Inspired Runner
Building Better Runners

About Us

Inspired Runner is owned by Degan Kettles, an avid runner who has lived all over the country and currently taking a water break in Spanish Fork, UT.

Here is the story of how this site got started. Over 15 years ago I tried to do some running to keep me in shape for my high school sport and came to enjoy the peace of being outdoors and the fulfillment of meeting small goals. Then about 10 years ago I was playing basketball and heard something pop in my knee when I stopped too fast. I was out of the country at the time and didn't get any treatment hobbled around for almost 2 years with what eventually became 2 sore knees (I was compensating for the one sore leg by leaning on the other).

When I got back to the states, I saw a doctor and he said what so many doctors seem to say: get off of your feet for a while do these leg strengthening exercises. Your problem will last forever and it is better than getting surgery.

I spent a couple months walking minimally and the pain went away. In fact, after a year or so I felt like was running better than ever.

Then I got married and was busy with college and forgot to run for a few years. I started running sidewalks near my home one year and found it hard. I immediately tried to run 3 miles at a time and had a lot of knee pain. The ultimate insult came when I ran in a local 5K (the first one I had ever been in), and a tall, chubby guy passed me in the final stretch while pushing a stroller and talking to his friend.

I had pretty much decided by then that my knees were just bad.

A few years later I started using my gym membership and started running again. Once again I pushed for running 3 miles at a time every day as fast as I could, and what do you know, I ended up having soreness in my knees again that would last for up to a month.

Now I was really sure I just had bad knees, so I stopped running again for almost a year.

(This story really is leading somewhere, just be patient).

One day a friend came into town with his new Garmin Forerunner watch. The thing looked like a twinkie on his arm and I thought he was a nerd for wearing it. Then we went for a run and I was done after about 1 slow mile. I felt disappointed at running so slow, but I was surprised that my knees didn't hurt.

The next Saturday, I tried it again. I ran one mile and stopped at the same spot, but my knees didn't hurt.

The next Saturday, same thing. I thought I'd be in better shape and be able to add another mile, but really I tapered off within a few hundred feet of the last couple weeks. The weird thing about it was that my knees still didn't hurt.

The next Saturday, I had a crazy idea. It was 4 miles for me to run all the way through a local housing track and back to my house. I thought, what if I ran the whole thing, but ran as slow as humanly possible. I wondered if I could run the whole time. I invited my spouse and kids to cheer me on for the last mile. I made it, going as slow as I could, and thought I was going to die.

The next Saturday, I tried the 4 miles again. I did it again, but this time it wasn't that bad--nothing like the week before. The weird thing was, my knees didn't hurt either.

By now I started having big dreams. I started asking some local college runners how I could beat my friend's running pace by next year. They said don't worry about speed at first, and start running 6 miles a day, 5 or 6 days a week.

There was no time like the present, so I ran at the gym all week, 4 miles a day. Then on Saturday I ran 6 miles, and it went pretty fast and I even had a second wind at the end. I was on top of the world. Watch out Nigerians, I was going to be the next Boston Marathon champion.

The next Monday my knees were sore, so I ran 3 miles. On Tuesday my knees were sore, so I ran 3 miles. Then my knees were really sore, and stayed that way for about a month and so I didn't run.

I was grumpy, and depressed. It was time to hang up the shoes for good, I just had bad knees, clearly, and I'd better stop before I ruined them.

But then a funny thing happened. I did some searches on the web about running injuries and discovered that many people do what I did, too much, too soon, too fast. I did some more research and discovered that it wasn't my knee joints that were hurting, it was my tendons. Some more online research taught me that tendons and joint tissues don't increase in capacity as fast as muscles and your endurance do.

Understanding that and incorporating it with 10% rules of week on week increases helped me to avoid an untimely end to my running aspirations. The Internet is truly awesome as an educational tool and so this website is dedicated to both novices and future champions, and to whatever level your aspirations and goals may be.

If you have any thoughts, stories, opinions, pictures, insights, expriences, training, expertise, etc., please feel free to share them and submit them to be on this site, or just start a dialog with me.

Best Regards and Good Luck in all of your running goals!

You may contact me at degank@email.com.