Marshmallows and Marathons

My new job is such that I can turn out good numbers while listening to music, plotting running routes in my head, or finally catching up, after over a year, with podcasts of This American Life and Radiolab.

This morning, one of the Radiolab podcasts was called "Mischel's Marshmallows," and it told the story of a psychological experiment interesting not only in its scope, but its results. I don't want to spoil the story, but in short, this study started with some kids left alone in a room with something tempting like marshmallows, or, more effectively, I would think, Oreos. It tested the ability to delay gratification, a skill that supposedly starts improving at around age four. Where it gets interesting is when they revisited these same kids a decade later, and found dramatic and undoubtedly nonspurious correlations to SAT scores, GPA, and behavior.

So, I'm listening to this, as I hope you will (it's only 15 minutes long), and I was excited because it actually feeds into one of the main reasons I enjoy coaching and feel that running is good for us.

The kids in the experiment all suffered horribly from the temptation of the Oreos. Some kids, though, naturally used strategies to either dissociate or associate from the stimulus - they would distract themselves by making up a song, the boys would sit there and kick the table, or they would mentally put a picture frame around the the yummy, delectable sandwich cookies. These are the kids that did well, then and later in life.

The other kids could be taught tricks to help them delay gratification, and it would help them become "high delayers". Unfortunately, teaching a kid tricks to keep themselves from eating a cookie in a room isn't going to translate to every day, lifelong strategies, right?

In comes running. The doing of running, even showing up to do it, requires discipline, self sacrifice, delayed gratification. I've seen the varieties of those kids in the adults that show up in our group wanting to run a half marathon and marathon, and their success is obviously tied to their discipline and their ability to push themselves into discomfort or inconvenience. But I have alos seen people learn these skills in training. They take little steps, day by day, just getting that day's run in. They are encouraged by their teammates who are doing it with them, and they are boosted by the amazement and approval of their families and friends. Eventually, they find something within them that drives that effort to deny their own comfort and convenience, because they know there's something of value in it.

And while it may be a bit idealistic or megalomanical, I believe that something like running, more than yoga, more than basketball, requires so much repetition and commitment that it really reinforces those better qualities in us, perhaps enough that we carry those same stronger virtues into the rest of our lives. So, really, here's my grand evil plan - I want us to be better runners, but I want us to be even better people.

So, please, listen to the podcast, and give it some thought - what are your strategies for delaying your own gratificaiton, and staying committed? And what is your payoff - why are you doing this? Feel free to comment...

The Nerdy Essay On Hills

Working with the Austin Marathon and Half Marathon, I've heard a lot of whining about the hills on our courses, mostly from wussy flatlanders from places like "Dallas" or "Houston", which are clearly lame, in addition to being flat. I also hear some occasional whining from people about the hills we run on our long runs. In response, I usually challenge them to construct any route longer than seven or eight miles that has no hills, and doesn't involve running back and forth across a parking lot.

The thing is, you're better for running hills, whether your goal race is hilly or not. Arthur Lydiard, arguably the greatest running coach of all time, realized it, ran his runners on crazy hills in New Zealand, and brought hardcore hill training to the coaching world. So, blame him, not me.

Personally, I like hills. Living, biking, and later, running here in Austin, there was no choice, so I decided that if I could be a good hill runner, that would give me an advantage over other people in my quest to join the lower middle of the distance-running pack. Hills can build strength and stamina pretty quickly, and you can do better than a lot of other people simply through proper form and some knowledge.

I should also point out that I am a tremendous geek, and when I'm running, I'm thinking through all this stuff, and how best to try to explain it. So... here ya go.

Running Uphill
It helps to think about the physics of hill running, which starts with some geometry. Think about the geometry of your body in relation to the ground - you've got a triangle formed by: the imaginary line from the top of your head intersecting the ground at a 90 degree angle (side A); the line along the ground from there to your front foot (side B), and the line from that point back to the top of your head, which is the triangle's hypotenuse (side C).

