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Lead Stories: Sunday, July 20, 2008

TFS Podcast 122
Adam Goucher:
Operation Olympic Gold

Posted January 24th, 2008 at 7:00 PM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Special Features, Interviews, Podcasts

Episode 122 of The Final Sprint Podcast features my interview with world-class distance runner Adam Goucher; whose long list of accomplishments include being a two-time U.S. Outdoor 5,000m champion (’99, ’00); 2000 USA 12km and 4km XC champion; 2006 USA 4 km XC Champ; 2007 USA Cross Country runner-up; 1998 NCAA 5,000m Outdoor champion; 1998 NCAA XC champion and 2-time NCAA 3,000 Indoor champion (’97, ’98).

In the interview Adam talks about his recent ankle surgery and the subsequent (and ongoing) recovery, his plans for competing at the marathon distance after the Olympic season, his victory over Kara in their Nike challenge, the excitement and challenges of the 5,000 and 10,000 meter runs at the Olympic Trials and his specific focus on the 5k.

Download the podcast to hear Adam discuss these topics, as well as, the role of faith in his religiously-eclectic training group, coach Alberto Salazar’s recovery, and much more!

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Host: Adam Jacobs | Guest: Adam Goucher
Producer: Greg Cherniet
Musicians: Ryan Ahlwardt, Darnell Perkins
File Size: 13.1 MB | Length: 19:09 MIN

Episode Sponsored By: Nike +

Long Live Running!
Nike Plus will improve the way you run. Get feedback from your iPod on pace, time, distance and calories burned.

Log into Nikeplus.com to track your progress,
set goals and challenge friends.

Interested in featuring The Final Sprint Podcast on your site, blog or My Space page? Click here to learn how!

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TFS Review: Garmin Forerunner 50

Posted January 22nd, 2008 at 12:30 PM by Paul Petersen

Section: Gear & Apparel, Gadgets & Acces., Product Reviews, TFS Reviews

Product: Garmin Forerunner 50
Prices: $200 (watch + HR monitor + food pod + USB ANT stick), $90-$100 (for other combinations without food pod OR without HR monitor)
Rating: Good 7.4/10.0
Pros: Easy-to-use watch interface. Less expensive than most of its competitors. Can purchase components “piecemeal”. Reliable HR monitor. Fairly accurate foot pod. PC upload with USB ANT Stick is VERY fast and easy. Work with free desktop software (Garmin Training Center) and/or free online community (Garmin Connect).
Cons: Fewer features than its competitors. Watch displays only two measurements at a time. Can find more advanced Garmin 305 units at comparable prices.
Overall: Compared to its peers (Suunto Running Pack, Polar RS800sd), the Garmin Forerunner 50 is a less expensive, relatively “no-frills” fitness device. The fact that it has fewer features than its competitors makes it a bit easier to use and also less expensive. All-around performance was solid.

When I think “Garmin“, I automatically think “GPS“. For this reason, I was a little surprised to find about Garmin’s latest fitness monitor, the Forerunner 50. It measures speed and distance NOT by GPS, but rather by a foot pod, similar to the Nike + iPod Sport Kit, Suunto Running Pack, and Polar RS800sd. This is a deviation in how most people perceive Garmin, but they are well-respected in general for all of their products. Would the Forerunner 50 follow suit?

Design - 7 - Out of the box, the Forerunner 50 consists of a sports monitoring watch, a USB ANT stick, a heart rate monitor (optional), and a foot pod (optional).
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TFS Review: Nike+iPod Sport Kit and Online Training Log

Posted January 13th, 2008 at 1:39 PM by Paul Petersen

Section: Gear & Apparel, Gadgets & Acces., Motivation, Music, Product Reviews, Special Features, TFS Reviews

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.

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Podcast 111: Interview with TFS Senior Writer and Olympic Trials Marathoner PAUL PETERSEN

Posted December 21st, 2007 at 12:00 PM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Gear & Apparel, Gadgets & Acces., Olympics, Special Features, Interviews, Podcasts

Episode 111 of The Final Sprint Podcast, the most listened to running podcast in North America, features my interview with The Final Sprint Senior Writer PAUL PETERSEN who recently qualified for and competed in his first ever U.S. Olympic Men’s Marathon Trials. He finished 53rd, surpassing his goal of finishing in the top 60.

