Bakersfield Observed: Bako Bits: a scary scene at the downtown Chef's Choice Noodle Bar and lamenting the trash that is commonly strewn about town....

Bakersfield Observed: Bako Bits: a scary scene at the downtown Chef's Choice Noodle Bar and lamenting the trash that is commonly strewn about town....


 * ... OVERHEARD: A Chevron employee who was recently transferred to Bakersfield telling a friend: "I've lived in a lot of places but never in a city where people leave their trash around like here! They just leave it in the park and walk away."

Fan Mail

Another Weekend,... via kwout

            Mindy Bumgarner
            Most people who do events like this anyway are out for their own physical fitness. To stay active. It's not even about winning for them. Its not even about winning for me. It's like a tt. You better your own time. Not everyone can win. It's obvious that it's not a grudge you are just petty. Taking pictures of cars parked wrong, complaining about people not walking right, this..you are petty and like to promote yourself in everything you do. Whether you admit it or not. Just because you didn't run the event doesn't mean you didn't promote yourself. I never said that you didn't need to speak out on what you didn't believe is right. Never. You take it how you want and you keep getting uglier and uglier on your comments. So now it's my turn to speak out on things I don't believe in. Petty people are one. People who promote themselves as coaches for healthier living and are not even close to healthy themselves. Yeah you have endurance but you cannot tell me that your diet is healthy. By far! I will continue to disagree and bring attention to your nonsense as long as you want. (Another obvious statement of self promotion on your part.) You want to know why I don't take my son to you to coach because your method can be found online. Its not even the best way to train. It's not hard to do. 2-there's no way I'd let my son take advice from someone in your condition. Yes, you get people active, that's wonderful but honestly you are a sad individual. You gave me terrible advice on nutrition. If you hung out at my kids school I would think you were a creep. 3. You give unhealthy advice. 4. You obviously can speak out about what you disagree with but no one can disagree with you. Ridiculous. I can go on and on but seriously not worth it any longer. Go drink some more coke and eat some more pizza, maybe burgers and fries and see how your heart handles that. Thats not fuel! It's unfortunate. You have major endurance but you are still hugely unhealthy. I don't know why people listen to you.
   
 Rest of the conversation HERE. (She deleted her comments but I took a screen shot of the whole conversion which can be found HERE.

Darren's Distance Double - High School Track & XC Video - ESPNHS

Darren's Distance Double - High School Track Video - ESPNHS

Darren Fahy: CIF 3200 Champ - High School Track & XC Video - ESPNHS

Darren Fahy: CIF 3200 Champ - High School Track Video - ESPNHS

Long-distance running and evolution: Why humans can outrun horses but can’t jump higher than cats. - Slate Magazine

Long-distance running and evolution: Why humans can outrun horses but can’t jump higher than cats. - Slate Magazine

But what most sets us apart as runners is that we’re really cool—we naked apes are champion sweaters and can dissipate body heat faster than any other large mammal. Our main rivals for the endurance-running crown fall into two groups: migratory ungulates, such as horses and wildebeest, and social carnivores, such as dogs and hyenas. They can easily out-sprint us by galloping. But none can gallop very far without overheating—they largely rely on panting to keep cool, and they can't pant when galloping, for panting involves taking very rapid, shallow breaths that would interfere with respiration when running. Dogs can gallop for only about 10 to 15 minutes before reverting to a trot, and so their distance-running speed tops out at about 3.8 meters per second. Horses' average distance-running speed is 5.8 meters per second—a canter. Wildebeests’ is 5.1 meters per second.

Elite human runners, however, can sustain speeds up to 6.5 meters per second. Even run-of-the-mill joggers typically do between 3.2 and 4.2 meters per second, which means they can outrun dogs at distances greater than two kilometers.

2012 CIF State Meet - Girls 3200m

2012 CIF State Meet - Girls 1600m

2012 CIF State Meet - Boys 1600m

A League of Their Own – Part 2: The Unlikely Elites

A League of Their Own – Part 2: The Unlikely Elites

 Anton Krupicka, Ellie Greenwood, and Geoff Roes have ultrarunning resumes that don’t need to be recited here; but what’s remarkable about these three huge names in the sport is that none of them came from particularly “elite” running backgrounds. Here’s what they have to say about finding success in ultras and how they’ve found their way there.

Your Ultra-Training Bag of Tricks: Stamina-Based Workouts

Your Ultra-Training Bag of Tricks: Stamina-Based Workouts

The Importance of Stamina

Distance is not the ultramarathon’s absolute challenge. Rather,the challenge lies in covering the distance within a limited time frame. Most everyone reading this column could complete 100 miles in several days without much issue; however, running 100 miles in less than 30 hours would be a much greater test. Add to this the component of competition, and the objective becomes even more demanding. In order to finish under cutoffs and race well against your peers, you must perfect your ability to run at a steady pace for a long period of time. Stamina-based workouts help you achieve this through lactate threshold (LT) improvement and learning to run by effort — two essential skills when racing on rough trails or hilly road courses.