{"id":201,"date":"2008-03-12T07:15:53","date_gmt":"2008-03-12T15:15:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/?p=201"},"modified":"2008-03-11T17:19:37","modified_gmt":"2008-03-12T01:19:37","slug":"smogs-impact-on-running","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/smogs-impact-on-running\/","title":{"rendered":"Smog’s Impact on Running"},"content":{"rendered":"

We’ve heard lots about the impact of smog on the environment and that there really is no upside to having smog around. Here in the USA we’ve done a decently good job at beginning to reduce smog – especially in metro areas. We aren’t smog-free by any means but some places are doing better than others.<\/p>\n

By now most people have heard about the Olympic Games in China – and maybe even the fact that China has a lot of pollution due to the high number of cars in areas like Beijing. That’s part of why oil prices keep rising. Good old supply and demand economics (for a simple explanation!) There are a lot of concerns about the Olympic Games being held in China – probably too numerous to mention here.<\/p>\n

Today’s post focuses on the issue of how smog will impact the games. The Washington Post<\/a> is reporting that:<\/p>\n

Fearful of the effects of air pollution on their performance, Olympic athletes are taking extreme measures to prepare for this summer’s Games in Beijing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The article goes on to say that at least 35 countries are planning to house their athletes outside of China or outside of Beijing. Additionally, most athletes will remain outside of the country as long as possible to reduce the impact of the environment on their bodies. The article talks about food concerns and I actually saw somewhere else that the US is shipping its own food for its athletes. Generally, the Olympics are seen as a great boost to the host country’s economy, even with all the expenditures related to construction and hosting the games. If other countries follow suit this may not be as good as China had hoped for their reputation.<\/p>\n

Recent measurements show that on some days the amount of smoke and dust particles in the air exceeds by three to 12 times the maximum deemed safe by the World Health Organization. So while some teams say they are encouraged by the progress, they are preparing for the worst. Jacques Rogge, the head of the International Olympic Committee, has said events could be rescheduled if the air quality does not meet safety standards on a given day.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It is mentioned at the very end of this article that Halie Gebreselassie, was considering changing his running plans, it is actually a fact<\/a>. According to the BBC article, he is going to try to qualify for the 10K and then do whatever is best for his country.\u00c2\u00a0 It could be an interesting few weeks while we watch and see how China handles the intense outside pressure and all of the major concerns.<\/p>\n

[tags] Olympics, China [\/tags]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We’ve heard lots about the impact of smog on the environment and that there really is no upside to having smog around. Here in the USA we’ve done a decently good job at beginning to reduce smog – especially in metro areas. We aren’t smog-free by any means but some places are doing better than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[30,4,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-information","category-olympics"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4iaAv-3f","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":221,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/march-highlights\/","url_meta":{"origin":201,"position":0},"title":"March Highlights","author":"crossn81","date":"April 2, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Wow, Happy April!! Another month down! It is a little weird to celebrate April's coming while shoveling off the sidewalk. But that is the joy of the Upper Midwest I guess! March began with the tragic news that a Wisconsin Marathoner died after finishing the Little Rock Marathon. A few\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Highlights"","block_context":{"text":"Highlights","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/highlights\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":616,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/eco-gyms\/","url_meta":{"origin":201,"position":1},"title":"Eco-Gyms","author":"crossn81","date":"October 14, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"A lot of people talk about changing the environment, ending global warming, and other related issues.\u00a0 But few people take dramatic action to do anything about it.\u00a0 We have joined to masses who use the environmentally friendly lightbulbs and I usually ride the bus or ride my bike to work.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Environment"","block_context":{"text":"Environment","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/environment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Green Microgym","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/09\/25gym2-6501-300x199.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":432,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/true-olympic-spirit\/","url_meta":{"origin":201,"position":2},"title":"True Olympic Spirit","author":"crossn81","date":"August 14, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"So far there has been a lot of great competition in the 29th Olympiad. For me this is the first Olympics where I have seen any controversy or even thought about boycotting the Olympics. Ultimately, after reading comments from both current and former Olympians about the decision I think the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Olympics"","block_context":{"text":"Olympics","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/olympics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Yao Ming & Lin Hao","src":"\/running\/images\/yaolinhao.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1171,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2009\/week-5-half-marathon-training\/","url_meta":{"origin":201,"position":3},"title":"Week 5: Half Marathon Training","author":"crossn81","date":"March 16, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Last Year Last year was week 6 of training. It was a tough week with hills, 4 x 1200's, and 2 x 20 minutes at 10k pace.\u00a0 I joined the USATF's stretching study - which I believe is still ongoing.\u00a0 This week we had some air quality warnings which is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Half Marathon"","block_context":{"text":"Half Marathon","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/half-marathon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=crossinator-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B001CZJBKC","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":494,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/athletes-for-darfur\/","url_meta":{"origin":201,"position":4},"title":"Athletes for Darfur","author":"crossn81","date":"August 27, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"The Olympics are officially over now, so this post may be a little outdated. However, the topic is still worth talking about, at least in my opinion.\u00a0 China had a long list of reasons why it maybe should not have been the host for the Olympics this year, most surrounding\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Charity"","block_context":{"text":"Charity","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/charity\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.savedarfur.org\/page\/-\/TorchRun\/mimages\/images\/SS_dream.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":243,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/olympic-medals-or-olympic-spirit\/","url_meta":{"origin":201,"position":5},"title":"Olympic Medals or Olympic Spirit?","author":"crossn81","date":"May 13, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Do you think it is more important for the US to bring home lots of hardware (medals) from the 2008 Olympics or should we focus on having athletes with character who compete at their physical limits - legally? Vote in the poll at the right or leave a thought in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Olympics"","block_context":{"text":"Olympics","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/olympics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}