What I'm doing on the Pulse community
Looking for a team, I manage a website or group, I participate in individual sports, I am a coach or manager, I am on a team, I am a volunteer
Name
Andrew Cawood
Age
33
Location
Atlanta, GA
Primary Sport
Running
Other Sports/Activities/Areas of Interest
Cycling, swimming, snowboarding, Crossfit, Yoga and Golf.
What drives me and my performance is my desire to...
To be the best I possibly can be to my wife, my friends, my family and to my sport...
My Mini Bio
I was born and raised in Southern Africa, and have been running since I was 6 years old. I ran in high school and then NCAA I Track & Field and Cross Country. I am Level I Certified in Crossfit and a USA Track and Field Level I Certified Coach. I have trained and raced on 4 continents and traveled to run in over 20 countries. I qualified to run the Boston and then will be training for the Comrades in South Africa in 2014. I train everyday at least once, sometimes 3 times. I run 5 days a week, and practice yoga two to three times a week. An off/rest day for me consists of a 60 minute Power Yoga class and a 30-40 minute walk on the trails. I live for fitness and for finding new limits to my body.
Race Results
placing 1st at Twisted Ankle Trail Half Marathon and
14th place at the San Diego Rock n Roll Half Marathon.
I first started racing because...
it was mandatory at Usutu Forrest Primary School in Swaziland, then I fell in love with running...not only was it a form of transportation, but it made me a fantastic Mid-fielder for my soccer games and Cross Country Meets.
I race competitively today because...
I always want to run faster, run harder and be the absolute fittest I have ever been before I reach 40 years of age.
The achievements I am most proud of are...
placing 1st at Twisted Ankle Trail Half Marathon and
14th place at the San Diego Rock n Roll Half Marathon.
Training Tip for My Fans
1.) Run and ride with slower athletes to ensure you get your easy/rest days accomplished.
2.) Stretch, stretch and stretch some more...oh yeah! Join a yoga studio, after age 30 our flexibility goes out the window!
3.) Ensure you are getting your sleep, without sleep you can't recover and without recovery you can't improve!
Fun Fact about me
I was born in Salisbury, Rhodesia (Southern Africa) My Swazi name is Pikinni Madala, which means "little old man".
My Favorite Athlete
Haile Gebreselassie
My Favorite Running Shoe
Asics Black Pulse 3's and Adizero Racing Flat.
My Favorite Bike
Trek Speed Concept 2.5
My Favorite Wet Suit Brand/Model
TYR Cat 1 Hurricane
My Favorite Food
Talapia Fish Taco's and milk chocolate covered raisins.
My Favorite Place to Travel
Navalia, Croatia.
My Favorite Book
“Chariots of Fire”
My Favorite Movie and/or TV Show
Universal Sports Channel and Fox Soccer Channel
My Favorite Quote
People may not believe what you say, but they will believe what you do...
BRUSSELS -- Haile Gebrselassie will run in the Tokyo Marathon in February in an attempt to make the Ethiopian team for next year's London Olympics.
The long-distance great failed in a first attempt in Berlin two months ago when his lungs seized up and he was struggling for air before pulling out.
His manager, Jos Hermens, says Gebrselassie's respiratory problems have been solved and he should be in top shape for the Feb. 26 marathon.
Gebrselassie won Olympic gold medals in the 10,000 meters in 1996 and 2000. He also has four world titles in the 10,000 between 1993 and 1999. At the Berlin Marathon, he lost his world record to Patrick Makau of Kenya.
Gebrselassie will run a 15-kilometer race in Nijmegen, Netherlands, during the weekend as preparation.
He will make a return, just has he did on the Track, and on the road, and on the Cross Country Course...he is a legend and deserves one last chance...
Have you been running Marathons for years and lingering around the same finishing time, every time?
I have the solution for you, inject these 5 key workouts into your Marathon training and you will shatter your Personal Best.
DISCLAIMER: Don't jump right into these workouts!!! Take your time building up your weekly mileage over the 8-10 months before you marathon and slowing build your tempo and long run up to the Goals listed below.
Example: GOAL: Running 6 x 1 mile @ 110% of Marathon Race Pace. After about 2-3 months of easy base running with Striders or Diagonals after your easy runs, start off with doing 2-3 mile warm up, 1 x 1 Mile @ 110% of your Marathon Pace and then every other, or every 3rd week of your 4 week cycle add a mile until you are running, 6 x 1 mile. Make sure to get a solid 15-25 min warm up and at least a 10-15 minute cool down.
Make these workouts part of you Marathon Program and you will become a Stud!
1) 24 mile long run at an easy pace (80-85% of marathon pace). This workout has many benefits essential to successful marathon running. It aids mental concentration, adaptation of the muscular structure to competing for multiple hours, it makes the body more efficient at using energy sources such as glycogen and fat (especially in using fat as a fuel source) and boosts the bodies storage capacity for glycogen. To enhance this fuel burning efficiency it is recommended you only take water and electrolyte tablets during this workout.
2) 20 miles run with the first 10 miles at an easy pace (80-85% of marathon pace) and the last 10 miles run at marathon race pace. This run does many of the same things as listed in #1 above but it also teaches your body to run at marathon pace when you are tired. This workout is a staple in many marathoners programs including Ryan Hall's.
3) 10 mile Tempo run at 100 to 102% of marathon race pace. It is recommended this workout be done on the road on a course similar in geography to the course you will be racing on. This workout is often used mid-week to acclimate the body to running at marathon race pace and boost aerobic stamina (endurance). Intimate familiarity with desired marathon pace is crucial in successfully racing a marathon, especially in the critical early stages when you are feeling fresh and it’s easy to get started at too fast a pace.
4) 10k Tempo run @ 105-106% of marathon pace. It is recommended the workout be done on a track or on a flat surface where the pace can be closely monitored. This workout is a favorite of Renato Canova for building aerobic power/capacity in his marathoners. Many runners substitute a sub-maximum effort 10k road race for this workout. This workout pushes outward the anaerobic threshold and enhances the aerobic efficiency and characteristics of muscles fibers in the muscular system. In addition prolonged efforts at faster than marathon pace have the additional mental benefit of making marathon pace seem easier in comparison.
5) 6 x 1 mile @ 110% of marathon pace with 400 jog recovery. It is recommended that this workout be done on a track or flat road course. This workout is a classic speed workout for marathon runners. This workout improves the bodies efficiency (aerobic capacity) as well as its ability to process and get rid of lactate. This increased efficiency enhances the body’s ability to handle, remain relaxed at, and run efficiently at the slightly slower pace of marathon race pace. Studies have found little benefit to running at more than 10% faster than goal race pace, so if able additional reps or a shorter recovery should be used rather than increasing the pace of this workout.
Example in calculating paces.
