Biggest Loser is RIGHT.

I'm pretty damn sure this is the same guy doing "Ironman" or what he calls an Ironman (per the Feb. 10 airing):
The contestant said it's "Over a 1.5 mile swim *wrong*, and 80 mile bike *wrong*, and a half marathon *right*"

Correct distances of a HALF ironman are 1.2 swim, 56 bike, 13.1 run.
Ironman distances are 2.4, 112, 26.2.

JEBUS. I'm pissed at that guy and at NBC now.

http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2009/02/the-biggest-los.html

"The Biggest Loser" -- or is that "Biggest Liar"? -- fabricates account of contestant finishing marathon
One of my long-longtime readers, David Kleeman, writes: "I'm a huge fan of 'The Biggest Loser.' Love the show and all that it stands for. I'm also big into the marathoning community and knew back in January that one of the members of the Black team (either Blaine or Dane) had attempted a marathon in Arizona, but did not complete it. Instead, he had been picked up by a van along the course and dropped back down somewhere prior to the finish and then he crossed the finish line and collected a medal a la Rosie Ruiz. He is not listed in the finishers results (it was the Arizone Desert Classic on 1/31).
"What I didn't know was how the producers at NBC would report it. I was so disgusted to see that at the end of the Biggest Loser last night they did the whole segment on Dane and his wife doing a marathon and then reported that Dane completed the 26 mile race in 3 hours and 53 minutes. What else is completely falsified???"
David -- whose integrity is beyond question, as far as I'm concerned -- also passed along this blog posting from someone else who ran the same marathon and wrote:
"Oh, and those cameras behind me? Those are for Dane Patterson, a contestant on The Biggest Loser. He was there with his wife, running the marathon, though J started calling him The Biggest Liar. He and his wife were several miles behind me throughout the entire race, but around mile 17 they got picked up by a van and driven to the end of the course, where they filmed the grand 'crossing the finish line' finale with all the family cheering. I'm hoping that they televise it as a half marathon, since I know he ran at least that far, which is truly a great accomplishment. It'd be a shame if he got coerced into being less than honest, poor guy, especially since he's LDS like us."
And then this appeared in the comments the night before the broadcast:
"Hi! I'm Carli Patterson wife to the biggest loser contestant Dane Patterson. I had herd about your post and wanted to give you an explanation of what happened. I am so proud of my husband and his accomplishments. This has been an amazing experience for our family and unfortunatly this marathon has been a little exaggerated. In this industry you are always on a time frame and sometimes it is out of your control. We had stopped along the way to film at a water station and to make up for lost time our producers drove us ONLY 3 miles up the road. I am sorry if this has offended you in any way, but we are still incredibly happy about the 23 miles we ran. We were not listed as completing the marathon. Dane is an honest LDS Dad and I hope that they do say he completed this marathon because had time allowed he would have!"
Unfortunately Carli is contradicted by her own husband, who says in the above video clip, "It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life to run side by side with my wife for an entire marathon."
Anyway, I have put in an inquiry with the NBC publicist on the show and hopefully we will have a response up here shortly.
(thanks to Melissa Vetricek for the original tip!)
UPDATE: In the comments, Jerry Nairn, another racer, says the Pattersons did not volunteer the information that they had van-aided times. "They were reported to the race director and disqualified," he writes, "not that they were honest about it."

Fun Run

Yesterday's run wasn't really fun, and wasn't enjoyable, but I couldn't come up with a better title for today's post, so I'll leave it at that. One thing did make me laugh. I ran past the local high school just as class was letting out. A sheriff's car had a smaller SUV pulled over on the side of the road. I could tell it was a student, and that he was standing outside of his vehicle. As I approached, I saw the patrolmen inside his own car. The student, meanwhile, was scrubbing the windows of his suv. Why? Well, he had a bunch of, um, phallic symbols on the side of it, along with "i Heart C*ock." HAHAHA. I remember my friends tagging my car with shoe polish in highschool. It was more like "CC Loves Sophmores" or something dumb. I can just picture the cop, "Uh Son, do you love c*ck?" "no sir, it's.. my friend.." "Get out and clean it off." HAHAHA.
One great thing about yesterday's run was the weather. Sunny, and shorts and t-shirt. Although, i haven't been running much outside, so my knees are stiff today. Tomorrow's long run will be a challenge as the temps are far from shorts weather.

