Happy Veterans Day

There's this guy whose a friend of the family. I've known him all of my life. And, like most friends of the family, I actually KNOW very little about him. Here's some facts, at least what I think are facts:

-He's in the Army
-He's been in the Army ever since I was little
-He's been to bad places many times over
-He doesn't have to still be in the Army, he chooses to stay
-He may have graduated to a rank beyond private

I get a daily email message from him. This is to say that I'm on his jokes email list, meaning none of the messages are actually to me. One or two of his submissions have made the blog.

Here's an example of one of his joke pictures that have not yet worked its way into submission. The subject line of this message was, "So, you think you're having a bad day?"

Cringe Worthy

Anyway, this morning I received this completely unfunny message that I thought was worth sharing:

To all my friends,

If you like your freedom thank a Veteran.

Veterans Day, United States holiday honoring armed service veterans, observed on November 11th. It coincides with other holidays such as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day, which are celebrated in other parts of the world and also mark the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I. (Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice.)

Veterans Day is not to be confused with Memorial Day; Veterans Day celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans, while Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving.

And you know what, he's right. I certainly don't do enough to thank those countless people that do important yet thankless jobs. I drive my car, browse the net, and live in the relative comfort that they have provided for me. 

So, to my friend, Thank You!

To all of those who choose to serve for our country, Thank You!

And, just so all of you bacon cheeseburger lovers know what you are getting, I'll leave you with another of his submissions.

Secret to a good bacon cheeseburger

WW- New Bike Ideas

It's crappy-riding season. You can recognize this season by certain characteristics:

• Dropping temperatures
• Sunset before quitting time
• Higher chance of precipitation
• Extra-pansy-like tendencies
• More clothing for previously naked mundane activities

During this time, there's only a few ways to handle this season and still bike, respectively.

1. Put on more clothing and brave the elements.
2. Buy highly reflective materials and items measured in lumens
3. Apply wet lube to all moving parts of the bike
4. No real way to get around this.
5. Pretty much the same as #1

There are other options. Granted, they won't make you a better athlete, but they will give you something previously unexpected- self satisfaction. You can find 2nd uses for your bike that don't include pounding out the miles indoors.

You could turn your bike into a tail-gate party on wheels.

You could improve your personal hygiene.

You could use your bike to start a party.

You could use your bike to help the local wildlife.

Or, you could use your ride to honor the memory of lost love-ones.

What are some other ideas that you could possibly use your bike for, ya know, other than riding?

A Man Without A Plan

All the experts agree, (including me, not that I'm an expert in, well, anything)(okay, maybe not all of the experts but at least a good couple of them)(and some people who are pseudo-experts)(also, some idiots too), that there's a difference between working out and training. Working out is synonymous to exercising. Training is exercising with the intent to meet a certain goal. I have started training for the 2013 season.

Races highlighted in red

Or have I?

See, here's the problem: I got nothing. In a normal year, I would already have signed up for an Ironman, a half-Ironman, several Olympic distance races, a duathlon, and a running race or 2. Currently on the schedule, there is zip, zilcho, nada, rien, null, and the empty set when it comes to races. My calendar is very similar to the stare my students give me when I start talking science- blank.

Which begs the question... What have I been doing these past few weeks?

I have been averaging about 8 hours of training for 3 weeks now. This includes swimming, biking, and running. Okay, I haven't actually done any swimming per se. I won't really get in the water for swim training until about March. Maybe April. Probably May. Definitely by June. I admit that I've gone to the pool a couple of times in the past couple of weeks for no real reason other than to accompany the Wife. (I'm a sucker for skin.)

The bike trainer is set up in the unheated, uninsulated garage. I am out there 4-5 times per week at roughly 1 hour per ride, sometimes more but rarely less. I wear long sleeves and my feet get uncomfortably cold from unseasonable cool temps. I can't wait for what the middle of winter will bring (sarcasm implied). I hope that, later on the front edge of spring, I can get off of the rollers and onto the open road. Until then, it's Netflix up the wazoo and I am thankful that they have expanded their streaming library.

I've been waking up every morning at 5:20. I get out of bed, enjoy my daily cup of luscious, chocolaty happiness. Then, I hit the familiar yet very dark pavement. I wear my reflective gear and I bring the PRP. At least he's happy about the added mileage. If I'm lucky, the sun will peak out near the end of my jaunt. I do this about 5 times per week with the intent to bump that up to 6.

