This Running Life

Life Well Run

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Dad | Professor | Dept. Chair | Historian | Ultramarathoner

  • 5 Years

    Taken the week they discovered my BP issue. I was wracked with fear.

    This week marks the 5th anniversary of the discovery of my “industrial strength” high blood pressure.  If you’ve listened to any of my old podcasts (or TRL ep 1) you know this story.  If not, then here’s a thumbnail.

    The week before Christmas 2006 both my boys came down with the Flu. My wife and I panicked since we had a surprise after-Christmas Disney trip planned. Inevitably, I came down with the flu.  On a Saturday morning, I woke with fever and the all-too-familiar “flu-eyes.” So I rushed to an after hours med care to beg for some medication to knock it out quickly. Turns out I didn’t have the  flu.  Instead I had very high blood pressure: 162/116. These numbers were so high that several people took my vitals.  I think the entire staff had a turn at the BP cuff! So high that the med care staff almost sent me to the ER. I called my friend, Don, a physician, and he sent me to bed, wrote a scrip for BP meds and told me to see him after Christmas.

    Heavier days

    I was face to face with my own mortality. I could die. My kids could lose their father. My family would lose a provider. This was my “welcome to the 40s” moment. I was an overweight man, who loved fried foods, fast food, and was a stroke waiting to happen.

    I was so afraid that I'd die and lose the prviliege of seeing these two boys grow

    Something had to change. Mind you, I HAD been active, taking yoga classes, going to the health club, doing step aerobics, spin classes, refereeing youth and high school soccer.  But all that does a man no good if he continues to eat like there is no tomorrow: wings, burgers, chicken, chips, dip, late night turkey and may sandwiches, candy, etc etc. If anything, this activity might have forestalled the stroke that should have happened long before then.  I had to lose weight, get my diet under control. Change had to happen–NOW!

    After my first race of any distance: Big D Half Marathon in April 2008 (2:58)

    I decided to start running. I had run only in high school and only as training for other sports, such as football or wrestling. Running hurt, was not preferable, but I knew if anything could knock some weight off, running could.  I eliminated salt from my diet. I never missed a BP med! I went from 247 lbs to 217 over a 6 month period. I felt great, ran a 5K, fell in love with running and decided to run a half marathon. Then I got lazy with my eating. While running became a great new lovely thing for me, I fell back into old habits with food choices.  I gained weight, back up to 235 or so, by the time I got a new job and moved to Alabama. The running was great, the eating sucked. I embraced the idea that I would be on BP meds for the rest of my life.  That High BP is “hereditary” and there’s nothing I could do about it.  That it ran in my family and once you got it and were on meds there was no getting off.  Little did I know that all that was BS.  I felt that I was running and training for a marathon, so I had earned that order of 12 chicken wings or that BBQ.  I was an idiot.

    I WAS semi-active. Here officiating a high school soccer game in 2007

    So, you know the rest of the story. In July 2009, I turned things around and finally for good. Eventually lost 75 lbs, from 231 to 156, got faster in running than I ever imagined. I learned to swim–and like it–and fell in love with cycling. Became Vegan, was removed from BP meds. Shocked my doctor who said I was a role model for this lifestyle.  He’s so used to seeing southern males in the 40s get bigger and less healthy.  I was a southern male, in his 40s, losing weight, getting off medication, and feeling incredible youthful.  And here I am, as happy as I’ve ever been in my life. I am fit.  I have the stamina of an 18 year old. I am a better father and husband.  I am happier and more positive in my outlook on life than at any time in my 44 years.

    So, I’ll celebrate this week, this 5 year anniversary of waking up to my health, with some great Vegan food, lots of exercise, and smile a little more than I usually do.

    Thank you for being around, for supporting, for cheering, sharing in bad days and reveling in the good ones.

    Finally fit!
    Voted "most athletic" in high school. I'm on the right. (what they give dudes who aren't good looking) I made that sock tie look good though!
    Voted "most athletic" in high school. I'm on the right. (what they give dudes who aren't good looking) I made that sock tie look good though!
    The new, happier, healthier me

  • CIM: Thoughts from a race

    I love running bears!

    So, I ran California International Marathon (CIM) on December 4.  This race starts in Folsom and ends at the steps of the California State Capitol in Sacramento. Pretty course, tough course.  It is advertised as a fast course, one with a net downhill elevation.  And all that is true. But this is not an easy course, by any means.  The first 15 miles of this race is dotted with small and moderate-sized rolling hills that do a number on your legs.

