As Barack Obama stood accepting the adulation of 150,000 people in Grant Park and hundreds of millions of television viewers worldwide, gone was the wide boyish grin that captivated America during the campaign. As he spoke earnestly of the challenges we face across the globe and across America, only a faint remnant of his oratorical cadence rang out, replaced by a hushed and somber tone. The seriousness of the job he had so deservedly been chosen to do had already settled in. He looked, well, presidential.

Very clearly he deigned to heal wounds inflicted by a divisive campaign marked by misrepresentation, misguided attacks, and all too many bonafide lies opined by the opposition. A key phrase in the acceptance speech was when he called out to those who had not voted for him to allow him to be their president, too. For, like it or not, he will be.

This man has a chance to be a generational, transformational leader.  The forces arrayed against him and us are powerful and unprecedented. Somehow he must at once end a war, forge plans to wean the west from its addictive dependence on fossil fuels, heal the American economy and in the process global financial disarray, design a full overhaul of the health care system, instill needed overhaul of the educational system, while working to ease the crippling burdens plaguing the middle class, all on a shoestring budget dictated by the disastrous war chest spending and misanthropic tax policies of the last eight years, the architecture of which seemed designed only to expand and proliferate the vast wealth of the top few percent of American families.

It is a daunting task, one few men could hope to even begin to face.  Barack Hussein Obama is one of those men. The world will look to America for the change promised over the past months. Once again America can stand tall as the leading world proponent for peace and humanity. Once again we can act audaciously.  Once again we can hope.

How patently misleading is this headline? Biden’s remarks were specifically critical of Republican VP pick Sarah Palin’s refusal to support stem cell research that scientists believe could bring about significant progress in treatment of neurological ailments, NOT critical of special needs kids or anything about them. While this is made clear in the article, the headline that leaps out seems to say just the opposite.

As a parent of a special needs son, even I was alarmed at the implication. I quickly clicked on the link and read the accompanying article, which is much more fairly written than the headline. Nevertheless, what about those who see such a headline and jump to the conclusion that Biden is trashing special needs kids or the programs that support them?

This appears to be another example of the media’s willingness to distort facts and imbue misleading implications. Clearly the mainstream media has hopped aboard John McCain’s hero-worshipping train to DC, embracing his arch-conservative running mate in their rush to support what they perceive as the eventual winning ticket.

The real danger is that the huge number of Americans who do not make time to read anything more in depth than a bold fonted headline will glean from this deceptive headline that Joe Biden is against special needs children. Once again far too many people are willing to have someone in a position of visibility, i.e., mainstream media, predigest the news for them.

The end result is that they believe what the right-wing dominated media is saying about Obama and his running mate, rather than to seek out and judge the truth for themselves about what the men stand for.

Omigod. Four more years. Not sure we can take it.

Imperative atop all the ensuing discussion of apparel and other tidbits of running wisdom is the frequent, liberal, and assiduous application of sunscreen, at least 30 SPF, on all exposed skin, on all days, including cloudy ones. The rays of the sun have no difficulty penetrating a simple layer of water vapor; many bad sunburns have been incurred on cloudy days. Rule Number One: Always use sunscreen.

In extreme conditions, like a hot July afternoon, various types of moisture-wicking apparel become not only a benefit but downright necessary.  To run in East Tennessee in a cotton T-shirt is to become quickly enshrouded in a heavy, clinging, clammy blanket of wet, abrasive cloth.  Discomfort, chafing, and heat exhaustion could all be in your immediate future.  Clearly the lightweight, breathable, perpsiration-wicking textiles provide the runner with a significant advantage over cotton.

Or over no shirt whatsoever. Men often doff shirts entirely when it gets hot, and they do this at risk of several things.  Scientists (and surfers) have known for years that a light layer of white cloth between your skin and the probing scorching rays of the sun can and do offer not only protection against lethal ultraviolet rays, but keep the ambient temperature of the skin several degrees cooler. Clearly, however, the biggest reason to wear a shirt is protection against the long-term damage to the skin that can cause life-threatening skin cancers. To ignore that threat is risky and foolish

During the first running boom of the1970’s, men and women alike all wore tank tops of either nylon or cotton.  Technological advances aside, those skinny-strapped singlets still seen atop the shoulders of many runners allow too many of the blistering rays of the sun to reach the skin.  Preferable would be a sleeveless shirt, unfortunately thought of as muscle T’s by many men, simply because most of the shoulders can be protected while still maintaining the open armhole for air to circulate and cool the torso.

Covering the body from the scintillating rays of the sun extends to the top of the head, too, and not just for those follicly-challenged men afflicted by male pattern baldness.  Even those blessed with luxuriantly thick tresses can still be subjected to traumatized skin surfaces when exposed at length to the sun.  It’s easy to remedy: caps and do-rags made of coolmax or other breathable textiles are readily available.  They’re lightweight and can be tossed imperiously into the laundry when dirty. 

Another essential is a good pair of sunglasses. Providing protection against the blinding glare of the sun allows reduced risk of sunlight-related eye disorders, including cataracts and macular degeneration, two leading causes of reduced vision in the United States. You don’t have to seek out high-end shades, either; many inexpensive sunglasses offer both UVA and UVB protection.

Probably the biggest factor that can make or break the runner during a humid continental summer is hydration.  The rule is simple: hydrate, hydrate, HYDRATE! Get in the habit of drinking water from morning until night.  Have a glass of water on your nightstand or bathroom vanity and drink it when you wake up.  Believe it or not – and this comes from a confirmed caffeine addict – that first glass of water does more to awaken and jumpstart me than the first cup of tea.  Think about it: those eight hours during which you’re immersed in slumber are accomplished totally without hydration, probably the only eight hours during which that happens.  You wake up dry as a bone, your cells crying for sustenance; it makes sense that the first thing to do is supply the body with the most essential substance known to mankind – water.

