You never forget your first (finish)

Unless something goes wrong, Sunday will mark my eighth marathon finish. I've previously mentioned my first attempt at a marathon, which ended at mile 18, but I don't think I have ever written about my first marathon finish. My marathon quest started here, but the reason I ended up at this particular start line was someone else's inspiration.

Several of my California friends are runners, and they have been running marathons for years. My friend Matt was a skeptic about the "joys" of marathoning, and like many others considered them crazy. But when you are surrounded by something, especially something positive, bits of it begin to seep in, if only through osmosis.

A bit out of left field, before he had even begun running, Matt told his friends, "I'd run the marathon in Washington D.C." Eventually he had four other runners (including me) signed up to run the Marine Corps Marathon in October of 2006.

A brief recap of my running history :

• started running in February 2005.
• 5k's, 10k's, then my first half marathon in November of 2005.
• Began training for the full marathon a month later.
• Attempted my first marathon in June of 2006, Did not finish..

The second half of 2006 ended up being very busy. I can't remember which I signed up for first, but I would be participating in a fund-raising bicycle ride from Seattle to San Francisco for two weeks in September, and then running the marathon a month or so later. Terrible scheduling, but I couldn't pass up on either experience. The bike ride was one of those "life time opportunities", and running around our nations capital with four friends was to enticing to pass up.

After the DNF in the June marathon, I spent the summer on my bike to get ready for the two-week ride. The ride would be almost 1000 miles over 13 days, with about 45,000 feet of climbing. In order to be ready for this challenge, running was almost completely replaced with bike riding. From July to September, I ran all of five times. The bicycle trip was a great success, and one of the best times of my life.

When I returned from the bike ride, I had five weeks to get ready for the marathon. The first weekend, I attempted to run a 10k. It went badly. I had the same IT band/knee pain I had experienced before, and had to shuffle my way to the finish. For the next two weeks, my only exercise was swimming. The fourth week, I ran three times, maxing out at six miles, and then the week before the marathon, I got sick and didn't run at all.

So... I had no business running a marathon. I was certainly in decent shape from all of the bike riding, but my body was not prepared to run. I had run all of nine times over the previous four months, and the longest distance was six miles. And I still hadn't solved the IT band/knee issues. So, of course I ran it anyway.

(to be continued)

Pace yourself, haiku edition

The rabbit learns soon
The joy of meeting strangers
Passing from behind


I am planning on running with a pacing group for the marathon. I ran with one at my last half marathon, and it worked out well, but I haven't tried it yet for the full marathon. My "if everything goes just right" goal falls between pacing groups, so I've been waffling. Do I go with the faster group in hopes of building up a time cushion, or do I play it safe in hopes of avoiding an implosion?

At this point I am planning on the slower group. If all goes well and I am feeling good, I will try to pick up the pace around mile 18. If I can't speed up and I can just stick with the pace group, I will still set a new PR. If things go sideways, at least I'll have some company along the way.


Start a little slow
Keep steady pace in middle
The clock will thank you

Overexposure

I just discovered these spots on the roof of my car.

The paint is breaking down, I can only assume from the additional sunshine in San Diego vs Seattle.

And I've seen what the future holds. This is the roof of my roomie's car.

I should wear a hat more often at work. And always wear sunscreen.

Electronic connections

Running should be simple - just a pair of shoes and you can head out the door. But of course most of us make it more complicated. Wicking fabrics, monitored heart rates, entire music collections in your pocket, tracking runs with GPS, posting results online, and endless blog posts about it. When it takes you 20 minutes to get ready to head out the door, you start to wonder what happened.

Does all this technology ruin things? There is the temptation to leave the electronic obsession behind, stop talking about it so much, and just go out and run just for the sheer enjoyment. I plan to leave music behind more often, and stop tracking the details so rigidly when I'm not in training. But even though you don't run for the electronic reasons, they can still expand the experience.

Just this weekend, a girl I follow is running in the Ironman championships in Hawaii, a guy I listen to is running the Chicago Marathon, and 691 people are running together in a world wide event. The Ironman is still something beyond my comprehension, so I have been following that one with particular interest. I'll be getting Twitter updates from her father during the race, and will try to catch the online video as she crosses the finish line. I'm not really there, but the technology makes me feel a little closer somehow.

