The Running Ape
jfiore | February 19, 2009Meseret Defar of Ethiopia ran 14:24.37 in Stockholm to break the women's 5000 meter indoor mark, lowering it by over 3 seconds. It is worth noting that this formidable run was performed on a track well short of the 200 meter indoor "standard" found in many colleges and universities, and thus displays tighter corners. Details here.
jfiore | October 5, 2008A very interesting read in the Guardian today regarding the possibility of humans ever running a sub two hour marathon. This speculation always crops up when the marathon record is broken, most recently by the venerable Haile Gebrselassie who last week brought the mark down to 2:03:59.
The discussion always divides into the "No, never!" camp and the "Of course!" chorus. On the one hand, Haile's 4:43.7 average mile pace is mind boggling to the average student of the sport and a further lowering to the required 4:34.6 seems impossible. But, the same thing was said about the four minute mile…
jfiore | September 28, 2008Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia just broke his own world marathon best at Berlin this morning by being the first human being ever to traverse the 26.2 mile race distance in under 2 hours 4 minutes. Geb clocked 2:03:59 chopping nearly half of a minute off of his old record. This works out to 4:43.7 per mile pace or about 70.5 seconds per 400 meters (a single lap of a standard track).
The aerobic capacity of this man never ceases to amaze me and there is little more I can say. Story here.
jfiore | August 24, 2008So Greg has made it clear that he doesn't think that there's any genetic basis for why some groups of people are able run very far, very fast. At the core of this are so-called "racial traits". Any casual observer of the Olympics will note the dominance of people with dark skin in distance running races, and might lead them to the simplistic notion that "dark people can run really fast". I agree that that is rather goofy, but the arguments are off the rails in a few places. A case has not been made that there is no genetic basis for this phenomenon.
First, let's be clear. In the past few…
jfiore | August 24, 2008It is well documented that as the temperature around an endurance athlete increases, performance decreases. And while one can train for and adapt to warm race conditions to mitigate that decrease, the effect remains. But at the highest levels of competition, control of the mind may make all the difference.
Given the conditions, conventional wisdom would dictate a cautious pace for the Olympic men's marathon, but that's not the way it played out. With temperatures in the 28-29C range by mid-race (mid 80s F), the pace was termed "suicidal", with a 1:02:37 half split. I expected the lead pack…
jfiore | August 22, 2008A very entertaining article in The Times today regarding Olympians and sex. The author, former Olympian Matthew Syed, discusses just what goes on behind closed doors (and sometimes on rooftops) at the Olympic village. He offers the usual bag of "reasons why" (testosterone, being away from home, etc.) but it's presented in a light and humorous manner, a good read. Consider the opener:
I am often asked if the Olympic village - the vast restaurant and housing conglomeration that hosts the world's top athletes for the duration of the Games - is the sex-fest it is cracked up to be. My answer is…
jfiore | August 15, 2008Spoiler alert: If you don't want to know anything about the Olympic Women's 10,000 meter final just yet, stop now.
The race was amazing on several fronts, but before I go any further, it will be broadcast on NBC tonight at 10:45 PM. I just finished watching the race on CBC. I can't give a lot of comment on the race for reasons I'll explain in a moment, but the winner and second place runner finished under 30 minutes; Ethiopia's Tirunesh Dibaba in 29:54.66 and Turkey's Elvan Abeylegesse in 29:56.34. Both were under the old Olympic record (Ethiopia's Derartu Tulu's 30:17.49 in 2000) although…
jfiore | August 1, 2008It has been said that the Olympics is rather like a genetic freak-show: All of the extreme outliers from the population show up and do their thing. While specific "genetic gifts" are pretty much required to reach the top of most any sport these days, a little technology can certainly assist in the process. This week's Electronic Design cover story is The 2008 TechnOlympics and discussed some of the technology that will be used in Beijing.
One item that caught my eye was the increased use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software. Although wind tunnel testing has been used on cyclists…
jfiore | July 13, 2008The 31st Utica Boilermaker 15 road race went off this morning, almost without a hitch. Rain arrived about an hour before the 8 AM start but cleared out before the wheelchairs took off at 7:45. The streets were left wet and the air humid. Combined with a low 70's start temp, these were not ideal conditions for fast times. The major hitch for the average runner was that the start mat failed about 10 minutes before the start, and consequently no chip times are available, only gun times.
Complete race results may be found here.
