I'd probably do a Buffy marathon. Maybe Twin Peaks or The Sopranos. Or Father Ted. I'd definitely do Father Ted.

" ... The best thing a marathoner can do to delay the onset of discomfort is begin properly, by warming up with a hot bowl of chili and stretching out on the couch."

Bryce underscored the importance of carbo-loading and regular hydration, saying, "I don't want to be like that guy who passed out during the Happy Days marathon because he hadn't been drinking enough Mountain Dew."

Full article here.

Lament for my lost youth

When did I become the sort of person who learns about hip-hop from NPR's Morning Edition?

Bill Maher on Intelligent Design

New Rule: You don't have to teach both sides of a debate, if one side is a load of crap.

http://www.hbo.com/billmaher/new_rules/20050819.html

What makes a runner?

I was thinking about this today as I read this article.

I was a bookworm child and rarely went outside. When I did, it was often just to wander about by myself and make up stories. But I was shortsighted and physically uncoordinated, and if they'd had any teams at all, I would have been picked last.

Even now, in my extremely middle thirties and when I have two functioning feet, I don't think of myself as a runner. I'm someone who runs - not terribly fast or terribly well. I just run the way I do most things: clumsily but with enthusiasm. (Exception: I knit pretty well and very fast. But that's it.)

But I love it. The few races I've run, I've loved the simplicity of it: it's you and your body, pushing towards the finish.

I live vicariously through other runners' blogs. As I'm not running, I've got little to talk about, so I read instead. I really miss running in the mornings right now. When I got my injury, I assumed I would just lapse and soon enough lose interest. But instead I think obsessively about getting back on the road.

This makes me hope that, just maybe, I'm a runner.

Time will tell.

Endurance exercise can cause loss of iron and anaemia

Most athletes are far less aware of the fact that iron is one of the most difficult minerals to absorb, and that they are especially vulnerable to iron depletion through training-induced losses, especially if their event involves endurance training. To make matters worse, the latest ways of measuring iron indicate that that it is perfectly possible to have a healthy blood Hb count while simultaneously suffering from depleted levels of tissue iron. And, if that weren’t enough, new research published this spring has demonstrated this tissue iron depletion impairs the ability of the body to adapt to endurance training.

Full article here.
Luckily, Guinness is a good source of iron.

This guy is totally inspiring

In February 2004 (18 months ago), Stephen Johnson, 50, was overweight with a cholesterol level of 270 and blood pressure reading of 150 plus over 100 plus. The treadmill bored him, but when he was persuaded to try training for a 5K, he lost 40 pounds in the first month.

He recently competed in the Pennsylvania State Senior Games, where he won the 1,500-meter race with a time of five minutes, six seconds.

Full article here.

Michael Osgur White MacNamara

The brother's still dazed.

The Vegas marathon gets a little bizarre ...

A CEO Marathon event will be run in conjunction with the New Las Vegas Marathon on December 4, 2005, on a marathon course that, for the first time, will run the world famous Las Vegas Strip. The race will start and finish at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Convention Center, and the Four Seasons Hotel (which is attached to Mandalay Bay) will serve as the CEO marathon host hotel.

The CEO Marathon Competition will be open to any CEO or Company President (min. annual gross revenue of $5 million US), with awards to the top three in four categories: Female, Male over 50, 40 – 49, and under 40. The top finishers will be ranked vs. other CEOs racing at subsequent CEO Marathon events throughout the world.

Wonder if any of them are bloggers. Full article here. Will be interesting to see - not long now, folks! And Scott is making great progress with the RBF t-shirts. I'm excited.

In other news, the Rundown is up. I love Naomi's site.

Finally, thank you all sosososososo much for your good wishes on my last post. I've had a few requests for the proposal / courtship story - best told over a cocktail in the Mandalay Bay in December. Thank you again - it really does mean a lot to me, and to the tall fella.

We're getting married.

Happy.

Naomi could probably help out here but the rest of us would be caught like a deer trapped by, well, a lion

Three lions showed up as unexpected guests while a marathon race was underway in South Africa's famed Kruger National Park, forcing runners to stop until the animals left the road, local media reported on Tuesday.

Elephants were also an issue:

The elephants left the village before the race started, but the athletes had to run around heaps of dung, the newspaper said.

Full article here

In Which The Avoidance of Laundry Leads to the Sniffing of Shorts

I tell you this with an odd mixture of glee (it's fast! it's efficient!) and embarrassment (I'm not certain if it's gross or not. Something tells me it might be, but I can't pinpoint the exact source of the actual potential grossness.)

Lisa Lisa, a character in Po Bronson's novel Bombadiers (Catch-22 based in San Francisco's financial district) can run four miles in 28 minutes, and when she gets home, she showers in her running clothes, then swishes them around to rinse out the soap.

I thought of this a few weeks ago when it looked like I was drowning under a pile of sweaty Cool-Max, and tried it out.

