August 11, 2005

Alicia's "5"Kaye Run    (August 28)

Sudbury Fitness Challenge Info

1. The Beaton's Back!!
2. Other Weekend Results
3. Troyes to Colmar- Sheila Bikes the Orient Express
4. A Traveling Rock!! - Steve Matusch in Korea
5. Running Can Make You a Sex God
6. Upcoming Events
7. Running Room Run Club Update
8. Track North News - by Dick Moss
9. Ytri News - by Mike Coughlin

Yes, thanks to lots of energetic Organizers, many willing volunteers, great sponsor assistance and excellent participant response, The Beaton's Back. And what a success the return was as about 200 athletes from soloists, to pairs to fours plus all the TRi kids came out to show the City that we do care about these very special events.

Kudos to all participants and a special salute to the soloists as Kerry Abols took home the Mens trophy (2:54:56) and Amanda Kosmerly was top lady (3:31:19). I don't remember who the Masters Mens Soloist was but the Top Masters Female soloist was Running Room Manager, Donna Smrek (4:21:30). She attempted a tag off to me in the run section at the 1/2 way mark but I would have none of it.

Good on you Dean Waddell and The Sudbury Fitness Challenge Group for resurrecting and staging a very fine event.

Click Here for Beaton Results     Click Here For Kids Results

Click Here for Photos

A Beaton Note from Steve Matusch:

First, It’s great to see the Beaton back and in fine form. A quick congratulations to Dean Waddell and the group that put it together in such a hurry. I know there’s some great ideas floating around for making the Beaton ever better next year and I really look forward to it!

Also, a quick congrats to everybody on their races during my absence in Korea – particularly to Shawn and Brent at the Massey half. I wish I had been there! I really enjoyed reading about all of your performances from the other side of the world.

Determined not to miss any more of the fun, I came in from a 30 hour (yes, 30 bloody hours – no joke !!!) 3-leg sleepless flight at 3AM Friday, and decided that I would run the Beaton on Sunday no matter what and no matter what my time turned out to be. So, after a good solid Saturday night of staring at the ceiling, I hauled my dopey jet-lagged butt out of bed and headed over to Tim Horton’s for a happy reunion with my first double-double in over a month, and then on to Laurentian for a bit of swim/bike/canoe/run fun!

The swim actually went fairly well – my time in the water was about 30 minutes plus a bit more running out and back. I felt fairly good coming out of the water. And on the bike I felt fairly good – passed a few people and got passed by a few – pretty much how I do all triathlons. No speed records for sure, but not too bad.

The canoe – well that’s where everything went to pot… About fifty meters out from shore the wind picked up and I struggled desperately to keep the boat pointed anywhere near the correct direction. With the crosswind and headwind, I’m estimating that I kept the boat headed in roughly the right direction no more than half of the time. The other half of the time I was paddling like a demon 90 degrees to my intended direction and at one point I totally lost it and the boat swung right around and I did a full 360 loop – that was really bad.

Okay – clearly this isn’t going to work… So I watched some of the better canoeists as they all went past me grinning happily. Hmmm… they were all sitting near the middle of the boat instead of near the back. Okay – that makes sense – more of a reach to get the paddle in the water but it would reduce the tendency of the boat to windcock. And it would keep the keel further down in the water. So I scramble up to the middle of the boat and kinda squat on my knees. Yep – that works better. It wasn’t comfortable but with some struggle I manage to coax the boat to the turnaround point, where we started to go downwind. Then, as if to deliberately add insult to injury, the wind decides to die down, and I didn’t even get an easy sail back to the beach!!!

By the time I rolled into the stadium for my transition to the run, I figured that my time was pretty much a lost cause, and I decided to just have fun and jog the course at an easy pace. It was actually kinda nice… I was happy to see that the first trail section near the university got cut out in favour of following along the road – much better! And I was happy to see the Rocks crew out marshalling the course. Hi guys!

I finally rolled back into the stadium at 3:40 – no record breaking time to be sure, but with a big grin and very happy to be back!

Once again, good job to everybody who contributed to the race this year. The Beaton is always a lot of fun, and I hope we can look back at this year as the beginning of the road back for a truly great event and tradition.

