Happy New Year

Happy New Year from Stevie and me.

Who needs a gym?

Sometimes when the gym in your 2nd hotel of the trip has nothing more than a treadmill and a stairmaster, you have to get creative to work out the rest of your body.

Portland, Oregeon

Broadway Bridge in Portland, Oregon

This was part of my running route this morning.

Roughly 4 miles across the Willamette River into downtown Portland and back.  Coffee shops, Powell's City of Books, wet streets, grey riverfront... And brewpubs.  God bless Portland and its brewpubs.

I was last in Portland in the summer of 2007 (read my impressions of the city here), but never went running here.  Despite the weather, it's nice to have finally gotten the chance to run through this awesome city.

Now where's the beer?

On wrestling

Stevie and I have come out to Portland, Oregon for one of her friend's weddings.  The wedding is on New Year's Eve, but we decided to come out a little early to see some of Portland.  Before going out tonight, I visited our hotel's fitness center.

I did an easy 5k on the treadmill in roughly 26 minutes, then spent some time using barbells and doing pushups and situps.

Not long after I finished running, the fitness center was taken over by a wrestling team in town for a tournament.  They all wore sweatsuits with the hoods up as they worked the cardio machines, all in an effort to cut weight, and my first thought was, "God wrestling is stupid."

Given my size and build, I'm frequently mistaken for a wrestler.  When I was in high school, the wrestling coach tried on more than one occasion to recruit me, but I wasn't having it.  First of all, I had no desire to roll around on a mat with sweaty guys.  Second, I'd heard horror stories of the team working out while wearing trashbags with the temperature cranked up to 90 degrees, all while near starving themselves to make their weight class.  I wanted no part in such insanity.

But when I take a look at my own sport, I realize people could say the same exact thing. "Marathoning? I want no part in such insanity!"  It reminds me of a conversation I had with a co-worker a few weeks ago.  I was telling him about the need for a tapering period at the end of a marathon training schedule.

Me: Loss of libido and general fatigue are two symptoms of extreme weekly mileage.  It's almost like the body is slowly breaking down, and the taper allows the mind and body to rebuild.  The body gets a chance to recover from the stress it's been put under.
Co-worker: (long pause for dramatic effect) So... why would you want to do this?

Most things in life worth accomplishing require some degree of sacrifice.  There is an amount of misery associated with sports while in training, but the chance of it paying off is what keeps us going.  While I may not agree with the weight cutting tactics associated with wrestling, I can certainly understand the desire to do anything it takes to become the best version of yourself, no matter how crazy it may seem to outsiders.

Born to Run: Giveaway!

As noted in my last entry, I received a copy of the bestselling book Born to Run for Christmas.

Since I already own the book, my uncle offered me two options: either he could take the book back and try to find something else for me, or I could  keep the book and regift it.  I decided that, because it is the season of giving, I would offer this book as a giveaway on my blog.

The book is brand new and hardcover.  It can be yours in one simple way: leave me a comment on this entry telling me about your 2012 running goals and a way I can contact you.  That's it.  After a week, I'll pick one of the comments and send the lucky winner the book.  I'll even pay the few bucks for shipping.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.  Thanks for reading, and good luck!

Christmas

My dad likes to get me a gag gift every year.  Last year, in a nod to National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, he printed out a page advertising a jelly-of-the-month club.  This year he took note of this entry and got me a spatula from the dollar store.

My dad is a regular Jerry Lewis.  

Meanwhile, my Uncle Gary, an avid reader, got me a great Christmas present:

And I'm not being sarcastic; the book combines two interests of mine: reading and running.  What could be better?  Unfortunately, astute readers of this blog will note that not only have I read the book, but I also met the author a few months ago and got him to sign a copy for me. 

Me: you don't read my blog?

Uncle Gary: I specialize in the oral tradition.

For better or worse, a large part of my sense of humor comes from these two men.  All complaints at failed attempts to be funny on this blog may be directed at them.

I spent the better part of Christmas tending to the fire, eating, talking with my sister on the phone, eating, exchanging presents, eating, reading this book, and eating.

