A Speechless Pitchman

This past weekend, while watching TV, I saw a MasterCard Paypass commercial starring Meb Keflezighi, America's top male marathoner. (If you click that link, click "Marathon" to select the Meb commercial.) I immediately commented to my wife that most viewers of that commercial have no idea who they're seeing, and she agreed. I didn't push the question of whether she knew, but my son knew right away. Today, Runner's World Daily posted a link to it along with noting that it first aired during the Superbowl. It's nice to see that the MasterCard people are supporting a non-major sport.

I very much like Meb. When I heard him interviewed after his great race last fall at the ING* New York City Marathon, I was struck by his lack of intelligibility. (I hate saying this about him, as everything I've heard about him has been good.) I hope that along with doing his training, he will hook up with a speech coach. It will make him much more marketable to advertisers and allow him to better supplement his income. This commercial does not require Meb to speak, but if he keeps running as he has recently, the time will come where he will need to speak better.

As a runner, I look at the commercial and have to say that the drink was right on, the magazine a bit goofy, and the movie (and Goobers) just ridiculous. I think the ad was cute, but could have been a bit closer to the truth...sports drink, gummi candy for energy, and a beer for post-race celebration would have been the choices I'd have made. (I don't know if Meb would OK the idea of a beer, but it's what I'll put out there as my concept.)

For any of you who may not be aware, Meb and his family escaped from Eritrea's civil war. Making their way first to Italy, then to southern California while Meb was in his early teens(?). His Italian experience allowed him to converse with Italian marathoner Stefano Baldini during the Olympic Marathon, where Baldini took gold, Meb took silver and de Lima of Brazil held on for bronze after being tackled by a crazy priest.

*I am trying to support those who support our sport by naming the title sponsor. I hope others commenting on our sport will recognize those who support it. By doing that, the advertisers get additional bang for the buck and it increases the likelihood they keep supporting our sport.

Building Daylight Report (Feb - late)

Tomorrow, Feb 28th, sunrise is listed at 6:33AM (06:33) and sunset at 5:48PM (17:48). This means that it is now passably light from about 6:00AM to about 6:15PM. I should have posted data based on 21 Feb, but don't have it from the same source, so I'll just use the new data (and recognize that it is a week late).

In last month's post, times were 7:16AM and 5:02PM (07:16 and 17:02) and in the past 5 1/2 weeks, we've gained almost 1 1/2 hours of "full" daylight. This makes morning and evening training much more accessible. And at the winter solstice, the times were 7:18 AM and 4:33 PM (07:18 and 16:33), giving us a gain of exactly two hours of light. These times are building quickly now, making preparation for spring marathons at least a bit easier than they were at the start of winter.

Hooray for light!

Released From Sickbay

I spent the weekend sick. Not really bad sick, but sick nonetheless. A lot of the time was spent prepping my son's Pinewood Derby car for Cub Scouts. He used the band saw to cut the block and still has 10 fingers! I hacksawed some steel bar stock to use as weights, and he helped file the ends to smoothness. I've been trying to follow some of the tips on some of the "how to win at Pinewood Derby" websites. We're now up to needing to paint. I'm trying to decide if adding another weight will be useful or a waste of time. Last year, to get to maximum weight, I put about 15 screws into the bottom. I'd prefer to use fewer this year, but have had to do a lot of work machining weights.

Meanwhile, on the training front, I blew off Sat and Sun using illness as the excuse. I have to say excuse as I could have gotten out there - it was cold AND windy and frankly, I wimped out. I need a drill sergeant chewing my ear off - No exuse, Sir! I'm feeling better today, but will probably do the mill thing tonight.

A Visit to the Running Store

In my town, there's a running specialty store. My son and I stopped in last night, mostly as a social visit. The employee who I most wanted to see was not there, but the manager was there, selling a pair of shoes to a guy about my age. The visit turned into an overly long gabfest, with, I believe, the other runner leaving feeling pretty good about his level of support and my having recommended him to one of the three clubs I'm a member of.

