Run to Win

This week last year was a busy one, and ran a pretty wide range of topics.

• I began the week by continuing the discussion of technology and fitness by describing 7 ways to time workouts. This article ran the technological ladder from using the sun to using an RFID chip on your shoe.
• In a very unique race, 56 people ran blind in the Vision 5k. Half of them were actually blind and the other half were sighted runners taking the blindfold challenge. This would be a fun race for me and one that I believe that I could do well at, except that I can’t afford the time to get down to Boston multiple times for mandatory “training” sessions.
• Almost 4 months before Ryan Shay died in the Olympic Trials, I discussed whether running a road race will kill you. I still believe that running is inherently healthy and that the infinitesimal chance of having a heart attack is not something that I am personally going to worry myself about.
• On a lighter note, I followed up that morbid discussion by defining some common running terms that you may encounter. Specifically, I defined what it means to get “girled” or “geezered” in a race. Sadly, I did not hear any of the women at the Maine Coast Half Marathon complain about getting “guyed”.
• On a non-running related note, I shared my thoughts on attending minor league games, specifically baseball games.
• This week two years ago was pretty busy.
  • Nick had a great suggestion that I wish that I had done. He suggested that you take before and after pictures for new exercise programs. When you are starting a new program, there may be some aches and pains, so remember to ice early and ice often.
  • When in a training program, be sure to include some downhill running. Last year I provided a half dozen benefits to doing so. You should also remember that the best runs come when you least expect them, such as the morning after your bachelor party.
  • I reviewed the Vitruvian Running Shoes. In other shoe news, the Nike+ system launched.
• This week 3 years ago, I reviewed Thorlos socks and I got punched by an Olympic Gold Medalist. My wife also did a workout that I would never even attempt, and it was only the first workout of the day. Even 3 years later, I wouldn’t attempt that kind of a workout. I’m still amazed by it.

Bryan at the Chicago Minor League Review has a great article on the differences between a major league and a minor league baseball game. In particular, he recommends that you enjoy the decreased cost and stress of attending minor league games, along with a few pointers of how to get the most out of your experience.

I am a huge fan of the minor leagues, not least because these players tend to have more to play for than you see in the major leagues. This is true across all sports, and not just baseball. The skill levels will vary quite a bit more, but the games are still a lot of fun. They are also much easier and cheaper to attend and are usually much more family-friendly than major league games.

Attending the minor league games tends to put more money into your local community, as well, especially for baseball. Because the team salaries are provided from the major league team affiliations, it is easier for minor league teams to be “profitable” even if there is a net loss, and that extra money makes it easier for teams to afford the rent or leases for the stadiums or to provide for programs in the local communities.

Keep an eye on your local team’s websites or the local sports talk radio. You’ll be able to find out what promotions are coming up in the near future. You never know when one of the top names in the game might drop down for a rehab start, and it is always a lot of fun to watch your favorite local players get called up and make a difference at the major league level.

How often do you go to minor league games? When you have a few moments, drop by Bryan’s site and find out how to attend a minor league baseball game. Let me know what you think.

This week last year saw a good range range of topics relating to weight lifting, football and baseball.

• I demonstrated how to do a 1-arm dumbbell bench press in my animated series. I also retooled my beginner workout to fit the new gym layout, and then decided that the retooled version is not so beginner friendly. I have since given up on that particular workout now since I tend to avoid the machines and stick to free weights.
• Also weight lifting related, I reviewed Mead Memo books. They are small, they are simple, and it is hard to go wrong with using one as a training log or workout planner in the weight room. I am just about near the end of the one that I was using last year at that time. I had started using it about two weeks before then.
• I saw some research that exercise can help prevent depression.
• In football news, Jerome Bettis retired after the Steelers won the Super Bowl and the NFL tried to defend the officiating during the game. I tried to analyze the meaning behind the Texans extending David Carr’s contract for 3 more years, but I was way wrong and none of the scenarios that I outlined actually came to pass.
• The city of Anaheim lost their court case against the Angels when the courts decided that the team did not have to change their name. In humorous baseball news, the Lowell Spinners attempted to get all of the youth baseball leagues in New England to get rid of the Yankees teams and change their names to the Spinners.

There seems to be a lot going on in the minors, this year. With the increased cash flow of minor league baseball teams, they have been able to break free of some of their affiliations for more advantagous positions with other teams.

With Allentown building a new baseball stadium, the Phillies affiliation with Scranton/Wilkes Barre is leaving town. They will still have a team there, it will just be affiliated with the Yankees rather than the Phillies. That leave Columbus open, which is where the Nationals are moving their farm team. Baltimore is kicking the Mets out of Norfolk so they can move their team out of Ottawa, which gives the Phillies somewhere to park their team until 2008 when their new stadium in Allentown is ready. The Mets are moving their AAA team to New Orleans.

This moves everybody closer to the MLB team they are affiliated with except for the Mets, who got run out of town. That’s a lot of shake up for only one level down from the majors.

(Source: Sports Biz)

The Portland Sea Dogs and the Trenton Thunder continued their playoff series last night in Portland, Maine. Hideki Matsui is still on rehab assignment to Trenton after breaking his wrist in May, but he was unable to bring another victory to the Thunder. The Sea Dogs won 5 to 4 despite a ninth inning attempt at coming back by Trenton. Matsui was left on deck when the final out of the game was achieved.

That was a fun game last night. In years past I have gotten to a lot of the Sea Dogs games since I lived right across town. This year, I moved away from the peninsula before the season started and was just way too busy with the whole getting moved and getting married business to make it to any games. At least we made it to one game, though.

Hideki Matsui was certainly the highlight of the game. Every at bat was met with cheers and jeers; there was a pretty good Trenton crowd in the stands. It was perfect weather for a baseball game.

It is now time to highlight what I wrote about at this time last year.

• I reviewed Thorlos socks, which I have since bought a few extra pairs of.
• I wrote about a really tough double where my girlfriend (now, soon to be wife!) swam 75 laps on the minute in the morning and did mile repeats in the evening.
• I wrote about how little the MLB All-Star game meant to me, despite their “This one counts” slogan, and how much I enjoyed going to the AA Eastern League All-Star game despite it not meaning anything in the long run.
• Race results from the Yarmouth Clam Festival Classic, and how during that race I was punched by an Olympic Gold Medalist.

The baseball All Star game this year has come and past, and the Clam Festival is still a week off. I still would not be able to do that double with swimming and mile repeats, but this year neither can my fiance.

Bode Miller is going to play professional baseball for the Nashua Pride after signing a 1 day contract to play on July 29^th.

“I have just started my foundation over the last several months, and to be able to play professional baseball and have my foundation in some small way help the Lance Armstrong Foundation in its fight against cancer, it’s going to be an awesome day,” Miller said in a statement released by the Pride. The team said it will donate at least $5,000 from ticket sales for the game to Miller’s Turtle Ridge Foundation, which will give the money to the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

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For the first time in 56 years, Bob Sheppard misses opening day at Yankee Stadium. He threw out his hip on Monday night and will miss the three game series against Kansas City, but hopes to be back for the homestand against Baltimore on April 21.

“I am very disappointed that I will miss my first Opening Day at Yankee Stadium since I began this job in 1951,” Sheppard said. “I am optimistic that I will return to the Stadium for the next homestand.”

Shepperd has been the public address announcer since 1951, and will be replaced by his backup Jim Hall.