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Gear Check

Here you can find an archive of the gear I've reviewed. What may be most telling, however, is the gear I haven't reviewed.

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Base Training the Lydiard Way

This is a post I've been meaning to write for a while, but just haven't really gotten around to it. This is for anyone using the summer to gear up for a fall season of racing, whether that's a marathon, road races, or cross country. That said, this is especially for you high school and college athletes. Summer is the most important time of the season. It's when you build your base -- everything that's to come later in the fall is determined by the quality of this base. In fact, some might even say that your end-of-season peak is limited by how well you trained over the summer. Arthur Lydiard believed this. And his philosophies still form the foundation of modern-day distance training. You've probably heard (and maybe internalized) many of the common critiques of Lydiard-style training: it's old and outdated , or it's too hard, or, most common, it's just a lot of long slow distance. And low slow distance makes for long slow runners . The lat
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MILE BY MILE: Cooldown

I blacked out for just a second. The sudden stop after hours of racing drained all the blood from my head. When I come to, I am being held up by a race official. I am also crying -- or, at least, tears are dripping down my cheeks -- and I don’t know why. Relief at finally being done with this goddamn race? Joy over racing faster and placing better than I ever thought possible? Disappointment about coming so close and then blowing it? All I know right now is that fatigue is just an emotional response to stress, and after 26.2 miles of racing and pacing and surging and slowing and blisters and puking, the fatigue is unbearable. “I’m sorry,” I say, on repeat. “I’m sorry.” To the official holding me up. To anyone around me. To no one in particular. To myself. I don’t any have any other words. “First American!” A disembodied voice around me shouts. “Who is it?” “I-- I don’t know… Not one of our elites!” “Well, someone look up his bib number!” “Pour some water over t
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Why I Love Running At Withrow

One of my favorite places to do workouts and strides and general fast stuff is the track at Withrow High School in Hyde Park. No, it's not because of the newly renovated surface. No, it's not because it's a perfect 10-minute warmup and cooldown jog from my house. No, it's not because I'm a nerd and it has markings for both a 1600 and a mile. No, it's not because the school building forms a perfect "L" around the homestretch and first turn, sheltering the field from any drastic wind. No, it's not because I spent four years during college running workouts there. Actually, wait, that is part of it. The reason I love Withrow's track so much can be summed up like this: it's a true public track. If you've ever been to the track, then you know how packed it can get with people using it. And it's not just Withrow High School teams and random individuals -- the track is also regularly used by many other local high schools witho
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