This weekend, I'll admit, I fell off the wagon. I suspect many runners go through this sort of post-race drift. Where your body is no longer as exhausted and tender as it was the 24 hours after your race, but your mind remains in a stupor.
I ran a few times last week, but nowhere near to the schedule I had set for myself. I kept saying, "Well, another day won't hurt. I need tor est. I'll get my long run in on Saturday/Sunday and it'll be fine." The same could be said about yoga, which I skipped on Thursday. Thursday was also my wedding anniversary, so it was a convenient screen to cover up my own laziness. In the end, I went through this weekend having logged 5 measly miles, versus the 15 I had aimed for, plus the Sunday morning yoga class.
But, like I said, I think that's to be expected somewhat and I'm past the point of beating myself up over it. Instead, I chose to re-focus on this week of training. This morning I got out for my usual 4 miler, but made the rookie mistake of trying to run it hard, which was dumb. What's worse, I KNEW it was dumb as I was doing it. Yet I continued on anyway. Needless to say, I flamed out in fine fashion on the return trip up to Mt. Vernon, although my overall time was still completely fine. So, I probably won't do that again for a few months...I hope. But it felt great to get back out, and the unseasonably warm weather (it's nearly 80 here today) made the dark pre-dawn run less painful. January's runs won't be so enjoyable, I think.
Training for what, you might ask? Well, nothing quite as singular as a half marathon, although I'm going to keep my eyes out for a half sometime after the first of the year...maybe in DC, we'll see.
No, between now and December 31, I'm focusing on some shorter races interspersed throughout the holiday season. The next likely candidate is a 5K in Charleston, SC, where my family is meeting for Thanksgiving. My uncle as rented a house on the beach near Charleston, and the $30 entry fee, coupled with the proximity and flat course, should make for a good race. That's about a month away.
After that, there's a 5K up in Towson called the Man Cave 5K, that looks fun. It's partially sponsored by the Big Screen Store (sells ungodly large TVs, recliners, and obesity), so some of the door prizes include a huge TV, recliners, beer, wings, etc. I have no hope of winning an age group prize, of course...but I'd take a free new TV that would be way too big for our apartment. I've not signed up for this race yet, though. Still tentative.
I did register for the 2012 Celtic Solstice 5 Miler on December 15. It's a great local race, and the typically bitter cold weather keeps a lot of unserious runners away. Not that I'm some hard core runner, but you get fewer walkers out there when it's 8:30 AM and below freezing. You got to REALLY like to run to do that to yourself! The way the registration works is they open it up to runners who want the race premium, which is usually a really nice shirt or, in recent years, a jacket. It's nice, but they also charge $65 for the race for those folks. To each their own...those entries help keep the non-premium entry fee low for the rest of us, so who am I to complain?
However, historically you've been able to register for this race without the premium, which makes it really affordable. As in, it used to be $20 for a well-organized race with a nice post-race spread. Now, it's $30, but that's still a nice bargain for this race. As it got more popular, they instituted a waiting list for this option. Usually by mid-November, they'd open it up to the waiting list and you could register for the lower price (sans premium, obviously). I've always done this, as I just want to run the race. This year was no different; I registered for the wait list way back in August. Last Friday, they sent the first 100 people on the list an e-mail with a password to use on Active.com to register early before they opened the race up. So I went ahead and registered on Friday to secure my spot. A. has no desire to run this race due to the cold weather, so she didn't register.
Beyond that, who knows? We're spending the final week of the year in Cincinnati, so we'll probably seek out a race while we're out there as well, but that's well down the road. For now, I need to make sure I get up tomorrow and get to the gym to re-start my dormant interval training routine!
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
New Comic Wednesday!
Now that work has died down a bit, I have time to actually leave my desk during lunch and walk around, rather than staying chained up in the office all day, feverishly trying to keep my head above water.
