I volunteered at the Steamboat 50 instead of running it. It was lots of fun and i have a few new friends in Steamboat, now.
I got to see Tim Hoppin and Meghan Burch finish their first 50M race! Tim totally killed it too. Can you believe this? He kills his first 50M? Someone forgot to give him the memo that says you have to build up to elite status.
Oh yea! I almost forgot! That curly-haired guy next to Mrs. Burch trashed the old course record. This years course is harder and slower, so the new record certainly overshadows any older record. Great job, Ryan! 7hr, 26min That's crazy, I'm tellin' ya!
I still got to eat all the pizza and drink all the beer I wanted. I had four pieces and two beers. Great pizza!!!
I got some good mountain biking in too.
My plantar isn't hurting as bad. Too early to tell if it's starting to heal, or more probably simply been a long time since I've aggravated it. Whatever, I walked two miles on Tuesday, and again on Thursday.
Now I'm off to Aspen with friends, followed by some solo climbing in the area.
On the first topic, "low self-esteem causes obesity" - get real! Your typical type-A personality is said to be driven by an insatiable low self-esteem. No matter how great their accomplishments, there's always something wrong with what they've done, and it's never enough. When's the last time you ever saw an obese type-A? They're always either built like a tank, or skinny. Often a triathlete, but usually an elite athlete of some sort.
Genes. I just don't believe genes have much affect. They certainly could have some small affect on where on your body fat tends to get stored, and some slight affect on appetite, but no one ever got fat from being hungry.
Over-eating leads to obesity. Since food doesn't leap into your mouth and gag its way down your throat, people must be shoving too much down, and burning too little off. I admit it - I eat too much. Anyone who eats too much needs to admit it or they'll NEVER get a handle on the problem!
Fertility - I'm flabbergasted. How do obese people find their organs? I think some of them haven't seen their own knees in years, much less their organs. How can obese people manage to get, er-hum, "attached" down there? Sorry for the visuals.
I ran all of my races longer than marathon, and some of the tougher mountain marathons in my beloved EMS shorts. I've owned these shorts for about a decade. Right after crossing the river at Leadville, I squatted down to wet my bandanna and suffered a catastrophic crotch failure. I was "free and lovin' it", but almost running in a running-skirt. These shorts were showing signs of wear, and maybe I should have put them out of their misery a year ago, but this time there was no choice left.
Here's what I love about these shorts... 1 - Cargo pockets on the front of the thighs. If they're on the sides, filled cargo pockets flop and sway and impede running.
2 - A nylon belt. If you put anything into cargo pockets, they're going to pull your shorts down. A cord cuts in, but a 3/4" nylon web belt doesn't. Besides, when I wear my hydration pack, I clicp the pack belt through my pants belt and nothing flops anywhere! Can't do that with a cord. Hydration packs tend to cause plain elastic shorts to fall down, even with empty pockets. That's me - the buttless-wonder. Narrow hips and no ass. All it takes is a hint, and elastic shorts have to be pulled back up constantly. Not fun in long races.
3 - Six inch inseam. Nearly all shorts these days have an 8"-12" inseam. Again, this leads to flopping shorts when cargo pockets are used. If I wanted long pants, I wouldn't be wearing shorts, so why do today's shorts come down to the knees? (Eoow - that sounded like an old grumpy guy.)
4 - 100% nylon. Obviously, cotton is not allowed, but there are other synthetic materials. My shorts weren't at all elastic. I don't mind some elastic (to avoid binding and chaffing), but as I've said twice already, flopping cargo is bad, and elastic allows flopping.
My old EMS shorts were just the right amount of slack, and just the right amount of looseness. This is kind of critical, over 100 miles. EMS doesn't sell shorts like these anymore. Close, but no cigar. Luckily, I bought two other pairs at the same time! Unfortunately, the thread on these others are falling apart. The pockets all need mending.
The most critical thing, though, is the colors of these other shorts don't match my other stuff!!!! Light gray and light olive don't color-coordinate with my gear. When you suck on the trail as bad as me, you have to have at least some semblance of fashion, right?