But don’t stop there.  During hot weather, and especially during preparation for a hot weather run, or even more importantly, a race or tough workout, a runner should be imbibing so much water (including some sport drink to provide electrolyte supplementation) that the path between you and the bathroom becomes very familiar.  While in the bathroom, take a peek at the liquid you expel; if it is relatively clear, that’s good news.  If, however, urine is colorful, you are dehydrated and should immediate set about correcting that condition.  When you think you’ve had enough, drink some more. 

Remember this: if during a run you become or, even worse, start out a run thirsty, it’s too late; there’s nothing that can be done to forestall a run beset by dehydration.  Think ahead.  The only drinking problem you need worry about is not drinking enough.

A quick caveat about drinking problems, specifically alcohol and caffeiene. Both substances are diuretics, meaning they induce excessive urination, and should be consumed in moderation.  Water is best, supplemented by sport drinks. Save the brew for after the run, and even then, continue drinking water, as well.

Ruuning at times other than the heat of the day can be helpful, although there’s no totally perfect time to run.  Early morning, while certainly cooler, offers energy-depleting humidity levels exceeding saturation levels, while evening temperatures during the hottest parts of summer often don’t cool down much until nearly midnight.  The good thing is that whenever we run, no matter how hideous the temperatures and humidity, we will eventually get acclimitized and be able to run with somewhat less difficulty.

The bottom line is that the runner will not – I repeat, will not – be able in summertime to replicate a performance level achieved during ideal weather conditions.  It is physiologically impossible.  The body is programmed first and foremost to survive.  That dictates that its job during high temperature exertion is to remove heat from the core of the body.  Blood will be diverted from secondary activity – like moving oxygen from the lungs to the muscles – to its primary job, cooling the core, i.e., surviving.

But don’t give up.  Don’t retreat inside to the mind-numbing repetitiveness of a treadmill. Get outside and play; go for a run.  But consider carrying some water with you; there’s lots of effective hydration packs available.  Or be willing to stop and catch a drink at a water fountain. You’ll be surprised by how good it feels when the sweat begins to evaporate from your skin as you resume your run.  And don’t hesitate to cut a run short if you realize you’re dehydrated; the dangers of heat exhaustion and heat stroke are well-documented.  Expect that it might take a few extra minutes to complete your usual route.  Better still, be creative and seek out the cooling protection of the woods.  It’s often several degrees cooler, as well as delightfully shady, underneath the tree canopy.

Enjoy summertime running.  With a bit of forethought and preparation, you’ll emerge on the other side stronger and fitter, looking forward to the blissful cooler weather of autumn.

The Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon has imparted a rejuvenating burst of energy to what was already a robust running town.  For years Knoxville has enjoyed a well-deserved reputation as a mecca of running in the region, the Knoxville Track Club arguably the largest per capita running club in the nation, UT a national powerhouse in both men’s and women’s track and cross country, and the KTC Youth Athletics Program a preeminent standard-bearer for kids running and fitness, something of incomparable importance in this era of obesity and sedentary lifestyles.

With the advent of the marathon, energy and participation in running and walking has redoubled, the community embracing the event like nothing in recent memory, thousands of Knoxvillians participating in one of the four exciting events, thousands more participating as volunteers and spectators.

Jason Altman, co-director of the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon and assistant manager at Runners Market, a local running specialty shop, is in a unique position to observe the phenomenal growth of this series of events.

“Twelve weeks prior to our April 1 date, our overall registration numbers for all events are up an astonishing sixty percent, with most significant growth in the half marathon.  The 5K and Kids run are also experiencing vigorous growth, with over 200 kids showing up at the Knoxville Zoo on January 12 for the kickoff of the Kids marathon.”

The Cariten Kids Run is a unique event that promotes fitness in a creative and exhilarating way.  Those who signed up at the zoo paid the early registration fee, receiving their T-shirts and training logs, then went on a one-mile run around the zoo.  With a mile under their belts, kids complete twenty-four more by race day, running the final 1.2 miles on April 1 in the wake of the marathoners, half marathoners and 5Kers.

A key component of this year’s Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon is the Fittest Company Challenge, in which local companies compete to involve the greatest number of their employees in running or walking these one of great events.

“The huge early registration numbers are due, in large part, to the Fittest Company Challenge,” Altman said.  “Especially in the 5K, where First Tennessee sent in sixty-five entries, Clayton Homes promised another seventy-five, and Ruby Tuesdays will enter nearly fifty.”

New this year is scoring for volunteers, with an additional point in the competition notched for every employee who volunteers to help with one of the races.

Nowhere is the excitement generated by the approach of this third annual event more evident than on the roads and greenways of Knoxville and surrounding communities, where groups of dozens of runners and walkers get together to train for the upcoming distance classics.  A recent marathon training run saw a turnout of over a hundred runners.  Other group runs have met with similar success. 

One thing to remember about the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon is that there’s something for everyone. Anyone with even a beginners level of fitness, including those who are just beginning a walking program, should consider participating in the 5K, a 3.1 mile jaunt through the streets of Fort Sanders that ends on the fifty-yard line of Neyland Stadium, just like the marathoners and half marathoners.  Those who have been running steadily for a year or more could still build sufficient mileage to attempt the half marathon.  To register or volunteer for any of the four events, or for more information on training, see their website, www.knoxvillemarathon.com. 