Another technological twist has been rolled out for my marathon next week. A company will upload my progress to Facebook while I am running. There are mats along the course that record when you cross, both to make sure that people don't cut the course, and for geeks like me to analyze the split times afterwards. There will be updates as I cross the 6, 13, 18 and 24 mile mark, as well as the finish line.

So if we are connected on Facebook, you can track my progress semi-live. If not, I will bore you with the details here afterwards.

Quote of the day

I am looking for a dare-to-be-great situation.

~ Lloyd Dobler in "Say Anything"

Someone has adjusted a little too well

It has been raining off-and-on for a few days now (though it is perfectly sunny right now). This is the first rain we have seen in San Diego in months. There was even some misty rain (mizzle) the other day that reminded me of Seattle. The rain certainly isn't a big deal, but to be honest, it was a little odd to see it coming down and thinking "I might want to grab a jacket".

The pooch has clearly adjusted to the dry weather, if not the heat. When it was time to head outside to take care of business, she walked rather hesitantly around the perimeter of the lawn, like she didn't want to get her feet wet.

Seriously!? What happened to my Seattle Dog? Embarrassing.

A real loser

I don't watch much reality tv, but The Biggest Loser is one I try to catch each week. I find it inspiring to watch people tackle and succeed in a fight they have lost at all their lives. Even though the contestants are trying to win a contest, it is more about changing their lives for the better.

Of course they have the help of professionals, live in a gym, and there aren't many fatty temptations stocked in the fridge. They fight to stay on the show each week not only to try to win, but because it will be tougher to lose the weight outside this bubble.

But they are still doing the work (and lots of it) whether they are on the ranch or if they have been sent home. Not only the workouts, but changing their habits and way of life. These changes are difficult, even though they have sabotaged their health and happiness up until now.

I was at the gym Monday to get in a swim. I am in the two week taper period before my marathon - the time where you are working out less, and freaking out more. You question if you have done enough to prepare, so it can be tough to back off. I was planning on a leisurely swim, just to keep my body moving, but ended up pushing it anyway.

When I finished, a guy in the next lane commented that I was really 'tearing it up', and asked if I was on a swim team. Have to say it made me feel pretty good, and we got to chatting. His name is Tim, and he told me his story. He needs surgery on both of his knees, but his doctor won't do the operation until he loses 100 pounds. There is no reason to fix the knees if the additional weight is just going to damage them again.

He confided that he needs to go from 282 to 180 before the surgery. He is determined to lose the weight, and has even made $20 "bets" with friends and family that he will succeed. He said that he is already up to $500, and will throw a huge party for all his supporters when he succeeds.

He joined the gym 28 days ago - and has been to the gym 28 days in a row. And he has already lost 23 pounds. He was in the pool before I started, and was there when I left. You see these people on tv and YouTube videos changing their lives, and the stories are wonderful. But to be there in person, see the determination in Tim's eyes, and see how far he has already come, it makes it that much more real. And inspiring.

Community

I have tried, mostly in vain, to explain the feeling of race day morning. To explain to non-runners why we continue to train for months in order to run 26.2 miles. Why after conquering the distance, we come back again (and again) to face the challenge. To explain the sense of community you feel with the other runners standing at the start line with you.

The best explanation I have seen is a quote I posted here a few years ago. It is the first paragraph in 26.2 Marathon Stories by Katherine Switzer and Roger Robinson.

THE PRELUDE TO A MARATHON is one of life’s strangest yet most vivid times. It is a time of intensity yet relaxation, apprehension yet resolve; a time of deeply introspective solitude in the midst of the biggest jostling throng most of us will ever join. So many people, intent on a separate inward commitment, but united in one common physical endeavor. Our motive is private, the context public. We are strangers who are instant comrades, competitors bonded by the shared knowledge that we are all about to undertake one of the hardest tasks in our lives. Ahead lie strenuous effort, weariness, and pain, but we will endure it voluntarily, for the sheer enjoyment of trying.

"Strangers who are instant comrades". The person standing next to you at the start line understands what you are up against, and what you have been through just to get here. They understand because they have been through a similar journey themselves. There is this bond even if you have little else in common.

