Welcome to the official blog of U.S. middle-distance runner Sara Hall. Sara’s list of running accolades include being a former NCAA All- American at Stanford, the 2006 USA 5K road champion, and the 2006 champion at the Continental Fifth Avenue Mile. Check back every other Friday for her latest entry at http://sarahall.thefinalsprint.com/
I often joke that I was born in the wrong body when it comes to music. For someone who loves music so much and whose brain is so musically-oriented, I can not carry a tune for the life of me! I have an incredible capacity for song lyrics, from childhood on, that I’ve heard more than a few times. I wish there was a TV show that was “Name that Disney Tune” because I would clean up!
Although music impacts me greatly, my own musical career didn’t last long. I tried taking up piano for two years while in junior high, but soccer, basketball and track took over, and I never could find time to practice. When I forgot my song in the middle of a piano recital, my parents and I decided it was time to call it quits. Besides that, though I have ambitions of learning the guitar one day, my music-making consists of singing in the car (poor Ryan!).
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Welcome to the official blog of U.S. marathon runner Josh Cox.
Check back every other Wednesday for his latest entry and for more information about Cox, also please visit: www.joshcox.com
In ‘97 Cox ran and won a 50-mile ultra, in ’99 he ran his first marathon making him the youngest Trials qualifier. The following year he clocked 2:13, which opened the door for him to train with the world’s best in Kenya. Cox has tried his hand at Reality TV, been all over magazine covers and is a fixture in the sport.
Ad Finem – The Dream Carcass
Ad Finem – Latin: To the end/towards the end (of a page, a chapter, or a three-part, Latin-laced blog at TheFinalSprint.com)
The heights by great men reached and kept,
Were not attained by sudden flight.
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“Well, I wake in the morning,
Fold my hands and pray for rain.
I got a head full of ideas
That are drivin’ me insane.
It’s a shame the way she makes me scrub the floor.
I ain’t gonna work on Maggie’s farm no more.”— “Maggie’s Farm” by Bob Dylan
“Don’t you let it all pass you by
Looking through life’s window pane
Don’t you sit around wasting time
That would be a crying shameThere’s a power that’s deep inside
And it burns just like a flame
Just believe and you’ll see that God
Will shower you like pouring rainIf you want it
You can change your world today
If you want it
Just break free and walk away”— “If You Want It” by Lenny Kravitz
It’s closing time. Clear the dance floor and move toward the exits. Club Latin is shutting down. The night was fun, the music was great but everything with a beginning has an end. Temet Nosce, Carpe Diem . . . Ad Finem. The music has stopped, the lights are on, but as the bouncers usher you out I hand you a promoter’s card—don’t worry, it’s nothing scandalous, I’m like Kix®, kid-tested and mother approved. Well, most mothers . . .
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Check back every other Wednesday for his latest entry and for more information about Cox, also please visit: www.joshcox.com
In ‘97 Cox ran and won a 50-mile ultra, in ’99 he ran his first marathon making him the youngest Trials qualifier. The following year he clocked 2:13, which opened the door for him to train with the world’s best in Kenya. Cox has tried his hand at Reality TV, been all over magazine covers and is a fixture in the sport.
CARPE DIEM
“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven played music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Baptist minister and civil rights leader“It is a sad fate for a man to die too well known to everybody else, and still unknown to himself.”
- Francis Bacon, English philosopher and statesman“Never, never, never quit.”
- Winston Churchill, Author, soldier and Prime Minister
October 1980, Paul David Hewson and his band - formally known as “Feedback” and “The Hype” - had just released their first full-length album, Boy. Their single “I Will Follow” climbed the UK charts and their star was born. Around that time, the band joined a religious group in Dublin, the Shalom Fellowship. Time passed and some of Shalom’s leaders began criticizing the bands “involvement in the world.” The leaders told the band that in order to please God they would have to give up rock ‘n’ roll.
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Product: Nike+ iPod Sport Kit
Prices: $30.00 (foot pod & iPod receiver). iPod nano and Nike+ shoes sold separately.
Rating: Very Good 8.3/10.0
Pros: Very easy to use. Good accuracy once it is calibrated. Inexpensive; very good value if you already own an iPod and Nike+ shoes. Power Song feature is great idea. Nike+ online training log free, fun, and incorporates good motivation and community.