If marathon race pace (MPR) for you is 6:00 per mile (360 seconds) then:
80% of MRP is 360/.80 = 7:30 (450 seconds) 105% of MRP is 360/1.05 = 5:43 (343 seconds) 110% of MRP is 360/1.10 = 5:27 (327 seconds)
ALSO REMEMBER TO RUN IN 5 WEEK CYCLES, WEEK 1 EASY, WEEK 2 MEDIUM, WEEK 3 MEDIUM, WEEK 4 HARD, and WEEK 5 EASY. This way you will avoid injuries and burning out.
TRY RUNNING TWO HARD WORKOUTS A WEEK, and the rest easy days, Cross train or completely off.
Example of a Cycle:
Week 1: Tempo Run and Hill Work, semi long run.
Week 2: Speed Work Day and a Long Run(Race Simulation)
Week 3: Same as Week 1
Week 4: Same as Week 2
Week 5: Down week, easy running with Diagonals and Striders, no Long run.
EUGENE -- Oregon mid-distance star Matthew Centrowitz said he struggled with the decision for two months before opting to turn professional.
Centrowtiz signed with London-based agent Ricky Simms, and announced his decision in a release distributed Tuesday by Pace Sports Management, Simms' company.
The reigning USA and NCAA 1,500-meter champion had a year of eligibility remaining at Oregon.
"I weighed both ends of this," Centrowitz said when reached by phone. "It took me a couple months to decide. ... I had to make the decision based on what would keep me progressing, and keep me hungry."
His USATF title was the first for an Oregon undergraduate since Steve Prefontaine.
Centrowitz is Oregon's school record-holder in the 1,500 with a time of 3 minutes 34.69 seconds. He set the record last summer in Paris.
Centrowitz said he planned to finish his degree from Oregon in Sociology this academic year, but would wait until signing with a shoe company before determining where he would train professionally.
"We're keeping all options open," he said.
Oregon coach Vin Lananna said he tried to talk to Centrowitz into staying, but understood the decision.
"We'll do everything we can to help him make the transition," Lananna said.
Centrowitz's departure is a blow to the UO men's team.
"Of course, I would have loved to keep his points here," Lananna said. "But I'm confident we'll have a good team."
html_removed
He will be the first elite athlete to wear their shoes at the NYC Marathon.
Meb Keflezighi after winning the 2009 ING New York City Marathon. Photo: Jane Monti
Skechers, a Manhattan Beach, Calif., company which makes fitness and leisure footwear and apparel, has signed Olympic Marathon silver medallist Meb Keflezighi to an endorsement deal. The company said through a press release today that Keflezighi would endorse “fitness performance footwear and apparel in a worldwide multiple-medium marketing campaign.” The deal extends through August, 2012, so it would include the London Olympics and provide the company with global exposure if Keflezighi makes his third Olympic team.
“Skechers’ new performance shoes change the way I run for the better,” Keflezighi said through a statement. ”I’ve been a heel strike runner my entire life, but I am now wearing SKECHERS to maximize the efficiency of my foot strike. My shoes are my most essential piece of equipment, and right now SKECHERS has the footwear I need to succeed. I’m excited to be partnering with this groundbreaking company.”
Keflezighi will wear Skechers shoes in the ING New York City Marathon on Sunday, November 6, a race he committed to last April. He would be the first elite athlete in that race, part of the prestigious World Marathon Majors series, to wear Skechers shoes. For most of his career, Keflezighi was primarily sponsored by Nike, the Beaverton, Ore., footwear and apparel company.
Keflezighi, 36, has a marathon personal best of 2:09:15, a mark he set when he won the ING New York City Marathon in 2009. He is the former USA 10,000m record holder (27:13.98), and has won multiple USA titles on the track, in cross country and on the roads. In 2004 at the Athens Olympics, he won the silver medal in the marathon.
Skechers is new to the running category, and is best known for their “Shape-Ups” shoes which purport to provide muscle toning through an unusual rocked sole. Their running shoes use “SmartShoe mid-foot strike technology,” the company said.
“Meb is a rock star in the running world and the fact that he trusts our revolutionary running product to carry him across the finish line is a huge win for our position in the performance arena,” said Skechers president Michael Greenberg. ”As an Olympian and professional athlete, Meb brings real gravitas to Skechers performance footwear that will inspire runners around the world to experience our mid-foot strike technologies for themselves.”
Written by: David Monti(c) 2011 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission.
Prep track star had planned to give up triathlon for running
html_removed
Lukas Verzbicas, one of the most highly touted high school runners in the country last year, has left the UniversityofOregon after less than two months to concentrate on triathlon.
Verzbicas' surprising decision was announced Thursday in releases from USA Triathlon and the University of Oregon.
"I have elected to follow my heart and commit full time to the sport of triathlon," Verzbicas said in a statement from USA Triathlon. "I look forward to pursuing my dream of one day representing the United States in the summer Olympic Games."
Verzbicas previously had decided to put triathlon aside and concentrate on running after competing in September's World Junior Triathlon championships, where he won the gold medal.
Verzbicas' family moved from Palos Heights to Colorado Springs in late summer when his stepfather, Romas Bertulis, was named head of USA Triathlon's elite academy, which opened in August. Verzbicas will join that training program.
"Lukas' decision speaks volumes about how far triathlon has advanced," USA Triathlon chief executive Rob Urbach said.
For both competitive and nationality reasons, it would be nearly impossible for Verzbicas to make the 2012 U.S. Olympic team.
A native of Lithuania, he will likely need two more years to become a U.S. citizen, mandatory for selection to the U.S. Olympic team. The International Triathlon Union eligibility rules allowed his participation in their events as a U.S. team member.
And it also would be highly improbable for him to qualify, given that he has yet to compete at the Olympic distances, double those of the junior level.
"We will of course keep the door open for Lukas if he decides in the future to resume his running career at Oregon," Ducks' track and cross-country coach Vin Lananna said in a statement.
Verzbicas intends to enroll as at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, which is giving free tuition to the members of the elite triathlon academy.
During his senior year at Sandburg High School, he won a second straight FootLocker national prep cross-country title, set a high school two-mile national record and broke four minutes for the mile. He was named the Tribune's 2011 Preps Plus Athlete of the Year.
His adjustment to being an Oregon freshman had been difficult. Verzbicas arrived in Eugene with a knee injury sustained at the World Junior Triathlon Championships in Beijing.
In a series of text messages to the Tribune in October, Verzbicas confirmed he was having a difficult transition to college. He called his Oct. 14 debut race at the Wisconsin Invitational "demoralizing," having finished 62nd, but insisted he was "all adjusted and healthy" before the Pac-12 Championships two weeks ago.
Verzbicas, 18, was the fourth Oregon finisher in that race, 23rd overall. He ran just two races for the Ducks.
Eating practices of the best endurance athletes in the world
he Kenyans are doing things right when they sit down at the dinner table, or they wouldn't dominate international competitions.
Compliments of Owen Anderson, Ph.D. For Active.com
It's strange, but true: The nutritional practices of the best endurance athletes in the world have not been carefully studied.