And if running or walking sounds too daunting for this year, mark it down on your 2009 calendar, when the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon will celebrate its fourth year.  But don’t relegate yourself to sleeping in on March 29; there are hundreds of key volunteer positions just waiting for someone with your particular energy and skillset.  And don’t worry; it’s not necessary to have experience in race officiating.  Just contact someone from the Marathon Organizing Committee, and they’ll find a way for you to participate in one of Knoxville’s most presitigous events.  You’ll be glad you did.  You’ll be helping stage an event that promotes fun and fitness on a scale that Knoxville has never before seen, and having so much fun in the process that you’ll vow next year to be on the starting line, ready to make your own way through the streets of Knoxville and, like my son and I, see yourself on the Jumbotron, like so many other sports heroes who have gone before you.

MARATHON DO’S AND DON’T'S

* DO PLAN FOR ANY CONTINGENCY

Especially when travelling to an out-of-town event, bring one of every type of apparel, i.e., short-sleeve, long-sleeve, shorts, pants, etc.  The last thing you need is to awaken on race morning, look out the window, and find that the weatherman has gotten it totally wrong, realizing much too late that you’ve got just the right outfit for the unforeseen conditions but it’s still in your dresser drawer back home.

Remember the twenty-degree rule:  Once you’re fully warmed up, the air temperature will feel twenty degrees warmer than the thermometer reading.  Don’t overdress, unless you’re willing to toss away unneeded items.  This isn’t the worst idea, however; many races will gather up the discarded jackets, gloves, etc., and distribute them to the needy.  If you have an old windbreaker that you don’t mind losing, this would be a good time to wear it to the starting line and perhaps for the first mile or so.  Remember, you may be standing at the starting line awaiting the gun for quite some time.  Other, less-fashionable options include wearing a large-sized trash bag over one’s head to ward off the cold and/or rain, then peeling it off once things get going.

* DON’T TRY ANYTHING NEW ON RACE DAY

This, of course, includes wearing brand new shoes, but also includes socks, shorts, shirts, and also any new sport drink, energy gel or bar, or supplement.  To forestall disaster, make sure to try out any new apparel or diet item well in advance of the race. 

Most marathons will give out gels on the course, but often at intervals other than what might be best for you.  Find out exactly what they’ll be giving away, buy some of that exact brand and flavor, and try them during a long run.  If results are anything other than excellent, plan on bringing your own with you.  To carry gels, consider purchasing shorts or top that has extra pockets, but remember, again, to try them out well ahead of time.  Besides pockets, other ways to carry gels include stuffing one underneath each shoelace, carrying them in a glove, under a hat, or safety-pinned to the lining of your shorts or pants. 

Take a similarly cautious approach to sport drinks.  Sure, it’d be easiest not to have to carry your own, but make sure what race volunteers are offering is something that your stomach likes, and if not, then BYO; there are many functional and relatively comfortable options for hauling sufficient hydration along with you. 

Test wear your chosen apparel items ahead of time, preferably during a long run, to best replicate daunting conditions encountered on race day.  Sometimes it’s difficult to train during similar weather to your chosen race venue, but do your best to put your high tech apparel to the test.  It’d be a shame to ruin six months of training with a sudden agonzing case of chafing or blisters.  To that end, also make sure you are running or walking in socks that fit well with your shoes and wick moisture away from your feet.  There are many superb choices of technical sock that are far superior to the old cotton socks we grew up with.

Plan your footwear choice well ahead of time.  Ideally you should purchase a new pair of your chosen race day shoes 4-6 weeks before the marathon; use them for one long run and a couple short ones, mostly to ensure that they work well. Then put them away until race day and finish your training in your old ones, as long as they’re still serviceable.

* DO RUN YOUR CHOSEN PACE

This is essential.  Try to line up with others who have similar time goals, so that you are not tempted to waste significant energy weaving through a crowd of slower runners.  If you find yourself buried early in the race, resist the urge to burst free; you’ll be better off in the long run if you run more slowly early on.  The next critical point will come at some point later in the race, when you’ll be passed by some short, fat, bald guy who looks like he belongs at a bowling tournament.  You’ll think to yourself, “Hey, I must be going too slow; no way that guy should be ahead of me.”  Do not abandon your race plan.  One of two things will happen.  Either he’s going too fast and you’ll catch him later, or he’s in better shape and you won’t.  Stay within yourself.  While it’s true that the only sane goal for a first-time marathoner is to finish the race vertically and with some semblance of mental and physical dignity, you still have your best chance of achieving that goal by staying within yourself and running the pace that you’ve trained to run.  Don’t ruin your day with an ill-timed ego-fuelled charge after someone you have no business chasing.

* WHEN IT’S OVER

Resist the urge to lie down or sit hunched over on the curb.  Keep moving; otherwise blood will pool in your lower leg and be stiff and even more sore later that day.  It’s essential to keep the blood flowing.  Sure, you’re wiped out, and even in the throes of marathon finisher’s high, you’re still wanting to collapse into a puddle of exhaustion somewhere close by, but keep moving and stay warm.  Try to take in liquids upon finishing, and eat something within 30-60 minutes, even if your stomach has other ideas.  Later that day, go for a walk; your muscles will thank you later.

* RECOVERY

Although you are now in perhaps the best shape of your life, you have also done some significant damage to your muscles and need to give them time to heal.  Many people think a runner should do no running at all for the first 7-14 days after the race.  During this time walking is highly recommended.  Then, for the next two weeks, continue to take it easy.  Do no hard running, no workouts, and no races.  After a month, gradually resume your normal training regimen.

One last rule: any decision you make during the first thirty days after completing a marathon, i.e., “Wow!  I’m gonna do one every week!” or “Gawd!  Never again!” do not count.  Fact is, you’ll probably go through both of those stages of resolve and a few others.  Just relax and go with the flow.  The marathon is indeed a test of strength and character, one that brings out the best in many of us.  Follow the above list of do’s and don’t’s, and you’ll pass the test with flying colors.

