2:04.26

I have several heroes in the world of running: The only American running Legend: Steve Prefontaine, Bill Rodgers, Jim Ryun (who I have met), Pheidippides, Frank Shorter, a fictional character named Quenton Cassidy, and Haile Gebrselassie.

I specifically want to talk about Haile Gebrselassie or “Geb.” There is so much to say, so I will keep it brief. He is an incredible runner. Easily one of the best this world has seen. We could talk about his history and the 25 world records he has set over a vast array of distances from 2k to marathon. I just want to mention the main difference between him and other elite athletes: he is humble.

In order to reach the top of whatever endeavor one decides to dedicate their life to; the world wide accepted belief is that there must be a big part of that individual that fully believes that they are better than everyone else. The power of the mind is incredible and cannot be quantified. So to have a mental edge will in turn give you a physical edge. In this era all types of athletes are so impressively full of themselves it’s disgraceful and embarassing. That is not Geb.

This morning Haile Gebrselassie ran 26.2miles in 2:04.26. No one in all of recorded history of this earth has run that fast (Elijah’s run from Mt. Carmel to Jezreel, which would have been really close to the equivalent of a modern marathon, sadly is not recognized as a record time). He (Geb) averaged 4.45 for every one of those 26.2miles. Unreal. Yet another tally mark on his exceptionally long list of world records.

Warning: Science Content

Let me first start by saying school is going well. I feel like I am waking up and the day is flying by… it seems that the days are over before I really get a chance to do something productive. Here it is Thursday night and I cant tell you right now what I have done this week, but I know I have been busy from the moment I get out of bed… crazy. I know I enjoy what I am doing; I am just not exactly sure what that is yet.

I have found it interesting for many years now that we basically have access to almost limitless resources on the internet. Scientists have even mapped the human genome (a process that took approximately 13 years). In addition, every discipline that you get into becomes a science, even things that you wouldn’t think would be difficult or scientific are. For a personal example I was blown away when I was first introduced to buying the correct shoe for running. When I was hired by Fleet Feet (a running specialty store) I was taught the biomechanics of the lower leg and how shoes addressed those issues. There is really a lot that goes into making a good running shoe and each shoe will fit a different type of person. That encouraged me even more to continue the study of how the body works so I perused the study of exercise science in undergrad and really enjoyed it. In the context of the staggering amount of information there are a few things that I have learned over the years and that I am continually blown away by them. Real exercise physiologists please feel free to clue us in if I am completely off base.

First, exercise physiologists don’t know why you get tired when you exercise. Oh, we know that when glycogen (sugar) levels in your muscles get low then you get tired and when Lactate (or lactic acid) accumulates in your system then you get tired. There are several other indications, but we don’t know the exact mechanisms of what makes you tired, those are just things that accompany fatigue.

Second, exercise physiologists don’t know why you get sore after you work out. No, it isn’t accumulation of lactic acid (that is cleared from your system in around two hours post exercise). That doesn’t explain DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) that happens around 48hrs post exercise. Sure there are micro tears in the muscle and other indications of the presence of soreness, but it doesn’t completely explain this.

Third (this is a shout out to Ken Turley), humans (even highly trained humans) are in a constant state of dehydration and our bodies have a “thirst thermostat” set on low. Next time you are thirsty (especially after you sweat a lot) drink a glass of water and think about what happens after a few minutes. You are done being thirsty, but there is no way you replaced all of your fluids that you lost during exercise and you most likely didn’t start the exercise fully hydrated either. No one fully knows that answer.

But what blows me away the most is the importance of Oxygen (O2) in the body. O2 is everything in exercise. Your body will not work for very long without it (as in just a few seconds… unless you are frozen, that’s another topic entirely)… it is ESSENTIAL for life. Approximately 21% of the atmosphere is O2. During anaerobic (without O2) exercise we can go for a few seconds before we start breathing heavy. Those that do a better job at using O2 make millions of dollars (Lance Armstrong does an excellent job at using O2 and he has done fairly well for himself). Here is the deal: your body needs fuel to survive. Your body uses fuel by breaking down food products in a process called metabolism (sorry for the simple version, but I just want to make sure we are all on the same page… all 4 of you who read this). This is a HIGHLY complex process and is incredible to study. During the metabolic pathway we make a molecule called ATP (adenosine triphosphate) which is essentially energy (actually the breaking of the bond between phosphates 2 and 3 produces energy, only 40% of which we can utilize for mechanical work, the other 60% is given off as heat… the heat you feel when you work out). Essentially O­2 is needed to make a lot of ATP (aerobic metabolism: in the presence of O2). Ok so this is the crazy part: Oxygen (this amazingly important molecule that is essential for life) is the LAST STEP in aerobic metabolism. In all of the craziness of enzymes, mitochondria, glucose, glycogen, NADH, FADH2, and a myriad of other pieces to an incredibly complex puzzle, it comes down to O2 picking up some hydrogen atoms and becoming H2O… that’s it.

