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Simon Whitfield
August 20, 2008
A couple of nights ago, I was sure to tune in via cbc.ca to watch the men's Olympic triathlon. As I watched the bike race, I was pleased to see Simon Whitfield's name. Eight years have passed since Simon won the gold in Sydney, so it was nice to see that after all that time he was in there. As the run got going, he was noticeably absent from the front of the pack, and yet, the top 20 runners were all pretty close, so it was hard to know how things would shake up.
Before long, Simon showed up towards the front and things got really exciting. As the leaders got closer and closer to the end of the race, I couldn't believe my eyes: He was still close by the front and sticking with them! I noticed that my heart rate seemed elevated, so just for fun I measured my heart beats in 10 seconds and determined that my heart rate was 120 bpm! Wow!
With only a couple of kilometers left to go, it looked like Simon was starting to drift back. My heart sank a little.
And then, unbelievably, Simon surged. He grabbed his hat, gave it a fling, and poured out his heart. I was speechless, sitting there in tremendous, excited anxiety as Simon simply ran past everyone and into first place. I measured my heart rate again and this time it came out at 150 bpm! That's how fast my little ticker goes when I'm out running! Too funny.
Even though Simon was passed in the last few seconds by the German, the finish for me was still sweet. I'm so proud of Simon for pulling off an epic finish like that. (And watching the German sprint as he did was pretty spectacular)
Update: Apparently Simon Whitfield's sister is a runner at an Ottawa branch of the Running Room, and they set up a big TV and cheered him on as a group. Very cool! :)
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Usain Bolt: 9.69 and 19.30
August 20, 2008
Wow, wow, wow.
This guy is absolutely amazing. What he accomplished at this year's Olympics is mind boggling. How could he sprint away from the world's best runners like that?
I'm sitting here watching a grainy YouTube video. Pitty that in 2008, with 1080p, this is the best I've got. (I'd be more than happy to pay $100 for well-produced 1080p Bluray of these Olympics!)
Every time I watch the replay, I just can't believe what I'm seeing. I hope Usain Bolt isn't the next Ben Johnson, but for now I'm a believer.
Wow.
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Projected personal bests?June 17, 2008
After you've been running for a while, you have to wonder: "What is my best possible personal best likely to be"? Now obviously "best possible" is a pretty slippery idea, but I think you can define it something like this: If I trained smart and hard, didn't get slowed down by injury or sickness, was feeling great the day of, and pushed myself to my limits, what would my time be with better than 10% likelihood? Here are some guesses: 5k: 20:30 10k: 45:00 21k: 1:43:00 42k: 3:50:00 older >>
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