    So, my goals for this race were:

    1)Run happy, finish strong, smile and appreciate that I’m fortunate to run

    2) New PR: sub 3:28

    3) Race Day Magic!: sub 3:20

    4) “Do you believe in miracles”: 3:15

    I am happy to say that I achieved goal No. 1. This my standard  goal of every race.  The rest will take care if itself in due time.  And this is the secret to my running happiness, I am realizing. PRs and BQs will come when they come. We cannot rush success.  We cannot conjure magical days on our own. They happen when they happen.  All we can do is train, do our best, run happy, smile, and never forget that this is NOT a job, but something we enjoy for love, life and laughter.

    So I was pretty much on goal for the first 15 miles of the race.  Then my right quad started misbehaving, really hurting such that my gait got thrown off a bit.  I fought through it, but soon realized that magic wouldn’t happen today and that i would have to fight to the finish. I did my best, but slowed the pace and just pushed through.  I saw Megan and Eric at Mile 20 and that gave me a boost, but by then any hopes of a new PR were gone.  Let me now say that this was my most mature race as a marathoner.  A year ago, had this happened to me, I would have gone into a pretty dark place and struggled to run happy.  I have learned that when hard and difficult things happen in marathons the true test of our running maturity is how we react.  Do we fold the tents and shut down? Do we push and do our best t the end? Do we have a mental breakdown akin to a temper tantrum, or do we say to ourselves “this sucks. But I am running and healthy, and doing something few people have done. So I will run with pride no matter how hard this is or how badly I hurt.”

     

    At mile 20

    I’m still learning how to break through mental walls late in races. But as much as I want to be tougher and developed a steelier mind, I cannot rush this process.  I want to run late in to my life.  I want to be that old geezer running his hundredth marathon at 85.  I want to be that person that people look to when they think of longevity and good cheer on the roads.

    This was on my mind as I fought through the last miles of CIM.  Yes, other things were on my mind too: “Whose idea was this race?! I’m gonna punch him right in the kisser!”  “I hope my leg doesn’t fall off before I finish. I’m not sure I could carry it and my bottle the rest of the way.” “How much does a leg weigh?”  “Legs might be hard to run with since they might keep[ bending at the knee.  Too much flopping.  I’d rather run with an arm or a head.”  “All I want right now is to sit in Megan’s van and drink a gallon of Starbucks coffee!”

    What next?  Time for a recovery period.  I still have a goal of finishing the year with 2,400 running miles and I will get that.  This is a bit short of my 2,500 mile goal from earlier in the year, but then again, I hadn’t planned on running CIM, either.  My body is tired. But my mind is more so.  I’ve raced 5 marathons since November 2010.  That’s a lot of mental pressure.  I need to veg out and run without a purpose for a few weeks.  I’ve purchased a new bike, and have been swimming more than ever.  While my mind is struggling with not having a “goal” race to train for, I welcome this period of recovery.  In the last miles of the marathon, I found myself thinking that my mental edge was a bit dulled from all the racing.  I was coming to terms with a recovery period while finishing a marathon.  And I was able to enjoy as much as possible the last few miles of CIM, knowing it would be later in 2012 before I ran another.

    Official digits:

    Finish: 3:37:48

    Splits–5.9 Miles: 44:27; 13.1 miles: 1:40:21; 20 miles: 2:38:08

    Men 40-44: 239/603; Men: 1121/3270; overall 1465/5754.

     

    The papparazzi caught me sleeping in the van on the drive back to SF

  • Ruben Studdard Half Marathon Report

    Bib, shirt, medal, and AG award

    Finish time: 1:40:02

    28th out of 551 overall finishers

    24th out of 221 men

    3rd in 40-44 Age Group, Men (37 runners)

    I run CIM in two weeks, so when I saw this race pop up on the race calendar, I thought it would be good to have a race/training run opportunity late in the cycle as a way of 1)giving a little race day practice in terms of pacing and prep and pushing through late miles and 2)a great way of getting off my regular running route and change things up a bit as I entered taper.  In fact, before I decided to run CIM, I had considered running the marathon that this race had offered but later canceled for lack of registrants.  As a side note, my guess as to the lack of registrants for the Studdard Marathon was that this race is just too close to the Mercedes Marathon that is run in February.  That race has a pretty dedicated following and few marathoners are wont to try and run two races so close together.

