Friday, March 27, 2015

Andreas Lubitz Story: The Son, The Father, The Drive


In the interest of helping investigators discover the who and why after a tragedy and correcting a lot of mistakes I am finding in the media coverage, I started researching the running history of Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot who crashed the Germanwings airliner, and found a wealth of telling information about him. Running played a key and timely role in what reportedly became an ultimately fatal battle with mental health. I believe we can learn a lot about what made this overpronating, 7-pace enigma from Germany tick by looking at what he loved, and I hope that this research may prove useful in some way. I learned that he stopped running races for at least the past year, and per a runner comment below I think that could be telling; a person diagnosed with depression who sees running as an outlet might be greatly affected by no longer utilizing that outlet that had served him so well during the past half-decade. Based on feedback from other runners, I also feel this shines a light on the fact that a fair number of runners use this individual sport -- which is all about personal discovery, goal-setting, self-improvement, ambition and hopefulness -- to deal with depression and anxiety, and to a larger degree just the stress of everyday life.

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

United Airlines NYC Half Recap

By Mark | Sunday's United Airlines NYC Half was my 22nd half-marathon and 111th overall race since I traded a box of KOOLS for a box of ASICS on Dec. 1, 2006. I finished this one with a net time of 2:40:10, compared to 2:26:01 in 2007, 2:46:51 in 2009 and 2:27:45 in 2012. It was perfect running weather in the 40s and a great event. Here's my recap of the weekend, and really it all comes down to that unmatched thrill of taking over Times Square:




Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Gear Review: Yaktrax and Deer Tracks



Years ago, an outdoor adventurer was exploring the Himalayas and encountered a seasoned Sherpa striding confidently across the slick and icy surface. What was seen on the Sherpa's feet sparked a revolutionary invention -- the Yaktrax patented coil traction device.

That is how the company began, modeled after the Tibetan Yak. I decided to give their Yaktrax Pro slip-ons a try, with deer rather than yak as companions. The company reached out and sent a pair to me and Rachel for review. We have been inundated with snow and ice in 2015 here in the New York City area, but I have the United NYC Half in less than two weeks and need to get off the dreadmill and be accustomed to elements.