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Barefoot Josh’s Reading Rainbow

More snow, now rain, still cold, and the groundhog tells us to suck it up because there’s more just like it TK (that’s “to come” in editor-speak). Barefoot Josh reads the blogs so we don’t have to, and rounds up the best of the best—modestly including his own personal snarkfest, of course. Follow him—and very special guests Run-DMC!—over the reading rainbow >>

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New! Monthly MMRC Farris Park Run/Walk

Spring is right around the corner, so it’s time to start marking our calendars for regular group runs/walks! All levels of runners, run/walkers, and walkers are invited. We start together, but everyone goes at their own pace for as much time/distance as they like. Making time for these outings is a great way to keep your fitness plan on track—and meet new workout buddies! Read on for more information >>

Running in the News

• Usain Bolt tops out at 27.3 miles per hour, but he could do better—and so could you. According to Wired:

  “The human frame is built to handle running speeds up to 40 miles per hour, scientists say. The only limiting factor is not how much brute force is required to push off the ground as previously thought, but how fast our muscle fibers can contract to ramp up that force.” Read the rest here >>

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• We MadMayoites love running on the Greensboro Greenway. We’re honored to share the path with Special Olympics athlete Andy the Marathon Man. His dedication to the sport is an inspiration, and the runners who cheer him on are an example of our running community’s good heart. Good running makes for good hearts, and good hearts make for good people.

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• MMRCer Jack has a talent for finding fascinating running stories, like this New York Times article about ultrarunner Diane van Deren’s upcoming speed ascent of Argentina’s Mount Aconcagua, the highest summit in the Western hemisphere at 22,841 feet. While this is an amazing feat in itself, several elements make it even more remarkable.

  Van Deren, profiled by the Times at length last July, formerly used running to stave off grand mal seizures—often running for hours and even overnight. She eventually underwent a lobectomy that removed a kiwi-sized portion of her brain to cure them. Surgery worked as planned, but resulted in a loss of memory and organizational skills—it’s nearly impossible for van Deren to remember where she parked her car, read maps, or follow trail directions, for instance. The upside is that van Deren now finds that she can run without worrying about time and distance. Researchers at Mayo Clinic want to monitor her performance during the expedition to determine if her surgery has actually helped her to be a better runner. To aid in their research, van Deren agreed to do what she had never done before: run on a treadmill. Here’s what they learned about her:

  “Her maximal oxygen uptake, one way to measure fitness level, Johnson said, was about twice the average for a woman her age. She could sustain heart rates of 97 percent of her maximum for long periods. Her lung surface area is about one and a half times the average size. Her muscle efficiency was much better than normal. Her ‘peak aerobic capacity,’ Johnson said, is well above what would be normal for a 20-year-old, never mind someone about to turn 50.”

  Follow the North Face Aconcagua Ultra expedition, which gets underway on Friday, January 22. More updates can be found at the Mayo Clinic blog and via Twitter.

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• Not born to run? These ideas might help:

  Start walking. Get an inexpensive pedometer and count your daily steps—there’s evidence that it can motivate you to walk more. A San Diego State University professor tells the Los Angeles Times, “We don’t know why exactly, but keeping a number, a prompt, in our consciousness on a regular basis is important, and that’s why pedometers are superior to other methods. It’s on you all the time.” Consumerist suggests a few pedometer apps. Shoot for a moderate walking pace of 100 steps per minute—easy to do if you keep time to “Stayin’ Alive”. That’s 1,000 steps in just 10 minutes!

  Run for five minutes, then walk back. The next day, run for six minutes. Day 3, add another minute, etc. It worked for Carrie Luger Slayback—she started running this way 30 years ago. Now 66, she’s run a marathon every year for the past 10 years and finished 10th in her age group in the 2009 New York City Marathon. When you’re starting out, just running a block can be a PR, but trust us, it gets easier!

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• Again, wow. Just wow. From the Asheville Citizen-Times: “Anne Riddle Lundblad … an extreme mountain running phenom, takes the title of the Citizen-Times Western North Carolina Outdoors Athlete of the Decade.”

  Lundblad, 43, entered her first ultra, the Uwharrie 40-miler, in 1999, and tied for first place. Since then, she’s dominated the ultradistance field on the local, national, and world level. 2009 saw some of her biggest accomplishments:

  “In October she won and set the course record in the 24 Hours of Boulder race, running 121 miles in less than 24 hours, stopping only for bathroom breaks. She beat everyone, including the men, and the feat got Lundblad an appearance in a December issue of Sports Illustrated. In June she set the women’s speed record on a team with two friends for the South Beyond 6,000, or SB6K, summiting all 40 peaks over 6,000 feet elevation in WNC, covering 261 miles in 6 days, 13 hours. She is a three-time Mount Mitchell Challenge 40-mile female champion and course record holder and is the 2009 Black Mountain Marathon female champion.”

  In other words, she’s intense—and intensely inspirational. Read the full article here. Then, check out this Lundblad photo gallery.

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