Tobacco? In baseball?

Lance Armstrong is preparing to run the NYC Marathon (more on that at a later date) so it only makes sense that the seven-time Tour de France champ sits down with an interviewer from Runner’s World, right? In a Q&A posted on the Runner’s World web site, Armstrong discussed his training (or lack thereof) and the differences between cycling and running (one uses a bike) during the short interview.

But particularly interesting and funny was the answer to the requiste drug/doping question. It seems as if Armstrong wonders why ballplayers need to take performance-enhancing drugs when there’s all that spitting going on. Here’s the question and the answer:

Runner’s World: What are your thoughts about Barry Bonds?
Lance Armstrong: I have to say I understand what he’s going through. I think there’s probably more of an association just because of the BALCO stuff and the grand jury testimony. Barry is more – it seems from the outside – he’s a tough character. He’s not gone out of his way to try to fix the situation or make friends there. But I don’t really follow baseball. Mostly because I don’t understand it. If you can do tobacco and play the sport, then it’s technically probably not a sport.

To read the full interview, click here.

As an aside, I don’t believe for a minute that Armstrong is merely running and trying to finish the Nov. 5 race “within an hour of the winner.” I think he’s understating his training in these interviews and is training his rear off.

I’m not basing this on anything, and I certainly could be wrong. All I know is that people like Armstrong like to win.

Workin’ for the weekend

Let’s tie up the events from last weekend, shall we?

First, the Furyk-Woods pairing in the Ryder Cup wasn’t enough to help the uninterested U.S. team from going belly-up like a well-fed puppy. The only reason Europe didn’t set the record for the largest margin of victory was because they did the “sporty” thing and pulled back.

Seems as if the U.S. Ryder Cup team is about as interested in the event as the U.S. basketball players are excited for the Olympics.

Meanwhile in Berlin, Haile Gebrselassie ran to victory in 2:05:56, which is a minute off the world record, but impressive nonetheless. Why was it so impressive (other than the fact that Geb ran 4:48 per mile)? For one thing, Geb won the race by almost five minutes — five minutes! That means he ran by himself — the duel with Sammy Korir didn’t pan out — on a warm day with a headwind. That’s not optimal conditions for running, yet Geb was still on world-record pace until the final 5K of the race.

Since we love hyperbole and grandiose statements, some are already saying that because of the conditions with the heat, humidity and win, no pacesetters and no competition, Geb’s run was the best ever.

A 2:05:56 speaks for itself.

7 weeks to go

Seven weeks to go. A couple of tough days, and I lost the toenail on my left big toe, but the ART treatments are working. I’m running a half marathon this weekend so I have to figure out a good, short taper.

Anyway, here’s the work:

Monday – 20 miles in 2:22:15. Ran without orthotics, which wasn’t a good idea.

Tuesday – 16.3 miles in 1:54:12. Kind of bonked over the last 10K. If it wasn’t a case of bonking, it was reaction to the humidity or not enough to drink. Meanwhile, my left hamstring is really achy.

Wednesday – 16.3 miles in 1:52:41. Felt pretty strong until my left hamstring started bothering me a bit. The strength part is really good. The distance is easy.

Thursday – 17.8 miles. First run: 12 miles in 1:24:38. Second run: 5.8 miles in 38:20. Got some ART.

Friday – 14.5 miles in 1:43:37. Felt pretty tired during the first half and had to make a pit stop. During the second half of the second half I felt really good and could have run all day.

Saturday – 14.5 miles in 1:38:06. Tried to run the second half around 6 to 6:30 pace and I was able to do that despite the hard hills. Coffee definitely helped this run, too.

Sunday – 5.8 miles in 40:30. Easy.

105.2 miles for the week.

Look at that!

I generally don’t like to watch sports for long periods of time. I guess that makes me weird or perhaps someone who made a bad career choice.

Actually, let me explain myself. I dislike watching sports that I’m not writing about nor have some sort of connection to. I’m like Vin Scully that way since the greatest voice in baseball history has never attended a game he wasn’t working. Ol’ Vin just refuses to go to a game just for the sake of going to a game.

My problem is my attention span. I just can’t sit still long enough to fully concentrate on sports on TV. I need to get up and walk around. Or check stuff out on the Internet. Or read a book. Or do sit-ups. Something, anything but sit and stare at a box.

But this weekend is different. Aside from the Phillies’ big series against the Marlins, the always fun Ryder Cup is burning up the airwaves. The most interesting part from these parts is that homeboy Jim Furyk from Manheim Township is paired up with Tiger Woods in team action. According to the word on the street, Tiger has taken a shine to the Lancaster kid because of his competitiveness and work ethic.

Maybe that endorsement from Tiger is not what Furyk needs? After all Tiger stinks in Ryder Cup-style play.

Then again, the last time we heard such accolades heaped on a guy from around here, he was riding his bike to Paris wearing the Yellow Jersey.

