July 7, 1986
Fitness
THREE CHEERS FOR VOLUNTEERS
At 7:15 on an overcast morning, a signal was given and the first of four waves of triathletes rushed into the 55-degree waves breaking on the beach just north of Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey.
Once again, the annual Monterey Bay Triathlon (a half-marathon distance, and a qualifying event for the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon) was under way and, for the first time, it was being conducted in the bay itself. (In previous years it began in a reservoir in the hills west of Gilroy.)
Fewer than 500 triathletes took part in the 1.2-mile cold-water swim, 56-mile bicycle ride, and half-marathon, but more than 500 people in yellow T-shirts served as volunteers.
The volunteers’ duty included setting up water stations, handing out race packets and T-shirts, marking courses, making arrangements for the carbo-feed the night before, helping out at aid stations, and offering encouragement to the participants.
Usually, the only time a competitor consciously recognizes the presence of volunteers is when something is amiss and the competitor is looking for someone to whom he can complain.
Volunteers receive very little for their work. Usually a bushel basket of hassles, a commemorative T-shirt, and a hearty “Thanks” from the organizers.
But without volunteers there would be no race.
On behalf of the thousands of competitors in the Bay Area who have staggered over a hill at the 18-mile mark in a marathon and been greeted by an enthusiastic group of volunteers at an aid station or been helped through the finish-line chutes by the willing hands of unpaid and often unappreciated volunteers, “Thank you!”
July 14, 1986
Fitness
A CURE FOR THAT LONG-DISTANCE LONELINESS
It is a long-held axiom that, no matter who you train with during the week, once the starter’s gun goes off, nobody can run the race for you—it’s you against the course and your own body. It’s every man for himself.
Although this axiom seems a particularly harsh reality for people moving up from jogging to long-distance racing or from short- and middle-distances to long-distance, it always possesses a certain beauty of simplicity.
Next Sunday’s 10th annual San Francisco Marathon contains a twist to the loneliness of the long-distance runner, however, compliments of Ricoh, the office copier machine and 35m camera folks.
Under the Ricoh Photo Copy Contest (so named for reasons gradually become apparent) developed for this race, you’re no longer required to run merely with what you’ve brought, but also with whom you’ve brought.
To promote Ricoh’s position as a major player in the office-copier wars, the San Francisco Marathon contest is designed to cause race spectators to do double-takes as they watch spittin’ images of runners go past.
Ricoh will present its top-of-the-line 35mm camera to each of eight winners taking part in the duplication sweepstakes in four categories: male/male, female/female, male/female, master/master (over age 40). The running partners must be dressed in matching outfits (no costumes), not including running shoes, and must run the race together, crossing together under the finish-line banner.
The partners will be featured in the postrace awards ceremony—and will likely cause plenty of confusion among the shutterbugs attempting to focus a rangefinder camera on the winning pairs.
To enter the Photo Copy Contest, marathon entrants are required to submit their Ricoh entry forms (mailed out with race entry confirmation, or they can be picked up (with race numbers) at the Ricoh booth at the runners’ expo at the Hotel Meridien, 50 Third St., on Friday (11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.) or Saturday (10 a.m. to 6 p.m.) when they pick up their race packets. Entrants will be given special bib numbers to wear in conjunction with their race numbers.
The contest is being promoted as a chance for the middle-of-the-packers to become winners, which makes sense, since top runners are going to go for personal records as well as cash and cars instead of slowing down to wait for a running partner.
The contest is an excellent opportunity for those who train together without having to be part of a much larger –and often unmanageable—team.
July 21, 1986
Fitness
MARTY LIQUORI KEEPING PACE WITH THE FITNESS MARKET
One of the mot incongruous moments I’ve experienced came years ago at the New York City Marathon. Not at the race itself, but in a hotel elevator a mile from the finish line.
It was a moment in the history of running when the world outside was deciding that all those thousands of crazy people running all those miles might be a good market for certain accessories.
Amby Burfoot and I were there to cover the marathon for Runner’s World magazine. As we pushed the elevator button to go downstairs to grab some breakfast, the doors slid open and there stood Marty Liquori. He was wearing a pair of Bone-Fones, that awkward predecessor to today’s Walkman, a radio whose speakers hung at the ends of what looked like a big scarf.
“You don’t really run with those things,” said Burfoot, one of the purest of purists in running.
“Sure,” Liquori said, “they’re OK as long as nothing blocks the station signal. You know skyscrapers.”
Apparently Liquori’s interest in hardware that goes along with fitness hasn’t lessened over the years. As the fitness market has expanded, so has the array of available devices. And he has kept pace, as evidenced in his newest book: “Marty Liquori’s Home Gym Workout” (Bantam Books, 221 pp., $12.94).
