This afternoon I'll head over to Cold Springs Park around 6:00 p.m. and at some point after that, I'll go for a run. I might have company -- there will be lots of other folks there -- or I might just run on my own, since most of the NSRP guys run a lot faster than I do now. But anyway, I'll go for a run, then I'll go home and write down the modest mileage in my training log.
The only reason I mention it is that it is the last day of June, and that means that we are approximately halfway through 2010, and so far there are no "0"s in my training log. Out of boredom, I guess, or a desire to have some sort of modest goal for myself in my advancing old age, I decided to make it a point to run every day in January. As I feared, this project took on a life of its own and I now I find myself with a six month + six day running streak that shows no sign of relaxing its grip.
I hasten to add that I don't consider this any kind of significant achievement. It's really just an exercise in following through on what was essentially an arbitrary decision when I made it, and seems more arbitrary as the months go by. That's not to say that I haven't learned some things along the way. For example, I've learned that running every day is fairly easy -- easier, in fact, than figuring out when to take days off during serious training. I've also learned that the circumstances most likely to lead me to break this streak have much less to do with bad weather or injuries than you might think. Instead, I am convinced that when I miss a day it will because of some relatively silly social event or travel obligation, combined with lax planning on my part. In other words, that missed run will be the result of inattention, not hardship or exhaustion.
Sometimes I'll mention to a family member that my last day off was on Christmas Day -- it doesn't sound cool, it just sounds odd. I think it would produce about the same effect if I said that I had recited the Gettysburg address every day for the last 187 days. "Yeah? Well, that's.... interesting..."
But here's the thing: the streak has conferred to each run a kind of significance above and beyond the boring sameness of most of my running these days. I haven't skimped on the long runs, the races, etc. -- those are still memorable efforts. But now, even the 3-mile recovery runs take on an added meaning, just because each of those runs could easily have been a day off, but wasn't. It occurs to me that it might be healthier to have those days off, without the "empty calories" of these token jogs. Maybe my hamstring would feel better, my foot would stop hurting, and I'd feel fresher and faster. Maybe, maybe, maybe...
Well, I'll have to sort that out one of these days, but not today. Today I'm going for a run.
June 30, 2010
June 28, 2010
Age and Distance Catch Up to Pappas
At the risk of careless understatement, the decathlon is a really tough event. It lasts for two days during which an athlete must mentally prepare for and then execute intense sprints, hurdles, jumps, and throws, and then, after seven events have been completed, tackle the pole vault (which can be a quick DNF for the unlucky). Even after that test has been passed, there is the final cruel 1500m. It seems so unfair to ask these big fast strong guys to endure a distance race, but it adds incalculable drama to the event.
One of the stories that fascinated me at the US Championships this last week was the performance of Tom Pappas, the 2003 world champion in the decathlon. Back in 2004, Pappas was favored to win the decathlon in the 2004 Olympics in Athens. This would have been a great story, an American of Greek heritage becoming the world's greatest athlete in the land that gave us the Olympic games. But like Achilles, Pappas had mortal feet, and a foot injury hampered him in competition, and he withdrew from the Olympic decathlon. In Athens and since then, Pappas has been eclipsed by other U.S. decathletes, first Bryan Clay the 2004 silver and 2008 gold medalist, and more recently by Ashton Eaton, the world record holder in the indoor heptathlon and the recent NCAA decathlon champion.
Although Pappas made a comeback in 2009, it was still something of a blast from the past to see the 34-year-old leading the U.S. Outdoors championships after nine events (with Clay and Eaton skipping the meet). Alas, the decathlon does not end with the Javelin, where Pappas is a beast, but with the cruel 1500 meters. For a man of Pappas' size (6-5 and 210 lbs.), the 1500 is torture.
Leading by 72 points over Jake Arnold, Pappas needed to finish no worse than 13 seconds behind Arnold. Alas, it wasn't even close. Arnold ran 4:40 (about a 5:01 mile) for 679 points, while Pappas could only manage 5:12 for 493 points.
There's something about the decathlon that humbles every athlete. Maybe it's that final race against the clock in which the winner of the event is usually somewhere back in the pack just trying to hang on. If you want to humble a strong man who can sprint and jump, make him run a race designed for the lean and the gaunt.
