High Country

image courtesy of the Wolpertinger

A far-too-brief glimpse at the forthcoming film from the remarkable Joel Wolpert featuring the running exploits of Anton Krupicka and the breathtaking (sometime quite literally) landscapes of Colorado. A teaser indeed! This clip is one hundred thirty two seconds of pure motivation! Engaging and artistic running films are hard to find, so it is with great anticipation that I look forward to the full release of In the High Country this summer.

J. Wolpert - any chance I can obtain an early release for review? Digital or DVD formats are both fine. I'll write a thorough and insightful review and [provided that the full-length film warrants it] I'll hold promotional events and arranged theatrical showings.

Not Just Another Sport

In a short film celebrating the launch of the new Rapha kit, a handful of Team Sky riders discuss the highs and the lows of racing, their ambitions for the season ahead, and why cycling is so much more than just an ordinary sport.

While there are many great themes and phrases throughout the eight minute film, I think Peter Kennaugh's sentiments about the ubiquitous influence and education of cycling nicely sums up my longstanding commitment to the sport and culture. Cycling has taught me "about culture, about food...taught me about the body...you just learn so much about everything. About every aspect of life through cycling. The traveling you do, the different people you talk to and come into contact with."

Relax. Watch and enjoy. Then grab your bike and go for a ride.

Boston Bound!

After an über long and tiring day of work, it was a more-than-welcome surprise to find a postcard from the Boston Athletic Association waiting in the mailbox! Now it's official, in April I'm heading north to celebrate my first Patriots' Day in Boston!

Yes, it really is this simple.

Although the research scenario is a bit more complex (but on the other hand, it really isn't; more nuanced perhaps, but the basics tenants are all present), here's a good summary of the call for finding time for exercise. No matter how you conceive of exercise (e.g. running, cycling, soccer, croquet, building a house, walking, mowing the lawn [not on a riding mower], using the stairs instead of riding the lift, among a seemingly infinite assortment of options), the message is simple: schedule some time each (or at least most) day for exercise. Without further ado, here's a rather artistic and convincing message improve your health, wellness, and overall quality of life.  Enjoy the video (and then get out of your chair and move around a bit).

Food and Running - Thoughts from Cookie Monster

A video featuring Scott Jurek and Cookie Monster! What's not to like? But wait, it gets better...they're talking about the relationship between food and running! Inspiring presenters discussing a fascinating topic. It's like Health and Wellness Sesame Street for adults (and kids too). Take seven and a half minutes out of your day to watch this video. Then head outside for a run, ride, or some variety of exercise. If Cookie Monster can do it, you can too!

The Power of Sport

A quick glimpse at the disparities in the wide world of sport. However, beneath all complexities, a message of hope and inspiration. After watching the video, be sure to read the full article (the first in a three-part series) for a more nuanced look at Amantle Montsho's background and her quest to become the first Batswana to win an Olympic medal.  

Stockholm Marathon - A Somewhat Hasty Decision

Well, the decision has been made! Just moments ago, I signed up to run the 2012 Asics Stockholm Marathon! During a moment of caffeinated enthusiasm (mixed with a smidge of procrastination) at Sola Cafe, I committed to traversing 42.195 Swedish kilometers as swiftly and smoothly as possible on the first Saturday of June.

