Posted March 2, 2012 by bdutter Categories:Uncategorized
Marathon training is in full force now. With no spring marathon to train for, I get to be more of an observer.
The assignment was multiple repetitions of a two and a half mile loop but the emphasis would be on finding your pace and keeping hydrated.
“That’s right guys; nice and steady- not too fast, not too slow; just at the right speed. Just play with it and see what happens. As we get closer to the marathon it just keeps getting harder and longer, harder and longer. Stay smooth. Don’t blow it.”
“After you finish your first loop, take some fluid. Grab it and see if you can get it to squirt into your mouth…you should be able to fit it all in”
Afterwards the runners complain.
“Man, that took forever. Wow it really hurt. I can barely walk. I’m really in the mood now for something salty… anything around here I can eat that’s salty?”
I like to give blood. It’s just what heroes do. We save lives. The dilemma always is, how do I do it and not interrupt my training? Well guess what? Problem solved…I’m not training for anything. So I gave blood today so you do not have to. Thank me next time you need some. In my head, I am getting rid of the old junky blood and then my body will make some new delicious blood. It is kind of gratifying when the nurse takes your pulse and it is somewhere in the 40′s and she asks “are you a runner?” and I say “Why yes. Yes I am.”
I am always interested in facts and figures when it comes to running. I found this on the runningusa.org website and thought you might like to read it too.
2012 Marathon, Half-Marathon and State of the Sport Reports
Running USA’s Annual Marathon Report
Modest marathon growth in the U.S. last year, but plenty of record highs including total finishers for the classic 26.2 mile distance
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – (February 26, 2012) – Over the past decade, marathons in the U.S. and worldwide have been part of the Second Running Boom’s unprecedented upward trend line, and 2011 was another year of growth in U.S. marathons with an estimated record 518,000 finishers or a 2.2% increase from 2010, a modest increase compared to recent years (9.9% in 2009 and 8.6% in 2010). See U.S. marathon finisher table further below.
Part of the slowing growth for the 26.2 mile distance may be attributed to the explosive growth of the half-marathon over the past 5 years in the U.S. as runners either have moved down from their first or second marathon to the half-marathon or see the half-marathon as a more manageable, but as challenging distance for their time and aspirations. In addition, a majority of large marathons have entrant caps which – due to the Rule of Large Numbers – will impact the overall percent growth, particularly if non-capped and debut marathons don’t attract a larger number of entrants compared to past years.
The following tables and lists provide a summary of the demographics and interesting statistics and trends for U.S. marathons. Per the tables below, U.S. marathon demographics – gender, age group, median age and median time – have remained static in recent years.
Table 1: Gender, Age, and Median Times
1980
1995
2000
2005
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Women
10%
26%
38%
41%
40%
41%
41%
41%
41%
Men
90%
74%
62%
59%
60%
59%
59%
59%
59%
Masters (40 yrs+)
26%
41%
44%
44%
46%
45%
46%
46%
46%
Open (20 to 39 yrs)
69%
57%
54%
54%
52%
53%
52%
52%
52%
Juniors (under 20)
5%
2%
2%
2%
2%
2%
2%
2%
2%
2011 Age Distribution
Female
Male
6-17 yrs
1%
1%
18-24 yrs
9%
6%
25-34 yrs
35%
25%
35-44 yrs
31%
32%
45-54 yrs
18%
24%
55-64 yrs
5%
10%
65+ yrs
1%
2%
Median Age
1980
1995
2000
2005
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
(2011 Mean)
Males
34
38
38
40
40
39
40
40
40
(39.9 yrs)
Females
31
35
35
35
36
35
35
35
35
(36.2 yrs)
Overall
37
38
38
38
36
37
37
(38.4 yrs)
Median Times for U.S. Marathon Finishers
1980
1995
2002
2005
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Males
3:32:17
3:54:00
4:20:01
4:20:29
4:20:04
4:20:04
4:13:54
4:16:14
4:16:34
Females
4:03:39
4:15:00
4:56:46
4:51:19
4:49:48
4:43:31
4:41:29
4:42:10
4:42:15
2011 Marathon Snapshot
In the U.S., there was a 1% increase in finishers from the same 367 marathons for 2010 and 2011 (495,135 vs. 500,206). Since 2000, there has been a 47% increase in the number of U.S. marathon finishers (353,000 vs. 518,000).
In 2011, there were an estimated 720 U.S. marathons, a record high, compared to approximately 200 in 1985 and 300 marathons in 2000.
Year Estimated U.S. Marathon Finisher Total
1976
25,000
1980
143,000
1990
224,000
1995
293,000
2000
353,000
2004
386,000
2005
395,000
2006
410,000
2007
412,000
2008
425,000
2009
467,000
2010
507,000
2011
518,000 (new high)
National Runner Survey
In 2011, Running USA surveyed more than 11,800 core runners nationwide and reported that those who had completed a marathon in the last two years ran approximately 4.4 days per week for an average of 29.4 miles. They also purchased approximately 4 pairs of running shoes and 83% had spent $100 or more on running apparel in the last 12 months.
U.S. marathons with more than 1,000 finishers, another record
Last year, there were a record 94 U.S. marathons reporting greater than 1,000 finishers, compared with 89 in 2010, the previous record. Since 1999, the number of U.S. marathons with more than 1,000 finishers in a single year has increased 109% (45 in 1999 vs. 94 in 2011).
With 4,741 finishers, Rock ‘n’ Roll Savannah was the largest inaugural marathon in the U.S. for the year and the largest one since 2007. Overall, there were at least 31 debut U.S. marathons and two had more than 1,000 finishers (also Kalamazoo with 1,196). Over the past decade, the United States has averaged more than 26 inaugural marathons per year.
Table 2: 2011 U.S. Marathons (>1,000 finishers) with the…
…Fastest Median Times
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Boston
3:48:40
3:46:13
3:44:04
3:44:17
3:44:58
Eugene
3:59:17
Lincoln National Guard
4:01:44
Wineglass
3:59:32
4:04:05
Steamtown
4:03:05
3:56:13
3:55:48
3:55:41
4:05:27
…Slowest Median Times
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Bataan Memorial March
7:38:57
7:47:50
7:37:50
7:29:29
7:27:31
Honolulu
5:50:11
5:49:00
5:44:46
5:50:52
5:46:35
Honda LA
5:36:57
5:31:57
5:23:30
5:17:29
5:06:41
Nike Women’s
5:10:39
4:59:35
5:04:47
Rock ‘n’ Roll San Antonio
5:02:59
…Most <4 Hour Finishers
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Boston
12,996 (64%)
14,547 (66%)
15,691 (69%)
15,424 (68%)
16,211 (68%)
ING New York City
11,959 (31%)
13,106 (35%)
15,275 (35%)
14,724 (33%)
15,166 (33%)
Bank of America Chicago
3,643 (14%)
6,382 (21%)
11,226 (33%)
8,294 (23%)
8,743 (24%)
Marine Corps
4,771 (22%)
4,622 (21%)
4,565 (22%)
Philadelphia
3,149 (47%)
3,193 (44%)
3,221 (46%)
3,891 (43%)
4,046 (39%)
…Most >6 Hour Finishers
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Honolulu
9,450 (45%)
8,761 (44%)
7,788 (38%)
8,155 (40%)
7,621 (40%)
Honda LA
7,881 (39%)
6,420 (37%)
4,373 (31%)
6,313 (28%)
5,069 (26%)
Bank of America Chicago
3,465 (10%)
2,936 (8%)
Walt Disney World
2,572 (23%)
3,217 (25%)
3,165 (21%)
4,044 (24%)
2,761 (20%)
ING New York City
2,194 (5%)
2,490 (6%)
2,524 (5%)
…Most Finishers in Age Groups
EVENT
2011 Subtotals
Female Juniors
Honolulu
1,124
Male Juniors
Honda LA
1,537
Females 20-29
Bank of America Chicago
5,037
Males 20-29
Bank of America Chicago
4,158
Females 30-39
ING New York City
5,889
Males 30-39
ING New York City
8,773
Females 40-49
ING New York City
5,076
Males 40-49
ING New York City
10,392
Females 50-59
ING New York City
2,013
Males 50-59
ING New York City
5,479
Females 60+
Honolulu
762
Males 60+
Honolulu
1,725
Overall 40+
ING New York City
25,004
Overall 50+
ING New York City
9,536
Overall 60+
Honolulu
2,487
…Highest Percent Women*
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Nike Women’s
93%
93%
93%
91%
92%
Portland
54%
52%
53%
56%
53%
Rock ‘n’ Roll Savannah
52%
…Highest Percent Men*
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
United States Air Force
74%
71%
70%
San Francisco
67%
GO! St. Louis
66%
…Highest Percent Masters (40 + yrs)*
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
Boston
55%
56%
56%
56%
58%
Steamtown
57%
56%
55%
56%
56%
ING New York
52%
53%
54%
*Based upon events with >1,000 finishers in each representative category.