June 27, 2010
I'm Calling B.S. On Chris McDougall
Chris McDougall, the unexpected media sensation who wrote "Born to Run," in which he did his best to convince us that barefoot running is the secret not only to better running, but to better health and a better life, has a new piece on Slate.com in which he does his best to convince us that David Petraeus, the architect of this country's strategy in Iraq and now the Allied Commander in Afghanistan, is a running god.
The 57-year-old Petraeus is known to be extremely fit and tough. He challenges young recruits to contests of physical strength and endurance and always wins. He works out like a demon. He does pushups and chin-ups beyond number. And forgive me if I sound like a beer commercial here, but he might just be the most interesting man in the world. I got no beef with the General. And I really hope he doesn't challenge me to a push-up contest.
But in his article, McDougall repeats a claim that bothers me enough that I'm calling B.S. on him -- McDougall, that is, not Petraeus. McDougall, a former war correspondent, writes that the newly-minted general begins each day with a sunrise five mile run in which each mile is run in under six minutes.
I'm not buying it.
A few minutes with Google and it appears that the source of this claim is an article published a couple of years ago in that bastion of journalism, Runner's World, by a writer named Willy Stern ("The General Motors"). In that article, Stern reveals the following about Petraeus, the runner:
- He was a sub-10:00 2-miler in high school.
- In 1982, he ran the Omaha Marathon in 2:50:53.
- During peak track training season, he runs 8 x 400m in under 75 seconds
I find all of these believable, although that track workout is probably a few years old. Hey, no problem, I'm on board: the guy is a serious runner who trains hard and has kept himself is superb shape over the years. But does he do his morning five mile runs at sub-6:00 pace?
No. Way.
Unlike the other claims, this one doesn't pass the old smelly training shoe sniff test. Maybe there are some D1 athletes out there who run 29:xx for five miles at 6:30 every morning in their New Balance 992s (at 14.3 oz per shoe, nothing like racing shoes, folks...), but I won't accept without proof that a 57-year-old does this. That's race pace, pure and simple, and the VERY FEW national-class veteran runners who can run that pace in a race aren't doing it every morning as a warmup to their gym workout.
It's not the General's fault that reporters get this wrong. And in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter; and yet. I can't help feeling that the writers who let it slip into their articles have revealed something about themselves. To me, repeating this far-fetched claim without first-hand evidence just goes to show that McDougall really doesn't understand or care about competitive running. If he did, he'd question the claim. And if he actually found it to be true, he would point out that Petraeus was, potentially, a champion whose demanding career robbed the sport of one of its great age-group competitors.
But far more likely, those sub-six-minute miles are simply an exaggeration based on a misunderstanding somewhere along the line. Maybe he did it once, on a bet. Maybe the course is only 4.6 miles. Maybe any number of things. I wouldn't expect McDougall to be out there measuring the course with a wheel, but at least he should have had some doubts. But I expect that he is a true believer, and believers don't want to doubt; they want to believe.
Well, he's welcome to his beliefs but I would take his other claims (barefoot running = eternal youth) with a healthy dose of skepticism.
The 57-year-old Petraeus is known to be extremely fit and tough. He challenges young recruits to contests of physical strength and endurance and always wins. He works out like a demon. He does pushups and chin-ups beyond number. And forgive me if I sound like a beer commercial here, but he might just be the most interesting man in the world. I got no beef with the General. And I really hope he doesn't challenge me to a push-up contest.
But in his article, McDougall repeats a claim that bothers me enough that I'm calling B.S. on him -- McDougall, that is, not Petraeus. McDougall, a former war correspondent, writes that the newly-minted general begins each day with a sunrise five mile run in which each mile is run in under six minutes.
I'm not buying it.
A few minutes with Google and it appears that the source of this claim is an article published a couple of years ago in that bastion of journalism, Runner's World, by a writer named Willy Stern ("The General Motors"). In that article, Stern reveals the following about Petraeus, the runner:
- He was a sub-10:00 2-miler in high school.