Liquori and co-author Gerald Secor Couzens faced a big challenge; because of the myriad companies catering to the fitness enthusiast, it is a herculean job to find companies that are producing good equipment that will still be available—and not too radically upgraded—by the time the book comes out. There is a typical lag time of eight months to a year for a publisher to put books in the stores.
The field of fitness equipment has grown significantly since 1982, and Marty and Gerald have done an exemplary job in keeping up with the market while also sifting through hundreds of catalogs and products to pick equipment that stands the test of time.
Liquori’s philosophy of home exercising boils down to simple logic: You can’t always do your workouts outside, and there’s absolutely no reason why you can’t do them in your home. The book is a nice mixture of equipment catalog, philosophies, cautions, and programs designed to reach specific goals.
Marty covers the entire spectrum: stationary bikes, weight training equipment, rowing machines, treadmills, cross-country skiing simulators, and heart rate monitors. He also offers advice geared to avoiding injuries, as well as advice on steps to take if you do become injured.
In a fitness-conscious America where there is often unwise emphasis on getting as fit as you can as quickly as you can, the man who bore the brunt of the Bone-Fone jokes points toward a common-sense route to fitness in the comfort of your home. Tune Marty in. He comes across loud and clear.
July 28, 1986
Fitness
CHOOSING A GOOD CROSS-COUNTRY SKI MACHINE
The letters this time around cover quite a bit of territory, but are primarily directed at securing additional information on equipment, fitness studies, and fitness programs.
# Cross-Country Skiing Machines. In a column discussing the strenuous aerobic workout provided by cross-country skiing and by cross-country skiing machines, lawyer Roger Halfhide of Los Angeles wrote for further information to assist him in choosing a good X-C ski machine.
As mentioned in that column, one of the most popular machines, one that has been a pioneer in the market, and with which I’m most familiar, is the NordicTrack. It is sturdy, works both the lower and upper body (just like real cross-country skiing does), and folds up for storage to occupy only 15 by 17 inches of floor space. For more information on this machine, call NordicTrack’s toll-free number for a brochure: 800-328-5888.
# Ralph Paffenbarger’s study. Lois Anderson of Mill Valley writes concerning the Harvard Alumni Study conducted by Stanford’s Ralph Paffenbarger. She has scoured the issues of the New England Journal of Medicine and can’t find the study.
The study was carried in the New England Journal of Medicine March 6, 1986, pages 605-613, under the title “Physical Activity, All-Cause Mortality, and Longevity of College Alumni.” Inquiries regarding the reprint should be made directly to the Journal at 10 Shattuck Street, Boston 02115. Although somewhat technical in nature, the report can be read and understood by the fitness layman. And it provides proof positive of the longevity benefits of an aerobic fitness lifestyle.
# Beginning Running. Richard J. Murphy of Oakland has recently embarked on a running program with a goal of running around Lake Merritt comfortably while dropping 15-20 pounds. He’s already done a 1.5-mile run after beginning his program by doing a half-mile on the roof of the Oakland Athletic Club. Richard is 49, 6-foot-2, and 225 pounds.
Having once weighed in at 207 on a 6-0 frame, I can understand some of the obstacles you are overcoming. Perhaps the most important piece of advice is to maintain goals such as running around Lake Merritt, but put it into a time frame at this point. The human body will respond to a training program fairly quickly from a cardiovascular standpoint, less than two months.
But for the rest of the body, particularly the joints and connecting tissue, it may take years to come around to match cardiovascular fitness. Carrying extra pounds makes it further stressful on those joints.
If you intend to make your running a long-term proposition, allow plenty of time to work up to the 3.2-mile goal. Enjoy the positive changes to your body that the regular running program is making, such as better stamina and weight loss. But remember that a body 49 years of age is not going to repair itself as quickly as a 25-year-old body.
The best two pieces of advice I can give are to be patient and to train faithfully using the hard/easy principle.
# Ending a Bad Year. In response to a column where I played out a litany of problems I had run into during training and racing in my 39th year of life, Karen Kelley-Day, co-director of the Humboldt Redwoods Marathon, wrote to suggest I consider running their marathon or half-marathon on October 12. Karen enumerates the benefits of the race: very little chance of allergies acting up among the redwoods, small (1200) field, option of marathon or half-marathon, and inspiring scenery.
For those looking for a beautiful, cool fall marathon, Karen is correct: the Humboldt Redwoods Marathon is terrific. This will be the eighth annual. And, Karen, since I haven’t missed any of the previous seven, my entry’s in the mail. For marathon information, phone 707-826-0616.