… after running for 14 hours (photo courtesy of Donald Peterson ). Yikes!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Another great Flotrack article written by Christopher Kelsall

Zach Whitmarsh toils on the Jack Wallace Memorial, Oak Bay High School track. Marley, his dog canters back and forth from the infield to the start area and back, taking splits.

“What breed mix is Marley?”

Zach writes: ”Marley is a pound dog. As far as we can tell he is a Shepherd-Collie cross. There may also be a bit of Burmese in him, he’s a big-pawed dawg and he’d probably weigh another 20 pounds if he didn’t get in the 50 miles per-week he’s gotten used to.”

Meanwhile some local, longer distance ectomorphs gut out a low-key invitational race, looking smooth in their attempt at sub 30 for 10, 000m (others drop at halfway or at 3,000 - they are here just to check fitness), they appear fluent, until Zach starts his sprint workout.

Whitmarsh re-defines the everyday runner’s paradigm of what is fluid motion.

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Written by Michael D. Reid for the Times Colonist and published Friday, March 28, 2008.

If you were thinking of doing the Times Colonist 10K, don’t worry if you’ve missed those running clinics. Trust me: You’ll find all the motivation you need at the multiplex without having to break a sweat. And why wouldn’t you want to take advice from a lazy-ass lapsed runner who would never be mistaken for Simon Whitfield?

 Maybe that’s why I was so inspired by Run, Fat Boy, Run. With a pudgy Everyman as its marathon-running hero — a hapless dude who insists “I’m not fat, I’m unfit” — it’s a goofy comedy that speaks to me and surely many others. It’s one of two running movies — the other is Spirit of the Marathon — that are inspirational in very different ways.

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Written by Gina Kolata of the New York Times, published January 3rd, 2008

YOU are an athlete, or, at least, very active. Should you seek doctors who are athletes, too? After all, some obese people pass around lists of “fat friendly” doctors who treat them with respect. Women often want female doctors.

Are athletes also a special group? And, if so, do they fare any differently if they see doctors who are athletes?

“Nobody knows,” said Dr. James Fries, a 20-mile-a-week runner and a professor of medicine at Stanford. “There’s no data.”

There are some hints, though, said Dr. Ronald Davis, who is the president of the American Medical Association and a specialist in preventive medicine at the Henry Ford Health System, which includes hospitals, clinics, a managed-care plan and a large physician group practice.

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and may you trainharder in 2008!

Digital Tourism has created and published three Google Maps showing hiking trails within a day’s drive of Vancouver (not including Vancouver Island). The maps include over 300 hikes and are divided into three categories: easy, moderate and challenging. To view the maps click on this link: http://maps.google.com/maps/user?uid=110369344982764886613&hl=en&ptab=2.

Want to see eight years of some guy’s life flash by in one minute and forty three seconds?

http://www.vimeo.com/106228/ 

If there is one thing every runner dreads for its devastating potential to reduces winners to also rans and silver medals to bronze, it’s cramp. So everybody has their favourite cramp theory and their favoured remedy but lets consider some facts first.

• Cramp is more common in males than in females.
• Cramp is associated both with the duration and intensity of exercise - the further and the faster the more likely cramp is to occur.
• Onset of cramp is usually after 30km in a distance race, regardless of running speed.
• Cramp during exercise is almost always in the large muscles that span two joints - the hamstrings, quadriceps and calf (gastrocnemius) muscles.
• Cramps are often initiated by a change in speed, gradient or running surface. A classic example is cresting a hill and then accelerating downhill or running on to grass after hours on the tar.
• Some people are simply more cramp-prone than others.

The most widely held belief is that cramp is due to dehydration and the loss of minerals such as sodium, potassium and magnesium. These minerals play a critical role in muscle contraction, so any imbalance would affect muscle function. However, if a runner were to become sufficiently electrolyte depleted while running, it is unlikely that only one or two muscles would cramp – surely the electrolyte loss would affect all muscles equally ? As it is, the muscles most likely to cramp are the comparatively large calf, hamstring and thigh muscles.