Now, think also about the vector of gravity's pull... on a hill, it's not perpendicular to the ground, right? It's straight to the center of the earth (let's stick with Newtonian physics and ignore more recent modifications of it). Hence the suckiness or coolness of running up, or down, a hill.

Ideally, on a hill, you maintain the same upright, hips under you form as you do when you're on flat ground. Of course, your ability to do that depends on the steepness of the hill.

So, once a hill hits a certain level of steepness, the geometry of our bodies makes it impractical to stay perpendicular to the ground, because you'd fall back on your butt. So, we increase forward lean. This makes Side A, in front of our bodies (top of the head, perpendicular to the ground) shorter, and lengthens the hypotenuse, which is from the top of your head to the foot pushing through the strike behind you. Because of the way our legs bend, and because of the way we're best able to exert force for maximum traction and power, the lean forward makes sense.

The big problem is that most people get their lean by bending at the waist. First of all, as we've talked about on flat ground, this angle between the hips and leg is biomechanically inefficient.

Next, the butt starts falling out behind you, changing your center of gravity, and distorting the geometry of your body. Once that happens, people tend to hunker their shoulders, which is often also a result of people dropping their heads down.

The result - an inefficient, tiring, difficult-to-breathe, and not-attractive running posture. No bueno.

The answer is in your hips, shoulders, and head. Keep your head up - be looking at the next point on the hill that you're aiming for. Keep your shoulders relaxed, but back, allowing a good, unobstructed flow of air. Finally, keep your hips under you. On steeper hills, it helps me to imagine pressing my hips forward into the hill.

Move your arms. Their relation to the body will change on hills - they'll be moving a bit more in front of your shoulders, but still not crossing the front of your body. When your legs are failing a bit, focus on moving the arms, and the legs will follow.

A lot of people just strike with the foot and lift straight up. On hills in particular, they're missing out on a huge bit of strength, just in your foot and calves. So, strike, and roll all the way so that when you're taking off, it's off the front tip of your shoes.

Finally, break the hill into manageable chunks. Find a landmark, and just focus on getting to it, then pick another and get to it. If you try to look up the 8th street alley, or some of the other hills we'll be running, you'll end up trying to find a tree and a bit of rope to hang yourself.

Running Downhill
The general rule is that uphills and headwinds are harder than downhills and tailwinds are easy. But make no mistake, downhills run properly and patiently can give you a good deal of time back. However, they can also wreck your legs in a longer race.

On the downhills, the temptation is to lean back and let gravity carry you. This is actually not good.

Think back to the geometry thing. When you lean back, you feel more in control because the hypotenuse is intersecting the ground at an angle that matches the vector of gravity's pull - in other words, you don't feel like you're going to fall on your face. The problem is, leaning back also stretches that hypotenuse out - to connect with the ground on each stride, your body has to get longer in front of you. To accomplish this, two things usually happen. First, you lengthen the front part of your stride by stretching the leg out, straightening the knee out and striking on your heel. Because you're also shortening side A of your triangle (the imaginary back line), and lengthening side B (the bottom), gravity gets to accelerate you a bit longer on each stride, resulting in higher speed and greater impact.

Bottom line - bad for your knees, ankles, hips, spine... hell, everything. It even makes my teeth hurt.

Meanwhile, if you're also trying to move your feet faster over a longer distance (side B), you might actually be working harder and getting your heart rate higher than when you're on flat ground. Also dumb.

The answer is to run downhill with the same form and angle as you run on flat ground, and uphill. When you do it, you're going to feel like you're falling forward. This is why you want strong quadriceps muscles, and a quicker, but not too quick turnover. This is a matter of just getting the right feel running downhill.

I try to get to a point of turnover where I'm still striking midfoot, but immediately rolling forward and through the strike. There's a split second between the initial strike of the foot, and the point at which your shoes and joints compress, and you get the sudden, sharpest moment of impact. That's what you need to minimize. Rolling forward immediately helps dissipate some of that energy.

The cautionary warning here is that on a long, very hilly course, like the Austin Marathon and Half Marathon, slowing yourself too much will wear out your quads and increase the odds of them cramping up later... So, it can be a fine line.

