Drug use in running

Even people who are not interested in the Tour de France will not have missed the commotion the last few days. All this commotion centred around drug use or suspected misconduct from the leader wearing the yellow jersey. Lying about your whereabouts before the tour can get you fired as shown by the decision from the Rabobank crew firing Rasmussen who otherwise would have finished as the winner of the tour in Paris next Sunday.
This made me think: is there any drug use in long distance running? Of course drug use in athletics is a well known phenomena with one of the most well known cases that of Ben Johnson or the suspected use of Flo Jo although with her no proof was ever found.
I never heard of marathon runners that were caught using drugs. It might be the case that drug use is often used for either gaining strength or a fast recovery. The strength necessary for running a marathon can easily be gained by normal training and a fast recovery is not as crucial as with cycling were they have to be on the bike day after day for a few weeks in a row as in the Tour.
Another aspect might be the financial part: Of course the world class runner earn nice money but the figures have less digits than in Cycling or for example soccer. Think of the death of Miklos Feher (check out YouTube for the impressive images of his death) were there is some suspicion on the use of profen like drugs for fast recovery to enable player to cope with the full schedule with the large number of matches.
Maybe when less money is involved and it is more about the honour athletes tend to be more careful for their health.

Follow training online

On this blog I have written on a concept used during the marathon of Leiden which enabled spectators or people at home to follow runners on the web. SportsDo is a simular concept which is already fully operational where Leiden used a kind of Proof of Concept developped by TNO from the Netherlands.

SportDo is not just for runners but also voor cycling, skiing, etc.
SportDo uses GPS and the mobile phone to register the route followed. This is plotted on a map and of course this enables you to register distance, speed and elevation. As the information is uploaded using the mobile phone this can be done realtime enabling friends to follow the runner online. This is more than uploading your route from your Garmin or entering the route yourself using mapmyrun (see post on my Dutch blog). SportsDo also support community like features. Comparing it to the TNO concept it lacks the registration of the heart rates which many runners use for training purposes.
SportsDO is however a very nice concept. I am curious if other concept will pop up and which will surfive and end up to be the default portal for sporters.

Dutch TV: "Why runs half of the Dutch population?"

On one of the public networks the program 'Grim' tried to answer the question "Why is the half of the Dutch population running?". The presenter takes part in a halfmarathon in Leiden after only 5 weeks of training. During the program he talks to the Dutch writer Dirk van Weelden who also writes about running, a 63 year old lady that has run well over 100 marathons and various other runners.
For those who like to see the program: it is also avialable on the internet (of course only in Dutch and no subtitles :-(

Sevenhills running event: over 11.000 entries already!

This weekend I will determine how this autumn will look like in terms of running events. My autumn season always ends with the Zevenheuvelenloop (or Sevenhillsrun) in November. A feew weeks ago I received an e-mail and flyer from the organisation and yesterday I regsitered myself on the website!
Lets do some marketing: I am very enthousiastic about this event! Very well organized, traintickets for a reduced price, good facillities, a very well controlled start reducing the numbers of runners on the track, good atmosphere and although often a bit cold, usually the weather is OK. The large number of participants might be an illustration of the quality of this event: Over 20.000 and according to my starting number they are alreadyo ver 11.000 entrants for this years event. Way to go! Click here for the route on mapmyrun

In order to testify that I am not paid to write such a positive review some observations on the usability of the website because it is not designed with usability in mind. The clikcing starts after entering the url in yourbrowser:

1. a well designed landingpage welcome you where you have to choose between the run and the walking event (see image below),
2. you enter a indexpage where againa you have to choose between running and walking and hidden in the text the link to the entryform,
3. however you do not come to the entry form, you end up on a page with a lot of information and al the way to the bottom you find a button to enter 'klik hier als je wilt inschrijven',
4. a pop-up screen opens which is to small because the real relevant button to start the registraiotn porcess is hidden below so you have to scroll to find it. Besides it look completely different form the previous buttons. You have just entered step 1 of 11 to register,
5. in step 2 of 11 again you have to choose betweend the run and the walkingevent. So I had to choose three times that i wantend to register myself and two times I had to choose between running and walking. From my proffesional point of view wheer I advise on usability and customer experience a place some question marks at this approach. So here they are: ??????

images related to point 1, 2 and 5:

Are you a runner? Part II

A while ago I posted a list of criteria helping you to determine if you are a runner or not. Here a couple more, also from about.com:

when your spouse/coworkers/children/neighbors complain about how cranky you are after you missed your run

you know the definitions fartlek, tempo run, taper, and glycogen stores and use them regularly

when you find that you have to think of your run schedule to remember what day of the week it is

when you have a folder for running webpages in your bookmarks

when you can name at least 3 writers of running blogs
when you wake up thinking about today's run and go to sleep thinking about

tomorrow's run

when you run up to a red light and think "Man, I wish I didn't have to stop!" instead of "Good, I want a break!"