I was reminded of this sense of community last night when I was over at Sean and Marci's. They had both run the St. George Marathon the day before, and they told me all about the race over dinner and a glass of wine - the bonfires at the start line, all the great volunteers, every hill and turn on the course, the heat of the day, the times they struggled and the walls they pushed through.

And I was as excited to hear about their race, as I would have been to have run it myself. The connection of the running community extends far beyond race day morning. We love to hear stories about successes, and even failures, as another finish line is crossed.

There is a movie called Spirit of the Marathon" that I have seen a number of times. It follows six runners as they train for the Chicago Marathon. Along the way, it talks about the history of the marathon and includes interviews with a number of professional marathoners.

In the opening sequence, there are small snipits of these interviews, with historical footage of races playing in the background. In the last scene, a marathoner is shown winning a marathon, falling to his knees as his hands cover his face in joy and relief. The voice-over is another professional saying, "when you cross that finish line, it will change your life forever".

The sequence gets me every time. It seems melodramatic, but it is true on some level. That feeling of pushing through emotional and physical exhaustion to achieve something incredible. You can't bottle or adequately explain that feeling. It has to be experienced. And even watching someone else finish can bring back that feeling.

It sounds a little simplistic and maybe arrogant to say "you have to be there to understand", but maybe you do. But that is the thing - everyone should be there, at least once. Running is one of those rare sports where your "competitors" are rooting for you the whole way. And it is probably the only sport where you can participate with professional elites, on the same course on the same day, following in their footsteps no matter your skill level. How cool is that?

It is a very positive, welcoming community, and one of the easiest clubs to join. Just lace up your shoes.

Banned books week

Banned Books Week (BBW) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment.  Held during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States.

~ from the American Library Association site

According to the American Library Association site, the top ten most frequently challenged books of 2009 are:

1. ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle. Reasons: drugs, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
2. And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson.  Reasons: homosexuality 
3. The Perks of Being A Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky.  Reasons: anti-family, drugs, homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited to age group
4. To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee.  Reasons: offensive language, racism, unsuited to age group 
5. Twilight (series) by Stephenie Meyer.  Reasons: religious viewpoint, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group 
6. Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger. Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group 
7. My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult.  Reasons: homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, violence
8. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things, by Carolyn Mackler. Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group 
9. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker.  Reasons: offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
10. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier.  Reasons: nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group 

Now, in all honesty, I have only read two of these books (Catcher in the Rye & To Kill a Mockingbird), and only heard of an additional three (Twilight, My Sister's Keeper & The Color Purple). I will say, I am tempted to read #8 from the funny title alone.

Of the two I have read, I would be happy if no one read Catcher in the Rye, simply because I think it isn't worth reading. To me, it seems that the only reason it is popular is for the shock value for the time it was written. I don't think the book has much value in and of itself.

I feel the same about the movie The Graduate. It probably pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable at the time, but without the shock value, I found it a pretty ordinary/boring movie that didn't age well. I would steer people away from both because they aren't worth your time, but I certainly wouldn't stop you if you insisted.

But To Kill a Mockingbird is a fantastic book. It would probably sit near the top ten if I ever tried to make a list of great books I have read. I saw the movie a year or so later, and it also ranks high on the lifetime list.

But of course the book deals with some difficult subjects, and I did read it as an adult. So I guess this is where the fuzzy line comes in for me. My knee-jerk reaction at banning books (especially something as good as To Kill a Mockingbird) is to rail against the 'small-minded fools' that would keep such a classic out of a reader's hands. But maybe the themes of the book would be better appreciated by someone older. I can't say for sure since I didn't read it until I was in my 40's. Would I have enjoyed it as much when I was at that 'impressionable age'?

Of course there will always be subjects that you don't discuss with children because it is not age appropriate. But by high school, I think most topics are on the table. Other than the language of the time, I don't think anything in the book would offend the sensibilities of a high school reader. To pretend that you can 'protect' them inside a bubble of innocence is both unrealistic and hardly helpful in raising mature adults. And I think if parents and teens read To Kill a Mockingbird together, it would lead to some very worthwhile discussions.

And as always, check things out for yourself. Don't take for granted that anyone's opinion of literature matches your own.

