I found this website that compiles your race results. Not ones you send in, ones it has found by searching all race results. Some of the results have you living in different states. My Marine Corps Marathon had me living in D.C. for example. If you sign up (free) you can claim the ones that are yours and have all your results in one place. I'd say 90 to 95% of the events I have run were already there.
It is cool, and almost a little creepy, to search your name and find all those race results. Even from a small 5k you ran three years ago. It is called Athlinks. Check out the dossier they have on you.
July 1, 2008
Beautiful
From Liz's Big Ride Across America blog this morning:
"We had been told that this particular segment of the ride was especially scenic. The route did not disappoint. The only challenge was the lack of light in some nooks, where I could see a beautiful scene but not quite capture it inside my digital camera. And the scale is impossible to convey. The hillsides and lakes are massive. You end up just trying to capture just a corner of the fabric and having to try to explain the rest. We watched for moose, and other wildlife along these first 30 miles or so. The air was still and if you made the effort to stop and just listen, it was entrancing. I was very aware of being just a visitor passing through this beautiful landscape that is home to so many creatures and plants."
"We had been told that this particular segment of the ride was especially scenic. The route did not disappoint. The only challenge was the lack of light in some nooks, where I could see a beautiful scene but not quite capture it inside my digital camera. And the scale is impossible to convey. The hillsides and lakes are massive. You end up just trying to capture just a corner of the fabric and having to try to explain the rest. We watched for moose, and other wildlife along these first 30 miles or so. The air was still and if you made the effort to stop and just listen, it was entrancing. I was very aware of being just a visitor passing through this beautiful landscape that is home to so many creatures and plants."
June 30, 2008
Life, the universe and everything
I recently read A Short History of Nearly Everything
by Bill Bryson. I am a fan of Bill Bryson's books (Walk in the Woods, I'm a Stranger Here Myself, etc), but this book was a little different. As the title suggests, it is a book that covers a large array of subjects. While it doesn't cover "nearly everything", it does cover a huge amount of time, from the Big Bang on.
Subjects include astronomy, geology, physics, chemistry, anthropology, and evolution among other things. Although Bryson is no scientist, and there are no new discoveries here, it is an interesting read. Bryson is a great storyteller, and does a decent job of explaining complicated things.
The real strength of the book is the stories about the people behind the discoveries. Breakthroughs often come after years of struggle, sometimes as a byproduct of a different study, still other times in a flash of insight by someone barely associated with the field. The book does a good job of describing the personalities, and the conflicts between them.
There is an interesting quote in the book credited to Alexander von Humboldt: "there are three stages in scientific discovery: first, people deny that it is true; then they deny that it is important; finally they credit the wrong person".
Worth a read.
by Bill Bryson. I am a fan of Bill Bryson's books (Walk in the Woods, I'm a Stranger Here Myself, etc), but this book was a little different. As the title suggests, it is a book that covers a large array of subjects. While it doesn't cover "nearly everything", it does cover a huge amount of time, from the Big Bang on.Subjects include astronomy, geology, physics, chemistry, anthropology, and evolution among other things. Although Bryson is no scientist, and there are no new discoveries here, it is an interesting read. Bryson is a great storyteller, and does a decent job of explaining complicated things.
The real strength of the book is the stories about the people behind the discoveries. Breakthroughs often come after years of struggle, sometimes as a byproduct of a different study, still other times in a flash of insight by someone barely associated with the field. The book does a good job of describing the personalities, and the conflicts between them.
There is an interesting quote in the book credited to Alexander von Humboldt: "there are three stages in scientific discovery: first, people deny that it is true; then they deny that it is important; finally they credit the wrong person".
Worth a read.
Weekly numbers
Last week I finally got back on the bike and in the pool in the same week. The half marathon on Sunday helped bump up my running totals as well.
Running: 22 miles
Biking: 26 miles
Swimming: 1/2 mile
Running: 22 miles
Biking: 26 miles
Swimming: 1/2 mile
June 29, 2008
Seafair Half Marathon
It was a tough day.
The Seafair Half Marathon had a new route this year. The marathon has been around for a few years, and the past routes have run mostly around Bellevue. This year, they renovated the course substantially with it starting in Seattle, running through Kirkland and finishing in a downtown park in Bellevue. This meant that all participants were able to cross Lake Washington on the 520 floating bridge. This opportunity is what hooked us.