i broke up today's bike workout- 90 min in the am and 90 when I get home from work. I overselpt my alarm and didnt have time to do it all before leaving for work. Ah, the joys of working 60 hr weeks. :)

No News is Good News

Well, last week was a recovery week, so, I didn't really have much to talk about. And I use the term recovery losely- I really wasn't spot on my workouts, which made Monday rather painful (swim, bike, yoga).

In the time since my last post, however, I did have a night out with the girls (Chrissy and Smashley), and enjoyed some awesome homemade fondue for Valentine's Day with the Husband.

Wii Fit WHAT?

If you're not over the age of 60, I have decided that you should not use a Wii Fit as your source of exercise. Ya, ya, I know. "It's a great way to get started," "Not everyone can run," "I don't have money for a gym membership," "I get bored working out."

Bullshit. You're lazy, and want to have some type of "game" to make working out "fun." Guess what, it's not supposed to be FUN. Working out. Gee, what's the root of the term? Oh, I know: WORK. Fitness is fun purely by the end goal. To be fit, lean, and healthy.

I applaud those "Active Older Adults" (a term used here at work), for using their Wii Fits. Those AOA's like my in-laws. My father-in-law has had a stroke, a heart attack and is in his mid 60's. He GETS something out of his Wii fit, as it's used as a rehab tool. But, one more thing- he also has a Gazelle in his house which gets as much use.

Back to my original paragraph: All of the excuses people have for why a Wii Fit is better than traditional excercises just shows me how the American/ Western cultures are placing true health as a lower priority to the "get-fit-quick" schemes. Even the FDA approved Ali. So, if people would rather take a pill that makes them shart themselves and "workout" using a video GAME, so be it. I on the other hand, will work on eating better and persuing a healthy lifestyle.

Even Laura Croft didn't get her curves by playing video games.



ps
You're phucking kidding me, right? Ya, this is definitely a "work out."

Passing the Info Along

The Kansas City Blazers Swim Team is in search of an up-and-coming coach to, among other things, assist Head Coach Pete Malone with deck coaching of the Elite group. The candidate should have one to two years of coaching experience and be willing to be directed within the existing program. This is a unique opportunity to work for one of the nation's premiere clubs, gather experience and learn from one of our country's most renowned coaches, and work together with a tremendous staff.

Duties are to include, but are not limited to:

Deck coaching of the Elite group – swimmers aged 14 and above focusing on competition at the sectional level and beyond. Up to 9 workouts per week in the morning and afternoon.

Deck coaching of the Kansas City Blazers Masters team three to four times per week under the direction of Head Masters Coach Derek Shipp.

Communication link to all families and athletes in the Elite group.

Various data gathering and reporting as it relates to the Elite group athletes.


The compensation for this position will be $24,000-$25,000/yr with allowances of $50/month for cell phone, $50/month for fuel, and $200/month reimbursement for health insurance or tuition reimbursement. This position is classified as seasonal full time and is not intended to grow into a regular full-time position. This is an excellent opportunity for a candidate that is looking to grow into full time coaching and is continuing their education. Candidates must possess excellent communication skills as well as the ability and willingness to adapt their methods in order to work within the framework of an established club. Proficiency in Hy-Tek software is a must. Advanced working knowledge of spreadsheet and database software is preferred. HTML and web editing experience is a plus.

