Running

Presented by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the Jimmy Fund, and the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.), the 13th annual B.A.A. Half Marathon will conclude the three-race B.A.A. Distance Medley. Registration for the official Dana-Farber B.A.A. Half Marathon team is now open.Related:Run for Dana-Farber Website

Usually, the downhill would be a place to fly. Scatter-stepping my way across the uneven terrain, this was my specialty. Not so this time. You all know how proud I am about my record of never having fallen on a trail run, but sometimes that mentality works against me. The trail was slick with mud after recent rains doused the area. Instead of bombing down the hills, I was more worried about staying upright. Regardless of the outcome, the running hiatus finally ended yesterday, with a dreadfully slow, embarrassingly short run on a section of the Buckeye Trail. My last run was 16 days before this latest reboot. Between the wet conditions and hesitancy to run fast, my pace suffered mightily. The timer was still set for 20 minutes, for when I was logging 40-minute out-and-back runs with regularity and shedding minutes from my average pace. But that was then. When my watch hit 15 minutes at the top of a steep hill, my legs told me that was enough, and I turned back toward my car. The final tally was 2.1 miles in 30-some minutes. Brutal. At least the hiatus is over. The next couple of days should provide good running weather. The weekend is supposed to bring thunderstorms, but maybe they won't deter me from getting out there and regaining the fitness I had accrued.

Straight... ...outta... ...the box. Ahhh! Like they personally were made for my feet. I've always had great luck with Asics shoes (and I have no financial interest in promoting them). I've worn out too many pairs to even count anymore. It's just that they fit well, run well, and never, ever feel like a new shoe. My only knock on Asics is that they have a bewildering array of models--far too many in my opinion. I stick with the ones with numbers (these are the GT 2170). And I've used both their trail and road shoes.

Bok Choy…bok choy…hmm bok choy. Food rotation is not something that I am good at, but it is something I am striving to get better at so I was game when Jason of CookTrainEatRace.com announced that the next Endurance Foodies Carnival would focus on bok choy. He may have also mentioned fennel, but hey I’m taking things one step at a time! The #EnduranceFoodies are athletes who love to spend as much time in the kitchen as they do training and racing. Since we all have different tastes and inspirations getting a group of like-minded people together to share in our passions was the goal. Bok Choy is a great green addition to my normal kale and spinach because it provides some variety in nutrients!- High in Vitamin C- High in Potassium- High in Folic Acid- High in fiber I have used it in a typical stir fry in the past or tossed it in a green smoothie {is there anything I won’t put in there?!}, but I knew that was too easy. I started pondering what other foods I wanted to include in my week and that brought me back to getting in some anti-inflammatory food (salmon) and some fermented food for digestion (miso). Easy was also top of mind because I like recipes that I can throw together quickly and remember them in the future without needing to reference anything. I believe this was accomplished!Ingredients 1/4 cup brown miso 4 cloves garlic, minced 2 Tbsp soy sauce 2 tsp sesame oil 1 Tbsp EVOO 1-2 Tbsp Ginger (depends on taste) about 2 lbs baby bok choy, quartered and washed 2 salmon filets (more if feeding more people)I think I purchased the largest bok choy I have ever seen…which is to say you don’t need as much, but I tend to overload my meals with veggies, so I didn’t mind! Directions 1.Place salmon on baking sheet or glass dish in oven at 325 for 20-40 min depending upon thickness of filet2. Mix first 6 ingredients in large bowl3. Put bok choy in with marinade and rub down…like massaging kale!4. Place bok choy in glass baking dish or spread on a large baking sheet4. Remove salmon when done and put marinated bok choy in oven for 10 minutes. Look for edges to be lightly wilted before removing. Have you used bok choy? Do you tend to use the same things over and over? If you are looking for more ideas, checkout the other folks who are showing off some bok choy recipes as part of the #EnduranceFoodies Blog Carnival and join us next month! Jason: cooktraineatrace.comDonna: beatinglimitations.comVictoria: obligatorytriblog.blogspot.comMia: dietsarecrap.blogspot.comLindsay: cottercrunch.comAdrienne: sixkickswitch.blogspot.comJoanna: everydaynutrition.wordpress.com----------------------------------------------------Gratitude JournalJune 19 I am grateful for getting more adventurous with food as I get older! I used to hate a number of vegetables as a kid and now enjoy many of them regularly.