Nevertheless, the Ryder Cup is tons of fun with all of the best elements of golf. Every shot is meaningful and every putt has the chance to sway the balance of a match. Who wouldn’t want to watch that?

You want to watch people run? You mean… run?
Uh, yeah. Is that odd?

For most people, Sunday means parking it in front of the TV so they can feel their rear grow into the couch. But if I can get up (or stay up), I’m watching the showdown in Berlin where the great Haile Gebrselassie goes against Sammy Korir, the second-fastest marathoner in the history of the world, in Sunday’s 26.2-mile race.

The race won’t be on TV in the United States, but it will be on NBC pay-per-view on the Internet. Frankly, this is a great idea and is the perfect for the web – there are a few fringe sports that a few Americans are interested in. Why now “televise” them on the Web? Hopefully, broadcasting on the Web becomes the future for sports. I have the feeling that it’s already heading that way, since, as I type, I have the Dodgers-Diamondbacks game on my PC.

Anyway, the big race in Berlin is expected to flirt with the world record because the course is flat and designed for fast times and the runners are very talented. Korir lost to Paul Tergat in the classic 2003 race in Berlin with a 2:04:56. Tergat had to break the world record to beat him.

So far this year, Korir has the best time in the world with a 2:06:38 in Rotterdam.

Geb, of course, is judged by many to be one of the greatest runners in history. He has the gold medals from the Olympics, a handful of world records, but he hasn’t been able to dominate marathoning like many suspected he would. Regardless, there’s a buzz about Berlin this year and reports are the pacesetters have been instructed to hit the halfway point in 62:30 – right on world-record pace.

New York, New York
Speaking of marathons, the New York City race has assembled a deep and interesting field. Tergat, the defending champ and world-record holder, is in the race, along with Olympic and World champ Stefano Baldini. On the women’s side, American-record holder Deena Kastor should duel with Catherine Ndereba, the all-time great Kenyan who trains in Valley Forge.

But the interesting part is the Americans that are running in New York. Olympic Marathon silver medalist Meb Keflezighi and Olympians Alan Culpepper and Dathan Ritzenhein (his marathon debut), are in, along with Peter Gilmore, who was seventh at this year’s Boston Marathon.

So why run in New York instead of Chicago where the Americans can get a faster time? How about money, money, money. New York has set up a special prize structure where the the top American gets $20,000, second place gets $15,000. Third wins $10,000 and then $3,000 and $2,000 for fourth and fifth.

There is no mention of bonuses for running specific times, though the Toronto Marathon is offering a $20,000 bonus for anyone running faster than 2:10.

Personally, I think that anyone who can run a 2:09 marathon should be set for life, or at least make more money than the Major League minimum salary, but that’s me.

Please go away

A very interesting thing occurred in Philadelphia yesterday morning, and, no, it had nothing to do with the Eagles rolling over and playing dead during the second half of the overtime loss to the Giants. This interesting event supposedly occurred at the Philadelphia Distance Run – one of the world’s marquee half-marathons – and it presents as many questions in its curiosity.

According to eyewitnesses and chatter on the insidious running message boards, race directors of the Distance Run literally pulled runner Asmae Leghzaoui off of the course before she could run. Leghzaoui paid her registration just like everyone else (even though the elite runners are usually paid just to show up), and started the race, taking the lead through the first five miles of the race. But Leghzaoui, a 30-year-old Moroccan living in West Chester, Pa., according to a profile in The Washington Post, recently served a two-year suspension for using EPO.

According to the story in the Post, Leghzaoui searched for and knowingly took EPO. Needless to say, the drug seems to have had a very big effect on how surpringly well she ran on the U.S. road racing circuit, picking up five victories in six races with four course records.

Yet even though Leghzaoui served her suspension, she (obviously) has not been welcomed back into the running world. When she has been invited to road races in the U.S., “duped” directors either rescind the invitation or offer mea culpas for allowing Leghzaoui in the race.

Leghzaoui, for her part, has offered apologies to anyone who will listen and has passed all drug tests after her suspension. So far it hasn’t gotten her anywhere. Even paying her own way into the race in Philly wasn’t good enough.

According to the story in the Inquirer, here’s what happened on Sunday:

Asmae Leghzaoui, a 30-year-old from Morocco, was far ahead of the other women – running with the second pack of the top males. According to race officials, she dropped out between miles 5 and 6.

But according to people who were there, Leghzaoui was pulled off the course and escorted out of the race. Certainly the race directors at Elite Racing — the agency that organized the Philly Distance Run — can do whatever they want. It’s their race. and if they don’t want drug cheats in it, good for them. Actually, it would be interesting to see what would happen in baseball if, say, someone like Ryan Franklin, a pitcher who served a suspension for failing a drug test, was not allowed to enter a game in Pittsburgh because of his past.

Then again, that wouldn’t be like baseball.

