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version seven. http://demongin.org |
Long Distance Runner
Observations pertaining to athleticism in general and distance running in particular.
Saturday, 2008-09-20 | Athleticism
| And of course it is connected with the political ideal that men should be equally treated. You then make a stealthy transition in their minds from this political ideal to a factual belief that all men are equal. |
1.) Too much water is a bad thing. It's an athletic common place that cramps come from a lack of water; when you start running and you've haven't consumed enough water before hand, you'll cramp up. Everyone knows this. What isn't common knowledge is that if you drink too much water before running, the combination of physical exertion and over-consumption will cause everything within your body cavity to (literally) liquidate. A sudden, violent laxative effect will be the result.
I am not shitting you: you will be shitting yourself.
2.) "Speed walking" is a really bad idea. When I'm doing distances, I like to run down the bike path (always on the grass or the rock salt--[b]never[/b] on the concrete because the concrete is for bikes because it's a fucking bike path) and then back up along the foot path. Yes, there is a foot path; it is just to the east of the bike path (literally 50 feet at certain points), has a much better view of the lake and is, unlike the bike path, a path of rock salt and not concrete.
But I digress.
So I'm running up the foot path and the speed walkers are having a race. And I'm watching these people. And their weird, unnatural motions and contorted figures. Basically, my final conclusion on speed walking is that it can't be good or safe. The motions are jerky, more repetitive than regular running and, basically, you're going to strain something if you fuck with that shit.
3.) If you're running/jogging, you should be passing people. The fact is that if you're out on a public trail, 50% of the people on the trail are invalids, old as dirt or beach-muscle guys (i.e. really slow); and are very easily passed. Another 20% are infrequents or penitents (i.e. the beer-sweat crowd) and maybe 10% are women distance runners; these are passed relatively easily (but not with out exertion). Basically, you should be passing about 80% of the people on the trail.
Of course, that leaves about 20% of people who are either a.) serious independent dudes who will probably be passing you, b.) members of some sort of competitive athletic team who are running fast and in a pack or c.) sprinters.
So you can't pass everybody, but you should be passing most people.
Passing people requires a lengthening of the stride and is, contrary to what you might expect, really helpful in that it allows you to stretch your legs a bit, disrupt the repetitiveness of your general running motion and not have to slow down.
