Gear Review: Oakley Flak Jacket

I've had Oakley lust since I can remember. As an elementary school kid, I bought a pair of $10 Foakleys at a flea market because they looked almost exactly like the Oakley Twenty (which I believe went by a different name back then, but that name escapes me right now). Unfortunately, as you've probably guessed, while they looked like a genuine pair of Oakleys, they were not made like a genuine pair of Oakleys, and they broke within a few months. Come to think of it, they probably didn't offer very good sun protection either, but I digress. It wasn't until after undergrad that I finally bought a quality pair of sunglasses, and while my running partners at the time all sported either Zeal or Rudy Project, I was unable to resist the siren song of Oakley. The guy I was dating at that point had a pair of Oakley Flak Jackets, and after trying on his, I decided that the next pair of sunglasses I bought were going to be Flak Jackets.

Oakley Flak Jacket with XLJ lens

Cutting on High School Cross-Country Teams

Recently, Running Times published an article by renowned coach Greg McMillan that got quite a bit of attention. This article seemed to be geared towards high school cross-country (and track) coaches, listing the different types of runners and how to best coach each personality. While it does play up stereotypes, the article still seems pretty spot on for the most part, and most high school runners fall into one of those categories. I think anyone who's run in high school (or college for that matter) can think of teammates who fit into each of the categories fairly well. Additionally, I think McMillan's methodology for handling each type of runner is very good (for the most part...read on for the actual controversy). However, the paragraph that's been getting the attention is about the runners that McMillan labels the "Necessary Evils," the talented runners who didn't put in the necessary work over the summer and come in out of shape. McMillan says to cut them.

Gear Review: Skullcandy Ink'd Headphones

At some point in their running career, most runners use a pair of headphones. It might be on the treadmill, it might be lifting or cross-training in the gym, or it might be running outside (hopefully in an area devoid of cars, cyclists, dogs, and other hazards). When I'm looking for a headphone to use while working out, I want something cheap (because it will inevitably get ruined), something with at least passable sound quality, something small and light (preferably an in-ear monitor), something that's going to stay in my ears, and something that can deal with a little bit of sweat. My current workout headphone of choice is the Skullcandy Ink'd.

Oh hey, it's a personal life entry!

Apologies for the lack of updates this past week. I just had surgery to fix a lingering problem that was keeping me from training the way I wanted to. One of those things that probably could have been prevented had I taken time off or even just cut back when I first started having a problem, instead of continuing to run through it and letting myself overcompensate, but no sense dwelling now, and pushing the limits comes with the understanding that getting hurt once in a while is inevitable. So, in the meantime I'll leave you with a quote from steeplechaser Anthony Famiglietti as well as my Twitter account that I just started, in case anyone feels like reading about my personal life (which, for now, will probably involve me being emo about not running).

"You are going to face obstacles. You are going to get sick. Everyone gets sick in running. You are going to get hurt. Almost every single runner has been hurt at some point. That's going to come. The athletes that succeed are the ones that understand how to deal with that." -Fam

And as long as I'm quoting Fam, here's another quote, just because I love this one:

"I used to have a background in skateboarding when I was in high school. It was a really exciting individual sport to me. It was all about what you put into it is what you got out. The amount of time you learned a trick, the aggressiveness and the guts you had to go down a flight of steps; you knew you were going to go down the first 10 attempts on it. You might crack your skull open, but eventually you were going to land it. That takes a certain attitude to be able to do that. And so that was the attitude I took towards running. It was a little reckless." -Fam

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Hot Weather Running

Runners have got to be some of the whiniest people I've ever met. When it's cold, I swear half my Facebook friends have some status up about how miserable it is to finish a run with icicles on their eyelashes or how painful it is to defrost in the shower after a run. When it finally gets above freezing, the statuses change to how much everyone hates cold rain. Then it gets hot out, and then everyone starts complaining about the heat and humidity. Don't get me wrong, I love perfect weather as much as anyone, and I've been known to whine mightily when it's gross out. However, you don't have to run for long before you realize that the gnarly days far outnumber the beautiful days, and the chances that your goal race falls on a day with absolutely perfect weather is slim to none (and if you only train on beautiful days, you're not going to be very good). Luckily, some bad weather is "less bad" than others (i.e. -5 °F and windy is better than 35 °F and raining, and both are better than 60 °F and hailing), and most of it can be combated with proper clothing, correct hydration, and other preparation. Like any other less than ideal weather, hot weather running brings with it certain challenges.

Why School Sports are Important for Kids

I just found out that the district in which I competed in junior high school is eliminating all junior high school athletics championships for the 2011-2012 school year. I do not know how this will impact each individual school's athletic program, whether they will still continue to have a program that competes in dual meets and conference championships, or if the writing is on the wall for them too.

Gear Review: Kara Goucher's Running for Women: From First Steps to Marathons

Kara Goucher has become one of America's most recognizable runners, and for good reason, with accomplishments such as a third place finish in the 10,000m at the 2007 World Championships and a recent 5th place finish at the 2011 Boston Marathon. While not every great athlete makes a great coach (and not every great coach was a great athlete), it's unlikely that someone like Goucher would be able to get as far as she did without picking up some knowledge along the way. In Kara Goucher's Running for Women: From First Steps to Marathons, Goucher passes some of that knowledge along to the reader, giving a lot of information that I can honestly look at and say "I wish someone told me that when I started running!"