As for Leghazoui, she served her time, shouldn’t she be allowed to get on with her career? And would race directors be doing something like this with someone like Mary Decker Slaney, the one-time darling of the track who controversially tested positive for high testosterone in 1996.

Or what about Uta Pippig, the three-time winner of the Boston Marathon who tested positive for high testosterone in 1998? Would she be welcomed into the race after serving her suspension.

I bet she would.

Nevertheless, it is refreshing to see one sport taking a stand against drug cheats. Lets just hope that they remain consistent.

Meanwhile, Abdi Abdirahman finished second in 61:07 and missed the American record by 12 seconds. Wilson Kiprotich of Kenya won the race by two seconds in 61:05 in a duel over the final 5k. According to Abdirahman, a misstep at Eakins Oval cost him the race and maybe even the American record.

8 weeks to go

Had some trouble with my calf and hamstring that seemed to effect my knee. Luckily, I had an ART appointment already set up so I only missed one workout. In the interim, I’ve gotten serious about stretching (with yoga) and my pre-run warmup. So far so good.

Monday – 21.3 miles in 2:25:40. Started out around 7-minute pace and then got into 6:50ish before bringing it home in 6:20. Good run… I wish they could all be like the second half of this run.

Tuesday – 20.2 miles. First run: 12.2 miles in 1:28:45; Second run: 8 miles in 55:35. Knee area started to hurt today. Once I warmed up it was OK, especially on second run when I ran 5:50 miles for alst three miles.

Wednesday – took the day off to rest calf and hamstring. Started doing yoga in this morning.

Thursday – 17.5 miles in 2:02:07. The running part was easy. I liked running the distance and it seems like it’s no problem just to go out and run all day.

Friday – 15.3 miles in 1:47:20. Had to do a decent warmup before running. Also went in for some ART treatment this morning. In order to keep running I have to stretch and do the ART and yoga stuff. Otherwise, I ran OK once I got going even though it was pouring down rain.

Saturday – 16.3 miles in 1:50:50. Calves and hammys didn’t bother me as much as the past few days, though they still are not 100 percent. Either way, I ran well in some stretches, mixing in fartlek with some hills and other good stuff. Ran the final nine in sub-6:30 pace and it was really easy.

Sunday – 11.1 miles in 1:15:57. As soon as my calf and hamstring got warmed up I felt great. It’s just a pain getting it warmed up and it’s a pain when it’s not warmed up. Nonetheless, ran some uptempo miles at the end and they felt pretty good.

Anyway, that’s 101.1 miles for the week. Not bad, but it was the toughest week yet.

9 weeks to go

Monday – 20 miles in 2:28:13.
Just an awful run. Got up early to run in a 20-mile race after working until 1 or 2 a.m. Never got loose and stomach and hamstrings nagged the entire time. In other words, I sucked. On the positive side, the distance feels kind of easy.

Tuesday – 15.8 miles in 1:48:00.
All hills and then some more hills. The second half of the run was mostly flat and I ran that between 6 to 6:30 pace. Much better than Monday.

Wednesday – 15.8 miles in 1:45:11.
Same run as Tuesday only faster.

Thursday – 13 miles in 1:36:54.
Big time recovery day. Actually tried to avoid hills for a change. Just went slow. Planned on adding a second run in the evening but felt too tired and went to bed early.

Friday – 18.2 miles in 2:01:24.
Lots of fartlek. Did a 2-mile stretch in a 11 minutes and then ran the final 6 miles at 6-minute pace. Best run of the week.

Saturday – 14.2 miles in 1:42:18.
Recovery. My legs were tight and tired and it was very humid, too. Probably could have run faster, but didn’t see the point.

Sunday – 7.7 miles in 53:06.
Simply a fun run. Had planned on only going an easy 5, but took my iPod with me and had a blast listening to music and running. Run uptempo very rarely — mostly just cruised.

Total mileage: 104.7
Nine weeks to go… still curious about my fitness — it might be time to get out and race.

10 weeks to go

Great week in terms of volume, mileage and recovery. Who knows? Maybe I can run sub-2:40. Anyway:

Monday: 20.2 miles in 2:20:52. Slow in the beginning, but ran the second half at 6:30 pace.

Tuesday: 15.2 miles easy, easy in 1:50:53. Hills and humidity — I can’t decide which was tougher.

Wednesday: 15.6 miles in 1:43:37 on grass. Ran the middle five miles in 29:08.

Thursday: 24 miles total. Ran 12 in the morning in 1:19:50, including the last 10 in 64. Did 12 in the evening in 1:21:06.

Friday: 13.6 miles in super slow recovery. Ran it in 1:39:14 with Ernesto’s winds cooling it down nicely.

Saturday: 16 miles in 1:52:12. Ran every hill I could find… 10 of the 16 miles were uphill.

Sunday: 5.6 in 38:50. Ran through the city.

110.2 miles for the week.

Another one in the books. 10 weeks to go.