RunSpirited: From the ashes of the RunBum debacle comes a new podcast from Ryan Ploeckelman. First guest, Iron Mike Wardian. Comrades: An open letter to the runners from race management. (For reference, 1R=.06USD.) Cool to see a behind the scenes ...
RunSpirited: From the ashes of the RunBum debacle comes a new podcast from Ryan Ploeckelman. First guest, Iron Mike Wardian.
Comrades: An open letter to the runners from race management. (For reference, 1R=.06USD.) Cool to see a behind the scenes accounting for all the money and sponsors involved.
Hey peeps- I am going in for back surgery today at 1pm. I have a herniated disc that ruptured into my spinal cord and have been unable to stand or walk the last couple days.
The doctors are optimistic that I’ll have a good recovery, but the rehab might be more of an marathon than a sprint… I’ll keep you all posted how it goes
–First two lines from a Facebook entry from David Clark on May 15. Unfortunately, David passed away from complications related to this surgery earlier this week. He was an ultrarunner, coach, vegan and climate activist, best selling author, sober warrior, and founder of The Superman Project.
Youth coaches: What are you doing about XC in the fall? If you’re affiliated with the school, I supposed that’s out of your hands, but for club or rec teams, have you spoken with insurance and permitting people yet? What’s the consensus? Trying to figure this all out and hopefully provide some normalcy for the kids. Thanks.
Ladies: Tips for handling creeps and harassment on the trails.
Trailrunner Mag: Anxious to see how these small format races work. Kudos to the Vacation Races team for being nimble and adapting to these bizarre circumstances.
AJW: The virtues of the solo twenty mile trail run. I’m not quite there but will be soon.
SCMP: New study that shows consuming electrolyte drinks prior to working out is not a good idea.
RW: Fifth grade girl in NC close to 800 miles for the school year. (For reference, we’ve got an active running club at my kids’ school and the two top runners might hit 300.) But what I really like about this article is there’s—outside of a quick quote about measurements–no focus on the parents. Go Hailey!
What are your plans for today and this weekend? I got some new gravel tires for my bike and will be hitting the trails after this cup of coffee then Sunny and I are running the trails tomorrow. Weather is perfect, can’t wait! Any other events or FKT attempts going on?
CTS/Koop: What MUT races may look like in the future and how to prepare for them. (All good possible changes in my opinion!) I’m still looking for an “outlaw” race that’s somewhere between a rave and a fatass that’s got a strong competitive element. Will someone please organize one soon?
Treeline Journal: Chase gets into Gaia GPS mapping and shares what he’s learned. I’ve been curious about this stuff too.
Looking for some new music? Check out the Ruen Brothers. Somewhere between Father John Misty and Roy Orbison…I’m digging them and can’t wait until we’ve got live music again!
It’s three years old, but imagine having this type of attention paid to high school girls running in America. Incredible!
UTMB cancelled for the year. Their 55% refund policy is sure to cause some hysteria today. More from SCMP. So many questions about points, deferrals, etc.
This freight-train tendency—committing to goals or routines that no longer make sense—is fairly typical of runners. We chase a revolving race calendar that refreshes with every orbit of the sun, and we proceed from one goal to the next without pausing to consider it all. There is inertia in running, and this makes us efficient and productive. But we forget to pause and examine whether the ways in which we engage in our sport are healthy or conducive to investing in the world beyond ourselves. Being “benched” is a great opportunity to ask these questions.
Ultrarunning Mag: Fantastic essay by Drew Dinan (from a dad’s perspective) about how we’ve adapted and changed our priorities over the past few months.
Outside/Hutch: The science of running faster. We’ve moved waaaay past springy shoes.
Did you get a chance to watch Zach’s treadmill run on Saturday? He set the new World Record for 100 miles with a 12:09, beating Dave Proctor’s time by over 20 minutes. In addition to his running, the production of the event turned out really well in my opinion. (Full disclosure, I hosted a segment but received nothing in return except maybe a gift pack of S-Fuels bars.) We had a great mix of hosts and guests (damn, I could listen to Geoff Burns all day!) from all perspectives and hopefully kept many of you engaged while Zach clicked off 7:17 miles over and over and over again. I’d love to see something like this but with more than one athlete…If there were an event with three of four of the best mountain climbers in the world racing on a similar incline and with commentary from running media folks, it could be a lot of fun to watch don’t ya think? Or maybe take a few of the top women, put them on similar machines and set the speed so it’s barely tolerable. Who can hang on the longest? Silly ideas, but a whole lot more exciting than “virtual” races in my opinion.
Parents, are you teaching at home now? Here are some coloring pages for the younger ones that feature running icons from the past century.
The fear of meeting up with faster runners is a deterrent to some new folks. (Old ones too!) I’ve got a good friend who’d never run a day in his life until a few weeks ago. Old, tired “cross trainers” and basketball shorts, he tried to keep up with his son on a bike. Started asking me more about running and I arranged to get him a pair of HOKAs as he’s overweight and could use the extra cush. He’s doing better now but is intimidated to run with me because “I’m too fast and he doesn’t want to slow me down.” Baby steps, but I have a feeling I’ll convince and convert him.
