Ken Goe has the scoop on the size, scope and secrecy of the Hayward Field renovation

We said Goe (with The Oregonian, the Portland daily) had the scoop, and indeed he did. Now this from this from the Eugene daily, filed about eight hours later. See here. …Good work by both papers.

After some good times with family in Tacoma, we experienced the Olympic National Park. Stayed here. Nice! Yearly rainfall averages 12 feet. Sometime it’s up to 170 inches. That lodge has rainfall records since the 1920s. The rainfall has been the same for all that time. …Anyway, we went there because we wanted to experience the quietest place in the United States, that One Square Inch… …On a day that was rainy, mixed with snow, with a muddy trail. Quite an ordeal just to get to the trail head, to the One Square Inch and Mt. Olympus. (Yes, Mt. Olympus.) Consulting with the forest ranger, we were advised there are no trail markings, guides to the One Square Inch, and that it’s all “NOT SANCTIONED, IN ANY WAY A PART OF THE NATIONAL PARK PROGRAM.” No, the ranger wasn’t yelling, and was otherwise courteous, but wasn’t happy with the goofy people wanting to experience that special One Square Inch. He went on to say the special inch was not on the official Hoh River Trail, but we will see approximately where it is as the goofs have tramped down the flora and fauna thereabouts. …So we tramped for two hours, maybe getting within one square mile of the one square inch, and called it good. It was all good. As green or more as we’ve ever seen. And quiet. But we did hear two jets during the two hours. And our shoes we’re sopping, our feet numb, and called it good enough.

Terrific adventure stories today’s New York Times Magazine

Noise of nothingness.

Going to the quietest place in the United States

Science: People who read books tend to live longer

Run Faster With This Easy, Proven Form Tweak. Land on mid foot. Watch slo motion of the best runners. Vin and Ian stress mid foot, pointed straight ahead. Everything should be forward.

Remembering Prefontaine

In the NCAA D1 outdoor t&f rankings, the University of Oregon men are # 1 and Oregon women #2. See here and here.

Why do runners love Death Valley? Indeed, it stretches your eyeballs and blows your mind. …How ’bout that free marathon in Mohave?

Should You Keep Your Big Goals To Yourself?

Those who assert that everything is predestined still look before they cross the street. ~Stephen Hawking

Video: Random Acts of Kindness …In our lives, is kindness the norm or the exception?

You’re probably already in the top 5% of fitness. Don’t fret! Don’t split hairs.

Spring is here. The vernal equinox is on March 20th at 12:15 PM EDT.

11 Types of Annoying Running Partners. You? I’m The Historian. But, hey, what’s there to say about my running future?

Finding Meaning and Happiness in Old Age

If you don’t look back on yourself and think, “Wow, how stupid I was a year ago,” then you must not have learned much in the last year. -Ray Dalio

Bookshelves

Sebastian Junger: Why Are Men Violent?

These 80-Year-Old Athletes Will Blow Your Mind

What We Can Learn From A Styrofoam Cup

March in Mammoth

USATF Masters Indoor Championships results. Southern California’s Gary Patton is the best in my age group. David Elliott is the best in Oregon. …More. …And two more here.

Tracking collegiate runners. Because, mostly, numbers don’t lie.

High altitude training for collegiate wrestlers. And runners of all ages?

Rowing and Your Muscles. If reasonably fit, you can probably row a mile in 10 minutes. And reasonably warmed up to get on the treadmill. A tip from cold and rainy Oregon.

Good stuff today from Ken Goe. …Don’t miss the 2007 video with Kenny Moore, mostly about his terrific book, Bowerman and The Men of Oregon

How You Do Anything Is How You Do Everything

Meetings are by definition a concession to deficient organization. For one either meets or one works. One cannot do both at the same time. ~Peter Drucker

Vin Lananna said today (at the TrackTown workout) the Hayward Field renovation will begin this year after the NCAA Championships. The east grandstand will be torn down, it being a dry rot money drain costing UO $100,000 per year. Features of the iconic west grandstand will be in the new design. The Bowerman building will go down too, and everything there now and more will be within the new stadium complex.

Perhaps during a March Madness commercial break, read this and this. …Gresham’s Law: Bad money drives out good.

Skyler Mikesell update. …Needs help

Let’s toast with green wine. Layne Witherell and Don, friends since Navy boot camp, were born in Los Angeles on 3/20/45, and toasted each other on our 21st birthday with GI gin (codeine-laced cough medicine). …Enjoy Wine Maniacs

For my birthday I’d like this. Nestled in the orchard on our back forty.

Wait a sec, Alex. Caffeine Might Not Make You Faster?

Why Can’t Everyone Do the ‘Asian Squat’? …You might recall that Colleen Milliman, my 91 year old friend, oldest female to record a track mile, does 75 squats each day. Ida Keeling, 102 and world record holder, does even more. I’m just sayin’…

NYT on on running more, avoiding added sugar, living longer

Signal on Foothill track & field. …Canyon v. Valencia results.

Matthew Nali, Founder and President of SCV Hurdles and SCV Sprints, is back!!! Here.

New/Best Running Books and Media

Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness: Peak Performance updates

Semi-Rad: Friday Inspiration

How much basketball will you watch over the next two weeks? The Brits like track & field more than any other sport. Details here.

Must Read: Is Chris Zablocki the Best Extreme Marathoner?

Outside has a story on Lauren Fleshman. Says she lives in Portland. No, she lives in Bend, about 175 miles from Portland.

Dear NCAA Coaches. Ditto for all coaches.

Reminds me of Joe Newton. He cared about everyone on the team, and proved it daily.

Bob Huggins Is March’s Author-in-Residence. Note reference to John McPhee’s first book about Bill Bradley. It’s good. But I liked McPhee’s second, The Headmaster, even more. Every kid was important.

The Case for the “Self-Driven Child”

How Exercise Can Keep Aging Muscles and Immune Systems ‘Young’

Why humans are optimised for endurance running, not speed

Semi-Rad: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Strava

Video: The ‘Most Elusive’ Man in North America

Yesterday we were in the back forty pruning grapes. I looked up and saw a turkey vulture. She (who must be obeyed) looked up and saw four bald eagles flying in circles, about as high as a human can just barely see them. Almost certainly they were looking for fish in the Willamette, and being so high is not a problem, having eyes like an eagle as they do.

Megan Petronelli is Colleen Milliman’s personal coach. For more on Megan, see here and here.

No shoes. No problem. Watch 76 year-old William Rhoad kick ass.

The Week That Was

Alex Hutchinson: How Strength Training Makes You Faster

When Jerry Schumacher Speaks, Listen

Vin Lananna’s Training Principles for Middle Distance and Distance …Read.

Haruki Murakami: Learning how to go the distance.

Training for a world-class cross country skier

Viedo: Sabrina Southerland, are you kidding me?

the morning shakeout

Jim Ryun on Roger Bannister: Finishing the Race. …Again, I urge you to read Twin Tracks. It’s on my Kindle and, while on the treadmill, will start reading it randomly.

The Highs and Low of Cycling Massive California Vertical. I love Death Valley. 28 years ago I did the inaugural Death Valley Trail Marathon. At the end of March (now scheduled in December). Cool at the start, but over 100 degrees at the finish. A few finishers got an IV along with the usual finisher’s medal. I was second. First place guy got on the cover of Ultrarunning magazine.

Foothill League track & field starts on Thursday. Best wishes to all. We left Santa Clarita six years ago.