Things I like (and things I don't)

Likes:

1. Running in crappy weather
2. Running in good weather
3. No longer getting injured by forefoot striking
4. Negative splitting
5. Keeping pace with my trusty Garmin 305
6. Running by feel without a watch
7. Knowing I can run after two back surgeries and 30 yrs off
8. Finding a kick at age 45 (triathlon training helped a lot)
9. Running 32s on Hayward Field for the final 200 of a Half Marathon
10. Seeing #9 on Runnerspace.com; smoke, baby
11. Negative splitting
12. Getting up early
13. Planks, lunges, plyometrics
14. Learning how to really swim for the first time in my life
15. Getting bumped up to lane 2, then 3, then occasionally 4 in the master's swim group
16. #15 translation; faster swimmers are in higher lanes
17. Running at 4am; no cars out there, just quiet
18. Laughing through my disastrous 1st marathon
19. Cutting 78 minutes off my Half Ironman time in one shot
20. Running a HM PR while on a tempo run (it was a really nice tempo)
21. Learning how to do flip turns
22. My annual visit to The Nike Employee Store (it's like Disneyland but half-price)
23. Setting a BHAG like qualifying for Boston at age 47 (BHAG = Big Hairy Audacious Goal)
24. Swimming in a 51F reservoir as a veteran among newbies
25. Running much farther at 46 than I ever did before that age
26. Blowing past people in the late stages: see #4,8-11
27. Fast friends who encourage me to run faster without saying anything
28. Getting rejected 3x by Annapolis and still getting in (and finding out that Douglas MacArthur was rejected 3x by West Point and still got in).
29. Having a buddy tell me that his brother applied to Annapolis but got rejected. "Me too," I said. "So how did you get through?" buddy asks. My reply, "I kept asking until they got tired of saying no."
30. Going from a class rank of 982/1300 to 504 by graduation
31. Picking an engineering major with 49 others and doing so with a lousy 1.89 GPA
32. Finishing as one of 18 in that major and getting my best grades in my last semester
33. Knowing that #s 28-31 are another form of negative splitting
34. Realizing I really don't need to find a harder activity than running, swimming, or nordic skiing
35. Realizing decisions made at 18 don't have to be permanent, even if many years have elapsed
36. Did I mention negative splitting?

Dislikes:
(Disclaimer: you might like some things I don't. Doesn't make either of us wrong)

1. Excessive consumption and greedy pigs
2. Black Friday: better than syrup of ipecac
3. Treadmills: I'd much rather freeze or get soaked
4. Realizing that the 8 minute pace that used to be recovery is now tempo
5. Second-guessing
6. Hills: I used to like them, and I'm again trying to, but they just suck right now
7. Staying up late; doesn't work anymore
8. Draft-dodging politicians who are quick to send others' kids to war
9. Giving up on running when I was 17 and not yet an Olympian
10. Not realizing that the best runners are 28 or so
11. In other words, lack of patience
12. Not questioning whether I could run after back surgery and letting lots of time elapse
13. Never winning a race in high school and thought I just didn't have what it took
14. Never knowing that Kenny Moore didn't win a race in HS but later ran in 2 Olympics
15. Going out too fast and dying late
16. Disengaged people
17. Doing what others wanted without really thinking about what I wanted
18. Learning that stones aren't as valuable to most as Mensa brains (See #28-33 above)
19. Cable TV: we disconnected it, and I'm spending the time better
20. Politicians who make preferential rules for themselves
21. Career politicians: it's not supposed to be a lifetime appointment
22. Politicians who make an amendment for presidential term limits but not for themselves
23. I think I'm talking about Congress: Throwing them all out = a good start
24. Incentives to agribusiness for not growing food
25. Incentives to agribusiness for ethanol when it produces less energy than gas
26. Loopholes in general, and lobbyists
27. Bonuses for lousy work: 'but we need to retain our employees.' You mean the ones that lost all the money in the first place? Nah, cut 'em loose.
28. College football coaches who are the highest paid employees in the state. Something is inherently wrong with this.
29. Cottage Cheese:

Sometimes you have to slap your doctor...