In the course of the conversation, it came out that this runner got involved on a dare, and got bitten by the bug. He had some minor foot issues, and needed shoes that would work with his orthotics. He wound up buying a pair of Nike Structure Triaxs, shifting out of New Balance 991's. His comment was that the Nikes felt like slippers. I wore Triaxs a couple of years back, but after Lydiard's input came to regard them as inflexible foam blocks. I'm frightened to know what 991's are like, since these felt like slippers. (Now, Nike may have made big changes over the last couple of years, but I doubt it.)

I've said it before, I'm a big fan of local running stores. They'll fit you. They'll try to take care of you if you have a problem. They support local races and events. And most give discounts to local club members. It's usually worth the small premium to buy there, and I always recommend it over the mail order alternative.

Well, you know what they say, "Different strokes, for different folks."

Something To Feel Good About

This morning, on the radio, I heard about this. It's one of those things that you wouldn't believe if it was a movie. It's just to pat. It's real. Click here, then click the video on the right.

A thank you to Duncan Larkin for putting me onto that link in his excellent Roads, Mills, Laps blog.

Hot Spot

This morning, during my training, I was about 2 miles from done when my left foot started telling me I had a problem. I don't know if it was a sock bunching or slippage in the shoe, but I had a hot spot. Do I stop and adjust or plow forward in hopes that it won't develop into anything more severe than a an irritation? I chose to plow ahead. When I got back to the gym, I knew I'd blistered. It was fairly small, about the size of a dime, on my left big toe.

About the time that I noticed the hot spot, I heard a siren behind me. I was running on the shoulder, opposing traffic. A car was trying to pull over, and I was in his way. I bounded the curb and waved him over. Moments later, a cop goes by, running full lights and really hammering. After my "guy shooting" incident of a couple of days before, I was doing what I could to make sure the cop could move as risk free as possible. About a quarter mile up the road, I saw the cop with a car pulled over in a parking lot on my side of the road. As best as I could tell, it was some dope who blew through a light or was speeding.

H-E-D-R-I-C-K

Twice in the last day I've seen Chad Hedrick's name written in public as Hendrick. The first was on Comcast's home page yesterday, the second was this morning on WNBC-TV's ticker below the morning news. C'mon people, he's a gold medalist.

I ran Google, we can add the following to the Hall of Shame:
San Jose Mercury News - paragraph 2
Louisville Cardinal - paragraph 10

Now, I'm not saying that the bickering that's going on between these guys is right, but they deserve the respect of proper proofreading. Now, those of you who are NASCAR people are used to seeing the name Hendrick, as it's one of the most successful names in that sport, but the only NASCAR tie to the winter Olympics that I know of is Geoff Bodine's Bo-Dyn bobsled program (and if my quick take is correct, Bodine raced for Hendrick Motorsports).

License Plate of the Bus?

You know, the one that hit me. I woke up this morning feeling like crap. I hadn't gotten in enough activity after the run yesterday to loosen everything up and get blood flowing into the muscles. Not wanting to deal with the cold (and it wasn't that bad), I dragged myself to the gym and started walking on the dreadmill. OK, for you running purists, I was moving along pretty well, doing most of my 40 minutes at 5.2 mph (an 11:34 mile) and ended up with 3.3 miles. After the activity, I felt much better.

You Don't Want To Go Down There Right Now

"You don't want to go down there right now", said the cop, as I ran over to him. I'd seen four cars heading into the park as I climbed towards it; a unmarked car with lights flashing, then a marked car who used his siren a bit, then another unmarked with lights off, and another marked car with lights off. I volunteered to the cop that I knew whatever was happening was fairly big, as I'd seen all these cars, and offered to help with whatever it was if they needed another body. He told me they had a report of someone shooting. Message received - they weren't going to put me in jeopardy too. I wished him well and told him to be safe and continued with my long run.

Forty minutes later, I came back through the park. Many of the cops were still there. As I came down the hill, there was a cop at the highway. I don't know if he was doing speed checks or if he was the distant pursuit car (or some combination of the two).

