April 1st-7th Running Recap

1st- Didn't run.  Very stuffy, tired, worn down, etc.  Hoping to get better soon!

2nd- Feeling a little better than yesterday.  Decided to take it easy and get healthy.

3rd- Bike 2 times today for a total of over 2 hours.  The first time was a good workout and the second time was with Alex running so it wasn't as good but I kept it in a low gear so the legs were still spinning!  I also attempted to run in between my 2 bikes and it wasn't good.  Too stuffy to really breath.  2 miles on the week.

4th-  Got out for 4 miles today.  Felt horrible in the stomach and only ok aerobically.  6 miles on the week.

5th-7th- Didn't run.  The stuffiness is going away but I've been plagued by headaches.  I am looking forward to feeling better and being refreshed next week.  The 50k is only 3 weeks from Saturday!

Thyroids and Running

I used to be a fan of Anthony Famiglietti back in the day.  You know, the day where he actually ran races.  Now, he is just really coming off as a whiner.  His latest blog post details all of his recent medical ailments, excuses if you will and then he will tell you why he is too stupid to do anything about these problems.  One of these problems is one that I deal with every day of my life.  I don't usually talk about it because I don't want to be percieved as a whiner like Fam.  My issue is hypothyroidism.  Unlike many of these elite runners that Fam eludes to, I have been on synthetic medicine for this condition well before I began running in 7th grade.  I do somewhat agree with one of the points that Fam makes.  That is that some drugs blur the line between medically necessary and PEDs.  I'm not going to call anyone out like Fam seems dieing (but too scared) to do because I don't know their medical history.  Even if I did, I'm not a doctor.  As someone very much against PEDs, I don't feel at all guilty about taking thyroid medicine.  During my third year of college, my TSH levels were off and I was running 30+ seconds slower over 5k than I had been the year before.  I was also gaining lots of weight while running 100 miles per week and not eating an abnormally large diet.  For me, it was medically neccesary to take these pills that I have taken daily for most of my life.

Now back to that blurred line between fair and not fair.  Fam does make some good points but when you go look at the IAAF banned substances list, there are so many rediculous drugs on there that surely they must have thought about thyroid medicine as well.  On the other hand, one could make the argument that any drug could be used to level the playing field with someone who, for example, has a higher natural red blood cell count.  Should we make EPO legal?  Or going the other way, one could argue that Calcium/D supplements should be illegal because they increase bone density and allow runners to train longer without less worry about stress fractures.  I don't think making EPO legal or Vitamin D/Calcium illegal is the way to go.  I think for now, we need to listen to the IAAF.  If they say it's illegal, don't use it.  If they say it is legal, use away.  Fam, I guess I understand why you wouldn't want to use it but if that's your choice, then your running career can live and die by that.


http://www.runfam.com/blog/

Bob Kempainen

Bob Kempainen graduated from Hopkins Lindbergh in 1984.  While running for them he recorded a 3200m best of 9:16.95 while winning just one state championship.  After high school, Bob attended Dartmouth where he found his talent at the longer distances.  He had three top-15 finishes at NCAA XC including a 4th place finish in 1986 while leading Dartmouth to a 2nd place finish.  His coach at Dartmouth is the legendary Vin Lananna who later coached at Stanford and Oregon before becoming Oregon's Athletic Director.  Lannana would continue coaching Kempainen throughout his professional career.  Kempainen's professional career spanned all surfaces from roads to XC to the track as well as distances from 3000 meters to the marathon.  In his first year as a professional, Kempainen was 2nd in the USATF 10k championships as well as 3rd at USA XC.  Kempainen had a very sucessful marathon debut in 2:12 for 2nd place at the 1991 Twin Cities Marathon.  It was this race that gave him hope for an Olympic birth in 1992 where he finished 3rd in another 2:12.  Bob didn't have the greatest performance at either Olympics due to injury.  What makes Kempainen's professional running career much more remarkable is that he was in the University of Minnesota Medical School the whole time.  Kempainen said they gave him time off if he needed it and allowed him a little longer to finish but it is incredible regardless.  Kempainen's performances continued to improve in 1993 where he ran a 10k PR of 28:23 as well as a marathon best of 2:11:03 while finishing 2nd at New York.  In 1994 Kempainen ran 2:08:47 at Boston which remained the fastest American at that race until Ryan Hall's run in 2011.  In 1995, Kempainen ran the fastest half marathon for a Minnesotan with a 60:48.  1996 brought about another Olympics and that trials race is one of the few highlights from 1990s American Distance Running.  Kempainen started feeling sick around mile 21 and vomited 6 times in the last 5 miles as he pulled away for victory in 2:12:45 (Video Below).  After the Olympics, Kempainen decided that he had better hang up the racing flats and get to work on becoming a doctor.

1996 Trials Champ, Credit: AP, Burton

The links below serve as a bibliography as well as a recommended reading list on Bob Kempainen.
Year-by-Year Results

SI Vault Article- 1992 NYC

HepsTrack Article

1996 Trials Video With Puking