    So let me begin by saying that I am considering filing a class-action lawsuit against races that advertise “flat, fast” courses, when in fact they aren’t.  Oh sure, there were no mountains, no 1,000 foot climbs, but if you run long enough you know that the worse kind of course is one with a steady and gradual incline, one that you can’t really “see” but certainly “feel” after the miles.  This race, at least the last 7 miles was that kid of course. This was, to me, a scenic course, which took me by landmarks of Birmingham’s past; places where the city’s  founders resided.  The oldest ballpark in the nation, Rickwood Field, where my dad took us 2-3 times a week in the early 1980s to watch minor league baseball.  Legion Field, the site of so many epic college football games, and a side of the city that has seen better years, true, but is important to those of us who grew up there.  I guess as a historian, this stuff appeals to me: the architecture, the history, the feeling that I was exploring my own past as I ran.

    The plan was to start out in my Goal Marathon Pace (GMP) bubble, 7:25-7:35 miles for the first half and then see what I could do in the second half.  The gun went off and after navigating some walker/jogger types, who irritatingly placed themselves at the front of the pack, I settled into the bubble.  The first 5 miles of the race, save for one pretty nice little hill, was fairly flat and I found the running easy and smooth.  I was a little confused because I thought it was TOO easy at first.  Settling right into GMP was surprisingly not that hard so I found a couple of people with a similar pace and we ran with each other.  Trouble is as we came across that first hill they all fell back and I kept searching for people to pace with.  I know this sounds kind of haughty or pompous, but you can easily spot people in races who don’t do their hill work.  They may cruise fast and easy on the flat but as soon as they hit the incline they fall back and struggle.  I felt good holding pace up the hill, knowing that my many miles up and down Mountain Avenue were paying off.

    Through mile 6 things were fine. Pace was good, heart rate was in a good area, low zone 3.  This is when I noticed the running getting slightly more difficult.  The slow gradual incline that would last for the next 7 miles had appeared.  There were some smallish hills in the midst of this gradual incline (which I liken to Golden Gate Park along the SF marathon course, slight and gradual but enough to slowly suck the life out of your legs!).  I held pace but realized at about mile 8 or 9 that I would likely have no kick today.  So I decided to hold the GMP bubble for the rest of the race, practice good form, work on keeping my shoulders low (they tend to creep up into a hunch as I get tired), and finish strong.

    A couple of nice highway overpass ramps did my legs in and I struggled to hold GMP in the last mile. But  still finished strong and with a new PR and finished 3d in my 40-44 age group.

    This was a good race for me. It came a week after my peak training mileage week and a 24-mile run the Sunday before. Running strong, getting a PR, and doing it on tired legs is quite satisfying.  It also comes right at the start of my taper for CIM, and was great way to test myself and work on lots of race-related issues, sch as mental toughness.  This has always been my weakest point, my mental toughness, and any opportunity to work on it before CIM was welcome.

    Ruben put on a good race, with good support and enthusiastic volunteers, and enhanced by good communication with runners in the weeks leading up to the event.

    Getting the Age Group award from Ruben

    Here are my splits:

    1 7:34.2
    2 7:33.5
    3 7:33.8
    4 7:20.3
    5 7:34.4
    6 7:36.7
    7 7:35.2
    8 7:35.9
    9 7:35.6
    10 7:34.6
    11 7:41.3
    12 7:17.2
    13 7:41.4
    14 1:40.9  

     

  • One Month

    One month from today, on December 4th, I’ll run the California International Marathon (CIM).  This will be my 5th marathon in a 54 week span–just over a year.  I’ve raced them all, seeking a PR or BQ in each.  None have been fun runs or training runs.  So each has brought the requisite mental and physical pressure which wears a runner down over time.  Chickamauga in November 2010 (3:48), Disney in January 2011 (3:40); Myrtle Beach in February 2011 (3:28); and San Francisco in July 2011 (3:33).

    I am excited to see what I can do as I  enter peak mileage of this training cycle.  Funny, the time between marathons 1 and 2 and 2 and 3 was almost a year in each instance.  Back then, I didn’t cross train or do much core, and recovery time from those races was much longer.  My fitness level was such that recovery became a slow process and the races themselves were difficult.