It was a great and relaxing day.

Dad, Debbie, me, Grandmother Partenheimer, Uncle Gary
Christmas 2011

Pushups

The scene: my stepmother's daughter's place in West Chester, PA.  Christmas Eve.

The background: I jokingly suggest a pushup contest.  My Uncle Gary takes me up on it.

The outcome: My uncle tops out at around 45 pushups.  I do a few more for good measure.

From my family to yours, Merry Christmas.

Soup's on

Stevie with another humdinger of a dinner.

Stevie and I made soup again tonight.  Thank you, Runner's World, for offering such amazing soup recipes in your last issue.  The curried butternut squash soup recipe, pictured above, is out of this world.

There's a reason why I keep mentioning food on this blog, and why a national running magazine would go to the trouble of printing recipes: running and food go hand in hand.  This may seem like common sense to some people, but it's amazing how many people forget it.  If you want your body to perform properly, you need to supply it with adequate fuel.

That means: stop eating chemically processed crap, and, as Michael Pollan puts it, eat food your great grandmother would actually recognize as food.  Given that humans are genetically predisposed to prefer salts and sweets, I'll be the first to admit that I love a bucket of KFC as much as the next guy.  But let's face it, it doesn't take a Rhodes Scholar to realize that one shouldn't indulge in such "food" on a regular basis.

I'll also be the first to admit that a bowl of curried butternut squash soup is not as delicious as a bucket of greasy chicken, but I promise you it is delicious in its own unique way, and you'll feel distinctly better once you finish it, too.

Parades

Another reason in favor of running in the morning: I didn't leave school today until around 5pm, because on Fridays I normally try to finish my lesson plans and as much grading for the next week as I can.  Whenever I stay late at school, I return home exhausted, and all I want to do is have a drink and fall asleep by 8 o'clock.  By the time I finally guilt trip myself into running, decide how many layers to wear, and get myself out the door, it's after 7.  By the time I'm finished and showered, it's nearly 9pm and I still haven't eaten dinner, causing me to eat anything and everything in a delirious rage.

And so it goes for every runner out there with a time-consuming day job.

Anyway, tonight kind of went like that.  Except tonight, as I left my front door on Collingswood's main street, this greeted me:

Collingswood Holiday Parade
Photo by Matt Skoufalos

Collingswood's annual Holiday Parade, right outside my door.  The sidewalks were packed with spectators, so I started running down the street instead.  I came to a long stretch devoid of fire engines and parade floats, so I started running down the middle of the street.

One person started the cheer.  Another picked it up.  In no time, thousands of my fellow Collingswood residents were cheering me, albeit ironically, as I charged down Haddon Avenue, hands in the air like I was finishing a marathon.

Sunday done right

My breakfast was better than your breakfast this morning.

Not pictured: black tea, OJ, Greek yogurt with honey.

Then there was this for dinner:

Salad, bread, and tomato-chick pea-pesto soup (recipe from last month's Runner's World).

A healthy day of eating I then topped off with Ben and Jerry's for dessert.

Protein

I've never been into taking vitamins or dietary supplements of any kind, but my roommate left this behind when he moved out last summer, and I hate to let things go to waste.  I've been working my way through it and am thankfully almost finished.  I haven't noticed any difference, though, in appearance or overall feeling.

My roommate, incidentally, weighed 90 pounds soaking wet.  If he was trying to build muscle, or body mass of any kind, it didn't work on him either.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town...

While I was racing out in Medford, my dad ran the Haddon Twp. Turkey Trot yesterday.  He ran in 33:54, good for 3rd place in his age group.

Dad and Debbie

Gobbler Run 5k

Ran the 5th annual Gobbler Run 5k this morning at Camp Ockanickon, the place where I worked for several years before becoming a teacher.  Camp is one of my favorite places in the world, so I try to get back a few times a year.

