Running - Just for the heck of it

Many years ago someone decided that conditioning is achieved by aerobics.  That is,   running.  It gets your heart pumping and lungs working overtime.  Upon hearing this an observer complained that it would be much better if conditioning came with doing something useful like mowing the lawn or hoeing the garden.  Why is something as useless as running the way to get physically fit?

I have theories of my own about this.  I think runners aren't skinny because they run.  They run because they are skinny.   I think the people who prescribed running for fitness are skinny people who run because their anorexic bodies just float around the track.

You may deduce from this that I am not skinny.  A fact I have acknowledged elsewhere in this blog and admit freely.  To describe me as "not skinny" is to understate reality.

Vince Lombardi said that "fatigue makes cowards of us all."  Coaches all over the country have taken his words as gospel and emphasize conditioning.  The theory is that conditioning increases energy and decreases fatigue.  Ergo, well conditioned athletes are brave athletes because they don't suffer fatigue induced cowardice.  And they've all bought into the running theory of conditioning.

My recent and near-future posts are featuring photos from the tryouts and practice held January 14, 2012.  My file photos are sorted according to the drill they depict.  I have quite a few photos of Outlaws running.  Not to get anyplace.  Not to accomplish anything.  Just for the exercise.  Even big Outlaws have to run.  Run.  Run. 

There were different kinds of running.  The photo at the top of this post is two skinny ladies running because they are skinny.  Like the cartoon roadrunner, "running down the road is their idea of having fun."  Then there is group running, as in the photo above.  Notice the runners are staying on the infield rather than the asphalt track.  Why?  Because the ground is softer than the tar?  Or because laps are shorter?

Another kind of running is for speed.  A single runner races forty yards  - or is it forty meters?  When I was young we refused to accept the metric system.  Feet and yards and miles were the American way and we weren't about to let foreign influence change the way we measure things.  Younger generations failed to keep up our resolve and you see where the country is heading as a result. 

In running for speed, someone has a stop watch and times the runner to see how fast she gets from the start to finish.  Sometimes they run two athletes together, using two stop watches.  This is efficient because it gets the timed running done twice as fast.

It also introduces competition to the event.  I have to admit that competition has a positive effect on performance.  In the photo to the right, the runner in gray noticed her teammate is moving faster.  Look at the extra effort she is putting out to catch up, to win the race.

Good try.  But I think she still finished second.

We used to end our football practice with wind sprints.  We'd line up in groups of five and race fifty yards as fast as we could.  The one in each group who finished first was allowed to go to the showers while the four "losers" got to do more fifty yard sprints.  I remember looking over the other four in my group and deciding that, in spite of my being a big lineman, I could win my race.  I was motivated by pride.  Not.  I was motivated by the idea of not having to run more sprints.

I went all out as fast as I could go.  It is noteworthy here that we larger players rarely ran as fast as we could go.  We tried to look like it but we held back.  Conserved our energy for subsequent rounds.  But on this particular race I convinced myself I could win and I didn't hold back. 

And finished third. 

And learned an important lesson.  It is good to hold back because if you leave it all on the field in a losing sprint, you have nothing left for subsequent sprints.    Ah... Outlaws, please ignore this particular lesson from my sordid past.  Run all out all the time.  Don't want the coaches to think I'm planting bad ideas...  Remember, I wasn't on the A-Team.

Whether sprinting or jogging laps, running is a part of the game. 

Having fun?  Or wasting time?  Or getting fit?  Your call.



Tryouts - Strength Testing

Saturday, January 14, was the last day to try out for the Outlaws and the first day of practice.  I have dozens of cool photos from both practice and tryout events. 

One of the tryout challenges looks easy.  It isn't. 

It is a strength test.  One based on reps (repetitions) rather than total a single max lift.  Reps are deceptive.  Take a ten pound dumb bell and lift it straight up over your head.  Easy.  Now do it twenty times.  Not easy.

The tryouts used the bench press set-up - you get to lie down while doing it - and the bar with no additional weights attached. 

Now understand the bar by itself is heavy.  Forty pounds.  Benching forty pounds is no problem for the Outlaw players.









But the forty pounds becomes heavier with reps.  Ten reps and you're feeling it.  Twenty and you're straining.



You've seen the theme in many of my posts - I love the way sport brings out the very best in people.   I love the intensity as the athletes exert every bit of strength, energy, and will to do better than...

Well, better than the opponent in a game. 

In tests like the benching challenge, better than themselves.  Better than their last record.

I admire these ladies striving to improve performance.  As a photographer, I want to capture the effort for you.  A few athletes are more expressive than others, giving me some great photos.  As I viewed these facial expressions in my photo editor, I found my own muscles tensing, brow furrowing, trying to lift imaginary weights as the athlete fought with real weight.  Their effort is inspiring. 




Note:   If  you feel a photo I posted isn't complimentary, let me know and I'll remove it.  I'm doing this blog out of admiration for the Outlaws as a team and the players individually.  I never intentionally post anything that might reflect badly on or might embarrass anyone.  If I error, if there's a photo or article that doesn't support the team, let me know and I'll delete it.

I believe her name is Ashley.  In the photo above she's done enough reps that she begins to feel the strain, begins to have to exert a little extra effort.  In the photo to the right, she is nearing her max - and refusing to quit.  She is straining with every bit of will and strength she has to get one more rep. I love the effort.   

I don't know this Outlaw's name.  She is just starting in the photo to the left.  I suspect she has lifted weights before.  Her facial expression suggests she's focused on the bar, managing her breathing.  In the photo below, she has been pumping the iron awhile and is nearing her max.  As with Ashley she is summoning all her strength and will, refusing to quit until she records one more rep.

This is Ski.  If  you've visited this blog or Outlaw games, you've heard of her.  After the rest of the Outlaw candidates completed their bench press test, Ski decided to try to improve on her last effort.  I have intentionally not reported the number of reps various players achieved in this test.  I'm more interested in the effort - and I'm confident future numbers will be higher.  However I can say the norm was well below 100.  Most below 50.  Try it sometime - benching 40 pounds many times is a bear.

Ski did 141.  Setting a new record.  The old record was 121.  Held by Ski.

She is called grandma because she is a grandma.  There is no one I admire more than Ski.  She works hard, harder than anyone I know.  She plays over pain. Plagued with injuries over the years she kept on trucking.  And wow is she strong!

Something else about the Outlaws in general and Ski in particular.  They support each other.  Ski started benching for a personal record after other players had finished and gone on to other business.  When they noticed what she was doing they gathered round, shouting words of encouragement, cheering each additional rep.  In the photo at the right, they're celebrating Ski's amazing record.

The Outlaws is a team of talented individuals striving to accomplish personal bests.  And the Outlaws is a "team" in the way they encourage and support each other.  I've cropped my bench press photos to give you the facial expression of the one doing the drill.  What you can't see is her teammates surrounding the bench and cheering every additional rep, calling out "you can do it.  Go girl." 

In the book, The Three Musketeers, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis lived by the motto:  "All for one, one for all."  The Outlaws remind me of that credo.