I’ve been fortunate to work for most of the last ten years in Knoxville’s only specialty running shop, and, during that time, I’ve learned a great deal about shoes and feet.  Probably the single biggest factor in successfully fitting shoes to an individual’s needs is an accurate biomechanical assessment of the feet.
One of the great misconceptions about feet and running shoes is the wet footprint test.  Somehow the idea got out there that one can determine the biomechanical needs of the foot by looking at a wet footprint.  What that tells us is the exact shape of the foot when wet.  Sure, there are correlations and generalizations that can be drawn from that footprint, but, like most generalizations, they’re largely worthless in any specific case.

What we look for is the degree of pronation exhibited by the foot, or rather, the feet, as it is not at all uncommon for an individual to exhibit to wildly mismatched feet,  in size, shape and biomechanical characteristics.  We do that by watching and assessing exactly what the runner’s foot does from the instant it contacts the ground to the moment it pushes off and leaves the ground.  We visually measure the degree of pronation.

Pronation, contrary to popular opinion, is not a four-letter word.  (I just counted: there’s nine!)  Pronation is the body’s natural shock absorber and stabilizer, and a normal amount is not only very healthy, without it, a whole set of problems associated with the rigid foot comes into play. 

The problem is when the foot rolls wildly inward after landing.  That is overpronation. (13 letters – very unlucky!)  The arch flattens too much, too soon.  As a result, the lower leg rotates inward, causing many problems, the worst of which involves a shearing rotational force on the knee cartilage.  We are born with a fixed amount of knee cartilage, and when’s it gone, baby, it’s gone.  It is not blessed with a very good blood supply, hence its capability to repair itself is quite limited.  And when the knee cartilage is gone, it’s time to find a new favorite sport.

Although every foot is different, there are three main categories into which virtually every person’s feet fall, depending on the amount of support required to either limit, allow or encourage pronation.  Those of us who need pronation limited are in the majority.  Therefore stability and motion control shoes are also in the majority.  Fifteen years ago, a diagnosis of significant overpronation was cause for alarm and dismay, as the stability shoes of that period could be likened to concrete overshoes.  Fortunately, over the past ten years, shoes have been hybridized quite nicely, and today’s stability shoes can be a delight to run in. 

The biomechanically blessed, who need nothing from a shoe other than adequate shock absorption, can run in what we call neutral shoes, and they’re typically very well cushioned, and often light and playful.  Fitting these folks is as simple as recommending a shoe that matches well with the contours of the foot and feels wonderful.

That’s the bottom line, no matter what category a runner finds herself in.  The proper running shoe should feel good.  No, make that great.  Nothing less is acceptable.  If you’re running in a shoe that just feels okay, you need to find a different shoe.  There are so many models on the market, there’s no excuse for ambivalence.  Select, don’t settle.

And, like most rules, these guidelines about pronation and shoe selection can be broken.  Not everyone who exhibits a flat foot is an overpronator, nor does everyone who has a high arch possess a neutral foot.  Recognizing that, one directive we observe as often as possible in our shop is the old saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”  This means that if you walk in wearing a certain shoe, in spite of what looks like a foot absolutely anitithetical to that shoe, and you honestly have been logging large amounts of mileage successfully, we’re going to recommend that you stay with that shoe, even though it looks like it might not be the right shoe for you.  If it works, stay with it.

One of the statements that drives us crazy is hearing a customer say, “I’ve been wearing the Such-and-Such and it works great and I’m uninjured, but I want to try something else just for the hell of it.”  Dumb and dumber.  It’s hard to find just the right shoe; why mess with success?  Who knows if the replacement shoe is going to work for you?  Why risk it?

Without a proper fitting running shoe, there’s a whole world of ailments just waiting to strike you down and carve a huge void into your fitness.  Problems as simple as blisters can keep a runner down for days.  Shin splints, while rarely serious, can be absolutely debilitating.  Plantar fasciitis, a crippling ailment for runner and non-runner alike, is maddening in that sometimes it comes and goes at its whim, yet sometimes lingers on for months, if not longer, and won’t abdicate without some fairly stringent therapeutic intervention.  And then there’s the knee.  That most wondrous yet fragile of joints, it is beaten to death by many of us, especially those of us who don’t pay enough attention to wearing the right running shoes.

And it’s not just selecting the right running shoe, either.  It is extremely important to change shoes with some frequency.  The rule of thumb (rule of toe?) is that every 400 miles new shoes should be acquired.  Perhaps better is to track mileage and indeed replace shoes at such an interval, but also use a system of rotation, whereby the runner is not running every single run in the same exact pair of shoes.  The injuries that strike us down are typically not the acute traumatic incidents, but rather the result of repetitive force of each foot absorbing triple our body weight about 800 times per mile for however many thousands of miles.  It’s the overuse injuries that cripple most runners, either occasionally or permanently, depending on how assiduously we listen to our bodies at any given time.

I’m not trying to scare anyone in buying a lot of running shoes.  I’m just stating the facts.  IT IS NOT ABOUT THE BRAND.  Every brand out there, Asics, Brooks, Nike, Saucony, Adidas, New Balance, Mizuno, you name it, almost every brand makes a shoe that, by definition, could be appropriate for your footstrike.  Just because you know someone who swears by (or swears at) a certain brand, that has no bearing on your situation.  Again: IT IS NOT ABOUT THE BRAND.  It’s about the category.  If you don’t already know whether you’re an underpronator (there’s only a few of you out there – don’t think you’re an underpronator just because you wear out the outside of your heel; everyone does that!), or a neutral runner, or a mild overpronator, or a severe overpronator, then go to a running specialty shop or a knowledgeable physical therapist and find out.  Then go try on some shoes. 

