A Tale of Two Bars

My noteworthy activity so far - buying and decorating a tree with my parents and Jared and Josh. Much less epic than Julie's story, but then we went out to the bars in my neighborhood with fellow Beverly-ite Evan O'Boyle. Rather epic - our bar crawl consisted of two bars, the trendy Cork & Kerry and Keegan's Pub, which is right next door. We played trivia at Keegan's, and two of the categories were sports and 19th century U.S. history, so needless to say we did well. By that I mean Jared and Boyle did well on the sports questions and Josh nailed most of the Civil War-era stuff while I was not even aware that we got Jagerbombs for 2nd place (didn't exactly need one).

Happy holidays everyone!
Love Karen

Did I leave WI, really?

Hey icewomen-

So I made it home to Pitman, NJ on Wednesday. It's usually a lot warmer here than in WI, and I hadn't even bothered to pack my snow boots as we usually don't get snow while I'm home. However, Glen "Hurricaine" Schwartz of NBC 10 Philadelphia warned of a storm- 15"-25".

These imminent warnings of an apocalyptic-esque blizzard happen every once in a while in NJ, but it rarely ever turns into anything. Regardless, when I went food shopping yesterday for a family dinner, the supermarket was a madhouse, people scrambling for food like it would run out. I felt like I was on the NJ Turnpike with my shopping cart, especially coming out of the cereal aisle. I was patiently waiting for a stream of other carts to go by when an old lady (who I had just helped get a box of cereal off of a moderately-high shelf) passes me on the left and makes her way in.

After over an hour of trying (and failing) to find everything my mom wanted, I waited in line, checked out, and exited the store slowly in order to avoid a small child running by. I heard a lady a cart behind me "HUMPH. Why do people take SO LONG to walk out of the store?"

Well, to avoid head-on collisions with small children. God I love NJ.

Anyhow, this morning it actually did start to resemble a blizzard, a dark sky whipping snow everywhere. At about 1PM I stopped procrastinating and decided to brave the storm for a wintery run. After about a half hour of goading, I convinced my sister Melissa to come with me to run the first 1.5 miles with two monsters (my "dogs"). She was very reluctant. Getting her to go with me involved some deal making, including me lugging her suitcase out of her trunk. After she insisted that we take some pictures to document, we set out.

Sleigh dogs?

About 30 feet later, Homer had pulled her face first into a snow bank. (PS I am not the only one that screams when i fall). She trudged on and we watched a cross-countrier skiier go by on Pitman Ave. Not something you see too often around here.

After a while we were both actually enjoying ourselves. Despite the swirling snow, the landscape was pretty and the going was not too rough. But after changing directions, we discovered that there was one factor that we had forgetten about.

The wind.

Freezing, whipping snow started pelting our faces. We could barely open our eyes to stare down at the ground and make sure that there were no more wipe outs. I stopped at home to drop off Melissa and the dogs and grab a scarf for the rest of the run. I smelled cookies coming from the kitchen, tempting me to end the run now. I resisted, having taken the day off that I traveled, and trudged on into the wind.

I saw another, older runner on the street who said "I'm glad I'm not the only one being made fun of." Upon, passing the gas station, I noticed that an attendant was taking a picture of me. I'm hoping that it was because I was running in the snow.

It was one of those runs that feels pretty epic, like the scarf flying behind me is my cape and I am a superhero, the wind as my foe. I mean, please, but thats what I thought about while bullets of snow landed on the parts of my face not covered by my rock solid frozen scarf. I finally turned around after 2 miles to reap the benefits of taking a run where I hit the wind first.

It felt so EASY with the wind at my back. Even going up the bump that native New Jerseyans may call a hill in the slippery snow was not so bad. I could still barely see, however, as my eyelashes were frozen in snow. Leftover mascara- not a good thing to have on during a snowy run. I stopped to pull the ice out of them.

BAD CHOICE

I saw in horror that black hairs were mixed in the with the snow in my hand. I started up again and booked it the last mile, wondering if I was going to have to wear aviators in public for a while for a lack of any eye lashes. The last time I wore sunglasses inside was when I was 12 and gave myself a black eye by putting my knee straight into my eye socket. Rope swing on a lake during the summer. I'm now 21 and its winter, making it even worse to show up to indoor family functions with sunglasses.

After passing him again, the same gas station attendent asked me "aren't you cold?" which eased my fear of him using the picture for creepy reasons. I finally arrived home, a mix of white (my clothes) and red (my face). I allowed time my eye lashes to melt and saw that only a small fraction of the lashes had fallen off and I could go without the sunglasses. I'll probably go without the mascara too, at least while its snowing.