In the interview, Petersen talks about the training that helped him earn the right to compete in the trials, the experience of going head-to-head with the best in America, his future goals, the challenges faced by athletes who don’t have sponsors, and his running heroes.

Download the podcast to hear Petersen discuss these topics, as well as, what he thinks of the new, stricter standards for the 2012 trials, the gear he uses to help him reach his goals and much more!

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Host: Adam Jacobs | Guest: Paul Peterson
Producer: Greg Cherniet
Musicians: Ryan Ahlwardt, Darnell Perkins
File Size: 23.6 MB | Length: 34:22 MIN

Episode Sponsored By: Nike +

Long Live Running!
Nike Plus will improve the way you run. Get feedback from your iPod on pace, time, distance and calories burned.

Log into Nikeplus.com to track your progress,
set goals and challenge friends.

Interested in featuring The Final Sprint Podcast on your site, blog or My Space page? Click here to learn how!

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Podcast 110: Courageous Survivor, Running Hero, and
TFS Success Story Honoree
GILBERT TUHABONYE

Posted December 19th, 2007 at 6:00 PM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Motivation, Books, Success Stories, Columns, Success Stories, Special Features, Interviews, Podcasts

TheFinalSprint.com (TFS) is honored to present our monthly Success Story award to individuals who have overcome tremendous obstacles, changed their own lives and/or the lives of others through running, sports or fitness. Past recipients of TFS’s Success Story award include female running pioneer Kathrine Switzer, father-and-son team of Rick and Dick Hoyt, and amputee athletes Oscar Pistorius and Rudy Garcia-Tolson.

I am proud to announce that TFS’s November 2007 Success Story, and my guest on Episode 110 of The Final Sprint Podcast is courageous survivor and running hero GILBERT TUHABONYE.

Born to a Tutsi tribe farming family in Burundi, a small mountainous country in east central Africa, just south of Rwanda, Gilbert grew up in the midst of the centuries-old war between the Tutsi and Hutu tribes. In October 1993, the Hutu classmates at his school, their parents, some teachers and other Hutu tribesmen forced the Tutsi teachers and children into a room where they beat and burned them to death. After nine hours of being buried by the burning corpses of his beloved friends, and himself on fire and seriously injured, Gilbert jumped free of the burning building and ran into the night, the sole survivor of one of the most horrible massacres in the long Tutsi-Hutu war.

Gilbert, who now lives in Austin, Texas, has continued his efforts to try and compete in the Olympic marathon and is the award-winning coach of Gilbert’s Gazelles, a training group consisting of hundreds of dedicated runners of all skill levels. Gilbert has also created the Gazelle Foundation, with the mission of improving life for people in Burundi and offering educational assistance to children in Austin, Texas, where Gilbert, his wife Triphine and daughters Emma and Grace reside. His life story is captured in his book, This Voice in My Heart, a testament to the triumph of the human spirit as Gilbert emerges from the scars of his unimaginable ordeal to live a life of optimism, grace and victory.

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Host: Adam Jacobs | Guest: Gilbert Tuhabonye
Producer:Greg Cherniet
Music: Ryan Ahlwardt & Darnell Perkins
File size: 19.8 MB | Length: 26:53

Episode Sponsored By: Nike +

Long Live Running!
Nike Plus will improve the way you run. Get feedback from your iPod on pace, time, distance and calories burned.

Log into Nikeplus.com to track your progress,
set goals and challenge friends.

Interested in featuring The Final Sprint Podcast on your site, blog or My Space page? Click here to learn how!

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TFS Re-Launch Contest #3:
Nike+iPod Sporkit +

Posted December 20th, 2006 at 7:00 AM by Adam Jacobs

Section: Announcements, Gear & Apparel, Gadgets & Acces., Resources, Special Features, Sweepstakes

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 going to continue helping you improve you performance by giving away a . . . Nike+iPod Sportkit!!! Don’t have Nike + shoes? No problem! The winner will also receive a RunAway AnyShoe so you can use the Sporkit with your favorite shoes, regardless of the brand. The Sporkit offers audio updates of your pace, distance, time and will also help you track and plot your results online.

TO ENTER: All you have to do is comment on this post with a few of your favorite workout songs.
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