Cons: Requires calibration. Requires specific ancillary equipment (iPod nano, Nike+ shoes).
Overall: To use this innovative running tool effectively, you need to regularly run with music (or podcasts), own an iPod nano, and should own Nike+ shoes. Given these “ifs”, it is a great product for the money, and a tremendous motivational tool. The sensor will need to be calibrated, and works best in a Nike+ shoe, but tends to yield fairly good accuracy once these criteria are met. Runners who don’t use an iPod, or who want a richer feature set, should continue looking at more “traditional” fitness monitors.
Design - 9 - Out of the box, the Nike + iPod Sport Kit includes a Nike + iPod Sensor (foot pod), a Nike + iPod Receiver, and an instruction manual. The foot pod goes into the cavity in the left Nike+ shoe. The receiver goes into the bottom port of an Apple iPod nano. If you don’t own Nike+ shoes, the foot pod can be put into a shoe pouch (sold separately for $10), which can be attached to any shoe’s laces. All testing for this review was performed with a pair of Nike+ shoes and a 3rd Generation iPod nano.
If you’ve ever had to fumble with your iPod to try and find a song or crank up the volume while on a treadmill, elliptical trainer, stationary cycle or – especially – running, you’ll appreciate the Timex IRONMAN Sleek iControl™ watch with its Play, Pause, Track Forward/Reverse and volume-control functions.
According to the Timex website, “the iControl™ watch transmits signals seamlessly to your iPod so you can control your music in a heartbeat. Designed to work with your body and coordinate with your iPod, the iControl watch is sleek and comfortable to wear - with all the features you need for running around the track or traveling around the world.”
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Yesterday, we brought you two new music playlists to add spark to your running and walking routines.
Today, we’ve got more - music that will boost you through your toughest strength training sessions and your relaxing yoga sessions. Both playlists are approximately an hour in length.
Strength Training
Read the rest of this entry at our partner site: HerActiveLife.com
Recently, while I was enjoying one of my favorite pastimes (searching the internet for websites devoted to a certain sport that is conducted on a 400m oval track), I Googled the keywords “middle-distance website” and, lo and behold, there was a link I’d never seen before, ranked an enviable #1 and beckoning me to click on it!
The title, “Middle Distance Runner - Band of the Future!,” intrigued me. Since I’ve always had a weakness, both for both middle-distance running AND bands of the future, I was compelled to click on the link! I’m glad I did, because – once I reached the front page of this indie band’s website – I had found a new band that both plays the kind of music I like to listen to (indie rock) and had named themselves after my favorite sport!
On the band’s website, lead singer Stephen Kilroy describes how the band was named:
“One day while foraging in the Costa Rican rain forest, Stephen Kilroy looked up to the jungle canopy and saw the words “Middle Distance Runner, your band’s name” through the penetrating sunlight. His fate was sealed. It was his destiny to complete his vision quest and bring “Middle Distance Runner” to international fame!”
I conducted a quick e-mail interview with Kilroy:
The Final Sprint (TFS): Why are you really named Middle-Distance Runner?
Stephen Kilroy (SK): Hint: I recently rented The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, which I plan to watch at my dad’s house tonight. Can you connect the dots???
TFS: Who is each band member’s favorite middle-distance runner?
SK: Alan Webb. He comes to our shows and wears our shirts. Cool guy.
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We all have moments when we simply don’t feel like working out. It’s not always easy to lace up the shoes, walk out to the car in the cold, or wake up for a 5 a.m. run.
There are a number of demons staring us down: a sour attitude; the comfortable couch we dared to sit on after an exhausting work day; the cozy bed with a warm, enveloping partner; or just plain laziness. We can all agree that while we may not always feel up for a workout, we are thrilled with how we feel at the finish. The natural high kicks in. This is why it’s vital to have strategies for dealing with the fight.
I want to highlight three ideas I find useful. You can think of them as ways to trick your mind into doing what your body knows it needs. Perhaps all of the strategies don’t appeal to you. That’s okay. Pick one and experiment.
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Every week The Final Sprint’s team of music gurus posts a new, downloadable iMix on the site and in iTunes to help you stay motivated throughout all of your weekly runs and workouts.
