Marathon: You Can Do It

When Former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer was caught in a sex scandal, Runners world magazine posted a photo of the former governor dressed in New balance trainers, shorts and a T-shirt. The comments of the photo were the only positive reviews of Eliot at a time when Comedy writers were having a great time.

“Gov. Spitzer responded just a few hours ago. He said, quote, ‘I violated my obligations to my family and I violated my sense of what is right and wrong.’ Spitzer also admitted violating someone named Amber.” –Conan O’Brien

Me to Syndrome

Sometimes politicians behave like kids, when their rival gets something they also want it.  Eliot’s replacement has also begun in his quest to have a picture of him posted on Runners world.

Last week New York Governor David Paterson finished the Utica Boilermaker Road Race in a little over 94 minutes. Although many governors have participated, Paterson is the first to finish the 15K run.

The governor, who is legally blind, said his biggest trouble was finding the time to train for the race after ascending to the state’s top job following Eliot Spitzer’s resignation in March.

An avid runner, Paterson ran the New York City Marathon in 1999 and finished in 6 hours and 6 minutes.

This year’s Boilermaker was won by Terefe Maregu of Ethiopia, finishing in 44 minutes and 17 seconds.

Tags: 10K run, New York running, road running, Running, Trainers

Edith Masai is like wine, she seems to get better with time. At 42 she is defying age and competing at the highest level. Just like Sister Buder, the 76 years old marathon runner, Masai shows us growing old doesn’t mean slowing down.

Last week Masai won the 10,000 meters race at the Kenya National Championship. Masai finished in a time of 32.29.1 ahead of four times Boston marathon winner, Catherine Ndereba,

How is she able compete at 42?

She is a late bloomer. According to Edith Masai Bio, Masai was born in 1967, She graduated from High school in 1988. She joined Kenya Prisons Service in 1990, known for recruiting many talented athletes. Masai did not, however, achieve anything until 1999, when she became a national cross-country champion, at the ripe age of 34. That was the Eureka moment for Edith.

Mid thirties is a time when most athletes start winding down on their running career but for Edith, she was just discovering her hidden talent. She started training seriously.

In 2004 she failed at the Kenyan trials for the Olympics. Then you might have thought that was her last best chance to compete in Olympics but we are in 2008 and here she is planning to win a ticket to represent Kenya at 2008 Beijing olympics.

I hope to see her in Beijing, it will be amazing if she beats Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba.

Correction:

Masai did not participate on the Kenya Olympic trials  because she announced her retirement from running middle distance races and she plans to focus on road running. I wish her all the best in her new direction.

Tags: , 10K Running, Beijing Olympics, Running

Every time I finish my run I feel so good.

Scientist in Germany published a report in March that proves that running can make you high. According to the paper my feeling of joy is not just a matter of feeling satisfied with doing something difficult like finishing a 10k but a result of biochemical effects on my brain.

The paper says, when you are running chemicals are released that alter your mood and those chemicals are endorphins. Endorphin is the natural hormone that is responsible for feeling happy. Running does elicit a flood of endorphins to the brain. The more endorphins a runner’s body pumps out the higher you feel.

This report explains why some us find running so addictive.

“Happiness is Running“

After suffering a lower back pain while I was cheering my national soccer team, I surfed the running blogsphere for information on how to stretch my back.

I stumbled upon these lower back stretching images from a Karate website

When I was a kid my Idol was Bruce Lee. I was awed by his speed….and his ability to knock the hell out of the bad guys.

You want a body flexibility like of Bruce Lee? Try the above but be careful, some of these stretches can lead to tear if overdone.

Tags: Running, Stretching, Training

One thing that will slow your running pace is wind blowing towards you. While wind acts as resistance it can be beneficial during marathon training as the extra resistance will help you in developing stamina.

How To Survive a fall from a 47 high-rise building

To understand the impact of wind on your speed, read this story on New York post about how experts are grappling with how a New York City window washer, miraculously survived a plunge from a 47-story high-rise that killed his brother.Doctors and physicists said the stunning fall suffered by Alcides Moreno, 37, would have normally meant sure death, but that the 125 mph descent was possibly blunted by random air currents rising between the city’s tall buildingsExperts interviewed in the New York Post story said that the extra bit of resistance, which slowed his descent, saved his life.

During a marathon, the wind blowing towards you wont take away your life but it will take away your time.

Tags: Marathon, Resistance, Running, Training