The course had to be changed at the last minute this year, and there were no course maps available, which may be why I ended up cutting the race short towards the end.  I was able to double back and find the correct path, and my error didn't affect my place in the standings.  I ended up finishing in 22:20, which is pretty slow for me, but camp is not a place to set a PR.  With its many hills and sharp turns and narrow trails, it is far from a fast course.

2nd place in my age group

After the race, a man approached me and asked, "is your name Scott?"  Turns out he's been following this blog since last March when we both raced in the Oddman, and he recognized me from the various pictures I've posted.

Thanks for reading, James, and congrats on winning our age group.

Happy Thanksgiving

On Thanksgiving Day, I have a lot to be thankful for.

• I live in a nice apartment in a nice town.
• I have a wonderful, supportive, gorgeous girlfriend.
• I have money in the bank.
• I have a challenging and rewarding job.
• I am very healthy.
• I can eat half my body weight in turkey and not gain weight.
• I can spend Thanksgiving with family.

Meanwhile, at the dinner table:

Grandmother: I don't really care for pumpkin pie.

Dad: What are you, a communist?

My grandmother and McCar- I mean my dad.

From my family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving.

2 dead at Philadelphia Marathon

I've started this entry more times than I can count, but nothing seems to properly convey how I feel about the deaths of two runners this past Sunday at the Philadelphia Marathon.

The facts: G. Chris Gleason, a 40-year-old experienced triathlete, and Jeffrey Lee, a 21-year-old Penn senior, died at the finish line.  Gleason died just short of the finish line of the full marathon in the midst of an attempt to break three hours, while Lee died after finishing the half marathon in 1:58.  Both were in good shape and had no known medical conditions that could have precipitated their deaths.

One theory for these and other deaths at marathons around the country is many runners' penchant for speeding up once the finish line is in sight, overexerting the body when it can least handle it. Another is ingesting too much caffeine in the form of energy gels during the race.  A third theory poses the idea that most, if not all of these runners, actually did have heart conditions that went unnoticed over the years, and the physical stress of race day exacerbated the conditions to the point of death.

I can't stop thinking of my own mortality, thinking of how horrible it must be to die within sight of the finish line, to come up short on a goal in the worst way possible.  I can't imagine how unfair it must seem when running is supposed to extend your life, not take it, and I can't stop pondering the confusion and resentment of the families involved.

Imagine the horror, then, should any of them come across this disgusting excuse for writing in today's Philadelphia Inquirer: 

Frank Fitzpatrick's article starts off with a fair question: "Two competitors died in the Philadelphia long distance races Sunday, and perhaps it's time to raise this serious question about marathons: why?"  The problem is, Fitzpatrick never bothers to offer a possible answer, most likely because he's just another out-of-shape schlub who can't begin to fathom what goes into training for and completing a marathon, and his journalistic curiosity does not extend to finding out.

The article then makes the ridiculous assertion that "after all, human beings were not built to go 26.2 miles at a clip," and only goes downhill from there.  In essence, Fitzpatrick uses the death of these two men as a launching point for lame jokes at the marathon's expense, including what Pheidippides would have tweeted had the technology existed in ancient Greece.  Seriously.  I'm all for a fair and balanced look at the marathon and possible reforms with the idea of making it safer, Mr Fitzpatrick, but let's save the comedy for your local Chuckle Hut, shall we?  In the end, the only thing your article proves is how much non-runners love to hate on the sport.

On the opposite end of the spectrum we have Barbara Laker's excellent and touching tribute to Lee and Gleason and the sport of running itself:

A runner herself, Laker discusses her own relationship to the sport while mourning the loss of two men taken before their time.  The closing paragraph captures everything I'm feeling in this moment:

"Every marathon has moments you never forget.  And last night, I couldn't stop thinking of the two men who died running down a dream.  I imagined the deep pain that their relatives and friends must feel.  Last night was supposed to be a time to celebrate, not mourn.  I don't know exactly why or how they died.  But I understood why they were out there."

Movie Monday XXVII

A year ago today I attempted a BQ at the 2010 Philadelphia Marathon.  What happened that day remains one of the proudest moments of my life.  Despite all that happened afterwards with the changing of the Boston registration process, I can still look back on that day and recall the elation I felt when I crossed the finish line.