Don't do it

Let's get this out early. Please don't dress up your pets for Halloween (or for any other reason). It is just wrong. I don't know if dogs can feel embarrassment, but if they can, this would do it.

OK, this one is kinda clever:

NO, NO don't do it!

Taking care of the trivial

Well, it isn't entirely trivial. It is coffee after all.

(in my best Andy Rooney voice) "Did ya ever notice that paper coffee cups are often 'dribble cups' in disguise?" Have you had this happen to you? You stop at your local coffee shop or cart to get your morning cup of joe and the first sip ends up on the front of your shirt. The lid seems to be on tight, but it leaks just the same. The problem may be obvious to some, but when I've mentioned it in the past, I often get blank stares or exclamations of "that's what it is?"

Long ago, most places replaced Styrofoam cups with paper ones due to concerns about toxins leaching into food and the release of hydrocarbons into the atmosphere. The problem with the paper cups (where dribbling is concerned) is the seam along the side. The seam is where the paper edges meet and are joined by being folded over one another. The fold is thicker than the rest of the cup, and this creates a gap between the lid and the cup. If the drink opening in the lid is near the fold in the cup, a dribble glass is created.

This seems (seams) obvious, but I have never seen a barista look at the cup before placing the lid on the cup. Whenever I pick up my coffee, I spin the lid so the seam is on the opposite side from the drink opening before taking a sip. A family member used to work for a coffee company, and I used to jokingly give her crap about getting this 'major' problem fixed. My older brother overheard this and said that it bugged him as well, making me feel a bit less crazy for noticing this issue.

As a side note, I went to Google images to see if I could get a picture of a paper cup to point to what I was talking about. One was a self-created image from blog post complaining about this seam/dribble issue, so I'm not alone. Another was this one that shows that at least the cup manufacturers know about the problem.

Of course this was all solved by bringing in my own travel mug, thereby eliminating spills as well as paper waste. But I had another annoying (trivial) issue. In this super-sized society, the smallest travel mug I could find was a 16 oz one. But I really only want a 12 oz coffee. So every time I ordered 12 oz coffee and handed them my 16oz mug, they would look at me as if I was trying to rip them off. I would often say "just put a Tall coffee in there" or "leave an inch of room", but I would often get charged for a Grande coffee anyway.

I know, big deal. But it was silly and annoying, and I stop at coffee shops (too) often. If they would just make a 12oz travel mug, I would buy it. For a couple of years, I looked but could not find one. Finally, there it was sitting on a shelf at my local Starbucks, bathed in sunlight with angels circling overhead. I bought it and ordered a tall coffee, hold the distrustful looks, please.

And the first sip burned the crap out of my lips. It wasn't a dribble glass, but more like when drinking from a glass filled with ice. You can't get a sip, so you tilt the glass higher and higher until the dam of ice breaks and the drink splashes down on your face. Annoying with a cold beverage, painful with a hot one.

It took me one more cup of coffee to figure out what the problem was. The drink opening was small enough that no air was getting in. You had to tip the cup higher to overcome the vacuum. If you look at any disposable coffee cup lid, there is a hole somewhere to let air in to prevent this. But for some reason, the designers of my $16 travel mug didn't think to include one. So what is a guy to do? Grab your DeWalt driver of course.

Problem solved, and all is right with the world again.

Quote of the day

Before we work on artificial intelligence, why don't we do something about natural stupidity?

~ Steve Polyak

Saturday

Saturday is my typical long-run day, so my day started with a 12 miler. I almost always start in the same place, a park/ball field in Ocean Beach. Officially Autumn started this past week, but there are few indications of it here in San Diego so far. There aren't many leaves to change, though I did see one tree at a jobsite on Friday that had a few splashes of red. One indication of the change of season is the ball fields are now filled with soccer rather than softball players.

The weather certainly isn't a good indication of fall this year, as temperatures are far enough above normal that the schools sent home heat advisories. I forgot to pack headphones in my run bag this morning, so I would be alone with my thoughts. No podcasts or music to distract me. Though I will likely go without an iPod for the marathon, it has been five or six months since I've run without MP3 company. Fortunately, I did remember to pack sunscreen and something to drink.

