Monday, 11/20/17

A great coach once told me that doing one session less than you had scheduled is preferable to doing one too many. ~ Peter Sagan

To Promote Happiness, Choose Time Over Money. …How ’bout more outside, less gizmo and other electronic time wasters?

America Is Now an Outlier on Driving Deaths

How to Sleep

For free in Tracktown USA

Eugene friend writes from… “the island nation of Comoros which is in the Indian Ocean in the general vicinity of Madagascar. We flew here from Paris… The weather is tropical, the people are friendly and helpful, and the food is French cuisine – all in all a very pleasant place to spend a week. We are staying in a beach bungalow with no electricity or water but with a lobster dinner at the edge of the ocean. …Comoros became number 200 on our list of countries that we have visited in the 20 years we have been married. As an aside, we flew one leg of this trip on a new budget air line with the unlikely name of WIZZ AIR. I think they may have done an inadequate job of choosing a name for their little startup venture but what do I know.”

Sock talk. Perhaps you will have charity, some money leftover over in the holiday season, and/or looking for a tax deduction. Consider this. Decent cotton socks for around 70 cents a pair. Made in China. Ships free. Takes about seven days to receive. Your local Food Pantry will gladly pass them out. A surprise, a bit of joy for hundreds. …A thousand?

Weekend, 11/18-19/17

CIF-SS Finals and Master’s @ NAIA National Championships on 11/18. …Top seven SS teams in each division advance to state finals.

MileSplit profiles CA Legend Rene Paragas. A good guy and serious student of our sport.

Why everyone should try jogging up Mont Blanc

NYT: Running

CIF-SS Finals Results …SCV teams advancing to state are from Saugus, West Ranch, and Canyon.

Master’s women 10th. Results. Master’s men 5th. Results

NCAA D-1 Cross Country Championships results.

Our good friend Tim Lynch and three others were honored for saving the life of a 70-year-old woman who was attacked while jogging in Valencia. Those four men detaining the suspect who had strangled the woman until she lost consciousness. They provided Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies with enough information to bring an attempted murder charge against the suspect. Video.

Signal story on CIF-SS Finals. Fails to mention Trinity Classical.

Why faster?

Sandra Villines ran 3,125 miles through 12 states — averaging 57 miles a day. Read.

Friday, 11/17/17

Alex Hutchinson: Researchers Confirm Nike’s “4%” Marathon Shoe Claim. …”But… nobody really seems to be running four percent, or even three percent, faster.” …Would an Adidas funded study confirm the Nike study? …What if Nike/other does instantly produce a 4% advantage, and some rich parent gives that shoe to everyone on his kid’s prep cross country team, and they win the league title…

Amby Burfoot’s thoughts.

An Emotional Support Squirrel? …Nutty stuff.

Steve Magness: Small Steps to Big Gains + Using Constraints to Break Free

More Hutchinson: Next big exercise fad?

More Hutchinson (from 3/7/17): Nike’s Magic Shoes: What If They Really Work?

Are we showering too often?

Thursday, 11/16/17

Video: The Appalachian Trail’s Oldest Hiker

Since When Do You Have to Be Stylish on the Trail?

Alex Hutchinson on The Science of Mountain Ultrarunning. Some lessons for the rest of us.

Are blueberries the healthiest fruit? …We have 29 blueberry plants in the south forty.

Check out SCV cyclists’ 4 Days To Fitness

Wednesday, 11/15/17

7 Things You Didn’t Know About Shalane Flanagan

On managing depression and anxiety. When The Best Therapy is Right There at Your Feet

Hikers, runners, climbers scramble toward ever-faster feats

Sujatha Gidla was an untouchable in India, but moved to the United States at the age of 26 and is now the first Indian woman to be employed as a conductor on the New York City Subway… Q&A

Ask yourself. 1.What are you running from? 2. What are you running toward?

Tuesday, 11/14/17

…obesity and smoking remain the two leading causes of preventable deaths in this country. The Growing Toll of Our Ever-Expanding Waistlines

The Secret to Long Life?

You’ve probably noticed our frequent posting of stuff from the New York Times. Yes, it can be cloying, annoying, and reflexively biased, but it is also the best newspaper in American. For about $18 per month, we get it all every day on the net, and a hefty bundle of paper next to our front door every Sunday. Consider a dirt cheap trial subscription. After that expires, you can bargain them down from their “standard rate.”