Although I've been searching for a spring marathon for quite some time, I was not sure that Stockholm was even a possibility until yesterday afternoon. Having missed the December registration deadline, I added my name to the waiting list in early January. Cautiously hopeful that a spot might open, I also acknowledged the strong probability that I would not be racing in Sweden this year. A luck would have it, my name was placed nar the top of the waiting list. After receiving an email offering late registration via waiting list, I raced (digitally) to ensure I could coordinate travel plans, create an affordable budget, and adequately train for the 2 June race. With only a few days provided to accept the offer, I was eager to jump at the opportunity, but was a bit worried about establishing a sufficiently preparatory three month training timeline (hanning struggled with post-Chile illness and some Achilles tenderness/tendinitis my late winter/early spring training has been quite sporadic). All my concerns aside, I could not find a reason to bypass an opportunity to race in Stockholm. Thus, with just an hour remaining until the expiration of my registration offer, I pulled out my credit card and clicked on the registration hyperlink. Unfortunately, a defunct link dampened my enthusiasm. Since this problem occurred during the wee hours of the Swedish morning, there was no chance for a quick fix before the deadline. hoping for some leniency, I promptly emailed the race organizers in Stockholm explaining the problem and seeking late registration for the event. Thankfully, the race officials were incredibly understanding and more than happy accommodate my URL issues. Immediately upon receiving their positive response, I paused my academic endeavors and attended to the more pressing marathon registration.

Why Stockholm? Well, I happen to be fortunate enough to hold a fellowship with Dr. Karen DePauw, Dean and Vice President for Graduate Education at Virginia Tech, which provides me to travel to Europe in May. Since I'll already be in Europe, why not schedule a race at the end of the program (hopefully, I'm not too exhausted from the whirlwind itinerary)? One component of my fellowship involves duties as assistant facilitator for the Global Perspectives Program. As such, I will find myself leading a group of graduate students through a tour of universities in Switzerland, France, and, Italy during May. Aimed at fostering a global perspective on higher education, this study abroad experience develops a comparative understanding of how culture and context influences the establishment and evolution of higher education systems. By the conclusion of the trip, I hope that each participant will have a more complete (and comparative) understanding of US and European university systems, meet new international colleagues, establish research collaborations and cultural exchanges, and appreciate the people, culture, cuisine, and geography of Switzerland, France, and Italy.

According to the rather robust marathon website:

It is basically a two-lap course through the central parts of Stockholm. The surroundings vary from the woods of the Royal park "Djurgården" to the streets of a big city. The course passes buildings such as the Royal Palace, the City Hall, the Royal Opera and the Houses of Parliament. The course is one of the most scenic in the world. Much of the race is run along beautiful waterways.When passing the "Västerbron" bridge, the runners will enjoy a fantastic view over a city with buildings ranging in age from the medieval times to the present day. The difference in altitude between the highest and the lowest point of the course is 29 meters.Start just outside the Olympic Stadium and finish inside the beautiful arena. The first lap is 16.6 kilometres, the second lap 25.6 kilometres.

The elevation profile reveals an undulating course through historical, urban, and natural areas of stokckholm. The periodic peaks represent the many brief, yet steep, bridges that connect the various islands that compromise the Stockholm metropolitan area. Although not as consistently flat as the Chicago course, I still hope that Stockholm will enable a swift marrathoning time. At the very least, the newness (and what I expect to be general fabulousness) of the cityscape should make for an amazing running experience.

So, if you happened to be in (or near) Stocholm in early June, please try to save some energy for early afternoon (the race begins at 12:00pm, so you can enjoy a leisurely morning and still have time for fika in the afternoon) cheering along what is certain to be an architecturally, historically, and all-around outstanding marathon corse.

 

How Bikes Can Save Us, in pictures

Created by: Healthcare Management Degree

Running with Ryan

Ryan Hall cresting Boston's Heartbreak Hill.
Check out that form and pace. Amazing!

Or at least behind him. Probably well behind him. With a personal marathon record of 2:04:58 (2011 Boston Marathon**) and having just placed fourth at the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon (4 September 2011) in Virginia Beach, VA, in 1:03:01, the only glimpse I'll have of Hall will likely come in the start corral. Even then, he'll be seeking pre-race serenity at the head of the Elite Corral while I jockey for breathing room in the commoners' B Corral. Still though, the field of elite runners competing at Chicago should provide for amazing spectating. If you're planning to drive, run, or ride to the marathon, don't forget to glance at the helpful info in the 2011 Bank of America Chicago Marathon Spectator Guide and website. Regardless if you're attending the marathon, there is loads of interesting  information available at the Runner's World site dedicated to the Chicago Marathon. 

