Thursday, January 7th - Endurance/Running Day

For info on picture and AMAZING times, see below...

Warm-up:
1 mile jog or 2000m Row for non-runners

WOD:
800m Run *Note new route description below! or 1000m Row for non-runners
25 Med Ball Squat and Toss (with a partner)
Rx Wt: M 1-20lb 2-16lb, W 1-14lb 2-12lb

* The 800m route starts at the dumpster behind the gym. Go to stop sign, turn right. Go to corner of Lime/14th, turn right. Go to corner of Jasmine/14th, turn right. Go to edge of parking lot, turn right. Run to dip bars behind gym.

MALE DISTANCE RUNNERS OF THE DECADE

Male distance runners showed no reverence for world records from 2000-09. Ethiopians and Kenyans were dominant in distance events, winning 12 of the decade's 15 World Championship gold medals in the 5,000-meter, 10,000-meter and marathon events, along with seven of nine Olympic gold medals. Current world records were set, by Ethiopians, in all three events.

5,000 meters. Haile Gebrselassie's 1998 world record of 12:39.36 fared the best of the pre-21st century men's distance records. His mark was only topped once during the past decade, by fellow Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele (12:37.35 in 2004). Bekele also had the decade's second-fastest time (12:40.18) in 2005. Bekele gets the nod as the performer of the decade, with victories at the 2006 World Athletic Final, 2008 Olympics and 2009 World Championships. Bekele also earned a silver medal at the 2004 Olympics and a bronze at the 2003 World Championships. Honorable mentions to Morocco's Hicham El Guerrouj, the 2004 Olympic champion and 2003 World Championship runner-up, along with: Ethiopia's Million Wolde (2000 Olympic gold, 2001 World Championship silver); American Bernard Lagat (2007 World Championship gold, 2009 silver); and Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge (World Championship gold in 2003, plus silvers in the 2007 World Championships and 2008 Olympics).

10,000 meters. Bekele dominated this distance in the '00s, earning gold medals at the 2004-08 Olympics and the 2003-09 World Championships. As in the 5,000, Gebrselassie entered the decade with the world record (26:22.75). Bekele, easily the performer of the decade, broke the world mark in 2004 (26:20.31), then improved it again in 2005 (26:17.53). Bekele had the decade's four fastest times. Honorable mentions 2000 Olympic champion Gebrselassie, who also took third and second, respectively, in the 2001 and '03 World Championships. Although he didn't win any major events, Ethiopia's Sileshi Sihine earns an honorable mention after placing second in the 2002 World Junior Championships, the 2004-08 Olympics and the 2005-07 World Championships. He also took third in the 2003 World Championships.

Marathon. Gebrselassie lost two world records in the decade but he gained one, in the marathon. Moroccan-born Khalid Khannouchi began 2000 with the world mark of 2:05:42, set in 1999. Today, that run stands only 19^th on the all-time list, following a decade-long assault. First, Khannouchi improved his record slightly to 2:05:38 in 2002. But in the marathon Race of the Decade, Sammy Korir topped Khannouchi's mark on Sept. 28, 2003. Yet Korir was still one second slower than fellow Kenyan Paul Tergat, who won the Berlin race and set the new world record at 2:04:55. Gebrselassie set his first world mark (2:04:26) in 2007, then improved it to 2:03:59 in Berlin in 2008. While he didn't win a major marathon gold medal, Gebrselassie is the performer of the decade. Honorable mentions to Ethiopia's Gezahegne Abera, who won the 2000 Olympic and 2001 World Championship gold medals, plus: two-time World Champion Jaouad Gharib of Morocco, who also earned an Olympic silver in 2008; Italy's Stefano Baldini (2004 Olympic champ, two-time World Championship runner-up); and 2008 Olympic gold medalist Samuel Wanjiru of Kenya.

Photo: Kenenisa Bekele, the top 5,000- and 10,000-meter runner of the past decade. Michael Steele/Getty Images