Rock Chalk Pics and A couple of Interesting Running Articles

As promised, I will have pics of the new trails at Rock Chalk Park dispersed throughout this post. The images do not show how hilly this course actually is, but they do give a good idea of how pretty it is even on a dreary day after all the leaves have fallen.

I did a lot of running and a little mountain biking (as recovery) this week. One day was devoted to hill training - something I rarely do.

The most interesting thing I read this week related to running was a short piece in Outside Magazine that discussed training at altitude. I had always thought that spending time training at altitude would give a runner increased red blood cells and a higher VO2 max. I think a lot of people believe that. Outside's article pointed out that recovery from training at altitude takes much longer than at sea level. That is a point that gets glossed over. Basically, the piece concludes that training at altitude will help an athlete race at altitude, but not much else. I look forward to reading the comments that I hope will be posted about this in next month's issue of Outside.

The second most interesting piece I read this week was a piece by University of Houston CC coach, Steve Magness. In his blog, The Science of Running ( http://www.scienceofrunning.com ), he give a very thorough explanation of how the IAAF is failing in its efforts to stop doping/cheating by athletes, as well as cover-ups by specific countries' governing bodies. He is an excellent and methodical chronicler for everything he writes about. His blog is well worth a follow.

Sharp viewers will note that the photos below look different than the others. They are. I spent the last couple of mornings running the beautiful Lawrence Riverfront Trails. The first shot is from about 4.2 miles out on the trails. This is actually the Mud Creek tributary that will join the mighty Kaw River in a quarter mile or so. It was just a peaceful place to stop and take a couple of pics.