New York City largest ever – again; record 16 marathons had more than 15,000 finishers in 2011
The 2011 ING New York City Marathon was the largest marathon ever with 47,133 finishers and the flagship event has held the #1 title as the world’s largest marathon since 2003. For only the second time (also 2010), six marathons – New York City, Chicago, London, Berlin, Tokyo and Paris – had more than 30,000 finishers in the same year, and for the first time, 16 marathons had more than 15,000 finishers. In addition, the U.S. had 6 of the 15 largest marathons in the world.
Last year, Japan had two inaugural marathons, Osaka and Kobe, with more than 20,000 finishers, and with 26,175 finishers, Osaka was the largest debut marathon ever (previous record, 15,771 finishers at the 1998 Suzuki Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon in San Diego).
In 2011, there were a record 11 U.S. marathons that had more than 8,000 finishers, while 26 U.S. marathons had more than 4,000 finishers – tied record set in 2009 and 2010. See rankings below.
2011 World’s Largest Marathons (finishers):
1)
ING New York City, NY
47,133 (largest all-time)
2)
Bank of America Chicago, IL
35,755
3)
Virgin London, GBR
35,126
4)
BMW Berlin, GER
32,816
5)
Tokyo Int’l, JPN
32,395
6)
Paris, FRA
31,133
7)
Osaka, JPN
26,175 (largest inaugural)
8)
Boston, MA
23,913
9)
Marine Corps, DC
21,042
10)
Kobe, JPN
20,103 (second largest inaugural)
11)
Honda LA, CA
19,902
12)
Honolulu, HI
19,102
13)
Naha, JPN
17,060
14)
ASICS Stockholm, SWE
15,470
15)
Shonan Int’l, JPN
15,278
U.S. Largest Marathons (finishers):
1)
ING New York City, NY
47,133 (largest all-time)
2)
Bank of America Chicago, IL
35,755
3)
Boston, MA
23,913
4)
Marine Corps, DC
21,042
5)
Honda LA, CA
19,902
6)
Honolulu, HI
19,102
7)
Walt Disney World, FL
13,551
8)
Philadelphia, PA
10,267
9)
Medtronic Twin Cities, MN
8,534
10)
Portland, OR
8,461
11)
Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego, CA
8,290
12)
Chevron Houston, TX
6,919
13)
Grandma’s, MN
6,337
14)
Nike Women’s, CA
6,108
15)
San Francisco, CA
5,989
SOURCE: Running USA with Athlinks (2009–11) and Active.com (2005–08)
Posted February 24, 2012 by bdutter Categories:Uncategorized
As those of you that really know me are aware of, most of the stuff in this blog is just stuff I make up. I don’t really have a wife or kids and my interest in running is modest at best. I pretty much just write about things that I think other people would find interesting or amusing. But sometimes I get tired of just telling tall tales. Sometimes I want to be like a real writer and write about real things. They say that the truth is stranger than fiction and who am I to disagree? Have any of you read about the first Olympic Marathon run in modern times in 1904? I would think you would be real interested to read this. I know I would be. If I was a runner.
(OK, OK…I can see I lost about half of you. Brooklyn. Shaniqua. Lafawnduh. Just give it a try. If you can’t make it all the way through, fine…at least you tried. I put some pictures at the end so you can just skip to those.)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
These games were a sideshow in every sense.
We usually have the image in our minds that the Olympics are really big business. The hosting cities go out of their way to make sure that everything runs smoothly and that the best facilities are provided for the competing athletes.
But, it wasn’t always this way.
Take the 1904 St. Louis, Missouri Summer Olympics for example. These games were only the third summer games ever held (There actually were no winter games at this time – they were added in 1924.). The original games were held in 1896 at Athens and were then followed by the 1900 Paris games.
The St. Louis games could hardly be called an international competition. Since traveling overseas from Europe was extremely expensive at the time, the competition consisted mostly of Americans and Canadians (of the 681 athletes, 525 were from the United States.). It should be pointed out, however, that the Olympics were not intended to be a competition among nations at the time – it was a competition among amateur athletes from around the world. It was the job of the amateur athlete to find his way to the games at his own expense. No one cared if you couldn’t get there.
Needless to say, the 1904 Olympics were of relatively minor importance. They were originally scheduled to take place in Chicago, but President Roosevelt urged for the games to be held in St. Louis because the Louisiana Purchase (World) Exposition was being held there at the same time to showcase the world’s newest technologies (electricity, automobiles, airplanes, etc.).
The Exposition organizers built a permanent gymnasium and a stadium with enough seats to hold some 35,000 spectators (This may sound like a lot of people, but it’s really nothing when you compare it to the estimated 20 million people that attended the Exposition during its six month run.). The entire event lasted from Monday, August 29 to Saturday, September 3, 1904. There were no events scheduled for Friday, so the entire series of Olympic games lasted for just five short days.
At this point you probably don’t see too much wrong with this scenario. Unfortunately, when the games were actually held, they were a disaster.
To start, if you were considered to be a minority, you had to compete in separate games. These games came under the high-sounding name of “Anthropology Days” which were held on August 12 and 13, 1904. These games were designed to face “costumed members of the uncivilized tribes” against one another. Never-to-be classic Olympic games were included – mud fighting, rock throwing, pole climbing, spear throwing, and… you get the idea…
Things went downhill from there.
In swimming, Hungary’s Zoltan Halmay won the 100m and 50m freestyle. Originally, Halmay beat American J. Scott Leary by just one foot in the 50m event. However, the American judge ruled that Leary had won. This ruling resulted in a brawl between the two, so the judges ordered a rematch. Halmay won on the second attempt. (They couldn’t check the videotape at this time in history.)
An American gymnast named George Eyser won two gold, two silver, and one bronze medal at the games. Quite a remarkable feat when you consider the fact that he only had one real leg – the other leg was solid wood (His leg was amputated when he was run over by a train – Ouch!).
Now for the competition that they would really like to strike from the record books – the Marathon.
The marathon was run on a very humid, 90+ degree day. The 40 kilometer course started with five laps around the stadium track. The runners then left the stadium and embarked on a dusty, unpaved course that took them up-and-down over seven different hills. The path was marked by red flags that designated the way. A vanguard of horsemen cleared the trail along the way. They were followed by doctors, judges, and reporters in the newly invented automobiles. The net result was a constant cloud of dust kicked up into the runners’ faces. They were literally forced to eat dust.
The first man to cross the finish line was Fred Lorz from New York City. Lorz had completed the race in just over three hours time. When he entered the stadium, the crowd roared with excitement. Photographs were taken of President Roosevelt’s daughter Alice placing a laurel wreath over Lorz’s head.
Lorz’s moment in the limelight did not last very long. Just as Lorz was about to accept his medal, officials learned that Lorz had been spotted passing the halfway mark in an automobile. It seems that Lorz had been suffering from cramps, so he hitched a ride at the 9 mile point. He then rode in the vehicle for another eleven miles, at which point the car overheated and broke down. He waived at the spectators and fellow runners along the way. Lorz, now rejuvenated from his ride, chose to run the rest of the race.
Lorz claimed that he never meant to fool anyone – he just couldn’t resist the praise and adulation of the roaring crowd. Lorz was immediately banned for life from any future amateur competition. This ban was lifted a year later allowing him to win the Boston Marathon (we’ll assume that he was closely watched).
So, if Lorz didn’t win, who did?
It was a British-born man named Thomas Hicks who ran for the American team. Hicks ran the race in 3:28:53. When he ran into the stadium the crowd was less than enthusiastic. After all, they had already cheered for a winner, even if he had been disqualified.
Of course, good little Alice Roosevelt was again ready to pose with the winner. But she couldn’t. Hicks had to be carried off of the track. It seems that Hicks had begged to lie down about ten miles from the finish line. Instead, his trainers gave him an oral dose of strychnine sulfate mixed into raw egg white to keep him going. This was not enough – they had to give him several more doses, as well as brandy, along the way. By the end of the race, Hicks had to actually be supported by two of his trainers so that he could cross the finish line (essentially, he was carried over the line with his feet moving back-and-forth). Hicks was very close to death’s door. It took four doctor’s to get him in good enough shape just to leave the grounds, eventually falling asleep on a trolley.
Wait! That’s not the end of the story! (can it get any more bizarre?)
It seems that another entrant was a Cuban postman named Felix Carvajal. Once Felix heard about the marathon, he announced that he was going to run. He had no money, so he quit his job and went into the fund raising business. He ran around the central square in Havana and jumped on a soapbox pleading for donations. He repeated this several times until he raised the necessary cash.
On his way to the race, Felix managed to lose all of his money in a crap game in New Orleans. As a result, he had to hitchhike his way to the games (not an easy thing to do in 1904). When Carvajal arrived at the games, he lacked any type of running gear. The officials were forced to postpone the start of the marathon for several minutes while he cut the sleeves off his shirt and the legs off his pants. He ran the race in lightweight street shoes.
