You have all read about Israel's war with Hizbollah, no need to rehash. 10 reservists were killed today by a rocket strike, z"l, a heavy blow for the IDF. I have made a lot of harsh statements about the Israeli government in this blog, blaming them for not running the war properly. I still feel that they need to stand up to the UN and to the US by doing whatever it is that will make Israel safe. The only people who know how to do that are IDF generals. The politicians should just lay low and let the military obliterate the enemy without sending out mixed messages. Every time an Israeli politician says "ceasefire" or "international peacekeeping force," they are undermining IDF morale. The IDF is revved up and ready to win, and if only they would be left out of the political bickering, win they shall. But I fear that politics will constrain the IDF, as has been the case for the past three weeks. Who really knows what is at stake in the back rooms of international diplomacy?

In my own little world - I got new running shoes, Nike Huaraches. A bit retro, but they are light and feel great. It's neutral shoe, which means that it doesn't have any support for someone with overpronating issues. Turns out that my feet don't pronate, but they do supinate moderately. They don't make shoes that help supinators, so I am best served with a shoe that is neutral and doesn't have any variances in its construction. I ran for three weeks, took a week off (which is recommended in the beginning of a program), and now I am back on track.

I don't have a set system of running, I just do whatever I feel like doing, three times a week. I have found that I like to do one long run, one fartlek run and one sprint session. I precede each session with a 10 minute jog and 10 minutes of stretching to warm up. The long run session is, as of now, 2.5-3 miles. I intend to build it up to 6 miles. This run is basically to condition your lower legs and to develop an endurance foundation by getting your body used to the build-up of lactic acid. It should be done at a comfortable pace. The fartlek run - "fartlek" means speedplay in Finnish and is a continuous run where you alternate jogging with higher speed portions. How often you speed up, for how long, and to what velocity is up to you. This alternation of slow and fast confuses your cardiorespiratory system, and this shock causes the body to adapt by improving stamina. The sprint session is generally a series of 400s with a minute and a half rest in between. This type of workout builds the ability to maintain a decent level of speed over longer distances. Of course "sprinting" for 400 meters is not actually sprinting, it's more like a 80% effort run.

In order to get faster, I need to also cut some fat. Apparently, assuming stamina and speed parameters remain constant, every pound equals 2 extra seconds in one's mile pace. My momma's cooking is good, that's one of the key advantages of visiting home, but I have to cut back so I could become the speedster I was meant to be. Muscle mass is also a hinderance. I used to lift in my glory days, and although I haven't touched a weight since April 2005, I am still carrying too much muscle for my frame. My pectorals, as anyone who knows me can attest, are freakishly strong. Maybe not like they used to be when I benched 225 lbs for 7 reps, but still too big. My latissimus dorsi are also oversized - I used to do nearly the entire stack on the lat pull and the seated cable row. According to the exercise physiologists, for someone with my impressive height of 5 feet 7.5 inches, I have to weigh about 135 lbs if I want to be the best runner I can be in the 1 to 2 mile distances. I am currently 149 lbs, so if I could get to 145 by Labor Day, I would be happy as a clam. Which, by the way, is not kosher.

Of course, I don't intend toget down to 135 lbs. Becoming that light would mean getting rid of too much upper body muscle mass. If I could do a 5:30 mile and a 20:00 5km by about November, I'd be totally satisfied. Considering how fat and out of shape your average Ameircan male is, I'd be a rare specimen if I could run at those speeds. But I want to be an OK runner, not a serious one. After all, serious runners are too scrawny-looking. Speaking of your average American male aged 18-35, he is 5'9.5", weighs 180 lbs, and has 25% bodyfat. That means the lean body mass is just 135 lbs, so an ideal weight would be 150 lbs, which would mean 10% bodyfat. Clearly the average male needs to lose 30 lbs of fat and put on some muscle. There is lots of variation off the mean, but these are telling statistics nonetheless. People need to get their body fat checked and start running and doing calisthenics. Fitness clubs are a total waste of money. Heed my advice people.