Those "best endurance athletes" are clearly the Kenyan runners. Attempting to verify this fact for you is probably unnecessary, but it can at least be noted that one study found that athletes from just one collection of Kenyans, the Kalenjin tribe, had won approximately 40 percent of all major international middle- and long-distance running competitions in the 10-year period from 1987 to 1997.1
In addition, approximately half of all of the male athletes in the world who have ever run the 10K in less than 27 minutes hail from Kenya. When they're allowed to enter freely, Kenyan athletes dominate road races around the world.
And yet, until now the eating habits of the top-level Kenyan runners haven't been examined in a scientific way, even though the Kenyans' nutritional practices must assuredly represent a key reason for their running success. The person who argues that "If only the Kenyans would eat differently, they could run much faster," would be on flimsy ground. The Kenyans are doing things right when they sit down at the dinner table, or they wouldn't dominate international competitions.
But what is it exactly that they're doing? Are they Zone dieters, followers of the Perricone Promise, adherents of the Atkins Diet, or do they focus on the South Beach eating plan? Do they eat lots of "discredited" carbs or large ladles of lipids? From what foods do they get their seemingly limitless energy for running?
Study specifics
To answer these questions, Yannis Pitsiladis of the International Centre for East African Running Science in Glasgow, Scotland, along with Mike Boit (the Olympic bronze-medal winner from the 1972 Games), Vincent Onywera, and Festus Kiplamai from the Exercise and Sports Science Department at Kenyatta University in Nairobi and the Department of Foods, Nutrition and Dietetics at Egerton University in Njoro, Kenya, recently monitored everything that went into the mouths of 10 elite Kenyan runners over a seven-day period at a training camp near Kaptagat, Kenya.2
This group of Kenyan athletes was truly top-level, including several Olympic medalists and also first-place finishers from the Paris and Athens World Championships.
All 10 runners belonged to the Kalenjin tribe, with five from the Nandi sub-tribe, three from the Keiyo grouping, one Tugen individual, and a Sabaot. Two of the athletes specialized in 1,500-meter running, while the other eight were training for eight- and 12-K cross-country competitions.
The average age of the Kenyans was 21, and mean height was 1.75 meters (~5' 9"), with remarkably little variation in stature (the shortest individual was 1.70 meters, the tallest 1.80 meters, which meant that the smallest and greatest heights were just three percent away from the mean).
As you might expect, the Kenyans were lean, with body weight averaging ~58.6 kilograms (129 pounds) and body fat ranging from about six to 10 percent.
Dietary intakes were measured each day for seven consecutive days in December, when the athletes were reaching peak condition for the Kenyan cross-country season. The Kenyans followed their normal diets and weighed and recorded everything that was consumed (both food and drink); food weighing was accomplished with digital scales. The elite Kenyans were given as much food as they wanted, and they ate five times a day, according to the following plan:
Breakfast at 8:00 a.m.
Mid-morning snack at 10:00 a.m.
Lunch at 1:00 p.m.
Afternoon snack at 4:00 p.m.
Supper at 7:00 p.m.
Kenyan runners tend to eat a limited variety of foods, and that was certainly the case with these elite athletes. Most of their nutrients came from vegetable sources, and the "staple" edibles were bread, boiled rice, poached potatoes, boiled porridge, cabbage, kidney beans and ugali (a well-cooked, corn-meal paste that's molded into balls and dipped into other foods for flavoring).
Meat (primarily beef) was eaten just four times a week in fairly small amounts (about 100 grams -- 3.5 ounces a day). A fair amount of tea with milk and sugar was imbibed on a daily basis (more on this in a moment).
If you're thinking about heading to a nutritional-supplement store to purchase some performance-enhancing supplements (or you already purchase on a regular basis), bear in mind that the Kenyan runners were not taking supplements of any kind. There were no vitamins, no minerals, no special formulations or miracle compounds, nada. The gold-medal-winning Kenyans adhered to the odd philosophy that regular foods could fuel their efforts quite nicely.
Quality running
The Kenyan runners' training during the seven-day study period was straightforward. The athletes trained mostly as a group, two times a day, with a 6 a.m. run followed by an afternoon run at around 5 p.m. The 6 a.m. run was six to nine miles at varying speeds, including a nice chunk of high-quality running at a pace as high as four minutes per mile.
The afternoon runs usually centered on four to five miles at an easy pace (note that this works out to a weekly total of about 75 miles). Once a week, the two 1,500-meter runners carried out high-speed interval training.
A very interesting observation was that each elite Kenyan spent just 1.2 hours per day running, with about 33 percent of this consisting of "quality running." This means that the elite-Kenyans' daily "intake" of quality running was about 23 minutes.
Daily nutrient intake
About 86 percent of daily calories came from vegetable sources, with 14 percent from animal foods. As you might expect, the Kenyan-runners' diets were extremely rich in carbohydrate, with 76.5 percent of daily calories coming from carbs. The Kenyans ate about 10.4 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of body mass each day, or approximately 4.7 grams per pound of body weight.
An amazing facet of the Kenyans' eating habits was the consistency of this carbohydrate intake: Every 24 hours, the Kenyans took in about 600 grams of carbohydrate, with very little variation from day to day. They were truly stocking their leg muscles with glycogen, giving their sinews the right fuel necessary for the high-intensity training they were conducting -- and avoiding the fatigue which automatically follows on the heels of glycogen wipe-outs.
Incidentally, sports-nutrition experts frequently recommend that athletes involved in strenuous training should consume about nine or more grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of body mass per day, so you can see that the Kenyans were truly eating according to current scientific wisdom.
Given such an ample carbohydrate intake and the reliance on vegetable foods, fat intake was bound to be modest, and it was: About 13.4 percent of daily calories came from fat (~46 grams), with 61 percent of these calories coming from milk (Kenyan runners ordinarily place full-cream milk in their tea).
Protein intake amounted to 10.1 percent of all calories and a total of 1.3 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day (75 total grams daily). Once again, the Kenyans were fully in line with recommendations of top sports nutritionists, who call for protein intakes of ~1.2 grams per kilogram daily for endurance athletes. About two-thirds of the protein came from plant foods. Water intake was modest (about 1.113 liters per day), and the Kenyans actually tended to drink more tea than water on a daily basis (tea consumption was about 1.243 daily liters).
The foods
As you might expect, ugali furnished about 23 percent of the runners' daily calories; after all, it's the national dish of Kenya. There were some surprises in the dietary data, however. For example, just behind ugali in second place for calorie-provisioning was plain sugar, which provided about one out of every five calories (20 percent) consumed by the Kenyans over the course of the day.
That's right, the vitamin-free, mineral-free, "bad," "simple" carb from which Americans are fleeing was consumed in rather prodigious amounts, about 133.5 grams (534 calories) per day. Similar levels of sugar consumption are sometimes blamed for the rising tide of obesity in the U.S., particularly among young people, but in fact sugar intake provides some key advantages for athletes involved in intense training on a daily basis: After all, the stuff re-stocks muscle-glycogen stores very quickly and effectively.
