Haile Rules

Ethopia's Haile Gebrselassie is one fast dude!

Today in Berlin, he laid the smack down on his own marathon world record (2:04:26) by running a crazy fast 2:03:59. Not too shabby for a 35 year old eh?

Check out the splits:

5 km 00:14:35

10 km 00:29:13

15 km 00:44:03

20 km 00:58:50

half 01:02:05

25 km 01:13:41

30 km 01:28:27

35 km 01:43:05

40 km 01:57:34

Let me break that down for you. This incredible athlete averaged a 4:43/mile or 2:56/km for the entire 42.2 km. Now go out your door and try to run 1 km or mile at that speed.

I guess skipping the Olympic Marathon paid off. But would he rather have an Olympic Gold medal or a world record? The hot and humid conditions of Beijing definitely would have made a world record attempt not possible though. The conditions on Berlin today was perfect for running a marathon. Sunny, 9 degrees Celsius to start and 13 degrees by the end of the race.

As great as Gebrselassie is, I think that Kenenisa Bekele could even be better. He holds the world record in the 5km (12:37.35) and 10 km (26:17.53 ). If he makes the move to the half and full marathon the world better watch out.

Congrats go out to a few buddies of mine who ran the Scotiabank Half and Full Marathon today (a race I was supposed to be a pace bunny at for the 4th time -- but couldn't due to my wonderful Achilles injury). Special mention goes out to a few former students who finally stepped up to the plate. Both were first timers and one did 1:53 half, and the other completed his first marathon. Way to go dudes.

Til next time, thanks for reading.

RH

Paul Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008)

I loved his salad dressings and movies but Paul Newman sadly passed away a few days ago due to cancer. There are lots of tributes everywhere on the web so check it out yourself if you want more information. If you haven't tried the Newman's Own product line give it a go. Not only does it taste great but all profits go to charity. RIP Mr. Newman.

Politics Schmolitics

Let me get political for a moment.

Yes, they have zero chance of winning but I like a lot of things the Green Party stands. Plus, the leader, Elizabeth May, is quite a cool lady.

Too bad the Liberals don't have such a leader (Dion is a nice guy but not a great leader that instills confidence in most Canadians) or else they would de-throne the Conservatives for sure.

Anyway, the Green Party is growing with popularity each day, and I'll be supporting them this next election. Here are few links to investigate if you feel so inclined.

http://www.greenparty.ca/

The Green Platform

That is as political as I am going to get here.
Til next time
RH

Lance is back

With all the rumours floating around the past few days, Lance Armstrong finally confirmed today that he is returning to professional cycling. I guess he will not be doing an Ironman for a while (despite what others have speculated).

Here is what he said:

"I am happy to announce that after talking with my children, my family and my closest friends, I have decided to return to professional cycling in order to raise awareness of the global cancer burden. This year alone, nearly eight million people will die of cancer worldwide. Millions more will suffer in isolation, victims not only of the disease but of social stigma. After the passage of Proposition 15 in Texas, a $3 billion investment in the fight against cancer which is helping to make this disease part of the national dialogue in America, it's now time to address cancer on a global level."

The article can be found here:
http://www.livestrong.com/article/12511-stub-article/

The video statement is here:
http://www.livestrong.com/lance2009/

This should be an interesting year of cycling for sure. Now why couldn't he have come back this past summer when I had all the time in the world to sit and watch all the coverage from the Tour de France?

Til next time
RH

I swam last night and I liked it

That Katy Perry song was in my head so why not alter it a bit and make it the title of this post.

After 12 years I made my return to the Markham Masters swim club.

This had nothing to do with the club because it remains great (probably better now) it is just that my goal back then was to get competent enough to swim in an Ironman.

I was able to do so and as many of you know, I only swam 2-3 times per year. Thursday and/or Friday before the race for 10-20 minutes, and then on race day. Extra swim practice did not make me much faster, plus my constantly dislocating right shoulder made a lot of swimming not possible. The amount of time I would need to put into swimming to improve just a few minutes would be better spent biking for running where I could chop some major time.

However, last night felt great and this fall/winter/spring might bring about some swim improvements that I might try to maintain for years to come. I am only swimming one night per week so I am not expecting miracles. I am actually thinking about boosting my membership to swim 3 times per week because it was so enjoyable (I never thought I'd be saying that). A lot of that has to do with me not being able to run until January (hopefully) so I had to find something else to do other than biking right now.

All you non-swimmers who want to get into triathlons need to join a Masters Swim Club in your area. It really is the only way to get your swimming up to par. Unless you have some serious dough to hire a private coach and find pool time.

Til next time.
Thanks for reading.
RH

Beijing Olympic Triathlon Results Booklet

Things are busy on the home front since I started back at work today.

All is well on the healing process. I'm riding my bike everyday, getting physio 3x a week, and getting stronger each day. Only my heel is taking a beating. Especially after being on my feet most of the day today.

If you want to see detailed splits from the Olympic Triathlon, click on the link and enjoy. If you didn't know already, these girls and guys are super fast.

http://www.triathlon.org/docs/official-results-book-Beijing2008.pdf

As usual, Simon has a wicked blog entry where he reflects on his journey over the past 4 years.

http://simonwhitfield.blogspot.com/2008/08/final-globe-blog.html

Til next time.
RH