Seattle Half Marathon

It has become a Thanksgiving week tradition to be involved in the Seattle Marathon. I ran my first half marathon at Seattle in 2005. In 2006 I handed out medals to the finishers and in 2007 Tami and I directed a little traffic out on the course. This year Tami and I decided to run.

Tami picked my up at the house around 6:15am which we thought would be plenty of time to make the 7:30 start. Traffic was great until the Mercer Street exit. It took us nearly an hour to get off the freeway and get to the parking garage, a distance of just over a mile. When we reached the start line, the race was to begin in one minute. Unfortunately we still needed a porta-pottie break before heading out. More unfortunately the bathrooms were on the other side of the street, blocked by all the eager (on time) runners.

We salmoned our way across the street and climbed over the barrier and got in the bathroom line. One benefit to being so late was that the lines were short. After our pitstop, we crossed the start line about six minutes late. Since the race is chip timed, our clock didn't start until we crossed the start line. The problem was that we were now behind most of the runners and we would be weaving through them to make any progress.

The weather was fantastic for late November. The temperature at the start was 53 degrees with a fog layer blanketing the city. Many of the runners were overdressed, so the misty air helped cool them down some. I had hopes of possibly beating my time in Bellingham, but with the slow start I was going to be happy to break two hours.

The route starts outside the Experience Music Project at the Seattle Center. From there we ran down 5th avenue lit up with Christmas lights to reach the I-90 bridge. The half marathoners then dropped down to Lake Washington Blvd which as the name implies runs right along the lake. The thick fog layer clouded most of the views, but it is still a beautiful run.

The route then turns uphill at Madison, then heads through the beautiful Arboreteum. We then wound around on an access road through another wooded area, cresting the hill around Roanoke with a view of downtown. At the top there was a stereo blasting Boston's "Don't Look Back" which I thought was appropriate. I got another shot of motivation shortly thereafter when I came upon a runner with one artificial leg with a carbon fiber running foot. It was clear he was a veteran and we all gave him variations of "you rock!" as we caught up to him.

The route then winds its way back to the Seattle Center to finish in Memorial Stadium. Running out on to the field with the finish line in sight gave me that final boost and I sprinted to the finish. I came in at 1:56:05 only 30 seconds shy of a PR, which I am totally happy with. Best of all my ankles didn't go out. We'll see how they feel at work tomorrow.

Seattle was my first major run so it will always have a little extra meaning. It is also my hometown race held during the holiday season. Today was another great event and I'm glad we decided to run this year.

Happy Thanksgiving

The first quarter I was at the University of Washington Business School, one of my teachers gave a day-before-Thanksgiving lecture. Attendance was optional, but most all of the class showed up.

The lecture was mostly about heading home for the holidays. He talked about seeing various relatives, each with their own viewpoints and opinions. As young adults, we would be getting lots of advice from friends and family, some who we only see a few times a year. Of course it would be difficult to digest, much less follow, all the varying bits of advice from all the people in our lives.

Our teacher tried to give us some perspective. He suggested that while listening to each point of view, we needed to decide who's opinions mattered most to us. This being a business class, he called it our "board of directors". This board would be fluid (people would be added and subtracted as life went on) but those on your board were the people you would turn to for guidance and support. Of course this year this concept has become that much more important. Rather than a board of directors, it is a circle that we rely on.

I am fortunate to have some very special friends and family in my own circle. I am thankful for the varying backgrounds, interests and viewpoints they bring to my life. Of course I am most thankful for my wife at the center of my circle. Without her this life wouldn't mean nearly as much. I am very lucky man, and I hope I express that year-round. Today, I offer my heartfelt thanks to all the wonderful people in my life - new and old, local and distant, and those I see frequently or just once a year.

Happy Thanksgiving.


DON HENLEY "My Thanksgiving" (live)

Running for UPS

Today was my third day working as a driver's helper for UPS. It is going pretty well and I am definitely getting a good workout.

They matched me up with the driver that works my neighborhood. He actually picks me up at my house in the morning and drops me off in the evening. Nice commute. Paul has been working for UPS for about 15 years, and has been on this route for the last three. We get along pretty well and he has been impressed with me so far.

