Marathon: You Can Do It

I have always thought barefoot running is the most dangerous thing a runner can try (Just look at the bleeding feet of Abebe Bikila who won Gold at while running barefoot at 1960 Olympics).

My thought on barefoot running was changed a little bit when I read the following advice on runners world magazine.

Go Barefoot Once A Week
Strong feet and lower legs, plus flexible ankles, equal fewer injuries. One of the best ways to gain this strength and flexibility is by barefoot running, according to McMillan, because you have to work harder at each toe-off and landing. “Try to do a few barefoot strides or some light jogging equal to between one and three laps of a track once or twice each week,” he says. Level grass works the best.

Source: Runners world UK dot com

I will try running barefoot and see how it goes.

Tags: Bikila, Ethiopian Runners, Inspiring, Marathon, Olympics, Running

Paul Tergat will be running at 2008 New York marathon. He just finished second at last week Lisbon half marathon.That will give him confidence going to New York Marathon.

I doubt whether the old warrior has the endurance to compete at high level. At 39 years of age he seems to have been edged out by new young distance runners from Kenya. Just look at the ages of Kenya marathon team at Beijing Olympics.

1. Martin Lel - 30 Yrs

2. Robert Cheruiyot - 30 Yrs.

3. Samuel Wanjiru (Olympic Gold Medal winner)- 21 Yrs

Back in May he finished 19th at Bangalore 10K, the Indian National daily termed his performance “a forgettable 19th”

But 2008 has been the year old athletes got back their groove. Romanian Constantina Tomescu 38 won Gold in the womens Olympic marathon and in the pool American swimmer Dara Torres won silver at ripe age of 41 years. Old is gold!!

Tags: Inspiring, Kenyan Runners, New york marathon, Olympics, Running

I was going through Matt Mullenweg blog when I stumbled on an interesting comment on why Olympic heroes need pity not adulation.

If you don’t know Matt, he is the genius from San Francisco who gave us wordpress software, the best blogging software on the planet. My website is powered by wordpress.

This was the comment by a reader calling himself Nas,

“People willing to punish themselves hard enough to qualify for the Olympics require counseling, not admiration… Not to mention the fact that some athletes go through a training regimen that starts early enough and is hard enough to qualify as child abuse… Olympians are by and large victims, not “winners”. “

As a runner, my best moment is at the end of 42K marathon, nothing can beat the joy and pride from the satisfaction of doing something very difficult.

What do you say, are you a  victim or hero?

Tags: Marathon, Olympics, Resistance, Running, Training

It was a beautiful month, it’s so sad the Olympics happen once in 4 years. Let me share my best moments from Beijing:-

Michael Phelps winning the 100 meter freestyle

After seeing the Serbian swimmer lead from start to near the finish I thought Phelps would miss his 8th gold medal. But Phelps made a stunning jump at the final metre to win Gold.

Usain Bolt  jog to win 100 metre gold

I didn’t watch this race on TV but listened to it on BBC sports radio. The fact Usain Bolt  jogged the final 10 metres to win the 100M gold means sooner or later a sprinter somewhere will dash 100m in 9.6 flat.

Constatina Tomescu break

I love marathon running and as I watched Romanian Tomescu break from the other runners, I just wished one day I will be able to run at such a high pace and not implode at the 32K mark. The point most novice runners hit the wall!

Kenenisa Bekele Final Kick

As a Kenyan it is disheartening to see Kenenisa Bekele make that final kick and there is no Kenyan runner to match him.

Samwel Kamau Wanjiru  Winner Mens Olympic marathon

I loved the salute he made as he entered the Birds nest stadium on his way to break the Olympic marathon record. At 21 I never rated the guy to win the mens marathon but he was the strongest on the day it mattered most.

If you are already feeling the hangover of Beijing Olympics don’t go to sleep yet,  the Paraolympics are just getting started!

Tags: , Athletes, Beijing Olympics, Olympics

The beijing olympics has been a success, no scandals have been reported. I did a google search on Olympic scandals and I only got scandals from the past. The most interesting bits were about the following women athletes who were suspected to be men.

Polish Runner Ewar Kobukkowska

She was the first woman to be caught in a gender test in 1967. In 1964 summer olympics in Tokyo, She won gold medal in women 4 x 100 meter relay and the bronze in womens 100 meters sprint.

She was found to have a rare genetic condition which gave her no advantage over other athletes, but was nonetheless banned from competing in the Olympics and professional sports.

Indian Runner Santhi Soundarajan.

She won the silver medal in the 800 meters track event at the 2006 Asian games in Doha, Qatar. She failed a the sex determination test and was stripped of her medal. Her case is yet to be concluded however.

Soundarajan  is reported to have lived her entire life as woman.

Brazilian Judo, Edinanci Silva,

At Sydney, she beat Australian Judoka Natalie Jenkins. At a press conference Jenkins raised the issue of Silva’s gender by constantly referring to her as “he” Eventually Silva was confirmed as female but not without some considerable embarrassment.

German athlete, Dora Ratjen 

In 1936 a German athlete named Dora Ratjen finished fourth in the women’s high jump. Twenty years later, Ratjen disclosed the he was in fact Hermann Ratjen and that the Nazis had forced him to compete as a woman.

Brazil Women Vollyeball team

After 2000 Sydney Olympics I remember reading about How volleyball teams had complained about the Brazilian volley team. The team officials admitted some of their players were formerly hermaphrodite but they had undertook an operation to be women. Even after the IOC confirmed the players to be men, most girls from the other teams continue insist they had played against men.

Tags: Beijing Olympics, Olympics, Running, Scandals