I'm glad I didn't stop the first time through the house. The cookies were still there when I got back, and now I have one of the those runs that I'll remember, like a certain work out (Kinnick Innick) or a night run. My eyelids do hurt a bit though.

Anyhow, happy winter running,
Julie

Sheep

I came across this cool video in chem 117 and Karen said i should put it on the blog.

http://www.wimp.com/sheepart/

XC Natties

NCAA women's xc national champion, from Eckburg's alma mater:

http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/w-xctrack/recaps/112309aaa.html#

6 km in 19:46. Hot damn.

...That's my 800 pace.

Greetings from Chicago!!!

As most of you know, I'm currently at Model United Nations representing Mexico. I'm on the plenary committee and we've spent the past 2 1/2 days discussing Relief for Natural Disasters and Unification of Korea for 8 hours a day. Needless to say, when free afternoon (1-6 today) came around I was ready for a run.

I've been to Chicago but not for awhile so I wouldn't say I'm familiar with the area. I had made friends with the rep from Argentina, who is a Chicago native. I was talking to her about my plans to run when the quiet yet polite and friendly rep of Mauritius mentioned that he too was a cross country runner and was looking for a partner. So there we were. As we ran, we talked, and I discovered that he was from Westminster College (in Missouri) and alas-in our regional!!! He remembers all you lovely ladies from the hotel. Way to represent, Beloit. Adding on, I just looked up the results from the region to find that he finished about 24 seconds after Jarvis and 30 seconds before Jason, so we probably all saw him. Aren't these kinds of things always amusing?

It was a delightful run overall. We're staying at the Hilton Hotel; naturally we booked it to the lake. We ran up the ramp of the Shedd Aquarium then turned around to do more of the lake strip before eventually making our way back to the Hilton to rest before the 3 1/2 hour evening session. Good thing we sit right next to each other, as neither of our countries have a strong opinion on Korea and the session is sure to be quite dull.

Just thought I'd share my lovely windy city running adventure.

Retaliatory Remark

Since I feel weird about commenting on the guys' blog, I'm going to make a short post here instead in response to Berdanier's recent jeering commentary on the incidents of Thursday, November 12th (known as "The Great Cookie Incident of 2009"):

http://beloitdistance.blogspot.com/2009/11/battle-at-rippin-good.html

Putting aside all the various angry responses I have to such a post and such a despicable event, which I've already expressed perhaps in excess to the mens' team who apologized with lovely baked goods in return (thank you, much appreciated, even though Matty J may have eaten most of the banana bread), I have just this to say: WE PUT UP A DAMN GOOD FIGHT. I seem to remember outrunning a couple of unmotivated guys before a Mr. Eric Koenig decided to chase me for a good couple minutes before I was entirely exhausted - I could only put him off with the remnants of my quick soccer feet for so long, him being Mr. Endurance, at which point he caught me while I passed the coveted Cookies off to Anna Edwards, who sprinted away while I tackled ol' Headface, cookieless, to the ground.

So, Professor, this is just one instance of a damn good fight, since I was a bit too preoccupied to notice what else was going on. I do know a Ms. Clare Holdinghaus ended up with one of the boxes at the end of the run.

Fellow female harriers and warriors, feel free to comment or post with your own account of the admirable feats of bravery you all performed on that fateful Thursday.

Career at a close.

Regionals 09. Oshkosh pancake golf course.

Girls: Shelley, Stutz, Geneva, Ellen, Lauren, Karen, Anne (Clare alt.)
Guys: Qmaster, Josh, Travis, Nestor, Matty J, Jarvis, Jason*alt (Jared sidelined by an IT band injury)
Loving, supporting teammates and spectators: Anna, Gabbie, Katie, Pitz, McKay, Kimball, Kate, Steve the Heinz, the Schulz-Welo fam, SuePS Davendonis

Beautiful weather. No pressure after Conference. No mud. No hills. Glory. PR's all over the place. Hats off to Anne for toughing it out for one last hurrah after being out with swine flu for a week.

Thank you for a really fabulous four years, everyone.

And now time to rest my sartorius, tibialis posterior, and peroneal for 2 weeks before dun dun dunnnnn TRACK SEASOONNNNNNNN

Much love & nostalgia,
Karebear

3 Cheers for Epic Runs

Train the Mind to Run Right Through Winter

Filip Kwiatkowski for The New York Times

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By Gina Kolata

Published: November 10, 2009

IN late summer, Sharon Henderson, the manager of the Lululemon athletic clothing store in my town, started organizing Saturday morning group runs. People had two options: three miles at a slower pace or six miles at a faster one.

