The Tour de France is not for Sale!

Lance Armstrong is out of the race this year due to a broken collar bone, but maybe his pain killers have drove him a little mad. There is speculation that this Tour de France superstar wants to own a stake in the most prestigious cycling race. Too bad the family-run French company is not selling. Lay off the pain killers Lance.

However, this ambition is said to reflect the power he holds in racing. (Note: no one man has won the NCAA or the Olypmics eight years in a row in running-in any distance.) Granted, cycling has had drug related scandals and Lance has been accused once or twice. It is interesting to me that Lance would come out of retirement to not only race, but now to own. There is not a central organization of cycling so maybe expanding would help the sport, but come on now, the French family should take action and do with the Tour what Lance wants to do-make more money! There's not much money to be made in cycling with Lance racing. I have to wonder if his injury was caused by an angry poor competitor. Perhaps all the cyclers should follow Lance and start running alongside his biking, it seems to make his biking game pretty intense. Just try to beat his runner's legs on a bike!

At Saucony, We Run.

I have the best running shoes: Saucony Women's ProGrid Guide 2. This is my second pair of Saucony running shoes and my experience with them has caused me to become a creature of habit, I cannot give up my Sauconys. In my newfound loyalty I decided to go to http://www.saucony.com/. The opening page caught my attention immediatly and increased my consumer loyalty-in three seconds. There is a picture of about six people running and underneath it says, "At Saucony, We Run."

I picked marketing as my major because I am extremely suspectable to advertisement. This advertisement, as simple as it is, hooked me.

So, I picked a region and explored. I clicked on technology and read about the shoes I so dedicately put on every day. I know that I like them because they are so soft, I feel like I'm running on a stable cloud. They have just the right amount of give. I learned that the shoes I wear, ProGrid, have a closer-to-the-foot cushioning system for added cushioning and shock absorption. Then, I went to the Community. It got even better. There were five dirty running shoes lined up and above it said, "Community: We are mothers, daughters, fathers, sons. We are athletes, survivors, weekend warriors. We are students and professionals. We are young. We are old. We are devoted, excited, exhausted. When we run, we are one."

One side link provided is Ryan Shay. He was sponsered by Saucony and in his memory the newest cross country shoe by Saucony will be named the Shay XC.

I'm definatly going to have to buy a pair of those. Cheers Saucony.

Extreme Sleep: The Officical Ironman Mattress

I can't name the brand of the mattress I sleep, but I can confirm that it is quite comfortable. However, it is apprantly similar to a slab of granite compared to the offical mattress of Ironman manufactured by Spring Air Company in agreement with T3 Athletic Recovery Products. The sole purpose of this thing: recovery.

Of course a Ironman athlete needs recovery after a 140.6 mile odyssey including: a 2.4 mile ocean swim, a 112 mile bike ride, and a 26.2 mile marathon run. The beautiful scenery of Hawaii doesn't make this feat any less difficult. But the difficulty is the precise reason this special mattress is needed. It has soy-based, eco-core Ironman Sleep Technology with Celsion 5 Zone Latex and Celliant cover meaning it supports the entire body (hey! my mattress does that) and it delivers relief on pressure points. It cools your body when it's too warm or heats it up when it's too cool (to sleep with a blanket or without?). It is designed to releive pain, heal your body quicker, boost your immune system and increase oxygen levels in the body.
(source: http://ironman.com/mediacenter/pressreleases/spring-air-will-put-its-muscle-behind-the-official-ironman-mattress-line)

It's all a bit too much for me, I think I'll go back to bed now.

Ryan Shay-because his last name is my first.