Everyone wants to bank time running downhill. But even if you're being conservative and patient, you're just gonna pick up some speed. Side B of your triangle (the travel along the ground) is going to naturally lengthen a bit when you factor in that you're still falling downhill a little, making each stride, even at the same cadence, cover a little more ground.

More importantly, managing a downhill gives you a chance to recover. In the Capitol 10K, or the Austin Marathon or Half Marathon, managing the course is everything, and will make or break your day.

So, that's a lot to absorb, I know. The point here is to think about the physics and form involved in running hills. Stay conscious of them, remember the few rules about form, keep working on building strength and stamina, and you'll be kicking butt on the hills in no time.

Running Log

For three years, I have recycled a mention of Running Log, the great Native American track and field star. I still haven't written that legend out, though.

Instead, this is about the importance of logging your runs and workouts and what-not.

I really recommend that you keep track of your running. Most obviously, it helps you develop a picture of how often you're running, and what kind of mileage you're putting in every week. Most people think it'll make them feel bad when they miss a workout - actually, that's not a bad thing. But it will also give you an appreciation for how much you're doing. When you miss a workout, but you still see that you ran six or nine or (eventually) 20 miles that week, it can prevent that Stuart Smalley shame spiral where you decide it's all hopeless, and you go grab the peanut butter, a jar of Bonne Maman strawberry preserves, and the largest spoon that will fit in the mouths of both jars, and go to town, washing it down with successive Lone Star tallboys, the tinge of aluminum made slightly salty by your own tears.

It happens. Or so I hear.

So, check out the training log. It's fun to do, and you can also track your other activities, like yoga, cycling, swimming, and your weekly pickup jai-alai games. It'll also track your vitals, like your weight.

A training log is also good because it helps you track the mileage on your running shoes, which we call "tennis" or "tenny" shoes in Texas, but which the British, apparently being masters of the obvious and explicit, call "runners."

Now, if you'll look to the left over there, you'll see a link for the Nikerunning website, which contains a free training log. There have long been rumors that they were going to discontinue the site, but it hasn't happened yet. It also uses Flash, and won't work on some mobile devices. So... that kind of sucks. I just haven't been entirely thrilled about any other log application that I've seen. Many of them don't track shoes, or allow you to enter other types of workouts. So, for now, I keep using the Nike one.

If you find something you like much better, let me know. In the meantime, make sure you do something to keep track of what you're doing - I think you'll be pretty pleased with the results.

Ditch the Headphones

I love music. I love music far more than running, truth be told, which, in summers like this one, isn't hard. And, I am big on wanting to block things out in certain situations - in grad school, I took almost all my exams with headphones on, back in the days when even recordable CD's were not commonplace. The one time I was asked to remove the headphones, I was lost, and couldn't focus. Having not gone to that class at all may have also figured into the negative experience, but I really felt I was better off writing about immigration law with Tanya Donnelly's sweet voice in my head.

In 2007, USA Track and Field made personal music devices verboten at sanctioned events. The Austin Marathon and Half Marathon, as required, banned headphone use in 2008. Prior to that, lacking an enforcement mechanism, the marathon went with just strongly discouraging their use.

Many large marathons, including the Marine Corps Marathon, immediately, and probably eagerly, complied. The Twin Cities Marathon warned people headphones were banned, but people ignored the warnings, or perhaps couldn't hear them over the Justin Timberlake rattling in their skulls, and 176 runners were disqualified. It was not enforced in Austin, and headphone use in races is increasing exponentially.

The flap from the average headphone-wearing runner crowd pushed the USATF to reconsider, and within a year, they backed off, largely due to the incessant whinging (not a typo, Cindy) from people who want to say they can run a half marathon or marathon, but claim they can't do it without their headphones.

