I’ve been slacking on my Friday Fitness posts. Partly because they’re pretty time consuming, partly because I’m too busy enjoying my Fridays to sit down and write a post. That will probably change pretty soon since I’ll be sitting a whole lot more when school starts.

On a cheerier note, happy Labor Day long weekend, everyone! I hope you’re all at the beach, attending a clambake, wearing your best summer whites right now.

• I’m going to start a group called, “PTs Against the Unnecessary Use of Cortisone Shots“.
• Find out how Andrew Dixon transformed his body (it’s not what you think).

Before and After.
(Image courtesy of Andrew Dixon and Huffington Post)

• Performing squats to a depth of 90 degrees of knee flexion (between the calf & hamstring) was found to be more beneficial for runners than a 45-degree squat.
• Then again, you can do a 7-minute circuit 2-3 times and gain the same effect (so these guys say).*
• In my opinion, the well-documented, numerous benefits outweigh the possible side-effects found in lab rats. For example, lowering cholesterol.
• And CONSISTENT exercise is the key to getting a better night’s sleep.
• Nick Symmonds wrote a diary on his way to and thru the World Championships. Read along for interesting insight into the world of a professional runner.
• Wanna run in Amsterdam, courtesy of Mizuono? Apply here.
• If stateside is your jam, here are the 10 best Fall races.

I love to run in the Fall!

• I will be attempting to make my own energy “gels” this weekend. I just can’t find one pre-made that doesn’t taste like liquid candy. Yuck.
• A fascinating article on why we love certain doctors and not others.
• GB and Aleah have started blogs. You should follow them: GB for all things sweaty in NYC, Aleah for the best jams to pump you up.

My buddies.
(Images shamelessly stolen from their blogs)

• We’re not friends, but I’m a Usain Bolt fan and this photo is so awesome!
• Check out what Meb will be wearing on Marathon Sunday in NYC…
• …but this is ING’s last year as the premier sponsor. Up next: BMW?
• Maybe BMW will entice more charity participants. Those numbers are waaaaaay down.

In a totally unrelated category, you can support a seriously awesome company that makes undergarments for ostomates, Awestomy!. It’s really hard to find the right apparel to support an ostomy and I encourage those of you who followed my 5-month ostomy journey to consider supporting their Kickstarter campaign. I did!

Everyone wants to feel good about how they look, even with and ostomy!

Phew! Friday Fitness News dump done! Thanks for sticking with me. That’s a whole lot of randomness in one post.

Happy Labor Day weekend, y’all. Anyone racing this weekend? Any news I missed? I’m gonna go get new school supplies for the big day on Tuesday. See y’all in the next school year!

Now go out and run.

*For the record, this is actually very similar to the type of strength training I do at Refine Method and I have found it to be enormously complimentary to my running.