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RIP Grete

Apr19

The world lost a tremendous athlete and great woman today with the passing of marathon great, Grete Waitz. She had been battling cancer for a few years, but had kept the type of cancer private. When I saw the news of her death this morning, I was saddened. Grete, in her very first marathon, won it and set a new world record. It was the New York City Marathon (which she won NINE times). In many of the stories that I have read about her in the past, I was always inspired. She helped to pave the way for women to be involved in the longer distances.

one of many women who ran the Chicago Marathon last fall

If you know much about the history of running for women, in particular marathons, you know that there are all kinds of crazy myths that were going around that kept women out of these races. Anything from your uterus would fall out to not having the stamina to engage in such a rigorous activity. This always seemed crazy to me that people would think that, but then again, I shouldn’t be surprised.

I am so glad that women such as Grete came around and proved to people that yes, women can do this kind of stuff. And not only do it, but do it well. Yesterday was Patriot’s Day and the 115th running of the Boston Marathon. Racers were on the verge of setting course records. And an American woman came in second in the women’s race. Continue reading →

Such Slow Going

Mar26

I’ve been bad. I haven’t been out running in a few days. I really need to go considering that one week from tomorrow, I have a 10K to run. Surprisingly, I am feeling a tad apprehensive about it because it will be the first actual 10K race I have ever done. Sure, I have run longer distances and shorter distances in races, but for some reason I feel like I have a mental block on the 10K. The plan for the morning is to do 4 miles before getting on with baseball stuff later in the day.

My fantasy baseball league is having our draft tomorrow evening and I am highly unprepared for it. This has to do with being busy with work stuff and writing. I want to get more into the writing I have been doing and maybe even write something that is novel-like and maybe get published. I’ve also lost a bit of interest in playing fantasy baseball this year, mainly because there are some in my league that seem to want to do as much as possible to make my job difficult as commisioner of the league.

In any event, I really do want to try to make Sandy K’s Brothers get to the playoffs this year and succeed. As much fun as it was the first year to put together a team full of Jews, I want to seriously compete just to show up the guys driving me nuts in the league. Of course, this will also probably require me lifting my ban on any players who play or played for the Cubs. Now to go try and figure out who to draft with my crappy draft position this year. Right smack in the middle of the picks — ugh!

no turning back

Feb1

February 1, 2011 will live as a big day in my life. First, registration for the 2011 Chicago Marathon opened at midnight cst. Also, G9 Sports launched. It is now official that the new website that I am covering the White Sox is live and it is called South Side Hit Girl. Feel free to go browse it as well as all of the other sites that cover the various teams in MLB, NBA, NHL, NFL, Soccer and other sports. And feel free to leave me comments and tell me what you think about it.

As for the marathon, I was up at midnight to register because I am “slightly” paranoid that I might not get a spot if I didn’t do it early. Sure enough, the site was crashing as I tried to register, but around 12:45 am, I had my confirmation email sent that I was in fact registered. No turning back now as I will find a way to conquer the hometown race. Especially since I’ve put it out there in the universe for all to know and ask me about later.

Training won’t begin for a few months, but I am already running and prepping for some races such as the Soldier Field 10 as well as the Shamrock Shuffle and a new race that starts at the United Center and ends at US Cellular Field. I will find time to write about the training, etc, but feel free to wonder and prod me as to what I am up to.

In the meantime, go visit G9 Sports and South Side Hit Girl.

Ten 10 Ten

Oct10

October 10, 2010.  A fun date for many because it is 10.1o.10.  Last time that happened was September 9, 2009.  And the other fun date this year was September 2, 2010.  That was beverly hills 90210 day.   In any event, the big fun with today’s 10-10-10 was that it was the Chicago Marathon.  This is my hometown marathon race and it always happens on columbus day weekend.  I have done it previously (more on that in another post) and it is always a fun time.