An exciting development in the world of health and wellness.
Learn more about the recent Westin -- New Balance
health and fitness partnership here, here, or here.

In other exciting running and general health & fitness news, Westin Hotels & Resorts has partnered with New Balance (a great company that I think we all [no matter or running shoe preferences -- mine  conveniently happens to be NB] can get behind) to provide guests with complimentary athletic shoes and apparel during their stay. As the press release explains,

During their stay, guests can borrow running shoes with brand new, disposable insoles for each use, as well as a variety of men’s and women’s apparel including shorts, shirts and socks for men and shorts, capri pants, shirts, sports bras and socks for women. 

While there are some less-than-stellar aspects of this program (largely involving the disposal nature of some of the products -- but then again, there are some health concerns [e.g. MRSA, etc.] that probably make full-scale reusability a bit unrealistic), the overall concept is simply outstanding. The creation of a program that encourages more people to become more active must be applauded. Sure, there are some issues of accessibility (i.e. if you can afford to lodge at a Westin, you probably don't have any trouble affording fitness gear), this could very well initiate a wider hotel fitness trend. Although the Westin website states "Westin has recently partnered with New Balance to provide athletic shoes and apparel during your stay, for a fee,"the exact price of the program is not published anywhere. In fact, there is some discrepancy about the existence of the fee at all. Reports and press releases seem to indicate that the program will be available to Westin guests free of charge. In his WSJ overview and analysis of the hoteling trend "to beef up fitness offerings" Kevin Helliker stresses the no-charge aspect of the program, but the proceeds to question its appeal,

Westin Hotels & Resorts is launching a free program to loan guests New Balance-brand fitness shoes and apparel. But will road-warriors really want to wear communal running socks? 

Under the new "gear-lending" program, to be launched Tuesday, women will receive Capri pants, a sports bra, shirt, socks and shoes. Men will get a shirt, shorts, socks and shoes. Between uses, Westin says the clothes will undergo the same intense hot-water laundry process used on hotel sheets and towels. Also, the exterior of shoes will be cleaned and the inner soles will be replaced between guests.

Communal running socks? Come on Helliker. All of the official sites and releases emphatically state, "Shoes come with socks that are brand new and apparel is provided fresh and clean." Either the uproar over wearing laundered socks caused a re-evaluation of the program or Helliker's reporting was questionable. Suppose it doesn't really matter in the grad scheme of things. But, it seems important to make the program appealing and don't allow inaccurate reporting to discourage guests from taking advantage of an opportunity to improve their quality of life and health via exercise. Some food for thought if you ever find yourself at a Westin and in need of running gear.

And finally, my moment of marathon zen...

A bit of Obama inspired motivation after Barcelona's astonishing 2009 season (Josep "Pep" Guardiola is the current Barcelona manager [and former player]). During this dream of a season, Barcelona not only became the first club in Spain to win the treble (La Liga, Copa del Rey, & Champions League), but also became the first football club ever to win six out of six competitions in a single year -- or the never-thought-plausible sextuple (the aforementioned treble & the Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup). I'm hoping that if I recite this mantra (in addition to whatever song happens to imbed itself in my subconscious) during the race, a bit of Pep magic will help propel my legs and fill my lungs. We'll see. Superstitions are encouraging and motivational, right?

**Boston Marathon, 18 April 2011 -- Hall ran the fastest marathon ever by an American, finished fourth, but not an American record because the Boston course is not eligible for records owing to its point-to-point layout and its elevation drop of greater than 1 meter per kilometer. A kind (i.e. very strong) net tailwind (15-20 miles/hour) contributed to the runners' remarkable 2011 times (Kenya's Geoffrey Mutai ran 57 seconds under the recognized world record in winning in 2:03:02, but again, not a new official world record).

PA the Gmail Way!

