the sweet life » Recreation
Mountains to Sound
I just found out my brother-in-law, Brian Bruininks, came in 1st place in the open-male division of the 100 mile Mountains to Sound race on Sunday. The race involves a 23 mile mountain bike ride, 50 mile road bike ride, 12 mile canoe/kayak, 13.5 mile run and a 6 mile sprint. I guess if you are an individual and not a team the last two legs are essentially a 19.5 mile run. ;) You can see some photos of him at the finish line with Henry and Wilson (there are about five photos total, so go forward to see them all). Congrats!
Exercise Nutrition
Wondering what to eat during and after your long workout? Unless you are an elite athlete, a new study suggests skipping the fancy energy drinks/bars and eating real food instead (Real Thought for Food for Long Workouts - The New York Times). Excerpt:
The idea is that you are supposed to consume carbohydrates and proteins in a magical four-to-one ratio during endurance events like a long run or bike ride, and right after. The belief is that such nutritional diligence will improve your performance and speed your recovery. [...]There are grains of truth to the nutrition advice, they and other experts say. But, as so often happens in sports, those grains of truth have been expanded into dictums and have formed the basis for an entire industry in "recovery" products.
Riding Giants
Jason Kottke has compiled a nice set of links profiling a recent storm that produced massive, surfable waves off the coast of California at a spot called Cortes Bank. These guys are in search of the elusive 100 foot ridable wave. I love watching surfing, and would recommend the movies Riding Giants and Step Into Liquid if you do as well.
Tired Legs
This past weekend I ran in my first race in over five years...five years! Nagging injuries from past marathons and two crazy kids account for most of that gap. I've been running fairly regularly since the first of the year without a major setback, so I decided to participate in the 5.5. mile Allerton Trail Race held at Allerton Park (one of the 7 Wonders of Illinois).
I started toward the back of the pack and promised myself I would take it easy for the first 3 miles or so to see how I felt. Starting slowly was not a problem. There were about 500 runners competing for space on a single-track trail, so it took a few miles to even get room to pass. After mile 3 I picked up the pace a bit and steadily passed people, which is another psychological benefit to starting towards the back. Apart from a few unexpected hills at the end I felt good the whole way.
I ended up finishing with an average pace of ~9:00/mile, which I was "ok" with given the terrain and the slow start. It's a far cry from my earlier running experiences, but it felt really good to get out there and run with people. I would love to be able to run another marathon (slowly!), so we'll see how the training progresses as the cold weather creeps in.
Oh, and this was the first time I had one of my own kids cheering me on, which was an awesome experience. Thanks Cooper!
"Death, Havoc and Heat Mar Chicago Race"
That was the title of the article in The New York Times describing yesterday's Chicago Marathon. The thermometer topped 90 in Champaign yesterday, and I can't imagine running 26.2 miles in that kind of heat. Race officials actually ended the marathon early.
Change of Pace
I went with the standard resolution this New Year's and decided to get back in the running groove. Toddlers, weather, and illness have sabotaged previous attempts to get into a routine, but I finally ran out of excuses. As I work through a few chronic aches and pains I decided I really needed to focus on *getting out there* as opposed to breaking a PR in some upcoming race - that mindset is what contributed to my long layoff. Anywho...
Music has always been my pacesetter, and I regularly listened to the most upbeat music to speed me along. However, since starting back up again I've been listening to podcasts via iTunes instead of music. They're free, often educational, and come in a wide variety of flavors. Plus, and most importantly for me, the spoken word tends to keep me relaxed instead of amped up. So, if you runners regularly listen to music and are looking for a change of pace give podcasts a try. A few of my recent favorites are listed below. These links will launch iTunes if you have it.
- TEDTalks - Presentations from the annual TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference. For some reason it is only showing the video podcast versions, but audio-only files are available. I liked Ben Saunders, Steven Levitt, and Malcolm Gladwell.
- TimesTalks - A series of interviews with various people from The New York Times.
- Travel With Rick Steves - You've seen him on PBS, now listen to his podcast where he explores a new destination every week.
- NPR - They have a ton of content available.
Floyd, We Hardly Knew Ye
I hate to say it, but maybe there is some truth to the notion that they all do it, but only a few get caught. Floyd Landis was fired by his team and stripped of his TDF victory today.
Yellow Floyd
Congratulations to Floyd Landis on his Tour victory. I'm a huge Lance fan, primarily because of his work in the cancer community and his incredible sporting achievements. However, Floyd seems like a very likeable guy, unlike his former Postal teammate.
I needed a new book while I was in Seattle and came across "Lance Armstrong's War", which chronicles his 2004 season. Great book - well written and full of inside information. At the time Floyd was still a Postie, but very unhappy with his status on the team. There are a couple chapters that provide good background to help illustrate how he made it to the top of the podium this year. From what I've read it is very unlikely that Floyd would ever re-sign with Team Discovery.
Update: Floyd re-signs with Phonak, Levi Leipheimer will lead Team Discovery next season.
Update II: Say it ain't so Floyd? Well, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he is innocent until proven guilty.
Floyd & DZ
The NY Times Magazine has an in depth profile of American cyclist Floyd Landis - very interesting what he's been through the last few years.
Another strange character is CSC rider Dave Zabriskie. Just listen to this little audio clip he posted on his unofficial site - it involves Russian mullets.
