QOTD

"It's so important to think positive. It's easy to get discouraged and be negative," she said. "It makes such a difference in how you feel and your outlook on everything." -Gladys Burrill, who at 92 years old completed the Honolulu Marathon, earning her a spot in the Guinness World Records as the oldest person to complete a marathon.

If I'm alive when I'm 92, I'll be happy. If I'm still able to walk when I'm 80, I'll be ecstatic. If somehow I'm alive and can walk and can finish a marathon at 92, I'll consider myself very, very lucky!

I'm a strong believer in the power of positive thinking, and Gladys is a clear example of its positive effects. But if you dont trust me or Gladys, The Mayo Clinic lists the following benefits of positive thinking:

• Increased life span
• Lower rates of depression
• Lower levels of distress
• Greater resistance to the common cold
• Better psychological and physical well-being
• Reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease
• Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress

So on that note... Happy Wednesday!

QOTD

"Most people will run better in their next race if they lose a pound of body fat." -Exercise immunology expert David Nieman

Amby Burfoot has another great article up on the Peak Performance blog at RunnersWorld.com. I feel like I need this disclaimer every time I reference this blog, but believe it or not, Runners World does actually publish some decent information online. Anyway, in this blog Amby speaks with David Nieman, who he calls, "among the smartest and most impeccable of exercise scientists."

With the introductions out of the way, the second half of the post contains the section on post workout glycogen re-stocking and the QOTD.  His words, with my emphasis added in bold:


This is a pet peeve of mine. Runner's World and every other fitness publication is always talking about the importance of re-stocking "glycogen stores" shortly after you finish a workout. Chocolate milk is a current favorite choice, but you also read about energy bars, and peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches, or maybe tuna sandwiches.

The research findings are valid enough. That's not the issue. The issue is that this finding doesn't apply to 99 percent of us. It's for Ironman triathletes and marathoners doing double workouts and 120 miles a day. These folks are never more than a few hours away from their next workout, and for them it's important to practice maximal re-stocking.

For the 99 percent of us, it's smarter to practice maximal food restraint. We'd be better off losing a couple of pounds than re-stocking in world-record time. In my opinion, what most of us should eat after a typical workout is a glass of water and a banana. Or something equally light. Yes, we need fluids. Yes, we'll enjoy a few carbs. But the fewer the better, if you want to know the truth. Your next meal is only 3 to 4 hours off, and you'll pack away plenty of glycogen-restocking calories then.

Nieman agreed with me. I wasn't taking notes, but he said something like: "I've looked at those studies, and the glycogen gain is very modest. Most people will run better in their next race if they lose a pound of body fat."




Amby and I apparenly have similar pet peeves, as I have had similar thoughts.  This is especially prevalent among triathletes and ultrarunners, as they compete in long distance events which do require on course fueling.  However, just because a race may require the consumption of calories, doesnt mean immediately refueling is imperative after or during every workout. IOW, you really dont need a gel, or even some sports drink, to complete that 40 minute run. 

So by all means, if you've got a multiple workout day planned, make sure to get some calories right after the first and/or second workout. Otherwise, drink some water and make some real food. It'll taste better which will allow you to eat less and race faster.

BTW: I also love how Amby calls out, "Runners World and every other fitness publication" on a Runners World blog. Priceless.

QOTD

"How many of the top Kenyan runners have sons or daughters who are excelling at running?" asks Pitsiladis. "Almost none. Why? Because their father or mother becomes a world champion, has incredible resources, and the child never has to run to school again."

Yannis Pitsiladis is a biologist at the University of Glasgow who collects the DNA of champions, both sprint and endurance athletes, in an attempt to determine if there are genes which are necessary for success in certain sports. David Epstein quotes him in this great article on SI.com which attempts to shed some light on the age-old "nature vs nurture" debate.

All in all the article is very thorough and well worth the read. Epstein presents both sides of the argument, showing that indeed both nature AND nurture are critical for success. In the end, though, he postulates that perhaps the most important gene is the one that makes an individual push herself to work hard. Either way, there is plenty of evidence to back both sides; either you have the ability to improve, or you are destined to a predetermined fate. I guess that leaves it up to you, then, to determine which you would like want to believe!

QOTD

"Ritz had won with grit, sweat, resolve. He won with talent and guts. He won because he understood that victory doesn't come cheap, and he was willing to pay the price." -Amby Burfoot talking about Dathan Ritzenhein

While Runners World certainly isnt my favorite magazine (and is, of course, berated my most "serious runners") it does, occasionally publish some decent articles. This is one of them. Well, not exactly, because it is really quite a bit better than decent and definitely worth a read. The article is a narrative of the 2000 Foot Locker Cross Country National Championship with background information on three of the best distance runners in the US today, Alan Webb, Dathan Ritzenhein, and Ryan Hall. While there were 32 runners total, those 3, were head and shoulders above the rest. What makes that race so special is not only how great these three were while they were in high school, but how they have lived up to and some would say exceeded lofty expectations.

