Barely Interesting Running Facts

Dave K

Did you know!?!....

• Athletes dressed in red (NY Flyers Red?) are more likely to win events than athletes wearing another color (Nature Magazine) 
• Physically active people have a 60 percent lower risk for Alzheimer's disease than couch potatoes (The Lancet Neurology - Sweden)  
• In terms of on-site media coverage, the Boston Marathon ranks behind only the Super Bowl as the largest single day sporting event in the world (Boston Athletic Association) 
• An average man has enough energy in his fat stores to run non-stop for 3 days at 15 miles per hour. (bbc.co.uk) 
• Runners report average yearly injury rates from 24% to 68%, of which 2% to 11% involve the hip or pelvis (van Mechelen, W. in "Running injuries: a review of the epidemiological literature") 
• 13.2 to 17.3 percent of all running injuries have been attributed to shin splints (American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons) 
• The risk of having a heart attack during a marathon is one in 55,000. (Journal of the American College of Cardiology) 
• Runners who played ball sports as kids had nearly 50 percent fewer stress fractures than runners who didn't (Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine)

And there you have it.

-Dave K, Flyers Blogmaster

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A Short Video: On Running

Ilana S

My fine friend Ilana S, a Dashing Whippet and Friend of Flyers, is generally a solitary and very speedy runner, a writer, a psychologist, and an otherwise seemingly interesting person.  Lately, she's been creating short multi-media presentations as a means to express herself.  She combines her thoughts, drawings, voice, and music to conjure up short videos.  Some of the videos she's posted pertain to the novel she's been writing.

Recently, Ilana posted a short video that she calls On Running.  I think it's delightful and powerful.  There's a stream of consciousness about it that resonates with me as it brings to mind my own thoughts, feelings, epiphanies, ramblings, nonsense, brilliance, purposefulness, pride, playfulness, peacefulness, loneliness,aggression, curiosity, and other happenings that I sometimes experience when on the run.  Yet, while her video seems to open a window into my own mind it also let's the viewer into the very intimate and personal perspective offered by Ilana by allowing entrance into her mind.

Click on the picture please, above (or click HERE), to view Ilana's video.  

I hope you may enjoy it, too.  Including as a bit of a tribute to Ray Manzarek of the Doors who died in May.

Dave K
Flyers Blogmaster

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THERE ARE SUPERSTITIONS....

Scott C

Runners, Roadies, Rituals and Superstitions

There are superstitions (so sings Stevie Wonder here)....  And then there are rituals.  And, then there is OCD!

Perhaps one of the most recent, popular and downright funny rituals is the setting up of the ubiquitous “staging area” that me and so many others take the time to build -- right down to the compression socks, the sunglasses, and the GUs we’ll use -- and then we’ll photograph the area and send out the pics to our several hundred Facebook friends.

Where do we draw the line? Where do we separate rituals from superstitions or make a clear distinction? What should pass for behavior inherent to an athlete vs. behavior bordering on OCD?

For several months prior to the 2012 Boston Marathon, hidden away in our closet at home, there was a gorgeous burnt-orange 2012 Boston Marathon jacket, women’s size small, with the Boston Athletic Association unicorn logo proudly embroidered in black stitching and declaring the 116^th running of the Boston Marathon.

It’s truly a beautiful jacket that most would be chomping at the bit to wear when out running in Central Park or just casually walking around town, but its owner -- a certain Flyer Ms. Elle G -- had steadfastly refused to wear it until early in the afternoon of April 17^th after she had crossed the finish line of her first Boston Marathon with hopefully a new PR (and possibly not until after taking a cold shower upon running in the near record heat endured by those who ran the race!).

Sound familiar? Anybody else out there who might also adhere to what might be the number one ritual (or is it a superstition?) among the running camp that you never ever wear your race t-shirt, jacket or any form of racing apparel until after you have actually run and finished said race?

I know I’ve always fallen in line with this ritual, superstition or belief that somehow wearing the race shirt before the race will have an adverse negative influence on how I run, how I think, how I perform on the stage I have wanted to be on through my hours of sweat, self doubt, shaken confidence, tearing up my body and mind in preparation for “the day.”

Or can it be more an issue of one’s OCD vs. superstition since we see plenty of runners wearing their race t-shirt during the actual race?  What are they thinking? Are they normal like me? Or clearly they must be a running “newbie” so untrained and unadvised in the “normal” ways of the distance runner who has taken on so many risks, sacrificed so many birthdays, weddings, bar mitzvahs and other assorted social opportunities in pursuit of one more PR!

Any body see themselves in the mirror yet?

