Before you head out for your weekend, check out some of this week's best posts from the Cool Running and Active communities:

•     So why did we start running?

” Why did you start running? Do you come from a long line of runners? Nothing else to do and its better then watching tv? Perhaps you're a criminal and you need to build get-away speed? Seen others do it and you hate to miss out on anything?”

•     Hydration Gear on Long Runs: What to use

” Triathlete training for her first marathon and would like any advice on hydration gear during long training runs: have a 2-bottle hydration belt, but those little curved bottles really don't hold much.”

•     Endurance build up?

“ I've been running for 3 months now and would like to know why I'm feeling spent so often. Two weeks ago I was able to run 3.5 miles without feeling to spent.”

•     What do you think about when swimming?

” Terry Laughlin's newest article talks about how some people zone out during activity in order to avoid thinking about pain, distance or whatever. He remarks that he once swam 9 miles with Louie, Louie stuck in his head.”

•     Critical Mass Cyclist Assaulted by NYPD

“ I just read an interesting article in the New York Times regarding the investigation against an NYPD police officer in the Critical Mass YouTube video shown below.”

•     Training for ½ Running on Grass

“ I am new to running,(at 48 yrs) as is never run before. I started running (slowly) in May and in July decided to train for a 1/2 in November. I have just done my longest run ever, 5 miles without stopping, using a training schedule I downloaded from RunnersWorld, on Monday I will try for 6.”