That's Fit

Dire Tune, of Ethiopia, and Alevtina Biktimirova, of Russia, made Boston Marathon history yesterday with the closest women's finish in the race's history.

Part of a pack of 10 women who had stuck together from the beginning of the race, Tune and Biktimirova pulled ahead and fought it out until the end. Biktimirova held the lead, but Tune overtook her during the final stretch. Both women have won other marathons this year. Tune took first in the Houston Marathon in January and Biktimirova won the Honolulu Marathon last December.

The top American woman, Ashley Anklam, took 15th in Boston. Though most of the top women runners ran in the Olympic trials, their place in this race doesn't guarantee them a spot in the Olympics.

No pizza, bagels or pasta carbo-loading for observant Jews the night before this year's Boston Marathon -- the April 21 race falls smack in the middle of Passover. Jews that follow Passover dietary rules do not eat leavened foods such as bread, pasta or any fermented grains for eight days. Passover kicks off April 19 with a lengthy seder dinner celebrating Jewish freedom from Egyptian slavery. Another seder is held the second night.

No doubt Jewish runners participating in the 2008 Boston Marathon will handle the conflict differently. One couple practiced carbo-loading before previous races with potatoes and fish. Another is breaking the rules and eating bagels on marathon morning. One rabbi reports he'll be consuming plenty of matzoh (unleavened bread), but he's not entirely confident that matzoh -- a star food in a seder dinner -- is the best choice. It reportedly can bind you up. Constipation and marathons do not go well together.

I wonder if a couple bowls of Bubbie's matzoh ball soup honestly slow down marathon times. I suspect it doesn't matter whether you carbo-load on potatoes and kugel or pasta and bagels, but it might be a good idea to try out any new diet on a few longer training runs first. I mean, it's an honor to run the Boston Marathon, ya gotta be prepared!

After winning the Tour de France seven times, Lance Armstrong is certainly worthy of a relaxing retirement. However, that doesn't seem to be in the cards.

Since his retirement, the 35-year-old has found himself constantly on the road, promoting LiveStrong Challenges, the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer research, joining with Nike and Apple to publicize his involvement in their partnership, and trying to be home to spend time with his kids. Still, his crazy schedule hasn't stopped him from running marathons.

Rigel wrote this week about an astronaut running the Boston Marathon in space and how inspiring her story was. Here's another story that may help you get up off that couch. Jacob Seilheimer weighed 438 pounds when he decided he was going to run this year's Boston Marathon, and just like that he went out and started training. This week, he unofficially entered the race (80 pounds lighter than when he made the commitment) and he finished it. Sure, he was dead last. Sure, it took him 9 hours. But he committed to a goal, a very difficult goal, and he stuck with it.

I'm not recommending that you do what Jacob did. In fact, Jacob got a lot of flack for his training methods. Most doctors would have told him to start by walking a few minutes several times a week and build up slowly, and I'm guessing most running experts would agree.

But you just can't argue with Jacob's spirit. Like the astronaut running the marathon strapped her treadmill, Jacob's story makes me feel more than a little guilty for sitting here and wanting to have "just one more" of the Newman's-Os that are calling me from my kitchen. You don't have to train for a marathon, but having a long-term fitness goal to strive for can help you keep your eye on the prize. Read his blog, it's hilarious. Good for you, Jacob!

(via Diet-Blog)

Sunita Williams will technically finish the Boston Marathon in exactly 5.4 seconds. That's because she'll be running it from inside the International Space Station (ISS), which travels at 17,000 miles per hour. If it were only that easy!

Williams will be running the race on a treadmill on board the ISS, but she'll be facing a few challenges her earthbound counterparts will never have to consider. For one, to stay put on her treadmill she needs to wear a harness that keeps her from floating away. The harness causes hip and shoulder pain, though, so she'll need to take frequent breaks. Also, when Williams sweats, the moisture doesn't evaporate like it does on Earth. Instead it just floats in the air near her body, collecting into sweaty globs.

Astronauts exercise two hours per day to keep their muscles strong while orbiting the earth, and Williams has challenged her family and friends to improve their lifestyle while she's in space. I was dragging my feet on getting out in the cold to take my walk today, but now that I've read about Sunita Williams running a marathon while hovering miles and miles above the Earth, my excuses seem more than just a little lame. Off I go!