Shortly thereafter, the Austin Marathon reluctantly announced that it changed its headphone policy in accordance with the caving of the USATF, even though they've seen, time and time again, in every race, the high frequency of irresponsible headphone use and the problems it causes, but they probably just got tired of the complaints from people who probably went on to organize and be the loudest people at Tea Parties. The amount of whining they'd gotten at the marathon office about the headphone ban has quite frankly been pathetic, and has included ridiculous arguments about blind or deaf runners, claims about "big government", and many people saying they are disgusted and will just run some other race, to which I personally say, "good riddance, break a leg."

In large part, the USATF enacted the rule to conform to the policy of the International Association of Athletics Federations, which is mainly concerned with the use of two-way radios in competition.

For most races, though, the main issue is safety. I can't think of the last race where I didn't see a number of examples of people being completely oblivious to their surroundings because they were wearing headphones. I've seen people not able to hear the sirens of support vehicles passing them, a half marathoner in Dallas not able to hear the large, honking Hummer pace vehicle behind her or the runners around her yelling at her to move so the elite marathoners could pass, or the shouts of "wheelchair up" when a wheelchair racer needs to be able to pass. We've all seen that when moving through a not-too-thick crowd, a runner will usually hear you come up and often move over just a little to help you pass through a tight spot. Runners with headphones tend to be in their own little world, though.

One year, at the Turkey Trot, Michelle from Conley Sports (the folks who put on the Austin Marathon) was blowing past me just as I was trying to say hi to someone I knew. He was wearing headphones. I called his name from about 20 feet away. Nothing. I got closer, at one point just about five feet behind him, and yelled his name. Nothing.

This year, at the Zooma Half Marathon, we had a major problem with the turnaround. I hopped on the back of the course manager's Harley (please... don't picture it, we had no choice), and he took me down to the turnaround point. On the way, I shouted instructions, mainly to blank stares from the runners, almost half of which seemed to be wearing headphones. One woman was running up a hill with her head down (a problem in and of itself), and couldn't hear the large hog approaching her, or the yelling from us or the other runners, until she almost ran right into us.

I also believe (pause for effect) that headphones have a deleterious effect on running form. Yeah, that's right. I'm tempted to submit an article on "iPod Assymetry Syndrome" and submit it to a medical journal, except that I'm lazy.

I first started thinking about this while watching an avid marathoner I know that would wear her iPod on her right arm. She also wore her long hair in a ponytail, and many times, running behind her, I could see the ponytail didn't swing evenly. You could trace the asymmetry to her shoulders, and to... the arm with the iPod strapped to it. From there, you could even see the slight imbalance in her stride. She even had some issues in the leg that ended up getting the shortened stride, which could be due to any number of factors... but you had to wonder.

I know when I run with an iPod on my arm, it's easy to get caught up in cord management (pardon the pun). Watch runners, and most of them carry their music-bearing arm differently. I've already seen some of you compromising your running form to accomodate your headphones.

As we've all figured out by now, the high repetition of the motions of running means that imbalances and eccentricities have consequences, and will likely be mirrored elsewhere. Everyone should, by now, be feeling and seeing the link between the way you move your arms, and your stride.

When you shorten the travel of one arm, it's likely to play out in the stride, because you're essentially throwing yourself out of balance. There's also the added tension in the shoulder from carrying that arm out slightly. Over any appreciable distance, it all translates to "no bueno."

When I do take the iPod on a training run, I use a little Shuffle and attach it to my waistband - it doesn't move through a range of motion, so the cord stays stable. Even then, I make the the cord short enough or run it through my shirt so that I don't have to move the arm on that side any differently to clear it.

Finally, and most importantly to me, I don't want to race or even train much with music, because it's a crutch, even a cheat. Clearly, we want to run with music because it benefits us - it keeps us from getting bored, it motivates us. There's a reason the Nike+ iPod system has a "Power Song" feature. Hell, I want to add a Nano to my ridiculously complete Apple audio product lineup just so I can push the button and immediately go to AC/DC's "Hell's Bells".

One whin- sorry, "runner", in one article said, "I need my music to get me through it. A marathon is a mental challenge and if I don't have my music to keep me motivated, it just isn't fun."

