I Want to Ace the Wonderlic

This weekend is the NFL's annual meat-market known as the NFL Scouting Combine.  College players exhibit their skills in Indianapolis, performing physical, mental and psychological tests to ensure a higher place in the NFL draft - and in turn a bigger paycheck next fall. And I'd like to give it a try.

I think my 40-yard dash will probably be pretty competitive.  For a tight end or quarterback.  (If I train specifically for the combine.)  Vertical jump?  I should do okay.  Three-cone and shuttle drills?  Well...I'm more of a straight-line player.  225-lb. bench press?  I think I'll pass.

But I love this kind of competition.  You versus the clock.  You versus the barbell.  Everything is entirely quantifiable and easier to improve.  That's what I love about running it's me versus the clock.  I don't have anyone whose job it is to stop me it's just me versus the trail and the clock.  And once I'm done I know what I'm aiming for the next time.

It's also one of the reasons I chose running over cycling.  Cycling isn't nearly as easy to quantify.  I mean, you know you need to be fast, but ultimately it's not about the clock.  It's about beating the guy in front of you and getting to the line first.  You can always ride a route faster when someone is with you - that's not the case in running.

There's got to be a place where I can sign up for a combine, there must be others like me that want to see what their numbers look like when you compare to the pros.  At the very least, I think I can at least beat Tom Brady in most drills.

Book Review: Daniels' Running Formula by Jack Daniels, PhD

I put this book on my Christmas list last year because I've read that it is THE book to read/own/reference for running.  I got this book for Christmas and spent the next month reading it.  And now it will forever be a book that I go back and reference when I'm planning my season or tweaking my training.

If I were asked to teach a college class on running, this would be my textbook.  Although, they would first have to pass the pre-requisite where I'd use Galloway's Book on Running.  But once you've developed your aerobic base and you're ready to move towards, 30-, 40- and 50- mile weeks (and give up the walk breaks)Daniels' Running Formula  is a great guide to take your running to the next level.

Since the book reads like a textbook, it moves slowly (another reason I wouldn't recommend it for beginners).  It's split into four parts: Part I: Training Essentials is where Daniels' explains the physiology of training, benchmarks for fitness and training intensities and the basic outline for a season plan.  Part II: Training Levels explains each of the five training intensities and the benefits that they provide, as well as a brief section on cross-training (which he calls "supplemental training").  Part III: Training for Fitness begins to put this all together as he gives 24-week training plans for non-competitive athletes at four different levels; white, red, blue and gold.  And Finally in Part IV: Training for Racing Daniels' provides several flexible 24-week training plans for distances of 800 meters to the marathon, and includes a chapter on high-school and college cross country.  (If you don't like the idea of a 24-week season, you can adjust it accordingly with a neat little chart he provides in Part I to help you get the most out of a shorter season).

The one thing I don't like about it, is that it's hard for those who race frequently at distances longer than 15K to use.  If you're someone who runs a marathon every 2-3 months, you may not find it helpful to go back to "Phase I" (base-building) training immediately after every race (since he recommends running only one half- or full marathon each season).  Although, if you're someone who recovers well, you could use his plans for 5K to 15K racers and adopt them to longer distances.  It is clear that this book was written with those who race at distances of 10 miles or less in mind.


After reading (nearly) the entire book (I skipped sections in Parts III and IV) I think the ultimate consumer for this book would be junior high, high school or college cross-country or track coach.  It's also useful for coaches of adults who are looking for a good reference or plans to help the sedentary get out the door. And like I said before, it's great for the intermediate to advanced runner who is looking to self-coach and take their training to a new level.

Ultimately I have to agree with those whom I mentioned in the first paragraph.  This is THE book to read/own/reference for running.

In-Between Trails

One of the reasons I love running the Appalachian Trail is that the trail varies so much, just in the 17-miles it crosses the Cumberland Valley.  It goes through grassy fields, switches to smooth dirt trails in some forest sections, but also can be rocky, rooty and downright technical in others.  There are some flat sections, some gradual inclines and steep switchbacks on the way up Blue Mountain.

Yesterday, I headed out on the trails, not really sure what to expect.  We've had some snow, not a lot, but some, and there's also been a couple brief warm-ups.  Our yard is nearly devoid of snow at this point, but we have many neighbors with more shade who have a lot more snow in their yards.  So I wasn't sure if the trails would be dry, sloppy, snowy or icy.  It turns out I got three out of four.