Regardless, I put in a hilly 2:10, which I'm counting as 15.3. The legs felt a bit soft from about 1:30 onward. I've got to work the long ones. I worked hard on this one.

Ya Gonna Be Ready?

I was asked that question at the gym one morning last week, and I had to be honest that I probably wasn't going to be as ready as I wanted. I just haven't been getting my long runs in at the level that I need, neither in volume nor in frequency. I don't want to dishonor the Boston Marathon. Frankly, I think I'm a bit depressed. I have some stresses at both home and job which I'm not coping with terribly well. I think like in training, an awful lot of stuff in life is just the act of putting one foot in front of the other.

Today, while checking Mike Salkowski's Running With Lydiard blog, a recent post included some advice from Nobby Hashizume, America's leading teacher of Lydiard's training methods. In it, Nobby says, "professional attitude means not to get discouraged when going gets tough; AND also controlling yourself well within yourself when things are going invincibly well." I'm afraid I'm in the former category, and my run at Boston could turn into a death march. I've been through them before (Marine Corps Marathon - 1990 & 1993), and I don't really want to go there again, especially not at Boston.

I have work to do to treat Boston in the manner it deserves. I've got to get to it...even if my feet whine and I have to live with 8 more weeks of fatigue from the pain.

Smaller Feet?

When Arthur Lydiard told me that my feet hurt because my muscles (in my feet) were weak, my running shoes were size 9.5 (I think that's a European 43.3). My last pair of shoes was a 9.5 and they wouldn't restrain my feet properly. I have a pair of 9's that feel right. Back in high school and college, I was usually an 8.5. If stronger foot muscles tend to lift the arch, then it's possible that my feet will also get smaller. (Should I be apologizing to Mrs. Scooter?) I mentioned this to someone else, and they said it was possible, that they'd heard of such occurrences, but it was unusual and all evidence was anecdotal. So, have any readers worked to strengthen their feet and in the process, does it seem like your feet shrunk?

On The Road Again and A Show

After a few days away from running (I was shoveling snow and x-c skiing), I got back on the roads this morning. I ran about 5 miles, trying to move briskly, in part to atone for my day off yesterday. The snow melt had progressed to a point where there were virtually no challenges from snow or ice along the route.

Part of the route I ran passes through a predominately Black area. (I elect to use the term Black as opposed to the more PC, but less rational African-American...we don't call people Oriental Americans...frankly, the very old, usually regarded as pejorative term "colored" is probably truly the right term, but it carries too much baggage. Sorry for the big digression here.) As I was passing the McDonald's (yes, it sounds almost like I'm trying to work in all the stereotypes here, but it is the absolute truth), a mini-SUV pulled out of the parking lot into my path. Two guys were walking on the sidewalk, and when the driver realized he'd gotten into my path, he panicked and froze, rather than getting out of my way. I ran into his vehicle, hitting it with two open hands as I veered behind it. The sound of my striking it caught the attention of the pedestrians. One said something like the street equivalent of "watch out." (I apologize, I was starting to lay out this post and failed to commit his precise term to memory.) Since the driver was a young male, I was a bit concerned he was going to come after me. He stopped after the thump, while in the traffic lane, and I wasn't sure if it was to see if I was OK or from being pissed off. I just kept running, though listening very carefully for the next half-mile or so for anyone driving aggressively. The rest of my run was incident free.

Voyager Airplane at Sea-Tac Airport

Last weekend, I was watching a show on either History or Discovery channel about the Voyager plane that flew around the world without refueling. My son and his friend walked in and immediately began a round of "cool plane!" I mentioned that I had taken a picture of the plane while in Seattle a week prior.

The things that struck me about the effort were: 1) how flimsy the plane was - during takeoff, the winglets at the end of the wing virtually rubbed off during takeoff, 2) the level of faith required to take off - it was so underpowered that it couldn't stop once it had passed the halfway mark on the runway...and had it not made it, would have become a fireball at the end of the runway, 3) that Dick Rutan and his girlfriend, Gina Yeager, had spent 9 days inside this tiny thing, 4) how the flight nearly ended twice through near crashes.