Well, guess what? Remember that we do this precisely because it is not "easy", and it is not "fun" in the same way as, say, Whack-A-Mole, or taunting Aggies. You've all learned or will learn how important the mental component of distance running is. The thing is, we're not all running to challenge the winning time in a race - we all run to challenge our own limits and abilities, and that's ultimately a mental challenge of your ability to deal with discomfort and pain, and to continue to push yourself. Whether you are physically capable of running a 2:20, three-hour, four-hour, or five-plus hour marathon, it all comes down to your ability to push yourself, not just physically, but primarily mentally.

If you say you get bored, or need the distraction, and music helps you, then that music is a crutch. The mind is a powerful thing - I completely believe I could run a faster race at almost any distance with the "Rocky" theme pounding through my head every step of the way. I'll do some of my short runs with music, but I don't wear headphones for long runs or races, exactly because music is such an effective crutch.

That state of being alone in your head, is one of the difficult, but essential, parts of distance running. The challenge is not just to move your body over the distance, but to move your mind and your will over that distance. Can you keep your mental focus over the miles, and over the time you need to complete those miles? Music can help you dissociate, which is a perfectly acceptable method of dealing with pain and boredom. But again, it's external, it's not a skill or a layer of toughness you've developed. You're just taking it away. You might as well be racing on painkillers, or high. Numb your mind with headphones, and you have failed to accomplish an essential component of the challenge. If you can't live with your own mind for the distance you're running, then you can't really claim to do the distance.

Music is a crutch. It's a cheat. I want you to be able to depend on yourself to get through the race.

There are going to be helpful distractions out on the race course. We've got 40 bands on and around the marathon course, far more than the "Rock 'n' Roll" marathons in San Antonio and elsewhere. There'll be great crowd support, you'll have friends out there running with you, and, if you're not wearing headphones, you'll be surprised by how many people you'll talk to on the way. Every year, I see and chat with Steve Boone, this older guy with long, stringy grey hair. He's run every Austin Marathon, and runs over fifty marathons a year (in 2009, he ran Austin the day after running one in California). He doesn't run with headphones. But all those things are part of the race experience itself, not something extra and unnecessary you bring into the race to help you get through.

I'd hate to think of what I'd have missed wearing headphones in races: the little kids in Chicago's Mexican district yelling, "Si, se puede!"; my friend Tom telling me about his kids, including the newborn son that didn't make it, as we plodded through 20 miles; or the company of good friends for our first half marathon. Those were all hard races, and maybe headphones would have helped. But I wouldn't have the experiences and memories that made running those races meaningful.

Use your headphones on your solo runs, and let it help drive you. Let some music or podcasts, or whatever noise you need help you get those weekday runs in. Listen to some relaxing music the night before the race. Crank the tunes up in your car on the way to the race, and get pumped.

But don't use headphones in races. And, if you make that commitment, don't wear them for your long runs - that's where you're going to need to develop the mental toughness that will get you through your goal race.

In the end, it's about safety, and it's about not selling yourself short, not cheapening all the work you're putting in to this. Don't fail to truly meet the challenge you signed up for and are training for. Don't miss the very real support and inspiration that your teammates and the race itself is going to offer you. Leave the headphones at home.

Hard. Core. Good.

I know, I know - as if the running and the yelling and flogging weren't enough, I'm making you do core training. WTF?

• Core training helps keep the pelvis aligned. A misaligned pelvis leads to injury as far down as the Achilles, and up into the lower back.


• The stronger your core, the more solid you remain on strike, reducing the need for unnecessary stabilization, allowing you to be a more economical runner.


• Glistening abs, just like in those Shake Weight commercials (one Spiridoner owns Shake Weights. Let the speculation begin).

So, we're going to do these every week after our workouts. You're gonna be a machine. Rest for 15 seconds before moving to the next exercise. After completing the whole circuit (also known as a "superset"), take a three-minute break, and repeat the entire series. Try to do this routine three times a week.