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Do you exercise less in bad weather? Share your strategies for forging ahead in the cold the rain.

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There was a good turnout at first — more than two dozen people, most of them slower runners, showed up.

Then they stopped coming. Was it the string of gray, rainy Saturdays?

Granted, it is difficult to get up and be at Lululemon by 8:30 a.m. when the temperature is dropping and a steady rain is falling. But, still. One recent Saturday, it was just me and my friend Claire Brown running on the slick streets in the rain.

Very few studies have asked whether people exercise less in inclement weather and, if so, which ones are more likely to slack off or forge ahead. Maybe that’s because the results of the studies are not exactly surprising.

“Why do people work out more in San Diego than in Michigan?” asked James Pivarnik, an exercise physiologist at the Michigan State University. “Gee, I can’t imagine.”

HIS study of Michigan residents found that people expended 15 to 20 percent morecalories a week exercising in the spring and summer than they did in the fall and winter.

Something similar seems to happen in Columbus, Ohio, said Janet Buckworth, an exercise physiologist at Ohio State University.

She found that college students lost cardiovascular fitness in winter but maintained their strength, indicating that while some of them did not want to go outside and run, at least they may have been going to the gym.

“Columbus is incredibly dreary in the winter,” Dr. Buckworth said. “It is wet and cold, and we get snow.”

So maybe the question is not, “Why do people stay home in dreary weather?” as much as, “Why do some go out and exercise anyway?”

Dr. Buckworth said that, in her experience, it was the people who were new to exercise who gave up in bad weather.

“If you are beyond the point that you are learning how to exercise, you can’t imagine not running in bad weather,” she said. Her advice to people who want to keep exercising all year: find something you can do indoors, plan to exercise with a friend or do something — like update your playlist — that can make your workout more fun.

Dr. Pivarnik tells people they need to make up their minds that they will have a regular exercise routine, no matter what. “If you are one of those people who are going to back off, you are just going to have to find something to make you do it,” Dr. Pivarnik said. “It has to be a behavioral thing in your head. It’s not going to happen just because the weather is nice, you have to think about it.”

My friend Jen Davis, a physical chemist, uses a term from chemistry: Running on dreary days requires high activation energy, she says. In chemistry, activation energy is what must be added to start a reaction.

But those of us who exercise in all sorts of weather will attest that there is a certain thrill that can come from terrible conditions. “It makes us tough,” Jen said. She calls our runs in horrendous conditions “epic runs.” And she’s right. They are truly memorable, ones we actually recall fondly.

There also are epic bike rides, as Richard Armington will attest.Rich, a software engineer in Montgomery, N.J., rode 200 miles over two days in a cold rain recently. It was a fund-raising trip for Battle Against Hunger, and his group had been training all summer.

Last year, the group rode in a hurricane, but that proved too much — the bikers had to stop at lunchtime on the second day, three quarters of the way through the trip.

“Why do I do this?” he said. “For me, it’s two challenges: the athletic challenge and the challenge of getting others to sponsor and give to the cause.”

Glenn Swan, a cyclist in Ithaca, N.Y., says his area has some of the worst weather in the country, but he does not let a little rain or snow stop him. Mr. Swan, a research technician at Cornell and owner of a bike shop called Swan’s Cycles, said, “Our phrase is, ‘We ride even if the sun shines.’ ”

His epic ride took place with friends in Virginia. They started at the bottom of a mountain on a sunny morning. Soon it started to drizzle. “We said, ‘At least it’s not raining,’ ” Mr. Swan said. Then, as they ascended, it started to rain.

“We said, ‘At least it’s not snowing.’ ” Then it started to snow.

“We said, ‘At least the snow is not sticking.’ ” Then it started to stick.

By the time they got to the top of the mountain, they were in a blizzard. They eventually made it to a lodge, 20 miles away, where they spent the night. And they have been talking about the trip every since.

But the problem with epic runs or rides is that each one ups the ante. A day with just ordinary bad weather simply is not memorable after a while.

Jen and I noticed that recently on a dark, rainy, windy night. We had planned to run after work but — just this once — we thought that maybe we could do one of those mind-numbingly dull treadmill runs in the gym.

I called my coach, Tom Fleming, and told him our plans. He hates treadmills, thinking that that if you want to train for road races, you have to run on roads. Treadmills, he says, are “propelling you over the running surface.” When you run, he adds, “you propel yourself over the surface,” which can include hills, flat areas, and places where the surface is uneven. “That’s a harder effort for sure,” Tom said.