From what I can tell, his route covers about a 25 by 25 block territory. Our serpentine route is a bit confusing so far. It is an odd feeling to be so turned around a mile away from your own house. Part of the reason for the odd route is that UPS "avoids left turns to save fuel, reduce emissions, and improve safety". UPS micromanages in many other ways to achieve small efficiencies that add up to savings of time and money. Just saving 10 seconds on each package really adds up over the course of a day.

It is also a bit surprising how many packages are delivered to a relatively small area. Many of the stops are regular customers. Outside of the holidays, 80% of the deliveries each day go to about 20% of the addresses in the neighborhood. Paul knows my neighborhood like no other. Of course he knows where all the aggressive dogs are, but he knows lots of little details about the people too.

My day is pretty fast-paced. I run most of the packages as Paul organizes and scans the next ones to be delivered. Everything of course is tracked. The board he carries has all the packages to be delivered loaded in its memory and we scan them and check them off one by one. The board is also a cell phone and GPS so it uploads our progress regularly, sends tracking numbers and signatures to the website, and also receives messages if there are last minute changes. It sounds like there are even more high-tech tracking methods on the way.

There are lots of "flag lots" or "easement lots" where there are several houses set back from the street off of a long driveway. This means extra running, but I am also seeing houses I've never seen even on my regular runs around the neighborhood. Unfortunately, my ankles are bothering me right now, so I'm not doing any additional running outside of work. I wish I could wear my running shoes at work. This would probably solve my ankle problem.

A little surprise on today's route - I delivered a package to the people who owned our house before us. I had heard that they had stayed in the area, but I never bothered to track them down. And one last tidbit - invest in QVC. They are doing some brisk business, making up about 10% of our deliveries.

Jack

You can't find life's answers in a bottle of booze. Or can you...



42

Running to beat breast cancer

Below is a cartoon video from Brooks Running called "Dream". Brooks is donating five cents for every view of the Brooks Dream video between November 13, 2008, and December 21, 2008. Once the views have been tallied, Brooks will donate up to a maximum of $25,000 to Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, earmarked for the support of breast cancer research.




I particularly like the water bottles growing on trees and the vacant and clean porta-potties.

Also, next March, Brooks is launching Brooks For Her, an exclusive apparel collection in support of breast cancer research, awareness, and support. For each Brooks For Her item sold from March 1, 2009, to December 31, 2009, Brooks will donate 12.5% of the full wholesale price to three breast cancer-related charities: The Young Survival Coalition, Making Memories Breast Cancer Foundation, and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Mailman failed to deliver

Sick of junk mail?

Pay homage, then, to overstressed, overworked mailman Steven Padgett, who has confessed to a cardinal sin among the letter carriers' tribe: He failed to deliver.

"Mailman Steve" — a kindly, 58-year-old who toiled along a route in a rapidly growing neighborhood in Apex — was given probation in federal court last week for squirreling away at least seven years' worth of undelivered junk mail, which he had stacked in his garage and buried in his yard.

It should come as no surprise that the U.S. Postal Service did not receive a single complaint from Padgett's customers about missing mail during the years he withheld pizza circulars, oil-change discounts and Chinese restaurant specials.

"Mailman Steve" was not making a statement about junk mail, he simply could no longer carry the volume of mail as he was contending with heart problems and diabetes. He could have faced a $250,000 fine and five years in jail, but instead the judge gave him three years probation, a $3,000 fine and 500 hours of community service.

Full Story

A friends Thanksgiving

Our friends Amy and Dave hosted a Thanksgiving gathering for our circle of friends. A wonderful prime rib dinner was prepared by Ingrid and Andy, along with a fine spread of appetizers and deserts. Most of us will gather with family on Thursday, but it was a treat to share this holiday with friends as well.

We had all agreed to bring a nice bottle of wine to sample and share with the crowd. With tightening budgets, we had all been drinking $5 bottles of wine for a while. When Scott brought a nice bottle to our last gathering, we remembered the pleasure of a really good wine. And a good bottle of wine is even better when shared among friends.



Cheers!

Know when to stop talking

So close

What can brown do for you?

My job is in the real estate and lending field, and it is no secret that things are really slow right now. Actually you can hear the sound of crickets if you listen closely.