20% OFF EVERYTHING AT LEFTLANESPORTS.COM Regular readers and savvy shoppers have certainly taken advantage of sales offered by flash-sale site LeftLaneSports in the past. What's better than picking up minimalist shoes (or outdoor apparel or gear) at upwards of 50% off? I'll tell you. How about taking an extra 20% off the already-bargain markdowns at LeftLaneSports.com sitewide? LeftLane is offering BirthdayShoes.com readers just that: an exclusive 20% off VIP sale that begins now and will last until 3PM EST or NOON PST tomorrow, June 19, 2013! HOW TO GET YOUR EXTRA 20% IF YOU'RE NOT YET A MEMBER OF LEFTLANE, you'll want to use my invite link to join. Why? Because you'll get $10 of credit that will get auto-applied to your first order over $50. Once you join, you'll get daily emails about the latest sales LeftLane is offering. Having now been a member for probably almost two years, I've hooked up sales on everything from outdoor gear, a ton of apparel (outdoor/fitness/casual), minimalist shoes, and more—sorta makes it hard to pay full price. And you can quit membership by stopping the emails whenever you like. So join up via my invite link and get that credit. IF YOU'RE A MEMBER ALREADY OR JUST BECAME ONE ... You absolutely have to click through the VIP sale link: http://5to.es/leftvip (that link redirects you here and this link will also function fine!). Again the all-important link so that you get the extra 20% off at checkout! http://5to.es/leftvip IMPORTANT NOTES! This is not a coupon-code-based promotion! There is no coupon! Rather, you simply click my link to get your browser cookified. From there, you won't see the discount reflected until you start the checkout process! The link is what matters to get the sale active on your purchase. While the sale doesn't extend to prior purchases (and as someone who picked up Skoras yesterday at LLS, I feel your pain!), it applies to everything at LeftLane. The link above will land you at some minimalist- or running-minded shoes, apparel, and gear, but use the site menu to navigate around and see what you can find! That's it! Now hurry up and hook it up before it ends tomorrow, June 19, 2013 at noon PST! (cross-posted to birthdayshoes.com/deals/)

The library has come through for me big time this year. I continue to exploit its online services to check the stacks, make requests and then just go pick up my books. Last time, I mentioned requesting that they purchase Strange Attractors, a new graphic novel by Charles Soule, and the book finally came in this week. The library also serves as my version of Netflix, as the wife and I have been catching up on TV shows like Person of Interest and Wonderfalls. Meanwhile, I've been reading parenting books and thinning out my monthly comic book purchases. Let's get to all the gory details. Civil War Reading List Yeah, no. Unlisted Reading List After going a bit overboard on bringing home books from the library, I've tried to dial back how many books I request at a time. I had to return the Jack London and Philip K. Dick collection before finishing them. I just re-borrowed the London book, but in the meantime I read a very enjoyable parenting memoir. Drew Magary is a foul-mouthed, smart-aleck columnist for websites like Deadspin and Gawker, as well as GQ magazine, and the author of Men With Balls and Postmortal. In his recently released memoir, Someone Could Get Hurt, his touchstone humor and propensity to use ALL CAPS are in full bloom, as he illustrates his argument why he's a terrible parent. However, interspersed with these tales of child-rearing gone diaper-explodingly wrong, he manages several heartwarming sentiments that make you realize why parenting is worth all the mishaps. It was a perfect read for this dad-to-be, but I'm sure seasoned veterans will find it enjoyable as well. Comic Book Pull List Two miniseries I was following ended earlier this month and another is due to finish up next week. Those three subtractions — Daredevil: End of Days, Fashion Beast and Masks — will bring my average weekly comic expenditure closer to my goal of $10. The financial burden of fanboyism ... I've only read the first few pages of Strange Attractors so far, but it's already got my interest, unlike Dobson, seen to the left, using the book as a pillow. I also recently borrowed the first volume of Matt Fraction's Hawkguy Hawkeye series. It's so damned funny. I highly recommend it. In anticipation of seeing Man of Steel one of these days, I've requested a spate of Superman books from the library. Find out next time whether they were worth the read. All right, teammates, your turn! What have you been reading? Any good summer reads to recommend?