Bicycle 60 seconds total

• Lay on back
• Place hand beneath small of back. Your low back should not lift off of your hand nor should it push down into your hand.
• Knees and hips bent 90 degrees.
• Slowly bring your left foot down towards the ground while you keep your left knee bent. When your left foot is approximately one inch off the ground, stop and hold this position for 2 seconds before bringing your left leg back to the starting position. Repeat with your right leg.

To make the exercise more difficult straighten your left leg as you bring your foot towards the ground and hold your leg approximately four inches off of the ground before bringing your leg back to the starting position.

Plank (prone core stabilization)

60 seconds total

• Up on knees and forearms, or toes and forearms
• Keep a flat back, don’t let hips sag
• Lift left leg four inches, hold for two-count. Repeat with right.

Bridge

60 seconds total

• Start on back with arms laid back above head and weight balanced on shoulders and heels. Knees at 90 degrees.
• Straighten right knee. Hold this position for two seconds and then switch legs.

Side plank (side-lying core stabilization)

30 seconds on each side

• Start on knee and elbow, or side of foot and straight-arm it, if you’re a bad-ass.
• Lazy arm on side, or straight out, if you want to look like cool.
• Keep straight
• Maintain a posterior pelvic tilt by pushing the bottom of your pelvis forward and the top of your pelvis back.

Fire hydrant

Hold each pose for four seconds, run through sequence three to five times with each leg

• Start on your hands and knees.
• A. Maintaining the 90-degree angle of your left knee, lift your left leg until the thigh is parallel with your upper body, without arching your low back. All the movement should come from your hip. Hold for 4 seconds, and then lower.
• B. Repeat the same motion, but continue it by adducting the knee and thigh as far to the left as possible (like a boy dog at a fire hydrant). Hold for 4 seconds.
• Repeat A and B, but press the knee and thigh as far as possible to the right, crossing over your body's midline. Hold for 4 seconds.
• Movement in all three directions constitutes one rep.
• For added difficulty, lift your opposite arm off the ground.
• Repeat with the right leg.

Supine stabilizer

• Lie on your back with your legs fully extended.
• With your elbows under your shoulders, lift your entire body onto your forearms and heels.
• Keep your legs, hips, and back as straight as possible.
• While maintaining this position, lift your left leg four inches off the floor. Hold for four seconds, then repeat with your right leg.
• Repeat both sequences three to five times.

Push-ups

Ten to 20

• Feet hip-width apart
• Toes into ground, not flexed
• Hands slightly wider than shoulders
• Tighten your quads, glutes, and abs
• Push up
• Toes stay pointed!

Too hard?

• Curl legs up from knees
• Do the negatives – use your knees to press up, then get on your toes, and lower yourself down.

You're Going Out In That? - What (Not) To Wear

So, here's a fundamental issue that a lot of us take for granted: what to wear when we run. Running is a wonderfully simple sport, requiring very little "stuff", but it's still critically important to your running, your fun, and your health to have the appropriate "stuff".

Better Running Naked Than Barefoot
Clearly, most of it comes down to shoes. Shorts might ride up, you might chafe, that sportsbra may... do whatever bad sportsbras do. But if you have the wrong shoes, things can hurt, and you can end up with any number of long-lasting problems. A slightly wrong shoe, even if it's worked for you for years of occasional three-mile runs, can derail your training with injury. Go to a proper running store. This will be the most important thing you spend money on.

There are quite a few variables involved in running shoes. There's your pronation - whether you pronate naturally, overpronate or supinate. These generally relate to the height of your arch - flatfooted people like me tend to overpronate, people with really high arches are more likely to supinate. Accordingly, there are three broad categories of running shoes: neutral-cushioned for the natural pronators; motion control for the overpronators, and stability shoes for the supinators.

Most of these specific structures are accomplished with the use of different density foams in the sole of the shoe, arch supports, and rigid structures in the sole. Then there are variables of cushioning in general. I have flat, wide feet, and finding shoes has been a pretty frustrating process, quite frankly, even with really good people helping. I need a wide shoe with enough support to keep my foot moving properly, and being a bit larger than those stick-people runners, I need a good deal of cushioning, or I will literally feel the impact in my teeth and skull, which can't be a good thing.