And try them on with your feet, not your eyes.  Don’t get me started on color!

To sum up, a runner can expect a long life of running if — and only if — shoes are selected wisely and purchased relatively frequently, and if – and only if — a training regimen is selected and followed with the adage in mind that we must listen to our bodies.  Any other plan of action is playing with fire.  And, sooner or later, you’ll get burned.

Being on the smaller end of the human spectrum, I’ve been aware for a long time that when something bigger than me collides with my body, I usually take the brunt of the collision.  As a very undersized wide receiver in football, or a puny point guard in hoops, I regularly got blasted by big guys; it didn’t take a behemoth to deal me a mighty blow.  Typically I survived with only bruises and bumps—in addition to various wounds to the psyche—but I did take a bit of a beating.

In a collision with a motor vehicle, the word “brunt” is escalated to the nth degree.  Seldom does a human survive unexpected contact with a car without undergoing severe changes to its body, usually of a crushing and lacerating quality.  Sometimes the human on foot or bike does not survive.

This is clearly an unacceptable alternative.  It goes without saying that we must take all possible precautions.  No, wait.  It doesn’t go without saying.  I just said it and will repeat it for the slow learners and those of you on drugs.  Get out of the way first, then—and only then—insist on your right to the road.  Sure, you could be right:  dead right.  I saw a dude the other day flying down the middle of Kingston Pike on a road bike going at least 30 mph.  Though obviously a skilled cyclist, it would take but one false move on his part and he’d be toast.

No way, he would insist; he’s too good a rider to make that one false move.  And for the sake of argument, I’ll grant him his insular self-aggrandization.  But the false move doesn’t have to be made by the rider or the runner.  The bad move can—and often is—made by the driver of the car.

Part of the problem is that authorities do not require a licensed driver to take a skills test to renew his privilege to drive.  A person who gets a license at 16 and continues to drive until age 80 has sixty-four years to learn bad habits.  And, man, do they!  I’m developing a deathly fear of elderly drivers in Buicks.

I just filled a page in another publication ranting and raving about the proliferation of drivers who are so self-important that they deem it unnecessary to obey even the most basic of driving laws: stopping at red lights.  One out of every four drivers, by my rough estimation, runs yellow and/or red lights.  And it’s getting worse, not better.  I sincerely hope that traffic monitoring cameras can deter this worsening social sickness.

And how about cell phones?  Recent research has shown that a driver involved in a conversation on a cell phone displays distracted driving skills comparable to a driver who is legally intoxicated.  Think about it: equivalent to a drunk or stoned driver.
Handsfree units, which I previously believed to help significantly, did not prove so in this research.  It is the preoccupation with the conversation that proves the danger.  And I suspect the vast, vast majority of cell phone conversations that take place behind the wheel are of the “Yeah, I’m getting my hair done tonight before going out to dinner,” rather than the “My little boy is sick and I’m taking him to the hospital” variety.

Other research shows that most non-driving activities engaged in while driving are similarly, if not quite so engrossingly, dangerous.  Those include eating, smoking, changing CD’s in the audio player, drinking (even Coke or bottled water!), and the unavoidable yet inevitable distractions posed by children of all ages.

How many times have we all endured the frightening experience of seeing a car weaving toward us, driver totally oblivious to us, preoccupied by the cell phone stuffed up one ear, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, and who knows what else drawing his attention away from the sole issue upon which his concentration should be focused: driving the damn car.

So as we all continue to run and ride our way through East Tennessee this winter and on into spring, let’s forget for a moment how wrong those inconsiderate and self-consumed drivers are and how much right we have to enjoy our chosen activities.  Instead, let’s just vow to stay alive and stay healthy.  With a confidently cautious frame of mind and trained and alert bodies we can do our best to avoid becoming another statistic, and instead become the best we can be, performing to the best of our abilities, living our lives to the fullest.  Watch out for the other guy.  Cause he ain’t watching out for you.

I was reminded of that a couple times this weekend.  My task at hand was directing an XTERRA offroad foot race.  Although I had directed races at this particular venue twice in the past, this was the first one affiliated with the well-known and prestigious XTERRA series, and I was determined to do a good job.  Making my task more difficult was the unexpected departure of my co-director, who was called out of town on military business.  Still, I could and would present the racing public with a quality offroad event.

As race day approached, my mind was consumed with the myriad details of race directing. Chief among these concerns was the disturbing lack of volunteer support.  In the past I’d had no such difficulty, owing partly to the simplicity of these races prior to our involvement with XTERRA.  Also complicating matters was the course, a convoluted, inverted double-loop figure eight with three very key positions requiring volunteers who must direct runners through multiple passes, each time heading in a different direction.

I drove out to the race site the day before the event, intent on running the course to check it out.  I wanted to be sure that maintenance crews had mowed the grassy areas completely, as the mown paths comprise part of the route.  Also I had to check for fallen trees or other unexpected obstructions, as I hadn’t run there in months.

So I began. Early on, the course ascends a winding steep hill.  As I bent my back to the task, driving strongly toward the top, I felt a sharp pull in the lateral compartment of my left knee.  I stopped briefly, a bit concerned, then resumed running. 

No good.  The same pain, tugging hard somewhere in the vicinity of my lateral collateral ligament, threatening to lock my knee completely.  So I stopped again, then walked a while.  Determined to complete the climb, I tried a third time, and once again the pain stopped me in my tracks.  This time I toppled to the ground and remained in a sitting position, juxtapositioning old familiar curse words with a few new contrivances.

My run was done.  There I sat, in the middle of a grassy track, partway up the hill, surrounded by birds singing merrily amidst the fecund greenery of spring, and all I could do was cuss and feel sorry for myself.  I hobbled painfully back to my vehicle, got in without so much as a look around, and drove angrily back home.

