Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Injunction Against Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Congratulations!

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE67M4HA20100824

To all those behind the case against President Obama's new guidelines for embryonic stem cell research: Congratulations!

To those members who claim to support the free market: You have supported another attempt by a company to use the courts to stifle competition. Congratulations!

To those members who claim to believe in the sanctity of life: You have delayed the fates of embryos, but have not changed them.  The "life" you claim to cherish will still be frozen, NEVER to be implanted in a uterus.  Instead of being used for stem cell research using Federal funds, they might still be used for the same research, but using funds from a different source.  Then again, they might just be thrown into an incinerator with other biological waste. Congratulations!

To those claiming to be motivated by their religion: You have once again answered those with questions that the suffering of the sick and infirm is not as important as adherence to your dogma. In fact, your implicit message that suffering is necessary to be a "true believer" may help in driving many more away from your sick, masochistic, belief systems. Congratulations!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Defending the Electoral College

I've never really considered the Electoral College to be anything but a relic of a time where only free, landowning, white males could cast votes.  The fiasco of the 2000 Florida vote only reinforced my belief in dismantling the old system.  After reading the following article, I'm forced to re-evaluate that idea.  My gut still says "get rid of it" but there are some good points raised in its defense:

Bypass the Electoral College? Careful what you wish for.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Arachnophobes Beware!

Absolutely amazing footage of a cluster of daddy long legs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWASwBWyUXI

Monday, July 19, 2010

Catching up

Finally getting back to logging my training runs. 

I managed to finish up this season's XTerra trail races having only missed one event, the Crystal Cove race in Newport Beach.  It had been sold out since last November, but due to all of the weather delays there were several people who dropped out.  Unfortunately, I didn't find this out until after the race.  Anyway, I did well at Malibu Creek and Mission Gorge, earning a point total of 521 out of a possible 700.  That was only enough to get me a 2nd place in my age group, even though I earned more points than any other runner in 2nd place, and more than 19 of the other 1st place runners.  I'll just have to try again another year.

July 4th turned out to be a great day for me.  Having skipped running 10K road events for nearly two years, I finally made another attempt at my goal of a 6:00/mi pace.  It was an unseasonably cool day, with lots of fog.  The course was right next to the beach, and was just about as flat as a well groomed college track.  The race went great, even though I started out a lot hotter than I meant to.  I worked hard to keep my pace under control for the rest of the race, and managed to finish in 36:18, or a 5:50/mi pace.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

The Facts In The Case Of Dr. Andrew Wakefield

A marvelous web comic about the shyster behind so many immunization scares.

tallguywrites: The Facts In The Case Of Dr. Andrew Wakefield

Saturday, March 13, 2010

100 Push Up Challenge Test

Well, thanks to a Twitter friend, I decided to take the 100 Push Up Challege.  I've actually been doing push ups for quite some time, but topped out at 30 per time, three times a week.  I figure it's time to push it further.

The first step was to actually figure out where to start.  I did this by doing as many consecutive proper form push ups as possible.  I stopped at 42, since my form was starting to break down.  For my age group, that puts me at a rank of 4.  That means I'll actually be starting at week 3 of 6, using the >25 push ups grouping.  I start on Monday!

Easy Run (2.1mi) 3/12/2010

Kept it simple again today.  Took the dog for a short run around the neighborhood.

Intervals (5.3mi) 3/11/2010

Took the dog for a warm up, followed by short intervals.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Why Does A Salad Cost More Than A Big Mac?

A wonderful infographic showing the disparity between the government's recommendation for nutrition and subsidies for food production.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Easy Run (6.2mi)

Took the dog for a short run, then did a quick trail run.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Try running a 10 minute mile...

wearing a 60 lb blast-proof suit!

The Common Sense Guide to "Organic" and Other Food Labels

LifeHacker has an article on what food labels do (and don't) mean.