As I have done in past years, I went to Chinatown to watch the race.  This year, I was actually up early enough that when I arrived at the welcome gate in Chinatown, the only people around were those who were local to the neighborhood and people who were helping to set up for the events.  I really wanted to arrive early because I wanted to see the elite runners, both men and women.  This year’s elite field consisted of some of the best in the world as well as Sammy Wanjiru and Liliya Shobukhova, who were the winners last year.  Shobukhova set a new Russian record today with her time.  Ryan Hall, who was going to run the race pulled out early due to basically being over trained and his training getting progressively worse before the race.  I was sad to see him have to pull out of the race because he is one of the new crop of elite American men who has a very serious shot at winning some of the marathon races instead of it always being a Kenyan to take the title.  It was super cool to see Joan Benoit Samuelson running as well.  She is 53 and was trying to qualify for the olympic trials.  She JUST missed the time, but in the process set a new American record for the 50-54 age group.  Not gonna lie — if I could run that fast now, I would be so excited.  And when I am her age, I’d probably kill to run that fast.  She looked amazing when I saw her run past me in Chinatown.  For complete coverage of the race with all the various stories, such as the fantastic showing by American Women, the stories of Wanjiru and Shobukhova, the 2:11 time of the first American male, etc., check out runner’s world’s coverage as it helped keep me informed while I was on the sidewalk watching and cheering on the runners.

All of the stuff that I saw today was even more impressive because of the temperatures.  It was extremely warm out for running.  In the mid 70s and only going higher.  And I can hear the non-runners out there saying: ‘but wait, if I were to run, wouldn’t you prefer it to be warm?  I mean, who wants to run when it is cold’?  Well, if non-runners were to ever take on such a feat, then you’d realize that running in much, much cooler temperatures would be the ideal.  As you start moving, you start to heat up and if it is also humid outside, it is much harder to cool off as you are running.  The last few years of the Chicago Marathon have been rather warm of late.  In fact, in 2007 it was the warmest time for the race and it actually had to be canceled in the middle of the race which was the right call given the extreme heat and humidity, but also devastating to so many runners doing their first marathon who could not finish as well as to seasoned runners who were used to the heat and humidity and wanted to finish regardless.

The big question is, why do a marathon when there are so many things about it that are so grueling.  Some other common things I hear about running marathons from people who don’t do them are: 1) i hate running [good excuse because if you don’t like something, you will never get wanting to conquer the “gold standard” distance], 2) do you understand how you are damaging your knees, 3) you’re crazy, 4) you’re insane, 5) it is not a real sport, 6) who wants to watch someone exercise, and my personal favorite 7) you know people die running this distance! even the first marathon the guy died!!  All I can usually say to those who don’t understand why people want to do it is that you probably won’t understand until you try it.  Anytime I mention running a race, (which is usually some distance over the usual weekend 5K) I hear some combination of these various excuses that people have.  When I pry a bit deeper about the excuses, I usually find that people think that running hurts and that is why they don’t like it.  I know that running can hurt, but I find that is usually because of not being in the right shoe for that particular runner and once you get soured on something, it is really hard to get yourself motivated to try again.

As for the whole not being a real sport and it being an exercise of watching people exercise, well that is just crazy talk to me.  Running is a huge sport.  If you are defining a sport by it having competition, it absolutely qualifies.  Or as I like to say, if running isn’t a sport, then neither is golf.  If you ever watch a race and see how the top runners jockey for position to win the race and how they go about it, you realize there is a ton of strategy involved.  This strategy involving the elevation of the race course, the temperatures, and the wind conditions.  It is amazing watching what happens to ultimately come out as the top dog in the race.  Not to mention that if you are at such an elite level, you can win some big money coming in as the winner.

Overall, it was a great day (although any race is always great) for cheering on the runners.  I saw a lot of women wearing running skirts, of which I am a fan of.  I also saw a man running barefoot, which is always impressive to see.  I also saw a few people wearing the vibram five finger shoes, which is a way to simulate running barefoot but not actually be barefoot.  It was super fun to see the wheelchair athletes competing as well.  Those men and women have some amazingly strong arms and to see the various types of chairs they had to get through the race was amazing.  I was most impressed by the double amputee who ran.  Seeing a guy like that always makes me grateful for what I can do and am able to do because I am not limited in some way.  Now, I cannot wait to start training for a marathon that I will do next fall.  But first, I need to get my butt in gear for a 5K next month.  What could be a better race than loads of hot chocolate at the end?

CONGRATULATIONS to everyone who ran the Chicago Marathon on 10.10.10 and any other races that happened today!