During the race, Felix didn’t seem to fatigue easily. He constantly conversed with the crowd, even running backwards at times while he spoke to them in broken English.
But wait, in keeping with the 1904 tradition it had to get worse for poor Felix:
He blew any chance of victory by getting hungry. He first ate some peaches that he stole from a race official. He then took a detour into an orchard to munch on some green apples. Big mistake – he developed stomach cramps and had to temporarily drop out of the marathon. Eventually, Felix got back in the race and managed to come in fourth place. He probably would have won if he had not gotten the munchies.
Hold it – the marathon is still not over!
The marathon included the first two black Africans to compete in the Olympics – two Zulu tribesman named Lentauw (real name: Len Taunyane)and Yamasani (real name: Jan Mashiani). They wore bibs 35 and 36, respectively.
The only problem was that these two tribesmen were not in town to compete in the Olympics – they were actually the sideshow! Yes, they were imported by the exposition as part of the Boer War exhibit (both were really students at Orange Free State in South Africa, but no one wanted to believe that these tribesmen could actually be educated – it would have ruined the whole image).
Lentauw finished ninth and Yamasani came in twelfth. This was a disappointment, as many observers were sure Lentauw could have done better – that is if he had not been chased nearly a mile off course by a large, aggressive canine!
The marathon was over, but there is still one more little story to go along with this:
It seems that two of the patrolling officials driving in a brand-new automobile were forced to swerve to avoid hitting one of the runners – they ended up going down an embankment and were severely injured.
In the end, the St. Louis Olympics (along with the previous Paris games) proved to be such a disaster that the Olympic Committee was forced to hold interim Olympic games in 1906 at Athens, in an attempt to revive the flagging Olympic movement. These games were not numbered, but were attended by twenty countries and put the Olympics back on a steady course to success.
Click here to see a brief photo album from the 1904 Olympics.An interesting useless sidenote: Iced tea made its debut at the 1904 Exposition. It seems that it was so hot during the Expo that the staff at the Far East Tea House couldn’t even give away their product.
What to do? What to do?
Very simple – they poured the hot tea over ice cubes! The drink quickly became the Expo’s most popular beverage.
And yet another useless fact: A teenager named Arnold Fornachou was selling ice cream at his exposition booth. He ran into a big problem – he ran out of the paper dishes on which to serve the ice cream. In a stroke of genius, he noticed that the guy in the next booth, a Syrian named Ernest Hamwi, was selling waffles. Arnold rolled one of Ernie’s wafer-thin waffles up and invented the ice cream cone. Within ten years more than one-third of all ice cream was served in a cone.
Useless? Usefull? I’ll leave that for you to decide
See? For those of you that made it all the way to the end, wasn’t that interesting? And don’t you feel better about your last time in a marathon. I could have won a gold medal.
A meme is something that gets popular on the internet. Lately it’s been these What ______ Think I Do pictures. The following either apply to my life or yours.
Posted February 16, 2012 by bdutter Categories:Uncategorized
We left on Friday afternoon and headed north for a two-day camping trip in Los Osos. And by camping, I mean staying at the Backbay Inn. Seriously, I’m from NJ people. We do not camp. The Backbay Inn is quiet and has cable TV and warm showers and comfortable beds…everything I look for in a campground.
Friday evening we end up at Noi’s Thai restaurant. Apparently Noi’s sister Doi also has a restaurant but we stuck with Noi for this dinner. Interesting set up in that the dining room is a completely separate building from where you order. Afterwards, we went back to our room and I casually mentioned to the Puppy, ” Hey there’s a race at Cal Poly called the Chains of Love Run…you get to cross the finish line holding hands. ” The Death Glare I received gave me my answer to that non-question. Something about how I told my friends I knew you were going to try to get us to race
“I could tell I was in imminent danger of over-playing my hand. Casually, I switched tactics.”
I suggested that Saturday we take a ride up to Piedras Blancas to see the elephant seals
Then some lunch in San Luis Obispo. I would not even consider a bleu cheese hotdog with pepper bacon. But she would…
Then a matinee movie followed by some dinner in Morro Bay. Crab cake tacos with mango salsa at Taco Temple. They are holy. While at dinner, I feel brave enough to mention that the Montana de Oro trail race is tomorrow. I decide to go with The Queen’s Gambit strategy.
“We sure were busy today. Would you have any interest in sleeping in tomorrow and I’ll go out and run a race by myself? Then you wouldn’t have to feel all pressured when I get antsy?”
“You had me at sleeping in…”
So welcome to Judgment Day. It was almost exactly a year ago that I ran this same race and hurt my foot. What followed was a long year of on-again, off-again rehab. It was time to slay that demon.
Montana de Oro is only 100 miles north of Santa Barbara but I find most people I talk to have never visited. You should. It’s beautiful.
Anyways, as a concession to the spectre of injury, I decided it would be in my best interest to only run the 12k rather than the 25k. This way I could race and still be in good enough shape to have a nice day with the little woman. The 12k still heads up Valencia Peak so it’s like there is an Old San Marcos in the middle of your run. It is a demoralizing hill because when you reach the middle plateau you can not see the next peak so you go from feeling great that you made it so far and then you see the wall waiting in front of you
On the plus side, once you climb the wall, you have a few miles of downhill to finish the race. Thank you Luis Escobar for this photo of the orange-clad hunter tracking his prey. I did end up passing him but he told me he was running the 50k so I did not feel so special.
The race went pretty much as I would have expected. The legs have not been on a trail in about a year and I have been avoiding hills since then as well. I had to walk a little bit of the steepest parts but I managed to bomb downhill fast enough to take 4th place out of about 70 or so runners and 1st in my age group. I am having an addition put on my house to try to hold all of the winner’s hardware I get these days. You can see how impressed the puppy was by the location of the gum in the photo.
PARAPROSDOKIANS—”Figure of speech in which the latter part of a
sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected; frequently used in a
humorous situation.” “Where there’s a will, I want to be in it,” is a
type of paraprosdokian.
1. Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and
beat you with experience.
2. The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it’s still on my list..
3. Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear
bright until you hear them speak.
4. If I agreed with you, we’d both be wrong.
5. We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.
6. War does not determine who is right – only who is left.
7. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in
a fruit salad.
8. Evening news is where they begin with ‘Good Evening,’ and then
proceed to tell you why it isn’t.
9. To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism..To steal from many is
research.
10. A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train
stops. On my desk, I have a work station.
11. I thought I wanted a career. Turns out I just wanted paychecks.
12. Whenever I fill out an application, in the part that says, ‘In case
of emergency, notify:’ I put ‘DOCTOR.’
13. I didn’t say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.
14. Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street
with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.
15. Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a
successful man is usually another woman.
16. A clear conscience is the sign of a fuzzy memory.
17. I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn’t work that way. So I
stole a bike and asked for forgiveness.
18. You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to
skydive twice.
19. Money can’t buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.
20. There’s a fine line between cuddling and holding someone down so
they can’t get away.
21. I used to be indecisive. Now I’m not so sure.
22. You’re never too old to learn something stupid.
23. To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you
hit the target.
24. Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.
25. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.
26. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing
in a garage makes you a car.
27. A diplomat is someone who tells you to go to hell in such a way that
you look forward to the trip.
28. Hospitality is making your guests feel at home even when you wish
they were.
29. I always take life with a grain of salt. Plus a slice of lemon, and
a shot of tequila.
30. When tempted to fight fire with fire, remember that the Fire
Department usually uses water.
Posted February 10, 2012 by bdutter Categories:Uncategorized
So this weekend was the first annual Half Marathon to Benefit Leukemia. I have no business racing a half marathon but I figured I could at least just run the distance and support a good cause. And this was the course. How bad could it be?
The kids put on their game faces but inside they were miserable. On the plus side, the Coach had told them not to run on the beach so they were gonna run on the bike path and streets. On the down side, it was still 13.1 miles to Dos Pueblos. (Well really it was more like 15 miles by the time they meandered all the way there. Should have ran on the beach, Haters…)
There was probably about 25 or so kids running. And one old guy. There were no photographers. Only Photoshop.
The “race” began uneventfully and I enjoyed the views of things I don’t see all that often.
You have to look carefully but there are cows and a dingo looking down on us runners
Celebrities use the beach to de-poop their horses
I was lucky that when I ran past Hope Ranch I was able to see some lovely co-eds sunbathing topless. More often though the view was old fat guys bending over. Perhaps their mirrors do not work like mine does…
The girls did a good job of timing the tides. This week there is a King Tide. It is when the Earth is closest to the sun so the combined effect of the moon and the sun produce the highest tide of the year. Consequently, the low tide is relatively low which meant there were very few obstacles like this rock outcropping
This seep was easy to get around
It reminded me of Jabba the Hut
There is a foundation that is not long for this world…
As I finished the More Mesa section, I was not looking forward to having to cross the Goleta Slough-er. But there was no Slough. Thank you King Tide…
I was now 5 miles into the run. The weather was deceptively hot considering it was February. There was supposed to be a water station at Goleta Beach but I never saw anyone.