Ryan Shay chased an olympic dream, yet his dream was cut short by an early death (refer to Steve Prefonatine). Shay ran in a similar manner as Pre: without constraint. Thus, it is no surprise that Shay had high hopes of bringing back a gold medal for the marathon in the 2008 olympics. At 28 years old, Shay had recently married Alicia Craig, 10,000m star runner; his life was just getting started. Yet, his life and olypmic dream were cut short by his sudden death during the Men's Marathon Olypmic Trials in New York City. He collapsed at mile 5 and was pronouced dead at 8:46 am.
I post Shay's story, not because his last name is my first, but because few achieve greatness out of fear that we are powerful beyond measure. It is stories of runners like Shay that give me a burst of passion about running and life.
Here's a quote about Shay from Luke Watson, Ryan's former teammate and roommate at Notre Dame:
"In all of our days at Notre Dame, I don't remember Ryan ever doing a run that I would call easy. I would doubt if there was ever a run he did at ND that averaged over 6:00/mile pace. In his pro career, Ryan did learn to run easy, but I don't think he liked it. He knew one style of running: fast and hard."

Cryotherapy ("cold therapy")

Better known as an Ice Bath. Some runners swear by it, personally the cold doesn't suit me unless im strapped to on a snowy mountain. But for runners, this treatment is hard to beat for injury and soreness. Why not use simple ice packs over sitting in an ice tub for 10 to 20 minutes? Well, with ice packs the temperatures of your muscles increase instantly after taking them off, which doesn't help deep last pain that comes with injury or long runs. After an ice bath your muscles still continue to cool for some time.

What an ice bath does is constricts blood vessels and decreases metabolic activity, which reduces inflammation and tissue breakdown. Immersion up to the waist allows for even constrictions around all your muscles which closes damage that you can't feel and numbs pain you can. Another benefit of the ice bath is known as the "blood rush." To acheive this you have to overcome your mind and just get in the icey water (think Titanic). Here your body fights back the cold with rapid blood circulation that flushes damage-inflicting waste from your system allowing fresh nutrients to come in and treat your muscles.

Ideally ice baths are around 50 to 60 degrees F and last for 10 to 20 minutes. The water should come up almost to your waist. To make this experience go by a little quicker some suggest wearing a jacket and a beenie and getting a cup of hot tea, and leaning back to let your muscles relax.

Welcome to the Good Life

Nike targeted women in a series of advertisements. It is about empowerment-LOVE YOUR BODY! As atheletes our bodies are strong, muscular, and toned. These advertisements focus on embracing our curves and muscles built from the sports we love. I am a marketing major and a runner: these ads appeal to me and to millions of thousands of women around the world. I look at these ads and think, I can make ads like this, all I have to do is look at my body and my thunder thighs and sell it. Market the body running gave me and Nike will give me a big paycheck! Kanye West says it best in his song "The Good Life" - "We like the girls who ain't on TV cause they got more ass than the models do!"

MY BUTT is big and round like the letter C and ten thousand lunges have it rounder but not smaller and thats just fine. It's a space heater for my side of the bed, it's my ambassador to those who walk behind me, it's a border collie that herds skinny women at clothing sales. My butt is big and thats just fine, and those who might scorn it are invited to kiss it. Just Do it."

I have THUNDER THIGHS and that's a compliment because they are strong and toned and muscular and though they are unwelcome in the petite section they are cheered on in marathons. Fifty years from now I'll bounce a grandchild on my thunder thighs and then I'll go out for a run. Just Do It.

My SHOULDERS aren't dainty or proportional to my hips. Some say they are a like a man's. I say, leave men out of it. They are mine, I made them in a swimming pool then I went to yoga and made my arms. Just Do It.

Get Muddy, Buddy

Trail running-a world of dirt, mud, grass, and rocky paths. Oh yeah, and there's no cars, payments, or stoplights.

Last week in Albuquerque it rained. Not hard, but hard enough to excite a muddy trail run. I drove East on Indian until the road ended, parked, got out of my jeep and started running. Don't misunderstand me, I like road running, but there's a refreshing and reinvirgorating way to cover a few miles on a trail. I've heard it refered to as "Zen-running" but honestly, I mainly enjoy getting dirty.

Trailing tests agility and strength. The soft earth forces you to use more muscles to keep your stability and, if theres mud invovled, your shoes become significantly heavier. The dirt and mud will fling onto your legs and arms and the end result is not a ideal look for most, but it is defiantly an ideal feeling. Ask the participates of the Colorado 100: a 100 mile trail run in the Colorado outdoors.

