3 x running fun

Run x 1
This morning I woke up craving a run.
Yes, it's taper weekend, and yes I had a hares and hounds run in the afternoon. But my body is used to waking up on Sunday and heading out the door. So who am I to say no? I laced up and hit the roads for four miles. Then breakfast + coffee + grading papers. (Sitting still to grade papers is much easier when I can call it "post-run rest.")

Run x 2
I swore I'd take it easy on the hares and hounds run. (Famous last words.)
I even had a beer before the run because I wasn't going to "really" run, right?
(Plus, someone replaced the usual Coors Light and Milwaukee's Best - totally skip-able - with Yuengling and Sam Adams. How could I not have one?)

An older run + beer photo, but you get the idea...

But there's something about the chase that I can't resist...
I held back for the first half but took off after the lead pack for the second half of the run. I might regret this next weekend. After all, I am supposed to be resting up for NOLA. But it was fun. And isn't that really why I run?

Run x 3
No, I haven't lost my mind. 2 runs in 24 hours is still my personal record. But I did come home to watch the USATF Indoor World Championships. A couple of thoughts...

Bernard Legat's legs move so fast that you almost can't see his feet moving. He's like the hummingbird of human runners. I could watch the video of his 3000 meter win over and over and over again. (Hubby cut me off after 5 replays.)

On the women's side of the board, Chaunte Lowe's 2.05 meter high jump was amazing and propelled her to an overall win at the Championships. Her athleticism is impressive, but it was her post-win interview that totally won me over - Lowe has spent the past year training on 3-4 hours of sleep a night after the birth of her second child. She managed to rock the Championship AND keep a sense of humor and perspective about the run-work-life balance.


What is your favorite sport to watch on television?
Do you have any athletic idols?

Do Shalane and Kara really get along?

Do Shalane and Kara get along, or do they secretly hate each other?

This video interview attempts uncover the real answer:


(funniest thing I've seen on the interwebs in weeks!)

Run-derful Saturday

While I've been sidelined by a headcold most of this week, nothing could keep me from gorging myself on running, with an extra side of running, today!

Note the lack of spectators...

Breakfast: The only thing better than spectating at a 5k/10k/half marathon with friends this morning would have been actually running. (But this is taper weekend for me. 13.1 miles are calling my name next weekend!)

Lunch: 2 mile run. Gorgeous weather. Legs felt great! Unfortunately this should have been 4 miles, but my insides weren't happy about the running (note to self: spicy food at dinner = unpleasant run the next day).

I waddled home with no major digestive disasters, so we'll call that a win.

I'm also a firm believer that since bad runs happen, it's best to get them out of the way before a major race, rather than on race day. So today's failed four miles might be a blessing in disguise?

Dinner: Houston Olympic Marathon Trials.
The time-delayed broadcast kept me off the interwebs for most of the afternoon. Nothing ruins a good sporting event like knowing the score ahead of time! But now I know...

Men's team: Keflezighi, Hall, Abdirahman
Women's team: Flanagan, Davila, Goucher

Perfection for me would have been doing my run while watching the Trials. Sadly I don't own a treadmill (and I wasn't about to hog one at the gym for two full hours) so I did intervals on my stationary bike instead. Yes, my gym equipment is in my living room. My home will never resemble a Pottery Barn catalog. I've made peace with that.

Dessert: I finally read Jamoosh's excellent local reporting on the Trials. (Seriously, how great are the photos he posted?)

The Trials left me wanting to be a better runner.
I want to go out to a track and crank out 800s RIGHT NOW. (Except there's that half marathon thing next weekend... Logic will win out. I promise.)

But after the race, I also wondered: Why so much tripping and elbowing in the men's race? There's a big, wide road out there... why bump into each other?

I'm not naive. Intentional roughing is no stranger to the world of track and field, but with Hall, Keflezighi, and Abdriahman, it seemed accidental. The cameras caught them bumping into one another and then apologizing for it. It didn't seem like cruel strategy, more like stumbling... but it's hard to think of any one of them as a stumbler.

Does anyone have any insight into the bumping?
Who were you rooting for? Were you surprised at any performances (or lack thereof)?

Ruling overturned!

Breaking news!
Paula Radcliffe gets to keep her 2003 world record!

Runners worldwide expressed their disgust at the IAAF ruling that women's marathon records would only count in women-only races. That raised a few eyebrows, to say the least. (Ok. It elicited a string of cuss words from this blogger much like those generated when I dislocated my finger playing football with Hubby...)

But the IAAF really put their foot in it when they made the ruling retroactive, stripping Paula Radcliffe of her 2003 world record for a 2:15:25 finish at the London Marathon. There was outrage in the running community. Nike even got in on the protest.