I did see the spot where Shan and I first met about a billion years ago. Still hard to believe that moment turned into this lifetime. Thank you, Goleta Beach.
The campus of UCSB appears ahead. With the low tide there is no problem at all getting past the point
I start to talk to myself like Bear Grylls and tell myself it is hot enough to go shirtless and that if I don’t find some water quickly, this run could have tragic consequences…
At Campus Point there is no Fountain Rock today
But the receding tide has left a puddle I do not wish to wade through. I scramble over the rocks instead
At this point I made an executive decision. I had cruised about 8 miles into the run and then I remembered the last time I ran through IV there was a naked surfer girl taking a shower. It would be better for me to head towards Del Playa
My instincts are finely honed…
I found it interesting that there was actually a Red Cup Clean-up Crew working the street this Saturday afternoon. Don’t they know it’s just going to get dirty again.
I endured Isla Vista but now it was starting to feel very hot. Why didn’t I carry my own water? Well, mostly because then I would have to carry my own water. I was going to have to dig deep into my survival training in order to figure out how to withstand these conditions.
Fortunately, I know how to perservere. When it’s Man vs. Wild, you use all of your instincts to survive
Interestingly, on my way out of the park I saw a Black Swan…
At this point I was going to make an astute observation about the afternoons belonging to the cyclists but my photo just shows the blur of the peloton
The new overpass which forced the changes in this years SBIM…
Finally in the distance…the light from Alameda Road which meant Dos Pueblos was almost within sight
The crowd greeting the finisher’s was ummm…small
But guess what?
There was no one in front of me. That’s right…I am The BEAST! You are reading the blog recap from your 2012 Reigning Champion of the Marathon to Benefit Leukemia. How cool is that? I’ve always said, it’s not how fast you run, it’s which races you enter. I always thought I was going to have to go to a slow fat state to win a race. Really, all I needed to do was to run a race against kids who had never run this distance before and are currently training to run track and field distances.
training schedule…we will be doing Cross Training on Saturdays in the afternoons (bike, yoga, swim, etc.) and Workouts on Sunday in the morning (to get our mileage up)
-a great way to meet new friends while exercising!
-however, training is NOT mandatory
I thought, “Wow, that’s great that these kids are trying to put on their own race.” The course looked interesting. It appeared to start somewhere around Summerland and end up at More Mesa. ”Well that’s a cool route. I guess they’ll shoot up to Coast Village Road and then get over to Cabrillo and weave their way to More Mesa. It was neat that they were going to give all of the proceeds to help battle cancer too. And heck, the flyer said training was NOT mandatory.
So then yesterday this email came:
Runner Information
Show up at 12:30 at Hendry’s Beach for our HALF MARATHON TO BENEFIT LEUKEMIA AND LYMPHOMA!!!!! Thank you to all who signed up…the T-shirts arrived yesterday and look FANTASTIC! If anybody has any questions, email me or Harper!!! For those who haven’t paid, bring the money to the race!!!! ($10 w/o shirt)
Remember to have a good breakfast and wear your old running shoes (you will get dirty!)
See you there!!!
Bella and Harper
BTW We end at DP.
Volunteer Information
Report for duty at 12:45 SHARP! (Race Starts at 12:30)
-Bring a bag lunch
Meet at Goleta Beach (1st Water Stop)
When runners pass through (there should only be about 20 runners), please distribute water ONLY (in the cups), and make sure all trash is thrown away. When all have passed through, pack up everything and contact Bella Darke (805) xxx-xxxx or Harper Owen (805) xxx-xxxx. If you have a mode of transportation, head on over to DP at around 1:30 to start setting up the clock and finish line! (If you cannot come to DP, PLEASE notify us). At the stations, you will be shown what to do by Mrs. Darke or Mrs. Owen.
Encourage your parents to come and help out and cheer us on!
If you would like to make a donation to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, it would be greatly appreciated.
Hmmm…so it is not really a road race, it’s a beach race. I checked online and it is low tide but there is no way to cross Goleta Slough without getting your feet wet. But the weather is going to be nice so what the heck. I know she says she only has 20 runners but Coach Miller is making all of the Dos Pueblos boys run the race so she’ll probably end up with about 50 or so people. I’m sure she could have gotten more runners if she had chosen to publicize this race in ANY way but then she might have had to buy more cups. I am thinking I may be the only guy over 18 running. I am going to try to win the master’s division.
As I’ve said, The Boy was less enthusiastic about this race. 13.1 miles may as well be an ultra race to his age group. But there is only one way to go to get a ride home from this race and his old man is going to try to get there first. Should be interesting. The “race” is open to anyone so if you have nothing better to do tomorrow, you know where I’ll be.
NOT Collin...
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Me and technology don’t always get along so the picture I inserted in last weeks plug of Sage’s basketball team did not come out so I am rebroadcasting. She is #3 and she is a normal sized 6th-grader.
Posted January 27, 2012 by bdutter Categories:Uncategorized
The boy has been a little burned out from running these days. A couple of the girls on his cross country team are putting together a half marathon for the benefit of leukemia and lymphoma. The run is scheduled for February 4th and will head from Summerland along the coast roads to More Mesa. Other than a couple of water stops along the way and the opportunity to buy a t-shirt, the race seems relatively unorganized but I applaud the girls enthusiasm for putting together a new race course and supporting a great cause. The boy is less enthusiastic.
Coach Miller is making all of the kids run the race. You would think they would all want to run the race to support their friend. The boy acts as if he has been asked to give away his puppy. We pretty much take for granted running 13 miles in a row. For the kids, 13 miles is a loooong way. And there is a big difference between the way we run a half marathon and the way he is being asked to run. We want to do it. He has to do it. Last weekend they had to do a training run. It was 3×4.5 miles but at a casual pace, just to see what the distance would feel like. We could do that in our sleep and actually enjoy it. The boy was as gloomy as you could be until that practice was over.
I may be drafted as a driver. If that’s the case I’ll probably run the race. I have seen lately that it will be a while before I have enough road miles on my legs to be able to race this distance but I know I could run it.
But tell me again…why do we want to do this?
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We are not just a one sport family. Sage’s basketball team is undefeated. Sage has a pretty good shot but she is not the reason the team is unbeaten. Sage is a normal height 6th grader. She is #3 in the photo below. Let’s just say #12 and #10 get a lot of rebounds…
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What’s Trending Now…
The hot video these days is one called Sh*t Girls Say. Since that one came out, everyone is trying to jump on the bandwagon. Recently, one of the bloggers I know re-posted a really lame video called Sh*t Marathoners Say that was on Flotrack. It was not worthy. I may not know much about running but I recognize funny when I see it and this was only amusing in a Joe Pesci/Goodfellas kind of way. This one is a little bit better. Not great, but better.
I don’t cycle. But my friends that do tell me that this one is funny.
But still, there is room for improvement. Now these two videos are actually funny. They have absolutely nothing to do with running. Maybe that’s why they are funny. Note: not safe for work
Posted January 20, 2012 by bdutter Categories:Uncategorized
I went back to Ohio but my city was gone…
Chrissie Hynde- 1982
Nothing stays the same in life. About the only thing I am confident in guaranteeing is that eventually all things will change. And so it was with my running group. I returned after a couple of months to find that I was a little bit slower and they had become a little bit faster. It was necessary to change groups to the next one down.
Fortunately, this new group was filled with good eggs. People that, like myself, had either run a fall marathon or were coming off of an injury and so were slightly less fit or fast as they used to be. This group skews towards the 40-year-old and up demographic; some of us are married
Mixed in with the group this week, however, were the Nursery Rhyme Kids, Jack and Jill. No, really ….Jack and Jill. The Nursery Rhyme Kids are still in their twenties. Naturally, the conversation goes towards how all of us old dudes will never be able to keep up with that youth. At first, we mention how we were pretty much out of college before they were even born. Then, being the group that we are, we discuss how this will be good opportunity for the cougars and manthers in the group to practice chasing their prey.
They might have the energy but we have the experience. We can not catch them. Some day they will be old too. Perhaps by then they will know the right answer to our question.
“Hey kids…does this rag smell like chloroform to you…?”
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I have a new want. I was driving last week after dark and as I was about to turn on to my street, my headlights caught a runner’s reflective jacket. This jacket lit up like it was the moon! The guy really looked like the dude in this picture.
This is the Nike Vapor Flash Jacket. It has glass spheres built into the jacket that reflect the light. It retails for $350 so it will not be visiting my closet anytime soon but I still thought it was really cool. Not that I like to draw attention to myself when I am running or anything…
Trying to mix things up these days. The running has become “lower” mileage and I’m trying to get to the gym. I read an article where they have come up with a program that can train you to do 50 pullups in a row after 7 weeks. Now that would be a challenge so I am going to try it. I’d be happy to just reach half that much. Will it help my running? Unlikely. So for those that ask “why?”, I answer “why not?” If I am successful, maybe I will brag about it some day. If not, then obviously I would never bring it up again.
