* How running explains the world

* Test your Survival Skills with this Outdoor Magazine quiz. (Let’s just say I’d be dead 10 times over)

* CrossFit Endurance’s Unconventional 12-Week Marathon Training Plan (hmmm….very interesting)

  “Brian MacKenzie has a few pointed words about your endurance workout. “If you’re running five miles a day at the same speed and think you’re getting a lot out of that, you’re sorely mistaken,” says the founder of CrossFit Endurance. “If you’re not trying to improve, what’s the point?”

* Race registration insurance sparking debate

* 5 vitamins that speed muscle recovery

Video of the Week

Cheetahs on the Edge–Director’s Cut from Gregory Wilson on Vimeo.

T-shirt of the Week

Available here for $26.

Worth reading

* Best Winter Running Gear of 2013

* Race Bib Keepsakes (5 cool ideas….Christmas is coming!)

* Why We Freeze After a Run

* Proof that runners—even elites—can learn to love winter

* 8 Tips for Overcoming Exercise Addiction (Yes, there are worse things to be addicted to, but….like any addiction it will take over your life. Trust me.  I can pick ya’ll out of a crowd of runners, too. You can’t kid a kidder).

“Wanting to exercise all the time: Yeah, yeah, it’s the problem everyone wishes they had. But the compulsion that drives someone to be a gym rat is hardly enviable. First, just like eating disorders aren’t about the food, compulsive over-exercising isn’t about the fitness. People used to say to me, as I walked in the gym for my second or third workout of the day, “You’re so passionate! You must really love Turbokick/Zumba/Weight lifting/Running/Acrobatics with flaming hula hoops on a high wire!” And while I did – and do – genuinely love working out, my exercise addiction had zilch to do with love. It was 100% fear-based. I was afraid I’d get fat. I was afraid of being weak. I was afraid of being at home alone all day with my four very young children. I was afraid I’d never be good at anything again, ever (black-and-white thinking for the win!). But most of all I was afraid of being left alone with my own thoughts. What I really loved about my chronic overexercising was that all the pain and sweat made it so I didn’t have to think about what was really bothering me.”

* Meb wants to take Bolt down a notch

* Petraeus’ downfall started with a run (Not judging. I honestly don’t care who either one of them sleeping with…and I don’t get the outrage over it all, but I’ll also say this…Broadwell is one fast mistress & as the Wall Street Journal puts it: She’s Faster Than You).

Perhaps Petraeus never saw this eCard:

Quote of the Week

While I take offense to the “real runner” comment here )because if you run you ARE a “real” runner), the sentiments are right on. Seriously people…you have to stop.

T-shirt of the Week

Available here for $20

The most loaded question in racing is — How did  you do?

I stopped asking this question of race finishers years ago because:

A.) It’s all relative. Your worst 5K time might be my PR.

B.) I don’t really care what your exact time is, and I sure can’t do the math to figure out your pace. So, unless you’re near me, I won’t know how you did anyway.

C.) It usually makes people feel bad — either because they were behind me or because they blew my doors in (few are few who openly relish it, though I suspect most of us secretly do).

So instead of “How’d you do?,” I ask “How’d you feel today? Were you happy with your time?”

Because all that really matters is how you feel about how you raced and if you did the best you could do that day.

By that measure, every race you finish is a personal best.

That’s what I love most about running, whether I do it well or not, it’s all on me.

Quirky Running Habits

UM….speaking of questions, here’s my question of the week for this blog: What’s your quirky running habit? (clothes, mileage, routes, form, etc.).

If you wait for days (and days and days) of rain to pass before you wear your brand-spanking new running shoes because you don’t want to get them dirty, you will most definitely step into a big muddy puddle the first time it stops raining and go out in your new bright-whites.

(Sigh)