – I’m not – it’s just that everything happened at once, which is how things always seem to happen to me. I’m no victim of life, but my dad once told me I like to have 10 pounds of crap in a five-pound bag at all times, and he’s right. He’s always right.

I like it hot.

It started with the usual condensed training schedule I have, trying to cram in as many miles as I can when the kids are with their dad, rushing home from work and hoping to get even a little sunlight as I move through the city, stepping through unshoveled sidewalks and the sheets of glass that make up every intersection from now until April.

Six miles after work on Wednesday, again on Thursday, barely making it off the bike path with the waning light, humping it up Cliff Avenue as it grew darker and darker, heading east and home, a hot, hot shower and hands stiff with cold. ​

​Chris Riley is a teacher, cross country coach and lifelong runner in Belle Fourche, South Dakota. Watch for periodic guest blog posts from Chris and the west river running experience on Blog 605

​Benson Langat’s face is wide open when he looks at you.

You have to lean forward to hear him talk, he speaks so softly, and he never breaks eye contact. As you ask him a question or answer one from him, he looks right at you, his mouth soft and smiling, and he never interrupts. 

It’s not what you think of when you imagine someone who is trying to be an elite runner, to knock another three minutes off his half-marathon time to flirt with 1:05 and get closer to a life he didn’t even imagine for himself until after he graduated from high school in Kenya. 

Langat, 29, grew up outside of Kapsabet, Kenya, on a small goat farm with his family. He was barefoot and played rugby and dreamed of one day coming to the United States, a country he imagined as all bright lights and big cities, a worldview given to him by commercials and television shows. 

Where he was from, though, there were few ways to get to college in the U.S., and one of them was running. That meant Langat had to transform from being a soccer and rugby player to being a runner, dropping more than 60 pounds along the way. He had a cousin who was running for a coach in New Mexico, and that inspired him.

He began running in the mornings at 4 a.m., so nobody could see him. 

“People thought I was crazy when I started running,” Langat says. “Running in Kenya, you either go pro or not, there’s nothing in between. You train to go run overseas. It’s a job.”

He kept it up for a few months, doing what many people do when they decide to become runners: Start, and stop. Try, get frustrated, give up, try again. It’s the story of every runner, from someone at the back of the pack to someone standing on the podium.

“I was like do I want to do this, this is very painful,” Langat says.

It was, but it was more than that: It was his chance. He met a professional runner who knew his cousin, and he ran with him, taking in the training and the encouragement, building a base and seeing a possible future a little more clearly. At the same time, he took foreign-language tests and the SAT and did well. He had the scores to get into school, and now he needed the times to get on the teams. 

The next step was to join a running camp, which he did. It’s just what you might imagine: A group of young men living together and running and eating and sleeping like clockwork as they train their bodies. He trained for nearly two years.
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“This is going to be an opportunity to me to get fast, to get on a plane and get to the U.S.,” Langat says of that time. “Everybody wants to come here, even to visit. I wanted that opportunity.”

He got it. ​

​“I had a lot of time and didn’t know what to do with it,” Langat says.

His former coach told him about a store in downtown Sioux Falls, 605 Running Co., and he decided to swing by one day. 

“I was like, oh, this is cool,” Langat says. He met Greg Koch, one of the owners, and was encouraged to join the group runs, which he did. “I was so out of shape, and it was really hard.”

He entered a few races, including the Sioux Falls Half-Marathon, and took second place overall on virtually no training. Then it happened again and he realized, wait, I can still do this. 

“I started racing and I haven’t looked back,” Langat says.

He should – there’s an entire field behind him. Since then he’s run a dozen half-marathons with a personal best of 1:08:23 and a hope of getting closer to the elite time of 1:05. He’s run two marathons, neither of which turned out like he hoped. “The marathon still owes me a lot,” Langat says. 
As his half-marathon times improved through his own commitment and coaching by 605 Running Co. owner Grant Watley, it opened doors, including one to Skechers, where Langat started as an ambassador and now is a sponsored athlete. ​

“It’s a great opportunity for me,” Langat says, noting that he takes the hard work it requires seriously. 

Then he sits back for a moment, takes in the magnitude of what it all means.

“That was my dream before – to be sponsored,” Langat says. “I used to see people and think, man, I wish that were me. Now, I’m going to be representing this big company. I think about growing up and taking care of my grandpa’s sheep and goats, and now I’m here, trying to represent Skechers. It’s a huge shift.”