So, Tom told me: Don’t go to the gym. Run outside.

So we did, and it was fine. Fun, actually.

But epic? No. We have had much tougher runs than that.

we're onto something

WELL

The Human Body Is Built for Distance

Luis Escobar

BASIC FOOTWEAR Arnulfo Quimare, a Tarahumara Indian who is a champion distance runner, laces up his sandals for a 50-mile race on canyon trails.

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By TARA PARKER-POPE

Published: October 26, 2009

Does running a marathon push the body further than it is meant to go?

Well

Share your thoughts on this column at the Well blog.

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Running Voices

The conventional wisdom is that distance running leads to debilitating wear and tear, especially on the joints. But that hasn’t stopped runners from flocking to starting lines in record numbers.

Last year in the United States, 425,000 marathoners crossed the finish line, an increase of 20 percent from the beginning of the decade, Running USA says. Next week about 40,000 people will take part in the New York City Marathon. Injury rates have also climbed, with some studies reporting that 90 percent of those who train for the 26.2-mile race sustain injuries in the process.

But now a best-selling book has reframed the debate about the wisdom of distance running. In “Born to Run” (Knopf), Christopher McDougall, an avid runner who had been vexed by injuries, explores the world of the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico, a tribe known for running extraordinary distances in nothing but thin-soled sandals.

Mr. McDougall makes the case that running isn’t inherently risky. Instead, he argues that the commercialization of urban marathons encourages overzealous training, while the promotion of high-tech shoes has led to poor running form and a rash of injuries.

“The sense of distance running being crazy is something new to late-20th-century America,” Mr. McDougall told me. “It’s only recently that running has become associated with pain and injury.”

The scientific evidence supports the notion that humans evolved to be runners. In a 2007 paper in the journal Sports Medicine, Daniel E. Lieberman, a Harvard evolutionary biologist, and Dennis M. Bramble, a biologist at the University of Utah, wrote that several characteristics unique to humans suggested endurance running played an important role in our evolution.

Most mammals can sprint faster than humans — having four legs gives them the advantage. But when it comes to long distances, humans can outrun almost any animal. Because we cool by sweating rather than panting, we can stay cool at speeds and distances that would overheat other animals. On a hot day, the two scientists wrote, a human could even outrun a horse in a 26.2-mile marathon.

Why would evolution favor the distance runner? The prevailing theory is that endurance running allowed primitive humans to incorporate meat into their diet. They may have watched the sky for scavenging birds and then run long distances to reach a fresh kill and steal the meat from whatever animal was there first.

Other research suggests that before the development of slingshots or bows, early hunters engaged in persistence hunting, chasing an animal for hours until it overheated, making it easy to kill at close range. A 2006 report in the journal Current Anthropology documents persistence hunting among modern hunter-gatherers, including the Bushmen in Africa.

“Ancient humans exploited the fact that humans are good runners in the heat,” Dr. Bramble said. “We have such a great cooling system” — many sweat glands, little body hair.

There is other evidence that evolution favored endurance running. A study in The Journal of Experimental Biology last February showed that the short toes of the human foot allowed for more efficient running, compared with longer-toed animals. Increasing toe length as little as 20 percent doubles the mechanical work of the foot. Even the fact that the big toe is straight, rather than to the side, suggests that our feet evolved for running.

“The big toe is lined up with the rest, not divergent, the way you see with apes and our closest nonrunning relatives,” Dr. Bramble said. “It’s the main push-off in running: the last thing to leave the ground is that big toe.”

Springlike ligaments and tendons in the feet and legs are crucial for running. (Our close relatives the chimpanzee and the ape don’t have them.) A narrow waist and a midsection that can turn allow us to swing our arms and prevent us from zigzagging on the trail. Humans also have a far more developed sense of balance, an advantage that keeps the head stable as we run. And most humans can store about 20 miles’ worth of glycogen in their muscles.

And the gluteus maximus, the largest muscle in the human body, is primarily engaged only during running. “Your butt is a running muscle; you barely use it when you walk,” Dr. Lieberman said. “There are so many features in our bodies from our heads to our toes that make us good at running.”

So if we’re born to run, why are runners so often injured? A combination of factors is likely to play a role, experts say. Exercise early in life can affect the development of tendons and muscles, but many people don’t start running until adulthood, so their bodies may not be as well developed for distance. Running on only artificial surfaces and in high-tech shoes can change the biomechanics of running, increasing the risks of injury.

What’s the solution? Slower, easier training over a long period would most likely help; so would brief walk breaks, which mimic the behavior of the persistence hunter. And running on a variety of surfaces and in simpler shoes with less cushioning can restore natural running form.

