Quick Splits
— There’s a lot in the media worth rolling my eyes about these days but when a writer from the Wall Street Journal who runs to “push my limits” but has plateaued because “standard training protocols—run a ton, eat right, rest well, repeat—didn’t seem to be enough anymore” and then starts singing the praises of pressurized spaceship-like pods to boost VO2 max, puffy boots to massage sore muscles, infrared saunas to relieve inflammation, smart water bottles to control fluid intake, and other such nonsense, I might need just someone to help me pick my eyeballs off the floor after they’ve fallen out of my head. This article by Ashley Mateo is not only irresponsible and just plain wrong on a number of levels, it’s representative of the “quick fix” culture we live in today and sends the wrong message about what it really takes to improve performance. The products and protocols she’s promoting in the article aren’t responsible for elite marathoners achieving times they once thought impossible—and any elite marathoner worth his or her salt would tell you as much. (It’s also interesting that not one of them was quoted in the article.) Look, but I’ve been around this sport long enough to know that none of these “one percenters” make a lick of difference unless you’ve really nailed the other 95 percent first: run a lot—some of it hard, most of it fairly easy—sleep 7-9 hours a night, eat a healthy diet, and do all of these things for a very long time. Or, in other words, keep repeating all the “standard training protocols” Mateo laments in the fourth paragraph of the article. Long-distance running is a sport that rewards consistency, patience, and resilience. I don’t care if you’re trying to sneak under 4 hours in the marathon or aiming to break 2, you cannot hack your way to real improvement or expect breakthroughs to happen overnight. Running doesn’t work that way. Heck, most things in life don’t work that way. As John L. Parker Jr., wrote in his seminal novel, Once A Runner: “What was the secret, they wanted to know; in a thousand different ways they wanted to know The Secret. And not one of them was prepared, truly prepared to believe that it had not so much to do with chemicals and zippy mental tricks as with that most unprofound and sometimes heart-rending process of removing, molecule by molecule, the very tough rubber that comprised the bottoms of his training shoes. The Trial of Miles, Miles of Trials. How could they be expected to understand that?”
— I could watch Eliud Kipchoge documentaries all day. Part II of the INEOS 1:59 Challenge Series is really good and provides an awesome behind-the-scenes look at how he prepares at his training camp in Kaptagat, Kenya. Kipchoge is obviously one of the most impressive athletes of our generation, but the esteem that his coach and training partners hold him in is remarkable in itself and something to admire. “So I mean he is more than that athlete that we call Eliud Kipchoge,” says his longtime coach, Patrick Sang. “He is an inspiration to all aspects of life.”
— A couple months after her powerful New York Times’ opinion piece speaking out against the lack of support she received from her sponsor, Nike, when she became pregnant with her first child, sprinter Allyson Felix signed an apparel contract with Athleta as that company’s first sponsored athlete. It was a good get by Athleta, which, by virtue of signing Felix, is making its first official foray into track and field. It will be interesting to see which (if any) other track athletes the company adds to its roster, or if it diversifies its sponsored athlete lineup to include a number of women from different sports/domains. I’d say the latter is more likely given the brand’s DNA and reach, but we’ll see. Given her stature as one of track's most decorated athletes, Felix’s new arrangement—which centers around protections during maternity and promoting her as more than an athlete but also a mother and an activist—will hopefully move the needle across the sport in regard to what sponsorship can look like for women moving forward.
+ Leta Shy wrote a great profile of Felix for SELF (n.b. that may be the first time I’ve ever linked to that publication in this newsletter) that digs deeper into the advocacy role Felix has undertaken for black mothers after she experienced complications from preeclampsia, a pregnancy disorder that almost cost her and her unborn baby their lives. This aspect of Felix’ story is interesting, important, and not talked about nearly enough. “I would love to see a black woman who is fully educated: becomes pregnant, starts a family,” Felix says. “Is fully educated about all of these risks and is fully equipped to go to the doctor. To be able to ask questions. Advocate for themselves if they need to. Have all the tools to be able to face whatever comes at them. And not to feel like they didn't see it coming, or to be in a situation [in which] they feel uncomfortable and unsure and have to make rush decisions.”
— The Olympic Marathon races in Tokyo will take place about a year from now and the weather conditions will be pretty nasty, according to Brett Larner of the excellent Japan Running News blog. Larner, who lives in Japan, went for a test run on the course last week and ran into a number of Japanese athletes who will be vying for a spot on the team at next month’s Japanese Trials. Temperatures last week hovered around 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) with high humidity at the planned start time of 6 AM. Talk about a home-course advantage! It will be brutal enough to stand out there and watch, never mind race.
— After my commentary last week on the dismal attendance at the U.S. Track and Field Championships in Des Moines, I’d like to share Michelle Sammet’s Tweet about this past weekend’s German Athletics Championships. (Spoiler: The Germans have it figured out.)
— Speaking of meets that have it figured out, there were two great grassroots events on opposite ends of the globe over the weekend: the Sir Walter Miler in Raleigh, NC and the SOAR X Mile in London. (Check out photos from Sir Walter Miler here and the SOAR X Mile here.) It was all mile, all night at both events: Incredible atmospheres, great competitions and passionate crowds lining the track. I really believe these smaller, non-traditional, more focused meets are the future of the sport and essential for generating excitement and growing a fan base. Everyday athletes on up get the opportunity to compete in a festival like atmosphere throughout the day and then the best of the best headline at the end of the night. And it’s not just the mile! The recent Night of 10K PBs is another event that does this format well. I’ve seen also pole vaulting and jumping events held as the center of attention in city squares and “street races” like the adidas Boost Boston Games and Great City Games in the UK are unique and interesting twists on the traditional track meet.
— The Swiss Supreme Court reversed its decision from two months ago and reimposed hormone restrictions for women competing in events from 400m on up, meaning Caster Semenya of South Africa will not be able to compete in her signature event, the 800m, at this summer’s World Championships without undergoing hormone therapy. It’s not looking good for Semenya, according to longtime running writer Amby Burfoot, who wrote, “If the long, drawn-out battle between the IAAF and Caster Semenya were a baseball game, we’d be in the bottom of the ninth now. Semenya at bat. Trailing by…let’s just say, a lot of runs.” In short: she’s likely going to run out of time—most certainly for this summer’s world championships and possibly for next summer’s Olympic Games. This is a complicated issue and it won’t be resolved anytime soon. I think my friend Sam Robinson put it best: “In a sport that takes pride in its simplicity, the problem of DSD and intersex athletes complicates decades of cultural assumptions about gender that structured athletics along binary lines,” he writes. “Even worse: the issue will be decided through an opaque legal system that most have never heard of, for reasons that few will understand.”
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