The park is on the San Diego river, just a few blocks inland from Dog Beach. As I was gearing up to go, I heard someone on a megaphone speaking to a crowd across the river. She was coming in loud and clear, so I don't know how loud it was on the other side. She was talking to a group of runners, preparing for the Carlsbad Marathon four months from now in January. It reminded me that I would like to volunteer in some sort of marathon training program. Pay it forward as it were for the help I have received.

On this side of the river, there was another group of volunteers as well. Crowds of people were cleaning up the beach and streets of Ocean Beach. So many that it seemed the helping hands might outweigh the trash. They also seemed to be carrying around clipboards to make notations of some sort. Maybe they were also recording things in need of repair as well. Great to see.

The run went reasonably well. I wasn't up at the crack of dawn, but I managed to avoid most of the heat of the day. There were lots of people out on the paths today. Runners, walkers, bikers and people just out enjoying the morning. I saw one woman on a bench facing the bay, with her legs folded into the lotus position. It looked peaceful as I approached her, but on closer inspection she was texting away on her Blackberry.

After the run I went to find some breakfast. My usual haunt is the Tower Two Cafe (so named because it is near life guard tower number two). Matt and Holly took me there for breakfast a few years ago on one of my earlier visits to San Diego. Breakfast is served all day, and it is decent but not all that special. The appeal is the patio that is a block off the beach and is dog-friendly.

Most of the people on the patio seem to be people with dogs, tourists enjoying the beach view, or hungover 20-somethings having a late breakfast of greasy food. There are usually champagne bottles at a couple tables, sitting in buckets of ice to be mixed with OJ as a 'hair of the dog' cure. There were a few dogs as well this morning, one who parked himself next to my chair the whole time I was there.

Across the street, the beach-cleaning volunteers gathered on the lawn, hopefully for a bit of thanks and maybe some breakfast. Both were well earned.

How Octopuses work

Yesterday, I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, Stuff You Should Know. The particular show was "How Octopuses Work". The article that inspired the podcast is here, and you can find the podcast in iTunes, Zune Marketplace, etc.

First off, apparently 'octopi', 'octopuses' and 'octopods' are all correct ways to refer to more than one octopus. Whatever you call them, they are pretty incredible creatures. Interesting things mentioned in the podcast: they often have three hearts and independent nervous systems for each of their eight legs, their suckers are incredibly sensitive and they can feel their way around reefs and "taste" the food they find, and they appear to be highly intelligent and may have individual personalities.

But the most interesting (and visually cool) thing is their ability to blend in with their surroundings. Their skin is covered with tens of thousands of pigmented cells called chromatophores. By flexing these cells, they can change color within a second. And it is not a single color but an array that helps them blend in with the background. They also have reflective cells call iridophores that help them mirror their surroundings. In addition to the ability to change color, they can also change the texture of their skin to add to the camouflage effect.

It was interesting to hear about how it is all done, but of course it is hard to beat actual footage. They encouraged listeners to go to YouTube and type in 'octopus changes color'. Here are a couple of the better, shorter clips that I found.

Can a marathon be a work of art?

 When posed the question, “Can a marathon be a work of art?” a group of approximately 30 representatives from city organizations and the Long Beach arts community were encouraged to take their ideas and run with them.

The purpose of the brainstorming session Wednesday morning at the Long Beach Museum of Art was to think of ways to transform the Long Beach International City Bank Marathon into a 26.2-mile art exhibit, which hopefully will be the new look of the event in 2011...

To launch the brainstorming session, Watson said artistic touches added to this year’s event will be mile markers decorated with artwork from children in the program at Miller Children’s Hospital; a 26-verse poem revealed sequentially in segments along the course by local poet Mindy Nettifee; and at the 22-mile mark, known to marathoners as “The Wall” because of stamina drain, will be high-energy performances from the Long Beach Mardi Gras team serving as encouragement to reach the finish line...

“Running is booming right now, and we’re grateful for that,” said John Parks, executive vice president of marketing for Run Racing. “Since October is arts month in Long Beach, our intent is to try and empower art work...

It occurred to me a couple years ago that a marathon could be a work of art,” Hunt said. “I mentioned it to Craig (Watson) around a year and a half ago, because the event draws a huge crowd of people in a great public space.”

Brilliant!

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