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No doubt that on this blog you'll have seen my posts on the book 'Born to Run'. This book states that humans evolved the way they did by becoming running hunters. perfectly build to chase even the largest animals untill they become overheated, unable to defend themselves from these small and weak humans or run away from the slow running humans.
The TEDx video below shows Daniel Lieberman with the scientific backing of this view on the evolution of man.
Wednesday, 30 January 2013
Sunday, 27 January 2013
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
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| One of the covers of the book |
The discipline required to write on a novell, day in, day out brought out the discipline to pick up running as a fysical exercise.
For Murakami those two do not differ that much.
Finding himself not very talented at either, it is the discipline that enables him to finish a novell and to run a (ultra)marathon each year. Being wel over fifty he still runs a marathon each winter and completes a traithlon each summer.
The book is a collection of memories and reflections mostly from the four month period leading up to his New York City Marathon of 2005. But these reflections go a long way (away) from running which makes the book a good read for runners and non runners alike.
The side steps give a good impression how running helped him in becoming the person he is, how it shaped him. Running is not only a fysical past time, it is a metaphore for the 25 years he has been a writer/runner at the time of writing this novell. for this reason Murakami himselfs calls this novell a memoir.
The book contains two quotes that are a perfect illustration of how running is a metaphore for life.
- His epithaph will be: "Writer (and Runner), At Least He Never Walked". Indicating that no matter how bad he felt during a marathon (life) he always kept on going.
- "Pain is Inevitable, Suffering is Optional". Indicating that it is up to you how you mentaly deal with the fysical pain your body feels. A nice mantra to remember the next time you are in the final stages of your marathon.
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Gloomy day
It is not just because a kind of gloomy autumn weather is flushing away two weeks of crisp winter weather with lovely runs on snow covered tracks.Today my first ever running T is demoted from clothing to a cleaning rag.
It was this Airborne Run that motivated me to start running on a kind of regular basis so you (as a fellow runner) understand it comes with this extra memory.
A wonder this cheap cotton shirt with even cheaper print lasted so long. Probably because it spent most of its time a the bottom of the pile in the wardrobe. But after almost 19 years and while cleaning out the wardrobe its time has come.....
Bye Bye...
Saturday, 26 January 2013
Fashion or Function?
Every now and then your eye picks up an image from a glossy. In this it were the very fashionable shoes to the right.
What a colours! Lets read what the text says. They are running shoes (yeah sure..) by Stella McCartney (okay?) for Adidas (alright!).
And then you remember that Stella also designed the apparel for the UK team of the Olympic Games in London last summer (read the related blogpost).
So maybe it is not just fashion but also function that these shoes represent. So good news for those that want to run with something 'different' on their feet.
She also came up with two less striking designs.
These more modest designs can be bought on Amazon (see below). For the very colourful design I can only refer to the Adidas Site!
Five GPS watches tested for accuracy
The tested watches are:
The watches were tested on 4 distance/speed combinations a 400m track and a 5th test was run over a longer distance on a trail in a park.
The watches were also tested on two altitudes: 415 meters above sea level and 714m
The results are:
GARMIN
Forerunner 610 |
NIKE+
Sportswatch |
POLAR
RCX3 |
SUUNTO
Ambit |
TIMEX
Run Trainer |
|
dist.400m
slow
|
390m
|
418m
|
390m
|
400m
|
396m
|
dist.400m
fast
|
390m
|
434m
|
390m
|
390m
|
404m
|
dist.800m
|
810m
|
836m
|
800m
|
770m
|
798m
|
dist.1600m
|
1650m
|
1625m
|
1610m
|
1540m
|
1750m
|
dist.5320m
in the park
|
5000m
|
5030m
|
5100m
|
5040m
|
4840m
|
alt. 415m
boven n.a.p.
|
420m
|
405m
|
--
|
409m
|
413m
|
alt. 714m
boven n.a.p.
|
714m
|
704m
|
--
|
699m
|
710m
|
The Polar lacks the altitude registration but is the most accurate on distances. It is available in white as well.
A plus for the Nike is the availability in three colours. It is clearly more of a fashion article.
The Suunto is available in silver as well as black.
Al watches can be used as a heart rate monitor as well but for some you'll have to order the sensor seperately so read carefully before you order what's in and what's out...
Below you'll find both the images and prices on amazon:
Friday, 25 January 2013
Debate: Barefoot Running Yes or No?
Probably, as a runner, you know the book Born to Run. In the video below you find a short debate on barefoot running with amongst others the author Christopher McDougall.Prefontaine - the Movie
Sometimes you find a little gem on YouTube.
In this case the full length film 'Prefontaine' with Jared Leto as Steve Prefontaine which is still available on DVD as well (for example on Amazon
). This raises the question. Is the video on YouTube legal? Don't know but what I do know is that it is posted on the channel of Jared Leto himself.The problem with this kind of movies is two fold;
- Are the running scenes convincing?
- How accurate is the storyline in the historical context or was the focus 'bringing a nice story?'
As for the first: most scenes on the track are convincing and Jared Leto paid close attention to for example Steves specific way of crossing the finish line, pushing down the wire. The most historic race (Munich 1972) is a clever combination of staged scenes and the original footage of the TV broadcast.
Compared to the documentary posted Yesterday I think they succeeded in creating two hours worth of entertainment staying close to the facts. OK, Steve Prefontaine was entertainment enough by himself. So enjoy.
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