Yes, racial discrimination extends into the running world, because, guess what, the running world, like the rest of the world, is populated by human beings. But cherry-picking incidences of racial violence against black runners by whites (like Ahmaud Arbery), or against white runners by blacks (like the Central Park jogger), doesn’t make for a persuasive argument that running is anti-black when Dr. Petrzela doesn’t acknowledge the broader cultural landscape.
—Toni Reavis: The running community does not have a race problem.
Ultrarunning Mag: Three headlamps you’ve (probably) never heard of.
iRunFar: Catching up with Jodee Adams Moore…wow, a blast from the past! The similarities between pottery and training are obvious too. Hey Justin, can we put in requests? What ever happened to Cameron Clayton? That guy had some solid performances then seemed to disappear. What happened?
Like The Wind Magazine: The benefits of having a unique foreign passport in China…you may just be an elite athlete for a day! Anyone else had experiences like this?
SCMP: Wong Ho-chung (6th at UTMB last year) is not letting Covid-19 nor the heat keep him down. He just circumnavigated the entirety of Hong Kong in four days.
Got the notice this morning that Ultra Trail Andorra is cancelled forever. Seems a sponsor backed out and there was some sort of issue with defaming the owners and death threats? Bummer, it was such a fantastic event! Anyone know anything about the back story and whether we might see it ever again?
Jacob Puzey writes about our “new normal”: Virtual races.
I was reading some news yesterday about the NBA, UFC, and MLB coming back without any fans and whether that’s a possibility or not. Aside from the lost ticket revenue, how would the athletes respond to no fan interaction? How would viewers at home tolerate not seeing the stands full of people? Could it work? My brow furrowed and I thought…How is this different from virtually every ultra trail race in the country?
OCR Media: Spartan kicks off the season with events in Florida next month that expect to attract 4000 entrants each day. Spartan CEO Joe DeSenna: “If you’re too afraid to live a Spartan life due to a virus then you’re already dead.” Twitter, naturally, went berserk.
Alright, anyone wanna guess which dinosaur would have made the best ultramarathon runner/walker? (Sounds like a joke, but it’s not.)
Pretty stoked for Zach Bitter’s world record attempt coming up on Saturday. Can he grab the 12 hour record? How about 100 mile record? I’ll be hosting from 3-5pm PST with guests Tim Tollefson, Pam Smith, Fit2Fat2Fit author Drew Manning, and the head guy from COROS. Other guests/hosts are Jamil Coury, Ian Corless, Dean Karnazes, Nicole Bitter, Dave Scott, and more. The guys from SFuels have really spent a lot of time and effort (and money!) on making this a professional event and it should be awesome. Hope you can join in! #treadmill100WR
A little different than the treadmill, but here’s another article about how to run well on technical trails. These articles are as common as RW’s “How to kill your next 5k!” but I read every single one of them because I’m so lousy on technical descents and really want someone to say that people with big feet have a harder time on rocky terrain, but haven’t found that excuse yet. Still, great info within.
Market: Walmart aims for mid-market gear that’s somewhere between cheap-o and expensive. More of this please…but please don’t make me go to WalMart for it.
Seems that ER docs are over-represented in our sport sometimes, doesn’t it? We’ve had on Drs. Mark Tanaka, Jay Friedman, and now here’s a story about a physician from San Diego who’s working the Covid ward and does a monthly training run from LA to San Diego. Ooooof.
Runner’s World: Julia Webb (better half of Alan) discusses training and racing a half marathon pushing a stroller. I’m surprised she used a BOB though! Those are great strollers for slower runs, but I had issue with speed wobbles on both the single and double versions. If I was doing anything near 6mpm, the Thule Chariot (four wheels) was much more stable. Anyone else have issues with them?
Run Spirited: Henry chats with Karen Bonnett-Natraj about running multiple 100s in her 60s and yes, that finish at Western in 2017. #seeyouinsquaw
Trailrunner Mag: Here’s what RDs want you to know about cancelled races. I mentioned this on Twitter yesterday…I wouldn’t be surprised (or upset!) to see a birth of “outlaw” type races where it’s essentially a competitive fates with no entry, no permits, and the small entrant field only finds out the location a few hours before the start.
What happened when a German brewery couldn’t deliver their beer due to C-19 restrictions? They gave it all away.
Reuters: How blind athletes (particularly, the fastest dude in the world) are adapting to isolation from their sighted guides. Here he is from the Paralympics in 2016 running an 11 low…totally blind.
Outside: How Tracksmith’s new partnership with Mary Cain and Nick Willis is so different from traditional athlete “sponsorships.”
Under Armour negotiating payment options with sponsored athletes amidst the C-19 pandemic.
Whenever I click on social media and see people fighting about this or that, I click on this video of seals “singing” to a Seal song and I feel better.