I read this article in the Wall Street Journal and I found it amusing. Y’know…cuz like now I’m all gym rat and junk…
The 27 Rules of Conquering the Gym
By JASON GAY
Everett Collection
Jerry Lewis in “Cinderfella”
This is the time of year when even people who hate the gym think about going to the gym. Many of us are still digesting whole floors of gingerbread houses, and jeans that fit comfortably in October are now a denim humiliation.
Sweating is a good way to begin 2012. Exercise, like dark chocolate and office meetings that suddenly get canceled, is a proven pathway to nirvana. But if you’re going to join a gym—or returning to the gym after a long hibernation—consider the following:
1. A gym is not designed to make you feel instantly better about yourself. If a gym wanted to make you feel instantly better about yourself, it would be a bar.
2. Give yourself a goal. Maybe you want to lose 10 pounds. Maybe you want to quarterback the New York Jets into the playoffs. But be warned: Losing 10 pounds is hard.
The New Year’s push to lose weight is bringing crowds to gyms. Jason Gay offers tips to conquering the gym. Photo: Getty Images.
3. Develop a gym routine. Try to go at least three times a week. Do a mix of strength training and cardiovascular conditioning. After the third week, stop carrying around that satchel of fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies.
4. No one in the history of gyms has ever lost a pound while reading “The New Yorker” and slowly pedaling a recumbent bicycle. No one.
5. Bring your iPod. Don’t borrow the disgusting gym headphones, or use the sad plastic radio attachment on the treadmill, which always sounds like it’s playing Kenny Loggins from a sewer.
6. Don’t fall for gimmicks. The only tried-and-true method to lose 10 pounds in 48 hours is food poisoning.
7. Yes, every gym has an overenthusiastic spinning instructor who hasn’t bought a record since “Walking on Sunshine.”
8. There’s also the Strange Guy Who is Always at the Gym. Just when you think he isn’t here today…there he is, lurking by the barbells.
9. ”Great job!” is trainer-speak for “It’s not polite for me to laugh at you.”
10. Beware a hip gym with a Wilco step class.
11. Gyms have two types of members: Members who wipe down the machines after using them, and the worst people in the universe.
12. Nope, that’s not a “recovery energy bar with antioxidant dark chocolate.” That’s a chocolate bar.
13. Avoid Unsolicited Advice Guy, who, for the small fee of boring you to death, will explain the proper method for any exercise in 45 minutes or longer.
14. You can take 10 Minute Abs, 20 Minute Abs, and 30 Minute Abs. There is also Stop Eating Pizza and Eating Sheet Cake Abs—but that’s super tough!
15. If you’re motivated to buy an expensive home exercise machine, consider a “wooden coat rack.” It costs $40, uses no electricity and does the exact same thing.
16. There’s the yoga instructor everyone loves, and the yoga instructor everyone hates. Memorize who they are.
17. If you see an indoor rock climbing wall, you’re either in a really cool gym or a romantic comedy starring Kate Hudson.
18. Be cautious about any class with the words “sunrise,” “hell,” or “Moby.”
19. If a gym class is going to be effective, it’s hard. If you’re relaxed and enjoying yourself, you’re at brunch.
20. If you need to bring your children, just let them loose in the silent meditation class. Nobody minds, and kids love candles.
21. Don’t buy $150 sneakers, $100 yoga pants, and $4 water. Muscle shirts are for people with muscles, and rhythm guitarists.
22. Fancy gyms can be seductive, but once you get past the modern couches and fresh flowers and the water with lemon slices, you’re basically paying for a boutique hotel with B.O.
23. Everyone sees you secretly racing the old people in the pool.
24. If you’re at the point where you’ve bought biking shoes for the spinning class, you may as well go ahead and buy an actual bike. It’s way more fun and it doesn’t make you listen to C+C Music Factory.
25. Fact: Thinking about going to the gym burns between 0 and 0 calories.
26. A successful gym membership is like a marriage: If it’s good, you show up committed and ready for hard work. If it’s not good, you show up in sweatpants and watch a lot of bad TV.
27. There is no secret. Exercise and lay off the fries. The end.
Posted January 12, 2012 by bdutter Categories:Uncategorized
“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it” -
George Santayana
“Insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different
results” -
Narcotics Anonymous
“Last night somebody broke into my apartment and replaced everything with exact duplicates… When I pointed it out to my roommate, he said, ‘Do I know you?’”
Steven Wright
I have recently been accused of being a running addict. Personally, I prefer to refer to running as my healthy habit. But does a healthy habit keep hurting you? The question has to be asked… if you were doing an activity and every time you did it you got hurt but you still keep returning to perform that activity, are you addicted? Well sure it sounds bad when you put it that way. But I don’t get hurt every time I run. Most of the time it is just a painful activity
So I decided to do some research on running addiction. A very interesting topic and one which most of us fall somewhere within the spectrum of. The article that I reproduced at the bottom here is very long so if you are trying to read it on your phone you may want to switch to a computer, but I thought it was well worth it. At the end, there is a self-test. When I took the test, my results were “Fitness with a mellow bent”. So that proves I am not an addict. Probably.
My re-frame of the situation is that I persevere.
I’m stubborn. I don’t like to quit. I could quit any time I want…
By now you may have figured out that I like girl singers. This one’s been around for a while and I can hum it and feel superior when I call other people addicts…
Ok, now comes the article part where you have to read a lot.
An article in Sports Medicine Digest suggests that as many as 8 percent of all recreational runners may be addicted or at least highly compulsive. The physician who wrote the article suggested that the problems in highly committed runners are both cause and effect. He said some runners may become excessively committed to avoid or remove themselves from problem situations. On the other hand, too much time devoted to exercise can cause problems in relationships or work.
The exercise-addicted runner will almost always suffer the consequences of his addiction. It is not a coincidence that few exercise addicts can be lifetime runners. As Richard Benyo (former editor of Runners World) said “the obsession bites back” in the form of chronic injuries, impaired relationships and other problems. The exercise-obsessed runner may one day complain that running ruined his life, but it was running out of balance that was the culprit.
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Too Much of a Good Thing?
Running Long Distances Is a Worthy Pursuit, Unless Your Running Runs You.
ANYTHING IN excess is unhealthy. Ingesting too many vitamins can turn something essential to life into a poison. Spending too many hours at work can be counterproductive and destructive. For a long-distance runner, training too many miles mixed with too little rest can rob the legs of vitality. And an addiction to running, and to marathoning especially, can turn a very positive pursuit into a major negative in your life.
Fortunately, marathon addiction does not appear to be as prevalent in the Second Running Boom as it was during the First Running Boom (1976-84). But running addiction is still a very real phenomenon that deserves our attention.
For several years, the psychological profession has been on an addicti on binge, claiming an eruption of addictions to just about everything. In some cases, the “addiction” label is flagrantly used for what amounts to a lack of self-control. The former label gets the subject off the hook because an addiction infers a victim while a simple lack of self-control infers a shortcoming in discipline.
Of course, we do know that some people do possess addictive personalities. For instance, I’ve seen people who have traded an addiction to alcohol and drugs for an addiction to running. Substituting a positive for a negative is certainly to be lauded-that is, until the addictive person turns runn ing into a negative by going way overboard, and it begins to take over his or her life the way the alcohol or drugs did.
To better understand addiction, let’s back up a few steps and examine motivation. Why would someone take up running in the first place? And why stay with an activity that seems so, . . . well, . . . monotonous to an outsider?
WHY RUNNING?
Most runners originally come to the sport and lifestyle for reasons of health and fitness. This commitment starts off with as little as 2 to 3 miles at a time, three or four times a week. However, many that become runners for reasons of health and fitness eventually add a few miles to their weekly training. And then a few more. Then they take on the challenge of racing at 5K and 10K distances, then move to 10-milers and half-marathons, and, ultimately, succumb to the romance of what many see as the ultimate running challenge-the marathon.
In a world bereft of physical challenges, in a world where many people spend eight hours a day facing a computer screen in a claustrophobic cubicle, the prospect of throwing yourself into an arena where, legend has it, a well-trained Greek foot messenger died at the conclusion of a run from Marat hon to Athens, becomes very enticing indeed.
Although hundreds of thousands of people have run marathons, it is still far from an “easy” event. Twenty-six miles, 385 yards is quite a distance, even for a car ride. Traveling at 55 mph, it takes half an hour to cover the distance. The fastest marathoners in the world take more than two hours- the length of the average feature film-to complete the distance. A three-hour marathon for the amateur runner is considered an excellent performance.