when you drive your route after your runs to find out how far you went

when you drive the route to your next race days (or weeks) in advance
when you ask people (who didn't run the race and may or may not be runners) if they

want to ride with you while you drive the course of the race you just did and give them commentary of the race while doing so

when you dream about running

when giving directions, you can give the tenths or hundreths of a mile ("turn right in .38 miles")

when you use the words "easy" and "long run" in the same sentence

when you continue running despite the fact that when you blink your eyelashes stick together because they are collecting ice and snow

when you spend more time on sites like this than you do work

when you cross the finish line of a marathon and you start considering where/when the next one will be

when you can say "fartlek" without a single hint of a laugh
you spend your free time reading nutrition labels and race results

when you are running a race and your calves are cramping and your knees are aching and your lungs are burning but you still find yourself thinking, "This is fun!"

when you'd rather run than watch TV

when you have an exact 'prestart routine' for all runs: the same stretches in the same place for the same amount of time before you take off

when you notice that the only footsteps in the snow are yours and yours from yesterday

when you leave the New Year's Eve party early because you have a race in the morning

when you have to drive for 20 miles before you find a road you haven't run on

when you get out of your car at red lights and run around it a few times

when you buy Gatorade and Epsom salt by the truck load

when you have your race schedule set out for 5 years in advance but can’t remember if you scheduled to work the next day or not

when you pee in public when you aren't drunk

when your big date each week is the date you have with a good pair of running shoes and the road

when it is suggested that you give up running for Lent

Bug in Polar RS200sd

Let met start with stating that I am very satisfied with my Polar however....

On this image from the manual you can see that the polar RS200sd registers both the average and the maximum speed per lap. Small digits in red outline is average, large the maximum speed.


On my polar I find from time to time that my average speed is higher than the maximum speed. Could be that I didn't pay enough attention in highschool but I don't think so. So a bug in the RS200sd?
See the image: 9.1km/h average versus 8.5 maximum...

Are you a runner?

The site About.com delas with many topics that contain interesting elements for runners. They deal with health, nutricion, fitness and of course running itself. on this part of the site I ofund a list with criteria to determine if you are a runner or not. Of course it is supposed to be funny but the thing is....some of them sound familiar.....
In the category Travel:

You Know You're A Runner...

when the drive to the race is longer than the race itself ,

when you keep your family updated on how far you are from your destination by saying "There's only a half-marathon (10k, 5k, etc) until Grandma's house," and everyone knows how far that is.

when you run to your gate at the airport even though you aren't late and you aren't wearing running shoes

when you pack a seperate bag for your running clothes

when your idea of sightseeing involves visiting the local running store and finding the best place for hill repeats and long runs

when you get off an 18 hour flight and go for your long run because a) you need to stretch your legs, b) you want to see the city/country, and c) you have a scheduled run

when you realize that all the traveling you did in the last year revolved around races

when, on trips, you find it entertaining to see how fast you can convert speeds and distances from miles to kilometers and vice versa
you avoid travelling to places where you won't be able to run

when you get back from vacation and the first thing you tell people about is how the running was when you fly with your running clothes and shoes in your carry-on bag

Nutricion:

You Know You're A Runner...

when all your friends think you eat too healthy

when you not only eat gels, but you know the best flavors for every brand

when you consider pasta to be a food group

when the sports drinks are in front of the soda, beer, and juice in your fridge

when you know the name of all the checkers at your local health food store

when you have two eggs, two pieces of toast, a slice of cheese, a glass of juice, and a yogurt for breakfast and are still hungry by 11 AM

when you drink your least favorite kind of sports drink because you know it is what they will be handing out at waterstops for your next race and you want your body to be accustomed to it

when pasta is the only food you'll eat two nights before a race

Family and friends:

when you've run, showered, and eaten breakfast (twice) before your family/roommates even wake up

your family knows that you will run on Thanksgiving and Christmas (or other holidays you celebrate) now matter what

your friends no longer look at you like your nuts, because they know it for sure

when you forget birthdays and anniversaries, even major holidays, but never the date of your next race

when you have to make a real effort to remember to talk to your (non-running)family and friends about something other than running

you register for a race during your honeymoon even though your new spouse is not a runner (and he's not surprised or angry)

when your boss tells you to go run because your having a bad day at work

when your family plans vacations based on where your next marathon will be

when your non-running family and friends know the differences between feet that are neutral, over-pronating, and supinating

when you run so much that your family has a seperate laundry basket for your running clothes

when your family or friends sign up for "bike duty", to bike beside you during long runs so you don't have to carry anything you wouldn't carry during a race

when people stop asking you if you are going to run today, but rather ask you when

when your friends by sports drinks for their party so you'll have something to drink, since they know you have a run/race the next day

when you tell your realtor that you want a house in an area with good schools and a nice area to run

when you tell people you ran a 10k and you are shocked that people think that is a long run

your spouse and kids (and maybe even friends) know your PRs at different distances when you call 4 miles an easy day

when your friends know that if you don't answer your phone, you're probably running

when you try to convince people to run a 5k because it's "only" 3 miles

when you pass on going out with your friends on Friday night because you have to get up early and run

when you no longer have to explain to your friends why cotton isn't the best choice for running attire

when an exciting date for you is going with your spouse to drive your 20 mile route for the next morning and plant sports drinks along the way

when you come back after a 1 hour run and your spouse says 'That was fast. I didn't expect you back so soon.'

when your friends think they need to practice more before they can run with you

when you smirk at people who tell you that you run too much or are crazy for enjoying a run

when your spouse begs you to go for a run because you are in a bad mood

source: About.com: Running