A good friend was getting back into shape with a hilly 7-mile run thru Shevlin Park. This was easily his longest run this year, and he was grinding it out.

Halfway up  a long hill, he felt a sharp pain in his calf. Not incapacitating, just significant. Of course, he did what we all would do; kept running.

Next couple of weeks, the pain wouldn't subside, so he finally went to a doctor.

MD (spoken verbatim): "It might be a blood clot, so we need to do an ultrasound."

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

A guy doing a long-ish run that he wasn't in shape for, on uneven dirt trails, in the heat, up a hill, and the first reaction is to check for a blood clot?!?

No wonder our health care costs are prohibitive.

The ultrasound resolved nothing, except raising everyone's insurance costs and providing the doctor with funds for another boat payment.

So Shawn goes to a physical therapist, who discovers (gasp!) a spasming muscle. Ya think? Meanwhile, $1100 from the insurance company to the doctor.

I swear, there are times that homicide should be legal. Like for doctors who run up the bill without legitimate justification. PT should be the first course of action, not the second, unless there's a bone sticking out or something.

Another friend began having major foot problems after working out like a bandit for 4-5 months. She posted on FB and asked for advice. Everyone and their mother screamed "plantar fascitis" and "see my doctor" and "your foot is falling off."

I swear, this is really why I drink.

Somehow I resisted the temptation to post on her FB wall that all these people were idiots. Instead, I sent her a msg directly: Ice, Ice, baby. 20 minutes on, 20 off, all day. Get absolutely psycho about it, and take ibuprofen like candy. If it doesn't improve after 3 days, THEN consider medical intervention.

It worked. Not a surprise, to me anyway.

80% of physical ailments when a person is exercising are simple strains due to overwork. These problems can feel severe, but it's just a clump of inflammation that is very effectively and cheaply treated with RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation).

And KISS; keep it simple, s*******.

Anti Media Rant #2

Another media ‘expert’ on track and field. This one actually writes for an Oregon paper.

‘decline in relevance as a spectator sport (since the early 1990s)’ . Brilliant observation!! He’s basing his whole article on the well-known fact that TnF lost ground in the ‘90s. He does not cite the last 4-5 years and how much more exposure we’ve gotten.

“Difficult for the casual fan to follow…” ok, so pay attention!!!

‘It’s metric’; God forbid people actual learn what a meter is, and it’s easier to multiply by 10 than by 12, isn’t it?

‘Difficult to televise..too much happening at once…’ Are you kidding? The writer would rather sit through a 4 hr 1-0 baseball game with most of the time spent idling in between plays? The Prefontaine is an awesome meet because there is no wasted time for the spectators.

“The sport becomes numbers driven…a football game has a (more) definitive outcome…” Tell that to Khadevis, who lost an Olympic slot to Christian Smith by 0.06 seconds. Not a clear outcome? The writer  disparages the Hayward Crowd because they knew the significance of a high schooler running an 8:29 two mile.

 

 

And how can something be 'numbers driven' without a definitive outcome? I'm an engineer, and this one puzzles me.

“NCAA Prelims… treats the general public as an afterthought….the best athletes deliver throttled down performances to qualify with minimum efforts.” So, baseball/football/basketball players don’t do the same thing just prior to the playoffs so they can ‘save’ their best performances for when it counts most? They call them PRELIMS for a reason.

“…I tried to set up an interview with a local athlete…was told the athlete wasn’t doing interviews until after the championships.” More sour grapes; this sounds just like another writer who thinks the sport revolves around himself. Tough beans, Mr. Reporter, the athlete needs to keep his head on straight before the race. He’ll give you the world after the race, but leave him alone before. 

Let me make a suggestion; start a relationship with the athlete BEFORE you want something from them. Or do you show up only when there's something in it for you?

‘’…wouldn’t happen in the NFL with Media Day (reporters getting stiffed). Ok, Mr Reporter, pay T&F athletes what the NFL gets, and we’ll make sure they do your interview.

“Track and field is run by participants, for participants…a bubble of self-absorption."  Yes, it’s a sport that requires commitment and individual performance, with no one else to help you on Race Day. No, it might not a great spectator sport to the average guy sitting on his couch. if you’re not a fan. But a spectator who doesn’t know the sport doesn’t know what it feels like to negative split a race or to set a PR.

