Actually Reading Runner's World

Since the February issue of Runner's World has a guy's abs on the cover instead of the usual beautiful woman runner/model (gratuitous sample to the left), this month I actually opened the magazine. A couple of interesting items:

First, endurance sports coach Chris Carmichael (longtime personal coach of Lance Armstrong) studied blood and urine samples to determine what happened to Dean Karnazes's body when he ran 50 marathons in 50 days in 50 states. The amazing answer? There was no impact, at least in the short-term:

"Karnazes's body had adapted to his running schedule to the point that pounding out 183.4 miles a week caused no more muscle damange than walking the halls at an office job. ... Karnazes's ultramarathon habit has, over the last 13 years, built up his bone density, joints, running muscles, and blood transport system to the point where his ability to motor along forever is limited only by his supply of food and fluids, not muscle damage or joint pain."

Here's the story.

Also in this issue, ex-wife Kristin Armstrong got a download of the New York City Marathon straight from The Lance's mouth. Notable that:

1. Lance ate 15 PowerGels. It gets my attention when a guy who has turned endurance sports nutrition into a science downs 10 more gels than me to run a marathon. Time to revisit the nutrition strategy?

2. His longest training run was actually 13 miles, not the 16 he claimed before the race. I'm thinking I'm not gonna emulate that approach.

3. In 2007 he wants to return to NYC and go for sub-2:45. Me, too.

Oh, and after several years of making a living from speaking about running and writing Stuart Smalley-type columns urging readers to give themselves permission to be slow runners, the One-Trick Penguin has discovered something called "trails." That must be what those paths cutting through the woods are. Saves me a trip.