Biggest Loser

I have to rant a bit. I watch this show on a somewhat regular basis and constantly find myself frustrated by things in the show, but last night really got to me.

Before I get to my rant, let me first preface this. I think this show has some great aspects. It has motivated a lot of people to change their lives, and it has spawned many contests at companies for weight loss. These things are sorely needed with the state of our country's collective health. We're getting fatter by the day. Serving sizes are getting bigger, and people are frying anything and everything. I'm not trying to preach, I love fried food as much as the next guy, but I eat it in moderation (usually) and I exercise. The show has done a lot of good.

However, there are things that really bother me. Its been documented that some "weeks" on the show are, in reality, longer than an actual week, which allows contestants to lose more weight. The huge numbers seen on the scale are attainable for two reasons. One, a week isn't always a week. Two, all these contestants do is work out--its their life. No one can sustain that in real life. Additionally, the contestants are given nutrition advice and access to nutritious food without the temptation of milk dudes and ice cream. It gives viewers a false reality of weight loss. So when they try on their own and don't see the same results, people get frustrated and quit. This has always bothered me.

However, last night's episode really bothered me. They had the final 4 contestant "run" the Biggest Loser Marathon. They were informed of this 30 days prior to the event, and only one of the contestants really ran on a regular basis. First, thirty days is nowhere near enough time to properly train for a marathon, especially to RUN a marathon. Thirty days to run a marathon for people who are still quite a bit overweight is just asking for injury. I was immediately curious to see the finish times.

The one contestant considered "the runner" focused almost solely on running for the 30 days, while the others continued mixed workout (one did walk a lot). The course record for the BL Marathon was 4:55:xx. All the contestants were show during the marathon. "The Runner" was highlighted as running the entire marathon and looked like he was running fairly strong. He finished smashed the course record in about 4:02. I was quite surprised, but was happy to see a contestant actually RUN the marathon. My first marathon time was 4:52. I walked A LOT of it, so I know how much running is involved in slow marathon times and how much of it is actually walking. The second contestant was shown running and struggling through the marathon, but it was made to look like he was toughing it out and running the entire thing. He was REALLY struggling early, even at mile 5. His finish time? About 6 hours. He barely ran anything. He walked the majority of the course, even though he was shown running. The two "walkers" were show walking almost the entire course. Their finish time? About 6:30. The magic of Hollywood editing.

I know this makes me an elitist and maybe an asshole, but a 6:00 marathon is nothing to be happy about. This whole thing completely trivializes the marathon. I'm not saying that they shouldn't be happy about completing 26.2 miles, especially coming from where they started, but it was said many times that they were "running a marathon." There was only one guy who ran the marathon. He's the one who was a "runner" before training and who concentrated on running during the training period. He should be proud of his time. He should brag that he RAN a marathon in 4:02. Is it blazing fast? No, but its respectable for someone of his size and history. He actually worked for it.

The thing that really set me off though were comments made during the weigh-in. The contestant that focused on running actually gained 2 pounds over 30 days. He made the comment that he focused on training for the marathon and that's not going to result in much weight loss. I remarked that this was probably one of the smartest statements ever made on the show. Immediately after, both trainers tore into him and said that his statement was completely wrong and that he should have been losing weight. I lost it. The contestant was right. A person properly training for a marathon might lose some weight, but probably won't. The person should be balancing caloric intake with calories burned during runs, as to not run on a deficit. For proper training/running, one needs proper fueling. Not to mention, running that much, he probably built muscle in his legs.

I really hate seeing the marathon trivialized. I don't like people getting false expectations and incorrect information. The last thing the sport needs is more people attempting the marathon poorly prepared. I'm tired of hearing people brag about running a marathon, only to find out they logged 5+ hours on a course. With that kind of time, you didn't run and you likely weren't properly prepared. The show is only perpetuating these problems and giving people false information and hopes.

Recovering

I'm recovering from the 50 miler. More mentally than physically. I ran last night and my legs felt a little dead, but I feel like I'm recovered to a point where I feel mostly normal.

The mental recovery is taking much longer. The race really beat me up. It took much longer than I had expected, and for the first time that I can remember, I was below average. I'm not fast, but I generally finish in the top 25-30% of participants. I wasn't even in the top 50% of runners at Bear Mountain. When I finished, I didn't get the high from finishing the event...I just felt like crap and was bummed out. Then to find out Vermont was full, I felt like I did it all for nothing.

I'm starting to accept the race and move on, but its been a weird week. For now I'm just trying to focus on moving forward and having fun at the Brooklyn Half this weekend. After that, its time for Race Across the Window again. More details to follow on RATW.

Bear Mountain 50 Miler tomorrow

at 5 am EST, I set out for my second 50 mile race. Supposedly there's a service that will update my facebook status with splits. However, I read the reviews of the application, and I hold no faith that it will actually update.

I know I owe Boston and Tough Mudder race reports, but for now, I'll throw in a couple pictures from Tough Mudder.