Recovery Run (6.1mi)

Woke up wiped out this morning, but still going to run.  Took the dog with me for the entire distance.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Tempo Run (8.1mi)

Assuming there isn't a delay in next Sunday's race, today begins a week of tapering.  Took the dog for a warm up, then went for a short tempo run.

Smoke ring collision


Very cool (but noisy) video of blue and red smoke rings colliding. I just wish the image didn't jump during the initial contact.
(From Boing-Boing)

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Saturday Run (11.75mi)

Warmed up with the dog, then went for a longer neighborhood run.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Easy Run (6.4mi)

Took the (very reluctant) dog for a short run, then continued on my own.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Easy Run (2mi)

Compensating for over training by keeping to a short run with the dog. 

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

A Brief Reprieve

Well, XTERRA just informed me that the Mission Gorge race has been postponed, again.  Now it will take place April 30th, making the Malibu Creek race the penultimate event instead of the final one.  While a bummer, and a pain in the ass due to having to change hotel reservations again, I'm happy that I won't have two races with only a week between them.  Of course, that assumes that the Black Mountain event proceeds as planned.

Hill Climbs (7mi)

Took the dog for a warm up run, the followed up with some hill climbs.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Recovery Run (4.1mi)

Took the dog for a short trail run.

Slacker!

Wow, I wish I knew what happened!  I've been so good about keeping my running entries up to date, but a few weeks ago I just started slacking off.  I can partly blame my attempt to get into the office an hour earlier, but that doesn't seem to completely cover it.  My days were getting pretty busy for a while there, and my evenings are quite a bit more crowded with the dog's obedience training, but why should that impact my ability to spend a lousy five minutes recounting how my run went?  I'd blame my thyroid medication if it wasn't for the fact that this issue predates the new prescription by a couple of weeks.

Whatever the reason, I'm going to work at keeping up to date again.  Only time will tell if it sticks this time.

Tempo Run (8.1mi) 3/1/2010

Took the dog for a warm up run, followed by a reduced tempo run.

Saturday Run (12.75mi) 2/27/2010

Since it was too rainy for the trails, I took the dog out for an extended road run.

Recovery Run (6mi) 2/26/2010

Went for a mellow run with the dog.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Yet Another Thyroid Pill

Actually, I haven't been on any thyroid medications for quite some time.  My last blood test did show that I was pretty low again, so the doc has me on a higher dosage than last time.  Hopefully this will get my hormone levels corrected without giving me gut-wrenching pains.  I've only been on it for two days so far, so I still have quite some time before I'll know how I'll react to this dosage.  I only know that I hate having to wait another half hour after waking up before I can drink my coffee. :-)

Intervals (8.3mi)

Warmed up with the pup, before getting some 1/2 mile intervals.

Hill Climbs (6.88 mi) 2/24/2010

Kind of wimped out today and only did 4 climbs today.

Recovery Run (8.2mi) 2/23/2010

Hit the trails for an easy run.

Tempo Run (9.4mi) 2/22/2010

After another weekend without running, I upped my speed work to 5 miles.

Recovery Run (6mi) 2/19/2010

Hit the trail with the dog for a nice run.

Intervals (7.6mi) 2/18/2010

Did some 1/4 mile intervals.

Hill work (8.9mi) 2/17/2010

Feeling better again today, I did 6 1/2 mi hill climbs.

Recovery Run/Walk (8.2mi) 2/16/2010

Yesterday's tempo run was a little too much for me, after all.  Did 8 min/2 min run/walk intervals today.

Tempo Run (9.4mi) 2/15/2010

Did some speed work, but didn't push as hard this week because of the previous Saturday's long run.

Saturday Run (18mi) 2/13/2010

Went for another uber-mileage trek.

Recovery Run (6mi) 2/12/2010

Got some nice, easy mileage with the dog.

Intervals (7mi) 2/11/2010

Did some 1/2 mile intervals.

