1.) I grumbled about not following pro track and field here in the past, mostly because of the ridiculousness of PED’s in the sport. Despite that, I confess, I still keep an eye on it (so yeah, there is a lack of consistency there), and I when I do, I usually keep track of the men’s events over women. I found this SOS article interesting because it makes a case that the doping of the 80s, and early 90s of T&F has set up for a barrier more in the women’s events than men.
2.) Been thinking quite a bit on the back and forth that runners seem to get on quantity (the number of miles or time) versus quality (how that time is spent). Guys like AJW, who has a boatload of top ten finishes at WS100 seem to go and touch speed a bit this time of the year. Contrast that with defending WS champ Geoff Roes thoughts that state: it was when I stopped thinking that I needed to try to sharpen and hone this leg speed that I began to have the high level of success in ultras that I've had over the past 20 months. A coincidence was not lost on me that I saw Geoff coming off Green Mountain (while I was not running fast or strong), while listening to perhaps the greatest IM champ ever Mark Allen advocating racing at shorter distances to get after speed. No topic seems to be as divisive within the running community …
3.) Home made pizza tonight. I enjoyed it way too much.
4.) Dudes are dropping like flies now in regards to the NF50. Still a very rich start field but a good number of DNS to consider now. Karl has some pix too. I am going with Roes for the win here, but I’d really like to see Dave take it.
5.) 25 100s in a year. And then of course there was ultraman recently.
6.) This is truly government run amuck: Apparently our federal government is requiring localities to change all street signage to all caps (versus mixed case) by 2015 because of our country’s failing eyesight.
Damn, I guess I need to quit whining about doing four.
ReplyDeleteFor the record, I whooped her at Leadville. She beat Brandon pretty good though...
Love her quote from Ultraman:
ReplyDelete"As you probably already know by now, the final day of Ultraman is comprised of a double-marathon run. I went through a rough time from about miles (approximating here because I did my best to tune out what mile I was on) 18-36, but managed to come back to life for the last 16 or so, which enabled me to put myself in the hurt locker. Hurtbox. Pain cave. Take your pick. But I was just relishing having energy and legs at this late stage, so I decided to really dig in and leave everything out on the Queen K. At first I was just wanting to make sure that I took everything I could from this Ultraman experience–to get what I came for. But in the end I was forced to push past this point into the realm of dying animal noises and a place I have not been since I had to make a pass at mile 25 to win Ironman Wisconsin: with about 4 miles to go, I was told that I had to make up 3 minutes on 6-time Champ Shanna Armstrong in order to claim second.
I managed to make up 6 minutes, but once I crossed that line, I was physically unable to do anything. I actually could not even leave the finish area for 3 hours because I was in such bad shape. Ian and Maiki had to physically carry me from place to place, and every time I tried to get up, I would just collapse again. My AMAZING crew´s duties extended well beyond the finish line because I was completely useless."
Goggins used to do that crap too.
There are cutoffs each day in order to continue (I think 12 hours?). I think the first day is worst - you swim 6.2 miles and then you have to ride your bike 100 miles up 6,000 feet to finish at the top of a mountain. LOLOLOL.
Ultraman is beyond my imagination right now.
ReplyDeleteYeah, but Brandon is now sportin a beard.
ReplyDelete