EverymanTri.com

Video: Nike launches new ultralight running shoe for 2012 Olympics

Nike this week launched a new running shoe for the 2012 Olympics that weighs a mere 160g (5.6 ounces) for a size 9.

That's very light and in fact 19% lighter than the "Nike Zoom Streak 3, a shoe worn by first, second and third place athletes in the men’s marathon at the 2011 World Championships," according to Nike.

The new shoe technology called Nike Flyknit, uses "yarns and fabric variations are precisely engineered only where they are needed for a featherweight, formfitting and virtually seamless upper," says Nike

JZ's Race Report: 2012 Cross Country Nations

Dear USA Track and Field:

Let me start off by saying how much I appreciate your continued support of Masters running (although something has to be done about the age-grading crap). Staging championship events at multiple disciplines allows for competitive fields all year round and gives people an opportunity to excel at their best/favorite events. Particularly, placing the Masters cross country championships in conjunction with the Open and Junior championships, provides a full day of fun for racers and spectators.

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the Cross Country championships in St. Louis. Kudos to the organizing committee, they staged an excellent race.

The host hotel was convenient to the race site. The staff was accommodating. We really enjoyed the free breakfast.

I realize the weather is beyond the control of mere humans, but… It was deplorable! When I woke up race morning and walked outside, I saw that it snowed over night.

Photo of the Day: Chrissie Wellington takes 3rd place in annual run up the Empire State Building race

It all started with this tweet from 4X Ironman World Champion Chrissie Wellington:

"@LivedThroughIt totally impulse. i entered 4 hours before! never raced up stairs in my life!"

and this tweet:

"I am trying to run up every escalator i find. Just for stair running practice!"

It ended with a third place podium finish for Wellington at the top of the annual run up the Empire State Building race in New York.

First time is a charm as first timer marathon wins 16th annual Surf City USA Marathon

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. – Paul Sarris, age 34 of Aliso Viejo, won the 16th annual Surf City USA Marathon in a time of 2:30:07.  Competing in his first-ever marathon, Sarris finished more than seven minutes ahead of runner up Gray Augustus (age 26 from Ammon, ID).  “Surf City was a great event,” said Sarris.  The volunteers were everywhere and very helpful.  The whole experience was amazing.”

California’s largest combined oceanfront marathon and half-marathon featured more than 20,000 pre-registered runners from all 50 states and 18 foreign countries.  A crowd of more than 50,000 lined Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach for near-perfect racing conditions.  An additional 50,000 spectators attended the Active Lifestyle Expo on Saturday.

Video: SH@# Ultrarunners say....

You might think that the SH@# Ultrarunners say wouldn't be much different from the SH@# triathlete say, but you'd be very wrong.

Thanks to Dax Ross who sent us this video and wrote, "I'm a long-time reader of your blog and I'd love to share this video with your readers. I know it's an old meme, but there was a glaring absence of a running-related video."

OK swimmers, now it's your turn. We still of course need to know what SH@# Swimmers say....

Follow on twitter @everymantri or view latest videos on YouTube.

Ever wonder what it is like to run in zero gravity? We find out

In running circles, the Alter G treadmill is all the rage. Differential air pressure allows a person to run at various percentages of their body weight all the way down to 20% of full body weight. What a revolutionary idea, and the implications for rehab and recovery are endless. According to the Alter G website, their treadmill is, “a highly effective athletic conditioning tool for both recreational and competitive athletes by allowing the user to train longer, run faster, gain additional strength, and enhance cardiovascular performance while minimizing impact and stress on their joints.” And I thought it was just a cool toy.

A few short months ago, Boulder had nary an Alter G. It was an extravagance normally reserved for professional sports team, the Olympic Training Center and elite running groups. Now, Boulder boasts three of these monstrous machines.

Tebowing didn't help me or Tebow on Saturday: Joanna Zeiger's Olympic Marathon Trials travails

I think one of the reasons I am so strong mentally is because I can be so fragile physically. Most of my races have been fought with some kind of ailment: asthma, injury, GI distress, dizziness. It has been a rare occasion for me to race with a blank slate, the only concerns being what the day throws at me. Sunday was not a blank slate. My legs felt heavy from the start. My rib injury ached. The aid stations were too far apart. But, I was able to push through and run my goal pace. The discomfort was made easier by the enthusiasm of the huge crowds lining the streets. It was electric. I could not believe how many times I heard my name called, it was inspiring to know I had so many supporters out there.

Ok, so you know how your car has a check engine light that goes on before your car blows up? A warning signal to tell you, get the hell out right now, bad things are about to happen. My body does not have a check engine light. It blows up before I have a chance to make other plans. Out of nowhere, at mile 17, I started to vomit. For the next 2 miles, I continued to run/walk as I alternated between vomiting and dry heaving. That was all fine; I was prepared to run through it.

Meb Keflezighi and Shalane Flanagan win U.S. Olympic marathon trials

Meb Keflezighi, the 2004 Olympic silver medalist, out distanced and our ran race favorite Ryan Hall, in the last two miles in Houston today to win the U.S. Olympic marathon trials in a personal best time of 2:09:08.

"To be on my third Olympic team is all I have dreamed about," the 36-year-old Keflezighi said after the race.

Ryan Hall, who finished the race in second place in a time of 2:09:30, was only 22 seconds behind Keflezighi.