Hill Climbs (8.9mi) 2/10/2010

Increased my hill repeats to 6 this week.

Recovery Run (8.3mi) 2/9/2010

Got a nice, easy mileage session today.

Tempo Run (9.3mi) 2/8/2010

Warmed up for a couple of miles before some speed work.

Recovery Run (4.2mi) 2/5/2010

Did a short, easy paced run.

Intervals (6.1mi) 2/4/2010

Ran 1/4 mile intervals

Hill Climbs (6.8mi) 2/3/2010

Warmed up for a couple of miles, then did 4 repeats of 1/2 mile hill climbs.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Recovery Run (6.2mi)

Getting the dog back into the mix with a short warm up, followed by some trail work by myself.

Tempo Run (8mi)

Went out for another solo run while the dog heals from her surgery.  With less than a week before my next race, I didn't push too hard.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Saturday Run (11.1mi)

With one week remaining before my next XTerra, I went for a longish run focused on technical terrain.

Easy Run (6mi)

Dog was still convalescing, so I went for a short trail run.

Hill Climbs (8.1mi)

Left the dog behind to rest while I did some hill training.

Recovery Run/Walk (8.2mi)

Took the dog for a longer run around the neighborhood.

Tempo Run (9.4mi)

Took the dog for a short warm up before going on a tempo run.

A bit pissed at Amazon

A little note I just sent to Amazon:
I understand, but don't completely agree with, your battle with Macmillan over e-book content.  It's bad enough that I can't currently purchase their books from your site, but now I find that they don't even show up on my wish lists!  Being told that an item is not currently available is one thing, but I'm not even sure which items those are since they've all been replaced with placeholder images and captions stating "This title is no longer available!"  For a company that wants us to use your site as a universal wish list, you have certainly made me consider your company less than reliable for this purpose.  For what it's worth, I have three suggestions:
1) Reinstate Macmillan content on customer's wish lists so that they can at least be seen.
2) Open the Kindle device to support alternate formats like ePub.  That will allow the Kindle to be even MORE useful to your customers.
3) Let the market determine if Macmillan's $15 price point for e-books is too high (I agree with your company that it is.)

Friday, January 22, 2010

Recovery Run (6.5.mi)

Took the dog for a longer run this morning.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Treadmill Intervals (6.25mi)

Took the dog for a quick warm up run, then hopped onto the treadmill for some speed intervals.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Hill Climbs (8.9mi)

Went for a short warm up run with the dog before doing hill climb repeats.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Recovery Run (8.2mi)

Took the dog with me for the entire run today.  Hopefully this will tire her out so she won't be too hyper from not being able to run around the yard because of the rain.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Tempo Run (8.1mi)

Took the dog for a short warm up before doing a tempo run.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Saturday Run/Walk (17.8mi)

Took the dog for a short run/walk around the neighborhood, then went for a long run/walk in Sycamore Canyon.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Recovery Run/Walk (6.2mi)

The dog and I took a run/walk interval session before I continued on the trails.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Hill Intervals (6.9mi)

Took the dog for a short run/walk session before doing some hill intervals.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Post Race Recovery Run/Walk (6.2mi)

The dog and I took a longer run/walk interval session.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Post Race Recovery Run/Walk (4.1mi)

Getting a bit more active and took the dog for a trail run/walk intervals.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Post Race Recovery Walk (4mi)

Took the dog for a trail walk.

XTERRA Boney Mountain Half Marathon Race

The first of the two most difficult trail events was a mixed result this year.  I improved my time from last year by more than three minutes, but came in third in my age group due to a very strong group of runners.  My downhill times improved greatly as a result of my training, but I also had some setbacks to my uphill times.  I've learned quite a bit from the event, but still have to figure out what to do about it.

Weight: 137 lbs
Time: 1:47:57

I prepared my gym bag and Endurox the night before the race.  Ate my usual pre-race dinner of mashed potatoes, but added a little sour cream this time.  Very tasty, but could have used some bacon, too.  Got to bed before 9pm.