You breathe in Oxygen and it literally runs into some hydrogen atoms and becomes Water and that’s how you “create” energy (obviously energy can neither be created nor destroyed). That’s basically it. Can you believe that? Lance Armstrong is better at making water than anyone else in the Tour de France, of all time… longer even.

...

Well, I had full intentions of posting Reflections Part II, the second half of my exegetical work on The Pretender by Jackson Browne (my favorite part of the song was yet to come), but wow did things pick up around here. I was at school for 12hrs today and I think that is going to become more and more common. Its hard to stay up on my reading, there is just so much of it to do and its hard to stay motivated to keep reading when I am not directly tested on it. The past two days I have not run in the morning and that is disappointing because I was seeing some great results and starting to feel like I was obtaining the coveted “auto-pilot” or “cruise” mode (as I refer to it) during a run, where I can just run and not have to think about what I am doing, but be somewhere else disassociating and recharging. I really think my running will help keep me sane around here and I really want to continue. I finished an online test just now (its after midnight and not feeling great because I didn’t do so hot on the test) so I doubt that there will be a run in the morning. I figured as long as I am up this late I may as well write some thoughts down… nothing mind blowing… but neither is life for the most part, just the daily grind. They days are filling up before they get here and I have not even started research yet. It will be crazy.

I ate dinner with Dr. Pivarnik and Erin (also 1st year doctoral exercise physiology). It was really good. He just was wondering how we were doing and how our transition is going. I was really encouraged by the visit and am very thankful for him. The Kinesiology department here is just fantastic and those in the exercise physiology discipline are a tight knit group and I am excited to be here.

Well don’t know really what to say, but I did write more about The Pretender last week and didn’t post it… I think I will now.

The song continues:

“Caught between the longing for love
And the struggle for the legal tender
Where the sirens sing and the church bells ring
And the junk man pounds his fender
Where the veterans dream of the fight
Fast asleep at the traffic light
And the children solemnly wait
For the ice cream vendor
Out into the cool of the evening
Strolls the Pretender
He knows that all his hopes and dreams
Begin and end there”

The song just gets better! Man, love it. I love the polarities that Browne is describing here. Love or Money? I like how he is acknowledging you cannot obtain both, one must be sacrificed and it seems at the expense of the other. For a long time the next line stumped me, sirens and church bells?… then I realized tonight as I was driving to church that the sirens he is talking about are not on a fire truck, but the seductive sirens of Greek mythology. Both have their own pull on him. I have no idea what the junk man is doing, but it sounds great in the song. I love the next line: “where the veterans dream of the fight, fast asleep at the traffic light.” These veterans have seen and done things that you and I will never see or ever do. They have met the enemy in close combat, even hand to hand, face to face, fighting for the same thing: life. A distant second objective was freedom for this great country of ours… but in the moment they experienced the most primitive instinct: kill or be killed. Since they are alive… they killed. They also watched helplessly as their brothers beside them died seemingly randomly. It seemed not to matter how well trained you were or how brave you were … the rain fell on the righteous and wicked alike. In fact it seemed much of the time the well trained and most courageous were the ones to die; leaving the cowards and untrained to carry the “victory” on their shoulders. The song briefly alludes to these warriors that preserved good and eradicated evil in this world falling asleep at the wheel. Guess who yells and honks at them? punks that are ignorant and ungrateful of their heritage. Great part of the song. I think there is weight to the second half of this stanza, but I haven’t figured it out yet. I do feel that I relate to the Pretender as I can explain later in the song, but I don’t know what to think about these phrases. I would love to hear your thoughts on them if you had any.

