Month: May 2007

links for 2007-05-11

Not another one…

A long-time friend’s kid – about the same age as my youngest – got diagnosed with cancer this week. It’s a type and a prognosis where the kid’s likely to live, but it’s going to be a tough 18 months or so for the family.

This type of stuff ought not happen.

There’s not much I can do about it – they’re across the country. So, I’ll pray, and stick a couple of bucks in the Dana Farber can when they pass it around the movie theatre.

Fsck.

There are not many things that can wrench me from sleep in a cold sweat, and not much that can flap me. Generally, I can rationalize and relax as soon as I’m sure that nobody’s in immediate danger. But the thought that something like this could happen to one of MY kids – stops me cold.

Now that I’ve brought everybody down, I had a good run today. Jamestown, 4+ miles, went and got wet in the North Atlantic at the end. The ocean was painfully cold.With the arrival of spring, the fog’s back in Newport. It’s tough to comprehend exactly how much of an elemental force the fog can be, but the combination we’ve got now with extremely cold water and warm, humid air – watching the fog roll up and down the bay is incredible. It’s like a living organism, changing from minute to minute.

It was good to strap on the sneaks and iPod and just not think for a while. To feel the water suck the warmth out of my legs at the end of the day.

Forgotten Literature

I’ve been following the RSS feed of Project Gutenberg for a while. Don’t read much of what comes across, but I’ve been “thumbing” through any old magazine that comes across. Today, they published an old issue of the Atlantic Monthly, featuring a tale of alien abduction:

 After supper my captor led me to a separate arbor, and pointed to a bed of soft, white straw, upon which I immediately stretched myself, and he retired. Presently I arose and attempted to go out, but found that he had fastened the door on the outside. It was not pleasant to find myself a prisoner; but that subject was instantly driven from my mind as I looked out through the lattice and saw Sagittarius, with no signs of the planet Mars. I returned to my straw; and, after the excitement of the day had subsided, I fell asleep and slept until after sunrise. 

No Agent Scully, though.

links for 2007-05-09

So, heat might suck, but it’s why we’re on top of the food chain.

This article’s absolutely fascinating. Not only are we evolved to run, but we’re evolved to run in crappy conditions. What great inspiration for summer

All together, Lieberman said, these adaptations allowed us to relentlessly pursue game in the hottest part of the day when most animals rest. Lieberman said humans likely practiced persistence hunting, chasing a game animal during the heat of the day, making it run faster than it could maintain, tracking and flushing it if it tried to rest, and repeating the process until the animal literally overheated and collapsed.

Humans hot, sweaty, natural-born runners

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Belated Bloggeversary

So, I completely missed my annual chance at narcissism – 21 April marked three years of my blogging about not running nearly as often as I should.

What have I learned in that time?
1) Wet cotton tees and humid days make bloody nipples
2) Running and eating crap keep you fat
3) It’s a lot easier to keep running when you know that people are checking up on you
4) There are fewer freaks on the internet than we’ve been lead to believe

Three years ago, I was starting out at about 190 lbs, where I’d been for about three years. I’ve been between 170 and 175 for the last 30 months, more or less. Back then, three miles was a stretch. Now, it’s a minimum. I’m two marathons, a handful of tris, and a bunch of shorter races to the better.

And a whole lot of inspiration from wonderful folks around the world.

You guys rock.

**** Added ****

Dave, in the comments, mentions I’m not looking for freaks in the right places.  I suppose that I wasn’t specific enough – the RBF is full of running freaks. Maybe “creeps” would have been a better word?

I love you freaks.

Pshew

So, I really am starting to think that my whole foot trouble started when I switched to the Nike Air Zoom Moire shoes last summer. Since they were designed with a ton of cushion in the heel, and since I was picking up mileage, I let my form get sloppy – rolling heel to toe on each step, reaching forward with my feet instead of turning smooth circles under my body letting the ground drive each stride, etc.

Then, when I shifted back to Asics, shoes that complement good form instead of forgive bad form, the little bits got magnified. To top it off, I started running on the treadmill more, which forgives bad form even more than the Nikes do, and increased my mileage, leading to injury.

It recurred again in March, ’cause I wasn’t thinking about form.

This month, the foot pain hasn’t been there, but good, solid muscle soreness has. The kind that’s deep in the tissue, not right at the joint or ligament. The kind that gets better with a little bit of rubbing from a patient spouse. Hurts so good…

I’d dropped Jon Klink an email yesterday letting him know that I expected to be stuck in a phone conference over the lunchtime run, and that he ought to not expect me to run today. So, when to my surprise, the agenda passed exactly as planned and noone lead the conversation down any ratholes, and we were done in 45 minutes instead of the two hours I’d planned on.

Back at the desk, I called Jonny K, expecting to get nothing. He picked up.

“Hey, you wanna go?” I asked.

“Man, I just ordered a sandwich” he said.

“OK, well,” I began somewhat relieved that I could get a jump on my next task.

“Ah, screw it, let’s go”.

So we went.

Today started off grey, a global hangover after the worker’s holiday (By the way, I found a really funny but completely blue riff on “Workers of the World Unite!” that is totally inappropriate for a somewhat toned-down site like this). But about a mile in, the clouds just kind of evaporated, the sun came out, and WOW.

We opted for 4 again, and I was feeling great until the first section of heading up the hill back to the office. Dunno why, but I didn’t have it in my legs today, so I walked about a quarter mile. Jon kept running. It all came out in the wall, ’cause I caught him before the spot we usually knock it off.

So, that’s pretty much it. I’ve been stretching, but I think the big thing keeping me healthy is looking at form. I won’t pretend to offer any advice, but for me, what’s worked is concentrating on quick turnover, not being able to see my toes as I hit the ground, and landing on the ball of my foot.

Why I am a luckier man than you

Amigos y amigas, I hate to break it to you, but I lead a charmed life. New England’s a forgotten treasure, my job is out-freakin’-standing and challenging, and, most importantly, my wife is absolutely amazing.

I’ve got a confession to make – I blew off biking this afternoon, as work somewhat interfered. But, I did spend some quality time watching a trout stream on the way home. There’s something mesmerizing about a trout stream in the spring – water in constant motion, mayflies hatching, and the subtle, nearly imperceptible rings left from the rise.

The spot I stopped was at a dam that dated to the mid-1700s, flanked by the foundations of two abandoned mills. The water flowing over the dam was tea-colored, stained with the tannin of acres of fallen leaves, clear and cold. Amazing. I dusted off my fly rod this evening.

Anyway, I made it home slightly earlier than normal. Supper was good, and as we were finishing up, Missy reminded me that Tuesday’s a great night to swim. (See how lucky I am?)

So, I tucked the kids in and headed to the Y.

Next to no-one in the pool. 1,000 yards – first time I’ve hit four digits in over a year (I think). Swimming felt good. I can’t quite pin it down, but maybe it’s a side-effect of riding the mountain bike and working the upper body?

Little snack of dried berries and chocolate chips when I got home, and time to hit the rack.

Sore

But the good type of sore – this is definately “Use” that I’m feeling in my calves instead of ligament related. 70 and beautiful here today, and the road bike’s on the roof of the new Jetta.

I am a lucky man.