Category Archives: track and field

There’s a right way to go bananas in endurance sports

Posted on November 23, 2020 by Christopher Cudworth

Given the fact that the “fruit” we call bananas is so common and inexpensive to buy, it is easy to take for granted that the Cavendish bananas commercially available in stores are a production miracle brought to the United States … Continue reading →

Posted in 400 meter intervals, 400 workouts, competition, injury, marathon, marathon training, mental health, PEAK EXPERIENCES, race pace, racing peak, running, swimming, track and field, tri-bikes, triathlete, triathlon, triathlons | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A long line of strong women

Posted on October 12, 2020 by Christopher Cudworth

Heading into last weekend I read that a distance runner named Letensenbet Gidey had run a world record 5000M time of 14:06 in a track meet in Valencia, Spain. I sat there for a moment and thought, “14:06. That means … Continue reading →

Posted in running, swimming, track and field, training, training for a marathon, triathlete, triathlon, triathlons | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

You never know what a little cheerleading can do

Posted on May 4, 2020 by Christopher Cudworth

A cross country meet is not the place where one normally expects to see cheerleaders. That tradition is more closely associated with football and basketball games where crowds fill the bleachers. Yet there were cheerleaders assigned to our cross country … Continue reading →

Posted in aging, aging is not for the weak of heart, anxiety, Christopher Cudworth, competition, cross country, running, track and field | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

On April and track and field

Posted on April 14, 2020 by Christopher Cudworth

Ever since 1970, when I was an immensely skinny 8th-grader competing in track and field for the first time, April has been a vexation on my body and my soul. I too-well recall stripping off sweatpants to stand shivering in … Continue reading →

Posted in track and field | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

A Burning Man of a different kind

Posted on April 6, 2020 by Christopher Cudworth

My son Evan Cudworth was planning on attending The Burning Man event in August again this year. But it likely won’t happen. Even that brand of social distancing––rocking out in the Black Rock Desert–– is not enough social distance to … Continue reading →

Posted in Christopher Cudworth, cross country, running, track and field | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

It's a bad time to be a nail-biter, but welcome to the club

Posted on March 24, 2020 by Christopher Cudworth

I’m not proud of the fact that I’ve been biting my nails since I was a little kid. Even as an adult my fingernails are sometimes a ragged mess if I collapse into the nervous habit of chewing on them. … Continue reading →

Posted in 10K, aging, aging is not for the weak of heart, anxiety, cycling, running, swimming, Tarsnakes, track and field | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Old School is New School. Never forget it.

Posted on February 20, 2020 by Christopher Cudworth

This morning on the way to drop off our dog at daycare, I drove past the building that was the only high school in town back when I was a student in St. Charles, Illinois. By the time I was … Continue reading →

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The glory days are not always what you think they are

Posted on December 30, 2019 by Christopher Cudworth

I got my gripe session about the travails of 2019 out of the way yesterday. Now it’s time to look ahead to 2020. Let’s spare each other the obvious cliches about “vision” and “seeing clearly.” I’m sure we’ll find plenty … Continue reading →

Posted in aging, aging is not for the weak of heart, Christopher Cudworth, competition, cycling, healthy aging, IRONMAN, swimming, Tarsnakes, track and field, triathlete, triathlon, triathlons, trolls | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Menstruation chronicles

Posted on November 29, 2019 by Christopher Cudworth

As a young runner living in the City of Chicago during the early 1980s, I met a woman through track workouts at the downtown Northwestern University cinder track next to Lake Shore Drive. After scoping her out the entire workout, … Continue reading →

Posted in 10K, 400 meter intervals, bike accidents, bike crash, blood on the highway, Christopher Cudworth, running, track and field, training | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

History in the making

Posted on November 10, 2019 by Christopher Cudworth

The day after the 2019 Illinois state cross country championship, I turned to the website of my former employer, the Daily Herald, to find a story by Michael Eaken of the record-setting run by a Hersey high school senior Josh … Continue reading →

Posted in Christopher Cudworth, competition, cross country, running, track and field | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment