BOTTOMS UP • Drink before you run, and drink during your run. Even a 30 minute jog on a warm July day might require 16 ounces of fluid. Don't trust your "thirst mechanism" to get you "on the level" in terms of fluid; by the time runners feel thirsty, it's usually too late. The body can't replenish fluids as rapidly as it sweats on those true "dog days."

Remember that some decongestants (such as allergy suffers might take) can also contribute to dehydration; likewise for other popular beverages such as coffee and alcohol. (So save that mug of beer for several hours after your run!)

Sports drinks have a bonus of replenishing glucose (which will give your blood sugar a quick "boost") and salt, but pure cool water is still a great way to go. On race days, I sometimes like to try a "half and half"-  half sports drink, half bottled water.

TURN THAT STUFF OFF! • My father used to yell that up the stairs when I was booming the Rolling Stones on my stereo way back when. Turning it off is actually a good idea if you are out running; leave your portable music for the beach. Why? Because you really take away one of your most valuable "safety senses"- hearing - if you insist on "plugging in" while you're running. You might not hear that mountain biker yell "On your left!" when he comes screaming down the trail behind you-regardless if you're listening to "The Sex Pistols" or Mozart.

THE COMPETITIVE EDGE (Two Good Tips For Free) • Beginning runners competing in races can sometimes get anxious when it comes to taking sports drink or water at the aid stations. Here's how to "handle it":

First, try to get a cup near the end of the aid station table; that way you'll avoid a lot of the "traffic" from other runners stopping at the same table. The trick is to avoid "rush hour."

Second, "pinch" the paper cup-don't try to grab it with an open palm because when you're fatigued from racing, you just might drop it. Instead, pinch the cup at the top-so that as you glance down at cup, you will see a "figure eight". Using this method will allow you to hang onto the cup, and down its contents with greater ease because your "pinch" has helped you form an easy-to-drink-from funnel.

The number of women in high school sports has increased by a factor of nine, while the number of women in college sports has increased by more than 450%. A 2008 study of intercollegiate athletics showed that women's collegiate sports has grown to 9,101 teams, or 8.65 per school. The five most frequently offered college team sports for women are: (1) basketball, 98.8%, (2) volleyball, 95.7%, (3) soccer, 92.0%, (4) cross country, 90.8%, and (5) softball, 89.2%.  

In the 70s, prevailing thought was a woman's guts would fall out if they ran a marathon, and it took years before there was a woman's Olympic marathon.  Cross country courses were shorter and even today softball games are shorter for women, as two more innings would clearly show why they are called the "weaker sex," I guess.    

In our sport it's obvious what has changed. Almost any race is now 50% women, something unheard of a few years ago. 

The added participants increase total participation in races, generating more income for charities and more opportunities for sponsors, so we all benefit. Women buy more running gear (than men) fueling our local economy and encourages manufacturers do more R & D to sustain the demand and needs peculiar to women.    

There's no turning back. Women run in groups or by themselves, and if they run with us they not only keep up, they join in our conversations, formerly reserved for 'men talk.' No topic is off limits. They love the freedom running provides and are no longer willing to stay in the background, waiting for us to come stumbling in, sweaty and drained.   

 When did this happen? 40 years ago may have been the start, but few stayed in sports after college. When the charity groups first formed and recruited women, that is what kick started this movement, but it was inevitable.

pool                                                           

Olympic Trials Pool of Olympic Proportions Built in Just 12 Days

That’s what it takes to build a pool of Olympic proportions.

Before the country’s best swimmers arrive in Nebraska to smash records at the U.S. Olympic Trials, the construction crew set a record of its own. Myrtha Pools USA installed two pools (a competition pool and a warm-up pool) at Omaha’s CenturyLink Center in just 12 days.