Adding trail running into the mix helps improve performance, endurance and it is enjoyable. A 100 mile train run doesn't appeal to me, but running out for 20 minutes and back in an equal or lesser time does. Try to get a footprint in the mud, no body wants sparkling white shoes.

Tune up your pace

When I change my playlists for a run, sometimes I look at what some of my favorite celebrity playlists are on ITunes. I have found some great bands that I did not know before doing this and its a great way to change up your IPod and get your tempo going.

Here are some songs on a few my favorites celebrity playlists:
1. Jeremy Piven/Ari Gold (Entrouage)
Bankrobber-The Clash
Icky Thump-The White Stripes
Misunderstood-Common
Soul of a Man-Beck

2. Blue Man Group
No One Knows-Queens of the Stoneage
Radio Free Europe-R.E.M
Unfinished Sympathy-Massive Attack
Musical Intution-The X-Ecutioners

3. Edward Norton
Crying Shame-Peter Salett
Yellow Rays of Sun-Peter Salett
Days Go By-The King of France
Been So Long-The King of France

4. Josh Hartnett
Sound and Vision-David Bowie
Fell In Love With a Girl-The White Stripes
Y Control-Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Police & Thieves-The Clash

Running smells like what...

Albuquerque is an ideal training city because of the numerous sunny days and altitude. However, it gets chilly, even cold. Those long cold runs are full of trees without leaves and a burning sensation in your lungs, yet, hark! Spring approaches! I am slowy beginning to breathe in the first smell of spring. It is damp and earthy and pink and white, the same color as the flowers blossoming on the trees. This is my favorite time of year for the smell and the sight coinside wonderously for a runner. Running is mainly a visual sport, but for the few of us who are allergy free, spring means continously sniffing the air from mile one to mile six. The "running smells" are few and far between and most are not as pleasant as spring.

Examples of my personal "running smells":

• Lemon-lime gatorade: smells like thrist, recharge your electrolytes.
• Icey Hott: smells like tempo runs and hills, embrace the pain.
• Outdoor Track in the summer: smells like burning tar.
• Socks after a run: especially in the summer, smells like sweet sweat (only not so sweet).
• A new pair of running shoes: better than a new car scent!
• Chocolate milk: the best long run recovery drink, lactid acid be gone!

Pre Who?

1975 was a good year for Steve Prefontaine. He took hold of the record books placing first
individually in 3 NCAA Cross Country Championships and 4 NCAA Track & Field Championships. He held the record in every event over a mile (2000m, 3000m, 2-mile, 3-mile, 10000m, and 6-mile).

How can one man aged 24 years hold 13 records in one year? He had to win. He quickly became an American favorite and now after his death in the same year of 13 records, he is still an American Running Legend.

Running time example:
4/26/75 10000m (6.25 miles) in 28:09.4 that is approximately 4.4944 minutes per mile for 6 miles.

STOP PRE
The phrase "Go Pre" was popular amoung Pre's fans and quickly became seen on numerous shirts. At the 1972 Olympic Trials, a group of Pre fans made shirts that said "Stop Pre." His competiters wore the shirts warming up and the moment is considered a classic track moment. The gun went off and no one stopped Pre. He grabbed a shirt and ran a victory lap holding it in the air.

Why do runners still look up to Pre? It can be summed up in one quote from him, "To give less than your best is to sacrifice the gift."

Running: Kenya Dig It?

My high school cross country had warm up t-shirts made every season. One season the front of the shirt said "Running..." and the back said "...Kenya Dit It?" It was an inside joke for the team, mainly because outsiders didn't understand. Distance running creates many things that other people just do not grasp, at least not like we do. Of the top ten marathoners in the world, seven are from Kenya.

Why do we run? It is often considered a waste of time and is boring and painful. I most often hear this about distance running: drive, bike, skateboard-don't run. Every runner has different reasons for running, but a mutual respect for it comes from the fact that if you push the human body it will respond. Many runners will push their limits because, in competition or recreation, because the most formidable opponent is yourself.