- In 1982, he ran the Omaha Marathon in 2:50:53.
- During peak track training season, he runs 8 x 400m in under 75 seconds
I find all of these believable, although that track workout is probably a few years old. Hey, no problem, I'm on board: the guy is a serious runner who trains hard and has kept himself is superb shape over the years. But does he do his morning five mile runs at sub-6:00 pace?
No. Way.
Unlike the other claims, this one doesn't pass the old smelly training shoe sniff test. Maybe there are some D1 athletes out there who run 29:xx for five miles at 6:30 every morning in their New Balance 992s (at 14.3 oz per shoe, nothing like racing shoes, folks...), but I won't accept without proof that a 57-year-old does this. That's race pace, pure and simple, and the VERY FEW national-class veteran runners who can run that pace in a race aren't doing it every morning as a warmup to their gym workout.
It's not the General's fault that reporters get this wrong. And in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter; and yet. I can't help feeling that the writers who let it slip into their articles have revealed something about themselves. To me, repeating this far-fetched claim without first-hand evidence just goes to show that McDougall really doesn't understand or care about competitive running. If he did, he'd question the claim. And if he actually found it to be true, he would point out that Petraeus was, potentially, a champion whose demanding career robbed the sport of one of its great age-group competitors.
But far more likely, those sub-six-minute miles are simply an exaggeration based on a misunderstanding somewhere along the line. Maybe he did it once, on a bet. Maybe the course is only 4.6 miles. Maybe any number of things. I wouldn't expect McDougall to be out there measuring the course with a wheel, but at least he should have had some doubts. But I expect that he is a true believer, and believers don't want to doubt; they want to believe.
Well, he's welcome to his beliefs but I would take his other claims (barefoot running = eternal youth) with a healthy dose of skepticism.
June 16, 2010
2nd Annual Adrian Martinez Classic - Thursday, 6/17
On Thursday evening, June 17, beginning at 5 p.m. Concord-Carlisle H.S. hosts the second annual Adrian Martinez Classic, a series of one-mile races on Concord's Emerson track. There are races for all ages and all abilities, including a race for mile novices, and the highly competitive ADRO MILE, which offers cash prizes for top 5 finishers in the men's and women's division. There is a bonus of $1,000 for the first man who runs sub-4:00 and the first woman who runs sub-4:30.
Schedule of Events:
5:00 PM: Age Group Races from 10-under to 13-14
5:30 PM: FIRST-TIMER’S (and Second Timer’s) MILE
5:45 PM: The Adro Elite Miles
6:00 PM: Masters’ Divisions
6:20 PM: Age Group Races 15-up and the Scholastic Team Challenge
The scholastic challenge is a team category for high school students (team members must be from the same town and must be attending high school in the fall).
For entry info and directions, see the event website:
http://www.martinezclassic.com
Schedule of Events:
5:00 PM: Age Group Races from 10-under to 13-14
5:30 PM: FIRST-TIMER’S (and Second Timer’s) MILE
5:45 PM: The Adro Elite Miles
6:00 PM: Masters’ Divisions
6:20 PM: Age Group Races 15-up and the Scholastic Team Challenge
The scholastic challenge is a team category for high school students (team members must be from the same town and must be attending high school in the fall).
For entry info and directions, see the event website:
http://www.martinezclassic.com
June 07, 2010
NSRP Begins This Wednesday
Back by popular demand, the Newton Summer Running Project returns to Cold Springs Park beginning this Wednesday, June 9, and most Wednesdays throughout the summer.
The NSRP is nothing more or less than an opportunity to meet fellow runners who are looking for camaraderie as they go about building up their summer mileage. Several years ago, I decided to invite anyone who wanted to join me to meet at Cold Springs Park in Newton two evenings a week -- Monday and Wednesday -- for moderate aerobic runs. The first year attendance was sparse, but it has grown steadily. I have been impressed by how many HS and former-HS runners from Newton, Brookline, Wellesley, Natick, Weymouth, and other towns have joined me and a few other old fogies for these runs. It has been a great way to help each other out as we all train -- some for fall XC, some for marathons, and some just to keep in the game.
