Sumo Wrestler Breaks Record for Heaviest Man to Complete Marathon

Proof anyone can run a marathon.

Kelly Gneiting weighing 400 lbs. set a Guinness World Record for the heaviest person to complete a marathon, taking nine hours, 48 minutes and 52 seconds to finish the Los Angeles event Sunday.

Sumo Wrestler Breaks Record for Heaviest Man to Complete Marathon

We Were Born to Run: TED Talk Christopher McDougall

Christopher McDougall has been a bit of a controversial figure in the running community ever since he published his book Born to Run which tells the story about a tribe of people that live deep in the Copper Canyons of Mexico who run amazing distances injury free well into the late years of their lives. He is one of the major proponents of barefoot running and his book has become almost a cult classic. I have read the book a few times and I have to say that it is an excellent book, even if you think that barefoot running is absolutely crazy the story and narrative is fantastic and definitely worth the read, runner or not.

McDougall gave a TED Talk about his views on running and the evolution of humans, it is pretty interesting check it out.

Sunday Run Day: 24 Miles

I have been fortunate to be able to travel quite a bit these last few years and being a runner I try and take advantage of both running and site seeing. I have run/sight see in a number of great cities, such as Rome, Paris, Dusseldorf, Madrid and Lisbon. What I normally do is just head out for a run and set my Garmin watch, bring my camera and a credit card and have a general idea of where I want to go. Then I just stop whenever there is something that looks interesting and grab food and water when necessary. I do get some interesting looks when I'm buying candy bars wearing running tights, but you get used to it. This is not only great for getting you miles in but one thing I really enjoy about traveling is getting to experience the places I'm in. Seeing and experiencing a city on foot is the best way to do this in my opinion. I feel that I know Minneapolis a lot better having logged hundreds of miles throughout the city and so that is what I often do when I'm traveling.

So I decided to do the same here in Minneapolis, so I headed out with my credit card, my camel pack and camera. One of the great things about Minneapolis is all of the biking and running paths that are open all year round. In the winter the city will often plow the running paths before they plow the roads, which is great for me. Even if you live in the heart of Minneapolis you are only steps away from beautiful trails around the lakes and rivers. I took a bunch pictures as I was running and those of you who know Minneapolis well you can try and pick out some of the places. Hope you enjoy them and can see some of the great sights that Minneapolis has to offer.

Lake Hiawatha

Lake Nakomis

Minnehaha Creek

Stopped for a mid run snack, the sour patch kids were not a good idea.

Ducks in the creek

Nice path right along the creek

Tunnel under Lake St. connecting Lake Calhoun to Lake of the Isles

Lake Calhoun

Shot of Downtown from the walking bridge that connect the sculpture garden and Loring Park

Sculpture Garden

Target Field, baseball season is fast approaching

St. Anthony Falls

Running path the runs behind the New Guthrie Theather

Along the Mississippi River

Shot from Marshall/Lake Bridge

Minnehaha Falls

Minnehaha Creek

Pope Blessing the crowd at St. Peter's square

Here is the video of the Pope actually giving the blessing to the crowd in St. Peter's Square. I'm not quite sure about the translation but I think he is telling me to train hard and have a great race. My camera battery died before he was done but good stuff.

Video Post from Rome, Italy

Sorry...I've been on the road this past week or so for work so I've been bad at posting, but here is a quick video post from St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, Italy, I guess it's actually Vatican City. I was lucky that the Pope was in town and every Sunday he addresses the crowd in St. Peter's Square and blesses everyone.

As some of you may know I am running my first 100 mile race this April, so I figured I could use all of the help I could get. Even though I'm not Catholic I was quite amazed at Pope Benedict XVI he gave the initial blessing and address in Latin, I think, but then gave separate blessings in Italian, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese and one more language I couldn't figure out. He was even giving some shout outs to several groups that were in the crowd. It was pretty cool.

Even though I didn't get any running in today I think I put on about 15 miles of walking. I pretty much started out from the hotel at 10:15 and was walking around until about 6:15, yes I took a few breaks for site seeing but just grabbed some pizza from one of the small shops and staked out a good stop to do some people watching. The Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain are great places to hang out and people watch. At one point I actually was next to a group of American students that were studying abroad, it was funny to hear them having the same conversations that I did when I was abroad...oh to be young again.

Well, enjoy the video post I'll try and add some more pictures and videos later. I'm off to dinner, maybe try and find a nice outdoor spot in one of the big piazzas.

Arrivedercci...

Running Abroad: Dusseldorf, Germany

The nice part about Dusseldorf, Germany is that the city is located on the Rhine River and there are plenty of running and biking trails. It is about 40-45 degrees, so warming than MN. I have found a few good routes. Here is a nice 5.5 mile loop.