The song finishes up with these lines, I think they are great:

“Ah the laughter of the lovers
As they run through the night
Leaving nothing for the others
But to choose off and fight
And tear at the world with all their might
While the ships bearing their dreams
Sail out of sight”

“I'm going to find myself a girl
Who can show me what laughter means
And we'll fill in the missing colors
In each other's paint-by-number dreams
And then we'll put our dark glasses on
And we'll make love until our strength is gone
And when the morning light comes streaming in
We'll get up and do it again
Get it up again”

“I'm going to be a happy idiot
And struggle for the legal tender
Where the ads take aim and lay their claim
To the heart and the soul of the spender
And believe in whatever may lie
In those things that money can buy
Though true love could have been a contender
Are you there?
Say a prayer for the Pretender
Who started out so young and strong
Only to surrender”

Reflections:The Pretender (Part I)

I always feel the need to emphasis the fact that I don’t believe I will be able to enlighten anyone by this blog, but I think it will allow those that read it to understand my thinking more and what is going on… I do see some benefit to that.

There is a song by the artist Jackson Browne called The Pretender. If you haven’t heard it I strongly encourage you to listen to it several times… it’s a pretty good song. For many years I have really enjoyed this song and I have not been entirely sure why. A common superficial question to receive is: “what kind of music do you like?” Oddly enough I have been plagued by that question for sometime now because I am not entirely sure what kind of music I like… I just know that I like the music that I like. I feel like I have a very eclectic list of music that I like (but everyone does), but I cant say that I like everything of a certain genre or nothing of another. I would love to say that I hate everything that is country and rap, but I cant do that. Now I think very little of either genre is worth much, but even a blind squirrel finds a nut! Anyway, I have recently decided that much of the music that I most like are the individual songs that I can “sing along to” however dumb that sounds that’s what I have decided (that of course is not a comprehensive definition either). Jackson Browne’s The Pretender has always been a song that I could sing along and it has always carried with it a touch of nostalgia. I have recently started really listening to the words:

“I'm going to rent myself a houseIn the shade of the freewayI'm going to pack my lunch in the morningAnd go to work each dayAnd when the evening rolls aroundI'll go on home and lay my body downAnd when the morning light comes streaming inI'll get up and do it again”

Not a new concept, but I really like how he says it. The way he is singing it conveys the repetitive nature and the weight of the monotony. I really can feel that he thinks there is more to life than his daily routine, however, he also seems to promote that there is weight and value in daily routine; it is indeed a huge part of life. I sense some satisfaction in his voice. His work isn’t something that is a dread, but is almost an extension of himself… but it doesn’t complete him. I am starting to feel this way now and I think I like it. The days are over “before I know it” (how does that work anyway… BEFORE you know it…sorry, sidetrack) and I am waking up doing it all again. I can see how “time can get away from a person” something he addresses in the next thoughts.

“I want to know what became of the changes
We waited for love to bring
Were they only the fitful dreams
Of some greater awakening
I've been aware of the time going by
They say in the end it's the wink of an eye
And when the morning light comes streaming in
You'll get up and do it again”

I think this is a fantastic way of addressing the first stanza and the questions that arise. I like that he addresses the previous thoughts with questions: what happened to the dreams that we had? Were they apart of some higher level of enlightenment in our “honeymoon” stage? This is an interesting concept. I don’t know how life will be like in the future, but I don’t want to find myself just going through the motions because that’s all I have energy for or that’s all that my crazy busy schedule will allow for. This is a HUGE concept that I am struggling with. I don’t want to be as busy as I see so many people are these days, but I don’t know how to avoid it in the future… I plan on fighting it hard though. I feel that Browne is also frustrated that so much of his life has gone by and the dreams that he and his wife had in the beginning are so far gone he is wondering what happened to them. How did they end up here? He knows that time is slipping by, but he will still get up in the morning and be in the same situation.

Metabolism in Exercise

I like to report to people that I am in 20th grade for several reasons. First, because to me it has the feeling of elementary or middle school ( I think because after that you are a Freshman, Sophomore, etc…). Second, because it is slightly depressing that I have been in school for 20 years, that’s two decades… I am 25. So I have really only experienced 5 years of freedom and for the most part I have NO IDEA what I did for those first five years and that is slightly discouraging. Third, because I think its hilarious and its really ok if I am the only one that thinks its slightly funny.

