An author who's NOT a runner

I was reading Jason Jaggard's new book Spark and about half-way through I lost a little bit of respect for him.  I'm sure he's a great guy, but he shows a bit of his ignorance with some comments about running.

In a chapter called "Embracing Inspired Living," Jaggard writes:

I used to hate running more than just about anything else. My dad taught me a lot of valuable life lessons, and the one that stuck with me more than most was this: you never see a happy runner.

Think about it.  On Sunday mornings you see joggers out there chugging along the side of the road, and they don't look happy.  They look like they're in pain.  At best it looks like they're trying to do complex math problems in their heads. 

Or think about the Olympics.  The guy who wins the mile knows he'll be getting a gold medal, but he looks like somebody just came along and ripped off one of his toenails.  I don't know whether to cheer or call an ambulance.

So I don't mind telling you that I hate running.  I could easily make a list--a long list--of things I'd rather do than run.

He then goes on to talk about Dean Karnazes.  "Dean is an ultramarathon runner. (An ultramarathon is anything over seventy miles.)"

So first of all, and I know I'm being nitpicky, but where did he get the idea that an ultramarathon is 70+ miles?  "Ultra" = beyond.  "Marathon" = 26 miles, 385 yards.  Thus, an ultramarthon is a race covering a distance over 26.2 miles, typically 50K, 50 mile, 100K, 100 mile (with lots of variations).

Plus, to continue nitpicking, the mile is not an Olympic event!  I'm no Olympic historian or expert, so I can't say there has never been a one mile race at the Olympics, but I'm pretty sure the mile has never been an Olympic event.  The closest Olympic event we'll see in London will be the 1500 meter race.

I do know exactly what he's talking about.  Runners sometimes look like they're in pain.  They're sometimes doing complex math problems (calculating their splits to see if they can beat the cut off or their PR).  And he did get this right--sometimes they're losing toenails!  But none of that is exclusive of happiness.  In fact, it's all part of the happiness!  If Jaggard were a runner, he would know that.

He does come around a bit, when talking about how inspired he was by Karnazes: "After I heard about Dean, I started looking for the nearest pair of running shoes."  He doesn't really say whether he found them or went for a run, but at least the seed was planted. . . .

Run happy out there!

Spirit of the Marathon

Readers of this blog are probably aware that I prefer trail races over road races.  However, I have run several road marathons and can appreciate and relate to the experiences of the runners portrayed in the documentary Spirit of the Marathon.   I love the way the film is arranged, following the training and motivation of several runners preparing for the 2005 Chicago Marathon.  Marathon legend Deena Kastor stands out.  She's remembered for her 2004 Olympic bronze medal, but up to the point of this film, had never won a major marathon.  (Spoiler: she won!)  We also meet Daniel Njenga, a Kenyan runner.  He ended up placing third with a time of 2:07:14, 12 seconds out of first place.  Fast!

Besides these elites, the film also follows the training of some non-superhuman runners, both first-timers and seasoned runners.  Anyone who has trained for a marathon can relate to some of their experiences.  It takes dedication to get up on Saturday for the long runs, for the single mom to fit in her training runs, to pay attention to what you're eating (and not eating).  The interviews and training run footage will remind you of what you love--and hate--about running a marathon.  But mostly it will remind you of what you love.

Besides the personal stories of these runners, there are plenty of interviewers with other famous runners, as well as some brief historical information about the marathon racing's illustrious history.  A well-made, inspiring film.

The movie web site is here.

Showdown at Shepherd's Bush

In this day of organized races every weekend, and when it seems like everyone you know has run a marathon, or is planning to run one, it's hard to image that the marathon as a formal sporting event is so young.  In Showdown at Shepherd's Bush: The 1908 Olympic Marathon and the Three Runners Who Launched a Sporting Craze, David Davis takes the reader on a tour of the birth of the modern marathon.  It's not only a history of a race, but a great snapshot of the rise of the Olympic movement and sports in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Davis recounts the development of the first modern Olympics in 1896.  The organizers came up with the idea of commemorating Pheidippides's famous run from Marathon.  They devised a race from Marathon to Athens, a distance of about 25 miles.  At that time, the longest races were no more than 5 miles; the next longest race at the Olympics was 1500 meters.  With the establishment of the marathon race, which would become a highlight of the Olympics, they had "concocted an anomaly, on that would attract only the inexperienced, the ignorant, and the intrepid."  I loved the comment of the French runner who had competed in the 100 meter, then in the marathon: "One day I run a leetle way, vairy queek.  Ze next day, I run a long way, vairy slow."

The marathon stuck, and with some stumbles in intervening Olympics, came into its own in 1908 in London.  This was the first race to use what would become the standard marathon distance: 26 miles, 385 yards, a somewhat arbitrary distance to cover the course from Windsor Castle to the stadium at Shepherd's Bush.  Davis traces the lives and running careers of the participants, focusing on 3 runners.  Tom Longboat, a Canadian Indian, was a favorite going in, but dropped from the race.  The Italian Dorando Pietri finished first, but he had fallen over from exhaustion and some officials on the track helped him across the finish line, disqualifying him.  The Irish-American, Johnny Hayes was close behind Dorando and was awarded the gold due to Dorando's disqualification.