If you are not from the Seattle area, you may not have seen a floating bridge before. Lake Washington is quite deep, so a floating bridge is a somewhat novel solution. There are actually two floating bridges across Lake Washington, and the Evergreen Point Floating bridge (520 bridge) is the longest floating bridge in the world. There are wonderful views of the Arboreteum, Lake Washington, Mercer Island, and on a clear day Mount Rainier. This is the first time in 24 years that the bridge has been closed for a race. Again, we were hooked.
We have had unseasonably warm temperatures the past couple of days, and today promised to be a near record breaker. The highs were going to be pushing 90 degrees, and we just aren't seasoned for running in these kind of temps. It was pretty clear that we weren't going to be setting any new PRs, and we were just hoping to enjoy the sights and stay hydrated. With memories of the Chicago Marathon meltdown last fall in our heads, we all wore fuel belts with our own fluids. I decided to carry a camera with me as well, to varying sucess.
The route started by Husky Stadium at the University of Washington. The Seafair Pirates were there to lead us out. We started a bit late, but at 7:15am the Pirates shot off a canon and we were underway. Within about a half mile we were looping onto the freeway. The bridge heads east into the rising sun, and sweat was pouring off my face within a mile. I tried to take it reasonably easy but there was no fighting the weather. Running across the bridge was a great experience, and I tried to capture some shots while I was running, but it was tough to do it justice.
Four miles in we were off the freeway and heading into Bellevue. 84th Ave was wonderfully tree-lined, and a welcome break from the sun. I may have slowed my pace a bit to prolong the respite. The route wandered south along Lake Washington blvd with occasional water views, before turning toward Main St in old Bellevue. The wife was stationed there to cheer us on. She had run into friends from her hometown by chance, so there were a couple unexpected friendly faces to greet us. I was of course very warm and struggling in the heat, but was still doing OK. Then we hit the wall.
The course elevation map looks like this:
Here is the elevation profile my watch produced:
The hill at mile 7 that was a mere bump on the map turned out to be very long and steep. I would say it is the steepest hill I have run up, but in truth there wasn't much running going on. With my heart rate shooting through the roof I walked a good 2/3rds of the hill. My running pace wasn't much better than a walk anyway.
And it was up and down for most of the rest of the course. There was clearly some graphical smoothing on the course elevation chart. Fortunately we were running through neighborhoods at this point, and some wonderful Samaratins were out with their hoses dousing the melting runners at they went by. These folks saved our bacon.
The last three miles took us to downtown Bellevue. The full marathon course split after mile 11. I don't know if I could have made the turn. It was all I could do to run two more miles, and I can't imagine tacking on another 13 on a day like today. At the finish line it was clear a few people cut their marathon short, but fewer than I expected.
There was one more ridiculously steep (walking) hill at mile 12, but the last mile was a glorious downhill to the finish. The finish line was next to a beautiful downtown park, and the wife and friends were cheering us on as we came running down the chute. I finished in 2:07:42, which is about 6 minutes slower than my best, but all I could have asked for today.
It is just so backwards - I go to sunny Huntington Beach California and run in a torrential downpour with 30 mile per hour winds. Today I run in Seattle and bake in the sun.
The Seafair Half Marathon had a new route this year. The marathon has been around for a few years, and the past routes have run mostly around Bellevue. This year, they renovated the course substantially with it starting in Seattle, running through Kirkland and finishing in a downtown park in Bellevue. This meant that all participants were able to cross Lake Washington on the 520 floating bridge. This opportunity is what hooked us.
If you are not from the Seattle area, you may not have seen a floating bridge before. Lake Washington is quite deep, so a floating bridge is a somewhat novel solution. There are actually two floating bridges across Lake Washington, and the Evergreen Point Floating bridge (520 bridge) is the longest floating bridge in the world. There are wonderful views of the Arboreteum, Lake Washington, Mercer Island, and on a clear day Mount Rainier. This is the first time in 24 years that the bridge has been closed for a race. Again, we were hooked.