The story is especially poignant for me personally for a couple of reasons. First of all, I was helping out at the finish of that epic race, so I got to see the excitement firsthand. More importantly though, these three are the same age as me, so I've followed their careers from the beginning, as they were gaining national prominence about the time I was getting into running. Seeing them continue to break barriers (RH breaking 1h for the half marathon, DH breaking BK's American record in the 5k, AW breaking SS's American record in the mile) and get faster has provided extra motivation and inspiration for me to work hard and stay focused.

So maybe most people won't have the same level of nostalgia that I did while reading the piece. Regardless, it is still well worth the read both for the thrilling narrative and for the insightful training and racing tips.

QOTD

"Specificity is a word I quite like," Anderson says. "Dispense with the inessentials, keep to the vitals."

and

"I've tried to interpret the findings of the best physiologists and translate them into sound practices," says Anderson. "That's made me a radical. We've turned some coaching sacred cows on their ear."

Two for one today! Both courtesy of John Anderson, Dave Moorcroft's long time coach.

The quotes were from a lengthy profile of Mr. Moorcroft, the Briton who set the world record at 5,000m in 1982, by the great track writer Kenny Moore in an SI article from 1982. While reading the piece it became apparent why Mr. Moorcroft was able to run such a spectacular race. First, he had a knowledgeable coach who actually read up on exercise physiology (the horror!) and questioned conventional wisdom. Additionally, he kept a great attitude even as injuries caused some major setbacks in his career, including ruining his chance for Olympic glory. Finally, he and his coach had a long term plan from the beginning and he stuck with that coach from age 15 until he hung it up. The result? Only a 13:00.42 5,000m WR.

QOTD

"I was awful in the first half of the race, so I had to work a little bit harder to win. It's all about determination, because I want to be the best, and I want to stay on top... I don't pick one person out and say 'he will be hard to beat' because you never know who will pop up" -Usain Bolt, in a nice article on Bolt and the current level of sprinting.

What makes this QOTD material, though, is the fact that Bolt is still driven to get better even though his world records in the 100 and 200m are seemingly untouchable and he hasnt been beaten in almost 2 years.

And, just in case you missed the race:

QOTD

Surprise, suprise... not one but two studies find no effects (positive or negative) from "compression garments." Now naturally, some may argue that positive effects do exist but that the authors of the studies did not attempt to measure them. However, until I see data, I remain a skeptic. Also, the blog post fails to mention one definite benefit: the ability of long socks to significantly decrease convective cooling on cold days.

In all honesty though, I really just liked the article because of this quote, which I think is particularly applicable to triathletes: "In light of the findings, Laymon speculates that the popularity of the garments reflects their trendiness, not their ability to enhance performance."

QOTD

"The rebuttal to this actually takes an entire book to convey, but it first involves helping people understand that everything about talent is a process. There’s the genetic piece, and then there’s the ability piece... From a distance, it looks like they [high achievers] have got something almost super-human about them. But when you look up close, at the moment-to-moment lives they lead, the sacrifices they make, the extraordinary resources they have around them, their abilities actually do make logical sense. If it’s documented closely enough, you can actually see how they went from mediocre to good, from good to great, from great to extraordinary...

In consumer culture, we are constantly conditioned to gratify our impulses immediately: buy, eat, watch, click— now. High achievers transcend these impulses... Small accomplishments along the way provide more than enough satisfaction to continue." -David Shenk, author of The Genious in All of Us




The NY Times Freakonomics Blog had an interview with David Shenk about his book, The Genious in All of Us. In the book, Mr. Shank explains that "intelligence" and "talent" are much less genetically determined than most of us would like to believe. Rather, thousands of hours of practice are behind most geniuses' greatness.

I thought some of his points were particularly applicable to triathletes as too often new entrants into the sport look for the "quick fix" when in reality improvement comes over time. There is no way to instantly drop 30sec off your 100yd times in the pool or 1min off your mile pace in a 10km. However, long term, focused, consistent training will ultimately lead to substantial improvements. The key is to stay focused to the long term goal and not expect instant gratification.

QOTD

“The hardest thing in the world to understand is the Income Tax.” -Albert Einstein

"The avoidance of taxes is the only intellectual pursuit that still carries any reward." -John Maynard Keynes

“We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket trying to lift himself up by its handle.” -Winston Churchill

QOTD

I wouldnt call myself a huge golf fan but I do enjoy watching the last round of the Masters. So after getting home from the pool, I turned it on around 5:15 at which time the last group of Lee Westwood and Phil Michelson were finishing up the 15th hole. Phil had been playing brilliantly and was up by three strokes while some guy named Tiger Woods was in the penultimate group but had fallen to five strokes back, all but out of it. The last few holes proceeded without much drama and Mr. Michelson won a well deserved third Green Jacket.