As long as the rest of the diet is rich in vitamins, minerals, fiber and anti-oxidants (which is the case with the elite Kenyans), and as long as regular exercise is carried out and caloric intake doesn't exceed caloric expenditure (also the case), sugar isn't a bad thing at all. In fact, it can be argued (from the quick-glycogen-replacement standpoint), that sugar is a rather-desirable nutrient (before you send me any angry letters on this topic, please look up the frequencies of type 2 diabetes in Kenya and the U.S.).
In terms of providing calories, the "big-four provisioners" in the Kenyans' diets were:
ugali, with 23 percent of total calories
sugar, with 20 percent of all calories
rice, at 14 percent
milk, hitting 13 percent
No other single food provided more than six percent of daily caloric sustenance (bread was at six percent, with potatoes and beans at five percent each).
Milk provided the lion's share of protein, with 28 percent of daily protein grams (and calories), followed by beans, with a respectable 19-percent share, and rice and ugali were neck-and-neck for third and fourth, with 12 and 11 percent of daily protein, respectively. A smaller surprise? Since the Kenyans relied so heavily on full-cream milk as a source of energy and protein, their daily consumption of saturated fat checked in at about 28 grams -- 252 calories out of the daily caloric quota of 3,000 or so.
Other findings
In addition to taking in slightly more than the recommended amounts of carbohydrate and protein for athletes, the Kenyans also used another fundamental principle of sports nutrition to enhance their abilities to train and perform well: They always ate within one hour after workouts. This post-workout period when glycogen re-synthesis rates can be maximized, as long as adequate carbohydrate is provided in the diet (as was the case with the Kenyans). When carbohydrate ingestion is delayed after a training session, lower total intramuscular glycogen levels are often the result. Those Kenyans are smart!
The Kenyan runners' carbohydrate intakes are also higher than those reported in endurance athletes in other countries around the world. As Pitsiladis, Boit, Onywera and Kiplamai pointed out, the carb intake of elite distance runners in the U.S., the Netherlands, Australia and South Africa have been measured at 49 (!), 50, 52 and 50 percent of total calories, respectively, a far cry from the Kenyan total of 76.5 percent.3,4,5,6 The Kenyans appear to be doing a better job of fueling themselves for their high-intensity training, compared with their "peers" in other countries.
This new investigation agrees well with the limited information published about Kenyan-athletes' eating habits in the past. Two previous studies found carbohydrate intake in Kenyans to be about 71 and 75 percent of total calories, with fat and protein consumption similar to the levels observed in the new research. 7,8 This kind of validation and the careful techniques employed in the new study (one of the researchers, for example, stayed with the athletes around the clock while the dietary monitoring was being carried out) indicate that the data is accurate, truly representing elite-Kenyans' eating patterns.
Overall, the Kenyan eating plan has strong similarities to the food-consumption habits of another group of outstanding distance runners -- the Tarahumara Indians of the Sierra Madre Mountains in Mexico. The Tarahumaras are more-noted for their ultra-running capacities, rather than their 10-K performances, so one might expect their diets to be a bit more heavily biased in the direction of fat, but research reveals that about 75 to 80 percent of total daily energy comes from carbohydrate, 12 percent from fat and eight to 13 percent (sound familiar?) from protein. Like the Kenyans, the Tarahumara Indians eat copious quantities of corn meal, along with praiseworthy portions of beans.9
With their high carbohydrate intake, adequate protein ingestion, and perfect timing of meals, the top Kenyan runners are eating optimally -- doing the things at the dinner table which are necessary for them to perform at the world's highest level. We can certainly learn from them and eat in ways which give our muscles the fuel they need to carry out the high-quality workouts which represent our true path to performance improvement.
Matt Centrowitz has been hammering runners in high school since his freshman year and destroying his competition in the Pac-12 likes it’s his job. Recently he has been making a quite a name for himself on the international scene, as in winning Bronze with a blazing time of 3:36.08 in the 1,500m at the World Championships in Korea this summer. The East Africans, Europeans and even the Russians are standing up and are being forced to take notice of this young blooded race horse from the Good old' U.S. of A.
Matt has racing in his blood as his father was a Two-Time Olympian and a four-time United States Champion in the 5000m, so for him to take the next step to world class running only makes sense. Please keep an eye out for Matt and his ferocious kick on the Tracks all throughout Europe and the Diamond League this summer.
Have you ever wondered if other people have knee pains, sore ankles, back pain or muscle soreness during their training runs? Or do you worry about getting older and your body not responding the way you want to your training or even being really tired after long runs? I say, not to worry, and that your mind can tell your body whatever it wants!!! Mind over matter always wins…
A man from India, Fauja Singh, just completed the Scotiabank Toronto Marathon in Canada and claims to be 100 years old!!
He completed the race in last position and it did not bother him in the least, “a finish is a finish” he said, good point, I say J! He also said that “I have said it before; that I will carry on running, as it is keeping me alive”. It goes to show you that running actually does keep you alive and ticking.
Horrible news came out today regarding the 100 year being the oldest man to finish the 26.2 Marathon Distance. The ****ss Book of World Records denied him the record stating; “it’s a no-go for the record, I am afraid because you can’t prove how old you are, you can’t be the world’s oldest anything”.
So this goes out to all you lifelong runners!! Keep your birth certificate!!!
Do we compete at sports to win?, or is there something else, something deeper, something that is formed from within, made out of the mold that you are and transformed into something great, something inspiring…
When I was a child I was taught that sportsmanship, honor, integrity and your fellow competitor are all more important than myself. It was hammered into me that being gentlemen, assisting when no one expects it or to step up and to do the right thing was all that mattered. I know this is an easy thing to tell someone, but to have it taught and bread into you can not only make you a better athlete, but a better person, friend, lover, brother and father. I have to tip my hat to all my Coaches and Teachers at my very strict British Private School in Mhlambanyatsi, Swaziland in Southern Africa. Usutu Forest Primary School had two words for its Motto, “AIM HIGH”, in all that you do, from the things you said, the chores you had to complete, your homework, your athletics you competed in and the way you treated your teachers, mentors, teammates, fellow students, friends and family. It was an ideal that everyone up held and it is something that we see less and less of every year that passes us by.
Until now…
The Story was provided to me by Mary Lynn Smith from the Star Tribune. Thank you Mary!!
START:
Mark Paulauskas was near the mile mark in his high school cross-country race when pain shot through his leg and a 3-inch gash to the bone stopped him from taking another step.
The Lakeville South freshman was calling out in pain after being accidentally punctured by another runner's spikes, but he wasn't surprised that no one stopped. "Cross-country running is a competitive sport," he said
Then suddenly along came this big guy -- a runner from another team -- who scooped up the 100-pound 14-year-old and continued running the course in search of help. "I said, 'Dude, what are you doing? You have to finish the race,'" Paulauskas said.
Josh Ripley wasn't concerned about his race time after seeing Paulauskas' lower leg covered in blood. "You could tell something was wrong," said the 16-year-old, a junior at Andover High School. But they were on the backside of the Applejack Invite 5-kilometer race -- a spot where there are no spectators, no coaches, no one to help.