Clearly there are reasons other than fitness and health for running marathons. Basic fitness, after all, is available at 26 miles per week, not 26 miles in one session. There are as many reasons and combinations of reasons for running marathons as there are runners running them. Some runners are attracted to the social aspects of training and racing long distances with others. Others are fascinated by the aesthetic aspects of running as well as the primal beauty and strength of moving through the environment under their own power. Some experience a catharsis as they release their frustra tions and the tensions of the day. Still others pursue running for ascetic reasons, enjoying the solitary nature of training and the challenge of running the marathon and longer distances, searching in the intense physical and psychological training for a path to self-actualization.
THE MARATHON’S GRIP
For some runners, the sport becomes a tremendously important part of their lives, taking hold with a powerful grip and providing wonderful physical and psychological benefits. For a few runners, this grip may move, sometimes very subtly, from a healthy activity to an addiction. Sachs and Pargman (1984) defined addiction to running as “psychological and/or physiological addiction to a regular regimen of running, characterized by withdrawal symptoms after twenty-four to thirty-six hours without the activity” (p. 233).
Running addiction has both physical and psychological elements; that is, it affects both mind and body. Someone suffering from running addiction will manifest physical symptoms of withdrawal, such as muscle twitching, bloatedness, sluggishness, lethargy, sleeplessness, headaches, and stomachaches , but the symptoms are primarily psychological in nature.
The psychological withdrawal symptoms include tension, depression, anxiety, guilt, restlessness, and irritability (Glasser, 1976; Sachs & Pargman, 1979). Guilt, especially, is the symptom that is seen most often, accompanied by a sense of irritability/grouchiness/crabbiness’whatever term you car e to use. Beware runners deprived of their run: they are difficult to be around.
Occasional rest days are important, and even advisable, so withdrawal symptoms would be unexpected on a day when a runner had planned to rest (or perhaps planned an alternative physical activity–hiking or cycling or swimming or some housework, for example). But on those days when the runner had p lanned to run, and something comes up that prevents that from happening’a family emergency, a big project, a deadline at work, a school paper that is taking longer than expected, an injury, or illness–that is when the guilt and the irritability and the other withdrawal symptoms come into play.
You can see yourself in the paragraph above? You never let anything get in the way of your run? If so, keep reading.
TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING?
First, let’s consider how long it takes to develop an addiction to running. William Glasser (1976) suggests that it takes up to two years, while some reports suggest that only a few months may be necessary (Sachs, 1981). Some people develop an addiction over a long period of time. Some report that it took 20 years for their addiction to running to develop (Sachs, 1981). The development of addiction in a runner–if it does, indeed, occur–is clearly an individual event.
The title of this article asks whether running can become too much of a good thing. This concept goes back to William Glasser’s fascinating 1976 book, Positive Addiction, in which he suggests that there are some things in life that, even if one becomes addicted to them, are good for you: they str engthen us physically and psychologically. These good addictions include meditation and aerobic exercise. But is this really the case, or can you actually get too much of a good thing?
Stanton Peele (1981) would answer, “Yes,” that you can become negatively addicted to something that is supposedly good for you. To Peele, the key word or concept is control. If the substance or activity is one over which you have control-you decide whether to do it or not-then you are not addicte d. This concept applies to cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, chocolate, watching soap operas, shopping, surfing the Internet, or running. On the other hand (or foot), if the substance or activity seems to be controlling you’you need that drink, have to have that piece of chocolate, must run that 10-mil e workout-then you are addicted.
The distinctions are sometimes fine ones to make, and they vary from individual to individual. Each of us makes our own choices about what we do in life, and we set our own priorities about what is important to us and what is not. William Morgan (1979a, b) offers vignettes about runners who have run through injuries that eventually wound up disabling them, or who have even committed suicide because they could not recapture the performances of yesteryear. This is what he rightly terms “negative addiction.”
The defining criterion for the presence of addiction is, therefore, the presence or absence of control. Are you (or your fellow runners) able to say, “I had planned to go for a run today, but this emergency [fill in whatever emergency you like] came up, and I’ll have to postpone my run until tomorrow”?
The runner who considers his or her running an important part of life but who realizes that it is a considered activity with respect to other aspects of life can answer, “Yes.” That firm “Yes” doesn’t mean that some guilt and irritability won’t be present if you miss a run. Such guilt and irritab ility is a natural reaction to not being able to do something that you like to do, that has become a habit and, especially, that is good for you.
The addicted runner, however, will answer, “No!” Nothing-and I mean nothing!-gets in the way of the daily run, and these runners often run seven days per week, sometimes with double workouts’a long run in the morning and intervals in the afternoon. Running for them has become the controlling fact or in their existence. Everything else becomes secondary.
SIGNS OF ADDICTION
How can you tell whether you or other runners are addicted? The “Addiction Self-Test” at the end of this article can help give you a feeling for whether you or other runners are addicted. There are other tests for addiction that are available in the literature (Sachs & Pargman, 1984), but this self-test is helpful for a quick, self-scoring approach. It is not a definitive test or a diagnostic tool, but if you or other runners you know have any concerns, the best strategy is to see an exercise or sport psychologist. If you don’t know of one in your area, please write to me in care of Marathon & Beyond and I’ll help you find one.
The withdrawal symptoms mentioned earlier provide a feeling for what addicted runners experience when they can’t run. The reasons for not being able to run include injury or illness (primarily) and various life events, such as social functions, family emergencies, school or work projects, and so on.
Some injured runners can participate in alternative activities that avoid further damage to the injured area. Some runners, however, indicate that nothing can take the place of running, and even alternative activities are not satisfactory. In cases of illness (e.g., flu), rest is probably the mos t sensible strategy.
The various life events factor means that time is too limited to do everything, and events other than running take precedence today. Peele (1981) would call such a view of running a “healthy habit” and not an addiction that controls the person. The “healthy habit” perspective sees running (and anything else) as an important, but considered, aspect of your existence, weighed and valued along with everything else we do in our busy lives.
This can be viewed as keeping everything in balance. Addicted individuals, however, are controlled by the substance/activity’in this case running’and place running first and foremost in their lives.
What can we look for in ourselves or others that might denote the presence of addiction? The signs of an addicted runner can include fatigue, decreased ability to concentrate, an overemphasis on quantity (number of miles, number of repeats on the track), skipping appointments (including family functions), and running despite injuries that cry out for rest or treatment.
If you detect these characteristics in yourself or another runner, watch for these other “red flags” that could indicate the potential presence of an addict-ion to running. Nonrunners notice that runners shift circles of friends from nonrunners to runners and spend significantly more social time at track club meetings, at the local track for workouts, and at races, locally, regionally, and nationally (and even internationally’there are companies that specialize in booking trips to overseas marathons).
Addicted individuals will also be even more “committed” (Sachs & Pargman, 1984). They may spend more time engaged in running club activities, as a volunteer and perhaps as an officer, sign on as race director for a local race, subscribe to more running publications than anyone else, watch running movies (everything from Chariots of Fire and Prefontaine to The Games), and buy more running shoes, clothes, and other paraphernalia.
Addicted runners might search for more and more marathons to run, in more exotic locales, spending more time and more money on training and trips. The same would apply to ultrarunners in search of ever-greater challenges and distances, such as the Comrades Marathon in South Africa or the Western States 100.
An additional red flag is a runner who manages to steer every conversation back to running, as though no other subject in the wide world is as worthy of discussion. It is important to note that the presence of some or all of these factors, by themselves, don’t mean you or someone else is addicted . Spending more time as a volunteer at races or buying more running clothes may simply mean a greater involvement in the running subculture as part of an overall commitment to a healthier lifestyle. The key factor, as noted, is control. Who is in control? Is the runner in control of his or her ru nning, or is running in control of the runner?
Most of us would readily agree that a singular focus on running, where running is the controlling factor in one’s existence, is not “good.” I would like to avoid being judgmental, but I’m afraid I won’t be successful. There are runners who acknowledge being addicted to running, yet they see that addiction as a positive factor in their lives. They have changed jobs, changed relationships-gotten divorced, developed a new circle of friends, perhaps even married a runner-all for the physical and psychological benefits (which, admittedly, can be many) they derive from running.
If this really works for them, then perhaps an addiction to running is indeed a positive factor in their lives. However, for most individuals, the state of affairs I just described comes on gradually, creeps up with a steady emphasis on taking running just a little further (as opposed to merely ” farther”), a little bit faster, doing just a bit more, squeezing in just one more race this month, and so on.
Peele talks about addiction as a relationship between the individual and the substance or activity. Addiction to running is exactly that: a relationship that the runner and running form that becomes enmeshed and intertwined until the runner and running become one. I will be judgmental, though, an d say that we are not one with running: we are unique individuals who happen to be runners. Running can and should be a vital part of our existence, but we do have families, friends, work and school commitments, and other roles that are vital as well.
We are often very eager to point the finger of guilt at people who can’t seem to control their addiction to cigarettes or bingo or watching soap operas, but we are so sensitive at having a finger pointed at our running excesses.
THE KEY WORD IS “BALANCE”
The key term I noted earlier in defining addiction is control. The key word I will emphasize now is balance. Keeping running as a vital part of our existence is important, but keeping it in balance with everything else we do in life is even more important.