So, I walked down to my local comic shop (~10 minute walk from my office) at lunch to pick up the new books from both this week and last that I missed. I'm going home tonight with:
A pretty good haul, for me. And we're getting close to the release of some really great new books in December and January:
December
So, I walked down to my local comic shop (~10 minute walk from my office) at lunch to pick up the new books from both this week and last that I missed. I'm going home tonight with:
- Batman #13 - The much-anticipated return of The Joker! Can't wait.
- Walking Dead #103 - After seeing a main character's head bashed to pieces, how are the survivors going to respond?
- TWD Michonne Special Issue - The back story of how Michonne became the kitana-wielding badass she is in the comics.
- Star Wars: Agent of Empire, Hard Targets #1 - Beginning a new arc that combines James Bond secret agents with Star Wars. High hopes for this one!
- Green Lantern Annual #1 - Back story on the Third Army and the coming war with the Guardians of the Galaxy. Filling in the gaps for me.
A pretty good haul, for me. And we're getting close to the release of some really great new books in December and January:
December
- Avengers #1, the new book of the iconic superhero group, is set for release on December 5.
- Blackacre #1, a post-apocalyptic story about a retired soldier sent out into the blasted wilderness for a mission, comes out on the 5th as well.
- The new Star Wars book, set between Episodes IV and V, comes out in early January.
- The re-launch of Wolverine is slated for sometime in January.
- The re-launch of New Avengers is also slated for January.
Monday, October 15, 2012
2012 Freedom's Run Half Marathon Race Report
Mission accomplished, as someone once prematurely said. But in this case, it's true. We successfully completed the Freedom's Run Half Marathon on Saturday morning, despite what I would call a very challenging course and frigid temperatures. We'll take it in chronological order. To wit:
A. and I arrived at my parents' house around 6 PM Friday night after dropping off the dog at the kennel and picking up our race packets. Our packets were really just our shirts and bibs, as all the local racing stuff didn't really apply to us, being from out of town and all. We went out to dinner at a local Italian food place, where I feasted on spaghetti and meatballs and A. had veal parmigiana. Temperatures are generally anywhere from 5 to 10 degrees cooler out in the mountains than in Baltimore, and by the time we were done dinner around 8, it was already dipping into the high 40s. The region west of DC and Baltimore was under a freeze warning that night.
When we got up around 6:30 AM the next morning, it was cold and dark...temps were hovering around freezing and nice frost had coated the lawn and fields around my parents' house. We bundled up, ate a little bit, and were on our way to Shepherdstown, WV (the starting line) by 7 AM.
The race was well organized and we easily found the starting line (Shepherdstown isn't very big, being some neighborhoods, a downtown and then Shepherd University). We donated three pairs of old running shoes to be recycled or donated, which was awesome because we'd been waiting for that opportunity to get rid of those old shoes, and checked my backpack about 10 minutes before the race began.
The field was fairly small...I'd say there were no more than 700 half marathoners. Compare that to the 11,000 who ran the Baltimore Half Marathon on Saturday! We made our way to the starting pack after a quick visit to the port-o-potties (plenty of them around, which was great), and waited in the 32 degree air. Luckily, it was crystal clear and sunny with little wind.
Just after 8:05, the horn sounded and we were off! A. and I started in the back of the small pack but we separated quickly as we settled into our race strategies. The course (see below) took us across the Potomac River, along the C&O Canal Tow Path, then up into the countryside to Antietam Battlefield National Park, through the park, then back down Sharpsburg Pike across the river back into Shepherdstown and finishing in Rams Stadium.
A. and I arrived at my parents' house around 6 PM Friday night after dropping off the dog at the kennel and picking up our race packets. Our packets were really just our shirts and bibs, as all the local racing stuff didn't really apply to us, being from out of town and all. We went out to dinner at a local Italian food place, where I feasted on spaghetti and meatballs and A. had veal parmigiana. Temperatures are generally anywhere from 5 to 10 degrees cooler out in the mountains than in Baltimore, and by the time we were done dinner around 8, it was already dipping into the high 40s. The region west of DC and Baltimore was under a freeze warning that night.