We have had unseasonably warm temperatures the past couple of days, and today promised to be a near record breaker. The highs were going to be pushing 90 degrees, and we just aren't seasoned for running in these kind of temps. It was pretty clear that we weren't going to be setting any new PRs, and we were just hoping to enjoy the sights and stay hydrated. With memories of the Chicago Marathon meltdown last fall in our heads, we all wore fuel belts with our own fluids. I decided to carry a camera with me as well, to varying sucess.
The route started by Husky Stadium at the University of Washington. The Seafair Pirates were there to lead us out. We started a bit late, but at 7:15am the Pirates shot off a canon and we were underway. Within about a half mile we were looping onto the freeway. The bridge heads east into the rising sun, and sweat was pouring off my face within a mile. I tried to take it reasonably easy but there was no fighting the weather. Running across the bridge was a great experience, and I tried to capture some shots while I was running, but it was tough to do it justice.
Below is one from the Seattle Times
Four miles in we were off the freeway and heading into Bellevue. 84th Ave was wonderfully tree-lined, and a welcome break from the sun. I may have slowed my pace a bit to prolong the respite. The route wandered south along Lake Washington blvd with occasional water views, before turning toward Main St in old Bellevue. The wife was stationed there to cheer us on. She had run into friends from her hometown by chance, so there were a couple unexpected friendly faces to greet us. I was of course very warm and struggling in the heat, but was still doing OK. Then we hit the wall.The course elevation map looks like this:
Here is the elevation profile my watch produced:
The hill at mile 7 that was a mere bump on the map turned out to be very long and steep. I would say it is the steepest hill I have run up, but in truth there wasn't much running going on. With my heart rate shooting through the roof I walked a good 2/3rds of the hill. My running pace wasn't much better than a walk anyway.
And it was up and down for most of the rest of the course. There was clearly some graphical smoothing on the course elevation chart. Fortunately we were running through neighborhoods at this point, and some wonderful Samaratins were out with their hoses dousing the melting runners at they went by. These folks saved our bacon.
The last three miles took us to downtown Bellevue. The full marathon course split after mile 11. I don't know if I could have made the turn. It was all I could do to run two more miles, and I can't imagine tacking on another 13 on a day like today. At the finish line it was clear a few people cut their marathon short, but fewer than I expected.
There was one more ridiculously steep (walking) hill at mile 12, but the last mile was a glorious downhill to the finish. The finish line was next to a beautiful downtown park, and the wife and friends were cheering us on as we came running down the chute. I finished in 2:07:42, which is about 6 minutes slower than my best, but all I could have asked for today.
It is just so backwards - I go to sunny Huntington Beach California and run in a torrential downpour with 30 mile per hour winds. Today I run in Seattle and bake in the sun.
June 27, 2008
One project down
I finally got around to repairing our garden hose connections. Both the hose bibs out front and back were leaking when they were turned on. This meant a bucket underneath to catch the water every time we wanted to water the plants, etc.
In addition to that, the hookup to the sprinkler system out back was also leaking. Somehow the hookup between hose and PCV broke. In the meantime I had to wedge something under the connection to keep it from leaking. Not a great solution. With the leaking hose bib, I also couldn't leave the water on to the sprinkler system, so it wasn't terribly automatic.
So after a few trips to Home Depot to go through the bins of connections to try to visualize how it was all going to come together, I finally found all the right pieces.
A little more permanent backyard solution
Out front for a sprinkler system to be named later
In addition to that, the hookup to the sprinkler system out back was also leaking. Somehow the hookup between hose and PCV broke. In the meantime I had to wedge something under the connection to keep it from leaking. Not a great solution. With the leaking hose bib, I also couldn't leave the water on to the sprinkler system, so it wasn't terribly automatic.
So after a few trips to Home Depot to go through the bins of connections to try to visualize how it was all going to come together, I finally found all the right pieces.
A little more permanent backyard solution
Out front for a sprinkler system to be named laterThe best part was being able to use the crescent wrench I inherited from my father in law. I really had no use for it other than it was cool. I couldn't get the old hose bibs off, and the wrenches and vise grips I had weren't giving me enough leverage. Then I remembered the crescent wrench hanging in the shed.
I put the tape measure out to show you the scale. It is 2 feet long! Almost worth mounting over the fireplace.
