City Coach | Coach Cane's Blog

Takin' in to the Track

Spring's here, Boston's over, and now it's time to get down to Red Hook to work on your speed.  Whether you're a sprint or Ironman triathlete, 5k runner or marathoner, the track work can help you improve your form and speed.  Drills, race paced intervals, and the reward of me springing for ice cream in ten weeks.  What could be better? Register through Jack Rabbit's website or contact me with questions.  City Coach athletes contact us for a special discount code. 

Null and Almost Void

Gary Null is one of the great snake oil salesmen of our time. He makes unfounded claims, has dubious credentials, and sells products that mostly do no real good, or in some cases do some real harm. According to today's New York Post Null was almost killed by one of his own nutritional products, and is now suing its manufacturer. 

Pause for a moment and take in the delicious irony. A fraud who almost dies from his own garbage.  And then still has the stones to sue the people who make it for him.  It reminds me of the guy who kills his parents and then throws himself on the mercy of the court because he's an orphan.

To read more about Null and his questionable claims, check out his profile at Quackwatch.

Caption Contest 4/26

OK, have some fun with this one, taken at the recent Nike Air event.  Just remember that the judge is the strikingly handsome lad pictured in the middle here, so if you're going to poke fun at him, it had better be funny if you want to win.

Caption Contest Winner

We got a few cute ones e-mailed to us, but shouldn't even consider them since the official City Coach Caption Contest rules clearly state that entries must be posted as comment.  Regardless, the winner is Tom Buffolano with his entry "Dr. Horne's latest recovery drink (CarboMAX - Beer Flavor) is designed to counteract the usual post race soreness and stiffness in muscles and joints. Here he demonstrates on the GoldFinger 5K winner who is not only stiff but has also experienced some shrinking due to dehydration. Tastes just like the real thing!! MMM MMM!!"  There's a cold one with your name on it Tom.

Boston Marathon Race Report

The dust has settled, so it's time for a race recap.  I watched from Wellesley (hello girls) and Heartbreak Hill, and got to see lots of City Coach and Nike RunNYC friends along the course.  Here are some highlights:

• Scott Towle 3:47:25 while waving an American flag.  (Scott was accompanied by Paul Leone dressed in knickers and a powdered wig.)
• Kwok Ming Cheng 3:07:56  (If he'd cut his hear, wear clothes that fit and not run with a jacket around his waist, the improved aerodynamics would result in a sub 3 hour marathon,)
• Brad Weiss 2:43:10.  (Good thing he was going low key.)
• Adele Laboz 3:49:02.  Adele was accompanied by other City Coach athletes and friends including Michele Levy, Iris Shalam and Sara Bibi over the last few miles.  They pushed her on and she inspired them.
• Terence Gerchberg 3:14:15.  Despite missing training due to injury, T toughed it out and gave it his best effort
• Francis Laros 2:47:56 - at age 46, a 20-year PR.  (I feel old and slow.)
• Nyles Garrison 3:24:30 - not what he wanted, but Nyles has made huge improvements in the few years I've known him
• Blair Heinke 3:10:06 - as always, a strong, tough effort from Dr. Heinke. 
• Matt Woods 2:53:55
• James Gray 2:57:27
• Betty Eng 3:43:08
• Rhonda Braun 3:35:47

Congratulations all, and thanks to Edgar Barbosa for the photo.

 

Xenophobia Is Alive and Well In Boston

Check out this column by Kevin Paul Dupont in the Boston Globe. In it he complains about the large foreign presence at the front of the pack at the Boston Marathon.  He writes "to me it's just not sporting to see someone from another continent, with a name I can barely pronounce, never mind spell, dash into our town, snatch a piece of our heritage, pocket a huge was of cash, then bolt".  

Dupont's ignorance and xenophobia are mind boggling.  He ignores the fact that many of these interlopers are paid appearance fees by the BAA and other sponsors, who obviously want them there, and as he misses the good old days when white guys named Kelly won in a field of hundreds, he ignores the economic impact that 25,000 runners have on his city.  Does he really think that the Boston Marathon would have reached the heights that it has if they didn't have the best runners in the world coming?  And does he think all the MOP foreigners who go to Boston and stimulate their economy would do so if the field didn't include world class runners?  And for that matter, does he think that world class American runners like Ryan Hall and Meb would bother coming to Boston if it were not a world class field?  

I'm sure that when Dupont was a kid, he'd take his ball and run home (slowly) from the basketball court every time he lost a game.  Personally, I find his self-defeating, and exclusionary attitude to be offensive and small minded.  Hopefully this will prove to be his only attempt at writing about running.  Maybe now he can rail against all the Latin Americans that play for his beloved Red Sox.

Forget the PR 50k - Race Report

Great work by Kevin Motsch at the appropriately named Forget the PR 50k trail race Sunday.  Kevin finished in 37th place, in 5:35:36 and has now promised to get back to normal, sane stuff like Ironman triathlons.  

Congratulations Kevin. 

BAA 5k Race Results

We're just back from Boston, and will supplement the twitter posts with a full summary ASAP.  In the meantime, there were some other impressive results this weekend.  Included in that bunch was Iris Shalam at the BAA 5k, with a PR of 24:22.  

Congrats Iris.

Caption Contest 4/19

As everyone knows, City Coach believes in decorum and propriety at all times.  The photo to the left is a prime example.  Enter your caption in the comment area.  The winner will be announced next week, and will receive either a trophy or a beer.

Backwards Helmet Caption Contest Results

Though Lauri Young gets credit for her blatant (but effective) methods of sucking up to her coach, this week's winner is our old friend Dan Schmutter for his entry "A rider tests the new Pinarello Fare Marcia 3.0 descending into the Po Valley near Trieste.  The first two attempts at designing its revolutionary reverse gearing, nicknamed the "colibri" (or hummingbird) after its ability to fly backwards, were described by officials at Pinarello as "not entirely successful."