The opening is expected to be filled by early March 2009 with employment to begin no later than April 1. Candidates should send resume of qualifications and references to Lead Administrative and Elite Coach Scott Bliss at scott.bliss@jocogov.org or mail them to Scott Bliss / 6501 Antioch Rd / Shawnee Mission, Kansas / 66202

The G-Spot

No, you dirty birdies! I'm talking about Gorilla Multisport!! Coach Lady, et al., have revamped their website! it looks awesome. Not only is the website new and improved, but Gorilla Multisport Coaching, now has THREE affiliates, ok well, four if you count the original:
Gorilla Multisport Coaching - Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
Gorilla Multisport Performance - Oceanside, CA
Gorilla Multisport AZ - Mesa, AZ
Gorilla Multisport SoCal - Carlsbad, CA

Oh, and check it out, I also got myself me own profile! whoo hoo. :)

The Weekend Report with Courtney S.

I can't remember if I mentioned it or not, but Zeus Goose the Cane Corso pup has cherry eye. Joy. Friday after work I took the little guy in to get checked out. After we returned from the vet, I got myself dressed and made my way out the door for a non-iPod, listen to the footsteps and falling snow/sleet only run of four miles. I know, I know, four miles ain't shiznit. But, to me, it really was. At a frigid 25 degrees and wind gusts of 25 mh, I was a bit, um, chilly. I made it back to the house not long after sundown, but was I was nearing my street on that particular patch of street lampless darkness, I remembered a run in which it hit me: I was going to finish Ironman Florida in the dark. I was thinking that maybe I would finish Redman in the daylight, but with a sunset of 7:30pm, I would have to finish at exactly 12hrs, about 30min faster than my goal time. So, maybe there will still be some trails of light on the horizon.

Saturday morning I went to work and taught some swim lessons. Aahh, swim lessons. Nothing like my bright and shinny self at 9am on a Saturday teaching nine 3-5year olds how to put their faces in the water. Actually, the kids aren't that bad (it's the parents.. err. wait..). Once I made it home I threw my leg over the bike and got to pedaling. In my kitchen. I set the trainer up in the kitchen so I could keep and eye on the dogs (and the dog's eyes). Also, some friends of the Husband were at the house laying the slate tile in the fancy-schmancy master bathroom. Be jealous. It's been since August of 2006 that the shower was last functional. My ride was set for two hours, however, after an hour and twenty minutes, I found myself at the vet yet again, to pick up more medication before they closed. I planned to get back on the saddle when I made it home, yet housework was piling up, and I made the executive decision that sometimes house priorities need to come before training. Gasp!

I hung out with Alygator in the afternoon, doing a whole lot of nothing. We tried the new sushi bar in town, which, to our surprise also has 4 hibachi grills as well. The sushi was excellent and after a mere two glasses of white, we called it a night. I feel asleep with the dogs on the couch watching Pineapple Express.

Sunday morning we planned to run early and be done with it. However, Alygator FINALLY set up a Facebook account so we took the majority of the morning for her to explore her new found world of Social Networking Websites. About 3:00 I said enough and got dressed. The temps were hovering around the 19 degree mark, but with less wind, the five miles were not only warmer than Friday's but, dare I say it, FUN. I ran with the iPod this time- after I dug through three purses and two workout bags to find it. These runs were far from fast, but the snowflakes on both trips were fun. Also, it's nice to have the path only to yourself. I never saw another runner Friday, and Sunday my only company was Alyson. Alyson, by the way, made Sunday her farthest run EVER. I remember how exciting those are. Long runs. Well, long enough.

This morning I found myself in the middle of a main set consisting of 10 x 200's build. Yes, 10 x TWO HUNDRED YARDS. My arms are tired but the gradual increase in yardage is good for me, and, well, makes me happy if nothing else.

There's KMA spin class tonight, however, Coach Lady has me to ride only an hr with a lower HR than what the Class workout is, so I'll be doing this in the kitchen too. Then I'll finally get to snuggle up to the husband- he spent the weekend working in Houston at supercross- and drink a glass of wine, which, will ultimately be my night cap. Rest day tomorrow, I'm really looking forward to it.