Diet or Exercise?

If your only goal is to lose weight, it doesn't matter which you do: a calorie is a calorie, according to this study. And there is no way to selectively lose fat in your belly or thigh. I'm so returning my Ab Blaster.

Introducing the HyperBike

Who needs oil when we could all be getting around on the HyperBike? SPACE.com story.

Insane Mountain Bike Video

Activating downhill:

Miami Marathon: "Sharing the Language of Footsteps"

ING Miami Marathon race director Robert Pozo: "A wise man once said, 'Goals give you more than a reason to get up in the morning. They're an incentive to keep you going all day.''' Miami Herald story.

What Should Humans Eat to Be Maximally Healthy?

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

Michael Pollan gives away the answer to that much-asked question in the first sentence of his long New York Times Magazine "Unhappy Meals" treatise on food and health. Great quote:

"Medicine is learning how to keep alive the people whom the Western diet is making sick. It’s gotten good at extending the lives of people with heart disease, and now it’s working on obesity and diabetes. Capitalism is itself marvelously adaptive, able to turn the problems it creates into lucrative business opportunities: diet pills, heart-bypass operations, insulin pumps, bariatric surgery. But while fast food may be good business for the health-care industry, surely the cost to society — estimated at more than $200 billion a year in diet-related health-care costs — is unsustainable."

Why listen to him? Read Pollan's Wikipedia entry.

Anonymous Racer X: On Double Jeopardy and a Brick Dilemma

Hey guy from the running trail yesterday: Wearing baggy shorts over your running pants while also jogging in slow motion to match the pace of your walking girlfriend: That's double jeopardy, dude. For looking utterly ridiculous, you have been Deactivated. Next time listen to your girlfriend when she urges you to "go ahead and do your own pace." She's not being nice — she's terrified of being seen within 50 yards of you.

Tomorrow's reverse brick on my Ironman Akron Brownfield Superfund Site training plan calls for a 80-minute run followed by a 60-minute ride. Problem: That's too long of a run to do on a treadmill and I need to make a quick transition to the bike — but there's four inches of snow on the ground. Solution: I will set up my trainer on top of the Rover in the trailhead's parking lot and ride up on the roof. I need to remember to bring some chapstick, duct tape, and a step ladder.

Later,
Racer X

Little Girl Runs 37 Miles a Day

An eight-year-old girl in south China supposedly is running 37 miles (60 km.) per day.

Human Slingshot: You Have Been Activated

Though I'm pretty sure I wouldn't trust my safety to laughing, probably inebriated guys in four-wheelers. Seems like one step below the carnies.

Activating Black Socks

Oh no, I thought, when I removed my sweats to hop on the bike at spinning class and saw that I still was wearing my black dress socks from work. I usually wear Nike black socks but not today. Some days there are just too many things to remember. ...

FOA Jamie noticed immediately and made me feel better by revealing her secret:

"I just bought a nice, dressy new outfit for some job interviews and then my boyfriend noticed that I was wearing my triathlon socks with it. I told him, 'What if I get nervous and start sweating? My feet need to be comfortable.'"

Comfortable black workout socks worn with dress clothes: You have been Activated.

Buffalo's Bike Path Killer Charged

Police had been pursuing him for 26 years. Buffalo News story.

Anonymous Racer X's Running Shoe Odyssey (the Princess and the Pea)

Trainer Ear Candy From PEZ — And My Own Trainer Playlist

What are PEZ's readers listening to on the trainer this winter? Lots of metal, according to this story. And especially a lot of Slipknot, whose members wear masks and jumpsuits (R.I.P, Kiss. Gene, Paul. Ace, and Peter: We aren't in the '70s anymore.).