Certainly there are other “items of distinction" held onto such as your lucky socks, or perhaps your running shorts from 1981, your lucky running shoes with holes on the bottom almost bigger than a newborn's fist or a running cap from your first “destination" marathon. Or, maybe it's your first marathon medal that you need to kiss before you’ll kiss your husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend or kids on your next 26.2 mile endeavor?  Or does the need to touch something, maybe once or twice or even three times reflect a superstition aimed to guarantee the optimal racing experience.  I’ve yet to hear anybody say they have a lucky or favorite “porta potty” they must visit but, hey, you never know, right?

Hard Luck Stories

For me, I have two hard luck stories to share here regarding “items of distinction" …..

The first was several years ago on a very windy Verrazano bridge at the start of the NYC Marathon. I was feeling good, ready to zip through Brooklyn like I stole something, ready to welcome all who clearly came out just for me as I bolted off the 59^th Street Bridge onto First Avenue, ready to tear down any wall anyone or anything had the nerve to put in front of me when……the gusty winds at the start on the bridge blew my lucky racing visor clear off my head and into the direction of the forty thousand or more runners behind me!

What could I do? Stop and pick it up?

For a fleeting moment I felt like Tom Hanks in the movie Cast Away when Wilson (the volley ball) floats away and Tom can’t reach it so he sobs and sobs and sobs. I will forever miss that visor; we had some amazing runs and shared some great times together.

Tom Hanks in Cast Away with his Beloved Wilson

My other hard luck story involves my favorite baby blue t-shirt I got after finishing Ironman Austria in 2004, which in itself was a personal victory for me because I had to cancel on the event I was going to do with three other Flyers just a few weeks before the race due to an injury before finally redeeming myself.  On the bright side, I never lost it and am grateful that I still have what might be my favorite race t-shirt ever because of its color, its design, and its personal meaning for me.  But it’s long been riddled with holes throughout simply from wearing it too much, lifting weights in it too much, sweating in it too much, and running in it too much.  I believe that a lesson learned is to savor those things you love that offer some personal meaning or remembrance in your life.

It's Not Just a Runner Thing

So much for those crazy runners but what about “roadies” (i.e., cyclists) and their own habits, beliefs and superstitions?

The most common ones as you might guess are to talk about never “flatting” and of course then going out on a ride and actually getting a flat.

Others involve such important priorities as when is the right time to shave the legs before a big race, mounting a bike from the left vs. the right, never washing a race jersey while you're winning races or riding exceptionally well, never hurling a “loogie” from your left nostril over your right shoulder, and never ever getting a bib numbered “13”

This article would not be complete without including one more species of athlete….the “triathlete” or as the roadie cyclist might say a cyclist's “dysfunctional cousin.”

What strange customs abound in the triathlete’s world of aero bikes, helmets and wheel sets? Do we take the prize in “weirdness” because we have to perform not one but three different disciplines all in the same race?

Not a ritual but a mantra I have used in every Ironman I have raced is to repeat to myself  “It’s Showtime” as I’m nervously peeing in my wetsuit while waiting for the mass swim start of the race to begin. I find it helps me to focus a bit more.

Or are triathlete’s so Type A or so tightly wrapped in Lycra and compression wear that we are beyond any weirdness, ritual or superstitions?

Well…….NO not really as here are some samplings from some assorted racing forums I have read:

• Don’t let anyone touch you on the morning of an Ironman except other triathletes
• Always have race kit washed and hung up to drip dry the night before the event (guilty here)
• Always say "thank you" to the volunteers (a case can be made that saying thanks is event-universal)
• Pump tires in pre-morning darkness while squinting at pressure gauge so as not to…well you know
• Make sure to touch the finish line three times the day before the race
• Always mount the bike with the right leg
• And, like our road cyclist friends…..when do I shave my legs?

The closing here is that there isn’t a closing and that superstitions or rituals abound whether you are a marathon runner who will only use a particular anti-chafing ointment or a baseball player who spits in his hands. They may possibly define us and can even add a measure of  “order” or a discipline that has become as common as the discipline or practice of running has become in our lives. Maybe the superstitions help us on some level.  Maybe the only differences are how weird yours might be viewed to the world vs. my own, but if it helps us cope with pre-race anxiety or serves our objectives in ways that work only for us, then let weirdness rule and may the athlete within always reign.

Keep calm and run like hell my friends J

-Scott C

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How West Ham United Got All Over the New York Flyers

Terence B

Many people ask me, What's that West Ham thing? And what's it doing in the New York Flyers newsletter, Website, etc.?

That West Ham thing is a weekly recounting of the fortunes of my football team, and we do say "we," as in "We played really well last week," as opposed to the American "The Giants are 4 and O with the puck on the third base of the end zone," or some such speak.

Fact: Did you know that according to Google search-engine optimization, four times as many visitors reach the New York Flyers Website by typing in West Ham United than they do by typing in New York Flyers. Incredible, and true.