Krispy Kream Challenge:

For those of you that know me well, you know that donuts are one of my favorite foods in the world, for those of you who have read this blog before you will know that running is one of my favorite things to do in the world. I have managed to combine these two passions of mine in that one, running, allows me to indulge in the other, donuts. Often for my weekly long runs I will walk down to the amazing Mom and Pap bakery, A Baker's Wife and buy a few donuts and leave them on the kitchen counter so that when I return from my run I get to look forward to fresh homemade donuts, plural as in 3-4. Let's just say it is a very strong motivating factor for me. I will also stop during my really long runs 5+ hour runs and "refuel," this normally consist of me stopping at a gas stations and buying a gatorade and either a snickers bar or donuts. There is a saying about endurance running from the book Once A Runner by John L. Parker, "If the fire is hot enough anything will burn." Parker is referring to runner that burn through four, five, six thousand or more calories a day, so whether its donuts or a salad it all just fuel for the fire.

Now other than as a reward for after a long run or fuel for those really long runs I have yet to be able to truly combine these two passions of mine. Until I saw an ad for the Krispy Kream Challenge. To complete the Krispy Kreme Challenge, participants start at the iconic NC State Belltower on Hillsborough Street, run two miles to the Krispy Kreme store of Raleigh, eat one dozen doughnuts (totaling 2,400 calories and 144 grams of fat), and run back to the Belltower, all under 1 hour. This would surely test the limits of my stomach and there is a strong possibility that after this event I would not have the desire to run or eat donuts for a while. Maybe a possibility for 2012 race calendar.

Eating on the Run:

Video post about what I eat while out on long runs. I know I say that I'm headed out for a long run tomorrow, but I recorded a while ago on Saturday and went for 36 miles on Sunday Feb. 6th.

What I ate during the 36 mile run.
44oz of gatorade
1 banana
1 bagel with cream cheese
8 oz of excelerade
4 snickers bars
32 0z of water

I should have been drinking more I go pretty dehydrated towards the end. I have a 50 mile run planned for tomorrow Feb. 19th so we'll see how that goes. Definitely going to be eating on the run.

That's Hot Yoga:

No not more celebrity news, today I did my first session of hot yoga, or Bikram Yoga. Hot yoga is a set of 26 yoga posses done in a heated room over a 90 minute session. It is said that doing yoga in a heated room helps to increase flexibility, restore muscles and increase cardiovascular strength. My experience with Hot Yoga was much different than some of the other yoga classes that I have taken. I am still a beginner at yoga and have only done the intro classes and a few Vinyasa Flow classes which to me are quite challenging, but had a much more relaxed feel to it and ended with a meditative portion of the class that really relaxed you.

Hot yoga is still challenging but it a much different way. The instructor was great and really pushed you to always be focusing on your form and getting the most out of each position. The heat was not too bad though I did do 6.5 miles of hill repeats just before the class and was slightly dehydrated to start the class, which I would not recommend. A normal Bikram yoga class is done in 105 degree temperatures, but this class was done around 95 degree temps, but you still sweat a lot and do become dehydrated. Though you do not do as many balancing posses and strengthening posses it is still a challenge and I am sure I'll be a bit sore tomorrow.

I really enjoyed my first hot yoga experience and will definitely be back to try again. How it will help me run 100 miles still remains to be seen. I do know that several ultra runners do participate in hot yoga classes so there must be some benefit to it.

What to Give a Runner for Valentine's Day:

Happy Valentines Day!

You know I really don't mind Valentines Day all that much, so what if it was invented by corporate America, it's an excuse to spend time with the ones you love. Now if that lucky lady just happens to be a runner you're in luck guys I got you covered. Here are some great ideas for those lovely lady runners in your life.

1. A nice box of assorted of gels and goos. Now sure chocolate is a simple carbohydrate but does it have the necessary electrolytes and sodium needed to avoid dehydration? I don't think so, plust that special person will appreciate the fact that you are not only tapping into her sweet tooth but but also looking out for her hydration needs too.



2. Now some of you might be thinking jewelry, forget that, go with the a new GPS watch. Sure she may think she wants that new diamond bracelet or necklace to show off to your girlfriends but there is a certain amount of elegance and luster in having a device that you can strap to your wrist and accurately track your pace, time, distance and heart rate all at once and display the results that she can instantly email to all her friends. Now that will make them jealous. Plus I can't think of anything more romantic than whispering each others' mile splits to one and other while sipping on a cold glass of chocolate milk while you cold down and refuel from you run.



3. What about flowers? Nothing gets a girl more excited than having flowers delivered to her at work right for all her co-works and friends to see. Not if your gal is a runner, what she really wants is an exercise ball to sit on instead of the old office chair she has. Flowers are dead after a few days, but her new exercise ball it the gift that keeps on giving. Not only does it help keep those hamstring from tightening up from sitting all day but it also help develop lower back and core strength while she's at her desk for hours and hours. Trust me guys, flowers are for show but an exercise ball will help her with that get up and go.



4. I am sure there are even a few of you guys out there that are even thinking about give that special lady a cute cuddly puppy for valentines day and...well you're getting closer. She doesn't want a cute little puppy that is going to poop, pee and chew everything up in sight. What you really want is a full grow, fully trained running dog. Now I'll recommend huskies, especially for you fellow Minnesotans, these dogs are made to run hard and run a long time. That little puppy is going to take months or even years before you can get it trained and in shape enough for you to take him out for a 10 mile run, besides they only stay cute for a few months anyways.



Well guys I hope I was able to help you out. Trust me if your gal is a runner she'll appreciate you thinking about her needs this Valentine's Day.