The next day was race day.  Still worried about the volunteer situation, I dealt with all the other pre-race preparations, carefully loading my pickup truck with all the necessary acoutrements and equipment, including my mountain bike so I could ride around the course during the race to ensure things were going well.  It would be a barebones effort, but I was confident I had everything I needed to stage a successful event.

Until my cell phone rang while I was en route.  One of my course monitors was sick and couldn’t make it.  I was already razor-thin on support staff; this put me in the red bigtime.

Damn! How was I going to deal with this unexpected setback?  Would I have to change the course, running a single loop and shortening the total distance significantly?  Could I manage the vacant monitor position myself?  But if I did that, the finish line would be one person short, and I also couldn’t ride around the course troubleshooting during the early stages of the race.

My mind reeled as I continued driving toward the park.  Still completely oblivious to what was probably the nicest morning of the spring season, temperatures climbing gracefully into the low seventies, a bright blue sky punctuated by a few fleecy white clouds, I pressed the gas pedal to the floor, as if by doing so I could outrace my problems.  Speeding along at sixty miles an hour, my thoughts remained inward, trying to figure out the best course of action.

As I turned left onto a two-lane country road, my progress was quickly slowed by a small, rusty, white pickup truck, lollygagging along at about twenty-five miles an hour, less than half of what I’d intended to drive.  Irritation bubbled up into my throat, my lips pressed together in a thin line, my hands tightly wrapped around the steering wheel.

What was this old geezer’s problem?  Now he was doing fifteen and continuing to slow down.  Involuntarily my truck crept moved closer and closer, my front bumper only a few feet from the bumperless back of his truck.  Yet still he slowed, finally grinding his truck to a complete stop in the middle of the road.

Angrily I swung my truck around him to the left, intending to pass with a burst of power and a cloud of exhaust to express my indignation.  As I did, the other driver’s hand came out of the window.  Was he flipping me off?  Stunned, I prepared to return his Italian salute, righteous fury flooding my senses.

Then, from the corner of my eye, I saw sudden movement in a field off to the right.  There in a rolling grassy meadow surrounded by lofty trees clad in bright shades of new spring green stood several deer, including a tall buck with a proud rack of antlers.  The sudden roar of my acceleration had spooked a couple of the deer and all of them moved quickly toward the woods.  First one, then another, leaped gracefully over a split rail fence at the edge of the meadow, their white tails flashing in the morning sunlight.

That was what the old guy had been looking at and why he’d slowed down!  He wasn’t flipping me off; he was pointing toward the herd of deer.  In the midst of my self-consumed singlemindedness I’d nearly raced past them in a huff.  Had the man in the white pickup not forced me to slow down and take a look I’d have never seen them.

I watched the last of the deer jump languidly into the next field and dance away into the woods.  Then I sheepishly resumed my drive, sheepishly waving my hand out the window in apology and thanks.  I hoped the old guy realized I’d seen the deer and was grateful to him; up til then I’d acted like a jerk.

As my consternation grew, so did awareness that I had been shown something of value, something I thought I’d learned long ago but apparently of which I need continual reminding.  Driving much more slowly along the winding narrow ribbon of asphalt, mindful once again of the beauty in which I was immersed, I remembered that it is important to live in the present, to appreciate the splendor and the wonder that is this world.  The future is important and must be dealt with via good planning (and hopefully a large measure of luck,) but the present is what is happening right now.  It is that moment upon which I must bring my attention to bear; to do any less is to miss many of the lessons and blessings that are available to me.

Indeed our XTERRA race went on, and as always, a few little glitches did occur and were dealt with.  None, however, involved the missing monitor position; a man who’d come out simply to spectate was glad to pitch in, as often happens, and no runners were lost irretrievably.  The race was pronounced a grand success and all went home tired and happy, a measure of sunburn added in as a bonus. What I hope for as an epilogue is that one weary traveller on this celestial ball of clay and granite will pass through the next little while a bit more aware of the wonders with which we are all surrounded, grateful for my little wakeup call received unexpectedly on a sunny Saturday morning on a winding road surrounded by rolling green hills somewhere in the south.

It used to be that the only indispensable running accessory was a watch. Some runners eschewed even that most basic technology. The old-school runner felt he could tell from perceived effort exactly how far and how fast he was running; to rely on an extraneous gadget was to somehow demystify and demean the holy experience of running.

That’s a little extreme, even to me, and I freely admit to being old-school in many of these matters. But I do deem a watch borderline essential for running. Though it’s nice to leave it home on occasion, a good running watch is a useful and reliable accessory, one that can enable not only the run to be timed accurately, but the data stored and recalled at a later time.

In the early 1990’s the first mass-produced heart rate monitors hit the market and the technological age of running was off and, well, yeah, running. By strapping on a chest transmitter bearing a hidden electrode designed to detect the actual lub-dub of the beating heart, a runner could wear a sports chronograph that would display not only the elapsed time of a run, but the heart rate of the runner during exercise. HRM’s allow runners to not only realize how hard their heart is beating at any given point in a run, but to speed up and slow down as necessary. The benefits of this are myriad and will be discussed in a future column.

Later the first lightweight portable music systems became widely available and some runners began wearing headphones on nearly an everyday basis. Personally I never found this enthralling: if I want to listen to music, I prefer to relax in the comfort of my home listening to true high-fidelity sound. (I admit it: I’m strange. I actually use a phone just to call people and, believe it or not, a camera to take pictures. Go figure.) Anyway, the compromised audio quality from a Walkman, IPod or MP3 player, combined with the huffing and puffing of my own breathing, just doesn’t add up to an enjoyable listening experience. Besides, I like running; I’m not trying to ignore it or force it into the background. Much more importantly, wearing headphones or earbuds while running is a clear safety hazard. Whether the danger is from automobile traffic, a speeding cyclist, or a violent sociopath on the loose, a runner listening to music or talk radio (or gabbing on a cell phone) cannot be sufficiently aware of their surroundings to protect themselves to the best of their ability. Injuries and deaths have been clearly attributable to this disassociative behavior. It would be wise to limit this type of usage to indoor running or walking, where it’s safe.

