<p>The big reason runners are doing those stupid 7 in 7 or 3 in 3 marathons etc is so they can earn more imaginary spinning stars for Marathon Maniacs. You can google the page and see the different levels to which you can aspire. I am a member and have 2 stars (6 in a year or something like that) but I think it is out of control. You can do states,continents and all sorts of things. It’s a supportive and interesting group in many ways, but I disagree with some of the philosophy and especially with the fact that they are allowing kids as young as 9 to qualify for Maniacs and earn stars.</p>
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<p>Sounds a lot like me. I hate eating breakfast, although I do have a substantial lunch.</p>
<p>I’m not sure where this idea that you have to eat breakfast came from. Just another one of those nutrition “rules” that probably doesn’t work for everyone. These days, there’s even a fancy new word for skipping breakfast – “intermittent fasting”. :)</p>
<p>One thing it does is drop your insulin levels into the basement by going 12 hours without eating. That is going to tend to release stored fat to burn for energy. In that sense, not eating is an extreme version of “low carb”. :)</p>
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<p>kmc:</p>
<p>I’m not surprised that you are moving visibly better. I don’t know if it’s visible for me (I mean, everything looks different when you lose 90 pounds!), but I sure do feel the benefits of steady core exercise (and exercise in general).</p>
<p>I would die without breakfast. The big swings in blood sugar that come from not eating regularly make me feel horrible, not to mention the huge afternoon hunger that causes me to eat an entire sleeve of Oreos. But I know that some people do better with a more regimented diet. It’s like they need a big, dramatic break in their habits. </p>
<p>Trainer day. He is excited by some of my long term swimming goals, and would like to add an upper body day to the rehab lower body stuff. He would be less excited if he saw me swim! Which I did afterwards. All free. It was a drill heavy day, 2500m.</p>
<p>MOWC I had no idea Maniacs was letting kids in. Wow. Wrong on so many levels. And I say that as someone who has run crazy numbers of marathons and supports kids running.</p>
<p>Lizardly, I saw the backwards treadmill runner again recently. This time I was able to see the mph. 3.6. 3.6 looks faster when somebody’s going backwards. 
It definitely looked like a jogging type of motion. I’m guessing with him it’s just for general fitness purposes because he looks very fluid, doesn’t look like he’s favoring one side or anything. Makes it look easy. I’m still not trying it. ;)</p>
<p>Yesterday was bright and sunny and chilly. I wore my full length tights, a tech tee, Brooks jacket for cool weather, gloves, and a hat and ran outside. Perfect. Pine, needles beneath my feet and scent, so nice. And I felt strong.</p>
<p>Sounds like a perfect running day, Deborah- and a perfect outfit!</p>
<p>lizardly- Yes, I’ve gotten into a few arguments lately on the Maniacs facebook page. My son was handled very carefully as a young runner by his coaches (and his parents). He didn’t even run a half marathon until he was a junior in high school (really a senior in age). His mileage and race distances was kept down. Most of the Maniacs have no real interest in or knowledge of competitive running. They walk/slog these multiple marathons. I’m not going to get into that issue in this post- it’s fine and they are doing something, at least. However, it is NOT OK to have young kids trying to earn Maniac stars. The parents and other adults say “They do it because they love it. It’s up to them!” Well- they love to eat candy, too. Do you let them have it for their meals? There is one Dad who set up a facebook page for his young sons (they might be 10 and 12 or something) to brag about all their marathon and ULTRA marathon exploits. I think one of the kids is named Cameron Pate.</p>
<p>3.0 indoor miles. Busy day.</p>
<p>Dreaded Airdyne intervals. Four 1/2 miles. A little faster than the last time, but not in danger of setting any PRs. Max heart rate of 92%. Quads are burning, which is a good thing, I guess…</p>
<p>One of these days, I’m going to have to kick it and see if I can go all out. Hard to make myself do that, knowing what heart rates above 95% feel like on that thing… :)</p>
<p>“It’s up to them!” - ugh, hate when I hear parents of teens and younger say that - love the candy comment!</p>
<p>Another indoor day, raining outside. Stretch, track, treadmill. I think I figured out what I hate about the treadmill. This may sound dumb, but I feel so limited by staying in place for one thing. And running is kind of “freeing” for me, expending the distance and energy is what I need. The treadmill just feels kind of sloggy to me. I know I have to do it sometimes, but man, each minute really drags by. </p>
<p>Plus, I think I miss the cooling breeze outside - too much sweating inside!!!</p>
<p>3.5 mile run today after work. Legs felt heavy and mp3 player died after first mile. I thought that was a sign that it was a short run kinda day. </p>
<p>My after run workout was better…35 jumping jacks,25 dips, the plank sequence, single leg step ups (10 each leg), overhead single hand kettlebell swings (10 each side) then 20 overhead with both hands, resistance band “crab walk” 15 each leg x three. My tiny KB is only 5 pounds so it’s really not too tough!</p>
<p>I know that I’ve gotten addicted when …
My H had a speaking engagement over dinner in a town 3 hours away and we decided we’d take off the afternoon and I’d accompany him. We had a nice time driving together. We pull into the area where he is going to give his speech and the thought went through my head - oh, look, there’s a gym, maybe I could bag out of the speech (the topic isn’t something that’s relevant to me - it’s his profession), go work out, and then rejoin him afterwards. My H is an exercise fiend, but he said - just come with me and enjoy the dinner, working out can wait!</p>
<p>Awww, that’s cute PG!!! Are you like Wonder Woman and can burst out of your more formal wear into a cute Lululemon at a moment’s notice!</p>