"It was just a natural instinct to stop. He was in desperate need of help. People are more important to me than my race or my time. When someone's in need, it's my responsibility to step up," said Ripley, who stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 185 pounds.
He tried to calm the bleeding Paulauskas. "I tried to reassure him that I was going to get him to his parents and the hospital. ... He started to breathe and relax."
Paulauskas said he became numb to the pain and listened to Ripley's words of comfort. "He told me, 'It's going to be OK, man.'"
Other runners patted Ripley on the back as they passed, saying "Good job, man."
About a quarter-mile away, Paulauskas' coach, Jessica Just, began to hear there was trouble on the course. As some of her runners passed, they called out, "Mark is hurt." And then as she started to run in search of Paulauskas, more runners flew by on the course, yelling, "He's really hurt."
Then she saw the Andover athlete carrying her Lakeville South runner.
"I was just kind of stunned," she said. "It was heartwarming to see another runner, especially from another team, giving up his race basically to assist this kid, not just to help him but to carry him a couple hundred meters to get help. ...It was true sportsmanship. You talk to your kids about being good sportsmen and good teammates. This was a real-life example."
Ripley handed Paulauskas over to the Lakeville South coaches and jumped back into the race. He had fallen into last place. But with less than two miles to go, Ripley said, "I was feeling pretty good." He pushed on and passed a few runners before the finish line.
He shrugged off suggestions that he was a hero, but will be honored for his efforts at Monday's meeting of the Anoka-Hennepin school board. He's also fielded calls from numerous national and local news organizations.
"I'm flattered, but anyone else would have done the same thing,'' Ripley said "A lot of runners get into a zone, and they probably didn't think to stop until they had passed."
Paulauskas said until last week's injury, which took 20 stitches to close, he likely wouldn't have stopped for an injured runner.
"But now I would, because Josh did," Paulauskas said. "Everyone is so competitive, but now I would stop because it's the right thing to do."
END.
So just as you think that integrity, honor and the gentlemen code was disappearing from the earth a 16 year old boy by the name of Josh Ripley steps up and does what no one else would, no one else could and helps someone who was in need, putting a fellow competitor before himself. This is what sport is all about, competing, inspiring and molding yourself into something that not even you could imagine.
So the next time you are out of a run, ride or hike and you see someone in need, don’t be afraid to ruin your race, miss a Personal Best or even fail to finish the race, take a leap of faith and assist someone who would never expect help, never ask for it, and you will see the people around, including yourself transform into that better person, that better athlete who was not afraid to step up and do the right thing.
Patrick Makau of Kenya set a world record of 2 hours 3 minutes 38 seconds at the Berlin Marathon on Sunday, sending Haile's world record to the back seat. I feel that Haile is down, but not out, he will return as he did before with a great marathon.
There is no doubt about it, Patrick is the best Marathon runner ever, after running at Boston and not having blazing time count, and by him coming out and showing the world what kind of an athlete he trully is!
If he win the Gold Medal in London, it will close out an amazing 18 month run from the young Kenyan runner.
Just a friendly reminder that Boston Registration opens this month...
The B.A.A. reminds you that applications for the 2012 Boston Marathon registration will begin to be received at 10:00 a.m. ET on Monday, September 12, 2011. The new registration process will allow the fastest qualifiers to register first, and the registration period will continue for two weeks, or until the field size is reached. Race registration will be held entirely online at www.baa.org.
On Monday, September 12, eligible runners who have met the qualifying standards for their age and gender by 20 minutes or more may register for the 2012 Boston Marathon.
On Wednesday, September 14 at 10:00 a.m. ET (if space remains), registration will open for those who've met their qualifying standards by 10 minutes or more.
On Friday, September 16 at 10:00 a.m. ET (if space remains), registration will open for those who have met their qualifying standards by five minutes or more.
Registration will close Saturday, September 17 at 10:00 p.m. ET and (if space remains) will re-open on Monday, September 19 at 10:00 a.m. ET to all qualifiers until September 23 at 5:00 p.m. ET. Those who are the fastest among the pool of applicants in their age and gender will be accepted.
Boston Marathon Registration Dates:
Monday, September 12: Qualifiers 20 minutes, 00 seconds or faster
Wednesday, September 14: Qualifiers 10 minutes, 00 seconds or faster (if space remains)
Friday, September 16: Qualifiers 5 minutes, 00 seconds or faster (if space remains)
Monday, September 19: All qualifiers (if space remains)
The 59 seconds cushion, which had been given to runners in years past, is only applicable for week two qualifiers (September 19 - September 23).
If space remains available after the two week process, registration will remain open to any qualifier on a first come, first served basis until the maximum field size is reached.
The B.A.A. will make an announcement if the field size limit is reached prior to the conclusion of the registration period.
Though the B.A.A. will e-mail registrants upon the completion of their form, runners are not officially entered into the race until their qualifying time is verified. This can take a matter of seconds or days depending on the race.
The qualification window for the 2013 Boston Marathon will begin on Saturday, September 24, or as soon as 2012 registration closes.
Two words...Usain Bolt, the man has zero class and no respect for the men that came before him and the men who race against him.
I was so happy when he false started in the 100m Finals!!!
Just before they were commanded by the Starter to "get set" he looked to his left and to his right and shook his head and dusted off his shoulder as if to say "these other sprinters do not belong on the same track as me".
Track & Field is all about having class, showing sportsmanship, and giving the outmost respect for your fellow competitor(s).
Somewhere along the way Usain Bolt either, lost that respect, was never taught it or just does not care for the sport that has made him who he is, put a roof over his head and food in his belly. Without Track & Field Usain Bolt would just be a fast runner and that is it.
Is he fast? Yes, is he the most amazing sprinter to grace the earth’s surface?, Yes, is he the fastest man to ever have lived? Yes, but why the ridiculous behavior? I will let you answer that question…
I just returned from Albuquerque and took care of some amazing altitude training. I have to admit that New Mexico has some of the best trail running that I have experienced in the US in a long time. There were plenty of soft track roads to run along the Rio Grande on the Bosque Trail, gravel tracks along the golf courses in down town, in and around the University of New Mexico and then I spent at least 5 days running in the Sandia Mountain Range.
There were a couple of notable trails that I ran on…
10k Trail: This entire trail is above 10,000 feet and loops around the mountain to finish you off where you started…and yes I definitely felt the altitude within the first 90 secs!
The South Peak Trail, using part of “Bart’s Trail”: This trail is just over 9 miles long and makes you climb from around 7,500 feet to 9,500 feet and it makes you work for it! Watch your footing as most of it is not really maintained that well.
It was amazing to feel the effects of the altitude on the body as I changed pace from an easy run to more of a faster run. My dehydration was out of whack and I started using parts of my lungs that I have not used since my last 3km indoor race a couple of years ago.
If you ever get a chance to get out there, please shoot me an email or crank up google and just do a search for “places to run/hike in Albuquerque”.