    I am at the stage in marathon training where my mileage is peaking, my paces are settling in nicely, and my strength can be felt. (And passive voice can predominate! LOL)  I am slowly approaching my fitness peak for the race, and I can feel it.  Sure, I’m tired.  I ran 240 miles in October along with a ton of cross training (see last post), and I’ve run 2,166 miles for the year, but this is my favorite time of the cycle. The race is not too close, so I don’t find myself muttering “OMG. OMG. what have i done? 26.2 miles is a Looooong way. Holy Smokes!”  And the miles seem to just click by as I run. I guess this is why I’ve raced so much this past year.   I love this process and how it feels.

    But I am also planning to take some time resting after CIM.  The rest of December will be a rest and recovery period for mind and body. I know I need it. I am approaching that place where one risks burn out.  But part of me is kicking and screaming, shouting “No! I’m cool.  All is well.  No fatigue here!  Where’s the next race, baby!”  But I’m fooling myself.  Of course it took a friend to convince me, but I see the need for rest.  I will embrace it, when the time comes.  Until then, I’ve got 30 more days to run my fanny off!  Perhaps this is why I don’t want this cycle to end?  Is this the hardest thing a runner does–rest?  I think so!

    But I’ve had a great training cycle to this point! The long runs have been wonderful, the tempo sessions (a lot of track work) have fostered a great deal of growth, and the hill work (my weekly climb up and down Mountain Street) has produced strong legs. I’ve got a great plan written by a great friend. And I cannot wait to see how I do!   Just one more month! Yikes!

     

     

  • October Training


    • 52 workouts
    • 55 hours total
    • 240 running miles
    • 13:30 hours on a bike/rollers
    • 8.91 miles swimming

  • Why Sleep Can’t Come Fast Enough

    Between shuttling the kids around to practices, work, and this training schedule, I’m usually out by 9:15 each night!

  • Steve Jobs turned me into a speedy Vegan

    So, that blog title is a bit of an attention grabber, huh?  Well, let me break it down for you.

    In 2008, I decided to chronicle my journey to my first marathon by producing a podcast named after my very little-read blog of the same name, Running to Disney.  I got the idea from listening to podcasts about running, and found inspiration in the stories of the shows’ hosts. We all used technology, and a word (Podcasts), made popular by Steve Jobs and Apple. The simplification and popularity of this technology invited people to share their lives and stories with complete strangers across the interwebs.

    My podcast introduced me to other people along the same journey of physical fitness, mental challenges, personal achievement. We shared our lives even though we had never shaken hands, or met, or spoke with one another save for one-sided conversations through our shows or call-ins or emails.

    I found new friends who thought the same things I did, pursued the same goals, shared the same dreams, anxieties, fears, problems.  So who knows, if I don’t start a podcast using my Macbook then maybe I am like so many people who run a marathon, one race and done. No motivation or inspiration to push beyond that which I had attained.

    And without the podcast I don’t meet my friend Megan from California who begins to coach my running and share her life as a Vegan and how it made her not only a better runner, but a better human. And who knows? Without that friend ship maybe I don’t lose 75 pounds, become Vegan,attain a level of health and fitness that I presumed unreachable, and find myself off of the blood pressure medicine everyone assumed I’d take for the remainder of my life? Do I shave close to 3 hours off my marathon time between 2009 and 2011?

    Maybe I don’t meet my friend Dom from Minnesota, who has become a close friend and confidant and fellow Disney nut. The list goes on and on: Kevin from Ohio, Stan from Missouri, Nik and Dan from Massachusetts, Eric from California, Jason from South Carolina, Shawn and Jason from Atlanta.  And without that podcast I don’t receive emails from people who I have inspired to make their own life changes.

    As the central character and narrator of Robert Penn Warren’s classic novel, All the King’s Men (1946), about the corrupting nature of power and the interrelatedness of all mankind.  Jack Burden struggles to come to terms with his role in life and, more importantly, how one person’s life can affect the world and the lives of people with whom they are directly and indirectly connected.  Burden ultimately realizes that no one person is disconnected from another and summarizes his discovery by observing that “. . . the world is like an enormous spider web and if you touch it, however so lightly, at any point, the vibration ripples to the remotest perimeter.”  My web is so much larger and more extensive because of the types of technology that Steve Jobs introduced into my life.

    Truth be told, I have more digital friends whose lives I know about and for whom I care deeply than I do “in person” friends. Such is the age in which we live, with technology making it easier for us to meet and share and grow together.

