City Coach | Coach Cane's Blog

Date Auction

If you're looking for a fun way to support a good cause, come on out to Alisa Stern's Date Auction on behalf of Team Livestrong in the Boston Marathon. Details are in the flyer below.

Doug Stern Open Water Swim Camp 2011

We have just returned from the annual Doug Stern Curacao Open Water Swim Camp. My body is still trying to recover from the shock of a 70-degree temperature shift, the stunning inefficiency of the Miami Internation Airport, and the disappointment (but not shock) of finding that my bicycle is still somewhere between here and MIA. Still, as usual it was a great and productive trip. Here's the recap.

Most days would begin with a cruel alarm ringing at 6:30a, a couple of sips of coffee and then a short walk to the hotel's 50 meter Doug Stern Memoirial pool. (The pool overlooks the Caribbean Sea and is pictured here.) Swim coaches Boris Talan and Vlad Bartchouk (both of whom have a keen eye for swimming and an impressive ability to communicate what they see) oversaw a 1.5 hour workout chock fulla kicking, drills, and good-old swimming. Then it was off to the buffet breakfast for a little caloric replenishment.

After breakfast Mike Halstead and I would lead a bike ride through the area around the hotel. The roads tend to be narrow, bumpy and heavily trafficed, so we kept the rides fairly short except for two days on which we were taken by bus to the northwest section of the island, where the riding is much nicer and we got some extra mileage. After the ride there would often be a short run, though the ambitious sorts would get up early to go long before the heat set in. The training day would finish with an open water swim in the pristine waters of the aforementioned Caribbean Sea. 

Other highlights included a catamaran trip to Klein Curacao as well as a barbeque at the Knip Beach complete with a reading by Oliver Sacks himself. Along the way there was also some cliff jumping, pole dancing, a fair amount of training for the next Beer Mile, and some mutual admiration between our group and a the Dutch National swim team who were also training at the pool. The camp finished with the traditional 2-mile open water swim back to our hotel.

The roster of athletes spanned in age, ability and experience. Most knew and loved Doug, but some newcomers never had the opportunity to meet him. The conistent thread was that everyone came to have fun and improve. That the camp has continued to be a positive resourse for so many people even after Doug's passing in 2007, is proof of how many people he influenced.

Thanks to Lisa Dignazio for the great photo.

Cheaters' Hall of Fame - New Member

I pride myself on my tenacity. I have spent inappropriately long periods of time researching cheaters out of nothing more than a healthy combination of OCD and an overly developed sense of right and wrong. But whomever is behing the Study of Kip Litton Running has put me to shame. Seems that the aforementioned Mr. Litton is a "runner" from Michigan with what, at first glance, appears to be an impressive resume. Sadly, while he may be a decent runner, what he's really good at is cheating. Like cutting courses cheating. Or driving courses cheating. The best one is that his website lists some impressive race results at races that don't exist!

Usually we require a waiting period for induction into the Cheaters' Hall of Fame, but for Dr. Litton we will make an exception. Congratulations Kip.

Happy Holiday

History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people. -Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Disney Marathon Race Report - Starkes Returns

Kevin Starkes made his stealthy return to racing today during a weekend trip to Florida for the Disney Marathon. Kevin went to the happiest place on earth and ran a 2:47:10 in his comeback. Kevin hit the halfway point in 1:24:30 and then accelerated for a 1:22:40 on the second half, so clearly there's plenty more to come. 

Congratulations Kevin.

Maybe He Doesn't Like Rainbows or Puppies Either

If you gave something away for free, you'd think that it would be hard for people to complain. You'd think wrong.

Look no further than the recent Christmas Marathon held Van Cortlandt Park. One blogger voiced objections to some aspects of the free event. Having just run in their snowy, and very fun New Year's Day race, I feel compelled to defend the organizers of the Holiday Marathons. In fairness, the blogger does say some very complimentary things about the race, and seems to have his heart in the right place, so I'm not trying to slam him or start a flame war. But I do feel that a few things need to be explained.