JUST RUN IT iMix Volume IV, created by DJ ST(4-3) , is a 21-song playlist of heart-pumping hip-hop and rap music. Below you will find the complete track listings and message from Alex. To open iTunes and download the iMix, click here or on any of the songs or artists below.
Episode 42 of The Final Sprint Podcast features my interview with Podrunner’s DJ Steve Boyett.
Ok, ok … I know what you’re thinking: “Why is a music DJ being interviewed on TFS Podcast?”
Good question … A few months ago I received an email from a reader and fellow runner about a workout, music podcast called “Podrunner”. He was raving about these music 
mixes and swore that they were responsible for his multitude of recent PR’s. At the time, I didn’t think much of it - but that all changed as a plethora of similarly positive emails came rolling in from readers all over the world.
So I decided to look into Podrunner and learned that, believe it or not, it was nearing it’s 5-millionth download and earned an iTunes People Choice Award in 2006. Although I was still quite skeptical that it would benefit my training, I actually got pretty hooked; finding these hour-long, fixed-BPM workout mixes to be an excellent source of motivation on those long runs and during intense workouts.
Download the podcast to hear DJ Steve discuss Podrunner; how his music mixes are helping to motivate, and even change the lives of, an eclectic group of runners and other athletes; the training benefits of music; and much more!
Listen In
[PLAY] (To Download: Right click and select “save as”)
[RSS] Add The Final Sprint Podcast RSS feed to your RSS reader to have the show delivered to youHost: Adam Jacobs
Guest: DJ Steve Boyett
Producer: Greg Cherniet
Music: Ryan Ahlwardt & Darnell Perkins
File size: 21.7 MB
Length: 00:31:40
Check out every episode of TFS’s Podcast in iTunes!
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Every week The Final Sprint’s team of music gurus posts a new, downloadable iMix on the site and in iTunes to help you stay motivated throughout all of your weekly runs and workouts.
KEEP ON RUNNING iMix #1, created by Alex Schneider, is a 10-song playlist of passionate country music favorites. It is […]
As most of you already know, exercise is known to be a battle of “mind over matter” (with your mind often wandering while we work on our bodies). Although mind wandering can sometimes lead to your next great idea when you’re at the gym or on your training runs, you need your mind to […]
Every week The Final Sprint’s team of music gurus posts a new, downloadable iMix on the site and in iTunes to help you stay motivated throughout all of your weekly runs and workouts.
JUST RUN IT iMix #2, created by DJ ST(4-3) , is a 17-song playlist of heart-pumping hip-hop and rap music. […]
Thanks for your great responses to the second contest in The Final Sprint’s Re-Launch Celebration. The lucky winners of the Adeo GPS Fitness Trainers have been notified. For those of you who missed out, don’t worry because we’ll be giving away a few more next week.
For our third contest, The Final Sprint is […]
Every week The Final Sprint’s team of music gurus posts a new, downloadable iMix on the site and in iTunes to help you stay motivated throughout all of your weekly runs and workouts.
SOUND RUNNING iMix #1, created by Rick Jacobs, is a 70-minute playlist of Classic and Modern Rock. As an avid runner himself, […]
Every week The Final Sprint’s team of music gurus posts a new, downloadable iMix on the site and in iTunes to help you stay motivated throughout all of your weekly runs and workouts.
GOMO’s PIX #1, created by Golan Mor, is an iMix featuring about 75 minutes of funk, rock and soul music. The mix […]
Every week The Final Sprint’s team of music gurus posts a new, downloadable iMix on the site and in iTunes to help you stay motivated throughout all of your weekly runs and workouts.
JUST RUN IT iMix #1, created by DJ ST(4-3) , is a 70-minute playlist of hip-hop and rap music. The music progressively […]
Every week The Final Sprint’s team of music gurus post a new, downloadable iMix on the site and in iTunes to help you stay motivated throughout all of your weekly runs and workouts.
FINISH STRONG iMix #1, created by Matt Kappel, is 70 minutes in duration and features a solid combination of rock songs. […]
Always wanted a personal trainer but just couldn’t shell out the extra $50 per workout? What if getting a personal trainer was as easy as making a new playlist in iTunes?
A new addition to the iPod craze has spawned - the iTrain, it allows users to download personalized workout information straight to their MP3 […]
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