Friday, January 30, 2009

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Ugly commute

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Thought for a Saturday: "wasted" miles

Steve Chopper just posted an interesting question over at Runcast.tv.  He asks "what do you find annoying about running?"  Here's my thought. 

The concept of "wasted miles". I've read this term more than once and heard it discussed as well and it bothers me. Unless kept in the appropriate context, professing the idea that any running miles are wasted is at best misleading and at worst, arrogant. All runners should keep in mind how many people in this world would love to run but will never be able to.

The ability to run at all is a gift; a precious gift indeed. And it should be fun, too.

For elite athletes, professionals and the like, and for the hyper-competitive, I understand the concept; when you are trying to squeeze every possible gain from your limited training time in order to achieve a very specific goal, I get it. But the vast majority of us are middle of the pack weekend warriors, juggling family obligations, commitments, other hobbies, and running. We train for races, share our experiences, and live better lives because of the incredible gift of running. We shouldn't ever take ourselves too seriously, because life is too short to stress ourselves out wondering if we just ran a "wasted" mile. Every now and then I leave the Garmin at home and go for a run just for the fun of it. I highly recommend it.

God help me if I ever get to the point that my training is so scripted that I ever truly believe that I have wasted my time by running.

Friday, January 23, 2009

A short week

I didn't get in all the runs I had planned for this week due to some flu like symptoms I've been enjoying.  I ran anyway on Thursday but I'm not sure that did me a lot of good based on how I'm feeling today.  I'm glad the weekend is here so I can rest up and get better.  The big development this week is my podcast is now up on itunes. I must admit that if I didn't have Nigel's help I would have been loster than last years easter egg.  His guide and tips available on his website are great.  I'm using Audacity for editing and it took awhile to get a handle on that but I'm making progress.  I don't think that with everything else going on in my life that I will be able to do more than one episode every two weeks.  Between a full time job, pursuing an education in boat design, running, and spending quality time with my wife there isn't a whole lot left.  I'm also sure, though, that the next episode won't take as long in "post production".

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

It's a good day to be alive

but I wish my throat didn't hurt and I didn't have that congested "in the tunnel" feeling.  No pt for me today but will instead look to tomorrow.  I'm glad to have my podcast up and running.  This first introductory episode was all over the map as I rambled a bit.  I expect I'll go on tangents every now and then but that's alright.  I will have a plan for each episode for what I will talk about but it will likely be a plan to deviate from.  My overall goal for the podcast is to be involved with the running community at large; to participate in a way that gives back to and engages in the conversation made possible in this transparent electronic age.  I think that primarily it will serve as a diary in the same way as this blog, just in a different format.  

Monday, January 19, 2009

we have a winnah!!

Well that sure didn't take long.  My good friend Sean out in Colorado correctly identified the inaugural "movie quote" contest from RUN episode 1.  The movie is "Outlaw Josey Wales" and the character who said the quote was the river ferry boat operator.  Sean is an avid cyclist and hard corps mountain bike rider.  You can check out his new blog here.  Congrats Sean!

first podcast is up

Well my first podcast episode is up on podbean and I will try to get it into Itunes as well.  It can be found here
In this episode I'm basically just introducing myself and talking a bit about my running background and what some of my future plans are.  I have some work to do on getting my rig right to reduce some of the ambient noises, so please bear with me as I work on that.
Any feedback is of course welcome and you can email me at runpodcast@gmail.com with any comments. 
the music is by Nick Murray and can be found at http://music.podshow.com

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Another day, another run

I got passed by a blind woman on my run today.  She and her guide went by me with a nice "good morning!" and it looked to me like they were going a long way.  They both had fuel belts on and both had very efficient looking strides.  I felt privileged to see them.
I also recorded some on the run, trying out my new digital recorder and mike.  I'm not very pleased with the quality of the audio and think I may need to put a larger piece of foam around the mike.  There is a bit of wind noise present and some other spurious sounds that I would like to avoid.  We'll see how it comes together when I finish editing in Audacity.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

When will summer get here?

Of course it is supposed to be cold.  It's January.  Be that as it may I am really looking forward to summer.  I got very excited the other day on my commute home because as the subway car I was riding came out from underground near Reagan National airport the sun was still over the horizon!  That means the "dark ages" are over and summer, warm weather, and boating can't be far behind!
I got my new digital recorder and mike in the mail yesterday and am excited to try them out.  I need to get a little piece of foam for the mike and I should be ready to record on the run.  I downloaded the mac version of audacity and will begin to play around with it.  All I really have left to do is get a hosting site set up and I think I will use podbean for that.  Once that's done I'll be ready to start podcasting.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

The Extra Mile

I really enjoy The Extra Mile podcast.  Hearing from other runners about their experiences is such a huge motivator.  Episode 34 just came out and I was able to listen to it on the way to work this AM.  What struck me about this episode most was Gordon who left a couple voice messages as he was running the Walt Disney World marathon.  This was his first marathon and the raw unfiltered emotion that came through right at the end of the podcast was so genuine and so heartfelt it ran a chill down my spine.  Congratulations to Gordon and the rest of the WDW runners!
The other highlight for me from this podcast was Kevin's mini profile of Krister from the Running the Narrow Path podcast.  Kevin remarked about how far Krister has come with his command of the English language.  It's really quite good, I must say.  I noticed he said "um" or "uh" or "you know" or my favorite "I was like" exactly zero times.  Thanks to Kevin I'll now be subscribing to Krister's podcast.
I did some intervals today along the Potomac by the Memorial bridge which felt good in a weird twisted sort of way and then after I got home kept up with my 200 sit up challenge program.