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Mark Sutcliffe, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Sunday, November 25, 2007

Simon Whitfield seems like a mild-mannered guy. During an interview while visiting Ottawa this week, he answered questions enthusiastically and candidly. He smiled a lot. His face brightened when he talked about his four-month-old daughter. He was funny and self-deprecating.

But you didn’t see Simon Whitfield while he was training.

“I’m an emotional trainer,” says Whitfield, the gold medallist in the 2000 Olympic triathlon.

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The 23rd Annual Harriers Gunner Shaw Memorial Cross Country Classic is being run tomorrow Saturday, November 24, 2007 and it starts at 1:00 p.m. SHARP!

Bob Reid (Gunner Shaw Race Director) had this to say about his race this year….

“This Saturday, Gunner Shaw could be the biggest XC race in Canadaian history.

Maybe 500 on the line. Be there to experience it.

I am delighted to report that Harriers race favourites Jim Finlayson and Lucy Smith will be in the field and running their first ever Gunner in 23 years since the event was introduced in 1985. Welcome Jim and welcome Lucy; enjoy the experience! I know you will excel.”

But with the closure of some of the trails around Thetis Lake Mr. Reid also had this to say;

“The 2007 Gunner Shaw course is a race for sissies. There is not only a lack of puddles and mud, but I had to re-route the finish using Trillium Trail rather than the rock stairs. The result is that you are only running a little over 9K this year. Next year Gunner will be a certified BCA sanctioned event. I have measured the 2008 course with a wheel and added 800 metres to the old course so it is precisely 10K now.”

Be prepared for a great race tomorrow and for an epic race in 2008!

General Lewis MacKenzie asks;

Should Canada boycott the Beijing Olympics because of China’s political and human rights stances?

Head to Yahoo! Canada Answers to read some of the answers or post your opinion.

From the Vancouver Sun, published Thursday, November 15, 2007

Given celebrity chef Rob Feenie’s messy public split from his signature Vancouver restaurants, triathlete Simon Whitfield joked Wednesday that the duo might be serving “flaming meatballs” at that night’s Gold Medal Plates fundraiser.

Feenie and Whitfield, plus 11 other chef-athlete pairings, were part of a sold-out event at the Westin Bayshore that raises money Canadian Olympians and Paralympians.

Started in 2004 as a way to help the Canadian Olympic Committee while also promoting excellence in Canadian cuisine and wine, the dinners have so far raised $1.5 million.

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From the Late Show with David Letterman

10. You frequently hear, “Outta the way, lard ass!”
9.   Every couple of miles you stop and ask directions
8.   You pulled a hamstring filling out the application
7.   Before the race, you eat a Powerbar with extra cheese
6.   You still haven’t finished the 2006 New York City Marathon
5.   In trying situations, you ask yourself, “What would Rosie O’Donnell do?”
4.   Some runners are sponsored by Adidas — you’re sponsored by Chips Ahoy
3.   You’re frequently mistaken for the fat guy from “Lost”
2.   Made your own steroids out of Red Bull and Super Glue
1.   You’ve been carbo-loading for 30 years

Hilarious fill-in-the-blank responses to this question on a Let’s Run message board - http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=9545

Trainharder.com brings you exclusive photos from one half marathoner’s mis-adventures.

This is what happens when you run a half-marathon in bare feet without sufficient outdoor training. We’re happy to report that this runner will make a full recovery and he swears he will run barefoot again.

Click on the “Read more” link below to see more pictures.

WARNING THESE PHOTOS ARE NOT FOR THE SQUEEMISH

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Check out this week’s Out There Report from Get Out There magazine.

http://www.getouttheremag.com/report/Sept27West.html

CBCSports has recently published an audio interview with sports nutritionist Monique Ryan. Download the audio (mp3) of the interview here. The audio clip runs just under half and hour.

Ryan is a Chicago-based nutritionist who specializes in nutrition for endurance athletes. She has worked with elite cyclists, triathletes, several professional sports organizations and people who want to make smarter choices about nutrition.

Her latest book is Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes .

Check out this summer’s digital editions of Get Out There Magazine below, “Canada’s most widely distributed, free, regional sports publication”.

West-Edition:http://www.getouttheremag.com/report/July26WestEd.html
Ontario-Edition:http://www.getouttheremag.com/report/July26.html

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