With obesity rates, worker complacency, and efforts to streamline non-verbal communication all on the rise, Google has jumped headlong into the fray. Now it is easier than ever to get 60 minutes of physical activity (as much as I love the great state of Pennsylvania, is actually what the PA refers to) most days of the week. All you need to do is develop a personalized system of body movements and other gestures and rely upon your computer and Gmail to inuit the rest. In short, we now have a viable option that enables us to rely less-and-less upon confusing verbal modes of communication and slowly do away with tedious (not to mention noisy) keyboard tasks. All the while we can increase our VO2 max, tone and trim, and live generally healthier lives. Thanks Google! You rock! Check out Gmail Motion here (it's still in BETA, but according to those in the know, a full version is on the near-term horizon) and sign up soon!

Ok, but in all seriousness...In celebration of this first day of April, the fine folks in Mountain View, CA have delivered another outstanding prank. Funny, of course. Plausible, perhaps. Desirable,...um...well, somedays this might the only PA some of us get. Take home lesson, step away from the computer (after you're done reading this of course), stand up and move about the room/house/office/city/countryside a bit. Every step counts. The more (and faster the) steps the better. Trust me, your boss(es) will appreciate your renewed vigor and enlivened creativity (not to mention you'll feel a whole lot better).

Learn more about Google's longstanding tradition of April Fool's Day pranks here (yes, believe it or not, there is an entire Wikipedia entry devoted to "Google's hoaxes"). Please do watch the Gmail Motion video. It is well worth the short bout (only a mere 1:52) of procrastination.

Disproving Survival of the Fittest: Field Testing the Validity of Social and Evolutionary Darwinism (or Cole and Justin's Rapha Ride) PARTE DOS

As overwhelming and uneventful as it may be to collect and process performance data, the benefits from analysis tremendously outweigh the tedium of assessment. While the raw numbers are of course useful in their own right, the usefulness when considered in contextual is simply astounding (e.g. food intake and performance). Increasingly reliant upon technology, numerical data, and supplements cycling (and other endurance sports) has long carried the money trumps ability monkey. While wind tunnel testing and SRM power meters are undoubtedly useful, there is an undeniable appeal to the simplicity of riding based upon feel while fueled by real food. To be fair, I appreciate the cycling computer, love to track my statistics over time, and enjoy the yumminess of Clif Bar products (most of which actually fall into the real food category; just mixed together and baked; minimal processing), but part of appeal to a Rapha-esque Ride is the testing of physical and mental limits. Stripping away all the "lack of training/not enough time on the bike" excuses, minimizing technological assistance, and riding without a parade of support vehicles (although I do sincerely appreciate the spectacular refrigerator organization) harks back the golden age of cycling and recalls the pure joy of pedaling.

Disproving Survival of the Fittest: Field Testing the Validity of Social and Evolutionary Darwinism (or Cole and Justin's Rapha Ride) PARTE UNA

Despite its routine beginning, the fourth Friday of May quickly earned a place in the annals of blogging history. Some of you may be wondering, "Wow, the title for this entry is so perplexing and the first sentence so captivating; I can't wait to read about this epic day! Hold on a minute though, the fourth Friday of May was nearly three ago! If this day truly was so memorable, why the delay?" Well, in response to these very insightful points I would likely begin by drawing attention to the hypothetical overuse of exclamation marks. Quickly thereafter, I would be sure to segue into a long winded apology for my poor blogging etiquette (being sure to mention my week long marathon of a move as well as my dedication to successful and timely completion of work projects; all the while reiterating my heartfelt appreciation for the all my readers) and then be sure to offer some sort of witticism about the claw-like shape of my hand due to the intensity of the Rapha Ride and subsequent inability to use a keyboard with any proficiency. Diverging readerly attention almost entirely from these initial feelings of disappointment and defusing a potentially volatile social encounter, please allow us to begin, in earnest, the retelling of this epic tale.