I've got all of the normal aspects of training. I've got intensity. I've got tempo. I've got intervals. I've got long days. I've got recovery days. It looks like training. It feels like training. It smells like training (at least my laundry does anyway).

So, what exactly am I training for? I honestly have no idea. Sure, I'd like to get faster but I'm not sure as to the distance. Sure, like to have more power on the bike but I don't know for how long.

What I'd really like to do is to stop kidding myself. I'm working out. I have no goals. I have no races. I have no focus. I'm a little lost. I've got some ideas but until I make the commitment, they will stay in the realm of ideas.

I'll keep you posted.

Ask the Banter- Noisy Running

One of my work colleagues is a recent runner convert. I have known her for about a decade now and appreciate her wit and intelligence.

Lately, I have noticed a change in her demeanor and her, um, form. She has clearly been working out. Not only has she started running but she has also competed in several of those adventure mud run thingies.  Her efforts have not been wasted.

She came to me with a question.

Dear Banter,

My husband tells me that I make a lot of noise while running. We think that I need to work on my running technique. He says that I'm smacking my feet when I run and that's not good. Is there anything that you can do to help me run quieter and improve my technique?

There's a lot going on in this message. First, I want to tell you that she is Deaf. This fact has absolutely nothing to do with her running status but everything to do with a sensitivity to noise. Especially when her non-running husband, who is not Deaf, tells her that she's making too much noise. How can she argue with that?

Second, because she is not a native runner and neither is her husband, they are suggesting that there's a problem in her running technique. Their evidence? Loud running.

Now, I'm gonna let you in on a secret that the coaches and the shoe companies don't want you to know. Should this secret get out, their businesses could be ruined (or at least marginally impacted).

Ready?

There is no such thing as perfect running technique. At least, not in the traditional sense.

A lot of this nonsense got started when the sports scientist experts started analyzing the movements of the best runners on the planet. They were hoping to find the aspects that they all had in common. Or, at least most of them had in common anyway. Here's a short list of what they found:

• High cadences (near 180 steps per minute)
• Mid-foot to fore-foot strikers
• Authors of semi-entertaining blogs

Suddenly all of the athletic-based magazines started citing these studies and developing workouts to make you more like the pros. They have drills. And videos. And fixes. Basically, they tell you that you and your current running form are a disgrace and they want to help fix you. (Not once did they focus on noise.)

The magazines failed because, sorry, you are not a pro. Chances are that you are not even close to pro level. Most pros don't work on their form. At least, not in the traditional sense. Also, the pros were tested in race-ready conditions. They had trained for years before this experiment and they were running at top speeds. On the contrary, you and I are comparative slugs only run a margin of their speed and distance. There's absolutely no way we could mimic their conditions. What to do?

Here's the thing- your brain is really smart. In fact, it's smarter than you. It has multitasking capabilities that put the latest Apple product to shame. Your brain senses the environment at a split second rate and makes minor changes to how you land, lean, breathe, and virtually everything else while still giving you the opportunity to ogle the hottie.

Translation: your brain has a pretty good idea as to what the best running form is for you even if you have no clue. The best running form being the one that keeps you moving without injury. And, what works for you may not work for me.

If you really want to work on your running technique, there's only one sure fire way to do this: Run more. Pay attention here, I'm not advocating making vast changes to your routine in any way. I think that the 10% rule is pretty good. I.E. Only increase your weekly mileage by, at most, 10% more than last week's (the 5% rule might even be better). Breaking up your mileage over 6 days a week is better than running 3 days per week at the same total distance. You don't need to consciously change your technique. It happens automatically.

The more you run, the more your super brain has a chance to read and pay attention to your form. It will make the necessary changes for you, leaving you with ample opportunity to ogle the hottie (you do like your hotties). Even better, it will make those changes slowly over time. Slowly over time reduces your chances for injury and increases your ability to continue running. Which will lead to more running. Which will lead to better technique. And the cycle continues. You will naturally develop a technique that matches your anatomy and running habits.

Here are some direct running related Q&As:

• Should you focus on run technique? No. Just run
• Should you run more than you are running now? Probably.
• Should you work on your running cadence? Probably not.
• Should you work on foot striking? Doubtful.
• Should you run faster? Only if you want to run faster.
• Should you continue to read this blog? Religiously.
• Will losing weight help you to be a better runner? Most likely.
• Will lifting weights help you to be a better runner? Most likely not.
• Should you lift weights anyway? There are non-running benefits to weight training. Up to you.
• What should you do about your husband when he tells you that you are running too loud? Get a new husband. Or buy him a set of these.

Now, go run.