I put the tape measure out to show you the scale. It is 2 feet long! Almost worth mounting over the fireplace.June 24, 2008
Survivor party
This past Saturday we had a little blowout to celebrate two of our friends kicking cancer this year. Alyssa found out she had breast cancer in December. She had a double mastectomy, went through chemo treatments, and is now in the reconstruction phase. Tami found out she had a carcinoid tumor in January. Fortunately it was slow growing and she didn't need to have radiation or chemo. Both now have a clean bill of health!
Some friends his past New Years coined the phrase "Everything's Great in 2008". Well it hasn't turned out to be such a great year so far for friends and family. As Sean mentioned in his post yesterday, this is one of those years we will probably want to pack away when it is all over. More bad news came in from two different friends just today. When the slideshow of photos goes by in the future, the happier times will be highlighted (and there has definitely been highlights), but it will be tough to completely forget the struggles of 2008.
It was important to acknowledge and celebrate Alyssa's and Tami's recovery. But of course I forgot my camera.
June 23, 2008
Big Ride Across America
48 days
3,300 miles
Seattle to Washington, DC
June 23 - August 9, 2008
3,300 miles
Seattle to Washington, DC
June 23 - August 9, 2008
They took off this morning. I am jealous. Someone from my wife's work is on the ride this year. She has a blog here. Hopefully she will have a great ride and will be able to post some notes and pictures along the way.
A Big Ride friend of mine lead them out. He is a past Across America rider and it is a tradition for past riders to lead out the new riders. They lead the current riders out of town and stay with them through the first day or two. They answer any questions on the road and in camp. It is a great tradition, and a great community of people. And of course the ride raises money for the American Lung Association.
Someday...
Big Ride Across America
A Big Ride friend of mine lead them out. He is a past Across America rider and it is a tradition for past riders to lead out the new riders. They lead the current riders out of town and stay with them through the first day or two. They answer any questions on the road and in camp. It is a great tradition, and a great community of people. And of course the ride raises money for the American Lung Association.
Someday...
Big Ride Across America
George Carlin
George Carlin passed away yesterday.
A Place for My Stuff was one of the first cassette tapes I bought. He was fascinated by language, fought against political correctness, loved to point out our foibles and the stupid things we have in common. He joked that his routines were things you know, but forgot to laugh at the first time around. He commented on politics, religion and any other taboo subject. His famous Seven Dirty Words you Can Never Say on Television led to a Supreme Court case with the FCC.
The following clips are some of his more relatively clean routines, but beyond the Baseball vs Football clip, they aren't totally work computer friendly.
On Soft Language
On Baseball vs Football
Have a Nice Day
A Place for My Stuff was one of the first cassette tapes I bought. He was fascinated by language, fought against political correctness, loved to point out our foibles and the stupid things we have in common. He joked that his routines were things you know, but forgot to laugh at the first time around. He commented on politics, religion and any other taboo subject. His famous Seven Dirty Words you Can Never Say on Television led to a Supreme Court case with the FCC.
The following clips are some of his more relatively clean routines, but beyond the Baseball vs Football clip, they aren't totally work computer friendly.
On Soft Language
On Baseball vs Football
Have a Nice Day
Insomnia
I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see.
- John Burroughs, essayist and naturalist
Maybe this is why I couldn't fall asleep last night
Weekly numbers
I have had a tough time getting back into any sort of training rhythm since being out of town for a couple of weeks in May/early June. Exercise is such a habitual thing that when I stop doing it regularly, it is too easy for me to skip it. After returning home, each run seemed to be a struggle of will against a rebelling body. I did a bit better last week, but it may be a few more weeks before it becomes second nature again. The threat of an upcoming event seems to help too. We have a half marathon this coming weekend and some bike rides on the horizon, so it is time to hit the road again.
Some catch up on the numbers:
6/1 - 6/8 Ran 6.2 miles
6/9 - 6/15 Ran 5 miles, biked 65 miles
6/16 - 6/22 Ran 18 miles
Some catch up on the numbers:
6/1 - 6/8 Ran 6.2 miles
6/9 - 6/15 Ran 5 miles, biked 65 miles
6/16 - 6/22 Ran 18 miles
June 20, 2008
Boom de adda
The wife and I were watching Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel. This ad/promo came on. It was previously posted on TMST, but I think it good enough for another visit.
