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Secret Underwater Base

Sunday, April 30, 2006

Checkpoint 2

Today was the Kingston Half Marathon. Run under perfect conditions, clear skies, peak temperature of around 18C (64F for the imperialists) and not too much wind.

My goal was to run sub 1:35, to prove to myself that fitness is increasing, without totally devastating my legs and ruining an entire week of training. Goal accomplished, a new PR of 1:34:00. Felt good through most of the race, although at the top of the biggest hill, at the 16km point, I felt as if my stomach was slowly eroding, meaning that famous wall was ever so close. Had to scale it back for half a kilometer, and then had at it again.

Next up is Ottawa, the real deal. The next 4 weeks of training are mapped out. This week will be my peak mileage of the entire program, then I will slightly scale it back the following week, and then taper for two weeks. Last fall, the taper was too long, and I got bored and stale. And Don scolded me :) Lesson learned.

So, the first two objectives have been completed, 28 days to go.

Anyone who wants to join me, you've got 4 weeks of training ahead of you... any takers? Mattiek? Diesel? Tobbi?!?

Well deserved sleep ahead, tomorrow morning's workday will come too soon.

Saturday, April 29, 2006

HalfPod

Half marathon tomorrow - starts at 9:30 am. Weather forecast is beautiful, high of 16C, not a drop of rain anywhere in sight.

I need a playlist. Open source. Bonus points for podsafe!

Sunday, April 16, 2006

The Boston Miracle

So, today is Easter - a day when all sorts of miracles were said to have happened. Well, I guess you could argue that they happened a week from now, if you're following an orthodox calendar...but thats all semantics; temporal inflation of a few cents on the dollar over the course of a few thousand years. The stories are pretty mad when you think about it. Agony and pain and coming back from the dead. Pretty heavy stuff.

Its all become pretty detached though - I mean, the whole thing got twisted and somehow bunnies started laying eggs made of chocolate. Not to say that bunnies are bad.. or that religion is inherently good... its just all mixed up. Its all so distant that some might argue its easier to believe in a magic bunny than it is to believe in crosses, carpenters and angels.

Tomorrow is the Boston marathon. And for me, tomorrow will have more images of agony, pain and coming back from the dead than Easter ever has. That might seem blasphemous to some, but hey, this is a digital age. I'm going to take a creative commons artistic license, and just let my metaphor be.

Religion talks about purity, peace of mind and devotion to a single cause. The runners tomorrow will fulfill each of those criteria, mile after painful mile. Regardless of pace or form, each will be so dedicated to their sole (soul?) purpose that they will go to the extremes of their ability to achieve their objective. In front of thousands of spectators, runners will bare it all, revealing far more truth than could be expected in confession. They will strip away any social masks to reveal the human animal that lives within us all, and use all that they are to make a pilgrimage to Boston.

Now I could end this with any number of clichés, comparing a runner's high to heavenly bliss... or the doldrums of hypoglycemia to the darkness of hell, but this is a blog post, not a t-shirt slogan. And, while there will be plenty of slogans to be seen on t-shirts tomorrow, the truth will be read from faces. There we will see the Easter sentiments in the flesh: The fast start, full of promise; the pain and suffering on heartbreak hill; the exultation of coming back from the brink.

You often hear athletes talking about God; a deity who has somehow become as wrapped up in touchdown dances and slam dunks as it has with chocolate eggs. Marathoners, however, are a different breed. The runners tomorrow will be praying to anything they can get their mind around. Because at mile 23, whether its God or a magic chocolate egg-laying rabbit, you need all the help you can get.

Good Luck Runners

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Warm and Cold

Its warm out. Its warm everywhere. Except for my nose.

After making it through the entire winter, spending days surrounded by 4 walls and virus infested young people without becoming afflicted with their various plagues... my immune system has finally taken a vacation. The last two days have been sunny outside, but cloudy in my head.

Ran in shorts on Tuesday night for the first time since October... then took last night off because there was no chance of breathing. Good thing its a recovery week. Gonna get all fixed up and then get rockin' again for the Ktown Half and then Ottawa.

Gonna try to head out for a run tonight, maybe I'll find some nasal clarity.

Music lately:

The Radio Dept - Pet Grief: indie popsters from Sweden channel the spirit of The Cure's Disintegration without the overwhelming darkness.

The Streets - The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living: Mike Skinner is a genius. Although the record seems slightly formulaic, with two sappy/grimey ballads, sounding like the Naked Chef in therapy... when the garage beats heat up and Skinner starts dropping those British phrases that North American hipsters ain't never heard, (pranging out? thats sooo grimeposh), it really rips.

TV on the Radio - Return To Cookie Mountain: Anything they touch is gold... indie rocker barbershop never gets old! Check the track "Wolf Like Me"... sounds like an anthem for something... haven't quite figured out what for.