Ok so after 20years of being in school I have become accustom to sitting in a desk and listening to someone of much higher education teach me about whatever topic of the subject at hand. As I have said in a previous post, I have hated school for a long time (up until college), but in college I started learning about some really cool stuff in History, Biology, Chemistry, Kinesiology, and a few other eclectic courses… but I have learned almost nothing useful in the education department… if that isn’t irony then the concept of irony doesn’t actually exist (side note: there is a phrase forever attached to the education building entrance at Harding University: “Come now let us reason together” – I laughed every time I went in there). I can think of several people that would be completely offended at that, but they don’t read my blog (to my knowledge). Don’t get me wrong, there are amazing people that I respect in that department and many students that will be incredible teachers have come out of there, but ask any of them if the preparation they received is enough (oh yeah, I got a 4.0 in my masters in science and education… without studying at all… that should NEVER happen). Anyway, the concept of learning has stayed the same throughout my college career and I actually enjoy sitting and listening to people that were passionate about the subject they taught and integrated our Christian race (it isn’t so much a walk as it is a run) into the course where appropriate. In undergrad, my capstone class was Exercise Physiology I&II taught by Ken Turley. I was stoked and absolutely loved the class so I knew I wanted to go on and learn more about what happens to the body during exercise (and because you cant do anything with a Bachelors in Exercise Science), so I went on to get my masters under Ken Turley and was really excited about the graduate course in Exercise Physiology (Advanced Ex Phys). Sadly though the class didn’t have the background that I did and Turley had to back off of the more heavy material in the class and it became basically an undergraduate course. I was disappointed, but it gave me a great opportunity to teach the students (which really helped me learn the material better).

So here I am in 20th grade taking a class called Metabolism in Exercise and I was sooo excited about it coming into school… truth be told I was so nervous I was sick to my stomach. I wasn’t even sure if I was going to be able to pass the classes. But I love exercise physiology and really wanted (and still want) to learn. The class meets once a week for 3hrs. Well, come to find out that the professor has decided to lecture or “tutorial” for only 15-40min of class depending on the topic. The other time in class is spent discussing articles that we read and doing lab stuff. We have a TON of stuff to read. He isn’t as concerned with teaching the material as he is concerned with us learning the material on our own and applying that to the discussion in class. I respect that, but a problem is that we are using an UNDERGRADUATE text to read from (McArdle Katch and Katch 6th ed. for those that know). I was disappointed to say the least and concerned. I am not concerned about the lack depth of the other classes that are part of my program, just the opposite…I am afraid I am not getting what I need in this class to stay afloat in those classes that will come later on. I was expecting to be taught more and the thought that I am nearly completely responsible for my education in this class is slightly concerning. Anyway, it seems once again I am teased with the prospect of an amazing ex phys class only to realize it wont go to the depth that I desire… oh well there is always next semester. And who knows, I have only been here for a month, it might get more in depth (it will be good for the review that’s for sure). The experience that I will receive here along with the education is/will be priceless and there will be classes that I take in the future that will challenge me in the ways that I want so I am thrilled about that. I am looking forward to the courses that are coming up: “Cardiorespiratory Responses to Exercise”, “Neuromuscular Responses to Exercise”, and “Methods of Physiological Evaluation and Exercise Prescription” are the main ones I am looking forward to. Its going to be good.

Issues I have

So here is the mascot of Michigan State University. My knee jerk reaction to this statue was, “wow, that’s cool.” But at a closer look with some background info, I become more frustrated at it. We are the Michigan State SPARTANS. Now for a lot of us Spartans were crazy cool before the movie 300, but since then even more of us are in awe of that society and the warriors that lead them. Its a great concept for sure and an excellent idea for a mascot. Here are the issues. The Spartan Warrior that is immortalized before you, representing the history altering Greek heritage, carries a name: Sparty. Sparty? How embarrassing. I almost want to turn away as I walk past him. Its sort of like someone doing something really embarrassing on stage and you just sink down in your seat and physically cringe because you feel so bad for that person. That’s bad enough, but it goes on. This “warrior” has no armor; he has a helmet and a robe… but no armor. I have heard that a Spartan warrior comes home with their shield… or on it. “Sparty” also doesn’t have a spear. How the heck is he supposed to fight? And besides all of that he looks like he is wearing at BEST “whity tighties.” Oh, in contrast to what some people have confronted me about: He is NOT grabbing himself… just needed to straighten that out. So pretty much we are looking at a representation of the most dishonorable Spartan that one could possibly conceive, great. As they say here: Sparty On! … I don’t even know what that means.