When we got up around 6:30 AM the next morning, it was cold and dark...temps were hovering around freezing and nice frost had coated the lawn and fields around my parents' house. We bundled up, ate a little bit, and were on our way to Shepherdstown, WV (the starting line) by 7 AM.
The race was well organized and we easily found the starting line (Shepherdstown isn't very big, being some neighborhoods, a downtown and then Shepherd University). We donated three pairs of old running shoes to be recycled or donated, which was awesome because we'd been waiting for that opportunity to get rid of those old shoes, and checked my backpack about 10 minutes before the race began.
The field was fairly small...I'd say there were no more than 700 half marathoners. Compare that to the 11,000 who ran the Baltimore Half Marathon on Saturday! We made our way to the starting pack after a quick visit to the port-o-potties (plenty of them around, which was great), and waited in the 32 degree air. Luckily, it was crystal clear and sunny with little wind.
Just after 8:05, the horn sounded and we were off! A. and I started in the back of the small pack but we separated quickly as we settled into our race strategies. The course (see below) took us across the Potomac River, along the C&O Canal Tow Path, then up into the countryside to Antietam Battlefield National Park, through the park, then back down Sharpsburg Pike across the river back into Shepherdstown and finishing in Rams Stadium.
The course was incredibly beautiful thanks to the brillant blue sky, bright sunshine, crisp(!) clean air, and golds, reds, browns and greens of the mountains surrounding us. As we crossed the river into Maryland, you could look down to the river and see fog rising off the water as well. Like I told A. later, this time of year always reminds me why I like coming back to my home state to visit.
I kept my pace deliberately slow the first three flat miles of the race because I knew that at mile 3, we'd hit the first of several steep hills that would destroy me if I went out too hard. The hills were the worst part of the course. The worst is the monster at mile 3 (see below), but you also hit successive hills between miles 5 through 10, climbing in elevation overall. That final climb at mile 10 was really just awful.
I resolved, as I started to climb that first monster at mile 3, to at least jog all the hills, no matter how much it hurt, and that's exactly what I did. I used the hills to pass a lot of people, although some of them would catch up to me when I stopped at two water stations to eat my gel blocks. But I can't eat and run, so there really was no other option. Most of them I ended up passing for good though in the final few miles.
By the time I was on Sharpsburg Pike coming back towards Shepherdstown, I was hurting. The gel blocks saved me, for certain, as they gave me extra fuel to make it those last several miles. And of course seeing the bridge back across the river gave me a final push to 13.1.
I knew after hitting that big hill on mile 3, that a fast time (for me) was likely not going to happen, so I wasn't too bummed about the final time of 2:17:17 (according to my watch). I didn't flame out, I ran all the hills, I followed my fueling strategy, and I didn't kill myself, so like I said at the beginning, mission accomplished.
So what's next? We'll probably do a Thanksgiving Day race as we did last year in Cincinnati. Although this year we're spending the holiday with my family, down in Charleston on the beach. There's a 5K Thanksgiving morning we'll sign up for shortly. Other than that, my immediate goals are to maintain and continue to improve my fitness with several weekday morning runs and a long run on the weekends. Ideally I'll do some shorter distances over the winter and then another half in March or April.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Ending Training on a Strong Note
With work being incredibly hectic the last week or so, I haven't had much time to sit down and craft my usual Homeric-poem-level post. But I have a lull in the storm now, so thought I'd put a few words together.
This past Sunday was the final long run before the half marathon. I had started out the week with the intention of going 12 miles, a recent high for a run. But as the week wore on, I started thinking it would make more sense, and be less onerous, to scale it back a bit and maybe do 9 miles. When Sunday rolled around, it was cold and rainy here in the East, so I didn't get out the door until nearly noon.
But it turned into a perfect running day: mid-50s, dry, cloudy with a breeze. The later start actually helped a lot, I think, because I had time to eat breakfast before heading out. I went with a wheat bagel, PB and honey, along with some water. I went with that after reading an interesting (and timely!) article in the recent Runner's World (can't find it online, for some reason) about pre-race, race and post-race nutrition. It suggests eating several hours before your race and focusing on carbs, to a degree. They suggested the bagel, so I thought I'd try it. And they cautioned against coffee, as it can lead to "distress" while on the course.
