Gettin' Bombed

This morning, during my workout, I walked under some oak trees, and at the time, a squirrel must've been up there, because dowwn where I was, acorns were cracking against the roadway steadily. It was a little nerve racking, as I knew getting hit would be pretty unpleasant. Fortunately, I got through unscathed.
I had walked about 80 minutes. I was passed by four runners, one alone and a group of three. The one alone was a friend from the running world, the other group was a woman and two men, she, too, was a running friend.
I popped off three sets of 15 push-ups and two sets of 30 sit-ups afterwards. I also tried to stretch carefully afterwards. My legs felt pretty soft afterwards. My weight is back to 180 lbs., a number I'm unhappy with.

Here Come Da Judge

(It's been way too long...I won't begin that way, as a friend of mine claims that is the most popular phrase for beginning a blog post. I apologize for my laxity, and will try to make sure it doesn't happen as often.)

Last Sunday, I spent the early part of the day judging a racewalk. It was my first time judging one, and it opened my eyes a bit regarding how walking style can impact judging.
I should tell you, in case you don't know, there are two rules in racewalking: 1) one foot must always be in contact with the ground (when viewed by the naked eye) and 2) the lead leg must be straight from the time of its plant until it passes under the body.
One competitor was particlarly egregious with his bent legs. He planted bent, and kept his leg bent throughout his stride. He got disqualified quickly, but kept walking without his number.
One interesting thing occurring was a documentarian taping the goings on. I was briefly interviewed, but more interestingly was his tachnique. He needed to be able to move quickly, and in order to do this, and not have the bouncing of running, he used a skateboard. I'll be interested to see the result.

Walk To School?

An article in today's New York Times advocates walking to school. It looks at the changing balance of walking vs. car transport vs. bus. I advocate it, but point out that school design criteria play a role in driving down rates of walking by encouraging large schools rather than smaller neighborhood schools.

The Music Man

"He's a music man, and he sells clarinets to the kids in the town..."
- from Meredith Wilson's The Music Man

After delivering my son to school, I was walking back with a neighbor, and we were talking about the school's music program. My son is taking up the trumpet this year. Her son had been in a summer program and marvelled at the band director there taking a random assortment of instruments with their players and making passable background music with them.

I pointed out that in pre-phonograph, pre-radio days, people would get together to play music, and it is from this tradition that much folk and popular music sprung. I pointed out the example of The Music Man, with a huckster selling instruments to a small Iowa town (as I remember the details).

Quite simply, instruments, whether the piano in the parlor, or the bass drum, or the trumpet, were treasured, used and shared liberally. If you lived in a small town, perhaps three or four people would get together on Saturday evening to play. Sometimes, they'd even play at a town dance or in a parade. It was how skills were honed and learned.

I have a friend from college who plays jazz. He'll show up at a club and "play in" with the band. If you're lousy, you'll last a song; if good, you'll go the rest of the night. The tradition continues in this form.

Cerutty

There were a group of seminal fitness/running coaches in the 1950's and 1960's. I tend to put Arthur Lydiard at the top of the heap, at least as far as running goes. In the United States, Jack LaLanne brought fitness to TV. Bernarr MacFadden was one of the very early fitness proponents. (I differentiate strongmen and body builders from fitness proponents, though the lines are sometimes very grey.)
I had recently purchased a (used) copy of Percy Cerutty's Be Fit! or Be Damned!, and read it on my recent trip to the Dominican Republic. Some dismiss Cerutty as a crank, but he must be measured by the time and place in which he wrote. This book carries a 1967 copyright. Cerutty identifies himself as coach to both John Landy (second man to break four-minutes for the mile) and Herb Elliott (a world-record holder, though I'm not sure in what). If I were to sum up the basic theme of this book, it is "if you don't take care of your body, you'll die sooner."
Several of Cerutty's key points were: a) exercise inproves cardio-vascular health b) diet matters in your overall health and c) strength is needed in life. By today's standards, these concepts are almost laughable, but when you consider this was also the time when Dr. Kenneth Cooper was coining the term "aerobics" to describe long-duration, low-intensity exercise, it was important stuff.
Do I recommend that you read this book? No, while it is an important book, many of the concepts feel dated. Unless you have an interest in the history of fitness, it's probably not worth the time and effort to seek it out.