The video explains it all:

2011 Philly Marathon

At 17th and Chestnut, around mile 6.

I went out to the Philly Marathon this morning to spectate.  Thousands upon thousands of strangers have been there for me in the past, so I thought I'd try to pay back the favor today.  I stood atop a newsstand for an hour yelling my head off, watching the progression from skinny, tank top-clad elites, to Boston hopefuls, to average Joes.  Everyone with something to prove.

I then headed over to the finish line near the art museum where I climbed a tree and watched the finish line for another hour.

My vantage point from the tree

Philly really needs to get its act together regarding the finish line.  On one side sits a barricade where people can stand and watch, but unless you're six feet tall or right at the front by the barricade, it's all but impossible to actually see the finish line.  On the other side of the street is a VIP tent which obviously blocks off any spectating possibilities.

The finish line was changed a few years ago presumably to incorporate the iconic art museum into finishers' photos, but I'd take bleachers full of screaming fans on either side of the street to finish a marathon over a pretty picture any day.

After sitting in the tree for awhile, I met Amy who had been planning on running the half marathon until she incurred an injury a mere week ago.  She was bummed, like I was, to not be running today, but we both agree that there is always next year.

Philly Marathon Expo

It's Marathon Weekend here in Philly, and that means a trip to the expo with Suze.

On the count of three, say "we're not running it!"

The expo has come a long way since the first time I ran this marathon in 2005.  Back then it was a small tent set up at Eakins Oval just outside the art museum.  It was so small that people had to wait in a line outside to get in.  Nowadays the expo takes up an entire hall of the Philadelphia Convention Center, and seems to get bigger every year.

Suze signed up awhile ago but since had to drop out due to injuries.  She still wanted to pick up her race packet though, figuring that she had paid for it and might as well.

Sad to not be using the bib tomorrow.

At least she had something to pick up.  Which prompted this picture:

After packet pick up, we walked around and checked out the many vendors; everyone from shoe companies to headphones that don't come out when running, to ING Financial Services, to Volkswagen,  to other races all over the country promoting their events, to a kitchen renovation company - everyone wants in on the running boom.

On the one hand, I'm tempted to turn my nose up at the commercialism heaped on such a simple sport, but on the other hand, I have to admit that it gets me excited again and has made me want to sign up for another major race as soon as possible.

Born to run (with shoes)

I finally read this book recently:

I understand why it's been such a big hit in the running community.  It's equal parts travel narrative, sports commentary, history lesson and memoir all rolled into a well written book, and it took me all of two days to read it.  Good thing I don't have anything better to do.  

Hello, Sarcasm.

McDougall's book has helped drive the barefoot running movement, so much that the makers of Vibram Fivefingers should throw him an annual party to thank him.  As it turns out, the sections detailing the advantages of barefoot running were nearly taken out, but McDougall's editor convinced him to keep them in.  McDougall should throw his editor an annual party to thank him.

Several years after the publication of his book, author McDougall is still at it.  In the following video, he gives a brief tutorial on a long lost method of running that should help eliminate injuries that often plague distance runners.  He instructs them to remove their shoes, then runs them through some basic movements to improve their strides and footfalls.

Having read the book, as well as numerous articles and blog entries on barefoot running, I'm more conscious of the way I run, and I'm convinced McDougall would have a field day analyzing my gait. I propel myself with a long stride while landing on my heel and rolling through on the outside of my foot.  It may not be proper, but as I've said before, if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it.  With no major injuries in my time running, no point on changing things now.

Do Life

None other than Ben Davis himself has made it onto the cover of this month's Runner's World. You'll recall Mr. Davis as the founder of the Do Life Movement whom I've written about a few times before.

While at school today, I noticed a pair of students in my study hall reading Runner's World.  I approached them and told them all about Ben and Do Life and that they should check out his video when they get a chance.  Then came the kicker:

I remembered I was wearing my Do Life shirt at the time, so I went all Superman on them.