So, most people want to steer me towards motion control shoes, which use denser (and therefore heavier and stiffer) foams, and more rigid (and therefore heavier and stiffer) structures. And I hate every motion-control shoe I've ever tried. The cushioning in the heel and forefoot might be great, but those rigid structures tend to be right under where most of my foot strike occurs, so I get the teeth-and-skull jarring ride.

The point is, you need knowledgeable help to identify your needs, narrow the options, and minimize the potentially expensive and frustrating trial-error quest for footwear. You want to know how to download Lady GaGa ringtones? Chip at Foot Locker is your guy. Otherwise, for running shoes, go to a proper running store, where they will take a look at your gait and other factors, and give you guidance on the kind of shoe you need. Your proper running stores in Austin:

• Hill Country Running Co. - This is a great store, with very knowledgeable and conscientious people. We get a 10% discount there.

• Bettysport - We get a 15% discount here. They're a great store, and have been a strong supporter of ours from the start. They are obviously more for the lllllaaadies, but they also have some equipment (bottles, Bodyglide, etc.), and can order shoes for men, if you already know what you need/want.

• RunTex - RunTex was once the only game in town. They're still here, and they're happy to give us a 15% discount.

• Texas Running Company - I visited these guys this week, and was very impressed. For one thing, they have Mac Allen, one of the best coaches in Austin, working there. He used to work at another local store, and was one of the main people I trusted my runners to go see there. They're also very excited about being involved in the community, even though they're a chain what ain't from 'round here. They won't have an ongoing discount for us, but we will have an event there during which we'll get a 15% discount.

I'm still waiting on a response from Rogue Equipment about a discount there. Luke's Locker is also opening a store, in the Gables building at 6th and Lamar, in a matter of weeks. One of my old coaches will be managing it, so I'll be working to wrangle us some love there, too.

Socks, the Forgotten Clinton
Yeah, Hillary, what have you done with Socks?

While we're waiting for an answer, you should be experimenting with socks. Some people can run in thick, cushioned cotton socks. I sweat too much on a long run. When socks get soaked, your skin gets soaked and softens, and the friction actually seems to increase, as well. All this results in blisters. So, I use thinner socks that won't hold as much sweat. Sock thickness also obviously affects how your shoes fit, so be careful with that.

I'll also add that you may want to be careful about how tight your socks are. Yeah, it sounds crazy, but when they're too tight on the toes, they can contribute to the dreaded Black Toenail of Death (BTOD), which, like the Windows Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) and the Xbox 360's Red Ring of Death (RROD), is really annoying and potentially embarassing. Eventually, the toenail will fall off, leaving a weirdly mutated little... toenail deposit sort of thing. I have two medical journal articles waiting for me to write them - one on "iPod Arm", and the other on Sock Creep Syndrome.

But, really, please don't run naked. Running naked is not Good Naked.
The tech fabrics, like Nike's Dri-Fit, Adidas' Clima-Fit, and the generically licensed CoolMax, are not just hype - they work. They wick perspiration from your skin, and speed evaporation, keeping you cooler, and certainly keeping you lighter. If you're able to run in this heat in a cotton t-shirt, and it's not 10 pounds of sweaty fiber in 10 minutes, you're clearly dehydrated and about to die.

But not all are created equal. Some cheap "tech fabrics" are just pointless polyester, and seem to get just as soaked as anything else. Even within a brand and fabric, there's variation - some DriFit stuff is outstanding for hot conditions, some of it is thicker and warmer. Keeping it thin seems to help, obviously - moisture will evaporate out rather than get locked in the fibers. Some of the fabrics have dimples (like Brooks stuff), some have a sort of waffle texture (like Nike Sphere), that increase the surface area for evaporation.

You want to be mindful of seams - start running four or more miles, and they can chafe.

For shorts, I do recommend using shorts made for running. The fabric is lighter and less restrictive, the seams should minimize chafing, and you can get them in varying lengths. The length is important, depending on your body. If your inner thighs tend to touch, I'd go with longer shorts - they're less likely to ride up on you. This is just personal preference, though.

