Humor

Every week we in the "magical Milers" sub-5-minute group get a schedule from our esteemed leader, Bobby McGee. Having written thousands of these things, Bobby has developed a system of abbreviations for specific workouts. He also has a policy of "continual improvements" -- yes, which means he keeps generating new ones. This is sometimes hard for us to follow. It makes it impossible for anyone else to know what the heck we are doing.

On the occasion of his anniversary of 25 years of coaching, I realised that in years to come, Bobby will be one of those coaches whose methods are analysed to death. You’ll find all sorts of runners and triathletes coming out of the woodwork claiming to have trained with him. There’ll be talk of 100-mile weeks and sessions of 40 x 400m in 60secs. So, for the record, I thought I ought to record an actual schedule Bobby gave me -- in this case the one I used when I first started with him. Don’t let anyone tell you different – this is what we really do.

Congratulations Bobby McGee! 25 years a coach... and still inspiring us...

A crowd of athletes ranging from Olympians to beginners surprised their favorite coach yesterday.

On monday evening of this past week I had to attend a class that lasted until 7:30 in the evening. I had just picked up a new pair of running shoes right before this class began and knew I wanted to run in them. I went home and had dinner planned on letting it settle for about a half hour and then heading out.

Disaster Struck. All you really need to know is that I needed a plunger(haven't been living in this apartment long), and that's probably TMI as it is. I hadn't gotten my running in for the day yet, and it had already settled into night. Refusing to let my running slide and refusing to let the other issue... dwell. I chose to take a run to the Supermarket to purchase the Royal Scepter. Donning my running gear (my shorts, my brand new trainers, my Ipod, my nike+ sports package, my Ipod Armband... and my credit card. Where would that go. Having no pockets and no way of fitting it with my big feet in my new shoe, I strapped it with my armband right on my bicep(I think my number is still imprinted right on there). I headed off into the night. As I made my way I kept checking my pace and doing the usual. Running in the grass to avoid the busy Tulsa drivers, I made my way to my local Walmart Neighborhood Grocery store and found my way to the plungers and preceded to check out. What a strange sight I must have made sweating profusely clutching a plunger in hand, whipping my credit card from the armband and running it through the reader. I briefly contemplated getting some cash back, but I figured I was already pushing it with the current things I was trying to run with. Back into the dark of night and the traffic of the streets with my newly purchased plunger in hand.

While I've thought of a few "off the wall" things to keep me busy while up at the Pole, this guy really deserves a prize (or a tattoo of the word "INSANE" across his forehead) for creativity...

He claims to have the ability to control his skin temperature from within and resist frostbite.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070307/
wl_sthasia_afp/nepalnetherlands2_070307143553

On the web:
http://www.innerfire.nl/

There's dedication for you!

Coach Bobby McGee and assistant Marci Roschke chip and shovel ice off the track so we can do our drills and 5k test. Kyle warms up. Eagles watch from the tree.

Funny piece from The Onion:

"Nation's joggers sick of finding dead bodies"

Enjoy

Making the Perfect Marathon

Many people have run more marathons than I have run. Heck, many people have directed more marathons than I have run. But few have had the unique experience to cram so many marathons into such a condensed space as I did in 2006. You see, in 2006 I ran a certified course under race conditions on the day the race was run every single weekend. 52 weekends. 52 marathons.

We all know that time makes us forget a majority of the negatives and gloss over anything we think should be improved. The same holds true with marathons. As a majority of the marathon running community only runs a handful of these 42kers a year, the space between the races can dull their memory of what they hope never happens again and what they sincerely hope happens every single time.