Run to Win

Have you ever wondered what it is like to be a part of an athletic program that has recently moved from Division III to Division I? RIT’s hockey program is in their second season of Division I, which does not leave them eligible for the post season until next year when they finish their probationary period. However, this does not mean that they can’t try to win their division. Jim Mandelaro of the Democrat and Chronicle went behind the scenes at a recent win against UConn to describe what it is like throughout the day of the program.

The Tigers are the surprise of the Atlantic Hockey Association, but this is a weekend on the brink. Friday’s stunning defeat concerns Wilson. Immediately after that loss, Wilson and his assistants watched the game on tape until 11:30 p.m. “He wouldn’t have done that if they had won,” says sports information director Steve Jaynes. “It really bothered him.”

Wilson calls it “the most frustrating loss of the season.”

“We have to turn it around tonight,” he says.

I have only gotten to one RIT hockey game since I graduated, and that was a women’s game up here in Maine. I am planning on getting down to Boston for the last game of the season (possible for the last two games) and to watch a track meet that is also happening that weekend. I recommend taking a look at the article (linked below) if you are interested in seeing the pictures or reading the hour by hour summary of the day.

(Source: D & C » An inside look at the Tigers in their second year as a Division I hockey team)

Dirigo running club went down to the Florida Keys this past weekend to run the Half Shells half marathon, and managed a 1-2-3 sweep.

KEY WEST — For the second consecutive year, runners from Maine dominated the Half Shell 1/2 Marathon although the change in climate was a rough transition for some.

Last year David Weatherbie, from Cape Elizabeth, was first overall and appeared to be headed for his second-straight title, but Dirigo Running Club teammate Mike Payson, from Falmouth, passed Weatherbie near the eight-mile mark on College Road and finished one-minute ahead with a 1:18:14 time to take top honors over 432 total finishers in the ninth annual event.

Peter Bottomley, also from Cape Elizabeth, made it a clean sweep with third place, running a time of 1 hour, 22 minutes and 36 seconds over the 13.1-mile course, which started and finished at Lands End Marina.

All in all, there were 9 Maine finishers in the top 50. That is not too shabby of a turn out, even without Dirigo leading the rest of the pack by almost 4 minutes.

Michelle Weiler won the women’s race in just over 90 minutes, almost 3 minutes ahead of second place Brenda Wilson.

(Sources: Race Results - KeysNews.com [registration required])

In a collaborative effort with Scott over at Straight to the Bar, we will wrote about exercise equipment throughout the month of January.

This week, Scott provides an excellent overview of how to set up your home gym. He starts out describing the benefits of a home gym over a commercial gym, and the basic equipment that you will want to get your gym started. As well as more advanced equipment or equipment alternatives, he also talks about features of your gym such as what music to play (and how to listen to it) and to consider setting up your gym outdoors.

If you have ever thought of starting a home gym, you should check out the article. My own home gym is pretty neglected right now, since I go to a commercial gym. I have a weight bench, swiss ball, bars, dumbbells and plates. Very basic, but it suits my needs when I do not want to go out. I have a pull up bar somewhere, as well, but I haven’t thought of where to mount it quite yet.

I went to watch the Boston Indoor Games this evening, and it was great. There was a lot of really good competition, and we got to see numerous meet and national records, as well as a world record 5k.

Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopa absolutely crushed her old mark of 14:32.93 set two years ago. She ran over 5 seconds faster in 14:27.42! It was a great race. The rabbits, Bridget Binning and Marina Muncan led through the first two kilometers right on pace, and Tiru finished strong to absolutely demolish her own time. We kept watching to see if she would implode; it was very exciting.
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There was a lot of news this week last year, most of which was good with some big announcements.

• I demonstrated how to do a dumbbell bench press in my animated series.
• The World Marathon Majors were announced, the first year of races having passed since then. And I was completely wrong about my prediction on not running Boston for a few years; it will be this year’s spring marathon! In other announcements, the Tour de France starts in London this year.
• Eleanora Berlanda had Olympic torch stolen from her. In other news you’d rather not have to hear about, BC Basketball team accidently killed a bicyclist on their way to practice.
• Bode Miller couldn’t leave well enough alone and decided to call out Bonds and Armstrong.
• In NFL news, I was not happy with the NFL playoffs disappointed me, and it was announced that the NFL Network will keep people from being able to watch 8 games this season. Had Time Warner not taken over my local cable company, I would have been able to watch them.

I did not lose my wedding ring at the pool today, but I am certainly going to remember to remove it the next time before I get in the water. It never left my finger, but not through lack of trying.

Today was the first time that I got in the pool for about a year or so (a little less). I went outside for lunch today and was lamenting that I had not brought my running clothes, as it was nicer than I had thought it would be. Not having running clothes forced me to go swimming on my lunch break instead, though, and I am glad that it did.

The pool was not too crowded, and I only had to share a lane for the last 5 or 10 minutes or so. I managed to swim for my entire 30 minutes. Not only that, but I didn’t get too fatigued and spaghetti-armed like I thought that I would. I swam 5 laps farther than I had expected to when I got in the water. The trick now is going to be to make it a regular activity.

My goal is for at least 3 or 4 days a week to get over to the locker room. If the weather is conducive to running near traffic, then I will get a bit over 5 miles in running. If not, then I will go swimming and see how much I can improve over the next few months. Add that to at least 2 to 3 morning workouts at the gym each week and as many evening and weekend runs as I can fit in, and I should get in pretty good shape in fairly short order.

The only downside to swimming is that my chili at lunch and my shrimp at dinner will taste like chlorine. Oh well. As an added bonus, I did not have to deal with somebody that does not know basic lap swimming rules today.

A fresh new year tends to bring a less competitive season to those of us in the Northern hemisphere. As such, it is a good time to remind ourselves of why we race, as well as how we race. Winter races, at least for me, tend to be more of a social affair than a competitive one. It is a good time to practice good racing etiquette, and to get the habits instilled in you so that you do not forget yourself when you are late in the season and can not spare your attention from the task at hand.

As such, here are some unwritten rules to always keep in mind when you are running a road race. Unless you are told otherwise by a race director, following these rules will make their jobs easier and your race more enjoyable.
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The NFL and the NFL Players Association have reached an agreement earlier today to improve testing for steroids and other performance enhancing drugs.

The modifications include a 40 percent increase in the number of players randomly tested each week during the preseason, regular season and post-season from seven to 10 per team. Last year, the number of random offseason tests was increased from a maximum of two per player to six per player. These changes bring the total number of steroid tests conducted annually by the NFL to 12,000.

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