Rounding out the men's podium was three-time 10,000 meter Olympic champion Abdi Abdirahman, who grabbed the final U.S. Olympic Marathon spot in a time of 2:09:47.

Video: Running Film that inspire greatness before this weekend's Olympic Marathon Trials

Editor's Note: With the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials coming up this weekend in Texas our friend, (Rick Simpson) sent us a this running movie link that he though we might like. One of his suggestions is....

The Long Green Line -- a film on High School Cross Country Running

Check it out below.

Marathon runners don't face greater risk of Cardiac Arrest new study finds

If you've been reading EMT, you know that we've been reporting on what seems like a growing trend of marathon deaths due to Cardiac Arrest. But if you are a marathon runner...fear not.

A new and massive study just published in the New England Journal of Medicine finds that marathon running is safe, in fact it is much safer than racing a triathlon...at least when it comes to the chance of sudden Cardiac Arrest.

Researchers looked at nearly 11 million runners who ran half and full marathons between 2000 and 2010.

After analyzing the data they concluded that only 42 of the 59 people who died during the race had suffered a cardiac arrest which translates to 1 death per 259,000 runners.

Careless slip ends women's 33-year running streak

Spare a thought for Julie Maxwell of Kasson, Minnesota who after 33 1/2 years (or 21,212 days of straight running) fell and broke two bones in her right ankle bringing to an end the longest running streak of any female in the USA...and probably the world.

According to TwinCities.com

Maxwell, an assistant public defender with the Third Judicial District, said she started running every day in the middle of the summer of 1978 when she was working as a high school teacher in Faribault.

"I think by the end of the summer, I felt, 'Hey, I kind of like this,' " she said.

When the 2012 Olympics are much more than just a dream

The 2012 marathon Olympic trials in Houston are a mere few days away. I thought this would be a good time to address a question my good friend Lara raised to me over the summer, “What do the Olympic trials mean to you?”

Each Olympic trials event has offered me an opportunity to compete against America’s best. Not even a National championship garners such a competitive field. I have borne witness to the nervous excitement of my fellow competitors, relished the undertones of “it could possibly be me making the team”. I have seen (and been) the walking wounded. Everyone is there riding on the coattails of hard work, heart ache, and supreme dedication.

The Olympic trials are a spectacle, qualifying is an honor, competing is exhilarating. Like any sporting event, there are pre-race predictions, athletes are hyped, and experts pontificate on how the races will unfold. The beauty of sport, and the reason why races are contested, is that nobody has a crystal ball and ultimately surprises happen on the big day. I love being a part of all of that.

New York City Marathon ups race entry by 39 percent for 2012

Once upon a time you could run a big city marathon for under $100 for the race entry.

Of course those days are long gone.

The most recent example of this trend is the New York City Marathon which recently announced that it was increase the race entry by 39 percent from $169 to $255.

How to recover from a marathon and still qualify for the Olympics

I read something this morning that jolted me. The marathon Olympic Trials are in two weeks. That is really soon. When I signed up for California International Marathon, I knew the turnaround time until the trials would be short, but seeing it on paper like that was disconcerting. I have no illusions that I might make the Olympics; unless of course, all the top contenders don't show up. But, I would like to have a race within the bigger race. A race amongst the middle of the packers looking to improve their times, have a respectable day out and be a part of history.

I have no idea, really, how long it takes to recover from a marathon. Every person needs a different amount of recovery from a race, and even within individuals recovery will vary depending on how the race unfolded. Finishing a race in which you cramped badly will garner a longer recovery than a race that went smoothly. My calves seized up at the end of CIM and not surprisingly these are the muscles that have been slowest to bounce back.

Getting older doesn't have to mean getting slower...at least not as far as your lungs are concerned

A new study recently published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research has come to a surprise conclusion.

A person's lungs and muscles are just as efficient using oxygen when they are old as when they are young. Researchers studied both older and younger elite runners as they ran and measured their use of oxygen.

“It was quite a surprise,” said Timothy Quinn, a professor of exercise science at the University of New Hampshire and lead author of the study. “Economical runners perform better than less-economical runners. And contrary to our expectations, economy did not decline with age.”

Shalane Flanagan runs fasts 2011 half-marathon for American on home soil in Florida

Miami Beach, FL. - (December 11, 2011) - Olympic bronze medalist Shalane Flanagan ran 1 hour, 9 minutes and 58 seconds to set a new Florida state record and clocked the fastest women's half-marathon time in 2011 for an American under warm, breezy conditions at the inaugural Dodge Latin Music Miami Beach Half Marathon benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
 
Flanagan, 30, the bronze medalist at the 2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, came to Miami Beach with her Oregon track club teammates to prepare for next month's U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston. With no regard for the competition or the conditions, Flanagan ran a 5:05 opening mile to distance herself from the rest of the field, eventually finishing fourth overall.
 
“We are still doing a lot of work. This was a turning point towards the peak of my marathon training and we are heading in the right direction. I'm going to take a confidence boost from this experience today. I'm excited to get out there and run the full thing,” said Flanagan, looking toward next month’s marathon trials. “This is my first race in Miami and there was a lot of flavor and excitement. It was a nice break from Oregon to come down and get some sunshine, enjoy the music and get some running in.”