(more below the fold)
I was side-lined with an injury this year so I…
jfiore | July 11, 2008A recent article in the Utica, NY Observer-Dispatch (sorry, no link) took a look at the changing demographics of the Boilermaker 15k with the assistance of the race's former timer. Here's a quick run-down:
In 1985, the average age was 33.5 for men and 30.3 for women. There was a steady increase until 2002 when the women peaked at 34.6 and in 2003 when the men peaked at 39.0 Since then, the averages have been flat, with the men at 38.6 and the women at 34.4 in 2006. So we're looking at roughly a five year increase for the guys and four years for the gals. Breaking this down in terms of age-…
jfiore | July 10, 2008The Utica Boilermaker 15k goes off once again this Sunday, July 13. Currently there are over 11,000 entries, including for the first time, the governor of New York State. The Boilermaker is known for many things, including an elite international field, huge community involvement, and perhaps one of (if not the) best post-race parties around, held at the Matt Brewery (one of the founding sponsors and brewers of Saranac). Another attribute of the Boilermaker is the weather. It tends to be hot. But no matter how hot it gets this Sunday, it's not going to match this. Yep, it's the "Boilermaker in…
jfiore | March 8, 2008It has been said that running training and the resulting personal performance level is an experiment of one. While there are certain general training characteristics to which all humans undoubtedly respond, the speed and level of adaptation to a specific training stimulus vary from individual to individual. Further, there is little doubt that the individual's response changes over the long haul. Next month I'll be turning 50, and like most competitive runners, I look forward to moving into a new age group. (No more pesky and quick 40 and 41 year olds to worry about.) Unfortunately, my zeal,…
jfiore | November 3, 200725 year-old Ryan Hall won the Olympic Trials Marathon this morning in New York City with a trials record time of 2:09:02. This was a special multi-lap course around Central Park, not the same route as will be taken for Sunday's NYC Marathon. Hall looked fluid and at ease the entire race, breaking away from the lead pack around 18 miles in. Dathan Ritzenhein was second in 2:11:07 and in third, Brian Sell in 2:11:40. Favorite and 2004 silver medalist Meb Keflezighi finished a few places back while heavyweights Alan Culpepper and Abdi Abdirahman both DNFed. While the top three make the 2008…
jfiore | October 20, 2007USA Track and Field, the governing body of the sport in the USA, is launching a study to determine the effectiveness of pre-run stretching on injury prevention. You can participate. From the USATF web site:
USATF is conducting a study to determine the effect of pre-run stretching on running injuries. The purpose of the study is to determine specifically if pre-run stretching of the three major leg muscle groups is beneficial for overall injury prevention or reduction. The study is not examining in-run or post-run stretching.
The stretches under study involve quadriceps, hamstrings, and…
jfiore | October 8, 2007The Chicago Marathon has been the site of phenomenal performances, but Sunday's run produced perhaps the tightest men's finish ever. Video here.
Not to be outdone, the women's finish was equally eye-opening and presents a valuable lesson to anyone involved in competitive sport. Video here.
In spite of the flat, fast course, the times were comparatively slow due to the brutally warm and humid weather. Unfortunately, one runner died during the event.
jfiore | October 5, 2007The latest from the Washington Post is that Olympic track star Marion Jones has admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs.
Track star Marion Jones has acknowledged using steroids as she prepared for the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney and is scheduled to plead guilty today in New York to two counts of lying to federal agents about her drug use and an unrelated financial matter, according to a letter Jones sent to close family and friends.
This article makes for an interesting continuation to the recent entry regarding Geb's new marathon record. What kind of drugs could increase performance?…
jfiore | September 30, 2007Well, running great Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopa broke Paul Tergat's four-year-old marathon record of 2:04:55 at Berlin this morning with an amazing 2:04:26. Details here and here.
This works out to an average pace of 4:44.8 per mile or 2:56.9 per km over 26.2 miles (42.2 km). Geb's sustained energy output is mind boggling compared to that of the average 34 year old (or just about any human runner for that matter).
bushwells | September 11, 2007Or when Maidenform just isn't enough.
LiveScience reports that Bras Don't Support Bouncing Breasts.
The science of brassiere design in this study refers to the biomechanics of breasts bouncing during exercise. For women with larger endowment, e.g., a pair of D-cup breasts weighing 15-23 pounds, the unrestrained movement has potential to damage the delicate supporting ligaments and inflict pain. Women may abandon active sports because of this.
Sports bras of the compression type only limit up-and-down movement of the breasts. The study revealed that during vigorous exercise, women's…
jfiore | August 25, 2007Runners have a tendency to track their workout times. This can be both misleading and dangerous if you don't figure in the effect of weather, a trap both newbies and experienced runners can fall into. Consider long runs.
Last week, I went down to the local canal trail for a long run. I ran 16 miles and comfortably averaged about 7:00 minute per mile pace. In fact, my first few miles were a bit easier and I had no problem running the last few in the upper 6's. It was mid 50's F, clear, and low humidity. A downright refreshing and pleasant run.
This morning, my training partner and I ran down…
jfiore | August 8, 2007"He won't hurt you". Check out this thread which popped up after a report of a child being killed in a pit bull attack. We can thank commenter scorp1101 for jumping right into it with the pit bulls are just fine and I know because I own one argument. The remainder of the thread is interesting for two reasons. First, a major theme among many posters seems to be that training (or lack thereof) is the root cause of problems, not something inherent in the breed. Second, it took until the second page of comments before someone said anything about the child who was killed. I guess there's nothing…