For women, Bettysport is a great, locally-owned athletic clothing store, carrying everything from the basics to the more expensive but extra-hip Stella McCartney Adidas line. For women needing help with sportsbras... sorry, I'm not your guy, but I'm told that Bettysport is where you should go.

While I prefer to shop local, and it's not a place to go get fitted for shoes, I do have to say that for a lot of clothing, Academy is pretty darned good.

Other considerations

Headgear - it's a toss-up. A white cap is probably better than a dark head of hair on a hot sunny day. With my only partially-haired head, I worry about the sun, as we all should, but a hat is hotter than going without. A hat can be useful in the rain to keep the water out of your eyes.

Bodyglide - Is your friend, one that you are likely to take for granted, but whose absence will make you weep when you're walking like John Wayne, and not in a cool, macho way, but in a slightly whimpering way because your thighs are chafed raw.

Band Aids and nipple guards - Clearly, Janet Jackson was contemplating running some major distance... But guys, and even some girls, will start chafing in three-four miles, depending on how you sweat, how your shirt or bra fits, and how abrasive the fabric of that shirt or bra is. For girls, it's probably an indication that your sportsbra isn't fitting right. For guys - you'll see people at races with blood running down their white shirts. Nipple guards seem like overkill, and most adhesive bandages fail when they get wet, but Band-Aid's Clear Water Block Plus bandages are perfect (well, for guys, anyway), and won't come off. After my first marathon, I came home and crawled in bed. I didn't take a shower until the next day, and I still had to rip the Band-Aids off, after the shower.

A watch - You need to have the discipline and perspective not to be a slave to timing, but it's good to be able to keep track of your pace. All you really need is something with a stopwatch function, preferably that will track lap (keeping time for each segment of a run) and/or splits (accumulated time at each waypoint of a run). Some watches have heart monitors, but as I've said, I'm not a believer in them. There are also the cool Garmin GPS things, but I think that's more just a matter of gadget appeal for most people.

Everyone talks about how cheap running is. Well, it's cheaper than, say, the biathlon. And it is pretty darned cheap, once you get past the shoes. But don't skimp on the shoes, and get clothes that are going to work for you, or running can quickly become significantly less fun...

The Stretchy Question

So, file this New York Times Magazine piece with the earth-shaking exposes that leave you thinking... "meh". However, it's good food for thought, and a good springboard for a quick discussion of stretching.

The article cites a study by USA Track and Field, and I'll bottom-line it for you: static stretching (holding a position for a period of time) before running doesn't seem to have an impact on the incidence of injury. Over three months, 16% of the stretchy group had an injury that sidelined them for at least a week, and 16% of the group that stood around and chatted instead of stretching before runs had similar levels of injuries.

This doesn't change, well, anything for us. I generally don't stretch before a run, and I never ask you to, unless for some reason I'm really tight, or I'm about to run really fast (which almost never happens, anyway). Basketball players stretch because they are going to be using bursts of speed and need to be sure the muscles are warm and flexible, especially playing in a chilly arena.

But as local physical therapist Alan Besselink once pointed out, if you're running in Texas, especially in August, you're pretty much warm when you step out of your car.

What I'm pretty sure everyone is still in favor of is stretching after your runs, and I think most runners can attest from personal experience that it makes a difference. Periods where I have been at least marginally diligent about stretching, my running improved (don't care about speed? Then, read that as, "got a lot easier."). The chronic tightness in my hamstrings that has, well, hamstrung my running for the last couple of years is entirely a matter of not stretching well after runs.

If nothing else, make sure you stretch your hamstrings, quads, and calves after all your runs. If you can through in your IT band and, um, groinular area, that is even better. And, because we invariably leave the run, go sit crunched-up in a car, then crunched-up at a desk or on the couch, stretch again two to three hours later.

We will work this season to do more dynamic, rather than static, stretching, but get in the habit now. And, if you're around or talking to me after I've run with you, feel free to order me to stretch, too...