With snow blowing into town tonight, seeing those playlists at PEZ made me think about burning a new CD or two for tomorrow's trainer workout. Since Apple hasn't asked me to provide an iTunes celebrity playlist — yet, anyway — I'll do it here and now:

"Slippery People," Talking Heads: Turn it up to 11.
"Everlong," Foo Fighters: This song got stuck in my head during one of my first marathons. "You've got to promise not to stop when I say when."
"Float On," Modest Mouse: A good ride will help you get your "float" on in a way that's legal in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.
"What It Is," Mark Knopfler: Is there a more underrated guitar player than Knopfler? Here he transports us into a London tavern and lets it rip.
"Talk," "Speed of Sound," or "White Shadows," Coldplay: All from "X&Y." Any of these three alter my consciousness enough to take me to that place where I'm hammering a never-ending, smooth piece of country road with winds at my back.
"Texas Ride Song," The Bodeans: Riding is fun. This song is fun. Life should be fun.
"The Seed," The Roots & Cody Chestnutt: Break away from the pack from the downbeat.
"Won't Get Fooled Again," The Who: Roger Daltrey's primal scream at the climax must be the transcendent moment in rock 'n roll. And hearing it in person while watching Pete Townshend windmilling on his guitar is one of my top concert memories.
"All These Things That I've Done," The Killers: "I got soul but I'm not a soldier." Great lyrics.
"(Ghost) Riders in the Sky," The Outlaws: There's something about Southern rock and riding. So it's either this or some Skynyrd. Freebird!
"Shimmer," Fuel: Is every love story doomed to be a tragedy? Is all that shimmers sure to fade away? Not if you buy a carbon or titanium frame.
"Like a Hurricane," Neil Young: Hey, new generation of punks, rappers, and rockers: Neil Young always will be able to kick your ass.
"I'm Not Like Everybody Else," Camper Van Beethoven: Why would you want to be like anybody else? I don't want to get all in their bidness, but if I were a creative making TV spots to sell running shoes, I'd use this song.
"Island in the Sun," Weezer: Gotta keep the dream and hope all the hard work and sandcastles built will pay off with an island in the sun.
"Breakdown" (Live at the Wiltern Theatre), Tom Petty: Sing along with Tom. "It's alright!"
"Fish," Daniel Johnson: This guy is way crazy. The authentic tortured artist.
"All Along the Watchtower," Jimi Hendrix: In the presence of perfection...you better put down the hammer and earn the right to listen.
"Monkey Gone to Heaven," The Pixies: Sludge? Hole in the sky? You can kill a few minutes during the ride trying to figure out the bizarre lyrics.
"Monkey Man," The Rolling Stones: Two monkey songs on one list. Let It Bleed.
"Cold Hard Bitch," Jet: Enough said.
"Youth of a Nation," P.O.D.: These guys hit it hard for Christian rockers.
"Shook Me All Night Long," AC/DC: "She was a fast machine, she kept her motor clean." This is more than old school — it's forever school. And it satisfies the mandate of the World Spinning Playlist Authority (WSPA) that all spin mixes must include at least one AC/DC tune.
"Seven Nation Army," The White Stripes: "Make the sweat drip out of every pore."
"Mental," Eels: "They say I'm mental 'cause I'm not amused by it all." Beautiful Freak is a great disc.
"Heaven and Hell," Black Sabbath: You can find heaven and hell on any long ride. And you can really climb to the bassline of this song. Ozzy who?
"Crank," Catherine Wheel: A Catherine Wheel was some kind of medieval torture device. Spin fast enough during this song and you can make your trainer feel like one.
"Breathe Me," Sia: Even real men do a cooldown. Just when you thought you could forget the haunting finale of Six Feet Under.

Bring on the snow! And get me some good asthma drugs.

New Apple iPhone Also Works as a Treadmill

Courage

Hard to believe it has been almost 25 years. Julie Moss in the 1982 Hawaii Ironman Triathlon:

Gone to Look for America

So Art Garfunkel once did a walk across America:

"Somewhere around '84, I left my New York apartment, cut across Central Park, and went past my alma mater Columbia University, across the George Washington Bridge and I was in New Jersey. Most of the time I was alone with my Sony Walkman and my notebook in my pocket. .... Over forty more excursions, about three a year, taking about twelve years, I crossed the entire United States."

Now he's doing a Eurowalk, but hasn't reported any progress lately.

If the Green Man Escaped From the Traffic Light...

... he'd probably have a lot of energy. "Walk," you have been Activated.

Xtri.com: 2006 in Pictures

12 cool pictures = 12,000 words. Xtri.com triathlon photo gallery.