Let me step down from my soapbox and return to the runner who has gradually moved across that fine line from healthy habit to addiction. What can that runner do?
1. Realize there is a potential problem.
2. Make a decision to proceed with behavior changes.
3. Substitute other rewarding activities.
4. Evaluate behavior changes.
The first step is realizing the potential problem. If the runner doesn’t acknowledge the existence of a problem, then nothing can really be done unless you have the power to force that person to stop running cold turkey, which is highly unlikely.
However, if the runner acknowledges that perhaps so mething untoward is going on, that running does seem to be controlling him or her, then you can intervene. Often just providing information, such as observations of the runner’s behavior, may be enough to make the runner sit back for a moment and think.
Articles and books such as this one and others listed in the reference list may be helpful. Approach the runner in a supportive, caring manner and emphasize that you are interested in his or her health and performance. Approaching someone in a confrontational manner (“John, you’ve got a problem! What are you going to do about it?”) doesn’t usually work well. It merely causes the addicted runner to become defensive.
The second step is making a decision to proceed with behavior changes. The runner must decide that there is indeed a problem, and that the runner wants to make a change, to return to the previous area of the continuum where running is important but not controlling. This decision doesn’t make the behavior change process easy, but it is necessary before a program designed to change the person’s behavior is likely to be successful.
As already cited, Peele (1981) talks about “healthy habits,” those habits that are healthy or good for you, which running certainly can be. At some point on a continuum from Healthy Habit to Addiction, the individual loses control (See Figure 1). Where this point is depends on the individual and is not quantifiable per se, but we can usually sense when we are in control and when we are losing control. This is the critical point upon which we must focus.
The behavior change process must bring the runner back along the continuum and away from the Addiction side, where he or she is now living and running, and toward the Healthy Habit side. Awareness of points along the continuum (mileage, commitment indices, etc.) that would indicate a shift toward the Addiction end will help a runner be more aware if he or she starts moving toward addiction again in the future.
BEYOND THE THRESHOLD
What happens to the runner who can’t make it back to the Healthy Habit side of the continuum? This runner does not respect the body and ignores its pleadings for rest. This runner will not cross-train to revitalize the broken-down body. Eventually, nature takes its course: the body registers its own kind of protest by breaking down with either an acute injury or by falling back on a chronic injury.
Morgan’s (1979a, b) vignettes highlight a variety of chilling case histories, including one runner who eventually tore his Achilles tendon completely because he would not take the time needed to cut back or change activities and allow the Achilles injury to heal.
Addicted runners do not tend to be the elite runners. The elite have learned over time that rest is critical to success, and they know when to push the envelope and when to back off and rest.
The addicted runner tends to be the middle-of-the-pack type who may be attempting to push to a higher leve l, but who doesn’t have the genes or the time, energy, coaching, or money to make it to the next level. The drive is there, but the clear head is not; the addiction dictates overtraining, and overtraining dictates overuse injuries.
Ironically, many athletes, included addicted runners, stumble upon the realization that performances may improve after a short rest period brought on by injury. It certainly makes sense. The overworked body breaks down, is forced to take a rest, and it comes back fresher and stronger than it was before the injury. There are numerous examples of this. Both of Derek Clayton’s marathon world records in the 1960s came after forced layoffs for surgical corrections of running injuries. Joan Benoit’s 1984 Los Angeles Olympic marathon win came after a layoff due to injury. Unfortunately, neither the world-class runner nor the addicted runner subsequently applies the Work + Rest = Performance formula to their running.
The third step, and perhaps the most challenging, is substituting other rewarding activities. For many runners, there is nothing more rewarding than running and engaging in all the other aspects of being a runner (i.e., running club activities, talking about running, etc.). An exercise/sport psyc hologist can work with such a runner to develop programs that will allow substitution of other activities for running. These activities may be physical activities or may be other activities that will absorb some of the addicted runner’s energies. In many cases, it may be necessary only to scale b ack the level of participation in running, not to stop running completely.
One could back down from 85 miles per week, for example. The Monday through Friday 10-milers in the morning, Tuesday and Thursday afternoon track interval workouts (9 miles total), a 10K on Saturday, and a long run (20 miles) on Sunday could be modified to a 65-mile week by knocking out the Monda y and Thursday morning runs.
SCALE BACK TO COMFORT AND LOGIC
Whatever the program, the idea is to scale back until the runner reaches a comfortable point, then substitute other, rewarding activities. Some other physical activities include going for a long, slow walk with a family member or friend, playing with children (you’ll get quite a workout there), participating in a bowling league with coworkers, and so on. The focus would still be on physical activities that are enjoyable but would break the running monopoly.
In other cases, nonphysical activity options may be preferable or desirable, such as doing a day trip to the local amusement park with the family, going to a movie with a friend, or taking in a show at the museum. These activities all substitute for the time that would have been spent running. Th is program, monitored by the exercise/sport psychologist, can be successful in bringing the runner back to a point where he or she is in control of the running, and not the other way around.
The final step is evaluating the behavior change. Evaluate whether the runner has reestablished control over running and has restored balance to his or her life, integrating running with all the other things we do.
At this point, maintenance becomes the key: being continually aware of a tendency t o slip back into old patterns of mileage and commitment that leads to loss of control in the first place. This is the time to learn to enjoy running for what it is: a joyful activity that provides us with great physical and psychological health.
HOW YOU CAN HELP THE ADDICTED RUNNER
As the spouse or significant other or friend of an addicted runner, you may be asking where you fit into this process. You can be helpful at all stages!
First, you can be the person who approaches the runner in a supportive, caring manner. You can provide articles and books on the subject.
Second, you can encourage the runner to make the decision to proceed with behavior change by being supportive. You can also help by assisting in monitoring those signs that indicate a backward-slide toward the Addiction side of the Healthy Habit/Addiction continuum.
Third, you can be a key player in suggesting and/or participating in other rewarding activities. Doing other things you both enjoy is critical for success.
Finally, you can help in the evaluation process by being supportive and encouraging and pointing out all the positive benefits that have come from the shift to a Healthy Habit orientation and away from Addiction. This support, combined with the runner’s own feelings, can mean the difference between success and a return to addiction.
There is tremendous reward in running, whether we do so competitively or recreationally. The key is to enjoy doing it and not to reach the point where running becomes too much of a good thing. Enjoy the process, then enjoy the experience. Carpe diem et carpe viam!
REFERENCES
Benyo, R. (1996, Winter). Exercise addiction. FootNotes, 24(4), 18.
Glasser, W. (1976). Positive addiction. New York: Harper and Row.
Morgan, W. P. (1979a). Negative addiction in runners. The Physician and Sportsmedicine, 7(2), 56-63, 67-70.
Morgan, W. P. (1979b). Running into addiction. The Runner, 1(6), 72-74, 76.
Peele, S. (1981). How much is too much: Healthy habits or destructive addictions. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Sachs, M. L. (1981). Running addiction. In M. H. Sacks & M. L. Sachs (Eds.), Psychology of running (pp. 116-126). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics Publishers.
Sachs, M. L., & Pargman, D. (1979). Running addiction: A depth interview examination. Journal of Sport Behavior, 2, 143-155.
Sachs, M. L., & Pargman, D. (1984). Running addiction. In M. L. Sachs & G. W. Buffone (Eds.), Running as therapy: An integrated approach (pp. 231-252). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press (reprinted in 1997 by Jason Aronson Inc., Publishers, Northvale, NJ, as part of Master Works Series).
OTHER PUBLICATIONS OF INTEREST Anshel, M. H. (1991). A psycho-behavioral analysis of addicted versus non-addicted male and female exercisers. Journal of Sport Behavior, 14, 145-154.
Benyo, R. (1990). The exercise fix. Champaign: Leisure Press
. Bull, S. J. (1989). The role of the sport psychology consultant: A case study of ultra-distance running. The Sport Psychologist, 3, 254-264.
Chapman, C. L., & DeCastro, J. M. (1990). Running addiction: Measurement and associated psychological characteristics. Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, 30, 283-290.
Coen, S. P., & Ogles, B. M. (1993). Psychological characteristics of the obligatory runner: A critical examination of the anorexia analogue hypothesis. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 15, 338-354.
Hays, K. F. (1996). When bad things happen to good sports: Negative addiction, staleness, and burnout. Psychotherapy bulletin, 31(2), 30-36.
Lynch. J. (1987). The total runner: A complete mind-body guide to optimal performance. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Morgan, W. P. (Ed.) (1997). Physical activity and mental health. Bristol, PA: Taylor & Francis.
Pierce, E. F., McGowan, R. W., & Lynn, T. D. (1993). Exercise dependence in relation to competitive orientation of runners. The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, 33, 189-193.
