Haile Gebrselassie
ANCIENT OLYMPIA, Greece — The Olympic marathon in Beijing won't be tarnished by world record-holder Haile Gebrselassie's decision to skip the event because of pollution concerns, IOC president Jacques Rogge said in an interview with the Associated Press.
"While I regret the absence of Haile Gebrselassie, I respect his decision. But the Games are far stronger than the individual. The marathon will be a great success and there will be a great champion."
The 34-year-old Ethiopian runner, a two-time Olympic 10,000-meter champion, said earlier this month he won't run the marathon at the Beijing Games because of the city's air pollution, heat and humidity. He may still run in the 10,000.
"It's going to be the hardest marathon in history," said Gebrselassie, who holds the world record of two hours four minutes 26 seconds.
Pollution - in addition to the violence in Tibet and other human rights issues - has been a major concern for China and the International Olympic Committee in the lead up to the August Olympics. Some athletes are reportedly considering wearing masks to ward off the bad air in Beijing.
While Belgian tennis star Justine Henin has expressed concern that the pollution could aggravate her asthma, Rogge said the four-time French Open champion will definitely compete in Beijing and her "No. 1 goal" of the year is to win the gold medal.
The IOC released data last week indicating that air quality in Beijing is better than expected, but athletes in outdoor endurance events could face risks.
Rogge said the figures show there is "no danger whatsoever" for athletes competing in high-intensity events lasting under an hour, but that those involved in endurance events longer than that - such as the marathon, road cycling and triathlon - could be affected by poor air.
Rogge reiterated that if pollution levels surpass a certain threshold, those events could be postponed until the air clears. The men's marathon is traditionally held on the final day of the Games.
"We could easily postpone for a couple of hours or start at an earlier hour. I'm not very worried about that."
I am an age grouper, plain and simple. As a matter of fact I am the 3rd fasted runner in my age group in the area regardless of distance. How do I know this? Because I have come in 3rd in my age group in 15 out of 20 races. In two years I will move to 5th unless someone gets hurt. This is one of the things you learn as a regular on the local running tour.
You get to know every guy your age group that races regularly. You start to categorize them them into 3 categories:
- Guys I always beat.
- Guys I will never beat.
- Guys that it might beat, depending on how the day is going.
When you get to the race you take a look around and count them out. I usually know what place I'll come in before I even run. For races with good swag I pray that the category 2 runners have a little league game to go to so I can get the $2.75 trophy.
Birthdays are wonderful days. I am not talking about my birthday but the birthdays of the guys that are older and faster. There is nothing more rewarding than the fast 39 year old celebrating his 40th birthday. Instantly you become a contender. You didn't gain an ounce of speed yet you move up on the podium. You might say, what about the guys moving up into your age group? This is how I know you're new to the age group thing. I'm 38, the perfect age. The 30-35 category is competitive but only because of the low 30 guys. The 30-35 category is not as competitive as the 35-39 age group. Similarlly, the 40-45 age group is a lot faster than the 35-39 group. It's after 45 that things start to slow down.
Playing against this "graduation" play is Boston. It's the dream of the age grouper. They problem with this scenario is it is based on time. You only get extra time as you get older. I am training with the "just hold on" method. Sure I can get faster but why not just stay the same speed and get older? It's a much easier way of doing it right? You may not get faster but you always get older.
I have the privilege next year of having the Illinois Marathon running through my backyard here in Champaign Urbana. The inaugural run of the marathon will be on April 25 and I will certainly take part as long as I'm healthy. The marathon website is not very informative at this point. Registration opens on June 1st and that's about the only info they're giving out so far unless you want to give them money and be a sponsor. They have plenty of info on that. Which brings me to the point.
The Illinois Marathon is a for-profit race that is owned by the same company that owns the legendary Fargo Marathon (sarcasm). Despite this, I expect this to be one of the finest marathons around. The people of Champaign Urbana are some of the nicest you'll ever meet. The local students support all the athletic events and will certainly show up to watch, volunteer, and run. Local businesses are also supporting the event. Body and Sole, the local running store, will make sure that all runners within 100 miles know about the event. This race could soon be in competition with Indianapolis, Chicago, and St. Louis to become the biggest spring marathon in the Midwest after Grandma's.
A few highlights of the course: flat as a pancake because we don't even have a hill in Champaign Urbana. The only way you'll see a hill is if they make you run a parking garage. You'll also get to finish at the 50 yard line of Memorial Stadium. Not quite the Speedway of Indy or running the bases at Wrigley but still going to be a great finish.
I got this bad news yesterday. From the Associated Press:
Huh?
Athletes who take human growth hormone may not be getting the boost they expected.
While growth hormone adds some muscle, it doesn't appear to improve strength or exercise capacity, according to a review of studies that tested the hormone in mostly athletic young men.
"It doesn't look like it helps and there's a hint of evidence it may worsen athletic performance," said Dr. Hau Liu, of Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, Calif., who was lead author of the review.
Researchers found that those who got the hormone put on about 5 pounds more of muscle, and lost about 2 pounds more of fat, although the fat loss wasn’t statistically different. The researchers said some of the extra body mass could just be fluid buildup.
There was no difference found in strength or exercise stamina between the two groups, but there were only two strength studies and eight that measured exercise. Those who got the hormone had more side effects including swelling and fatigue.
So let me get this straight. I'm going to have to rely on diet and training to become a better runner? I can't afford EPO so it looks like I am actually going to have to put in the miles. Looks like my one bottle of HGH and 1 mile run routine is going to have to be replaced with the 70 mile week again. I am still not going to stop wearing my Speedo that came with the HGH.
I have been waiting for four month to run in shorts. Running at the indoor track doesn't count. I'm a layering kind of guy and boy did I ever layer this winter. One drifit shirt with long sleeve t-shirt over that, followed by a winter jacket. For the lower half, I had the old stretch pants with the sweats on top. This is my 5 degree to 32 degree outfit which pretty much meant I wore it the entire winter.
When I run my long runs I really don't notice the difference of the added clothes but not so in the speed workouts. I feel like I'm wearing a parachute while dragging a tire. So when I got to put on some shorts this week I felt like I lost 20 pounds. Whether or not I ran faster is not the point. I felt like I can and it inspired me to run an extra day this week. The warmer air and the other runners get my running juices flowing. I find it impossible to get up at 4:45 every morning when it is 10 degrees out but have no problem rising and shining at 40 degrees. I move more, sleep better, and because of it, I'm happier. Some bring it on, Spring, I have some fast running to do.