Mr. McDougall says that while researching his book, he corrected his form and stopped using thickly cushioned shoes. He has run without injury for three years.

Lookin' good

Women got 2nd place at Privates this weekend!!!!!! Yep, above Ripon AND St. Norbert's. Never mind that Carroll wasn't there. Viterbo won on the women's side. I've never even heard of them, therefore they don't count and we really got 1st :-) Guys got 6th place... Ripon won it for the men and Norbert's got 2nd I think...

The course was pretty nice, involving a quasi-Kinnikinnick-style hill immediately after mile 1, then a long and winding limbo of crushed gravel trail that made you kind of zone out for a long time, and ending with a post-5k mark, similarly intense downhill. The consensus was either a great PR or "damn... that was unnecessarily slow." Fortunately, the former was experienced by the majority, I think.

Conference mode!!!!!!

Also, if facebook ever lets me upload photos, I'll put up some that my dad took from the homecoming meet and Benedictine.

Love Karen

I'm coming home

Greetings women-

I know this is old news, but I found the article backing up how we should be drinking chocolate milk post-workout, published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism for my nutrition class.  

http://oakbrooksc.com/Docs/stager_chocmilk_study.pdf

Annnywho season is going well so far.  It was great to see some alumni last week, but the female alumni squad consisted of just one Emma Kaage.  Boo lets get more next year.

Friday was our meet at Benedictine and by far the messiest of the year.  I witnessed three falls in front of me, one at the exact spot where I fell last year.  She failed to do it in style, however (which includes a little yell).  Competition was much tougher than in previous years.  We had some decent times despite a longer distance and a sloppy course.

Now its fall break so we are dispersed for (less than) a week.  Hope everyone is still working out and enjoying it.

I'm off to get some good cookin', aunt pat style

Julie

Are You Tying Your Shoes Wrong?

Well we talked about this at dinner a little bit and I wanted to add my $.02 to this blog.

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-240-319--13001-0,00.html

Kitty backpacker

http://www.urlesque.com/2009/09/11/young-couple-and-backpacker-cat-see-the-americas/?icid=main|main|dl7|link4|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.urlesque.com%2F2009%2F09%2F11%2Fyoung-couple-and-backpacker-cat-see-the-americas%2F

My dad emailed me this today. Adorable. I want a cat to accompany me on my travels.

The Schedge

Date	Opponent	Location	Time
Sat., Sept. 12	@ Carroll University Pioneers Invite	Waukesha, WI	10:30 a.m.
Sat., Sept. 19	@ Midwest Open (UW-Parkside)	Kenosha, WI	12:00 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 3	Olde English Classic%	Beloit	11:00 a.m.
Fri., Oct. 9	@ Benedictine University Eagles Invite	Lisle, IL	4:15 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 17	@ WI Private Colleges Meet	TBA	11:00 a.m.
Sat., Oct. 31	MWC Championships#	Loves Park, IL	11:00 a.m.
Sat., Nov. 14	@ NCAA III Regionals	Oshkosh, WI	11:00 a.m.
Sat., Nov. 21	@ NCAA III Championships	Cleveland, OH	11:00 a.m.

# -- at Rock Cut State Park, Loves Park, IL
% -- at Leeson Park, Beloit, WI

In case any alums want to come see us run!

So far our only new freshies are Geneva and Kate, locals from the Madison area and Waukesha, respectively. We've got some more newbies, Tanishka Linnea Carmen etc, and Catherine Johnson has reappeared on the face of the earth, but as of now we are majority seniors. Which means next year we'll really have to do some kidnapping - I mean, recruiting - I mean, we're div 3, uhhh crap we're screwed.

But anyway - hooray for hosting conference! And we'll miss you Julie Heney, make Beloit look good for your new Senegalese friends.

Our camping trip is lined up to be in Rock Cut, where you can't reserve campsites or there was miscommunication or something so basically we're looking at the possibility of another epic backyard adventure. Or like 10 different sites, cause we're on the waiting list for a big group site. In any case, it's sure to be a good time and now that I'm no longer vegetarian, and neither is Lauren, there'll be lots more donut burger consumption... Stutz and Quade, I guess we'll bring a couple veggie patties for you...

Oh and Berdanier's a biology professor now, so that's pretty sweet.

That's all I got. Later gators.

Gotta Jiboo

Monday afternoon, I get a call from Eckburg "uh so I know this is late notice...but I'm going to a Phish show in Chicago tomorrow and my brother bailed...Got 2 extra tickets."