Washing your clothes in the shower rocks. Go and do it right after your next run. Seriously. Here's what happens: You wash them while you wear them, then rinse them under the shower. If you wear tech fabrics, they dry really really fast. They seem to get really clean: I was initially skeptical until I smelled them the next day (yes, I sniffed my shorts. Shut up.) and was greeted with nothing more offensive than Irish Breeze. (Shut up!) And - this is anecdotal, but it kinda makes sense - handwashing in the shower seemed to restore all the original wicking properties that tend to disappear after multiple machine washings and dryings.

Perspective

• Ticket to Shannon via Newark, leaving 2 September: Check
• Reservation for the doomed rental car: Check
• Itinerary planned (Limerick - Galway - Connemara - Achill - Donegal): Check
• Discovery at this morning's doctor appointment of second stress fracture (in right shin): Suddenly less important.

Hornet Juice Secret to Success for Olympic Winners

The women's marathon winner at the Sydney Olympics has revealed the
secret of her success --- she drank the stomach juices of giant, killer hornets
that fly 100km a day at up to 25 km/hour. Naoko Takahashi, from Japan, consumed
the hornet juice during training and the ace itself after scientists discovered
that it had astonishing powers to boost human stamina.

Man, I'm all over it. It's worth scrolling to read the testimonials.

Because I just can't write enough about my feet.

Monday I went to a podiatrist at Virginia Mason in Seattle. Well! I just can't say enough about VM: Pilar Almy was just the coolest thing ever. I reeled off the list of variables I thought might have caused the injury: increased mileage, new shoes ... and finally, changing my gait to land on the midsection / ball of the foot. Because of Chi Running, I explained. "Ouch-chi running," she said.

I love puns.

She sent me off for a bone scan, and I'm just back.

First thing this morning I went in and received an injection of a radioactive tracer fluid. It was a little disturbing to see the syringe arrive in a thick metal safety container, but the technician explained that it was to protect her: it isn't highly radioactive, but she's exposed to it all day, every day. Then I lay on the bed and she taped my feet together, not an experience I've had without at least a bottle of wine beforehand. I had to lie still for five minutes at a time while she photographed the soft tissue. I didn't see any of those pictures.

Then I was sent home to work and wait while the tracer fluid settled in my bones. The scan works because the fluid settles in the part of the bone that is growing most: the injury site. I had to drink 8 ounces of water every 30 minutes, and pee every 15. Apparently. Then I came back for the interesting part.

I love Yuri and Luke, the guys who do the scanning in VM. "Hm," said Yuri, looking at the images on the computer, "that foot is going to have to come off." "He's my Obi-Wan," said Luke, taping my feet together. Turns out Yuri is a serious runner himself. "You've been putting in the miles," he said, pointing out the areas on my shin bones where the bones were getting stronger. "Plus, you've had shin splints." I said no, I'd had no trouble. "Uh-uh," he said, pointing at the screen, "I can see them there."

The stress fracture showed up as a very distinct pink dot, indicating a high concentration of the tracer fluid. Interestingly, there were some other pink areas around the front of each ankle. I haven't been experiencing pain there, so it's kind of sobering to see evidence of even minor injury. "Stay off concrete," Yuri warned.

Okay.

On Monday I go back to the podiatrist. I'm gonna take Jeff's advice and hit the gym hard. I'm wondering whether to knit while on the stationary bike.

For many people, I'm nothing but a disappointment.

I'm looking at you, person who got here by Googling "porno race".

It's the Rundown, and it's here all week.

Sometimes you have a dream week, run, or race, and it’s what you hoped it would be. Dianna and Annalisa are officially triathletes – what a inspiring day, even for those of us who thrash in the water like a drunk drowning. Dark O’Clock set a goal and kicked its ass. Dawn ran a relay and even shared her socks. BD did a personal best on the 5K.

Sometimes, though, you hit the wall. Sometimes during the race, sometimes before or after.

Maybe it’s a race that turns out harder than we expected. It might be something you’ve lived with your whole life, like Brooklyn, but refuse to be beaten by. Injury takes its toll: Mark tells how he endured pain for years before finding a treatment that works and keeps him on the road, shoes or no shoes. In a thoughtful post, April-Anne shares a hard long-run day and the reasons why a runner might fall out of form. Chocolate Runner did the smart thing with his foot pain and lived to run another day. Stephanie’s run the numbers, figured the odds, and is going to run her marathon after all, no matter how many hours on the elliptical it takes. Nic’s recovered from a stress fracture, and ready to tackle the San Francisco women’s marathon in October, hangover or no hangover (Nic is my kind of runner). After a few great races, Sarah is doing what it takes to get herself back on the road and feeling good, and all our best wishes go to her.

When it gets hard, Alison finds encouragement with running partners, in a post that shows how sometimes it takes the presence of another person to make us hit the road. Chelle gets through her race even when stung by bees!


It’s at times like this that I’m thankful for the Running Blog Family. A few years ago, if you were injured and your partner or lover or friends or family weren’t runners, you could have been on your own, without access to people who truly understood your pain, your struggle, or your goals. Now we have this huge worldwide family of talented runners who understand, help, and encourage. Thanks to The Miracle That Is Technology ™, this is a fantastic time to be a runner.