Sex Sex Sex

Sex Sex Sex
What is going on? And how do I get in on it?
I was a bit taken aback when Runner’s World first changed their long-standing format a few years back. Maria Rodale took over the board of her family publishing house and brought in some modernization.
Dave Wiley took over from Amby Burfoot as editor of the Runner’s World franchise and brought in some new ideas. Gone was the cultish magazine for hard core runners. In came the modern magazine. It was part of a portfolio of corporate publications that he could sell to a broader market.
No longer did they have to make do with selling ads to poor struggling race directors. Now they could sell glossy fold outs to big pharmaceutical companies and car concerns.
Overnight we old-timers saw our clubby little rag transmogrified into the “Woman’s Day” of running. It became a massive ad-filled tome. The content became more general and, truth be told, more professional.
The font size dropped to 8 points and some of our favorite columnists were disappeared like Russian agitators. We were also treated to the “continued on page 123” syndrome where in order to finish the article you have to hunt for the last two paragraphs in the back, by the 1 inch ads. The front cover screamed things like “LOSE 20 POUNDS IN A WEEK!” You’d look for that article only to find that it was a single paragraph sidebar in some unrelated piece.
The writers and photographers were now actual writers and photographers, not runners who also wrote and took pictures. In that sense the journalistic quality went up, but something of the purity, honesty and authenticity was lost.
My biggest shock came when I discovered there, among the two-page hay fever pill ads, a full page spread for Viagra! Wow! What demographic was I now part of? I just assumed as runners we all have pretty good health and blood flow, so to speak…but, I guess maybe some of the back-of-the-packers were down in the pecker.
I decided I was just being an old fart and fighting change. I renewed my subscription, started enjoying Kristen Armstrong’s thoughts and ignored the pesky commercialism. They have a right to make money. If some company wants to cough up the bucks to misplace their ad-spend, why not put it towards spreading the word about running?
And thus we agreed, Runner’s world and I, to a state of détente. They agreed to keep taking my money and I agreed to bitch about the stupider aspects of the publication. This comfortable arms length relationship has continued now for a few years. It must get to them though, having to write that same article on the “10 Weight Loss Tips” or whatever over and over.
It was with great surprise this week that I found something new in the magazine which spun me for a loop. I found myself reading an ad for Adam and Eve adult products in my favorite running magazine.
I thought I was pretty well tied in to the running community but it seems like I’m missing something. Is there a partner-swapping fun group of runners out there looking to stock up on fuzzy hand cuffs and dildos? Wow, I’m going to be looking at my mates a little differently down at the Sunday morning club runs… And all this time I thought they were sore from speed work and long runs.
The only real thing this proves is that I’m a naïve dope. A famous philosopher said you should only write about what you know, so I’m going have to stop this discussion here and let someone else take over.
Looks like a cold rain for my 50 miler this weekend. That’s like a cold shower right?
See you out there!
C-,
Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy. Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack. Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com. Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners. ChrisRunner@runrunlive.com

In the Ultra-Taper – It’s not that scary…

In the Ultra-Taper – It’s not that scary…
Ultra-training is easier than training for a Boston qualifier.
I’m not an official bib-number carrying ultra-runner yet, but after Sunday’s 36 mile training run I think it’s in the bag. Training for this ultra-trail-marathon – The VT 50 Miler – has been one of the easiest training programs I’ve done when compared to your average Boston qualifying campaign.
I know it’s a paradox, but ultra training is easy. Let me try to explain.
Like many of you mid-packers I started running again late in life to get healthier and caught the bug. The key difference being that I ran X-country in high school – so I knew how to run, I knew I could do it. I had no expectations beyond building up to 5 miles or so 3-4 time a week to keep my weight under control.
My big eye-opener was when some ‘friend’ said “hey, let’s run the marathon!” (In Massachusetts you don’t have to say “which marathon”) Qualifying for Boston was an amazing learning experience and quite difficult. It involved tempo and speed and hills and long runs at pace – plenty of late, painful nights at the track doing mile repeats at the edge of my ability.
Even after 10 Bostons, qualifying is work for me. That’s why it came as such a surprise that stepping up to the ultra would be so easy, both psychologically and physically. All the painful speed and tempo work is replaced with long-long-long slow run-hikes in the woods. After you break the barrier – you can run forever – it doesn’t get worse.
Of course I’m coming off a base of training for Boston and Mt. Washington. That’s quite different from starting from scratch, but if you’re a solid marathoner, stepping up to an ultra distance is a piece of cake. The hardest thing is scheduling the 5-6 hour long runs, but it’s no more difficult than trying to schedule two high-quality midweek speed workouts.
Here are my 2009 predictions:
- Ultra-marathon distance events will explode in popularity and participation as mid-packers graduate from the marathon.
- Runner’s World will run a saccharin piece on the explosion of ultras and some troubled person’s quest to finish.
- Main stream media and some dopey celebrities will get ultra-involved for some dopey ego charity.
- 10-20 books will be published on “Zen and the art of the Ultra” and “The beginner’s guide to Ultras”, one of them will make Oprah.
- Related endurance events in swimming, biking, relays and adventure racing will also see double digit growth.
- Some old idiot like me will keel over spectacularly in one of the events and the national pundits will bash these events as ‘bad for you’.
- I’ll smile at the dog, pick up my feet and put them down, ignoring all the hoopla.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it – I’ll see you out there (for 9+ hours).
C-,
Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy. Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack. Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com. Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners. ChrisRunner@runrunlive.com