I love the mountains, I love the clear blue sky... It never gets old.
I love the mountains, I love the clear blue sky... It never gets old.
Random
While we've been working in the backyard, garage, etc. we've had the mp3 player plugged into the portable speakers. I typically listen to albums or playlists, but I've had it on shuffle for the last few days.
It makes for some odd combinations. The Muppet Movie followed by Ben Folds Five, then Tesla followed by a Christmas song. My player can't hold all of my CDs, so I didn't hear any really obscure stuff, but definitely some stuff I hadn't heard in a while.
Musical variety good.
It makes for some odd combinations. The Muppet Movie followed by Ben Folds Five, then Tesla followed by a Christmas song. My player can't hold all of my CDs, so I didn't hear any really obscure stuff, but definitely some stuff I hadn't heard in a while.
Musical variety good.
Spring cleaning
The wife and I (mostly) took today off from work to do a little spring cleaning. And not a moment too soon since Summer officially started at 4:59 this evening.
Part of it is leftover energy from the Linden Home Makeover. I came home and looked at our home with a fresh set of eyes and a new perspective. It is amazing the difference you can make with only a bit of talent but a lot of work. I've been trying to head out into the backyard as soon as I get home to work on the yard. We've maxed out our yard waste containers, so it was time to head indoors.
We have never parked a car in our garage, and even after today it still isn't possible. Along with our own clutter, we have quite a bit of stuff inherited from my father-in-law. We did make great strides today, at least opening up some walkways around the stuff. There are still some large pieces of furniture, a washer and dryer, dining room table and chairs (Linden 311 leftovers) and some bikes - motorized or not. Next step is a garage sale/Craigslist firesale to get rid of the larger pieces.
While the wife focused on the garage, I spent some time in the shed. It was as bad or worse than the garage. It was tough to take more than a step or two without tripping over several things. Tools piled on top of camping equipment, spilling over onto yard tools, burying the sports equipment. About all there was was a path to pull the lawnmower in and out. Now everything is much better organized and it doesn't feel so claustrophobic.
We really just scraped off the top layer of everything today. There is plenty more to do in the yards, and we've barely begun to thin out our stuff. Like others, there are boxes we haven't opened in the last couple of moves. Even so we filled the back of my truck with trash and recycling.
I have plenty of projects in mind, but for now we need to concentrate on the cheaper fixes. There's certainly plenty to keep us busy.
Part of it is leftover energy from the Linden Home Makeover. I came home and looked at our home with a fresh set of eyes and a new perspective. It is amazing the difference you can make with only a bit of talent but a lot of work. I've been trying to head out into the backyard as soon as I get home to work on the yard. We've maxed out our yard waste containers, so it was time to head indoors.
We have never parked a car in our garage, and even after today it still isn't possible. Along with our own clutter, we have quite a bit of stuff inherited from my father-in-law. We did make great strides today, at least opening up some walkways around the stuff. There are still some large pieces of furniture, a washer and dryer, dining room table and chairs (Linden 311 leftovers) and some bikes - motorized or not. Next step is a garage sale/Craigslist firesale to get rid of the larger pieces.
While the wife focused on the garage, I spent some time in the shed. It was as bad or worse than the garage. It was tough to take more than a step or two without tripping over several things. Tools piled on top of camping equipment, spilling over onto yard tools, burying the sports equipment. About all there was was a path to pull the lawnmower in and out. Now everything is much better organized and it doesn't feel so claustrophobic.
We really just scraped off the top layer of everything today. There is plenty more to do in the yards, and we've barely begun to thin out our stuff. Like others, there are boxes we haven't opened in the last couple of moves. Even so we filled the back of my truck with trash and recycling.
I have plenty of projects in mind, but for now we need to concentrate on the cheaper fixes. There's certainly plenty to keep us busy.
June 19, 2008
The don't have pre-wrapped bacon...
Canned Bacon! Ready for your next camping trip or your nuclear bomb shelter. There is about 3 pounds (before cooking) of bacon in each can, and the shelf life is 10 years. Not sure if a 10 year shelf life is a good thing or a bad thing.
Here is a talk show testing it out. Sounds like it is actually a decent product. And if you can't get enough bacon, there's always the bacon of the month club!
* Thanks to Brent for forwarding this breakthrough to me.
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