I have been since I was 6 years old and I have had injuries, terrible races, nasty track/road tangle ups, incredible and miserable experiences...
The question is, "why do I keep running, why do I keep putting on my running shoes...?" and the answer is a simple one. To keep improving, to keep experiencing, to always push my physical limits and most importantly, to just keep moving...The human body is designed to move, stretch, jump and run, to deny your body these gifts is not only a crime, but a waste of the greatest gift of all, and that is freedom. Freedom to run, jump and move is taken for granted by those whom are able and as they say, “use it, you lose it”. So for me I have to keep pushing and training to remain moving, remain physically fit and move my body in any way I can, while I can!
I spent the early summer of 2010 training for the San Diego Rock n’ Roll Marathon, in which I ran a Personal best of 1:14.10 which boosted me into my Marathon training for the 2010 Chicago Marathon. I went to Chicago and had a very simple running plan and that was to not RACE, just run 6:50’s regardless if you feel good or not. It may sound strange to some, but the goal was not a great time at Chicago, rather just qualify for the 2011 Boston Marathon. It was harder than I imagined!
I had run 4 or more long runs over 22 miles and had run them between 6:20 and 6:40 minute pace with very little fatigue post run, so I knew I had the strength and fitness to run a solid marathon. I also had been doing workouts directly from Paul Tergat’s (a 2:04 marathoner) Book “Running to the Limit” and had great indications that I was in 2:28 marathon race shape. I had also been doing 14-18 mile race simulations at 110% of 2:28 race pace with great results and very little post run soreness or fatigue…I was almost ready and the Boston Marathon was just around the corner…it was go time…So like all smart marathoners/runners I started my taper around 18 days out, with my last 23 miler 21 days from race day. I started taking it easy, still getting diagonals, easy runs and some light speed work, everything was working out perfectly. Every time I ran I felt stronger, faster and lighter, it really could not have been going any better!
So going into the week before Boston, Boston is always on Patriots Day(huge Boston Holiday, no one goes to work, rather they are out on the roads cheering on the runners) I felt strong and just had two more light workouts before the big day on Monday, and this is how it went.
Saturday: 3 mile warm up, 6 x 800 at 2:28-2:30 with 400m jog rest on soft rolling gravel trails, 2 mile cool down.
Sunday: 14 miles very easy on great trails, 6 x 30 fast 30 seconds and 30 seconds slow.
Monday (a week out): Rest day, light 1km swim to flush out the legs.
Tuesday: 50 minutes easy, and light stretching.
Wednesday: 2 mile warm up, 3 miles of 200m “ON” at 38 seconds (5:04 min pace) and 200m “OFF” at 48 seconds (6:24 min pace) AND on lap 10 my left calf completely locked up, GAME OVER!!! I could not even walk across the grassy field back to my car keys and water bottle…my 2011 Boston Marathon Dream was officially over.
And that is how fast things can change in running…you can have 8 months of incredible training, watching what you eat, not drinking alcohol and getting your rest. It does not matter, if you get injured it is all for not…
What to do? Well, I iced, wrapped, elevated, received active release therapy and all I could do now was rest for 4 days and hope that on Sunday (the day before The 2011 Boston Marathon) I could go out and jog and everything would be better.
So Sunday rolled around and I went out to jog and as soon as I tried to open up my calf locked again and I was done…it was not to be for me this year…We went up to Boston anyway and watched, from the sidelines, one of the greatest feats from a human to ever happen in the world of running or athletics.
That is how running is sometimes…you put in the world and a simple injury can erase all your hard work.
Does this stop me from running?!! I think not, in some sick way it draws me closer to running and helps me learn more about myself and patience, lots and lots of patience.
The Plan: To spend the next 3 months in rehabilitation and repairing the damage.
Two great things came out of my injury, and that is just how you have to look at it…
1.) I started riding my bike and just took my running base/fitness and turned it into cycling fitness. Then 6 weeks later I road my bicycle across the country in RAAM, or Race Across America and made a very crappy situation into a complete success.
2.) Learned even more about myself, how to reach my absolute physical, emotional and psychological limits.
And so there it is…we only learn from falling down, getting injured or encountering adversity, we are only as good or as strong as what we have to overcome. The sweet is not as sweet without the sour…
So to all those runners out there, take it all in, experience the good the bad and sometimes the absolute miserable situations and build yourself a stronger, faster and better you!
Go Get’em.
(I just started running 2 weeks ago and it is slow going, the swimming, cycling and Crossfit are assisting in speeding recovery and my fitness level)
The Publix Half Marathon was run two weeks ago, it used to be the ING Marathon, but the course has changed very little and is still very hilly and fairly tough.
I used the Half Marathon for one of my "progression" sessions or AT run, Boston Marathon Training, which started off with 3 miles at 5:50 pace( about 3 months ago) and every other week you add a mile until you are up to 13 miles at 5:50 pace. It was a good determinate for my fitness level and also a great prep for the hills at Boston. I came 11th, which was a decent showing for not racing it, one of my buds ran 1:06:53 and won the race, he is a monster and a real runner!
I represented my G Series Pro shirt and had a number of people come up to me at the end of the race to inquire about G Series Pro and so I dropped some knowledge on them while I sipped my "G Series Pro-Recovery drink". The difference is amazing...I used to drink regular gatorade, followed by some sprite and Moe's or Willy's burrito to make me feel better after a run or a race, but no more! I just throw back one of the 03 Recovery drinks and then about 45 minutes later I eat food and the difference is life changing.
I did my last long run this past Sunday, 23 miles in 2:49 on trails, 7:22 per mile, with the first 11 at 7:35-7:40 pace and then the last 12 at 6:48 to 6:55 pace, I know it was not very fast, but I was not concerned about running it hard or fast, but rather I was concerned about my "time on my feet". I know what you are thinking...what did I do after my run? Well...I walked for about 3-5 minutes, enjoyed my 03-Recovery Drink, soaked my legs in my pool and then got some great stretching in! On Monday I got up, paced my little brother through a 56 min 10km which was perfect to get the gunk out of my legs for my last track workout before the Boston Marathon tomorrow and did a 60 minute power yoga class this morning. I have 10 X 800m @ 2:38 on Thursday and then I am done!!! Boston here I come...
When it comes to making a fast buck, people will try any and everything to do it! Please be on the look out for "people" or fake Companies reaching out and attempting to collect from you for anything at all!
Ensure that if you have one or more magazine subscriptions that you make sure to manage them well and know who you are forking your money out to, so you don't get "forked" along the way!!!
Runnerstimes, Runnersworld and Track & Field News have all had their names used to trick repeat customers into sending money...BE CAREFUL!!!.
Recently a number of our subscribers have been solicited for subscriptions renewals by a company called Publishers Services Exchange. This company has operated out of several states and under a variety of names in the past. They are not authorized to solicit your renewal nor can they fill your order. Many of our subscribers have been fooled by their mailing piece which looks very much like our own renewal notice.
