Coaches know that a parent publicly scolding his kid after a race will not help the athlete perform better.

In those long, lonely miles you put in during the off-season, and in those knife-in-the-gut repetitions and hill repeats that buckly your knees - at that moment in almost every race when you ask yourself how much you're willing to hurt to catch one more runner - you can draw strength and inspiration from your running mates.

Without ice cream there would be darkness and chaos.

Eventually, competition and adventure wane, and I enter my ibuprofen phase. Tweaky hamstrings and achy knees restrict mileage, but I continue running for health, sanity, and the ritual of a Sunday trail run with like-minded buddies. We discuss the nagging injuries that bedevil us, and remember the good old days when we were kings.

Coaches know that a parent publicly scolding his kid after a race will not help the athlete perform better.

You entered a marathon with hills? You idiot.

I know runners who have suffered a tick bite and ended up with Lyme disease. Ill take an angry moose any day.