So, how did it all come about?

Many years ago president Amy S of the Flyers (at the time she had a Volkswagon beetle that was named the Presimobile (little known fact)) had just assumed the Highest Office in the Land and could no longer compile the weekly newsletter (now fortnightly), too, which in those days, days before people actually slept with Blackberries, was all done by the wondrous technology called e-mail, which was in its infancy...it really wasn't long out of nappies, what you call diapers. So, she asked me if I'd have a go, so I did, on one proviso, a small chunk of it might be dedicated to my other true sporting love, the East London football (you know, you call it soccer) club called West Ham United, which I have supported through its downs and more downs since 1973...and as I write we just lost 1-0 to Southampton.

Initially, there was some confusion. I went down through the news, the results, the upcoming social activities, the bemused wailed, and then came across news of strange people called things like Yossi Benayoun, Marlon Harewood, Bobby Zamora and Dean Ashton. Are they Flyers I've never met? No, they were West Ham players, and you'd just reached the VIWHUI section, an acronym for Very Important West Ham United Information.

This is Marlon Harewood of Hammers Fame (of course)

Some Flyers ignored it completely, but slowly, others, a flowing flock of Flyers, went directly there and by reading between the lines and reading the lines actually learnt the secrets of Life and how to run faster. Some scurrilous bunnies that will remain nameless tried to have the section dismantled, saying, spuriously, that it had nothing to do with running. That's not true. On five occasions in the late 90s, when balls were pumped upfield in the great British hoof-it-and-follow-it technique that means we will never ever win the World Cup again, some West Ham players were witnessed actually running to get the ball before the opposition did. I cannot remember if they succeeded.

Then, for reasons still unfathomable to me but I think caused by an outpouring of sympathy connected with the English Mad Cow Disease epidemic, I was awarded Flyer of the Year in 2001, which I remain eternally proud of and grateful for, and so after that no one could take the VIWHUI away without seeming very mean. Very mean. And so it remains. The stats since we started it are encouraging it, despite us currently playing in the second-highest league, not the highest, that being the Premiership.

Games West Ham have played since VIWHUI started ... 422

Games West Ham have won since VIWHUI started ... 165

Games West Ham have drawn (tied)* since VIWHUI started ... 112

Games West Ham have lost since VIWHUI started ... 145**

Games West Ham have played since VIWHUI started in which Terry Baker scored ... 0

* I know this is a painful, confusing, almost treasonous idea to Americans, except for one crap year of ice hockey

** most of those I seem to remember were last year

I still get asked at races how West Ham are doing and where VIWHUI is, and there is an anecdote of another past president Ed A going to London only to be told by some tiresome irk that Americans do not know anything about the Beautiful Game, only for Ed to reply, yes, I do, Paolo di Canio (one of West Ham's greats and oft-mentioned in VIWHUI) and thus was bought a pint as the tiresome irk happened to be a Hammer, so VIWHUI has also down its bit speading World Peace, and by association that means you have, too. Hurrah!

Ed A Knows Much
About
Hammers and Beer

Today, you have to sort of seach for VIWHUI, but it is still there, still proud, on the font page of the the Flyers' Blog, which can be reached by clicking on the Club Communications link on the Home page.

Now I'll just go and update it.

Come on you Irons, as we say at West Ham. Come on you Flyers, read it!
 
-Terence B

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Dare To Dream

Some runners dream of glory. Some of PRs. Some of finishing a race. Some of post-race beer or ice cream.

Me, here's my latest running dream. I recently had to my knowledge my first ever pre-marathon nightmare as my Debut Chicago Marathon approaches ("debut" -- isn't that the word they use for all of us elite runners the first time we run a particular marathon?).

I was scooting along, nice and speedy, in a field of small and very spread out runners (right, only a handful of runners at the Chicago marathon) when, at about Mile Five, I realized I never took off my throw-away clothes and it was getting hot out there! So, I started to struggle to take them off with the help of married Flyers Heidi C and Don C who magically appeared on the course, like out of a dream. Oh, yeah, I nearly forgot -- it was a dream.

Well, it was taking, like, ten minutes, and I simultaneously was trying to check my Garmin to see how much time I was losing but I couldn't see the screen, and then I realized I also hadn't put any Vaseline or anything on my feet and was going to end up with blisters.

Dave K., the Dreamer

Just as I was deciding if I should turn the race into a fun run, or to try to make up my lost time, I suddenly woke up, realized I'd been dreaming, and sighed with relief in the comfort that I'd have another chance to screw things up in a couple of weeks.

Oy vay! Yet, certainly I'm not the only anxiety-ridden runner out there having weird dreams during this fall marathon season (or seasons prior). So, I hope other Flyers will reply to this post to share their nutty, neurotic, pre-marathon nightmares. -Dave K.

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