Global Positioning Systems (GPS) are all the rage these days. With the addition of a footpod, thick armband, or an oversized wristwatch, it’s now possible to determine with great accuracy the speed and distance being covered. The only limitation to this technology is that it requires line of sight to satellites for accurate triangulation to occur. Thus a thick canopy of trees can block the transmission, interrupting the data flow. Similarly tall buildings can do the same thing. It’s only temporary, for as soon as the runner reemerges from the trees of skyscrapers, the signal resumes. But here’s the rub: the system assumes the runner has traveled in a straight line from where signal was lost to where it picked back up. In the city that’s often a safe assumption. But in the woods, a meandering trail could conceivably have curled, looped, and wandered around for a significantly greater distance than the straight path of travel assumed by the GPS, leading to inaccuracy in both the speed and distance computation. I suspect we can safely assume these bugs will be worked out in future incarnations of this technology.

The latest craze involves sensors that blend positioning technology with music and data transmission, leading to an amalgam of sensory overload limited only by the imagination of technicians and marketers worldwide. Soon it will be possible to use voice activated technology to combine runs with college coursework or professional flow charting, to make HD videos of ourselves running and upload them instantly to our own webpages, to read or write books while doing marathon long run training.
I must admit that I have no inside knowledge of any of these impending technologies, but I wouldn’t be surprised should any of them (and more that are wackier still) come to fruition in time to become the latest fad in this suddenly high-tech world of running. In the meantime, however, you’ll have to lace up your shoes yourselves to hit the road; I don’t expect the thought-activated shoe-tying/GPS/Ipod/heart monitors to be marketed worldwide for at least another year or two.

Uh, oh. Gotta go. I’ve got to get the bread out of the bread machine, put my cell phone on the charger, answer some email, set the DVR to record a show tonight, and transfer some files across the network. What’s that? High-tech? Not me! I’m old school!

But I digress.  For whatever reason, my son has been urging me to do more lifting.  Perhaps he sneaked a peek at me shirtless, noticed the redistribution of my body weight patterns, and thought it was high time I did something about it.  I don’t disagree in the slightest.  Middle aged spread is trying to find its way onto my admittedly middle-aged body, and I don’t like it a bit.

So I took his advice.  Not only did we lift together (I’d bought him a few weights of his own), but in the weeks since, I’ve gotten back into a routine of regular lifting.  And I have other motivations other than my own vanity and the frustrating self-knowledge that I am physically weaker now than at any time in my life since probably about age seven.  An obsessive runner with increasingly balky knees, I’m fully aware that decrepit joints can be protected by assiduously developing stronger quads and hip abductors.  So those are the two muscle groups that receive the most attention.  Last night I did over 300 repetitions of leg extension, and nearly a hundred sideline leg lifts; again, light weights, high reps, yeah, that’s the ticket.

With this renewed strength in my quads and hips, I’m finding that I’m able to increase the distances I’ve been running for the first time in a while.  It’s gratifying to feel my cardiovascular strength returning, as well.  It’s been humbling being limited to running thirty or forty minutes at a pop; I used to regularly do two-hour long runs.  It was the knees that were the limiting factor.  Now that they’re behaving better, I’m having some success at strengthening my running muscles and lungs.

But what about the mind?  I’m rather certain that most adults do very little to strengthen and sharpen the mind.  Time spent in front of the idiot box watching moronic reality shows do nothing but deaden an organ that, much like the muscular tissue in our bodies, responds positively to being stimulated and challenged.  Our brains, left to sit fallow, untested and unaroused, can simply turn into so much mush, able only to perform rote function.  Conversely, a brain that is regularly called upon to seek out new answers to previously unposed questions, to rise above the mundane sameness of Monday-to-Friday nine-to-five routine, is able, like the long forgotten muscle spindles in the abductors of the hip, to once again leap into action, transcending the pitiful state to which it’s been relegated and not only be proficient, but outstrip and outshine anything it’s done in recent memory.

Since I returned to writing several years ago, my vocabulary has broadened, my willingness to engage in meaningful discourse renewed, and my ability to perform abstract thinking developed far beyond anything it had done since college.  Clearly, regularly reaching inside forgotten recesses or previously unused corridors of one’s own mind has a similar effect to periodic returns to the weight bench.

But can it go further?  How can this pertain to the highly trained athlete?  How can a marathon runner, a duathlete, or an Ironman qualifier find lurking unsuspectedly in his own mind the capacity to use his brain, long reputed to be utilizing less than ten percent of its capacity, to enhance and expand the limits of what his body is capable of doing?

At a distance-running camp many years ago, a noted sports psychologist stated that visualization can be a key to ultimate running performance.  His suggestion was that, in addition to the interval training, periodization, and long runs that are key to a training program, equally important is to take time, especially immediately preceding a key race, to visualize oneself in the throes of unparalleled success.  His conviction was that the ultimate difference between two competitors of relatively equal physical skill was the mental preparation that empowered one for victory, the lack of which relegated the other to that of also-ran.