The other thing that struck me was what a prolific designer/builder Dick Rutan was.

As the program ended, it sounded like the plane was at the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum, but I was pretty sure it was what I saw at Sea-Tac Airport. So, I'm uncertain if the situation had changed, if the airport has a duplicate, or if the show saw incorrect.

Mr. Boston Keeps His Word

A few weeks back, I posted about the wave start at Boston and the fact that in response to an inquiry, I'd gotten a e-mail that said I was likely to be pretty much at the break point of the two waves of the start. I'd suggested that this be added to the FAQ portion of the Marathon website, and was told it would be done. It's now posted officially - see the Boston Marathon Site's section devoted to frequently asked questions, then selecting "Boston Marathon" as the event and "Wave Start" as the category. About 2/3 of the way down, you'll see the answer to the question I (and doubtless many others) had asked.

"What do you anticipate the cut-off time will be between being assigned to Wave 1 or Wave 2?
Based on last year’s qualifying times, it looks like it will be around three hours and 30-minutes, give or take five minutes." (from www.baa.org)

A February 1 news post gives the basics of the wave start, and lets us runners know that regardless of our start, the clocks will be displaying times based on the first (noon) start.

Three More Miles On Skis

This morning, I got back to the park and skied three loops of about a mile each. Since I wasn't setting track, I was able to move a lot quicker. The snow had gotten slicker since yesterday. In most places I was able to glide easily in the tracks I'd made yesterday. There were a couple of places where the was some minor trouble. In one section, a pedestrian had walked in the tracks, punching out the bottom regularly and making it very easy to catch a tip or to twist off of the compressed snow under the skis. The other spot was an area where the wind had blown the snow cover thin and the melt resulted in just a thin glaze of ice over the grass. I traversed the ice on lap 1, then set a track a bit to the left for laps 2 and 3. I wish the walkers would not damage the tracks - I suspect they just don't understand the issues they cause and can understand how my tracks represent "shallower" snow to them.

The dogs were out again. Their area had been compressed well - it was the one area where a skate style skiier might be able to skate a few strokes. It struck me that their owners weren't getting much exercise out there. Doesn't the term "walking the dog" infer a degree of action? But they just stand around and chat. Maybe I should tease them tomorrow.

Good-Bye, Mr. Carnevale

In recent years, at many races in North Jersey, there was a battle for last place. Sometimes it would be won by Dudley Healey, of Chatham and other times by Vincent Carnevale, of Bloomfield. I just stumbled on Mr. Carnevale's obituary. It was a joy to see him coming in to the finish of a race. Many of us who were regular racers would interrupt our post-race rituals to clap and cheer. I'm sure an awful lot of us were praying that we'd have the honor of finishing last to that kind of reception. You see, Mr. Carnevale wasn't a kid, nor was he middle-aged. He was 89 years old. His rival, Mr. Healy, is now 90. Most of us, as runners, recognize the frailty of our bodies, so it was with great respect that we looked up to those who would get out there and fight the good fight against age and injury. We held him in high esteem.

Skiing, Finally!

This morning I skiied about 2 miles (3 km). I was setting track at my local park. It was fairly hard work, and the snow was very unslippery (if that's a word). It tended to want to grab my skis and hold me where I was. It was a very strange sensation. I guess maybe I will need to learn a bit more about wax and how to use it. My skis have a fish scale bottom, but the old-timers tell you that waxing a waxless ski in some conditions can make a world of difference. Now, I'll have to try to learn the secrets of the different colors and of klister.

My second time around the loop was much easier than the first. The park was being used as the meeting ground for dogs, and there were about a dozen around, ranging from a beagle to a dog named, "Tank," whose name pretty well described his bulk. Some of them barked or chased me for a bit, but all were generally well mannered [though were I dogphobic {caninophobic?), I'd have been in bad shape]. The dogs were bounding around a circle of humanity, and as I passed the second time, I said something like, "There were some good tracks here when I left last time." Since the dogs had eliminated the tracks, the owners laughed. I guess the parks are for dogs, too. (Though some owners seem to feel no sense of obligation to remove their dog's land mines from the park...and these owners were certainly violating the park's leash rules, though I had no real issue with it.)