More Than 1,000 Miles on a Stationary Bike

Forty-nine-year-old George Hood of suburban Chicago rode a stationary bike for 85 consecutive hours. He spun more than 1,000 miles and averaged close to 13 MPH.

Hood had hoped to ride for 85:30, but Veronica Myers, 53, of Arlington Heights, pointed out that she had signed up for that bike at that time on the previous Tuesday and insisted that he dismount. That part is not true.

Rest: You Have Been Deactivated

This New York Times story features a doctor who says the concept of treating injuries with rest is "outdated and counterproductive." I knew it, dude. I should have run right through that stress fracture in '04.

I'll never forgive Shellii for throwing my car keys into Lake Mendota and running over my bike so I wouldn't race in Madison that year. At least she really cared about me. Either that or someone told her about Kellii.

Livin' and learning',
Racer X

Quote of the Day

From The Office, 1/11/07:

Dunder-Mifflin Stamford office transplant Andy Bernard (The Daily Show correspondent Ed Helms) on the tenacity he'll draw on to unseat Dwight Schrute as Michael Scott's go-to guy:

"My plan is talking longer than I've thought, but I don't give up easily. I've walked two marathons, so ..."

Illegally watch the episode on DailyMotion.com.

Massive Letsrun.com Traffic Gridlocks Activeness!

Popular running site Letsrun.com has made a quote about Steve Prefontaine from our March 2006 story on Craig Virgin its quote of the day. The thousands upon thousands of incoming hits have knocked the hamster that powers our server right off his wheel. Our apologies for any site slowdowns while Gus the Hamster catches his breath and knocks down a Vanilla Bean Gu.

Video from the Activeness! server room:

You Know You Have a Good Training Partner When…

It’s 7:00 AM on a dark Sunday morning in January and it's pouring rain and 37 °F outside. But you don’t bother calling to see if the usual long run is still on because you know when you pull up he’ll be sitting in his car at the spot, reading the paper, and waiting to step out into the frigid rain and run 15 miles on a path you could do in your sleep.

And then you don't have to say "I'm surprised you showed" because you know the answer would be: "What else is there to do on a Sunday morning?"

Actually Reading Runner's World

Since the February issue of Runner's World has a guy's abs on the cover instead of the usual beautiful woman runner/model (gratuitous sample to the left), this month I actually opened the magazine. A couple of interesting items:

First, endurance sports coach Chris Carmichael (longtime personal coach of Lance Armstrong) studied blood and urine samples to determine what happened to Dean Karnazes's body when he ran 50 marathons in 50 days in 50 states. The amazing answer? There was no impact, at least in the short-term:

"Karnazes's body had adapted to his running schedule to the point that pounding out 183.4 miles a week caused no more muscle damange than walking the halls at an office job. ... Karnazes's ultramarathon habit has, over the last 13 years, built up his bone density, joints, running muscles, and blood transport system to the point where his ability to motor along forever is limited only by his supply of food and fluids, not muscle damage or joint pain."

Here's the story.

Also in this issue, ex-wife Kristin Armstrong got a download of the New York City Marathon straight from The Lance's mouth. Notable that:

1. Lance ate 15 PowerGels. It gets my attention when a guy who has turned endurance sports nutrition into a science downs 10 more gels than me to run a marathon. Time to revisit the nutrition strategy?

2. His longest training run was actually 13 miles, not the 16 he claimed before the race. I'm thinking I'm not gonna emulate that approach.

3. In 2007 he wants to return to NYC and go for sub-2:45. Me, too.

Oh, and after several years of making a living from speaking about running and writing Stuart Smalley-type columns urging readers to give themselves permission to be slow runners, the One-Trick Penguin has discovered something called "trails." That must be what those paths cutting through the woods are. Saves me a trip.

No "I" in Team!

I tried all the team sports while growing up, but it was always the same old thing. Coaches getting on me for not spelling T-E-A-M correctly, saying I always put an "I" in it. I still don't know what they were talking about since I wasn' t even writing about the sports. I would just show up to practice and games and make plays. Spelling was never my forte, anyway, and this was before spell checker, so I decided I'd be better off doing sports with an "I" in the name.

That's how I got started in running, then biking, and, later, swimming. Each has an "I." And there are no prima donna teammates or coaches criticizing my spelling.