    Sure, I could list all the Apple products sitting here before me, or in my back pack, or at home. But I’d rather list the friends I’ve accumulated BECAUSE of many of these products and the type of user-friendly appeal they provide.

    Did Steve Jobs literally turn me into a speedy Vegan? Well, no, not directly, but he sure had a hand in it. Am I sad he has passed from this life? Yes. Am I happy for the life that I have thanks to his life and achievements? More than you’ll ever know.

  • Back to the Track

    My Track (well, not mine, per se)

    The last time I did a track workout was November 4, 2009. I was preparing for the 2009 Rocket City Marathon held that December.  The workout was a short one in comparison with my daily runs now, only 5.2 miles, and included 6 “Yasso 800s,” in preparation for what would be my second marathon.

    Megan had me go to the track then, because it was a good way to gauge my fitness in the last month leading up to the race, and as a way of changing things up to add a little variety to training.

    Since then, we have moved away from the track for my other 4 marathons and for her recent races, too. The thought was that running on roads with elevation changes and such was a better training method.  But starting with Megan’s pre-San Francisco Marathon training and now with my CIM training, we are back on the track.  Megan enjoyed good saw pretty nice success from the track leading op to SF, and when she suggested that I head there yesterday, I was at once excited for a different type of interval/tempo run, but also kind of nervous. You see, the track, with its perfectly level surface, nice white lines, big banner that says “Gamecock Track & FIeld” (this is the university track where I work), looks all official and requires that you run faster than normal. So I was nervous about it. No excuses here.  No stop lights or busy intersections at which one can catch their breath in a fast mile on the roads. No excuses.  Just track.

    Because we don’t like our training methods or plans to get stale, the track workouts coincide with periodic adjustments we make to ensure that we evade boredom in training, or fear the same-old, same-old.

    This was to be a workout that last somewhere between 7.5 and 8.5 miles depending on commute time to track and when I needed to be back home to get the boys ready and dropped at school. I started before sun-up, wearing a head lamp and finished as dawn was in full swing.

    I loved it. Yes, I was nervous and a bit anxious about how I’d do, but like I wrote above, there is something about a track that just makes you go faster.  It was nice not to evade cars or stop at lights.  I could play my music, zone out and just run. I want more track workouts and have a sneaky suspicion I’ll find myself there next Tuesday.

    So, I went back into my Garmin files and found the data from ,my last visit to the track on that November day almost 2 years ago.  I did the 800s at a 9:30ish pace, and ran 5.2 miles in 57 minutes. I’ve said before that to see where we are as runners we should go back and see where we’ve been.  I know I’ve made a lot of progress as a runner (with very much left to go) but the numbers still jump out at me.

    Yesterday I did my 400s at a 6:00ish pace, my 800s at a 6:30ish pace, and two 1600s at 7:09 and 7:04.  8.8 miles in 1:08.

  • Chasing a Kenyan & feeling on top of the run

    The summer heat and humidity took its toll on my body, but it also affected my mind and confidence.  Sure, I had a great race at San Francisco and was pleased at the outcome, but all summer long, and through the race, I hadn’t felt “on top” of my running.

    What I mean is that I would go out on runs not feeling that I would dictate the run, or that I was in control, rather that the run was somehow going to control me.  I lost that confidence to shape the run as I saw fit according to my abilities and fitness level.  I became anxious before runs, especially long runs, and found that I had sometimes let the run affect me before I had taken a stride.

    Such is the effect heat and humidity and the resulting pace struggles had on me and my dis-functional brain. It all worked to my advantage over the long run, as I ran 3:33 at San Francisco, and feel so strong now that Fall has arrived.  Finally, though, the weather has turned, the humidity has fallen, I can breathe again, and my running has returned to normal. I am a cool-weather runner, I guess we all are, and that is when I feel most in command of my runs.  Saturday was a perfect example. I have been trying to overcome this pre-long run anxiety that set in during the summer when it became quite hard to hold goal marathon pace for long periods.  And my confidence has slowly returned with cooler weather and some modification to long-run structure.  But Saturday was something of a breakthrough.

