Monthly Archives: February 2015

The Guilty Pleasure of Age-Grading

At the end of another long day of plodding, as a familiar melancholy descends and I contemplate how monumentally slow I have become in my late middle age, there grows in me a longing for a happier place, a fantasy … Continue reading

Posted in Records & Statistics | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Mo Farah, the 2-Mile, and ‘Real’ Records

(Photo credit: The Guardian) In my day job, my colleagues are vaguely aware of me as a running fanatic, and so they’ll occasionally draw me into a conversation or ask for my opinion about some running-related matter. For instance, after … Continue reading

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Race Report: USATF-NE Indoor T&F Championships

On Sunday, I raced for the first time in five months, competing in the geezer (40+) heat of the 800m at the USATF New England Indoor T&F Championships at Harvard. In some respects, the race was an odd choice. I’m … Continue reading

Posted in Race Reports | 4 Comments

Do Real Runners Take Walking Breaks?

Like many serious runners, I have an aversion to walking, at least when I am supposed to be running. Walking is what happens when something goes horribly wrong, for example, when you horribly misjudge your pace in a marathon, or … Continue reading

Posted in Running Research | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

An Enviable Record of Fitness

I’ve been vaguely aware of the burgeoning market for fitness trackers, those wearable gizmos that help you record and analyze data about your health and daily activities, everything from what you eat, to how you exercise, to the duration and … Continue reading

Posted in Attempts at Humor, Injuries & Health | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Millrose Games 2015

The Millrose Games is one of the best and longest-running indoor track meets in the world. From 1914 to 2011, the Millrose Games was held at Madison Square Garden with most races contested on an 11-laps-to-a-mile banked track. In 2012, … Continue reading

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From the Archives: Watching Fast People

[In between cleaning up from the last storm and waiting for the next, in between treadmill runs and parking lot runs, and in the middle — but not finished with — several running books, I got nothing this morning. So … Continue reading

Posted in Indoor Track, Training | Leave a comment

The Case for Winter

(Photo: The Swellesley Report – theswellesleyreport.com) It’s hard to believe, but only three weeks ago, Boston’s total snowfall for the winter of 2014-2015 stood at less than six inches. Since then, nearly six feet of snow has fallen on the … Continue reading

Posted in Training, Weather and Seasons | 4 Comments

Lagat the Master

Is Bernard Lagat about to “ruin” masters track? Here’s how I thought world-class open runners were supposed to graduate into the masters ranks. Approaching their fortieth birthday, they become less and less competitive and more and more “inspirational.” They observe … Continue reading

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Too Much of a Good Thing

This week, the Journal of the American College of Cardiology published a study claiming that, while jogging was associated with lower rates of long-term mortality from all causes, the optimal “dose” of jogging was uncertain. Actually, the study went a … Continue reading

Posted in Injuries & Health, Running Research | Leave a comment