The subprime market failure and collapse of the secondary mortgage market has made it tougher for borrowers to get a loan. Rising unemployment and foreclosure rates (and a little media-fueled panic) have made buyers wary and kept them out of the market. So though prices and mortgage rates are low, there isn't much happening right now.

So in the meantime I am picking up some holiday season work. I will be working for UPS starting tomorrow and likely through Christmas Eve. I will be riding along with a driver and running packages. The recruiter explained that their volume typically doubles or triples during the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas. They obviously can't double or triple their fleet of trucks, so they hire some extra hands to make them more efficient.

With the way the economy and consumer confidence is going, this Christmas shopping season may be a little tepid. With this in mind, there is no guarantee how many hours I will be getting. It sounds like they will be calling me each morning to let me know how much (or if) they need me for the day. Once the season gets rolling, hopefully I will be able to count on a full day's work.

It looks like I'll have some concrete insight into consumer confidence this season. I'll just count the packages.

Network time wasters - Muppet version

Whatever you do, don't hit the "do not touch" button.

Enjoy.

Sundown on a season

Training in the winter is a bit tougher.

I live in the Pacific Northwest, so it is not like I am battling snow and sub-zero temperatures, but it is getting colder and the hours of daylight are shrinking. I'm about seven weeks into a training cycle that will take me through January so there's no avoiding it.

I headed out on a seven mile run at 4:30 today which is when the sun sets this time of year. So in the interest of safety, I picked up a Xinglet a week or so ago. I also took along a headlamp and a flashing tail light with me.

The Xinglet really lights up when headlights hit it. The headlamp seemed meager by comparison. Once twilight ended and I needed the light to find my footing, it was a little sketchy. The headlamp did do a great job of lighting up my foggy breath though.

Unlike biking, when you run on the roads, you run against traffic. It is much safer, ensuring cars don't sneak up on you. I discovered tonight how difficult it is to see with headlights coming at you. I couldn't see much of anything so it was much simpler just to step off to the side. Guaranteed breaks.

On my long run Saturday, there were a bunch of runners out in my neighborhood. The weather was beautiful, one of those perfect Fall days. I saw a few of the runners more than once, so they were out there for a long run as well. The Seattle Marathon is less than two weeks away, so that may have something to do with it. Unfortunately I think those beautiful weather days are numbered.

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

Running with fruit

The latest fun run - The Winter Pineapple Classic.

It is a 5k run with obstacles run in teams of two or four. The additional detail so the name of the event make sense, each team needs to carry along a pineapple while running the course. We crawled through tubes, climbed walls, vaulted hay bales, limboed under pipes, ran through tires and swung on the monkey bars. If you couldn't carry the pineapple through the obstacle, you let one of your teammates go first and then passed it over like a football. To extend the tropical theme, they truck in tons of sand to create a beach for the after party.

This is the third year for the event that raises money in the fight against Leukemia & Lymphoma. The event was started by Eric Cox after his son battled Leukemia at the same time his wife battled breast cancer. The event has grown dramatically in the three years, and raised $285,000 this year. Here is a video from channel 4 news about last years event and the Cox family.

I was a last minute replacement promoted from the camera crew to participant. I joined the guys team and got to run with Brian in his first running event since his leg surgery two years ago. His next 5k should be much easier.

Welcome back!

Shhh...

Our book club met last night and had some great discussions on The Grapes of Wrath and The Art of Racing in the Rain. And the wine flowed as freely as the conversation, so I thought the shirt above was appropriate. The picks for our next round include our first real chick-lit book, The Lucky One by Nicolas Sparks, and the controversial Lolita.

Shirt link.

Happy Birthday Momma Doris!

Historical audio

As an interesting coincidence to my reading The Grapes of Wrath came about a few days ago. I was listening to last week's This American Life podcast on my run on Tuesday. The first portion of the show was in honor of Studs Terkel who had passed away on October 31st. They played about 20 minutes of his 1970's interviews with survivors of the Great Depression. After reading Steinbeck's portrayal, it was interesting to hear from folks who had lived through this period.

Mr. Terkel's Conversation with America is a collection of interviews he conducted for his books and radio program. They covered a number of topics, and his interviews on the depression were used for his book Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression. The interviews selected for the podcast were an interesting snapshot of the time. More audio of his interviews on various topics can be found on his website.