<p>Mass quantities of young people suddenly stampede the trails…</p>
<p>Does this mean I didn’t need to go to law school? I could have just been a runner? :)</p>
<p>Can I quit the day job yet?</p>
<p>This morning was brutal. 74 degrees, 80% humidity. I debated carrying my handheld water bottle and decided I would be OK without it. I won’t be making that mistake again. 7.6 miles in those conditions is too far without water. 6 miles is about the limit.</p>
A friend who was doing the internet dating thing complained that a lot of women his age were in poor physical shape. I suggested that he take up running and join the local running club (I should join too - I know one of the people heavily involved). He told me that he hates running though he would fit right in with the demographics for runners.
Well, that stat was household income.
It would be interesting to see the stats for tennis players. Tennis is a relatively expensive sport because you have consumables (balls, strings) and most people need lessons to become proficient. Those living in colder climates have to pay court fees for about two seasons and many, even in warmer climates, belong to private clubs so that they can get scheduled court times (as opposed to waiting in line at public courts).
I think that the average runner is more fit than the average tennis player though.
MOWC, take care of yourself! I know it’s a pain to carry but I have to always bring water with me, especially if it’s in the 70s ( and it isn’t actively raining).
<p>MOWC not sure how long it takes you to do 7 but I recently read that if you run over 45 min. in heat, you should be sipping 2 oz. water every 10-15 min. to stay healthily hydrated. Be careful :)</p>
<p>On the topic of Zola Budd and running shoes.</p>
<p>[Newton</a> Running South Africa](<a href=“http://newtonsarunning.com/about-us/]Newton”>http://newtonsarunning.com/about-us/)</p>
<p>Yeah, thanks. I am usually OK for an hour unless there is sun beating on me, and this was over by 7am without high sun. However, it is over an hour and with the humidity I could have used a water stop. I wasn’t in trouble or anything, but it would have been nice. I drank a G2 once I got home and got a Sonic iced tea on my way to work.</p>
BC:
One of the companies that started the tech clothing industry, Malden Mills, is in our neck of the woods, with mills in Lawrence, MA and Hudson, NH. Their brand, Polartec, popularized polyester fleece fabrics, made from old soda bottles. They certainly drove the outdoors fitness fabric industry and did a lot to popularize lightweight breathable fabrics. They’ve been through a couple of rounds of bankruptcies and investment banker buyouts, but I think they still have US manufacturing. They charge a premium for the Polartec brand over the many competing Asian fabrics.
I was around for the switch from cotton to polyester in high end tennis gear. The big-dollar European companies (Fila – Bjorn Borg, Sergio Tachinni - McEnroe) hit the market with really nice poly fabrics. Before then, synthetic fabrics were viewed as cheap low-end stuff. No prep would be caught dead in anything but a cotton polo.
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<p>I’ve decided that 45 minutes is about my limit without water. After that, if I’m sweating, I really start feeling dehydrated. I really enjoyed having the water reservoir for hiking the other day. It meant that I could basically drink constantly, taking a sip everytime I stopped for a breather, without having to fumble with water bottles. Alas, I think those would be too uncomfortable for running.</p>
<p>At my old state park, there was a drinking fountain on the “long-route” (an hour or more), so I could stop and guzzle some water at about the halfway point.</p>
<p>Yup, familiar with Malden Mills. They had the big fire and I think that the owner guaranteed incomes for his workers for a while and I think that he did rebuild but perhaps he couldn’t compete with foreign makers. Polartec is a relatively heavy fabric (I have some of the old stuff) and probably not that good for running in the summer.</p>
<p>A tennis shop manager gave me a Fila shirt a long time ago that was poly - the thing that I remembered about it was that it was very scratchy - that turned me off to synthetics for a long time. It was definitely made for very, very thin people - that was me back then at 5-10, 145 pounds.</p>
<p>Thanks, Deborah. I didn’t realize Zola Budd was involved with Newton. I think Newton is a really good company and makes good shoes, but they are REALLY expensive (even by my standards) and I wear out the left shoe too fast for how expensive they are.</p>
<p>Yeah, I definitely didn’t know either, MOWC, but I was looking at the Google images of Zola Budd and was surprised to see one photo with her running in shoes! I, of course, had to investigate further. ;-)</p>
<p>Keep hydrated and don’t overdo it with the humidity!</p>
<p>One of our neighbors has retired in his mid-fifties. His spouse still works and his kids have launched. He seems to be exercising pretty much round the clock. Doing enormous bike races, triathlons, swims, spinning classes, etc. He is still perhaps a bit portly but no doubt in great condition. It strikes me, though, that all this exercise is sort of pointless after a certain level. The whole addiction question. I dunno. There’s always a sweet spot to find in everything you do, I think.</p>
<p>I had a guy in the gym yesterday who is 78 years old. A few years ago he rode his bike from the St. Louis area to Orlando, FL. It took him 11 days. Now his niece is trying to get him to ride from New York to California in 20 days…</p>
An article more focused on guys:
[Finding</a> Exercise That’s in Tune with Work - WSJ.com](<a href=“Finding Exercise That's in Tune with Work - WSJ”>Finding Exercise That's in Tune with Work - WSJ)
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my husband said when he hiked at Vernal Falls they encountered no one for how long and then came across women out there in high heels
Tell me what your favorite piece of equipment is…
<p>BC, this part of the article cracked me up.</p>
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<p>^^^ Love it. Back in Dallas we used to hide in the bushes sometimes so we didn’t have to run with our CEO. He was WAY too fast for us and he was also my coach!</p>
<p>Peer pressure. </p>
<p>I think I’m the only one who hasn’t done 100 swings, so it was grab the water bottle, the sweat rag, and head to the basement for burpee fusion. I had the kitties as my cheering section (their food is down there!) and they know they can get a good head scratch between sets.</p>
<p>12 swings. 6 burpees. 12 swings. 6 burpees. And so on and so forth on the minute, every minute, for six minutes. Three sets. So I got my 108 swings and my 54 burpees.</p>
<p>Damned near killed me. I cranked the weight up on the swings to 45 pounds yesterday and that’s enough of an increase to get my attention. Saw a max heart rate of 93% and I was literally dripping sweat, despite a big fan blowing directly on me the whole time. I’m glad I did it, but I’m glad it’s over…</p>
<p>Just about killed the cat. He scampered between my legs in the middle of a swing and I had to “check up” with the weight to keep from clobbering him. That is really not what I needed in the middle of 12 swings.</p>