Took it easy the morning of the race, since it was just across town.  Had a yogurt before showering and shaving.  Packed a Zone Bar to eat a half hour before the race, and filled my CamelBak with the Endurox (2 scoops per 16 oz water.)  I finally headed out around 6:30 am.  The parking was in a different spot this year, but closer than before.  I took the shuttle back and forth anyway.

No timing chips this year.  Not a big deal since we aren't talking about a road event where split second timing is more important.  Probably a cost-cutting measure, not to mention that it greatly reduced the time necessary to get final results.

The course was the same as last year, but the terrain was a bit more forgiving.  Some of the early single track was a bit rutted from bicycles, but not nearly as dangerous as last year when rain and horse tracks conspired to break our ankles.  The wind was also far more mellow, and didn't knock me down as it did during the initial hill climb, or drive me to a standstill in the final mile like last year.  Overall, though, it was still a pain in the ass.

My focus of downhill speed definitely paid off.  I was easily able to shed about 30 seconds per mile for the first two miles of the course, where the "black bitch" paved downhill is.  The early climbs, however, were the first of my disappointments.  I ended up catching up with one of the faster runners, but he was walking due to being too exuberant on the downhill.  That kind of sapped my will, so I walked a bit myself before finally passing him.  That set me back a bit more than 21 seconds from last year's third mile.

After that setback, things picked up again.  I was still working on the initial climbs, but was gaining time again over last year.  Miles four and five I picked up 47 second and 41 seconds, respectively.  During that time I had transitioned to the middle downhill segment, where I was blazing again.  For miles six and seven I gained another 24 and 31 seconds over last year, before finally getting to the tough climbs.

Last year I was able to traverse the entire course without once needing to walk, but this year I slowed several times.  However, this was somewhat mitigated by the fact that I was still able to get ahead for most of the miles.  Mile eight required some walking breaks, but I was still nearly 17 seconds faster than last year.  But miles nine and ten I ended up losing 10 and 28 seconds, the latter partly due to my shoelace coming undone.

Finally, once the big climbs were finished I was able to gain speed again, gaining another 26 seconds on mile eleven.  Mile twelve had the last "small" climb, but by then I was tired enough that I lost 13 second from last year.  Without the headwind from last year, I did gain another 30 seconds on mile thirteen.  The last fraction of a mile was about 3 seconds slower this year, but that could be due to my general level of tiredness, lack of precision by not using a timing chip, or slightly different distance readings from my GPS.  Whatever the reason, I'm not concerned.

This is the third race that I've ended up walking parts of, and I don't like it.  It is obvious that I was able to correctly identify my weaknesses with my downhill technique, but now I need to figure out how to address my weakness with uphill endurance.  I know that I shouldn't be too disappointed by it, since I'm still faster than last year, but I'd really like to get back to a condition where I don't need to walk quite so often.  Especially since my initial analysis of the race data seems to show that the miles where I was slower than last year could have been offset if I had just kept running, even at a slightly slower pace.

Regarding my finishing position, I can only remind myself that there will always be someone faster.  Last year I was over three minutes slower, but was first in my age group.  This year, even with my speed, I was third.  The simple fact is that there were stronger runners this year.  Besides, I still have a narrow point lead for now.  However, this could change during the next four races.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Striders (4.7mi)

Went for a short run with the dog, followed by some striders.

Intervals (5.6mi)

Took the dog for about a mile warm up, then ran 200 yard intervals.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Easy Run/Walk (6.1mi)

I took the dog out for an easy run/walk session.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Tempo Run (8.2mi)

Warmed up with a short run with the dog, followed by a tempo run.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Recovery Run (6.1mi)

Went for a trail run with the dog.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Saturday Run (10mi)

Went for a mellow, but very hilly, run before I taper for next week's half marathon.