The Diplodocus

Reunited with the wife, left my old job, currently in training, organizing our lives together, preparing to move to Mumbai for our new jobs, still getting used to collective pronouns, managed to take a week off from the gym and preserve my sanity, the Concept2 rower is an evil machine, rockfish and Ethiopian food remain delicious, constantly expecting to wake up and have to say goodbye but happily have not had that happen, the Radisson Lord Baltimore is a lovely hotel, did you know that in Mauritania the Arabic “bint” becomes “mint?”, Rosslyn will always be a wasteland, it feels strange to be together again but I’m loving it, how are you?

Dear Antonia,

In Fall 2003, at a fancy hotel restaurant in Toronto, I had a rich, earthy, delicious bowl of butternut squash soup garnished with a thin slice of black truffle and a housemade potato chip.  The soup was a $12 (granted, that’s $12 Canadian, circa 2003) first course and hit the spot during a chilly Ontario November.  The restaurant was far from remarkable overall, but was rated fairly well.  What I’m trying to say is this: you don’t think squash soup is upscale enough?  Really? 

Dear Spike,

Man up.  And please, ditch the hats.

10 miles. 1 hour, 22 minutes, 34 seconds.  An 8′17″ pace — way faster than I was ever expecting, and good enough for 2155th place out of 5870 men.

There were a few dicey moments early on.  I had no idea there was so much strategy involved in fighting through the early scrum, almost like a chess match, calculating how far back and to the side you have to move in order to keep moving forward.  I also had a slight twinge of “do I have to go to the bathroom?” in the first two miles, but in keeping with how I’ve been training I kept it at bay and took no water stops the entire race.  By miles 4/5 I had hit the meditative point and held it until miles 7 and 8 — which were more physically taxing than anything else.  Maintaining the faster-than-usual pace hit me like a brick right around the Kennedy Center; I contemplated throwing up more than once but battled through.  Miles 9 and 10 were when the adrenaline kicked back in, though I wish I had dug deeper for a stronger final kick and made the top 2000.  Though there were plenty of folks running with iPods, I followed the race rules and found the crowd to be “distraction” enough.

The experience was amazing and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. 

This post is dedicated to Coach Martin, my 9th Grade PE teacher, who gave me a “C” in leisure running.

The Cherry Blossom is in three days, and my biggest fear right now is the lack of music. 10 miles, sans iPod – what am I going to do when the adrenaline ebbs?  Maybe I’ll ask a neighbor to sing for me, or find one who can passably mimic gangster rap.

So, fellow Cherry Blossom runners, here’s five songs that are current workout favorites.  Know them?  Love them?  Find bib number 10319 around mile 7.  You’re also welcome to suggest your own songs — we can have a race singalong!

Peter Gabriel — “Shock the Monkey“; Dolly Parton — “Jolene“; Santa Esmeralda — “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood“; MOP — “Ante Up“; TV on the Radio — “I Was a Lover“

(alternately, I can just picture this video the whole run.)
 

The look you get from giggling co-eds watching you sprint up the 74 Exorcist steps in Georgetown is priceless.

And as far as DC runs go, Georgetown and Barry Farm are on opposite ends of the “scenic” spectrum.

http://www.observer.com/2008/nerds-steel?page=0%2C0

Words escape me. 

Well, that’s not true.  Insightful, analytic words escape me.  Probably because I’m still trying to sort out the subculture neologisms (”ripster”??) from the endless neighborhoods-as-signifiers.  Not that I was surprised; it is the New York Observer.

Conclusions: I have absolutely no patience for the navel gazing New York set.  None.  And cooler-than-thou references are boring, empty, and artless.

The weather has been typical for DC in March, variable with a chance of unpredictability.  It’s been difficult to know from day to day whether or not I’ll need to run in a knit cap with a jacket and base layer or in a tank top.  In fact, that was the difference between my Wednesday run (tank top) and Thursday run (hat, etc.)  Wednesday was a new path for me, from my office to Fletcher’s Boat House and then up the Capital Crescent Trail for a bit, before returning to the office via the C&O canal towpath.  Thursday was more standard, a lap around the eastern half of the Mall.

The two runs were completely different: warm and humid vs. cold and windy, on fresh legs vs. tired legs, daytime vs. night.  The Wednesday run was about 5 miles, the Thursday one closer to 4.  And yet my ultimate pace for both was roughly the same, with a steady average of 9 minute miles.  This in and of itself wouldn’t be strange save for the fact that I’ve been running 9 minute miles for weeks.  It’s been my average pace on all of my long Sunday runs, regardless of weather, fatigue, and route.  The most troubling aspect is that I’ve been trying to go faster — and have felt I was going faster — on my shorter (4-7) mile runs for weeks now, and it hasn’t happened. 

There’s no smart reason I should be frustrated, as the mitigating factors are many.  For one thing, I have yet to do a long run 100% fresh (that is, without having done a strength workout or Crossfit metcon prior).  And the runs have started to feel slightly easier as time has gone on.  Still, I’m a guy.  The idea of 9 minute miles being “good enough” isn’t something I really understand. 

UPDATE: Long run, 3/23?  Felt great.  A few dicey moments where I played traffic dodge and/or ended up in places I should not have been, but overall a strong feeling run, 63 minutes.  I mapped my route when I got home.  7.12 miles, or 8.85 minute miles.

FEH.

It seems inexplicable that … And All the Pieces Matter doesn’t feature Steve Earle’s rendition of “Way Down in the Hole,” The Wire’s opening credits song for season 5.  A spoiler issue?  Probably not, considering the season 5 quotes on the CD.  More likely, Nonesuch couldn’t get the rights to the song.  That’s a shame — Earle’s version is one of the better ones, though all five have their merits. 

Yes, I bought The Wire’s companion CD.  No, I haven’t been blogging about watching The Wire, mainly because others do it better.  Let’s just say my opinion on the show jives with conventional wisdom and I’m ambivalent about the show ending, though not the show’s ending.  On the latter, the finale was exactly what the season and the series called for, nothing more and nothing less.   As for the series actually ending: great shows can’t go on forever.  But that doesn’t mean I can’t crave more.

One last thing.  Am I the only person that caught the cameo by Sgt. Bryan Anderson during the Walter Reed scene in “Late Editions”?

Befitting a world gaming capital, check out Macau’s city website.  A boardgame theme!  It’s rare that a government website makes me giggle.

Hm.  Sino-Portuguese cuisine, modern casinos, ruined old cathedrals… Congratulations, hilariously awesome website, Macau’s been added to my “want to go there” list. 

Running around East Potomac Park is easy — 5K of flat, straight, tourist-free path with few cars and no lights.  This also contributes to the fact that it is boring.  Especially now that The Awakening has moved to Prince George’s County.  Everything to be seen from the park can be seen from elsewhere; the only marginally interesting sights Sunday morning were the folks casting fishing lines into the Anacostia or Potomac – interesting in that “why in the world would they want to fish here?” sort of way.

That said, I got it done, as part of possibly the most mentally taxing long run I’ve gone on: 9.83 miles in 90 minutes.  Sadly, it’s just under a 9 minutes/mile pace, my ultimate goal for the Cherry Blossom, but there are some mitigating factors.  Such as the fact that prior to running I got a PR in “Angie” (24′41″!!). 

From the moment I woke up Sunday morning, I knew it was going to be a good day.  As healthy as this winter’s been: come on spring!