July 3, 2019

"I think I once spent 18 hours sitting on the couch eating potato chips."

Top-rated comment on "What’s it like to run 90 miles around the Beltway on the hottest day of the year? ‘Terrible.’" (WaPo)("Michael Wardian was sitting in traffic on I-495 20 years ago when a thought crossed his mind... 'Wow, I could run to the office faster than sitting in this traffic... And then I started thinking I could probably run around the entire Beltway'... On Saturday, Wardian... ran a nearly 90-mile loop around the Capital Beltway...").

40 comments:

Ignatius Acton Chesterton OCD said...

Did anyone GoFundHim?

Darrell said...

Now do it again.

rhhardin said...

There's a very skinny girl who's always out running in a tiny bikini on one of the roads I commute on. As the summer wears on she gets tanner and tanner, to a really deep tan. It's been happening for a few years. I'd guess she runs 5-10 miles from the span of places I've seen her. Hot weather or not.

She's very light in weight so maybe her knees will survive the pounding.

We always do an acknowledgement wave since it's been going on so long. I don't know anything else about her.

Darrell said...

There's a very skinny girl who's always out running in a tiny bikini on one of the roads I commute on

Would it kill you to shoot that in 4K and post the videos?

rehajm said...

60fps please

Heartless Aztec said...

The daughter drives the Capitol Beltway way daily. It's her penance for moving so far away from her Daddy.

Tank said...

It is tropical out this AM in NC. Tank will be mowing the lawn later. it will seem like 90 miles and 18 hours (actually, it takes one hour; but I'll do lots of cool downs and it will take me two hours to do one hour of mowing).

I'm Full of Soup said...

I got winded just reading that story about his running mania.

Fernandinande said...

He's a vegetarian.

;-()

I'm Full of Soup said...

"Would it kill you to shoot that in 4K and post the videos?"

I'm betting Hardin tends to be cycling just a tad behind her.

Clyde said...

I'm glad to live in a country where people are free to run 90 miles if they want to, and not have to run 90 miles if they don't want to. At least, for now.

dustbunny said...

I thought this was about the scene in Office Space where Ron Livingston was stuck in traffic watching an old man with a walker moving faster than the cars.

traditionalguy said...

Nike pretends they invented running shoes but all they did was market them. We had them pre Nike.

Ralph L said...

One of my mother's friends was such a nervous driver, that after missing her Beltway exit, she drove all the way around instead of doubling back.

stevew said...

That's pretty cool. Good for him.

Personally, I hate running, by itself. But I've been running in 3 or 4 5k races per year now for about 10 years. Started because it was something to do with my adult son and daughter - they enjoy running. I usually 'train' for two weeks leading up to the race, which is really just getting my legs and lungs acclimated to running. I stop a regular running regimen after completing the race. I should note too that the races I enter and complete ALL include a couple of 'free' locally brewed beers. And I get to hang with my kids - well, at the start and after the finish of the race, I can't keep up with them while running.

Howard said...

www.bostonhash

If you are a drinker with a running problem

Big Mike said...

Okay, Wardian, now do I-270 from Legion Bridge to Frederick during rush hour.

Ralph L said...

The last summer I visited in Alexandria, it was 100 degrees during the day, but then it fell all the way to 90 around midnight. The dew point was probably 80.

Some Pentagon officers run along the river at lunch hour. You can tell they're Marines by the red shorts. I hope they don't have their fingers near any buttons.

Big Mike said...

I drove the Beltway for years. It was no fun a quarter century ago; and it gets worse daily.

Birches said...

Just finished 5 miles. Finished two marathons. Will never be an Ulta person.

Birches said...

Also, I'm super annoyed. I'm certain I haven't clicked on WaPo for at least a month and they're saying I've reached my article limit.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Zulu warriors used to do this kind of thing routinely. Barefoot. Of course, they didn’t spend their childhoods eating Ho-Hos and watching reruns of Gilligan’s Island.

The Godfather said...

I’m visiting DC, where I used to live. The traffic has reached LA-bad. Before long, everyone’s going to have to hoof it.

wildswan said...

I used to live near DC just inside the beltway and walked home from school most days and I'm amazed that anyone could do this run - or even think of it without coming over faint. With a potato-chip-filled hand and from the couch, I salute you, sir.

narciso said...

You wont be interested further;



https://www.washingtonpost.com/

tommyesq said...

Also, I'm super annoyed. I'm certain I haven't clicked on WaPo for at least a month and they're saying I've reached my article limit.

Everyone's internal limit for WaPo articles should be zero per month....

rcocean said...

Well that's nice. So, what did running 90 miles accomplish?

Mr. Forward said...

I used to run on the hottest day of the year and ski on the coldest. Every other day the weather was better.

rcocean said...

In terms of your health, its more important to eat right and maintain the correct weight than run. In any case, the health benefits of running decline drastically after you reach the 30 minute mark. More isn't better.

rcocean said...

Friends of mine went on a two day hike in Death Valley when it was 110. Lesson Learned: It was hot. This kind of stunts always sound better beforehand.

MadisonMan said...

"On the hottest day of the year"

Why does the Post think it won't be any hotter in August?

bleh said...

Did he run ON the Beltway? Is that even allowed?

Impudent Warwick said...

"I used to run on the hottest day of the year and ski on the coldest."

If you come to L.A. during the winter, you can run on the beach one day and ski in the mountains the next, and it will be 60 degrees both times.

Ralph L said...

it will be 60 degrees both times

And the H2O will be 30 degrees both places. The salt keeps the ocean liquid.

Fernandinande said...

You wont be interested further;

Indeed. I looked him up on Runner's World.

Yancey Ward said...

For dustbunny:

Link

Yancey Ward said...

I used to run 6.5 miles every other day when I lived in Connecticut. I could usually get through every Summer without having to do the run indoors on a treadmill because of excessive heat- my limit was about 90 F. I could run in heat higher than that, but I would feel ill afterwards for several hours. I would also run in the Winter unless the temps fell below 20 F- that meant I usually had to go indoors around 5-6 times each Winter.

When I moved down here to Oak Ridge, TN, I found I could run all Winter long, but the Summers were impractical unless I wanted to get up at 7 a.m. and run in the morning, which I didn't want to do. In any case, I gave up the running altogether at age 47 to make sure my knees didn't start causing me problems, and took up less impactful cardio. I still miss running- I enjoyed doing it a lot- for me it was a big endorphin rush.

mikee said...

C.E.Refulgent: 1965's movie, The Naked Prey, is a fine movie about running. For one's life.
I find it interestingly non-racist, as it depicts both the colonial and native characters behaving not as movie stereotypes but as people of their civilizations.

Freeman Hunt said...

I have a couple friends who run ultras. I don't think they would pick this route. Glad the guy enjoyed it.

William said...

This made me think of "The Swimmer" by John Cheever (https://loa-shared.s3.amazonaws.com/static/pdf/Cheever_Swimmer.pdf), particularly the movie with Burt Lancaster.