Author Archives: Al

Catch and (Don’t) Release

Posted on March 11, 2016 by Al

An EN athlete – a guy who’s been to Kona three times, knocking on the door of sub-10 hours there – asked about exercises to improve his swim catch and pull. Although I am a particularly mediocre swimmer, this is … Continue reading →

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Paranoia Strikes Deep, concluded

Posted on March 10, 2016 by Al

Garrison Keillor, my generation’s Mark Twain, tells a story of how he spent the $6,000 he earned in 1974 from the New Yorker for his first major published work. He took his wife and young son on a train trip … Continue reading →

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Paranoia Strikes Deep

Posted on March 7, 2016 by Al

Imagine, if you will, Hillary Rodham Clinton dropping out of the presidential race because of revelations that her private State Department email server had been hacked by the Chinese. Continue reading →

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For What It’s Worth

Posted on March 6, 2016 by Al

There’s battle lines being drawn Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong – For What It’s Worth, by Stephen Stills, 1966/7 Falling asleep the other night, I was suddenly fearful that a spring and summer of epic disorder is imminent. I’d been … Continue reading →

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Backyard Engineer

Posted on March 2, 2016 by Al

Some guys are shade tree mechanics; Harry was a backyard engineer. He couldn’t help himself. He had studied science and engineering at the Naval Academy, then when he was mustered out due to failing eyesight, he finished up at Creighton … Continue reading →

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An Engineer And A Jock

Posted on February 29, 2016 by Al

Harry was an engineer and a jock. I never knew which came first, but he seemed to give equal credence to the values of each. As I was growing up, he seemed to spend equal amounts of energy trying to … Continue reading →

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Broken Toe

Posted on February 27, 2016 by Al

I broke my toe this morning. As soon as it happened, I knew. When I was about seven, I thought it would be fun to jump from half way up the stairs, click my feet together twice, and see if … Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Harry Stories, Injuries and Recovery | 1 Comment

Hill Running: Equal To Interval Training?

Posted on February 20, 2016 by Al

An Endurance Nation athlete asked if running hard in hills could substitute for doing intervals at a fast pace. My reply: I live in the midst of hills, so I’ve gotten quite used to running and training in them. Here’s … Continue reading →

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What It Takes

Posted on February 19, 2016 by Al

An Endurance Nation athlete asked: “How does one decide to commit to [atempting a] K[ona] Q[aulification]?… 1) What do you consider pre-requesites before attempting a KQ? 2) Is it possible to KQ on a course you have not raced before? And … Continue reading →

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Is Money A Performance Enhancing Drug?

Posted on February 16, 2016 by Al

I came across this article in the New York Times about how someone spent $100,000 during a brief season training for the Hawaii Ironman, which he entered as a result of business connections. The thing that caught my eye in … Continue reading →

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