<p>I find myself driving and all of a sudden seeing places I’ve driven past millions of times as now being fun routes to run. And, I find myself packing a working outfit “just in case” often when I’m heading out in case I find myself with an extra 1/2 hour to work in a run or walk.</p>
<p>Hope you had a nice dinner with hubby! :)</p>
<p>Idad (and anyone else with knowledge) - I think I remember many pages back you posted about a website forum that had helped you when you stopped smoking. I have a student who told me this morning that he is having trouble in his classes because he has stopped smoking, and I’m wondering whether you think this website would be helpful to someone his age.</p>
<p>Also, any other advice about how to encourage him? I did give him an extension on his paper, so that should help in the short run. I don’t want to lecture or sound like his parent, but on the other hand I do know this student fairly well so I could offer him friendly, supportive advice.</p>
<p>[WhyQuit</a> - #1 cold turkey quit smoking site: 190 how to stop videos](<a href=“http://www.whyquit.com/]WhyQuit”>http://www.whyquit.com/)</p>
<p>I came across the site from a Google search the day after I smoked my last cigarette and I have serious doubts that I would have been successful in quitting smoking without the knowledge that I got there – daily during the first couple of weeks when I was kicking my nicotine addiction. I can’t recommend the materials on this site… and the approach… strongly enough.</p>
<p>It’s a totally free site. The books they offer are all free. The video lessons are all free. It’s run an ex-Navy guy in SC, John Polito, who does smoking cessation work in schools, prisons, and the military. It’s based around the work of a guy named Joel Spitzer, who was one of the first, if not THE first guy doing stop smoking clinics in the US for the American Cancer Society. He figured it out in the trenches, pretty early on, by watching how the people who were successful in his clinics did it. Specifically, he figured out early on that it was a drug addiction and just like any other drug addiction, a necessary step is to stop using the drug, get through the withdrawal, and then commit to never using the drug again. So, he boils it down to one simple premise: Never take another puff.</p>
<p>He has free e-books, free articles, and so forth, but the real jewel is hours and hours and hours of his video quitting lessons:</p>
<p>[Joel’s</a> Quit Smoking Library](<a href=“WhyQuit”>WhyQuit)</p>
<p>These cover every imaginable topic, including stuff like how to handle it when friends or family keep offering you “just one” cigarettte. The lessons are all available on YouTube (it looks like 200 of them now) and many of them are also available as MP3s to download to an iPod).</p>
<p>Here’s a like to a scrolling set of teenage smokers. Might be a good link to pass along to your student:</p>
<p>[Katie’s</a> Message - True friends wouldn’t let you start smoking nicotine.](<a href=“http://whyquit.com/Youth/Messages/Katie.html]Katie’s”>Katie's Message - True friends wouldn't let you start smoking nicotine.)</p>
<p>Here’s the direct link to the YouTube channel:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.youtube.com/user/joelspitz[/url]”>http://www.youtube.com/user/joelspitz</a></p>
<p>Deborah T, so backwards running guy is still out there! I enjoy the strange denizens of the gym. </p>
<p>Just a swim. I should get my lazy butt out to run, but am not sure it will happen today. The best time to get it done is first thing in the morning, and when I miss that I don’t always get a second chance. <em>sigh</em></p>
<p>The swim was nice. Cold air and warm water. Outside. </p>
<p>Those kid runners: I am suspicious of whether they want to do it, and if they do, what damage they are doing to themselves, physically and or mentally. We adults, we can make an informed choice to be crazy runners, but I don’t think kids can.</p>
<p>Haven’t posted in awhile. See some old and newer names here. Still see that MOWC is still living up to a standard that I can only dream about. </p>
<p>I have upped my mileage considerably the past 2 months . I’m up to an hour a day 4 days a week. Cross training on elliptical or bike the other days. My knee is getting better. PT sessions have helped. Spending 1/2 hour to hour on even more stretch core routines. Graston and KT tape has helped. Don’t really feel any knee pain running. Only on squat lunge type things. Was probably doing them wrong previously-knee extending over foot which I was told was a big no no. You think that i would have learned something from idad. Hips were sore today after running an hour indoor on an 11 lap mile track. Think there is too many tight turns.i might have to head back to the treadmill. I’m too much of a wimp to run in this cold weather!</p>
<p>Went for a short run and did intervals here in the neighborhood. Came back in the house and voila Ohio’s message. How’s that for a coincidence?</p>
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<p>The main thing I think about on any kind of squat is keeping the weight on the heels and pressing through the heels to raise back up. ideally, you should be able to wiggle your toes at any point in a squat or split squat.</p>
<p>Then, you don’t even have to worry about the knees. In a two-legged squat, the knees have to go past the toes. In a split squat or a lunge, the knee should be somewhere directly over the toes. Here’s a video with a simple trick for checking/correcting that:</p>
<p>[Inside</a> the MBSC Staff Meeting: Rear Foot Elevated Split Squats - YouTube](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaXttrJcVTA#t=315]Inside”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaXttrJcVTA#t=315)</p>
<p>I’ve come to think that a stationary split squat is a lot better exercise than lunges for most of us. I do some bodyweight lunges in my warmup, but usually stick to stationary split squats when I’m using weights.</p>
<p>Thanks Idad. I passed the links on to my student. He is very smart, and it does make me wonder about how he ever started smoking, but then I am sadly surprised that any young people start smoking. I guess the immediate gratification.</p>