The plan was a 16-17 mile out and back, with the turnaround at the base of Blue Mountain, so I'd get some hills in without having to hike a mile or so up to the top only to immediately turn around.  It was still below freezing when I headed out and most of the trails were just snowy, with a little bit of ice.

But, I did have a few sections where things dried up a bit and I was able to get the speed up.  Unfortunately those sections did not last long.

About five miles in the trails become a steady sheet of ice.  Maybe "sheet" is the wrong turns, since the ice was uneven from the footprints of those who had gone before me.  Regardless, it was slippery.

 I used several methods to navigate these sections of trail.  Sometimes I ran beside it in the crunchy snow.  This required a little extra effort, but I didn't risk falling on my face.  The more common method was to just slow down, since there were things like trees and cliffs that prevented me from avoiding the ice altogether in some sections.

I naively hoped that this situation would improve as my the morning wore on, but unless the ice has completely melted, warmer air just makes the ice more slippery.  I never fell, but I came very close twice - once when there was about a six-foot sheer drop to my right.  (I managed to grab onto a vine to regain my balance after taking several shuffling steps and sliding around down the hill.)

My average pace was about 12:30 per mile for 16.4 miles.  But I still felt fresh when I was done.  The ice slowed me down, but not like mud or deep snow does.  The slow down was out of caution, so it saved my legs and it was a really good, long, slow fat-burning workout.

The funny thing is, that this is the first run I've had where I truly believed my Yaktrax Pro would have helped me out, and I truly regretted leaving them at home!

Par for the Course

As my wife (and mom and pretty much anyone who has spent any time with me) will attest, I'm not the most observant person in the world.  Even so, I was a little surprised when I was changing for lunch today and noticed the following tag in my pants:

 

For those of you reading on your cell phone or just don't want to squint that hard, it says "REMOVE BEFORE WEARING OR CLEANING" and there's a nice little dotted line with scissors on it to show exactly where to remove the tag.

I've owned these pants for months and have never noticed this tag before.  It makes me wonder if I have other pants with the same or similar tag (some of those I've owned for years).  But seeing as I'm someone who has been known on multiple occasions to spend an entire day with a dryer sheet in a shirt or pants leg, this is simply par for the course.

Chicken Nuggets

Last Spring, Beth and I took to watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution on Friday nights.  Why were we watching TV on Friday nights?  Because we had a baby at home.  That's why.

Beth had already determined that she'd make her own baby food and didn't want to raise a kid who would only eat french fries and chicken nuggets.  A task that is easier said than done.

In the show Jamie Oliver went to Huntingdon, West Virginia - "the most obese city in the most obese state in the most obese country on Earth" - to start his "food revolution," encouraging people to put down the processed frozen pizzas and fast food and cook with health, fresh ingredients (or, in some cases just plain cook).

Earlier today  my friend Missy lamented on her blog that her son chooses to eat junk food over healthy food (even healthy food that he likes) because it's easier, even though he knows he feels better when he eats healthy.  I left a comment that this is the dilemma for every American.

How much easier is it to order Chinese food, pick up McDonalds or pull a pizza out of the freezer for dinner than to actually cook using fresh (or even frozen) meats and vegetables?  When you combine that with our (my) sugar addiction it's a recipe for a high-calorie, low-nutrition soup of lethargy.

Some months ago I read an article about Scott Jurek that said he had become a vegan in part because he saw the illnesses of his parents as being caused largely by the food they ate.  Last week I read that Jack LaLanne had thought the same thing about his parents. Surely, this can't be coincidence.

I've made an effort lately to replace my sugary snacks with Clif Bars, various Kashi products and fresh fruits.  When I've eaten fast food for lunch (which is becoming less and less often thanks to my lunchtime running) I try to go some place I know I can get food made with quality ingredients (Neato Burrito) or at the very least a good salad (Sheetz).

Now back to Adele: last week we were in a hurry for dinner.  We both get out of work at five and had a meeting at Adele's daycare at 6.  Fortunately, childcare was provided, but that meant we needed to go somewhere nearby and get dinner.  We chose Wendy's.  At first I suggested chili for Adele, since she likes savory foods as long as they're not too spicy.  But we were concerned that it might be too spicy and would go to waste, so we ordered her chicken nuggets and apple slices.  She loved the apple slices.  She wouldn't touch the chicken nuggets.  So maybe we did something right?  Or maybe she was just more in the mood for apples that night than chicken.  On the other hand, we have a lot of dinners ahead of us with her and a lot of days at school when kids are eating french fries for lunch (which the US Government interestingly enough considers a vegetable) and she has to make the choice of what she eats by herself.