Tuesday, 7pm - arrive via bicycle with my sister Katie & her boyfriend Calvin to Toyota Park, meet up with Eckburg, Owenby, Adam someone and Karen someone else. With 2 general admission tickets and 4 tickets up in the stands, Katie & I take the GA's and do a series of ins-and-outs (1 person leaving with both tickets to bring in the third and so on) so eventually we all get in, except Calvin who tried to hop the fence and got kicked out.

Phish starts playing and is fantastic, while Eck & Owenby discuss how to get their mysterious other 2 friends down to GA - somehow they got in a VIP box??

Mid-show, Eck disappears and comes back with his hands on his head and a silly grin on his face. I ask "Eck did you find those other 2 people yet?" ...he just giggles... I turn around to find Anne & Shelley.

Tricksters.
It was a good show.

photo from phish.com

being an authentic runner

Heyo runners-

So last night I spilled water alllll over my bed. changed my sheets but the mattress was still wet. Woke up soaking and cold, reassured my roommate that I didn't pee my bed last night.

Anyhow

I've done some pretty interesting trips here in SoCal- Vegas, LA, Laguna Beach, and hopefully next weekend San Diego. Us interns stayed at a hotel in Hollywood last week, and while we were waiting outside a guy rodeby on his bike and told us that it was a hotel frequented by hookers and we should go somewhere else. We did no such thing- of course, and our sketch room was awesome even though the wall paper didn't match. Themed parties abound for us interns- around the world (my room turned into the N Pole, complete with snow that looked oddly like cotton balls) and dress like your stereotype. I was a runner and wet my shirt strategically to be authentic- sweat stains included.

Running is going pretty well here with some trails not too far away. I have a club that likes to go in the mornings. I miss you all though and can't wait for Beloit! Just two weeks and we're one big happy family again.

yaaaay
Julie

Hola Todos

It has been way to long, and since Karen bugs me about even alum posting on the blog here I am. I have no exciting running stories because I am currently waiting out the storm so I can go running. The storm that I watch role in while sitting on my second floor balcony of my aunt's house in Mexico looking out over the garden, that includes an orange tree, two lemon trees, a guava tree, and brazilian cherries, I can see in the distance two volcanoes and in the foreground the old bull fighting ring. Jealous yet? Sorry I am totally loving the new surroundings and seeing as this is about running I do wish for some one to jump fences with on a run through Comala.

GROOOOSS

EW EW EW EW EW.

this has nothing to do with running, it's just really funny. and pretty gross. beware.

Yummy placenta...

Happy running.
-KB

p.s. the foot is slowly getting better... and plantar fasciitis becomes tendonitis of the peroneal and tibialis posterior tendons, i guess.

Cal-i-forn-I-A

Hello runners!

Greetings from Riverside California, where its hottttt and supposedly there are supposed to be rattlesnakes on the trails. Shelley and I had a nice bout in Palm Springs/Long Beach which could involve some good stories. I am now here for the purpose of finding some stuff out about plant diseases.

The running here is quite nice, with a lot of desert trails. Tomorrow I will be hiking to the famous "C" (see: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3407/3407383859_6c956762c1.jpg?v=0 ) to see the sunrise which may involve some rock climbing? Hmm. A 4AM departure time is planned but we'll have to see.

Anyhow, I hope that everyone's feeling patriotic today. Also, the calender is still going. Karen and I are the only ones posting on it now, but you should get on that! Alumni too. Let us know what you're doing and maybe even some juicy anecdotes about the details of your more delectable runs. If you have any trouble logging on, let me know and I'll hook you up.

Love
Ju

Loggit

Can testify that mapmyrun is great even out in the green zone where not all roads are charted by MasterGoogle.

How the H do you create a link on here!?

All I want to do is post a link !!! Can I figure it out? NO! GD it, I managed to embed the entire running calendar, but couldn't create a side bar link.  And now it's all underlined.  Good night! I am too tired to fiddle with this crapola any longer!!

Bonnaroo!

(a week later.)

Wednesday night, 10:30 - Eck arrives from the Sox game (2-1 loss) at my house, chats with the parents a bit since I'm obviously not packed yet
Thursday, 4:30am - Eck and KB arrive in Paducah, KY.
Thursday, 5:30am - Eck, KB and Jared take a refreshing plunge off the cliffs of Lake Something-or-other, KY.
Thursday, 12pm, after grocery shopping and meeting up with alumni Kobe + brother, arrive in the vicinity of Manchester, TN and proceed to wait in Bonnaroo traffic.
Thursday, 11pm - enter the Bonnaroo campgrounds. 11 hours of traffic. This made us both really frustrated and amused at the same time. Mostly relieved.
Friday, 12am - sprint back to the campsite in monsoon-style rain after failing to retrieve a schedulebook from Centeroo.
SLEEP.