Two Hours! (Of Shoveling)

The expected snow came right on schedule, and kept right on coming. The expected 8-12 inches turned into close to 20 here. I spent from 11:30 until 1:30 shoveling, then came in and had some lunch and crashed. My upper body was shot. The next thing I knew, it was getting dark. I went out and touched up a bit of the work I'd done earlier. I know my arms, shoulders and back all got good workouts, but I didn't get my skiing in. I'll be out in the morning to do some.

I've been watching the olympics. I watched the 5000 meter speed skating and was a bit surprised to see that the skaters move a bit more than twice as fast as the runners. I awakened to the news that Michelle Kwan had pulled out. I'm sure it was a tough decision, but in the end, it was probably the right one. She doubtless realized that with the injury, she couldn't compete effectively. By pulling out early, it opened the door for Emily Hughes to go to Turin and compete. The issues that could crop up with the "special treatment" accorded to Kwan are eliminated. In my opinion, Kwan's actions are a sign of her class as both an athlete and a person.

While I understand it, the level of nationalism in the TV coverage always strike me as improper. The Olympics are a festival of sport. If we look back to Baron de Coubertin's vision, the Olympics should encourage mutual respect and understanding between countries. While some nationalism is both normal and good, we should also respect the tremendous efforts of the athletes from other countries. I saw a cross country ski race yesterday (I'm unsure of the distance), and two Norwegians needed a photo finish to determine the bronze medalist. While the times were listed one-tenth of a second apart, I can't believe that the difference was actually that large. After about 45 minutes of racing (it may have been a bit more or less), a tiny fraction of a second separated them. One goes home with a medal, the other with a memory. Both went down at the line, trying to nip the other with their version of a lean. (I guess they score by first body part, as opposed to torso, as both racers seemed to be trying to get a foot across ahead of the other.) The finish made me think of Paul Tergat holding off a stumbling Hendrick Ramaala at the finish of the 2005 New York City Marathon.

On Track!

Last night, I spent an hour on the dreadmill - walking. I covered 5.3 miles. This morning, my foot felt fine. Today, I headed off to the gym in the afternoon and ran 4 miles easy on the mill. My feet were bugging me afterwards.

My friend who had run Boston (mentioned last week) suggested that I put orthotics in my shoes. I had them from my last bout with PF. His rationale was, "They may change the loadings on your feet and allow for better healing, even if they are worn only part of the time." The argument sounded reasonable, so I put on the boat shoes with the Spenco generic orthotics inside.

The other thing that seems to be keeping me on track is the fact that here in NJ, were getting pounded by our second significant snowfall of the season. If predictions are accurate, I should be able to ski on about 8 inches (20 cm) of snow by morning. That will let me do a long aerobic session without pounding the feet. as it seems now, life is good.

Judgement Call

I'd posted about the tightness in my right foot. This morning, I decided to make a judgement call and modify my training over the next few days in order to try to nip this case of plantar fasciitis in the bud. I did not run this morning. I plan to walk tonight. If I can pull it off, I'll do it outside, but if not, then it's the dreadmill at the gym. Tomorrow, I'll go short (perhaps with some walking to keep the volume at a reasonable level). If the weather report is accurate, by Sunday morning, there should be at least a half-foot (15 cm) of snow on the ground, though the storm will probably still be blowing - predictions are for 8-12 inches. Two hours plus on X-C skis should give me a reasonable long-workout without pounding the feet. Hopefully, the few days of reduced activity will throw the balance in favor of a healthy and pain-free foot.

Are You Alright?

Twice today, while using public stairways as stretching aids, I was asked, "Are you alright?" It's both a blessing and a curse, as it forces me to explain what I'm doing there, standing still on the stairs, head slightly bowed, with one foot in the air. Yet, if I was in trouble, I'd be thrilled that someone had inquired, rather than having to go through the "should I ask for help" dilemma.