School

I find myself every other day or so when I am walking to the office or class thinking to myself: “What in the WORLD am I doing here? And HOW did I get here?” Sometimes I actually have to stop and think through that question.

I distinctly remember when our family was living in Portland, OR talking to my dad about how much school he went through, at the time he was still in school working on yet another degree. It was tough for all of us, but we got through it and I think we are better because of it (that’s a cliché thing to say, but its true). Anyway, I hated school then and throughout middle school and a little into high school. I didn’t say that I disliked school, I said hated it. A hot, burning hate that cannot be quenched with a thousand rivers of anti-hate. So the thought of my dad going to school for like 20 years after college was a little beyond my 10 year old mind… and my 25 year old mind.

So here I am. Entering the 20th grade and I have at least an olympiad to go. A goal of my advisor is for me to be done before the Los Angeles Olympics in 2012! (ok, actually she said 4 years… but that’s kind of how I keep track of time… trust me there will be Olympic stories to come).

I cant believe I am here. I am a doctoral student. I am working on my Ph.D. I am working toward becoming Dr. Bland…

… oh man… I think my 10 year old self would be extremely disappointed.

Am I a Runner?

Try to hang in there... I speak in parenthesis quite a bit. This one is long… I will try and shorten them later, but those of you who know me know that not talking is difficult for me to do.

When I was going into high school my parents forced me (thats how I viewed it) to get involved in some extracurricular activity. The options, after careful consideration (and the fact that I was yet to reach 5 feet tall and I might have been over 100 lbs if I was soaking wet and holding an anchor), came down to Cross Country (CC or XC or simply Cross) or Chorus. Well I couldnt sing to save my life, so I decided that if I were to be forced into anything I guess I will suffer through CC. The goal that first summer going into my 9th grade year was to run 100 miles over the 10 week summer (it could have been 11 weeks). A CC race for TN and maybe 2-3 other states is 3 miles all the other 46-47 state a high school CC race was 3.1 miles (5 kilometers). So that summer my dad ran with me most every run and I hated most every step. We ran 104 miles that summer... which was great for a 14 year old. Well, I ended up LOVING CC and I didnt have a problem running on my own after that. So I became obsessed. Was I talented or fast? No, but I loved it. In addition the coach (Ron Rubio) presented running as an analogy for life and as a deeply spiritual activity that we were able to participate in. My spiritual growth exploded during this time and it was wonderful. So by the time it was for me to graduate HS all I did was run and everything I did and talked about seemed to have something to do with running. It became my identity. I was a runner. That senior season, for most of it, I was the #1 runner on the CC team (says A LOT about the school... we had no one of real talent running that year).

I remember the day that CC ended for me. It was the first Saturday in November of 1999, we were running the Sate CC meet in Nashville, TN at Percy Warner State Park not too far from Whit Jordan's house (we actually ran in the same meet once or twice, talk to him about that he would remember) I can remember most of the race, but an aspect that sticks out to me was this: about a half mile left in the race (I had a terrible race and was beyond crushed at this point in time) I heard the patter of little feet behind me and I knew instantly who it was. It was an up-and-coming freshman who had actually beaten me in the second race of the year and almost beat me in another race. It was my little brother, BJ (or D-Luxx or James and compared to me he was little... that says something). He started encouraging me to dig and to push hard (in the middle of the race). I was ticked that I had such a bad last race so I turned to him and yelled at him "SHUT UP, you RUN... just SHUT UP and RUN" so he kicked it into overdrive and finished a good distance ahead of me. BJ went on to run some exceptional times later in his career. After CC was over I actually mourned for quite sometime because I had invested so much of myself into it… CC was my identity.

