This week last year I had marathons on my mind.

  • The Chicago Marathon just can not catch a break these past few years. This year there was the debacle with the heat and canceling the race, but last year Robert Cheruiyot slipped on a race decal and split his head open. His momentum carried his torso over the line, though, and he still won the race. The videos that I linked to last year are still available if you somehow missed this story.
  • Blaine Moore at the finish of the Endurance 50Dean Karnazes ran the Maine leg of his Endurance 50 with his 31st marathon in as many days. I got to watch the start and finish of it, but I did not run. (Photos)
  • Dallen thinks that weekly mileage is a good predictor of when you will hit the wall. I disagree with that assessment, as I have managed to avoid hitting the wall pretty consistently and my weekly mileage is much lower than his. I think that the wall is based more on your fueling strategy as long as you have a basic level of fitness for the distance.
  • In non-marathon running news, Dirigo won the masters cross country championship for the 40-49 category after defeating the Genesee Valley Harriers. One of my college teammates now runs for them, but neither of us are masters yet so we didn’t race. One of my current teammates, Tom Ryan, won the 50+ race in 16:25.
  • Scott and I continued our series on rest with an article on this site about rest between workouts and cross training. Giving your body a chance to repair itself is important if you ever want to improve in your sport.
  • This week two years ago, I described what hyponatremia is and why I do not think that it is worth as much attention as people spend on it. I also reviewed the Marathon Rookie eBook and website, which I believe is a pretty good primer on gearing up for your first marathon.