The level of tension in my right foot, which I mentioned yesterday, seems worse today. I don't have tenderness in the foot, but I can tell that it's REALLY tight, and if I don't do the stretches to get it under control, it will explode into a full-blown case of plantar fasciitis in a matter of days.

I have to use the stairs. Responsible people have the obligation to ask. So, I guess things are as they should be (with the exception of my foot).

Broken Gaydar?

When I flew out to Seattle last week, I had a fairly amusing experience. Early in the flight, the flight attendant came around to serve beverages. I ordered my "spicy tomato" (the generic parlance for bloody mary mix) and asked for the rest of the can. Then, when the meals came out, he confirmed my name for the low-calorie meal. It was an omelette, served over Tater Tots (NOT a good low-cal choice), with some fruit and sugar free cookies (with the full range of chemical sweeteners). He luaghingly said, "First you want the rest of the can, now you get the special meal." I responded with, "It makes me feel special." We both laughed.

In preparation for the trip, I'd cut my hair, and because of my running, I keep it essentially as a crew cut. My moustache was also trimmed short. Since I lost the weight several years ago, I don't wear my wedding ring, out of fear it will fall off. I don't know if the combination of these things made him think I was gay, but I'm pretty sure he spent the rest of the flight coming on to me.

Not that I go that way, but the full court press included him remembering my name. For purposes of the blog (I'm corrupting my blog alias, rather than my real name), I'll say that as I left the plane, he said, "Bye, bye, Scotty." It would have worked better if he'd gotten it right. So, there I was in Seattle, pretty confident I was attractive to at least a portion of the gay community. Of course, that and $2.50 will get you a latte at Starbucks.

Forgive Me, For I Have Sinned

My right knee has a problem. It feels like the IT band or a bit of swelling. It's on the upper outside and it's one of those niggles - it just feels off. I have been having a bad week. I was slothful (sloth-like?) on Monday, intending to run in the evening, getting caught up in some computer stuff and never getting on the roads. (That was the first day this year that I did not run - so, out of laziness, I ended my longest running streak thus far at 36 days.) Meetings on Tuesday and today meant short runs with very little stretching. My body has gotten out-of-whack. I need to improve my behavior. Tomorrow, it's back to "normal" for me. A longer run with full stretching will hopefully drive real injury from my door. Now that I've confessed, I feel more contrite.

(PS - I think John Cotey may have slipped up as well, and that we may have tied regarding our dollar bet.)

The Dove Commercial

On Sunday evening, I watched the Millrose Games, NOT the Superbowl. I just don't much care about football. I did flip to it a few times to check the score. In general, what I've heard about it is that I didn't miss much. The football was apparently solid, but unexceptional, most of the commercials didn't live up to the hype...except one. Apparently Dove Soap decided to crash the male realm of the Superbowl. (I say male realm with a bit of a wink, since apparently about 40% of Superbowl viewers are female.) They ran an ad intended to help build women's self-confidence.

I've long said that men see themselves as a collection of good parts (how many of us men have flexed in front of a mirror, even though the governator need have no fear from us) while women see themselves as a collection of flaws keeping them from being pretty. My favorite example of this is Jennifer Grey. After becoming a star in Dirty Dancing, she saw her nose as unattractive and had it changed. She became another pretty face, but ceased to be the girl we all fell in love with. The reverse example is Lauren Hutton - early in her career, she chose not to correct the space in her teeth, instead having a cover made. She now had the ability to look virtually perfect or to have a prominent flaw, which could sometimes be advantageous. My stance on this: Women (and girls) are beautiful. Do most of them have some flaws? Yes, but does that make them unattractive? No! I wouldn't have it any other way. It's the differences that make people interesting - some have skin that's mahogany brown, others have cafe au lait, while still others have that almost transparent porcelain skin and most are somewhere between these examples. Like with different cultures, people are different, and respectfully celebrating these differences make life richer for everyone.

You can find the commercial online here. It's worth a look if you haven't seen it.

Man, Those Are Goofy Socks!