Athletes need to pick and choose their events. In T&F, you can't compete at a high level every week because the body doesn't work like that. In football and baseball, there is much downtime during competition in which to recovery. No rest to be had during a 3000m steeple.

I simply cannot stand ignorant people who think track should be more like other sports. It’s inherently different.

Anti-Media Rant #1

Alan Abrahamson is a T&F blogger for NBC Sports, and he recently penned a diatribe entitled: Track and Field, going nowhere fast in the United States...

  

It's hard for me to take any professional critic seriously when all they do is comment on the alleged shortcomings of others while not pitching in to help the cause themselves. It's oh so easy to say what's wrong without being responsible for actually fixing the problem.

Much of Abramson's agita seems like it's concentrated on his belief that Eugene/Nike/USATF don't do enough to cater to the media!!! He says that we need more cameras on the infield to see the athletes up close. I don't know; I saw cameras literally 2 feet from the pole vaulters at the Pre, right in their faces. Hard to concentrate on clearing the bar when the cameraman won't give you any space.

Abramson also mentioned that he couldn't get a newspaper job in Eugene or Oregon when he left college. Is his entire premise based on sour grapes?

Now he wants a reality show based on sprinters all trying to make the team while living under the same roof? No, no, no. Part of the reason our country has lost stature is that we've become 'way too much sizzle and not enough steak.' I don't want the Kardashians on my track!!!

Then he says we should capture athletes talking smack to each other like in basketball and football. Two reason why I disagree completely:

 #1 see previous paragraph, that's just more of the dumbing down of America.

#2 Shawn Crawford already tried it and got blasted. In the Athens 100m semis, he and Justin Gatlin were side by side and blowing away the field by 60 meters. Shawn turns to Justin and starts talking smack in the middle of the race. Ok, fine. No put downs, no belittling of opponents, just two friends celebrating their success. I loved it. But who didn't love it? The NBC announcer on the telecast who said it was a classless act. That's the same NBC that employs Alan Abrahamson, the writer of the article.

Abrahamson complains about parking in Eugene. Dude, it's a college town. Park at the football stadium and take the (free) shuttle like the rest of the fans. Or bring a bike like I do, and ride to the track from South Eugene High. And is it really that big a deal to bring your own ethernet cable?

No, it's not the Super Bowl in Dallas, where the media complains about the weather because they can't play as much golf as they want. The New York/LA media didn't send anyone to the Pre? Darn. They're too busy watching the NFL and NBA self-immolate; billionaires and millionaires fighting about a couple percentage points. Good riddance.

Yes, USATF has its issues like any large organization. They looked outside the sport when they hired  Doug Logan. So how does USATF deserve derision for lacking 'out of the box thinking?' To have an outsider say that USATF is cursed with myopia and won't try anything new makes no sense.

Track/Eugene/Nike has always been about the athlete, not the media. According to Kenny Moore, Bowerman was on the infield during the '72 Trials when he heard the TV producer over a walkie-talkie telling the cameraman to get on the track and take shots of each 200 m runner so the network could run a commercial. Bowerman stood on the camera cord so the guy couldn't move, and ordered the race to start on schedule.

When we're comparing track to other major sports, consider this: USATF and Major League Baseball were invited to appear before Congress to discuss doping policies. Craig Masback, USATF CEO, arrived with a binder 4" thick, complete with testing protocols, verification requirements, adherence policies, etc...

The baseball lawyer had a 2 page memo.

So, which sport cares more about the sport itself, and which sport cares only about its image? If major league baseball and football had track's drug testing requirements, there would be no major league baseball and football.

And let's talk 'All Star' teams. Baseball, football pick their all-stars via popularity contest. It's not uncommon for players on the disabled list to get selected! USATF picks its Olympic and World Championship teams in a very democratic and straightforward manner: show up and place 1,2, or 3. No ifs, ands, or buts. It's put up or shut up, and 'reputation' or 'experience' don't count. It's who gets to the finish line first. Very clear criteria.

Now that I've got my blood pressure up....