Unfortunately, I can't commit to regular attendance on Monday evenings, but if there's sufficient interest, I encourage the group to meet on its own Mondays.
We meet at around 6:15, and try to get started on our run by 6:30. There are usually several groups, running anywhere from 4-5 to 12 miles. We try to pick routes from Cold Springs that involve trails, but the routes vary. It IS possible to get lost, and running with me is no guarantee of avoiding this fate.
Please note that if you are looking for a structured, highly organized running camp, the NSRP is not it. Instead, I like to think of our merry band of runners as the antidote to the over-structured, over-scheduled, over-priced running experience offered by some mega-coaching outfits. I don't "coach" NSRP and I don't tell you what to run. I *do* like to talk running if anyone feels like it, but mostly I like to keep it simple and just run.
For recent college grads and anyone else looking for a little more structure and the opportunity to run for a competitive club team, I should mention that my running club, the Cambridge Sports Union (CSU), offers weekly track workouts, long runs, and the opportunity to compete in team events, including free entry to the series of New England Championship races put on by the USATF-NE organization.
Please check us out at www.csurun.org.
I hope to see some folks on Wednesday!
The NSRP is nothing more or less than an opportunity to meet fellow runners who are looking for camaraderie as they go about building up their summer mileage. Several years ago, I decided to invite anyone who wanted to join me to meet at Cold Springs Park in Newton two evenings a week -- Monday and Wednesday -- for moderate aerobic runs. The first year attendance was sparse, but it has grown steadily. I have been impressed by how many HS and former-HS runners from Newton, Brookline, Wellesley, Natick, Weymouth, and other towns have joined me and a few other old fogies for these runs. It has been a great way to help each other out as we all train -- some for fall XC, some for marathons, and some just to keep in the game.
Unfortunately, I can't commit to regular attendance on Monday evenings, but if there's sufficient interest, I encourage the group to meet on its own Mondays.
We meet at around 6:15, and try to get started on our run by 6:30. There are usually several groups, running anywhere from 4-5 to 12 miles. We try to pick routes from Cold Springs that involve trails, but the routes vary. It IS possible to get lost, and running with me is no guarantee of avoiding this fate.
Please note that if you are looking for a structured, highly organized running camp, the NSRP is not it. Instead, I like to think of our merry band of runners as the antidote to the over-structured, over-scheduled, over-priced running experience offered by some mega-coaching outfits. I don't "coach" NSRP and I don't tell you what to run. I *do* like to talk running if anyone feels like it, but mostly I like to keep it simple and just run.
For recent college grads and anyone else looking for a little more structure and the opportunity to run for a competitive club team, I should mention that my running club, the Cambridge Sports Union (CSU), offers weekly track workouts, long runs, and the opportunity to compete in team events, including free entry to the series of New England Championship races put on by the USATF-NE organization.
Please check us out at www.csurun.org.
I hope to see some folks on Wednesday!
June 06, 2010
NN Girls Are MA State Champions; Brown, Forbes Take Individual Titles
Trailing Newton South and Mansfield going into the final relay, Newton North's fate in the 2010 State Championships hung on Coach Joe Tranchita's decision earlier to abandon the 4x100 relay and have freshman Carla Forbes run the 4x400 instead. IT would be Forbes' debut at the one-lap distnce.
The gamble paid off, as the team of Arianna Tabatabaie, Margo Gillis, Maddie Nadeau, and Forbes ran a school record 3:56.31 (Forbes anchoring in 57.4) to take 2nd behind Tewksbury and secure the state title.
The Tigers were in position to win on the strength of individual titles from Steph Brown, who won the pole vault (11-0), and Forbes, who won the triple jump (41-1.5) and placed 3rd in the long jump (18-10), as well as a third-place finish from Margo Gillis in the 800 (2:14.70).
Girls Results - MA State Championships
In the boys meet, Conor Ebbs threw 162-6 to place 3rd in the discus.
Isaiah Penn ran 49.47 to place 7th in the 400m in a very deep field.
Ezra Lichtman placed 10th in the mile, running 4:26.12.