What struck me most, though, were the post round interviews. Messrs. Woods and Westwood were both asked a similar question, essentially, "You didnt win but other than that were you pleased with your performance?"

Although Mr. Woods has had a "busy" last few months during which he probably hadnt practiced much whereas Mr. Westwood has been playing very well lately, their answers seemed a bit backwards:

"I entered this event. And I only enter events to win." -Tiger Woods

"I finished third, third, second in the last few major championships. I can't be too disappointed. I'm getting closer." -Lee Westwood

But then again, maybe thats why Tiger is Tiger and why Lee Westwood hasn't won a major?

QOTD

"His program is very, very hard, if not harder than I’ve ever done before. He certainly keeps me very accountable and he takes no crap." -Olympic Gold Medalist Simon Whitfield on Coach Paulo.

Paulo certainly doesn't need the adoration but it was nonetheless a nice article in The Star.

QOTD

"Coach Paulo really knows what he's doing, I couldn't be more impressed with his knowledge and high performance mind." -Simon Whitfield

Not that I needed any justification about my choice of coach but some validation from a 2x(1 Gold, 1 Silver) Olympic Medalist sure doesn't hurt...

QOTD

“I could have run for second but I raced to win. That’s the point.” -Dathan Ritzenhein

Mr. Ritzenhein was named DyeStat's Boy Cross Country Athlete of the Decade and in conjunction with the honor Matt McCue had a nice profile of him posted on DyeStat. Mr. McCue did a nice job pointing out Mr. Ritzenhein's strengths while also exposing training techniques he is employing to continually improve. Overall though, the article emphasizes Mr. Ritzenhein's inscrutable work ethic, leaving no question about the reason for his success.

QOTD

"At first, this seemed harsh; however, not only was it completely true but by shifting my focus back to my own actions, which I could control, it enabled me to pull out of a self-pitying funk. Then, I was able to move forward and focus on what I could do to prepare for my upcoming race. Sometimes, merely a shift in attitude can help an athlete focus on taking responsibility and being positive rather than sulking in self-pity.

While there are many triathletes who never complain and are completely self-reliant, too many of our cohorts don’t take responsibility and blame anything or anyone except themselves for their missteps. I hope that we can all start being accountable for our actions and treat this lifestyle as a career. " -Timex Teammate Mary Beth Ellis

These are a couple of quotes from a great article by Timex teammate Mary Beth Ellis on xtri.com (linked above) but the whole article is really worth a read.

QOTD

"I tell our coaches all the time, 'Let's not act surprised. These guys are gifted athletes; that's their job. I don't want every four-yard play to be, Ohmygod!" -Urban Meyer

Tomorrow is, of course, the day of the biggest game in the history of forever. Well, since last year, at least. However, rather than linking the numerous articles over-hyping this cataclysmic match-up which has been brewing since the beginning of the season (or even since the end of last year's epic), I'm just posting a quote from Mr. Meyer from an excellent profile of him in SI. I was most impressed with the way Mr. Meyer adapted successful methods from a number of different types of head coaches he worked under to mold his own philosophy, both on and off the field. All in all, its easy to see why the Gators have been so successful the since 2005.

QOTD

"Life is precious. Do something that is optimistic—that is good for society. Don't sit on the couch." -Meb Keflezighi

QOTD

"All those things, yes, they are hard. Or, yes, why did you have to go through them?" he said. "That's frustrating. Why isn't it easy? But without that, without the bad times the good times wouldn't be as special." -Tim Tebow

Hopefully next weekend will be one of the "good times"!

QOTD

"We're in a high-performance league, and if you don't perform, things happen.'' -Miami Dolphins wide out and kick returner Ted Ginn Jr. Ginn was taken out of the starting lineup of yesterday's game after dropping two easy passes the previous week. This week, he decided to PERFORM, returning two kicks the length of the field to help the Dolphins beat the Jets. Althought the Dolphins were dominated on offense and defense, they managed to pull out the 'W' thanks to the herculean effort on special teams from Ginn. (Incidentally, I cant believe I just quoted a football player from Ohio St but the quote was just too good to pass up...)

TEBOW on Attitude

"We were just fighting tooth and nail with everything we had to make that last play, make that last stop. At the end of the game, we were doing everything we could to win that game... We were not going to be stopped. We were going to get in field-goal range to put Sturgis in a position to make that. That was his attitude on that play. That was our coaches' attitude in believing in us." -Tim Tebow describing his mindset when the Gators got the ball in the forth quarter tied at 20 with Arkansas.

Whether its football, triathlon, or ping-pong, the first step towards success is believing in yourself and knowing you can succeed.