Minute 1: Running marathons and saving lives
Earlier this week, we reported on the wackiest story to emerge from Sunday’s TCS NYC Marathon: a raging controversy over a Mile 16 marriage proposal. Today we can report a much happier tale that feels less like an election year debate. Coming over the Queensboro Bridge, a doctor running his 25th NYC Marathon came upon a woman screaming for help. Her friend had just collapsed and she was foaming at the mouth without a pulse. Dr. Theodore Strange immediately began CPR and helped administer a defibrillator. The woman’s heart started beating again and Dr. Strange continued to the finish line, albeit about an hour slower than his typical time. The full accountcontains all the harrowing details.
#HeartRateTraining
Minute 2: Running a marathon behind bars
Most marathons are run in front of adoring crowds of friends, family and partiers. The San Quentin marathon, however, attracts only suspicious prison guards and members of rival gangs. The race is produced every year and requires the inmates to complete 105 laps around the prison yard to earn their 26.2 sticker (or ball point pen tattoo???). USA Today just profiled the prison event which typically has 20 finishers – most of whom are serving life sentences. The course record holder, Markelle Taylor, has run a 3:16 which is almost good enough to qualify for Boston. The back stories and photos in the USA Today piece are fascinating. The story reminds us of an Emmy Award winning movie from the ‘70s called Jericho Mile.
#210LeftTurns
Minute 3: Athlete gift ideas
It’s beginning to look a lot like…Cyber Monday. We admit that most of our holiday shopping outings wind up including a little something for the shopper as well as the shoppee. That’s why we like these two new gift guides crammed with good ideas for the outdoor and endurance athletes in our lives. The Outside Magazine list of 26 gift ideas under $50 is a good place to start. The Runner’s World list of 15 gift ideas might strain your credit card a little more, but there are some good ones on their recommendation sheet.
#RunUpABill
Minute 4: A trail run a day keeps the doctor away
We are big fans of trail running, mostly because our dog gets to trot along with us, leash-free. (BTW, we just double-tapped this new Instagram collection of 4-legged trail-runners.) Our love for the trails grew a little stronger this week, when we read this new article explaining the 3 main benefits of trail running. Who knew that running in the woods has been proven to reduce illness?
#rootsrock
Minute 5: Quick intervals
- So you’d like to run the 2019 NYC Marathon, but you feel as if you’d have a better chance winning the Megabucks lottery? Self magazine just published a helpful guide with 4 ways to get into the 2019 marathon. The odds of getting in through the lottery are less than 15%, but there’s still hope. One course to the starting line that many people forget about is by running a qualifying time at a half marathon, instead of a full marathon. Sure you have to be pretty speedy (40-year-old women need a 1:37 half to qualify), but you don’t have to train for and run a full marathon to meet the standard.
- Under Armour is trying to clean up its towel-snapping culture with a new proclamation this week: you can no longer swipe your corporate card at strip bars. The Wall St. Journal reported on other shenanigans at the company which included stocking corporate VIP parties with only the best looking women at the company, gambling and hooking up with female subordinates.
- Did you ever wonder how astronauts stay in shape during months-long missions without full gravity? (Even if you never wondered that, would you like to know anyway?) The Washington Post just published a story that explains how to maintain muscle tone and heart rate when even a child bench press 400 pounds inside a space station. Astronauts are required to work out 2 hours per day. One woman even ran a virtual Boston Marathon thanks to a special harness that kept her tethered to a treadmill.
Minute 6: Daily Inspiration
Many of you share our love of skiing and snowboarding. And yup, there’s snow in the Rockies right now. Even if you don’t love the “white room” as much as we do, this video will still amaze you. We guarantee you will mutter at least one “WTF” when you watch this 11-year-old boy huck himself off cliffs and shred the pow of Jackson Hole. His mantra is: “How far can I push it and not make my mom scared?” Sorry, kid, but I think you broke your own rule about a dozen times in this clip.
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