    On the schedule: 16 miles. Perfect weather greeted me as I walked out of the house. It was just around 43 degrees as the sun rose.  I was excited to try out some new shorts. I purchased a pair of Brooks Infiniti Short Tights.  (Weird side note: I love the way my tights feel on my legs during cold-weather runs, but never thought to try short tights. Crazy, huh?) This is the first real cool weather we’ve had, so it took me a while that morning to decide what to wear: singlet with arm warmers? T-shirt with arm-warmers? Skull cap vs baseball cap?  I settled on the shorts, tech t-shirt, arm warmers, gloves and ball cap.  I know I’ve chosen the right clothing when I step out of the house and feel kinda cold.  My body will warm as I run.  If I feel comfy as I step out fo the house, then I’ve overdressed.

    The plan was to warm up for three miles, run 2 at the 8:15-8:25 pace, run 6 at a 8:05-8:15 pace, then 3 at goal marathon pace of around 7:30 or faster, then a 2 mile cool down.

    I typically know how well a run will go by the time I’ve finished the second warm up mile.  This day was no different, I knew this would be a good run. I settled into my paces and just ran, enjoying a sunny but crisp fall day.  At mile 9 or so, as I was turning off our local bike/walk trail for a water bottle refill, I was passed by a member of the cross-country team for the university for which I work. I’ve seen this guy before, running along the dirt and grass beside the trail.  He is from Kenya and runs, naturally, quite fast.

    We kept pace for a few hundred yards until I turned off the trail. At that point I estimated his pace to be around 7:45.  I was running at just above 8:00.  I refilled my water and hit the trail again, as I began the approach to my goal MP miles. I had decided to run 4 MP miles instead of three, and planned to do a “2 miles out and 2 miles back” loop until I reached the trail head and the time for cool down.

    As I reached my turnaround point with 2 MP miles to go, I spotted the Kenyan, in his red jacket, a few hundred yards up the trail in the direction that I had been running.  I decided to hold a sustainable pace and see if I could hold him off for a while.  After a couple of miles in the low 7:00s, I held a 7:14 pace and was confident that he wouldn’t catch me. His gait just seemed so easy and smooth, no way he was running faster than 7:30. Or so I thought.

    But soon after thinking this crazy thought, I saw him out of the corner of my eye; just gliding along the path, hardly straining at all. He WAS sweating, as I saw a patch of sweat on his back. This made me feel somewhat better about myself. I decided I would try to keep up with him for as long as I could. Why? I have no idea other than I felt like Superman on this morning and felt in control of this run. And why not? Running is fun. Running is about pushing ourselves beyond that which we THINK we can do. There is ALWAYS time for daring and play in every run!  I wanted to keep up with that Kenyan!

    Ok, so 7:14 wasn’t gonna work. I sped up, he gained ground. 7:10, he kept pulling away. 7:05, 7:00. Dang! He’s just floating along that path! 6:58, 6:55, 6:50, 6:49. He kept pulling away. I kept the distance from growing as we climbed a slight incline along the trail. We both settled at 6:50 for the climb, but once he reached the flat, he pulled away again. I maintained 6:55 for the rest of the mile before reaching 14 miles and the cool down point at the trailhead for the path home.

    That dude could run!

    I was happy with my effort. It has been since late spring that I could pop a sub-7 mile that deep into a long run. Part of me wanted to keep going, to see if I could hold another sub-7 mile. I am confident I could, but my goal is not to chase Kenyans, but to do very well at CIM in December. Play has a place in running, but so does being smart with one’s training.

    If you find yourself running across a Kenyan, don’t be afraid to test yourself.  Have a little fun.  I loved it when he peeked back at me. He knew I was chasing him. Of course, he was probably thinking: “Heh. Silly bald man.”

    Splits: 16 miles in 2:10

    9:39, 9:13, 8:45, 8:16, 8:18, 8:11, 8:14, 7:57, 8:12, 7:57, 7:26, 7:19, 7:14, 6:55, 7:54, 8:36

  • Rethinking Hydration?

     

     

     

     

     

    Here are some of the links I mentioned in the latest show:

     

    http://nutsci.org/2011/03/03/athletes-obey-your-thirst/

     

    http://www.active.com/nutrition/Articles/The_new_rules_of_hydration.htm

    http://www.ultrunr.com/noakes.html

    http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-242-302–8785-0,00.html

    http://www.uct.ac.za/print/mondaypaper/archives/?id=3713

    http://www.usatf.org/news/showRelease.asp?article=/news/releases/2003-04-19-2.xml

    http://www.printfriendly.com/print/v2?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iawr-connect.com%2Ftraining%2Fdehydration2011%2F#

  • Game on!

    December 4, 2011. 7 AM PST