When the trials came to Omaha in 2008, the warm-up pool was largely completed before work on the competition pool commenced. The entire process took 25 days. This year, the two pools were   constructed nearly simultaneously.  Pool preparation began at 6 a.m. on May 23, and the competition pool was filled with water by June 4. Swimmers such as PMG Sports’ Amanda Beard and Clark Burckle tested the waters June 8-10 during the Mutual of Omaha Swimvitational, in which Amanda was the runner-up in the 100m breaststroke and Clark took second in the 100m breaststroke and the 200m breaststroke.  Trials took place in the same pool June 25-July 2. After the Masters Summer Nationals July 5-8, the pools will be disassembled.

We have seen some top performances at trials. Although suit restrictions after the 2008 trials reduced the rate of records, technological improvements in this year’s pools bode well for fast times. Advancements include a better system of inlets and outlets to ensure efficient flow of 800,000 gallons of water in the competition pool and Myrtha’s Track-Start starting blocks, which provide swimmers with a superior launching position.

Pool facts:

• The pools were designed in Castiglione delle Stiviere, Italy.
• Each pool cost about $2 million.
• Together the stainless-steel pools totaled 40 tons.
• A combination of ships, trains and trucks transported seven 40-foot containers from Italy to Omaha.
• Workers from five countries – Canada, England, Germany, Italy and the United States –  constructed the pools..
• The competition pool is a 50-meter, 10-lane pool. Only eight lanes are used for competition.
• The warm-up pool, which is L-shaped, has eight 50-meter lanes and five 25-meter lanes.
• Three gas heaters will keep the water temperature at a precise 80 degrees in the competition   pool and 81 degrees in the warm-up pool. Elite swimmers can tell the difference!
• Since Myrtha also installed the seven pools to be used in the Olympic Games, conditions in Omaha should emulate those in London.

·         At 2 a.m. Wednesday, the last pieces of the stage from the Nickelback concert held hours before were cleared out of the CenturyLink Center.

·         By 5:30 a.m., the spot where the stage had been was on its way to becoming a 50-meter pool for the U.S. Olympic Trials. Several rows of seats — 22 truckloads worth — were gone. Massive, 25-ton slabs of concrete were showing up on flatbed trucks and workers were busy setting up the large blue filter tanks that will keep the pool clean during the Trials, which begin June 25.

·         Myrtha Pools USA, which supplied the temporary pools used in the 2008 Trials, is back again for this year's event.

·         The Sarasota, Fla., company's president and CEO, Kevin McGrath, said the pools (the main competition pool in the arena and a second practice pool in the CenturyLink's convention area) will look the same but have some important technological upgrades.

·         Those changes, he said, should help U.S. stars such as Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Natalie Coughlin and Missy Franklin maximize their time in the water.

·         “If we can take off a tenth or a thousandth of a second, that's a lot,” he said.

The biggest improvements since 2008, according to McGrath, have been with the system of outlets and inlets. Those capitalize on the evolving science of handling the flow of 800,000 gallons of water in a 50-meter, 10-lane competition pool.

Changes also have been made to the head walls that minimize the “rebound” of water at the turns and finish.

The water needs to be treated and heated — 80 degrees for the competition pool, 81 for the warmup pool — and ready for the first scheduled practice swims June 6 before the three-day Mutual of Omaha Swimvitational starts on June 8.

Because of a tighter construction schedule than 2008, Myrtha has 50-some workers in Omaha compared to about 40 four years ago. They come from Italy, Germany, England and Canada

The Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games is on Friday, July 27, 2012.

We Ran Away From Home • Donna Hiatt

While making plans for our trip to Scotland in May, Jerry noticed the Edinburgh Marathon Festival was taking place the same weekend we would be in Edinburgh.  So, we did what most runners would do.    We signed up - for the 5K.  Our friends and traveling companions, Omar & Helen Adams did the same – with one exception, Helen signed up for the MARATHON!!!  Wow!  Brave girl. Omar joined Jerry and I in signing up for the 5K.  There were several options…..5K, 10K, relays, Junior races on Saturday and ½ marathon and Marathon on Sunday.