Among the complaints were the lack of Gatorade and water stations anywhere but at the start/finish of the 6.55 mile loop and the lack of volunteers equipped with mobile phones at every mile, as well as their lack of insurance (which they make abundantly clear at their website). In fairness, he does suggest instituting a fee for the race, but I'm content to let the organizers do what they want, rather than tell them how to run their race. (And I'm happy to throw a few bucks in the kitty afterward because I appreciate their work, but I can't imagine that they're not losing money at present.)

My best guess is that the blogger is primarily familiar with road races, and probably those held by NYRR. More to the point, he probably hasn't done many trail races, or he'd know that mile markers and multiple water stops are not amenities that you see at such events, whether you pay an entry fee or not. As for the lack of insurance, I look at these races as roughly akin to inviting a few friends that you're going for a run, and inviting them to join you. There's no promise or pretense of insurance, or of anything else that they're not offering. Runners should expect to be self-sufficient, and not expect to sue anyone if they get injured.

The organizers of the Holiday Marathons are putting on a series of fun, quirky, free events in which the spend hours marking the course and compiling the results. They give out free fruit, water, and unique prizes. People post professional-quality photos for free download. And the assembled crowd has a great time.

The way I see it complaining about the lack of amenities at a quirky, free, grassroots event is like writing a review of a small, family-owned, macrobiotic restaurant and suggesting that they'd be much better if they'd just serve beef. If you want to eat beef, you have a multitude of options. If you want McDonald's for generic burgers you can stop in any time. If you want fillet mignon and are willing to fork over a hefty sum, and maybe wait for a table, you can go to Peter Lugar. Similarly, if you want to run generic races with water every mile and chip timing, while wearing your ipod on the same loop that you raced last week, NYRR has plenty of races for you. And if you want a top quality events and you're willing to pay top dollar for them and risk not getting in, they offer those as well. 

Interestingly, in the blogger's next post, he has nothing but praise for Harry's Handicap race on 1/1. For the record, Harry's Handicap is a fun, low-key event held by the good people at the Prospect Park Track Club. They have no mile markers, no water on the course, maybe no insurance, few (if any) volunteers on the course, and they charge a nominal fee. So why the double-standard?

The Holiday Marathon organizers don't need a list of solutions to problems that they don't have. There are lots of runners in NYC, with lots of different preferences. NYRR and other larger management companies should continue to do what they do best, and the Holiday Marathoners should keep their small but loyal group of fans happy and continue to let their freak flag fly.

Sense About Science

The last time I professed my love for a blogger other than the one to whom I am married, it was the Parenting With Duct Tape lady who said "Curse the pansy parent who decided to make everyone a winner. In their misguided attempt to boost the self esteem of the children, they have stripped away the self worth of a whole up and coming generation. Created whiners the likes we have not seen before. Made it impossible to tell your kid, "Know what kid, you really aren't the best at EVERYTHING...We are not all winners in everything we do. We need to know that. Our kids need to know that. Mostly we are average and so are our goddamn kids. ... Stop with the false hopes. Stop with the making of kids who do nothing but whine when confronted with the fact that they may actually have to put effort in their lives once in while."

As we begin 2011, I have turned my affections to the good folks at Sense About Science, who examined some of the nonsense health advice endorsed by celebrities. There are some real winners in there. Even if you don't bother to click through to the link with the detailed listing of mythical mumbo-jumbo, remember the following words of wisdom.

Two old chestnuts:

1. Nothing is chemical free: everything is made of chemicals, it’s just a case of which ones.
2. Detox is a marketing myth: our body does it without pricey potions and detox diets.

Two new lessons from 2010:

1. There’s no need to boost: bodily functions occur without ‘boosting’.
2. Energy and fitness come from food and exercise: there are no shortcuts.