Last week we offered you the chance to win fantastic Gore gear simply by voting and commenting on our Bug Debates question -- Is it acceptable for men to run in tights? Up for grabs was a women's Gore Essential GT blue jacket in a size 12, and a men's Air 2.0 Light Vest in vibrant orange in a medium. After much deliberation among our judges two lucky winners have been chosen! And the winner from the girl's team iiiiiiiis -- Fattofit for sharing this funny comment about her other half: “My other half used to wear them, until a group of kids kindly shouted "Oi, Mr... We can see your *bleep*!" He stopped running not long after!! And for the men Dale Walker is the winner for being brave enough to stand out from the crowd! “This is 100% acceptable, although the rest of my comrades in my platoon don’t think so -- oh well they are just jealous because they can’t catch me in PT sessions :)” Congratulations to both! Don't worry if you're not a winner this time, there'll be plenty more prizes up for grabs. So keep an eye out for the latest Bug Debates each week!

Via well-respected economist Duncan Black thinks the whole NSA spying scandal is too firmly entrenched into Washington politics to dislodge:...my basic belief is that aside from civil liberties issues, the security/surveillance state industry is just a giant grift, a big scam there to enrich certain communities in Northern Virginia. That it is a net good is bullshit, that it makes us "safe" is bullshit, and that "making us safe," as opposed to perpetuating its own existence and fattening the wallets of its members and those that play along, has much to with anything that goes on is bullshit.I'm sure the Men in Black could pay me a visit and convince me otherwise. What do I know? There are known unknowns and unknown unknowns, and I can't claim knowledge of any of them. Much of what is "intelligence work" is boring, and stuff produced from that work is probably useful and the people who do it are probably doing good work for good reasons. But the unholy alliances with big businesses and third party contractors and the empire of well-paid informants and agents is just bullshit in which everyone takes their cut of your money.Mr. Black's post was followed later by this one, called Deep Thought, which really gives me pause:There's no reason to be concerned about an agency with a director who feels free to lie under oath.