 

Other Weekend Results

August 7, 2005 Barrie Triathlon

Rocks!! members, Lise Edwards and Lawrie Oliphant competed in the Barrie Tri on Sunday. The distances in the event were a 700m swim, a 20km bike and a 5km run. Lise mid packed her age group while Lawrie pulled off a 2nd place in the 45-49ers. Results Here

 

August 7, 2005 Belwood Triathlon

Local Tri Pro, Kyle Guembel won the Pro Mens Division at Belwood Lake on Sunday. The course included a 1km swim, 33km bike and 7k run. Kyle's Overall time was 1:27:31, nearly 4 minutes faster than the 2nd place competitor.

Our Running Room star and Nationally ranked Triathlete, Alicia Kaye, won the Womens Pro Division handily in a time of 1:35:21 fully 4 and a half minutes faster than her nearest rival. Note: Don't miss Alicia's "5" Kaye Trail Run on August 28 at Fielding Park. Come out and support her efforts to become a World and Olympic Champion.

Other locals, Steve Fessenden, Drew Anderson and Laura Thaxter all competed and continue to improve with each outing.  Results Here

 

 

Troyes to Colmar

Sheila Bikes the Orient Express

July 31 - September 24, 2005

Click Here for Sheila's latest update

 

 

A Traveling Rock!!

Steve Matusch in Korea

Steve Writes:

I’ve attached a picture of a few of us on a beach in Korea, eating sashimi (raw fish) with some guys we met who were fishing nearby. They pull the fish out, fillet them and eat them raw right on the beach (with a bit of Kimchi, hot sauce and lots of Soju – the local tipple of choice). Very good! They guy beside me is Laura Thaxter’s brother, Eric Haapamaki – another fellow Rock, and a BIG fan of the soju.

Running Can Make You a Sex God - a Study

Misty Harris
CanWest News Service

August 2, 2005

(submitted by Paul De la Riva)

People can not only run their way to a better sex life, but also have sex to
become a better runner, according to a survey of studies on the issue by
Runner's World magazine.
Male runners seem to have the sexual prowess of men two to five years
younger, it found. Vigorous exercise, combined with lifestyle factors such
as diet and not smoking, can improve a man's sexual status by up to 10 years

"The science is very complex," says Dr. Ted Fenske, an Edmonton cardiologist
who ran the Boston Marathon this year. "But running will improve vascular
health and vascular health is necessary for a male to have proper sexual
function."
Mike Finch, editor of Runner's World's South African edition, says
marathoners are "like sexual gods."
Countless university studies and field work all pointing to a similar --
albeit less bombastic -- conclusion. Because exercise increases feel-good
hormones and helps improve overall physical function, experts contend that
sex stands to be enhanced from regular running.
A 2003 study out of Harvard University found men over 50 who run at least
three hours a week have a 30% lower risk of impotence than those who do
little or no exercise.
"Runners are fitter, healthier and have a good self-image," says Mr. Finch.
That makes them more eager to have sex, makes them more desirable and gives
them more endurance."
Dr. Fenske notes that C-reactive protein has recently been found to be
related to cardiovascular disease; exercise is shown to reduce this type of
protein.
He says aerobic exercise will also improve the function of the endothelium
(vascular tissue lining), minimizing injuries to the blood vessels which are
necessary to sexual health.
However, Dr. Fenske observes that running, not intercourse, is fundamentally
what makes people run better.
"These ideas about having sex and then running your personal best are great,
he says.
"But I don't think they're going to be the reality for people."
Dr. Fenske is referring to claims in Runner's World that women stand to gain
an athletic advantage from snogging before jogging.
"What we discovered was that women do benefit from having sex the night
before a race," says Mr. Finch, recalling the finding of Israeli physician
Alexander Olshanietzky that "women compete better after orgasm."
Distance runner and three-time Olympian Lynn Jennings once remarked that
sex the night before solidifies my core feeling of happiness."
John Stanton, founder of Canada's Running Room chain, says this phenomenon
is largely psychological. Just as running improves body image and thus
self-confidence in the bedroom, having sex might energize a runner and
enhance emotional fitness.
"When your sex life becomes healthier, your whole sense of well-being is
better," he says.
"Likewise, our sexual performance can be an indication to how healthy we are "
But Mr. Stanton warns that one of the first things to suffer when an athlete
over-exercises is libido.
"Runners can be a bit obsessive-compulsive," he says, laughing. "Too much of
a good thing is not good."
© National Post 2005

 

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