I won't bore you with all the details of the shows, but basically...

Friday shows:
Kaki King is incredibly talented.
Animal Collectice was amazing.
Galactic + Trombone Shorty was tight.
Al Green - "Can I get a witness!" "Them safety folks in the yellow shirts out there - I'm already safe! These people come to love me, not hurt me!"
TV on the Radio - I was kinda drunk, I think. Fun show, though.
DAVID BYRNE PLAYED BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE IN A TUTU. <3 href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi59i4pLdTNcFU2diw1tFGtsPqJnF3lUUIW4azcGSKpdL-CM6JUKHMfHK0O5yW_kNo93pcm7L87ny5MfbvpY07555WIqOmPsWRI49xgcQrHMl3bOREdSySFJ6xz-Cb3x92uIpwBQpGiw-aW/s1600-h/Bonnaroo+005.jpg">Del McCoury Band :-)
Wilco!! great show.
Bruce Springsteen...wow. Fantastic. Jared was so giddy the entire time. "IT'S TOO FUCKIN HOT FOR SANTA!" - He played "Santa Clause Is Coming To Town." Nice.
Tried to stay up for Moe... no success. Once again, Eck stayed out.



Sunday shows:
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - really fun. Partially due to intoxication.
Brett Dennen was good, but he opened with Ain't No Reason and we missed it :-(
Andrew Bird: naptime (I stayed up for Nervous Tick Motion and then half-dozed for the rest)


Snoop Dogg. Um..."Fuck the police! Show your love for Tupac!" ..he sang Gin & Juice. We had to get a good spot for Phish. We missed Neko Case because of this, unfortunately.
Phish - the feet killing us by this point, Jared and I sat in the back watching unbelievable amounts of glowsticks being tossed up throughout the show. It was a pretty damn good show. The Boss came on and jammed with Trey for a while. That was tight.


2am, Monday morning - depart. Karen passes out.
2:30 - Huddle House. A garden omelette, then more passing out.
sometime that morning - arrive at Paducah, Eck departs for Louisville en route to Pittsburgh for more Phish.
Pass out for like 5 hours.
Monday: Hang out with the Wynne's...and THIS LITTLE GUY:

Too adorable for words.

Tuesday: return home via Amtrak at 6:30am & pick up a Miss Anne Bayerle at the Art Institute for a lovely visit involving coffee & chatting, Ecuador & Madagascar photo-sharing, Chinese pastries with Kyle Lipinski, Zoe Lukens and Sam somebody, and passing out while watching Elizabethtown (I don't really recommend it).

In other news, the ol' plantar fascia is really cramping my style with the summer training schedj. I'm not a fan. Lots of weights, abs, and cross training. Wearing running shoes everywhere. This sucks. I hope all of you are having better success.

Friendly reminder about the summer running calendar.... Share your miles with us! Your training can't be going worse than mine!

Later gators.

Biking, Stupid

She said Christ walked on water, we can wade through the war.

You don't need to tell me who the fire's for.

(Apply to running & biking & Joan of Arc)

Somehow got signed up for the biking leg of the Great Race over the 4th of July. If I had a bike in Vermont, it would make more sense.

Anyone reading this is encouraged to crash the Green Mountains in late July to join me, Anne, and the finest harriers of Central Vermont at the Stowe 8-Miler on July 19. It's going to be hilly, but these races are small, relaxed and a great excuse to spend the day in those pricey foot-of-the-mountain tourist towns.

As a bonus, here are some alternative summer running jams for Miss Stutzbach.

A Few Things

Here is a random picture of your fine running coach for enjoyment. The T gave me this when I was trying to get Eckburg mentioned in Runner's World a few years ago. Apparently they didn't think Eckburg was cool enough. Lame.

But something that's NOT lame is this:

BOSTON!

I'm sure you're all sick of hearing but Boston was pretty cool. It was great to hang out with Eckburg and Dewar (left). It was my goal to catch Eck in the race, which I thought entirely possible because of his bum hamstring. You've got to count your wins right? The only reason I was conf. champ in anything was because of heart failure.... But I actually fell short of that goal, crawling across the finish line four minutes behind him. It was a pretty cool race. I'd suggest giving it a try.

Good luck with summer training ladies. You can always come visit me. I always run alone. Maybe I'll see you at the BC Olde English!