​After the incredulity comes the gratitude. It’s one of his defining characteristics, this near constant pause to give thanks – to his faith, to his friends, to his coaches, to the people on the side of the race course, to anything outside of him that helped him get where he is and be who he is.

And then there’s just Benson, and long solo miles, and all the time to think about what he’s accomplishing. 

“Most of the time, it’s just me,” Langat says. “You think about family. Sometimes I wonder what the roads are thinking about me this pavement. I’m always thinking about how amazing God is, and that’s the time I talk to God, about the opportunity and how life has turned out. From the rural parts of Kenya, from running barefoot to running here.”

That doesn’t mean it’s always easy – he calls his training runs some of the best days of his life and some of the worst, just like the rest of us. “I remind myself, it’s just running. Just don’t stop.”

The mantra he repeats is ‘patience,’ and it’s what he recommends to people who come into the store and are just starting out. A coach told him you can’t wake up and be fast, it takes time and talent and commitment, and he started out just like anyone – running from one telephone pole to the next.  It’s an experience he says helps him relate to others. 

“When I am fitting someone with a pair of shoes and they say, ‘I am thinking of starting running,’ I say, ‘I know how that would feel,’” Langat says. He wants to inspire and help others like he was. 

He knows what that difference can do.

“I own a pair of shoes,” he says with a laugh. “I only used to wear shoes to go to church. I am thanking God for a lot of things.”

Jacqueline Palfy is a longtime runner, reader and writer, marathoner, mom and board member of the nonprofit Sioux Falls Area Running Club. Her contributions to the 605 Running Co. blog will appear every other Tuesday. You can follow her on Twitter @runnerJPK or reach her at [email protected]. Story ideas are encouraged.
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Sometimes making smart choices when you’re on the go isn’t always easy. Working in Downtown Sioux Falls, we’ve got a great selection of food just steps from our door. Enjoying a meal at a local restaurant shouldn’t get in the way of your fitness goals. With spring races right around the corner many of the runners we talk to at the shop have serious questions about food and eating out.  With this in mind I tricked the boss into letting Lizzie Kasparek, MS, RD,LN, sports dietitian with the Sanford Sports Science Institute and myself grab lunch at two different local downtown restaurants.    
 
The restaurants we selected were MB Haskett, and Sanaa’s. MB Haskett is known for their changing menu of fresh ingredients. I have always heard great things about Haskett’s from the customers here at the shop. So I was excited to try it for lunch. Sanaa’s is a healthy yet affordable place offering food cooked from scratch using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Their menu also offers food for people with different dietary restrictions such as gluten free, peanut free, vegetarian, or vegan. I am pretty opened minded when it comes to different food, but I was still worried I wouldn’t be able to find something I like, because I haven’t eaten much Mediterranean cuisine. After completing our meal Lizzie and I wished there was an option to just try everything on the menu! Everything looked so good! Both restaurants are made up of mostly if not all healthy options so you can’t go wrong with whatever looks good. Both places do offer a nice variety of desserts too, which are just fine in moderation.
 
Lizzie’s thoughts:
“You don’t need to sacrifice to eat healthy, even when you’re eating out.  I recommend, and always try to do this myself, to get a source of carbohydrates (grains, vegetables, fruits), a protein, and a fat in a meal.  For example at MB Haskett, you can get a variety of sandwiches.  Sandwiches have bread (carb), protein (meats), fats (spreads such as avocado, cheese, hummus, etc.) and vegetables (spinach on the bread or get a side salad, etc.).  At Sanaa’s, a lot of the options had a meat protein or a vegetarian protein, such as beans, some source of carb from rice, quinoa, or pita, and fats from dressings, hummus, or cheese.
           
I think you should also always listen to what you really want though.  If you’re going out and you REALLY want the 3-cheese pita, and you got a salad instead, it probably isn’t going to be satisfying.  You can usually share with someone, or order both and get leftovers, or just eat the thing you really wanted and be satisfied with your meal choice, because in the end...its only one meal.  If 80% of the time is healthy foods, then it’s okay to eat one single food group that may not be good for your health 20% of the time.”
           
Now the fun part, what we ate!

​I chose the pesto salami sandwich on a whole grain baguette that came with provolone cheese and a good amount of spinach.  Verdict: Yum!  I loved that the bread was whole grain so it was nice and filling, not too much spinach but they definitely didn't skimp on it either, and a nice ratio of pesto to salami.