I decided, though, that really following my calling to the letter "I" would require pursuing a sport that started with an "I" instead of just containing one.

Ice Hockey and Indoor Soccer required teammates and coaches, so they were out. There aren't many babes in Ice Fishing. I gave the Iditarod a go, but keeping six dogs in the apartment didn't go over too well with the landlord.

It was only after being mesmerized by Sherii's M-dot tattoo at masters swimming that I knew my search was over.

If only those coaches could see my spelling now. Fellas, just FYI, Ironman is spelled with a capital "I."

Later,
Racer X

Would You Risk Your Life by Jumping Down to the Subway Tracks to Rescue a Stranger?

Fifty-year-old Wesley Autrey did in Manhattan. Activated.

A One-Month (Sponsored) Wired Quest to Run Faster

Wired magazine sent a 5'-8", 190-lb. writer on a "four-week" quest to run a faster mile. What sounded like an intriguing concept for a story was quickly ruined for me by the writer's over-reliance on gadgets — or blatant product placement.

On day one, the author huffs and puffs his way to an 8:20 mile at a local track. After enlisting help from a University of Colorado cross-country coach, he receives a crash course on anaerobic inteval running. Then, with help from a Garmin Forerunner 305 with a GPS unit, heart rate monitor, altimeter, and running-biking computer; a hydraulic compression-and-cooling wrap system for icing his legs; an ultrasonic bone growth stimulator to prevent shin splints; Stanford University's sports rehab center; a Ferno underwater treadmill and something called an Alter-G unit (a sealed plastic container mounted on a treadmill); a pair of ultralight Brooks track spikes; and Pedialyte he is able to cross the line one month later in 6:10.

Wow. Racer X must be drooling all over his Vitaeris 320 hyperbaric chamber. And I thought running faster simply required hitting the track and hammering intervals until you feel like your heart might explode and your legs could fall off while you puke. (Rest. Repeat.) And I guess I harbored a naive belief that part of the beauty of running is its simplicity. Stupid me.

So is it journalism or advertising? I think Wired must practice "journotising." I was surprised the prayer before his final time trial wasn't sponsored by Powerade.

"I am much fitter than I was a month ago, but I'm still disappointed," laments the author/ad copywriter. Me, too.

Karnazes: Don't Confuse Comfort With Happiness

Wired magazine picks up on the Dean Karnazes story, deeming him "the perfect human" and listing his advice for pushing our performance beyond the limits. I'm suddenly imagining hordes of Mountain Dew-fueled programmers wearing Chuck Taylors and cutoffs running all night through the hills of Silicon Valley.

Rock 'Em Sock 'Em New Year

As usual, I'll be looking for speed in all the right places this season. Age group supremacy is in the details.

The first thing I'm reexamining in 2007 is my totally rockin' Wigwam Ultimax triathlete socks. I love this sock as much as my twin sister who lives in Albuquerque (Racer Y), but of late my collection of tri hosiery has become frayed and played. I woke up yesterday and it hit me — the spring is gone, X-Man.

So it's out with the old. Sock-a-bye baby:



And in with the new fast socks:



A clean break. Inhale that new sock smell. It's the sweet aroma of success. See you on the podium, chumps.

I tried to donate the old socks to those unfortunate folks who are lacking Wigwam socks in their lives, but the Salvation Army wouldn't take them. Whatever. You just can't please some people.

Later,
Racer X

The Dangers of Overtraining

As you ramp up your training for 2007, remember that there are dangers involved with exercising too much. It's all about paying attention to your body and finding your own threshold.

Re-Activating Craig Virgin

It's cool to see Craig Virgin, one of the best American distance runners in history, still drawing the interest of running fans worldwide. A few emailers have let us know that our Activeness! story on Craig Virgin from last spring has been linked to by two high-traffic running web sites: LetsRun.com and DyeStat.

Among what JPD and I took away from our meeting with Craig was the idea that champions in every endeavor — from business to track and field — take charge of every detail and are incredibly passionate about what they're doing.

Update: Last June, Virgin had another scary incident in the car when a lug nut and its bolt exploded through his windshield. He wonders, "Am I extremely unlucky, or am I extremely lucky?"