This dramatic and controversial finish made Dorando a household name.  Davis says "he was the first athlete to become globally famous because of the Olympics. . . . He remains the most celebrated loser in Olympic history."  The race also raised interest in the marathon, both for participants and viewers.  American promoters recruited these three runners and organized races in places like Madison Square Garden and baseball stadiums.  The runners travelled the country to run in these exhibition races, and cities across the country put on marathon races.  Soon, however, the world war took front and center and the first marathon craze died.  The Boston Marathon was the only race to survive.

Davis does a masterful job of placing the marathon race in the context of the history of the Olympics and sport, and putting in all the context of history.  It's an entertaining, readable history that anyone interested in popular culture and sports will enjoy.  But if you're a runner, a marathoner, one of those who is living the legacy started by Dorando and his fellow runners, you will love Davis's account.  Pick it up!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary digital review copy!

200!

This is my 200th post on Lean Forward Run Farther!

Run happy!

Runner's hematuria

Let's say, hypothetically, that you go out for a longish run, and, again hypothetically, when you return home and go to the restroom your urine is dark, with blood in it.  Your first thought might be, "Oh my! What is happening to me!"  But relax; it may be runner's hematuria, which is not uncommon in runners.  If you're running with an empty bladder, the jarring motion of running may rupture blood vessels in the bladder or kidneys.  So be sure you're drinking plenty, and if it persists, see a doctor.  In the meantime, enjoy your run!

Note: I'm no doctor.  And I know nothing about your physical condition.  I just read a few articles on the internet.  Nothing in this post is meant to be the definitive word about anything happening to your body.

Trail running beats road running: more evidence

My fellow lovers of trail running will not be surprised at all by this article's conclusion. But sometimes it's nice when what you know to be true is confirmed by science.

Auslan Cramb writes in The Telegraph:

Researchers found that anything from a stroll in the park to a run through woodland can have a positive effect on people suffering from depression and anxiety.  The study also showed that the positive effect on people's mental health was 50 per cent more than they might expect from going to the gym.  The researchers at Glasgow University looked at natural and non-natural environments for physical activity, including walking, running and cycling, and found that being around trees and grass lowered brain stress levels. 

The study, led by Prof Richard Mitchell, polled nearly 2000 physically active people in the 2008 Scottish Health Survey.  Only activities carried out in a natural environment outdoors were found to be associated with a lower risk of poor mental health.  Prof Mitchell said he was "surprised" by the scale of the results, adding: "There was around a 50 per cent improvement in people’s mental health if they were physically active in the natural environment, compared to those who weren't.  These aren't serious mental health issues, more struggles in general life, things like mild depression, not being able to sleep, high stress levels or just feelings of not being able to cope." 

Sansom Park trail

"It seems that woodland and forest seem to have the biggest effect on helping to lower mental health problems.  That makes sense with what we thought we knew. That is, the brain likes to be in the natural environment and it reacts to being there by turning down our stress response.  Being in areas that have lots of trees and grassy areas help to calm us down, and obviously a forest has this."

"I wasn't surprised by the findings that exercise in natural environments is good for your mental health, but I was surprised by just how much better it is for your mental health to exercise in a green place like a forest, than in other places like the gym.  The message to doctors, planners and policy makers is that these places need protecting and promoting." 

He added that taking a decision to exercise in a natural environment once a week could be enough to gain some benefit, and any additional use could have a bigger effect.  The study revealed that local streets were most commonly used for physical activity, followed by the home or garden.  Previous experimental studies have shown that exercise in natural environments has a positive effect on "biomarkers", which indicate general health, and on an individual's view of his or her levels of stress or fatigue.  Around 50 per cent of the sampled group exercised in a natural environment at least once in the previous month. 

Thanks, Mr. Cramb!  Off to the trails. . . .

Original link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9344129/Jogging-in-forest-twice-as-good-as-trip-to-gym-for-mental-health.html

Thirty-day streak

As of Saturday, I have a run 30 consecutive days.  You may recall that last summer/fall, I ran 100 days in a row.  I don't think it's necessarily the best practice to run every day, but for me, that's what it has been taking to get me out the door--I don't want to break my string of consecutive running days.  So here's the good, the bad, and the ugly of my current streak:

The Good
I'm running.  I don't actually have a race on my calendar right now (yet), and no training plan, which usually means I don't run consistently.  So, for me, the good news is that I'm actually getting some miles in.

The Bad
However, other than just logging miles, I'm not doing much focused training.  For the past 30 days, I've done no speedwork, and the longest run was 10.8 miles.  My average run has been only 4.25 or so.  Race or not, I need to start throwing in some more intentional miles.  The other bad part is that all of these miles have been on pavement.  Ugh!  For convenience, I have been running in my neighborhood, and just have not made the time to get to the trails to run.  I'd really like that to change.

The Ugly
I'm still fat and slow.  My average pace has improved a little.  During the 14 running days of May, my average pace was 10:32.  It has improved some for June, now averaging 10:12.  Losing about 30 pounds would help my pace come down some more.  If I stopped drinking Dr Pepper, I might actually drop a few pounds.