Boys Results - MA State Championships
The gamble paid off, as the team of Arianna Tabatabaie, Margo Gillis, Maddie Nadeau, and Forbes ran a school record 3:56.31 (Forbes anchoring in 57.4) to take 2nd behind Tewksbury and secure the state title.
The Tigers were in position to win on the strength of individual titles from Steph Brown, who won the pole vault (11-0), and Forbes, who won the triple jump (41-1.5) and placed 3rd in the long jump (18-10), as well as a third-place finish from Margo Gillis in the 800 (2:14.70).
Girls Results - MA State Championships
In the boys meet, Conor Ebbs threw 162-6 to place 3rd in the discus.
Isaiah Penn ran 49.47 to place 7th in the 400m in a very deep field.
Ezra Lichtman placed 10th in the mile, running 4:26.12.
Boys Results - MA State Championships
June 05, 2010
NNHS Alumni Results - 6/5/10
As those of us who didn't make the trip to Westfield wait for the results of the State Meet to appear on CoolRunning, here are a few NN alumni results from this weekend's racing:
Geoffrey Kent (NNHS Class of '78) writes that his niece, Clarice Ferolito (NNHS Class of '05) ran 36:52 for 5.3 miles at the Harpoon Brewery race in Boston, Saturday. That's a pretty good time in a distance race for the former sprinter/hurdler. Geoffrey neglects to mention that he raced on Thursday, running 18:46 for one loop of Fresh Pond.
Meanwhile, at the New Balance Twilight meet in Waltham, Noah Jampol (NNHS '06, Johns Hopkins '10) ran 4:11.87 for 1500m.
Ok, let's see those state meet results now...
Geoffrey Kent (NNHS Class of '78) writes that his niece, Clarice Ferolito (NNHS Class of '05) ran 36:52 for 5.3 miles at the Harpoon Brewery race in Boston, Saturday. That's a pretty good time in a distance race for the former sprinter/hurdler. Geoffrey neglects to mention that he raced on Thursday, running 18:46 for one loop of Fresh Pond.
Meanwhile, at the New Balance Twilight meet in Waltham, Noah Jampol (NNHS '06, Johns Hopkins '10) ran 4:11.87 for 1500m.
Ok, let's see those state meet results now...
June 02, 2010
June 2 is National Running Day
Yes it is, really. It's National Running Day, an event started last year by the New York road Runners Club, so celebrate it by going running.
If you feel like racing, the USATF-NE office is hosting a mini track meet at MIT tonight and in honor of the day, the normal $5 entry fee is waived.
According to Steve Vaitones, Managing Director of USATF,
"June 2 is also the second of our annual spring Mini-meets at M.I.T. in Cambridge. To encourage participation, the B.A.A. has graciously offered today to cover the entry fee ($5 or $3 for USATF members, $1 youth) for anyone who participates at the meet. There are a handful of events - 100, 200, 400, 800, and mile - with all abilities welcome. The schedule begins at 6:30 p.m. with the hurdles, then the mile and 100, 400, 800, 200, and relay. Run one or all events. So, though it's late, if that entry fee has been the deciding item, it's gone. If you have members wondering how fast they can run a mile, they'll have company on the track. Invite your athletes to drop by and participate, courtesy of the BAA and USATF-NE."
Here's a link to the MIT mini-meet info
If you feel like racing, the USATF-NE office is hosting a mini track meet at MIT tonight and in honor of the day, the normal $5 entry fee is waived.
According to Steve Vaitones, Managing Director of USATF,
"June 2 is also the second of our annual spring Mini-meets at M.I.T. in Cambridge. To encourage participation, the B.A.A. has graciously offered today to cover the entry fee ($5 or $3 for USATF members, $1 youth) for anyone who participates at the meet. There are a handful of events - 100, 200, 400, 800, and mile - with all abilities welcome. The schedule begins at 6:30 p.m. with the hurdles, then the mile and 100, 400, 800, 200, and relay. Run one or all events. So, though it's late, if that entry fee has been the deciding item, it's gone. If you have members wondering how fast they can run a mile, they'll have company on the track. Invite your athletes to drop by and participate, courtesy of the BAA and USATF-NE."
Here's a link to the MIT mini-meet info
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