No, that's not a glove for a victim of an industrial accident. It's a sock. It looks goofy, and I can't say for sure it's meaningfully better than a standard sock, but I smile every time I see them. It's one of Injinji's TetraTsoks. I recently bought a pair, and the one time I wore them so far, they seemed to work well. I think they'll reduce friction and blistering between toes. I also think they may help prevent athlete's foot by wicking moisture from between toes. I'll report more on them later. Wendy Bumgardner, the walking guide at about.com likes them. If any of you have worn them, would you please let me know your experience?

Advice On Goal Setting

On a recent show, Todd Whithorne, the co-host of Dr. Kenneth Cooper's radio show, commented about the "all or nothing" mentality that often affects exercisers. He said that some of them seem to feel that if you aren't doing a marathon, then it's not worth doing. It struck me that this same mentality often affects those who want to lose weight.

For many of us, we have been getting out of shape for years. Rather than trying to do something that will be extremely difficult, the experts in goal setting usually recommend establishing a reasonable and achieveable goal WITH a timeframe, then we establish a pattern of little successes as we work towards our big goal. For a non-exerciser, the simple act of walking for 20 or 30 minutes can be quite a challenge, even at a 3 mph pace. For someone like this, a reasonable goal might be to walk two miles in under 30 minutes by April 1st. Once they have achieved that, their next goal might be to get that time down to 28 minutes or to walk continuously for and hour.

These kinds of goals are achievable, and because they are achievable, you are less likely to give up on them than the "lose 35 lbs. by June 1" goal. While it's possible to lose weight at that kind of rate, unless you are seriously overweight, it's pretty unlikely. Thus, that goal is likely to result in failure. If, instead, the goal was adjusted to "lose 15 lbs. by June 1" and an intermediate goal of "lose 5 lbs. by March 1" was set, then that intermediate goal, even if it is missed slightly will still keep you on track for the bigger goal. Isn't it better to feel positive about going to the beach because you're 15 lbs. lighter than during the winter, than negative, because "I'm still fat"?

Make your goals reasonable and achieveable. You can then set a clear pathway to a substantial goal. Good luck with it.

My Olympics

Nope, I'm not going to Torino, but for me, getting to Boston is my Olympics. I made the team last May by running the Long Island Marathon in 3:29 and change. I've been training to run my race since last fall. Learning more lessons along the way. Getting coaching from friends and acquaintances. I credit my qualifying to Arthur Lydiard, without whose advice, I would likely have not run through my case of plantar fasciitis.

About a week and a half ago, I was chatting with my friend, Charlie, who had run Boston a few times, I think mostly back in the '80's, with his dad. One of the things that has intrigued me about Boston is Wellesley College, and its famed "scream tunnel." He said that they make you feel like a rock star. I guess no guy is going to object to thousands of young women shreiking themselves hoarse for him.

My deer in the headlights post of a couple of weeks back combined with the Lydiard discussion in Seattle have inspired me to ratchet up the physical demands of my training. My hope is to arrive at Boston with a level of physical strength that I haven't had since I was in my twenties. If I can do this, the long gradual downhills followed by the hills at Newton should be unable to break me. I am committed to running Boston well.

I've been thinking about Boston's new wave start, and am now hoping that the break point is behind me. While being ahead of the break will mean that I will be in a crowd for virtually the entire race, and therefore, will likely be needing to chop my stride occasionally, it also means that I'm less likely to "get stupid" and bolt into the empty space and burn myself out. That enforced discipline, combined with good strength, may mean that I arrive in the city of Boston comfortably and perhaps even requalify for Boston at Boston. That scenario is likely to be the only one that will let me run Boston in 2007, since I don't really want to train for a fall marathon this year.

In the past, I've said that the race at Boston is the vicroy lap for qualifying, but as time passes, the idea of treating it as a tour, rather than a race, is beginning to bother me more and more. I'm not sure what I'll decide, but I have a feeling that I'll be working hard while I try to drink in the experience of running Boston for the first time.