Track & Field News does not hire outside agencies to solicit your subscription renewal. Make sure to send your renewal payment only to 2570 El Camino Real, Suite 480, Mountain View, CA 94040.
When fraudulent agencies get your money for a product they can’t deliver, they often offer a substitute product instead. Note that you are not required to accept any substitution of the subscription you originally purchased and are entitled to a full refund. You are also not obligated to pay any kind of “service fee.”
If you paid for your subscription with a credit card and are unable to obtain a refund, your credit card company should be able to assist by crediting your account and issuing a chargeback to the vendor. This can usually be accomplished with a call to your credit card company’s toll-free customer service number.
If you have paid for a product to be delivered through the mail, which you have not received and have been unable to obtain a refund, you may file a complaint with the U.S. Postal Inspection Mail Fraud Department, 222 South Riverside Plaza, Suite 1250, Chicago, IL 60606.
TEN WAYS GET MOVING AND HELP YOU TO STAY MOVING!!!
If you can’t think of a reason to run, then wonder into a Game Reserve and get chased by a wild animal. WARNING: Hippos are responsible for more deaths in Africa than any other animal, including Lions, Crocodiles and snakes.
Sign Up for a Race Nothing gets you motivated like a deadline. Some favorite races: Skirt Chasers, in which women get a 3-minute head start before the men are let loose; New York’s Fun Run and Happy Hour, which features post-race drink specials; and the Zooma Half Marathon & 10K series, which includes post-race shopping, massages and wine. Check out active.com for races near you.
Hit the Bars Pre-run: Grab an energy bar (we’ve picked the tastiest) so you have the fuel to run your best. Post-run: Toss back a beer. Research conducted at Granada University in Spain shows that a pint of beer, post-workout, rehydrates the body better than water. The carbs replace lost calories and researchers believe the sugars and salts may help the body absorb fluids more quickly.
Get Your Perfect Training Plan (Free!) The right training plan helps you feel ready at the start and lets you finish strong. Go the distance — happily — with our 12-week, 5K training plan for beginners.
Ease Your Knees Runners have a decreased risk of osteoarthritis, the most common type of arthritis, according to a National Examination Survey. Running increases oxygen flow and flushes out toxins resulting in healthier cartilage and stronger ligaments around the knee. Already have knee pain? Find out how to nix it with these three moves.
Get New Shoes Over time (as little as 6 months) running shoes lose traction and their cushioning breaks down, making you more prone to aches. Which to choose? Check out our top picks (narrowed down from 44 shoes tested by 275 women). Still some life in your old pair? Donate them to soles4souls.org, which provides shoes, free of charge, to those in need.
Live Longer and Better Beyond helping you manage your weight, running has been shown to reduce blood pressure and improve cardiovascular health – all of which helps you live longer and better. Running is also a weight-bearing exercise, which can help prevent disabling osteoporosis.
Think About Potato Chips Good form makes you more efficient, which means you can go longer and stronger without using up more energy. Aim to maintain an even stride, with your feet under your body as you run, and keep your shoulders loose. Our favorite form tip: Nix the tension in your arms and hands by pretending you’re holding a potato chip in each hand.
Join the 6-Legged Race When you run with your four-legged friend, he gets just as many health benefits as you do. What’s more, running with your dog is a great way for you to bond and an easy way to stay safe on the road.
Lose Track of Time If you’re a data fanatic, try leaving the watch at home. “Training without a watch lets you run with a greater sense of comfort,” says Frank Webbe, Ph.D., a sports psychologist who works with runners at the Florida Institute of Technology. “It helps your performance because you’re paying attention to your body rather than to the watch itself.”
Eat Dessert! The average woman can burn 345 calories in just 30 minutes of running. That means you can have a 16-oz. milkshake, a 2-inch brownie with 2 tablespoons of real whipped cream, a 1/2-cup of Ben & Jerry’s Chubby Hubby ice cream, or (sorry, that’s “or,” not “and”!) 3 Godiva truffles, guilt-free. Find out how many calories you can torch with our Calorie Burn Tool.
For all your fitness tips and information please visit www.shape.com
Hit the roads, trails or track! Whatever you do, keep moving and keep it FUN!!!
AT THE CENTER of our every cell lies the twisting ladder of the double helix. A mere four molecules—adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine—pair off three billion times to make up our DNA, the instruction manual for our bodies. Twenty-five thousand sections of each DNA ladder are especially important. They are genes, and it is they that actually tell the body how to build itself.
In April 2003 an international consortium of scientists announced the completion of the Human Genome Project. After 13 years of work (and 200,000 years of modern man), the project had mapped the human genome; all 25,000 regions of DNA that contain genes had been identified. Now researchers knew where to begin looking for the biological foundations of many of our traits, from hair color to hereditary disease to athleticism.
But even if scientists know where the most important parts of the manual are located, they don't necessarily know how to read them. In fact, the precise functions of most genes, including many so-called sports-performance genes, remain mysterious, and thus talk of splicing DNA to create the perfect athlete is a bit premature.
Already, though, scientific research gives us a fuller picture of how we evolved into athletes, and it suggests that some things that appear to be largely genetic (such as East African dominance of distance running) might not be, and that other things that seem entirely voluntary (such as an athlete's will to train) might in fact have an important genetic component.
Scientific studies that associate particular genes with athleticism are published literally every month. These genes exist, in differing versions, in all of us, from All-Pro to average Joe. As the study of performance genes accelerates, more assumptions about sports and genetics will no doubt prove false, and new answers will reshape our view of why and how some people become NFL running backs or Olympic swimmers while others struggle to pass phys ed.
The findings are already raising ethical, social and even economic questions. Yet even as the research explains many of our athletic differences, it may reveal more important biological truths about us as a single humanity.
WE ARE BECAUSE WE RUN
IN OUR GENES we are all distance runners. Let's start at the cusp, just before humans became the earth's marathoners. Two-and-a-half-million years ago, our ancestors lived in the trees of the East African woodland, foraging for fruit and digging up tubers. They were wide-hipped, hunched and hairy, and the giants among them were all of five feet tall. But their world was changing dramatically. Their forest home had begun to give way to hot, dry savanna, with few trees and with grass short enough to give sight lines that stretched until the earth curved away. Our forebears saw for the first time the hordes of wildebeest and antelope that filled the plain.
Gradually these ancient, mostly vegetarian primates dropped from the trees and went looking for steak. Initially they might have used vultures as their guides, racing hyenas to scavenge the leftover brains and bone marrow of dead antelopes. For the first time in history a two-legged mammal had reason to run long. Those who could jog in the punishing equatorial heat could beat the hyenas to a carcass. They could survive another day, perhaps long enough to have children.
The major changes that took hold in the body over the next half-million years were examined in 2004 by biologists Dennis Bramble of the University of Utah and Daniel Lieberman of Harvard. Their conclusion contradicted the common assumption that human running was simply a by-product of walking. Nearly every one of the major anatomical changes en route to modern man, the professors argued, conspired to make him the hot-weather endurance running champion of the savanna.