​Lizzie got the "Skippin' Jenny" which was made up of prosciutto, onions, thyme, black eye peas, and two poached eggs, served over brown rice with corn bread.

​I got the Shish Tawook which is Chicken breast bits cooked in red sauce with cumin, mustard, garlic and sesame seed paste, served on a bed of basmati rice.  I selected the house salad for my side, which is romaine lettuce, parsley, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and mint with bulgur wheat and garbanzo beans in lemon juice olive oil dressing.  Verdict: again, YUM! I would get this over and over again. 

​Lizzie got Mussakhan Fateyer (like a calzone), which had chicken breast bits, sautéed with caramelized onions, roasted sweet red pepper, sun-dried tomatoes, and a mix of seasoning of cilantro and mustard sauce.  She selected a mix of two different salads which were the house salad like I had and Tabbouli Salad: Finely chopped parsley, mixed with bulgur wheat, tomatoes, onions and olive oil and lemon juice dressing.  Verdict:  Very good and filling. Great portion sizes for what you pay for. 

Kelli Vasquez is Assistant Manager at 605 Running Company. When she isn’t hanging out at store she enjoys spending time with her family and running competitively when she isn’t preggers. She will be periodically contributing to the 605 Running Co. Blog.  
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I’m sitting in a restaurant in Spearfish, S.D., right now, trying to think about the past year.

In general, I hate the way the end of one year and the beginning of the next means people are expected to take stock of themselves and their lives. I think I do that more often – probably too much, asking myself too many questions and then feeling trapped under the weight of them.

But, like anyone else, here I am.

It’s Jan. 1, and I’m not who I was on this day last year. I spent New Year’s Eve cross-country skiing with Patrick and Dan and Lisa, who I’ve known for years from running and whom you might know from our “Legends of the Fall” running chat we had earlier this year. They’re great people, and we both know them from different parts of our lives, and it was great to spend the weekend together.

They were endlessly patient as they took us around – Patrick has cross-country skied a handful of times. Me? This weekend marked my second and third times – the first time being at a class at The Outdoor Campus several years ago, where my old neighbor Vickie and I decided to give it a try.

This time, Dan and Lisa invited us, and we said yes. Found somewhere to stay downtown and packed the car full of everything you might need – snowshoes and a bike and my running gear and the skis and the absurd amount of cold-weather clothing you need for all of these activities.

They all have skis – I don’t. So I did what anyone does, which is call Kristina and Barry Hein and ask what they have and what I can borrow. And because they’re who they are, they said yes, whatever we want, and with that I had a set of skis with fancy stickers on them I couldn’t pronounce.

We took them to a shop in Spearfish to have them waxed, and the guy gave me a weird look.

“Are these yours,” he asked.

“I borrowed them from a friend,” I replied.

“How much does your friend weight,” he asked.

“I don’t know, about 115,” I said.

“You know you’re going to smash these skis down,” he said to Patrick. “They’re racing skis.”

“No, no, they’re for her,” he replied, pointing to me.

The guy laughed, asked a lot of questions about the owner (and of course we talked about how awesome the Heins are, because they are), and then he asked me how much I’ve skied.

“Once,” I told him.

“Downhill?”

“Once, snowboarding.”

“OK, well, what’s your sport,” he asked.

“Trail running. Ultramarathons.”

With that he eased a bit and then proceeded to give me a stack of suggestions about how to stand, how to fall and how I better go on the beginner trails. It was a familiar refrain – Kristina had asked Patrick, “you’re taking her somewhere flat, right?” He wasn’t, not really. We were going wherever Lisa and Dan told us to go, and because they’re fit and fast and awesome, it wasn’t going to be easy. But because I’ve known all these people for so long, because I’ve bonked on a run with them and Patrick has on a ride with them, because they’re funny and patient and kind, I wasn’t worried. I told myself my endurance and sense of adventure would make up for my lack of coordination, and for the most part, that was true.

On Sunday, we went to the Dead Ox trailhead and Lisa made us all stand for a photo. That was the last time we saw them for the next three hours. That’s how I wanted it – they’re good, great, and I hate the pressure of slowing someone down. They went and told us there were a few spots it was so steep they sometimes take their skis off. We said we were going to go out for about an hour and a half and then turn around.

Dan told me to pretend I was on an elliptical, to get the hang of how to do it. That proved to be the most helpful advice from anyone.

