Sunday Run

Anyone up for a long run tomorrow, just get up with me.  


Nothing too early, I want to give the sun time to warm things up a little bit... 


Thinking a couple hours +/- with Henry.  


You know you want to run with us....

Gene Doping? Really?

A story on gene doping aired on today's "Talk of the Nation, Science Friday" on NPR.  Apparently, this is projected to be the next big thing in sports cheating. 

Why worry about buying EPO when you can have gene therapy to just make more of it in your body?  I guess I shouldn't be surprised...  Sports Illustrated had a little blurb in the latest issue that 30 people were disqualified from a Chinese marathon for using public transportation and / or giving their timing chip to a faster runner.  You also hear about the stunts of age groupers in little local races.  So, if this is what people will do for a silly little trophy, the lure of gene doping would probably be even more attractive when a sponsorship deal with Wheaties is on the line...

However, what happens to your body when you have been producing unnaturally high levels of EPO or any other compound for years?  Will Dr. Frankenstein turn off your genetic modifications after your competitive years?  

I was also horrified to hear that there is a Pro-Doping Agency.  The guest on the program (Theodore Friedmann with the World Anti-Doping Agency) indicated that these clowns even favor allowing people to have surgical implants such as webbing (think swimmers) to improve performance.    

You can hear the story here.

BTW - If I place at the Boston Marathon, check my pockets for a T pass...

More Barefoot / Midfoot Thoughts

Continuing the thoughts of the previous post, the following links arrived in my inbox recently and thought might be of interest:


"Running Barefoot Kicks Up Mixed Emotions"


"Run Softly, Naturally"


I do disagree with Mr. Plaatjes quoted in the first link.  He owns the Boulder Running Company, where I first found relief from my horrendous form.  They sold me a motion control shoe and ignored the root cause of the problem (i.e. my form).  This worked for a while, but eventually caught up with me.  I have since taken several steps down in support, even doing some of my running barefoot or in the Vibram 5 Fingers.  Note that the root cause (bad technique) had to be addressed during this process.  


That said, I don't think I would go from a motion control shoe to running a marathon barefoot.  Patience and working gradually is probably advised...