Scientific proof that short runners age slower than average people!!!

There is rejoicing amongst the Lollipop Guild!

Some recent research proves what we all already knew--short runners age slower than the rest of the world! According to some recent research nicely covered here in Wired, time moves slower the closer you are to the earth and also the more you move.

According to Wired, "Time dilation arises in two situations. In one case, time appears to move slower the closer you are to a massive object, such as the Earth. So a person hovering in a hot-air balloon, for example, actually ages faster than someone standing below."

So by that theory, yes, the shorter you are, the slower you age, right? RIGHT?

Secondly, "Time also ticks by faster for someone at rest relative to someone moving. Einstein dramatized this second strangeness with the twin paradox — one 25-year-old twin traveling in a rocket ship near the speed of light for what he perceives as a few months will return to Earth to find the other has reached middle age."

So, someone that moves a LOT--like a daily runner--ages slower.

So, short runners rejoice! We do, in fact, age slower than others. And I, for one, plan to make the most of those extra few seconds we Munchkins get by doing more of this kind of stuff.

Breaking News! TDD = Total Defiant Domination for NETT going 1-2-6

Some VERY exciting results from the TDD Triathlon today. Here's Jerry's report?

NETT had several of us in today's TDD triathlon in/around Douglas State Forest in Douglas MA. Weather was a welcome wee bit warmer than what had been forecasted, still a bit chilly for standing around, great for racing. Joe, Frank and I lined up for the men's 40+ wave, Jim raced in the 5th (?) and final wave with the clydies. Tina, Jimmy III and Raj. were there for moral support and to tell us all how great we looked. We were all in/out of the waters of Wallum Lake between 5 and 6 minutes with Joe posting the fastest swim split by a few seconds. During this swim portion a common theme for all was major swimmer congestion leading to full contact swimming.

After getting wet we dashed to our bikes with Joe making a quick transition and Jerry passing Frank in tranisition, who was looking down at his wetsuit, stuck on his lower legs and crying in an eerily similar-to-Nancy Kerrigan voice "....Why meeeee....". Nevertheless Frank left T1 just behind Jerry and they were off in pursuit of Joe. Somewhere behind (since he started in a wave 6min behind us) Jim made his transition to the bike. Fairly uneventful on the bike, I slowly pulled away from Frank and slowly reeled in Joe to post the fastest bike split of the day. All pretty cut and dried.

Joe and I got off the bikes together with Joe out of T2 first. Somewhere on the first dirt road section of the run I was able to catch up to and pass Joe, both of us cognizant of Frank lurking behind. As I ran steadily, making a good effort but not putting myself too far into the red zone, I noticed, as we ran on the out and back section or the road that no one was coming back towards me. This was odd since the young guns (all men under 39) had started 6min in front of our wave. I started thinking about it, trying to figure things out, taking note of when, finally the first guy passed me going the opposite direction, well within 6min. Couldn't crunch the numbers so just forgot about it and picked up the pace a little, now slightly aware that I could be racing for a win or at least a high placing. Anyways, picked up some ground on a couple guys, passed one but another guy clearly pulled away from me. Finished strong and had barely turned around when Joe pulled into the finish after an obviously strong run. Then Frank turned up soon enough. Jim pulled in after making a good effort on the tough short run course (longer than the advertised 5K).

When the results were posted, I was surprised to find that I had notched the win. Joe made an impressive effort to finish a close second (1st AG) and Frank finishing 6th (4th AG), all of us under an hour, with Jim finishing as 4th clydie.

Our whole crew went over to a local diner for the post-race feed and race de-brief. Was an excellent way to spend the morning. Thanks everyone.

The multiple talents of NETT

Sure, we're a running club. Sure we do triathlons, snowshoe races, bike rides, orienteering, etc. But there's at least one of us who has a real hidden talent. Until now! Take a look:

Congrats to Frank on Firm Man #10~

Frank raced his 10th FIRM Man this weekend waking up at about 3:45, driving all the way to RI and back by himself! Here's his report.

Today I raced Firmman half-ironman for the 10th time and it was one of the toughest ones. It was cold and cloudy in the morning so there was no spectacular sunrise over Narragansett Bay this year. And it was quite windy. For the swim leg the windy was favorable as it was coming out of the East/Northeast pushing me the one mile down along the beach so fast that I ended with a sub 26 minute swim for 1.2M. Although mostly favorable the water was actually so choppy that it was rare that I caught a glimpse of the buoys. The cold temperatures and wind made the bike leg challenging. With the tail wind on the out section I rode 25-26 mph easily at times but meanwhile my feet and hands got numb. The last 19 miles back to Narragansett were almost entirely straight into the wind. That combined with the fact that my longest ride in the last 5 weks was 30 miles meant I had to dig really deep. I was really close to running out of gas around 48 miles but having done the race 10 times helped me through. Continuing along the theme of being unprepared my longest run in weeks have been 8 miles so I had to rely on muscle memory to carry me through 13.1 miles. The first 4 miles went okay, the next 6 were slower but acceptable. At mile 11, however, my tank was next to empty and I had to walk a bit at a water station to get some water and get myself composed for the last 1-2 miles. But I finished and I am quite happy with my time of 4:43:30 considering my low training volume and the conditions. Results have not been posted yet but I think I placed around 20-25th overall and 5-6th in my age group.

NETT Smiths take 2nd, 6th spots at Walpole 10K

The NETT Smiths duo (Chris and Mary) ran the Walpole 10K on Labor Day with great results. For Chris, it's his hometown race and for Mary it's her next-to-my new hometown race. Here's Mary's report:

After a long trail run Sunday, I figured why not jump into the Walpole 10K race - since Walpole & Norwood are practically neighbors. In a field of about 95 women, I ending up finishing 2nd with a time of 45:53. Finishing 2nd & not knowing my 10K PR, I have to assume I had a pretty good race. My strategy was to take it easy the 1st few miles (since the muscles felt a little tired after Sunday's run) and re-evaluate after the 1st few miles. I found myself in 2nd place at the 2 mile mark & just never looked back. It was a nice race (flat / rolling hills) with a ton of Walpole participants and plenty of spectators out on the course.

I wasn't the only NETT "Smith" out on the course - Chris ran his hometown race in just under 37 minutes (36:59). His parents even came out to watch and support the race. Chris placed 1st in his age group and was 6th overall. Also, he was a lucky winner of their "random raffle" - winning a 6 pack of Sam Adams Oktoberfest! All in all - Great Labor Day Race!