It wasn’t as hard as I thought it might be in some ways, and it was harder in others.

I couldn’t get up any of the hills without full on dragging myself with the poles. I somehow stepped on my own feet about 10 times. The first time I fell, I went fully up in the air with my skis sticking up. At one point Patrick said, “You have snow on your head.”

It was that kind of day.

And it was awesome.

I fell – and this is a conservative estimate – about 40 times on Sunday. Sometimes I could get myself up OK, sometimes I had to lay there for a minute and figure out which body part attached to a device to move first to untangle myself. Every time, I was laughing.

There were a few climbs steeper than I would have liked, and a few times coming back down where I wasn’t sure how I was going to stop and steered myself into the deep snow, or just sat on the back of the skis like a kid, and other times I just sort of fell over to make it stop.

“You did better than I thought,” Patrick said.

“What were you worried about? My lack of coordination, the cold, the distance, what? Or do you need a write-in answer?”

He laughed.

“Coordination, mostly,” he said. “You’ll suffer through anything, that I know. I didn’t want you to have to.”

I didn’t. I got the hang of it for a bit, then fell out of rhythm, picked it up again, over and over.

I’ve never been so sleepy after a sport, except maybe swimming, which gives you that same sort of all over exhaustion. We stopped for lunch together, then tried to climb what turned out to be basically an icy hill to a cliff. We made it close enough to see then just bailed and slid back down on our butts.

Lisa made wild rice soup in a crock pot in her hotel room, and we rang in the New Year making fun of each other and talking about movies and drinking wine and eating old Christmas cookies and then all falling asleep by 9.

It was perfect.

Monday, we went out again, to a flatter and more open trail and did it all again for 2.5 hours, drank a beer in the parking lot after and then went our separate ways.

Patrick and I are doing some work right now, then heading to Custer to see other friends, staying in the hills an extra day to avoid driving across the giant state when it’s so, so cold and a little unsafe.

We missed the bulk of the bad weather in eastern South Dakota – it was about 30 when we got done today.

“We enjoyed a lovely tropical getaway to the Black Hills this holiday,” we joked.

It’s true.

It was blue, blue sky. No wind. People I love trying something new.

Being so tired about two hours into it on Monday, as we stared up a giant hill that Dan and Lisa made easy work of, and I kept sliding backwards.

“Just go on,” I told Patrick. “I’ll catch up.”

He wouldn’t, of course, and instead offered me a lesson in leverage with some suggestions about better pole placement to actually heave myself up the hill. The look on my face stopped him, and he said, “Or, we could take the skis off and hike to the top.”

That’s what we did, carrying all the gear with snow up to my thighs as we trudged for the next maybe 10 minutes. I told myself it was excellent training for Zumbro, where there is a real possibility it could be snowy, and where there will be about 50 miles of power hiking, that I already know.

We got to the top, sweating and swearing and then were rewarded with the slowest, gentlest descent, trees on one side, sunny open space on the other, Dan and Lisa at the bottom, taking a photo with the trailhead sign, arms around each other as they squinted into the sun.

​“Come here, we’re taking your photo,” Lisa said. “Now kiss.”

It’s how she is – sweet and funny and loving. It’s a great quality and it’s nice to have someone remind us all – we love each other, we’ve all trained together for years, and we’re out here because we want to be. Because it’s a new year with a new start and new goals and dreams and people to pursue them with.

Because these are my friends and this is my life, and with everything that changes, a lot of it is exactly the same, just reconfigured.

If you ask me what I want in life, what makes me happy, it’s always been impossibly simple: Time outside, with the people I love, doing what we want to do. Reading a book, riding a bike, running a trail, pushing a kid on a swing, a backyard full of the neighbor kids, an evening on the deck with lights and backgammon and Paul Simon playing.

Laying in the snow, wondering how to get up when my arms are so, so tired, and the sky is so clear and my head is, too.

Standing up and looking down the trail and knowing that every time I fall, no matter how tired I am, I can get up. When I can’t? There’s help. 

It’s all these people, and they’re willing and always have been.

Happy New Year.

Jacqueline Palfy is a longtime runner, reader and writer, marathoner, mom and board member of the nonprofit Sioux Falls Area Running Club. Her contributions to the 605 Running Co. blog will appear every other Tuesday. You can follow her on Twitter @runnerJPK or reach her at [email protected]. Story ideas are encouraged.