The Poetics of Running

Self-Help Lessons from Napoleon Bonaparte.

Recommended: The Undoing Project. Curiously, those two amazing Israeli scientists became close friends in the early 70s while working at the Oregon Research Institute.

the morning shakeout

Nearly every other city in California performs better than San Francisco in educating low-income students, and it’s not like most of the cities are knocking it out of the park. Consider

Monday, 11/13/17

When should you have your first cup of coffee? Interactive- 24 hour guide to your life. …Not science, but two life tips from Don. Don’t introduce any difficult issues with your mate or boss early in the morning, before coffee, especially on a Monday.. Negotiate deals on Friday afternoon, following numerous, tedious negotiations over time, when the opposition is tired and now just wants to be done with you.

State of the (Coaching) Nation

Kenyan Maasai waiter, in his second marathon, places 17th in New York

About football. On the Table, the Brain Appeared Normal. And Roger Goodell

How to Start Running at Age 100 …We hang around with old folks. Invariably, the old ladies garden and read good books. The old boys don’t do much. Just tell stories and watch football.

Leonardo da Vinci’s Handwritten Resume (1482)

Woodward Park All-Time List

Weekend, 11/11-12/17

Honor the vets.

Pro tip from Pope Francis

One of the Quietest Places on Earth …With a big problem. See here.

“So they took the leg”

Now reading John McPhee’s Draft No. 4

Video: Commercial to Sell a 21-Year-Old Used Honda Accord

NYT: Running

Foothillers advance to CIF-SS Finals. Results.

NYT: How the ‘Shalane Flanagan Effect’ Works

Don’s Fitbit Weekly Totals: 100,634 steps 409 floors (4090′ elevation) 52.83 miles 15,257 calories
…A bit misleading from the usual with two long runs on Spencer Butte in 7 days. Probably 22 miles of walking. I run three days a week.

Signal: Six SCV cross country teams moving on to CIF-SS finals. …No, it was seven teams. Trinity Classical advances. And other than Valencia and Trinity, all the other teams are in Division 2. …Geez Louise, as we used to say. But anyway, has Foothill ever done so well? Not in my memory. …Canyon has photos.

Not there, but we still heart Hart

NYT love for Draft No. 4. …A truly engaging and fun read. Only 192 pages. The better you write, the better your life.

Consider Writing Your Way to Happiness

Eight Habits of Highly Successful People You Can Try Today.

Gazillionaire Mark Zuckerberg, shocked and weepy, says extent of opioid crisis was biggest surprise of US tour. …Consider the yearly stats. And that doesn’t include all the deaths of the screwed up, strung out folks you see (and mostly don’t see) on the streets in every town.

Friday, 11/10/17

4 Laws of Muscle

Athlete’s Guide to Healthy Grains. Sorry, no Fruit Loops.

The Best Route to Big Fitness? Small Steps

Doing push ups and sit ups may help you live longer.

NCBI study: “Low muscle strength was independently associated with elevated risk of all-cause mortality, regardless of muscle mass, MetS, sedentary time, or LTPA among US older adults”

Signal profiles Valencia’s Britain Reynolds

Always fun: The Master’s University 5K. …Mighty Master’s will be here.

…running wild in the streets, barking and yelling, breaking into businesses and even stripping naked.

Video: Find Yourself By Traveling And Getting Lost. …After 2.5 lackluster and safe years in college, I joined the Navy. And I took some leave and wandered about, alone and with no plan, in Europe. Both decisions changed me forever.

Make relationships, not things

48 Wild Hampsters

Thursday, 11/9/17

Why You Need to Bike California Highway 1 Right Now. …I’m thinking about it. I’m thinking about it.

Or better. Do this. Running Through the Heart of Navaho

LetsRun: Meb Memories

Deep Spring College. Where Women Are Invited to Govern Themselves

Joan Benoit Samuelson on Shalane’s Historic Win

Harvard Business Review on the new science of building great cross country teams.

Are the Amish right about new technology?

Crap exercise is ineffective for weight loss… Read.

You probably don’t want to read… Cancer Doctors Cite Risks of Drinking Alcohol

Q&A with Eliud Kipchoge