For those of you new to this story, the backlash centers around the fact that the ruling didn't outlaw pace-setters overall, just a particular woman-running-with-man combination. For example, Patrick Makau's blistering 2:03:28 new world record, set in Berlin earlier this year, involved not one but SIX pace-setters to help him to his goal. From the NY Times story:

In the Berlin men’s race, six pacemakers formed a V-shaped formation, leading a pack of five elite runners as if they were migrating geese. They stayed on record pace the entire race, with the lead group going through halfway in 1:01:43.

But in Makau's case, the pacers were men running with men, so according to the IAAF, that still counts toward world record status. When it was a male pacer running with Radcliffe, that violated some girls and boys can't play together rule.

Hence: outrage.

But, to give (some) credit...

The IAAF listened.

According to news from the Associated Press, Paula Radcliffe gets to keep her 2003 world record.

The IAAF is now trying to figure out exactly how to set the standard for future world records.

What do you think about the initial rule and the changes?

Photo courtesy of Nationaal Archief (with edits made by yours truly)

You might be a runner if...

In case you didn't see my featured post on Fitblogger:

You might be a runner if...

• You think of bad water as an epic race, not a beverage to avoid.
• You think nothing of spending $30 on two pairs of socks, but wonder if you should register early to get the $5 discount off a race entry fee.
• You covet new Mizuno, Newton, or Brooks more than Manolo, Louboutin, or Choo.
• When you ponder the performance-enhancing effects of compression, you’re thinking socks, not car engine parts.
• You can do the math in your head to convert kilometers to miles and race finish times to minutes-per-mile faster than your friends can calculate them with a new iPad app.
• You know what the acronyms PR and BQ stand for, and aren’t afraid to use them.
• You hate the acronyms DQ, DNF, and PF.
• You have left Happy Hour early, because you have a long run in the morning.
• You have enjoyed a beer at 8am, because that’s what you do at the beer garden after a race.



Post-run wheat beer, because wheat has carbs, right?

• You have ever justified having a beer as “carb loading.”
• You don’t understand why Americans are trying to reduce their salt intake.
• You really don’t understand the Atkins Diet’s hatred of carbs.
• You regularly wake up before dawn on the weekend, and not because it’s time to make the donuts.”

What would you add to this list?

For another other amusing "you might be a runner" list, see:
Run. Learn. Repeat.

Fun-filled Friday (even though it's a workday)

How to have a Friday (workday) that feels like you've already started the weekend:

Wake up at 6am.
Brush teeth.
Change into running clothes.
Place THIRD FEMALE OVERALL in a 5k.

Take ridiculous picture showing off race swag.
Buy Hubby a coffee for humoring you by taking ridiculous pictures with his cell phone so that you can post them on your blog.

Rock out to "Pumped Up Kicks" on the drive home.
Confuse fellow drivers at stop lights because you are car-dancing.



Notice fellow drivers laughing at your car-dancing.

Keep dancing anyway.

Return to home office, and start work day still in gross gym clothes, because you got home too late to take a shower.

Start working on a project that is challenging, fun, and will keep you busy long enough that you won't notice the time going by.

Be proud that you're still in your sweaty running clothes.

Dear blog readers,
I hope your whole Friday is as epic as mine has already been.
If I could bottle this feeling and share it with you all, I would.
Have a GREAT day!

PS
Special thanks to the woman who was right behind me in the final stretch. Hearing her footsteps coming up behind me pushed me HARD in that last 800 meters. Girl, you made me run faster than I thought I could run this morning! Thank you!

Radcliffe record changed

About two weeks ago I wrote about sexist new rules approved by the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF). The new rules only allow women's running world records to "count" if they are run in women-only races. The only question remaining at that time was whether or not the rules would be retroactive.

That decision has now been made, and, indeed, the rules are going to be applied retroactively. According to today's report on ESPN:

For full story, see ESPN.co.uk

"Under new rules passed by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), Radcliffe's 2003 mark of two hours, 15 minutes and 25 seconds is no longer valid as a world record because it was run in a mixed environment. 

The new rules, designed to discourage male pacemakers from helping women to achieve quicker times, means that Radcliffe's mark, set at the 2003 London Marathon is no longer a women's world record, but a world best. Her 2005 London time of 2:17:42 has been upgraded to the world record."

And just to prove how controversial this ruling is, two major world marathon organizations, World Major Marathons (WMM) and the Association of International Marathons (AIMS), threw their combined weight against the ruling, stating in a joint letter:

"The Boards of both WMM and AIMS have reviewed the recent Congress decision and believe that it does not represent what is required by the sport of road running...They further believe that there should be two world records for women's road running performances, separately recognising those achieved in mixed competition and women's only conditions...AIMS and WMM will continue to acknowledge both types of performances as world records and will discuss this matter further with the IAAF, recognising that the vast majority of women's road races throughout the world are held in mixed conditions..."

