Category: Thoughts on sport

Thoughts on sport

December 19, 2012

The Egoist on the Fixed Gear

Good friend and fellow cyclist Joe over at movement movement wrote a great post about his love for breaking the law on his bicycle. The article wonderfully captures the romance of fixed gear bike culture in a specific place (New York) and a specific time (the early 2000s) but its conclusion that cyclists in New…
Climbing, Thoughts on sport

December 5, 2012

Alex Honnold, Free Soloing, and the Viewer’s Guilt

There is a profile of the fascinating climbing pro Alex Honnold up on the Esquire website. I read it with mixed feelings. On the one hand, I’m impressed by Honnold’s climbing prowess, and fascinated by his recent record breaking assents, but on the other hand I worry that by following Honnold’s career, I am risking…
Thoughts on sport

November 13, 2012

Fitness Habits of Disgraced Generals

Like much of the country, I’m following the Petraeus scandal with a mixture of sadness and fascination. I feel for his family. No one should have to go through a betrayal like this, especially not one plastered on the front pages of every newspaper in the country. That said, some of the details about Petraeus…
Thoughts on sport

November 2, 2012

More Thoughts on the Marathon

UPDATE: The Marathon has been canceled or postponed. Who knows. This was probably the right decision. The level of vitriol that was being heaped on NYRR and the running community was extreme. Now let’s see if the New York Post will try to get the Giants game canceled. I am rethinking the post below about…
Thoughts on sport

November 1, 2012

Some Thoughts on This Years New York City Marathon

So it looks like the New York Marathon is on. I am of two minds about this. I love the New York Marathon, more than a race it is a celebration of New York with tens of thousands of runners and hundreds of thousands of spectators. If I’m not running it, I always go out…
Friday Inspiration, Thoughts on sport

October 26, 2012

Friday Inspiration – Jordan Jovtchev, rings training, and getting old

I can only post videos of skinny guys running in circles for so many week before its time for a change. This week, let’s watch some videos of a Jordan Jovtchev* the 39 year old Bulgarian gymnast who competed in his sixth Olympic games this year in London. As an old dude, I always root…
Running Heroes, Thoughts on sport

October 10, 2012

Running Heroes – The Six Women of the 1972 New York Marathon

The primary means of political dialogue in America is through sports. The fight for racial integration took place on the baseball field. We have wrestled with the equal rights for women in school sports, on golf courses, and in distance running. We use sports to argue over who is an American*, to champion animal rights,…
Running, Running Heroes, Thoughts on sport

October 4, 2012

Phil Coppess – hero to working stiff runners

Its marathon season, which means the New York Times is once again including some running coverage in its sports section. Today, there was a great little article about Phil Coppess who has held the Twin Cities Marathon course record for over twenty years with a time of 2:10:05. The article is good read for all…
swim, Thoughts on sport

August 3, 2012

Michael Phelps, the drudgery of swimming, and me.

I swam competitively from elementary school through high school and I can say with some authority that swim practice is unspeakable boring. Racing can be fun, but training is just the worst. It isn’t like true team sports, where you can shoot the shit with your teammates on the field, and it isn’t like running,…