BBC Panorama - The Truth About Sports Products

Here is a very interesting documentary from the BBC about sports products.  A panel of researchers from Oxford University investigates the alleged efficacy of sports drinks, athletic footwear, and other sports supplements.

I was aware of some of the ideas mentioned in the film but there were a couple eye-openers for sure.

I Am Made of Belief, Not Barriers

Here is an inspirational video I came across recently...

Group Run Scheduled - November 11

Hi everyone...

Back to the downtown airport for our next run.  Let's meet on Sunday, November 11th at 5:30pm.  

Remember to access the airport from Burlington Road in North Kansas City and park near the Executive Beechcraft building.

Hope to see you there!

Group Run Scheduled - October 17

Hi everyone...

Time for another run back up north...let's meet at the Academy on Wednesday, October 17th at 6:30pm.  After to talking to some of the group members the idea of an evening, mid-week run was tossed out.  Hopefully it will allow some of us that normally couldn't make a run to participate this time.

In case you need a reminder, click here to be taken to the original blog post containing the different routes from the Academy.  As usual, there are routes for two, four, and six miles.

Now that the summer heat has finally broken it should make for a nice evening run.  See you all there!

Rain Delay

Hi everyone...

I know we're scheduled for a run this morning but due to the rain we can go ahead and postpone today's run to next Saturday at the same time and place.

Hopefully the weather will be better...see you all then!

Group Run Scheduled - September 1

Hello everyone...

Thanks to those of you who participated in our last group run.  It turned out to be one of those mornings that was perfect to get outside and run.

I've been thinking a good cycle for our runs will be to add runs at the Downtown Airport in between each run held in the northern or southern parts of the city.  In other words, the pattern will go something like:  North, Airport, South, Airport, North...and so on.  Hopefully keeping every other run at the airport will keep things accessible for as many people as possible.

That said, let's go ahead and have our next run at the Downtown Airport on Saturday, September 1st at 8am.  For those of you worried about access to the airport due to the construction on 169 HWY, MoDOT states there is still access.  You have to come in from Burlington in North Kansas City and head west on 10th Avenue until you reach Harlem Road, which leads straight to the airport.

As a reminder, here's a quick map for where to park on the southern end of the airport:

The full loop around the airport is around 3.6 miles, but if you need routes of different lengths check out my previous post for our first run at the airport.

Hope to see you all there!

Group Run Scheduled

Hi everyone...


Time for another group run; we'll move back down to the southern part of the city to the Trolley Track Trail in Waldo.  We'll run on Sunday, July 29 at 8am at The Well (7421 Broadway Street).  There is a parking lot just to the west of The Well we can use as our meeting point.

Here are the routes:


Two Miles from The Well


Four Miles from The Well


Six Miles from The Well


See you all then...I will have discount codes for CytoSport and Running Warehouse to give you all, as well.

North Face Endurance Challenge Discount Code

Hello everyone...

One of our group members recently forwarded me a 20% off discount code for the upcoming North Face Endurance Challenge.  The race is scheduled for November 17.

Click here to register for any of the events, ranging from the 5K to 50K, as well as relay teams.

The discount code is "ECSHH."

Interesting Article - Jogging in Forest Twice as Good as Trip to Gym for Mental Health

Hi everyone...


Click here for a brief, yet interesting article one of our club members forwarded me.  The main point is researchers found exercising outside is not only good physically, but arguably even better for our mental well-being, too.  It is even reportedly better than working out in a gym!


I'll be making another post for our next group run soon...let me know if any of you have any requests for when or where you'd like to run.

It Was a Hot One...

This past week's run was definitely a hot one...the heat and humidity made for a challenging day to get out and run.  Although it's tough to run on days like that it's good for mental stamina as well as physical.  It also helps you practice pacing and nutrition under adverse conditions, which are always possible for those of you who run in races.


I figure we should keep our momentum going and go ahead and schedule our next group run for Saturday, June 23 at 5pm.  We'll run at the Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport.  This location should be good for a number of reasons; it's centrally located, which hopefully makes it convenient for as many people as possible.  The loop surrounding the airport is also entirely flat with the exception of a couple small sections, not to mention there is hardly any traffic.


And speaking of the loop, the length of the entire loop is approximately 3.6 miles.  Here is an additional route for those who may need a shorter distance:


Two Miles at Downtown Airport


One of the easiest places for us to meet will be the parking lot on the south end of the airport near the Executive Beechcraft building.  For those that may not know, the Executive Beechcraft building is the southernmost building at the airport.


The first few rows of parking are used for employees and patrons of Executive Beechcraft but the rows closer to the parking lot's entrance are frequently used by runners and cyclists.  Here's a quick map to give you an idea of where to park:

Also, I'll signing up for a fall race in the near future and I was thinking it would be fun if a group of us wanted to participate in an event together, allowing us to encourage each other along the way.  Plus, it never hurts to have training partners around to help you keep your training on track!