Touring Seattle on Foot

I am just back from a few days in Seattle. I got to run a bit on the Burke-Gilman Trail. In passing the University of Washington's Husky Stadium, I saw their Husky statue. It immediately reminded me of Balto, whose statue I've seen in Central Park in NY.

On Saturday morning, I was taken on a tour of a part of Seattle my a doctor who I'd met through the internet. We ran just a bit under 2 hours, and it was a lot hillier than anything I normally run. This doctor had surprised himself by qualifying last fall for this year's Boston. It became clear that the strength that running hills provides is a big advantage in the marathon. We found that we both know Nobby Hashizume, one of the leading authorities on Lydiard training. At one point, while I was moaning about the hills, the doc said, "we could go down this road and come right back up." I declined. He said, "Arthur (Lydiard) would have said we should do it." He was right. I saw a fair number of parks in Seattle, including the UW Arboretum, and a ravine that is essentially a park that took us down from the area north of UW's Fraternity Row to very near my hotel. It was a very pretty area, with several bridges that we ran under. We had made it most of the way down when we encountered a temporary fence, so we had a climb and descent of about 100 feet that wasn't expected. (Does that make up for skipping the hill earlier?)

On the whole, the run was great. My shoes got muddied a bit, and I was pretty fatigued at the end. What was truly exceptional was that Seattle was in the midst of a storm. The winds were up around 20 mph continously, but was probably gusting a times near 50 mph. It made for an added layer of toughness that was kind of fun. We did have a few small branches drop close to us, but nothing big enough to feel like a threat.

The guilt about hills probably paid a dividend. I ran my hilly short course from home this afternoon. One final note on guilt, I had posted a challenge to John Cotey on his blog, betting him a dollar. I'm still OK, and he commented that he exercised right before bed on Thursday because my challenge had gotten to him. So, I feel good about that.

Do I Need A Dope Slap?

The guys on Car Talk (a couple of auto mechanics with MIT educations) always seem to mention someone needing a "dope slap." I may be deserving of one, here's why:

Less than two weeks after I run my first Boston Marathon, one of my area schools has a 24-hour race on their track. I'm giving some thought to taking a stroll. I am inexperienced enough to entertain thoughts of cracking the 100 mile mark (about 4.25 mph avg), but realize that something like 100 km is much more likely.

Here are my questions for you:
1) Do I deserve that dope slap?
2) Do any of you think I'll get to the line?
3) How far do you think I can go?
4) Anyone want to join me for part of the time?
5) Anyone want to crew for part of the time?

I hope to return to many comments, please don't let me down.

Utica, NY

Those of you who are fans of the Utica Boilermaker race might find this audio report on Utica's immigrant population from NPR interesting. Those of us who race there see this small city for just one weekend. It's a proud little city that fights hard, and if they approach everything like they approach the Boilermaker, they'll do just fine.

The Changing Face of Marathons

Preparing for the marathon made me change my face. One aspect of preparing for a spring marathon is the need to do long runs in cold weather. The first time I saw a marathon in person was the old Jersey Shore Marathon in 1977 or 1978. It was held in January, in driving wind and light snow. In a word, conditions were brutal. I saw finishers with hair, beards and moustaches caked in snow and ice. My most graphic vision from that day was of a racer, wearing a black long-sleeved tee shirt. The thing that made him so striking looking was his lungs. Yes, I know I couldn't possibly have seen his lungs. What I could see was the shape of his lungs outlined in frost on his shirt. The added cooling of breathing let this part of his shirt freeze, while other parts of his body stayed above freezing, creating this weird and disturbing vision.

Remembering my moustachcicles of last year, I decided to modify my moustache a bit to help protect my face from cold. Prior to this winter, I kept a shaved stripe under my nose (see the Halloween picture with the Billy Bob teeth - if you're a fan, they're the Big Cletus model). In order to keep the space under my nose from chapping as readily, I let that space fill in. (See the crooked smile - I hope you don't have much trouble telling that the Billy Bobs are not installed in this shot). Since I did this, we've had an extraordinarily warm winter. I guess if you want to guarantee rain, wash your car!