9.69? 9.58? 9.63? Those three numbers can mean only one thing… Usain Bolt and the greatest 3 races we have seen in this lifetime. No argument there, though some may argue the 9.79 back in 1988 was THE greatest.  Another post, another time for that discussion.  Onto the research paper… A Kinematics Analysis of the 3 Best 100 M Performances A Kinematics Analysis Of Three Best 100 M Performances Ever was researched and written by Mackala “Chris” Krzysztof and Antti Mero, and published in the Journal of Human Kinetics volume 36/2013, 149-160, Section III – Sports Training. (link to download the full PDF below) In the last four years Usain Bolt improved the world record in the 100 m sprint three times, from 9.74 sec to 9.58. Over the last 40 years this record has been revised up to thirteen times from 9.95 sec to 9.58. The improvement equals 0.37 sec (from 1968 to 2009) which is an increase in performance of 3.72%. By comparison, during the same time period, the 200 m world record was revised six times from 19.83 sec to 19.19 what amounts to 3.33 %. Sprinting speed is defined with the frequency and the length of strides 2001. These parameters are mutually dependant with their optimal ratio enabling maximal sprinting speed. The increase of speed can be achieved by increased length or frequency of strides. The increase of both parameters simultaneously is quite difficult due to mutual dependency. Therefore an increase in one factor will result in an improvement in sprint velocity,  as long as the other factor does not undergo a proportionately similar or larger decrease). Increased frequency results in shorter stride length and vice versa. Therefore the increase in stride length must be directly proportional with the decrease of stride frequency, especially at the beginning of the race – the initial acceleration phase. This relationship is individually conditioned with the processes of neuro-muscular regulation of movement, morphological characteristics, motor abilities and energy substrates. The purpose of this investigation was to compare and determine the relevance of the morphological characteristics and variability of running speed parameters (stride length and stride frequency) between Usain Bolt’s three best 100 m performances. Based on this, an attempt was made to define which factors determine the performance of Usain Bolt’s sprint and, therefore, distinguish him from other sprinters. Conclusions Bolt’s anthropometric advantage (body height and lower limbs length) is not questionable and it is one of the factors that makes him faster than the rest of the finalists of each of the three discussed sprinting events. Additionally, Bolt’s almost 20 cm longer stride presents an important benefit in the latter part of the race. Despite these factors, he is probably able to strike the ground more forcefully than other sprinters, relatively to their body mass and, therefore, he might maximize the time of the contact with the ground and apply the same force over this period of time. This ability, combined with longer stride, allows him to reach very high running speed – over 12 m/s (12.05 -12.34 m/s) in some 10 m sections of his three 100 m performances. Analysis of the obtained results of this particular sprinter may be of great importance for trainers and coaches as it implies work on stride frequency (SF) in order to reach a higher value of maximal sprinting speed. Therefore, it is noteworthy that the main focus should be on the optimal interaction between stride length and stride frequency. Click here for the full research paper. (PDF, 568 Kb) Thanks to Chris Mackala for using and crediting my research in this paper. Copyright © 2012 by Speedendurance.com. All Rights Reserved. Speedendurance.com is on Facebook. Visit: Most Popular articles for 2011: 400 meter Training and Racing: 400 meter training from Supertraining 400 meter training workouts the 6×200 meters 400 & 800 meter train

Remember how last week I was all about my non-training training plan — an attempt to give my running some structure without going overboard? Right, it went well last week. I got in all five workouts — though instead of three runs and two days of CrossFit, I ended up with four runs and one day of CrossFit. But either way, all good in the end. But then last night, a friend of mine asked me to make her a training plan for the Biggest Loser 5K that we are running in DC in July. (Full disclosure, I got a comped entry so I could run the race and review it.) I had so much fun making her training plan, that I started itching to have one of my own. Next thing I knew, I got sucked down the rabbit hole of training plan creation. I was looking at my calendar, blocking out time for CrossFit and softball and other prior commitments and fitting in training runs around them. The race is only four weeks away, and creating a training plan that short was kind of fun. I’m used to these long 12-week marathon and half marathon plans that require so much advanced planning. Having something short and sweet like a 5K in a few weeks is going to bring a nice level of focus to my training without bogging me down with long runs in the hot summer months. So here’s what I came up with. For the most part I nixed all dedicated speed work because I get a lot of interval type training through CrossFit. So my runs are either short and easy 3 milers or slightly longer runs on the weekend. I’m kicking around the idea of doing one of the local 4th of July 5Ks just for fun (hence the “potential 5K” on that random Thursday.) And I’m also planning to experiment with a run commute on a Tuesday morning, which explains the 7 mile run that day. Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Week One CrossFit 3 mile run CrossFit 3 mile run / Softball Softball CrossFit Rest Week Two CrossFit 3 mile run Rest 3 mile run / Softball CrossFit 5 mile run Rest Week Three CrossFit 7 mile run CrossFit Potential 5K Race CrossFit 5 mile run Rest Week Four CrossFit 3 mile run 30 min tempo / Softball 2 mile run / Softball CrossFit / Softball Rest Race! I’m pretty excited about this plan. All the workouts are short which makes it totally manageable in the hot summer months and gives me plenty of flexibility with my schedule. And before I know it, it will be time to jump back into half marathon training for my race in September. But for now, I’m going to embrace short and sweet runs to get me through the summer! The post A Short and Sweet Training Plan appeared first on Jess Runs.