And perhaps the most telling line from the letter:

"The current situation where the fastest time is not now recognised as a record is confusing and unfair and does not respect the history of our sport."

But unless the ruling is overturned, the women's fastest marathon time drops back to Radcliffe's 2:17 (in 2005), not her much faster 2:15 (in 2003).

Sexist new rules

This morning I learned that the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF), the record-tracking agency for all things running, just ruled that only:

"World Records for women to be recognised in women only races. The IAAF shall keep a separate list of “World Best Performances” achieved in mixed Road Races.”

Their logic: women run faster in co-ed races, so those should not count toward record setting. (So by this logic all marathons should be run on closed courses with no hydration support or cheering crowds, right?)

According to Running Times, the only issue remaining to be decided is

whether the rule will be applied retroactively. USATF’s Glenn Latimer seems to think so, and that Joan Benoit’s 2:24:52 at the 1984 Olympics will become the American record. In this case, note also that Paula Radcliffe’s 2:15:25 would no longer be the world record, as she had male pacemakers during that race (as did Deena Kastor when she ran 2:19:36). The Road Race Commission member also thinks existing records set in mixed races will be thrown out.

I have never heard anything so sexist or ridiculous in the running world.

Tracy, over at Go, Tracy, Go! wrote a much more eloquent analysis than I can right now. (I'm almost too mad to type.) So for more details, please see: Tracy's post.

Am I overreacting, or is this ruling unfair?

Image courtesy of digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A real Babe

A very kind friend passed the story of Babe Didrikson along to me, so I feel it's my responsibility to pay it forward.

Babe was a human dynamo of female athletic ability at a time when the most exercise a woman got was dancing The Charleston or washing her family's clothes.


With Babe Didrikson's story, I was hooked by the second paragraph. (The audio is pretty good, too.)

In the 1920s and 30s, Babe Didrikson proved a girl could be a phenomenal all-around athlete. After mastering basketball and track and field, she eventually turned to golf — and won three U.S. Women's Open championships before she died of cancer when she was only 45....

Even though Babe wasn't concerned with the gender and class issues of the time, she soon learned that women were not supposed to play sports, and she would have to get a job with a business to play professionally for their team.

So Babe left high school to work...

She single-handedly won five track and field events (broad jump, baseball throw, shot put, javelin, and 80-meter hurdles) within three hours and qualified for three Olympic events: the 80-meter hurdles, high jump, and javelin.

But yet she still was taunted in the press for being too "manly." Some implied that she was an athlete because she couldn't "get a man." (As if!)

(We runners today are a lucky bunch that our sport has changed so much in the past 100 years.)

Now this is my kind of athlete story! How is it that I had never heard of this woman before today? We all know about Babe Ruth from the same era. Why not Babe Didrikson? She has all the makings of a superstar: Superior talent. Overcoming discrimination. And, sadly, a tragic early death. But yet I'd be surprised if anyone knew about her before the new book Wonder Girl hit the bookstores (and ensuing book tour blitz began).

I got passed by a parrot

Today while running, I was passed by a parrot. On a bike.

Yes, I was passed by a parrot riding a bicycle. And this is not the first, but the second bicycle-riding parrot who has passed me this month!

The first parrot-passing occurred two weeks ago. I was running through my neighborhood, and a neighbor rode by with a giant macaw on his handlebars. The bird appeared to enjoy the ride. All-in-all a nice distraction on the run.

Today's parrot-passing was an entirely different bird, bicycle, and human combination. I went to the beach for my morning run (something I don't do nearly often enough), and on the return leg of my out-and-back run I heard squawking behind me. I turned to see a bicycle-riding parrot (and his human) gaining on me. As they got closer I realized the parrot was shouting:

Speed up!!!

I thought to myself

F-ing parrot. It's hot and I'm tired! Shut up!

Then I realized that I was arguing with a parrot. In my head. I must be suffering from heat stroke. Remind me to bring more water next time...

As the bicycle-riding parrot passed me, I told the human driver that his parrot was quite the squawker. He said (and I only wish I was clever enough to make this up):

Yea. He was yelling at me because he thought we couldn't catch up with you! He doesn't like to lose a race.

I don't know what made me laugh harder, the fact that I misread the parrot's yelling (or cared in the first place) or the fact that the parrot had a competitive streak.

Either way, I'm pleasantly amused by the parrot-palooza in my new hometown.