Intervals along the Potomac

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

The train to Podcastville is leaving the station

Today I got a step closer to launching a podcast.  I ordered a digital recorder and a microphone and they should be here Friday.  Next I need the software to edit and a site to host it.  I've made use of a couple of great sources for helpful info, namely the forum at runningpodcasts.org as well as Nigel's great new website for podcasting tips. Thanks Nigel!  But wait, there's more! Act now and receive FREE Nigel's new e-book about how to podcast!  Armed with this kind of information I'm sure I'll be up and running soon.  

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Thought for a Saturday

I was going to sign up for the Cherry Blossom ten miler in Washington DC, but I was too late. In fact, the race filled up in three or four hours.  Think about that for a moment.  In a couple hours, 12,000 people signed up online for the event.  Holy cow!  I've been thinking that over for awhile and it helped me sort out another internal discussion I've been having.  I and others have mused out loud about whether or not to start a blog or a podcast, and for some of us, our collective voice has said in one way or another, why bother?  There are so many other very good blogs, podcasts and other vehicles out there that describe runners' activities, thoughts, plans, goals, and experiences.  My "A-hah!" moment came when I realized that isn't the point. What if somebody thought about signing up for a race and then said 'why bother? there are already lots of others doing it'.  Ridiculous, right?  So the real reason, the real point of blogging or podcasting, is to be involved and to contribute.  To experience, to share, to learn, and maybe even to teach.  Everybody has something to contribute, and everybody's participation is important.  That's what a community, in our case a community of runners, is all about.

Friday, January 9, 2009

rest day

Since I had to drive roughly 12 hrs of the last 20, this'll be my rest and stretch day

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Rainy day in DC

We didn't get the wintry mix today which was a relief.  I take the metro to work but my wife has to drive a bit of the beltway on her commute, so I'm very glad there wasn't any icy road buffoonery going on.  I got a good run in during lunch along the Potomac.  I ran North along the Mt Vernon Trail past Roosevelt Island a ways and back.  It rained steadily and was a bit cool at 34 deg F.  I'm pleased to report my new Mountain Hardware jacket performed perfectly and kept my core warm and dry.  I should put together a "stuff I use and believe in" list and put it in a widget; this jacket would certainly be on the list.

Monday, January 5, 2009

wintry mix!

The Northern VA area is calling for a possible wintry mix tomorrow.  With any luck, it will be absolutely nothing like what happened last year about this time, namely the formation of a sheet of ice over the DC area which left people stranded for up to 8(!) hours on stretches of 395 and other parts of the beltway.  It really caught VDOT with their pants down and they caught a great deal of flack for not having pre-salted the roads.  Of course now they put salt down if ice is mentioned at all by the weather folks, so that's good.  No workout today save for a stretching routine; so pretty much a rest day.  Tomorrow I'll head out for a run during lunch at work.

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Friday, January 2, 2009

A stone bridge and more cold birds

From my run today

There are birds in the distance. Do they know their feet are cold? Do they care? Or are they just uncannily stoic?

Thursday, January 1, 2009

2009!

Where did 2008 go?  we've had a busy year punctuated by a week of cross country travel to see family over the holidays.  After we got back from Prairie City OR on 28 Dec I had a quick turnaround and headed to Boston on the 29th to see the rest of the family.  As hectic as the travel was I feel grateful to have been able to see everyone.  Along the way I had some great runs and was able to put some new clothes to some pretty severe tests thanks to cold, wind, snow an slush.  There is something very satisfying about heading out in to miserable conditions but being warm and dry at the same time.  Something very gratifying...

Jeff Galloway just posted to his blog on the satisfaction and reward of completing a marathon. Good words.  I was thinking on a recent run about another reason why running is so personally satisfying.  Whether it be finishing a race or just a challenging training run, part of the reason why it is so satisfying is because it is a pure, refreshing and positive manifestation of responsibility and personal accountability.  What do I mean by that?  And why is it so special, rare even, to feel that way?  It is in part because today's dumbed down, courage lacking society would have us believe that we are not truly responsible for our actions (person sues McDonald's for burning their mouth with hot coffee and wins) and that there really is no accountability for bad, selfish, greedy, undisciplined, and reckless decisions that adversely effect countless other people. (government bailout of mortgage and auto industry).  There are countless other examples of the weakening personal responsibility and eroded sense of self determination permeating our collective conscience and social fabric. (eat all you want and lose weight as long as you take our pill!)

Enter the runner going out for a run.  What purer way is their to demonstrate that we are, in fact, responsible for the decisions we make?  That anything worthwhile takes hard work and personal accountability? We run, we get in shape.  Voila.  So, in a pure athletic sense there is reward in finishing a marathon or any other challenging run just for the thrill of the accomplishment.  But it is my sense that there is more to it than that.  We work hard at a goal and achieve or fail, but either way we give it our best.  We refresh ourselves knowing that the mind numbing, constant hammering we get from a society that tells us expecting immediate gratification is OK and that we can be as ignorant as we please because somebody will bail us out is a silly, selfish, and unconscionable way to live.