There is, for instance, the rubbery neck ligament that acts like a shock absorber for the head during running; the glut of sweat glands to help keep the body cool while running; the lack of body fur for the same reason; shoulders that move, unlike in apes, independently from the neck so that the arms can swing while the head remains still; long legs and narrow waists; larger surface areas in hip, knee and ankle joints, again for improved shock absorption; short toes, which are better for pushing off than for grasping tree branches; an arched foot, which acts as a spring; and big butt muscles to keep us upright. "Have you ever looked at an ape? They have no buns," Bramble says. "We think running is one of the most transforming events in human history."
No longer content merely to scavenge, our ancestors, despite having no greater weapons than sticks and stones, became deadly hunters. They overwhelmed their perspirationally challenged quarry with a methodical chase that lasted until the beasts, unable to pant sufficiently while fleeing, simply gave up from heat exhaustion.
Descartes said we are because we think, but consider that we thought only after we ran. Even our large brains developed because we ran, growing only once our endurance enabled us to gorge on animal fat and protein. We are who we are—the only sweating, largely hairless bipedal mammals—because we ran. As Lieberman puts it, "Endurance running is hardwired into our anatomy and physiology."
For decades running was considered an unimportant part of human evolution because we humans are such pathetic wimps at sprinting. In his world-record 200-meter dash, Usain Bolt averaged a little more than 23 mph for nearly 20 seconds. That would make him an abject failure as a savanna hunter because an antelope can double that clip for minutes at a time. But with the help of our upright stance (which exposes less of our bodies to the sun) and our profuse sweating, we can outrun just about any other animal on the planet if the race extends over hours in searing midday heat.
Sound far-fetched? Consider that humans have beaten horses in the 22-mile Man Versus Horse Marathon in Wales, and humans routinely win the 50-mile Man Against Horse Race in Prescott, Ariz. And note that in Southern Africa a small number of San Bushmen, the world's oldest community of modern humans, still hunt by separating an antelope from its pack and chasing it for hours in 105° heat, until the animal simply stops running and waits to be killed. Or note that any Tom, **** or Oprah can complete a marathon with proper training and sensible pacing.
Granted, most of us are a bit out of practice, but even you who walked the mile in high school gym class have the genetic stuff of an endurance hero. Lieberman suggests that our love of sports is partly an outgrowth of our running past. "Animals play at things that are important to them," he says, "and we play at running."
Yet there are massive differences in ability among individual humans even in running, a simple and global sport in which lack of access to equipment does not inhibit achievement. There is, for instance, an undeniable trend in elite running. The 18 fastest marathon times in history belong to East Africans—Ethiopians or Kenyans—and the top 10 sprinters ever in the 100 meters are men of West African descent. In short, they are all black.
ALL GENES ARE AFRICAN
WE ARE ALL AFRICAN of BLACK. Not in the sense that our skin is of a shade that protects against equatorial sunlight, but in the sense that Africa is contained in our every cell.
It starts with our brown-eyed, many-times-great-grandmother, the woman scientists call Mitochondrial Eve. Mitochondrial DNA is a genetic material that is inherited from one's mother, and as it happens, every one of us shares some of it with Mitochondrial Eve, a woman who lived in sub-Saharan Africa around 150,000 years ago, when the entire human population consisted of a few tens of thousands.
Since the mid-1990s scientists have been following the path of mankind's genes away from Mitochondrial Eve by collecting genetic data throughout Africa and beyond. Geneticists Kenneth Kidd of Yale and Sarah Tishkoff of Penn have been among the leaders in this endeavor. Some of their work supports the "recent African origin" model, which suggests that all modern humans can trace their ancestry to a single population in east-central Africa as recently as 100,000 years ago. Since humans branched off from our common ancestor with chimps about six million years ago, that means we're about a one-minute drill out of Africa.
What Kidd, Tishkoff and others have found is that genetic variability—differences in DNA among people—is greater among Africans within a single population than among people from different continents outside Africa. This is because all human genetic information was contained in Africa not so terribly long ago, and our ancestors who left Africa—most likely a single group of no more than a few hundred people—took only a small portion of it with them en route to populating the world. All of us outside Africa are genetic subsets of the subset that left Africa. So despite the fact that black Africans may share certain obvious features, such as dark skin, when it comes to an African's entire genome, there might be more difference between him and his next-door neighbor than between Dirk Nowitzki and Ichiro Suzuki. In fact, the farther a group of native people is from Africa, the less genetically diverse it tends to be. In some sections of DNA, Kidd says, there is more variation within a single African Pygmy population than in the entire rest of the world combined. "In that sense," Kidd says, "I like to say that all Europeans look alike."
This has tremendous implications. In some cases, for example, classifying people solely according to their dark skin will impart no genetically based knowledge about the group's members other than that they have dark skin. Take, for another example, sports. Kidd suggests that for any activity that has a genetic component, the world's most naturally gifted person is likely to be African (or recently removed from Africa, as are African-Americans and Afro-Caribbeans), as is the world's least naturally gifted individual. So both the fastest and slowest runners might well be of recent African descent.
That's not to say that scouts should be looking for the next MJ or Usain among African Pygmies. "There are some anatomical features that would intervene," says Kidd, referring to the Pygmies' short legs, but he adds that "you might find the most naturally gifted basketball players in some of those populations in Africa where height and coordination are on average very high, and where you have a lot of other genetic variation within that group."
Of course, the only real way to test this idea would be to know which genes influence athleticism, and then to look for them in the genomes of the world's best athletes.
There are new races popping up all over the US! The question is not, should I run a race? Rather, Which incredible race should I go out and destroy!!?
Here the top three Coach Cawood Inaugural Event picks:
1.) Hell Run of 2011, Coming to a major city new you!!
Welcome to Hell Run, the most kick-ass race on earth! Prepare yourself for mud pit after mud pit, insane obstacle after insane obstacle and the triumphant glory of becoming a Hell Run finisher ... victory awaits!
2.) See Jane Run Women's Half Marathon and 5km in Seattle, WA. SORRY FELLA's YOU ARE NOT INVITED TO THIS ONE!
This is not just any race. This is a celebration of women of all sizes, ages and fitness levels. Take in the scenic beauty of Seattle. The post finish expo includes champagne, chocolate, shopping and fun! Note: The kids run is open to both girls and boys.
3.) Fort2Base run in Chicago is very unique, not only for the distance being run, but because of it goes from a Fort to a Base and I don't don't know of any races in the world that have either of these charactheristics.
Come join us for the inaugural Fort2Base 10 Nautical Mile (11.5 Miles) or 3 Nautical Miles (3.45 mile) running event from Fort Sheridan to Great Lakes Naval Station. All athletes will run the last few miles through Great Lakes Naval Station and finish at the viewing stand of Ross Field. Great goody bag, finisher's medals for all and a terrific family friendly post race party including a live band and great food and games. You have to run the first in order to run them all!
Send Message 
Add Friend 
Remove Friend 
Block User 
Unblock User 
Invite to Group 
Report User 