But how does this preparation, this separation, occur?  The psychologist suggested that, on a regular basis, the athlete must set aside time for mental training, equally essential as the physical training in which we all routinely engage.  In a process not unlike meditation, the athlete should sit quietly in a place of comfort, close the eyes, shutting out all distractions.  Visualize driving to the finish line, passing even the most feared competitors, crossing the line in victory.  Imagine the thrill, the satisfaction, the ultimate high of just such a performance.  And see yourself as the recipient of all this glory, this blissful runner’s high, this sense of ultimate achievement.  Not only do you fully believe such a set of circumstances possible, but expect it.  See it.  Make it happen just exactly as visualized.

We learn relatively early in our training to fight off the mind-deadening effects of lactic acid, of burning lungs, of discouragement and the threat of defeat.  We learn to accept that perhaps we will not finish in first place, and to take equal satisfaction from a performance well-done, a personal best, or a surprise defeat of a vaunted foe.

Thus we clearly have already begun our mental training, and come far along the highway toward using our mind as a trusted ally.  Now take it to the next level.  Visualize success.  But don’t make it an idle daydream; make it part of your training regimen, and don’t be satisfied at anything less than realization of your visualization. Create your own reality.  It may take some practice, but, hey, that’s what we, as athletes, are all about.  Train your mind to be a valued part of the training that enables you to be the best you can be, using your entire body, not just an isolated collection of well-trained muscle fibers.  Continue training those muscle fibers, yes, but begin a new training program for your hidden ally, the training partner that can enable you to emerge on top.  Much like practitioners of martial arts, engage a discipline of mental powers to focus and heighten physical strength, and bring your athletic prowess to a level of which you have only dreamt previously.

It’s all in your mind…

The heart of this youth athletics program is not, however, the gold medals won by the best athletes.  Nor is it the team championships.  Instead, it’s the developmental program for the less talented kids.  Over a thousand kids come out on Tuesday and Thursday nights to 20 or more sites scattered around our region to learn about running, jumping and throwing.  Then on Saturday mornings, they all assemble, over a thousand strong at the University of Tennessee’s world class Tom Black Track to compete in a low-key track meet.  Everyone competing gets a ribbon.   Surprisingly, most kids quest to attain for their collections one of each color, rather than half a dozen blue ribbons for first place.  And if you’d ever want to see an exercise in mass chaos and jubilation, watch race organizers attempt to keep a hundred five year olds organized enough to stage heats of the fifty meter dash, eight kids at a time.  It’s hilarious.

Seriously, though, mastering those three activities — running, jumping and throwing — can be a springboard to success in nearly any sport.  KTC is fortunate enough to involve dozens of talented and giving individuals as coaches to impart those skills.  Some of the coaches are high school athletes who have come up through the program, some are former program members who have graduated and gone on to become college athletes.  Some have achieved national and Olympic glory.  What they all have in common, though, is a love of kids and a love of our sport.

When I became a parent at the late age of 47 I gained a great appreciation of the importance of a program that encourages kids to run, and looked forward to my son participating in Knoxville Track Club programs.  When I found out a year later, however, that my son had been born with an extremely rare brain anomaly and that he’d likely require care throughout his life, I felt the chance that I could share in the pride that every parent feels when their child participates in sports evaporate in an instant.  It appeared that the son of two avid runners was not going to be a runner, after all.

And yet what did my son Jesse do on the morning of March 26th, when the second annual Knoxville Marathon sent thousands of runners scampering through the streets of our city?  He ran with them.  Our club put together a kids marathon, wherein kids signed up for a mile-long run through the zoo back in January, pledged to run 24 more miles between that day and the marathon eight weeks later, and then finally running the final 1.2 miles on race day along with the the 5Kers, the half marathoners, and even the marathoners, finishing in one of the largest sports arenas in the country, Neyland Stadium, home of the Tennessee Volunteers, with so many fans cheering and the giant Jumbotron on, showing these delighted kids a 51 foot by 120 foot image of themselves approaching and crossing the finish line on the fifty yard line of that famed football stadium.  Man! What a thrill that had to be for them!

So, as a parent, I was most fortunate that the worst case scenario drawn out by the neurologists and radiologists didn’t happen, and that Jesse, one of the most delightful and engaging youngsters around, is indeed able to run, and, surprisingly, throw a baseball and shoot a basketball very well.  He can’t jump much, but two out of three ain’t bad.  He’s also one of the biggest and most beloved cheerleaders at Knoxville Track Club races; everyone looks forward to cresting a tough hill out on a race course and hearing and seeing my son clapping, cheering, and maybe jumping in and running thirty or forty yards alongside.

So, if ever the question comes up about whether it’s worth it to fund a youth athletics program that provides so much joy and opportunity for the kids in your community, even if it loses five hundred, five thousand dollars or more, as ours sometimes does, if you can fund it, if you can find a way to make it happen, by all mean do it. 

The nationwide epidemic of childhood obesity casts a chilling pall over the prospects for a healthy and prosperous America in years to come.  That’s reason enough. 

For our sport to grow and prosper, we need young people to come to love running.  That’s reason enough.

And, truly, whether our kids grow up to ultimately prefer running or some other sport, it’s abundantly clear to me that kids are better off playing sports than playing around, running track instead of smoking crack, shooting hoops instead of shooting smack.  We can make a difference.  That’s reason enough. 

Bottom line: when you see the excitement, the pride, and pure unbridled joy on the face of a child who has done his very best, whether that best is good enough for a gold medal, blue ribbon or simply the best he could do that day, then you know that you’ve done a very VERY good thing in providing an opportunity for that child to play, to compete, to excel. 

And sometimes, when you watch a child reach out higher than he’s ever reached before, and you see that look on his face, it can be enough to break your heart with pride.  Like mine breaks every time I run with my boy, every time I see him cheer for his running friends, every time he makes a basket and raises his hands joyfully to the sky, and every time I plant a kiss on his forehead despite his best attempts to evade it, I know that all our efforts are worth it.  That’s the real reason.  That’s reason enough.