Running Shorts

In trying to capture the running spirit of days past, I've been especially interested in reading about some of the historic greats. Ah who am I kidding? I'm always interested in learning about running history, but allow me to indulge myself a bit. My interest in doing this particular one was piqued after reading a thread on the r/running  subreddit (yes, I'm a redditor) that was about New Balance shoes. New Balance recently launched a new line of shoes named " Vazee ," and the poster mentioned he had no idea where that name came from. Turns out the name is in reference to a French slang term, " vas-y ," which essentially means "Go!" or "Go for it!" Having worked at a running store, I'd heard this spiel before, but I had to learn more. Not only is the name a fancy French word, but it is also a reference to a popular cheer for former mile world record-holder Michel Jazy (the rhyme really is catchy, it's easy to see why it be

For those of you deep in the running industry, you may have heard the story that's rocking the US domestic track and field scene. For those of you who haven't read about it, Nike is suing 800m runner Boris Berian for breach of contract. Letsrun has great coverage of the story; here's a link to it. (Sidebar: When is there not  some off-track story rocking the track world? Jeez.) I'm not going to go into my opinions on the story or rehash any of the details here, but I think it brings up an important issue in the sport that everyone wants but no one actually talks about: sponsorship . Every athlete enters to the post-collegiate world wanting some sort of sponsorship, even though just the word "sponsorship" has a nebulous definition. Does it mean a full, professional-scale salary? Gear and a small stipend? Performance bonuses? A pair of free shoes here and there? A logo on a jersey? The real definition is all of the above, which is incredibly confusing. E

"Connective tissue is what gets all runners in the end ." Bruce Denton, Once a Runner It may not be the end, but connective tissue is what has laid me up for the past month. After the disaster of the LA Trials, I just wanted to race again. I did; four races in five weeks: two 5ks, one 10k, and then a 10 miler. All of it was leading up the Flying Pig Marathon, redemption day. That all unraveled at the end of March with a tight Achilles that just got worse the more I ran on it. For most of April, I was down from running 95 miles a week to running just three days per week: one normal run, one workout, and one long run. I was trying to do just enough  to get to marathon day okay. But if there's one thing I learned for good (which I knew already, but chose to ignore), it's that you can't fake a marathon. You're not just racing against yourself and your competitors; you're also racing against the distance. On that day, the marathon won. Flying P