Ultramarathon Daily News, Tue, Apr 26

Ultramarathon Daily News

Once again, Mario’s Morning Shakeout is on point today.  I agree with him 100% on the beauty of foot racing, whether it be on road, track, or trail, and right now, Zach Miller and Kawauchi exemplify what it is to race.

Alright, this surgeon makes a great argument for having/needing a coach, but I’m still not interested.  Running is my time, and I don’t want it controlled by anyone but me.

Magness offers some great insight into why and how pacemakers and drafting works in track and road races.  It’s not about the wind drag, but rather the “switching off” of the brain to let someone else struggle with the pace. I wonder to what extent the same holds true for MUT races? How would a pacer (as in pacemaker) affect the outcome of some of our prestige races?  I know for me, if I’m able to latch on to a group or person to run with I perform remarkably better, but I’ve got a bad habit of getting lost in No Man’s Land and having to do the tough mental work by myself. You?

Bubble Boy’s got a fat fine and possible jail time.

Guillaume ran Marathon des Sables this month and put together a 360′ video of his experience. Two things: Really cool video shows what it’s like out there. Other thing: Doesn’t look like the race for me.

This is exactly why discussing steroids, bans, commissions, and testing is so frustrating.  Again, we can’t agree on what “doping” is, we can’t agree on who should be tested, who should be exempt, when they should be tested, who decides what the results show, whether they should be banned, what they should be banned from, and how long the suspension should take place.  My stance: It comes down to intent, and that’s a very, very tough thing to judge.

But while we’re on the subject of dopers, looks like Lance is now infecting OCRs with his presence.

Here’s an ultramarathon in Shangri-La next month with some serious vert.  To note, on the required gear checklist: Portable oxygen tank.

My apologies for not getting back to emails: Working on 2 podcasts (one in the can, one tomorrow), four shoe reviews (Brooks, Hoka, Montrail, Salomon), one tech review (Spot3), two beer reviews, and a race recap from this weekend.

Help!

Speaking of which….any experienced female reviewers who wear an 8.5 want to help out with a review of a maxi hybrid shoe? Shoot me a message here. Thanks.