I continued running off and on and I still enjoyed it. During college I trained for 3 marathons and was able to run 2 of them. I would not really be consistent throughout the year, but ran more than I didn’t run... Until Oct of 2005, when BJ and I ran the Chicago Marathon together. Now is not the time to tell this amazing story, but I will say it was my most satisfying and inspiring event in my life to date. To prepare for that amazing experience I put together and executed my best running program of my life. Chicago was truly a mountain top experience. Over the next several months, and because of an extraordinarily unfortunate event that happened earlier in the year (also not the time or place to talk about), I felt depressed. I didn’t have any motivation to run. It didn’t concern me at first, I just figured I needed to rest and recover. By the time summer rolled around (usually my time to start running again if I had gotten out of the habit because of disc and finals etc…) I still didn’t want to run. That continued the whole next year. I just didn’t feel like running. For the first time in my life I didn’t want to run. I tried to find other clothes to wear besides my running shirts… but since I didn’t have anything else to wear I opted to feel uncomfortable and hypocritical and wore them anyway. I asked and helped pay for a sweet running GPS/HR monitor (Garmin Forerunner 305) for Christmas hoping that would help alleviate my running depression (yeah, I helped pay for my own Xmas present), it didn’t. Heather and I ran some before school was out in the spring, but that didn’t stay during the summer. I wanted the desire to run again, badly.

Now the haunting question: Who am I? Am I a runner… I couldn’t call myself one. Since the fall of 1996 I was calling myself a runner and very proud of it. In fact, there was a guy one time (right after I graduated HS that was on my CC team) who said to my face: “you are not a runner.” There are two things that he will never do again: walk and eat solid food. Not really, but man I wanted to liquefy his spine. So now I am faced with a delima… where does my identity lie? I think that question is profound. Where do we place the weight of where we find meaning for ourselves? How do we measure ourselves? Is it in something or someone that can and will change depending on environment or circumstances? If that is the case than we are assured disappointment, bitterness, the overwhelming feelings of emptiness, and the feeling that all of our efforts are in vein. I have yet to experience something worse than giving my best and failing miserably (from a personal standpoint).

Of course I have an opinion on the matter. I don’t think the concept that I am about to present all that difficult or mind blowing or complex… it not even CLOSE to original, but man its nice for me to think about. I believe the more we understand our LORD better we place our identity in HIM. Wow, the GOD of the Cosmos, The Great I AM, The KING, The SAVIOR of the World, rescued me because HE delights in me (Psalm 18:19)… that’s crazy awesome. There is nothing that I can say or do that can deserve that Truth.

Its been three weeks since I have been here… I have run 9 times (and have only missed one run). That might not sound like much, but let me assure you that it is a VAST improvement over my previous (almost) 2 years. I am seeing improvements and enjoying what I am doing and more importantly I am excited about this future of running.

Phase Change

Well, here I am at Michigan State University. Starting a Ph.D. program in Exercise Physiology with an emphasis in pediatric exercise physiology research and university teaching. I have thought about keeping a blog for sometime, but was never sure how much I would keep up with it or even if I wanted to be considered a blogger. Paul Murphy suggested the title of this blog and I just couldn't resist... to great of an idea to pass up. Anyway, his idea is what put me over the edge tonight to start to blog. I dont know how often I will do this, but we will see how it goes. At least some of my family and friends can keep up with me a little over here. I will do what I can.

The first week of classes has gone well. I am excited about what I will be learning. There is a lot of reading to be done and instead of reading I am writing down my thoughts on a web page... oh well. I feel that there will be less information being taught to me and more information for me to sift through and discover for myself. I enjoy being taught and I usually fall asleep when trying to read something so I am not too thrilled about it at this point, but we will see how it goes. I have met some great people who are really willing to help me. My advisor, Karin Pfieffer, is very driven and focused and is really working hard for me. I really dont want to disappoint her. She keeps telling me to take initiative and get involved... but there is nothing to get involved with yet. Very soon things are going to get crazy around here and there will be plenty of opportunity. A 4th year doctoral student, Jeremy, has seemingly taken me under his wing (I am supposed to take his place as the lab tech for next year). MSU is really taking care of me and it feels good.

The Church that I have been going to and I would say am apart of is open and supportive. I feel so at home there, it is a great feeling. They are a small church, but a close knit group... I am excited about it.

And, of course, I miss Heather like crazy. We have been able to talk most every day and that has been good. I think we are adjusting to the change... but not really enjoying being apart.

More to come. It's past my bed time and I still need to figure this thing out.

Thanks Paul.

Be Strong and Courageous