Breakfast at the Wayside

Returned from hiking/melting in the Caribbean to find that more infamous Julie in downtown Montpelier, hitting the bars with Anne.

After posting their run on Google the next morning, they took me to breakfast at a venerated central Vermont establishment where $0.99 buys you two eggs and two pieces of toast. It was just as beautiful as I remembered.

Fuel up & post your miles, smahties.

Posting the miles

Hey all,

Stutz has sent out the Google calendar where you can post your summer running miles. In case you lose the email, I've added the link to the list on the right. Share your hard work if you wish :-)

Hope you're all enjoying your summers! I just ate a lot of peanut butter. All is back to normal over here.

Keep us posted.
Love Karen

p.s. just noticed this on our cross country homepage - "The Buccaneer Women posted a 3.410 gpa over the 2008 season while the Buccaneer Men came in at 3.338" - hehe, good work ladies.

So I'm back from Kenya and I had an amazing time!!! I just wanted to tell everyone that I will be spending the summer in Minneapolis. So if you are in the neighborhood look me up.
Anna

ELLEN!

wow I can't believe I didn't write Ellen's name in there. I didn't foget about you Ellen I love you too : ) Everyone could tell Anthony missed you too. I am glad you are back as well.

Graduation!

I hope everyone who stayed had a great graduation at Beloit! I know Karen came back and I am very sad I missed her : ( Well anyway I can't to see everyone in the fall. Karen, Anne, and Anna, we missed you guys so much and I am extremely glad you are back. I love you guys. I also hope everyone is doing well on their two weeks off + 3 easy runs. Talk to you soon : )

Love, Gonzo

2nd annual w in w

Apologies for a serious lack of blogging, especially to those abroad and alumni who want to know about this business:

Oooooh lordy.

So Shelley, Hilary, and I headed out yesterday afternoon to plant the wine for our second annual wine in the woods. We used the same amount as last year, which could have spelled trouble.

We began the event with a hole deep in the wilderness and gave ourselves tribal names like "Sticky boobs (someone spilled wine all over)" and "Jolly Chrystanthemum." We encountered some strange, foreign folk but moved on. At the second hole, we all commented on what we would remember most about the last year and finally what we want to be remembered for. Our making it through all three boxes probably had a lot to do with multiple people washing out their cups and giving a little wine back to the Earth.

We all somehow made it back to dinner after the third hole and were quite the site to see. Ultimately there were a few injuries, a few exposed bottoms, and maybe a few confused bystanders, but a big success, I think.

Shelley Quade Might Need Some Hill Sprints

Ladies:

I was just checking up on the Midwest Conference and to my astonishment have discovered that the distance crew is supremely lacking in its speed workouts this year, it seems. Mr. Eckburg may want to check his stat sheets and rein in his happiness over Phish's reunion. It may be distracting his coaching.

In the 400 m dash, a certain tenacious Joanna Johnson is breaking records and finishing the distance in under a minute. Seconds behind her, a pack of Beloiters.
And then. http://www.midwestconference.org/events/display.asp?sp=WIT&e=ALL&k=location&d=BEL&s=2008&desc=Beloit

That's right. Ms. Van Galder herself, minutes later with a time of 5:36.75, comes in. Did Shelley stop to stretch after 100 meters? Did some hot guy on the sidelines distract her? Is Coach Eckburg taking everyone to secret concerts instead of to Gamebird, as he has reported to me?

I'll check back to see the results of the outdoor season soon. I hope to see some improvement by Shelley. Maybe she'll make the 400m in 4:00. That would be a start.

Best of luck to you!
Marta
顾希美

Salama e!

hey all,

i think i would die of heat stroke if i tried running here. supposed to get cool later in the semester though :-)

i hope the superbowl is/was awesome and that someone had an extra helping of everything for me. especially the pig. i'm eating so much meat here it's ridiculous. i mean not so much, but some, which is more than usual... yummy.

read karen plus lemurs for more details.
à bientot!
karen

Karen Plus Lemurs

Hey everyone - just posted the link to my Madagascar blog to the list on the right here.

I leave on Wednesday. Ahhh!!!! Two more days of...packing and getting nagged. Woohoo! Motivation to get out of the house and go for a run!

It was great to catch up with those of you that I had a chance to see this weekend - great performances at Whitewater, by the way - and I miss all of you already.
KB

Just in case...

... you don't have regular weights available during the break:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWjTnBmCHTY

abs workout galore.

Also, if you have on demand, check out some exercise videos. Most importantly, Billy Blanks' son has created Cardioke, and yes, it is what is sounds like. :D

Enjoy the rest of your break.