AN ADDICTION SELF-TESTMarathon & Beyond editor Rich Benyo developed an addiction self-test that can provide a quick way to size up where running stands in your life. This self-test first appeared in his 1990 book, The Exercise Fix, and was adapted for an article on exercise addiction in the Winter 1996 issue of FootNotes.Directions:
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the strongest, weight each of the following statements as they apply to you and your running. Then total your numbers and check the interpretations at the end of the test. Fill out the test in pencil, or make photocopies, so you can retake it perio dically.____Running is extremely important to me. I’m positive I’ll be running for the rest of my life.
____A day without a run is a day without sunshine.
____If it becomes downright impossible to get my workout in today, I can always double up tomorrow.
____Until I get my workout in, I’m a real bear’as in unbearable.
____A little pain indicates there’s serious progress being made.
____If two aspirin/ibuprofen are good, four are twice as good.
____Warm-up and cool-down are important, but it’s what comes in the middle of the workout that counts.
____As far as running goes, more is always better.
____A string of running days must remain unbroken.
____Quality without quantity is impossible.
____Of course I know how many miles I ran last month. . . .
____Unless you’ve run a marathon, you’re not a real runner.
____The more marathons you’ve run, the more serious a runner you are.
____Rest is for the weary, not for the strong.
____Discomfort exists to run through, not to be an insurmountable barrier.
____All my friends are runners, and I wouldn’t consider befriending a nonrunner.
____Many running-related pains can be gotten rid of by running through them.
____If a shirt doesn’t boast a race logo, it isn’t one I want to wear.
____It exhibits their inbred weakness if people don’t want to hear my step-by-step re-creations of races I’ve run.
____If I have a piddling injury and a sports medicine expert says I shouldn’t run, it’s obviously time for a second (or third) opinion.Score
Where does your total fall?
161-200: Running addiction personified. Get help immediately.
121-160: Leaning towards running addiction; beware.
81-120: Neutral.
41-80: Fitness with a mellow bent.
20-40: Approaching terminal mellow; better sign up for a race.
Posted January 6, 2012 by bdutter Categories:Uncategorized
First I run. Then I get hurt. Then I rehab and seek the magic elixir that prevents me from getting hurt again. Change gait, try different shoes, strengthen different muscles, use different foot strike. Has one of those things worked? I dunno. My foot feels way better today than it did two months ago. Was it the barefoot running? Was it the night splint? The orthotic? Or was it simply that time is the doctor and if you wait long enough, the body figures out ways to heal itself.
Or perhaps it was because I have sold my sole (not soul- I’m saving that for something really big) to the running gods?
I have already figured out there must be some correlation between injuries and speed. I reckon that if I was to run really slowly, all of the time, I would never get hurt. But I don’t want to run slow all the time. Sometimes I want to rock. Nobody says, “Wow, a six hour marathon! You are really something special”! Unless they mean “special” in a less friendly way.
So I was feeling well enough to have my coming out party at the Resolution Run this past Sunday. My plan was to just run it by feel and play it safe. The opportunity came up to pace Celeste in her quest for 5k greatness. It was the perfect opportunity to run fast but not have to redline and blow up. Then Celeste left me at the altar when her shin told her no racing. I had to come up with my own race plan. Even I know I am not good at coming up with my own race plans.
The race started and I figured it would be a good idea to start somewhere in the middle of the pack because that would help to slow me down. But running in the middle of the pack can be difficult because there can be some really slow people mixed in with the people that are kind-of sort-of racing. So I kept weaving around, the hunter hunting his prey and picking off the stragglers one-by-one. After the first mile, the watch check had me at about 7 minutes. That seemed to be about the right pace but I still felt pretty good considering I had not run hard in two months. So I picked it up a little. The next mile ticked off at about a 6:30 pace. My foot was feeling good. Perhaps the new shoes (I call them Gang-Green but I don’t think Brooks would approve of that name) were the solution. But then during the last mile I was visited by my old friend, the numb quad. I had not had that happen in some time but since it does not hurt, I just ignore it. But since the quad goes numb, I lose power. Don’t like it but I am used to it.
Eventually, I realize that if I can hustle, I might be able to sneak in under 20 minutes. The brain does its’ job but the body does not cooperate and I watch the clock tick to 20:02 as I cross the line. A full 30 seconds slower than the last time I ran a 5k but probably right where I should be.
I won’t bore you with the details but I tried to run hard in the 10k too. As they say, the pain is only temporary but the internet race results last forever. Not really race pace but I ran most of the way with John Latto and we were able to have a good conversation at pretty much a 7 minute pace. Today I am sore. But sore in a good way. Like after a hard run.
My foot feels far from perfect but the racing did not seem to make things any worse. So let the comeback begin. Again.
Posted December 30, 2011 by bdutter Categories:Uncategorized
Finally the holidays are coming to a close. I’m sure our holiday traditions are no different than any of yours. We start off by putting a can of Diet Coke in the freezer on Christmas Eve so that Santa will have a refreshing low-calorie beverage while visiting our house.
When the kids wake up on Christmas morning, we make sure to put the traditional Christmas coffee mug full of that piping hot libation close to the presents and wait to see who will be the first to knock it over
Finally, we wait for the guests to come and then when they do, we splash their food all over the refrigerator in order to celebrate their arrival (it was Panang curry, not puke).
There is one person who we put in charge of all of these activities each year and she never disappoints us
The next day, she demonstrates how to play the traditional Boxing Day game of Recycling Diving for Gift Cards
Christmas is a lot of work. Next year we are inviting Cesar Millan to start working with her a little earlier in the year…
Of course, gift giving should not be a contest but when you hit the ball out of the park as cleanly as I did this year, it is ok to brag. Normally I am good for a new blender or, in a really good year, a new vacuum for the little Missus but this year….Bam! Customized iPhone cover! Valentines Day is coming, kids http://www.getuncommon.com/
The quest for a new shoe has ended as well. Santa wrapped them for me but I picked them out myself after much research. The good thing is that I ordered them from Roadrunner so I get to try them for up to 90 days. I can certainly understand why the local shoe stores can not offer this service but what a great service it is if you are trying a shoe for the first time and are uncertain of how things will work out. I have not run in a shoe by Brooks for many moons but this one had all of the things I was looking for: lightweight (8.7 oz), cushioning in the forefoot, low heel, decent color, wide toe box. I’ve tried a few test runs and so far I like what I smell that the Rock is cooking
I am going to end my hibernation. I think my foot is good enough to try an easy race at the Resolution Run on Sunday. I for sure will not be gunning for a PR but it will be good to go out and run a 5k.
Speaking of 5k’s, I was driving downtown on Thursday and saw this car with their 3.1 sticker on the rear window and it struck me as amusing. But should it? Is a 5k any less worthy than a 26.1? Not in my world
I have heard it both ways with my Science Fridays. Some people love the opportunity to read articles on running that they would never bother to search out and read anywhere else. But there are other readers who only read when the story mentions them. You know who you are. This story, will not mention you.
Since this is the time of year for goal setting, I figured this article would be a good start to getting that goal to become reality. F staying injury free, F PR’s and F balanced approaches to life. I wanna go to London, baby! Since I never click through on the links, I just copy the whole article. Read it or don’t.
All top-level athletes – and we’re thinking of the 17,000 that will descend on London for the Olympics in July 2012 – will probably have the optimal genes to compete at their chosen sport. They will have been training for years, and their diets will be finely honed. But it is in their minds where medals will be won or lost.
It’s only in the last decade or so that psychological training has been recognised as equally important to sporting success as the physical side.The psychologist to the British Olympic team runs twice-monthly sessions for athletes in the final year of the run-up to the Olympics. A pair of psychologists in Israel implement a four-year programme of psychological training with their athletes, which starts as soon as the last games finish.
Medal-winners tend to be those who are best able to control their emotions and focus their attention, and are brimming with confidence, motivation and optimism. The idea of psych-training is to help athletes reach this state of mind through strategies such as goal-setting, imagery, simulating the competitive environment and even talking to themselves.
Psychologists will also be considering the finer details of the athlete’s environment in the run-up to their moment in the spotlight. What kinds of information are athletes given during their stay in the Olympic Village? What is the wording like on notice boards? Every detail counts.
Of course, the best athletes also have the right genes. A sprinter or long jumper might have a certain form of the gene ACTN3 as it leads to more fast-twitch muscle - the kind required for short bursts of strength and speed. Endurance athletes commonly have a version of the NRF2 gene which optimises VO2 max - the upper limit of a person’s oxygen consumption.
So winning is just a matter of having the right expression of genes, putting in years of physical training, and honing the mental toughness needed to succeed. But not everyone can win. So perhaps some athletes will need psychologists to help them cope with losing – not that we should even mention that word until after August.
In swimming, Hungary’s Zoltan Halmay won the 100m and 50m freestyle. Originally, Halmay beat American J. Scott Leary by just one foot in the 50m event. However, the American judge ruled that Leary had won. This ruling resulted in a brawl between the two, so the judges ordered a rematch. Halmay won on the second attempt. (They couldn’t check the videotape at this time in history.)
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