As for which event to run, I was thinking the Gobbler Grind in Overland Park may be a good choice.  It's a local race that seems to do well; there is a full marathon, a half-marathon, and a 5K.  If anyone else has any suggestions for a race to run together feel free to mention it!


See you all in a couple weeks!

Group Run Scheduled

First things first, I owe all of you a big apology for my lack of contact these last handful of weeks.  The combination of a newborn joining the family and a new assignment at work overwhelmed my schedule, as you might imagine.  Enough excuses, though...time to get the running group back on track!


On that note, let's schedule our next run for Sunday, May 27th at 4pm.  I hope the time of this run will make it easier for those of us on PM's or dogwatch to join in.


We'll have another run up north this time; let's meet at the Chipotle at HWY 152 & N. Flintlock (8700 N. Flintlock Road).  The parking lot wraps up and around to the north of Chipotle, serving as a good spot for us to meet but stay out of the way of other customers (see the picture below).  Once we're finished with our run we can all grab a bite to eat for those who are interested.

Here are the routes for our run, too:

Two-Mile Route from Chipotle

Four-Mile Route from Chipotle

Six-Mile Route from Chipotle

See you all in a couple weeks!

2012 Walk for Williams Charity Run

Hi everyone...


A fellow Department member reached out to me regarding a charity run his family is involved in.  He thought the running group may be interested in participating.


The event is the 2012 Walk for Williams, a charity event benefiting the Williams Syndrome Association.  The event will be held on Saturday, May 12th at Ironwoods Park in Leawood, Kansas.  Click here for the event's flyer.


Depending on my schedule I may end up running the 5K...if anyone else is interested let me know.

Interesting Article - Perception is Everything

Today I came across an interesting article about the connection between perception and fatigue when it comes to athletic performance.  It's a timely piece for me because my last couple weeks of training have been hit-or-miss; maybe my problems were all in my head.


Anyway, here's the link:


Sports Science Update - Perception is Everything

Group Run Scheduled

Time for another group run, folks...let's go with Saturday, March 17th at 10am.  The meeting spot will be next to the Chick-Fil-A (8551 State Line Road) located near Ward Parkway Mall.  At the last group run the idea was brought up to end our runs at a place where we could socialize and grab a small bite to eat after we finish.  Chick-Fil-A is a great spot for some post-run food but there's also a Starbucks within Ward Parkway Mall if the group would rather go there.


Let's meet in the Target parking lot to the immediate south of Chick-Fil-A.  Here's a quick map (note the box in red where I recommend we all park):

As with our first run, I whipped up three routes of varying lengths:


Two-Mile Run from Chick-Fil-A


Four-Mile Run from Chick-Fil-A


Six-Mile Run from Chick-Fil-A


And for those of you who are wondering, yes, I realize this run is scheduled on St. Patrick's Day.  I was thinking going out for a good run in the morning would let you reward yourself later in the day with any celebrating you may do.  Along the same lines, I assumed it might be a bit harder to wake up the next morning for anyone who had to work or celebrated the holiday.


However, if you all prefer to meet on Sunday morning at the same time and place that works for me, too.


See you all there!

One Down...

Just wanted to thank everyone who showed up at our first group run this past weekend.  The weather was a bit colder than anticipated at the start but it ended up being perfect running weather once the sun came out.  There were also a couple planning SNAFUs I didn't expect but I'll make sure they won't pose any problems in our future runs.


I'm looking forward to seeing the club continue to grow...I'll be making another post by this weekend announcing our next group run.  As a heads up, it will be farther south this time (probably in Metro Patrol Division) to help those that may not live up north.


Also, while I certainly don't mind using my current routes or finding new ones for our club to use please feel free to suggest routes of your own.  After all, I see this as our club, not my club!

Welcome - First Group Run Scheduled

Welcome to the blog for our running group, everyone!  I hope you find it to be a helpful resource for whatever you feel is helpful, so feel free to post about your training, race results, training plans, or anything else that's on your mind.  And while I will try and schedule a couple of group runs each month I encourage all of you to connect with our club members and run together.


I have decided to have our first group run on Saturday, February 25th at 10am.  The run will start and finish at the Academy (6885 NE Pleasant Valley Road).


Our club will have runners of all abilities, which is great.  With that in mind I put together a few different routes of varying length.  Click on the links below to check them out:

Two-mile Route

Four-mile Route

Six-mile Route


As a quick side note, I created the routes above using Map My Run, a great website to create routes and keep track of your runs.  I highly recommend it for those of you in need of a tool to track your runs.  It's a free site, too, which helps.


If any of you are unable to make this run I will schedule our next run at a different time and place to accommodate those of us who may not live up north or be able to make a morning run due to work schedules.


See you all next weekend...if I can be of any help in the meantime let me know.