I think it really helped me, as I ate maybe 90 minutes before my run, so I had time to digest. I went out with the goal of 9 miles and running at a pace that felt slower than what I thought was reasonable. My route was down to Ft. McHenry, around the Seawall Trail and then back.
This past Sunday was the final long run before the half marathon. I had started out the week with the intention of going 12 miles, a recent high for a run. But as the week wore on, I started thinking it would make more sense, and be less onerous, to scale it back a bit and maybe do 9 miles. When Sunday rolled around, it was cold and rainy here in the East, so I didn't get out the door until nearly noon.
But it turned into a perfect running day: mid-50s, dry, cloudy with a breeze. The later start actually helped a lot, I think, because I had time to eat breakfast before heading out. I went with a wheat bagel, PB and honey, along with some water. I went with that after reading an interesting (and timely!) article in the recent Runner's World (can't find it online, for some reason) about pre-race, race and post-race nutrition. It suggests eating several hours before your race and focusing on carbs, to a degree. They suggested the bagel, so I thought I'd try it. And they cautioned against coffee, as it can lead to "distress" while on the course.
I think it really helped me, as I ate maybe 90 minutes before my run, so I had time to digest. I went out with the goal of 9 miles and running at a pace that felt slower than what I thought was reasonable. My route was down to Ft. McHenry, around the Seawall Trail and then back.
By the time I got to the fort, my legs still felt really fresh. I thought, "you know, I bet I could go 10 instead of nine." That's only an extra loop around the fort, give or take. I ate four gel blocks after the first loop around the fort, along with some water, although the foolish part of my mind was saying I didn't feel like I needed them. But the rational part of me knew I was lucky to feel that way now; that by the time I got back into Federal Hill, I'd be bonking if I didn't get those new carbs in my system now. And, the Tropical Punch flavor tastes like Gushers, so it was like I was in 4th grade again. The second loop felt fine, and I was keeping a good handle on my tempo, focusing on going slow so I could run the whole time and not walk, other than stopping at the water fountain.
Another lap around and back through Fed Hill and my legs actually felt stronger and less tired than when I had started out. By the time I got back up Calvert Street, I was feeling it, because that's basically a mile and a half uphill climb, but I wasn't cooked or anything.
Basically, it was a solid long run and by the time I stopped, at about 10.4 miles, I felt confident that, had that been the half, I could have gone 13.1 without too much trouble. I was glad to get such a strong end to my long run training...I'm hoping that translates well to next Saturday. What was also encouraging was that after the run, my legs didn't feel as trashed as they have in the past. Maybe that's a combination of the deliberately slower pace and cooler weather, but I'd like to think having enough fuel from the breakfast and gels and sodium from the GU drink helped things as well. Overall, I just felt less beaten up after this run than in weeks past...maybe my body is finally adapting to the longer mileage?
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
The Half Marathon Approaches...
This past weekend was the second to last weekend before the Freedom's Run Half Marathon and I was slated to complete an 11 miler for my long run. I've had to be pretty aggressive with my mileage ramp up the last six weeks or so, as I procrastinated too much back in July and cut my plan short on the back end as a result. I would have liked to have had a couple extra weeks to get a handful of 10 and 11 milers in and then have hit 12 miles this past weekend before "tapering" somewhat in the final weekend.
But, my laziness made that an impossibility, so I've had to add a mile per week to my long runs. The rule of thumb is to add no more than 10% of your total mileage to your long run per week, and back in August, that limit was definitely exceeded as I tried to get beyond the 6 and 7 mile range. It hasn't been optimal, but I've avoided any serious injury like runners knee or the like. The worst I've had thus far are some minor tweaks early on. But since I started practicing yoga, those aches and tweaks have started to disappear, which is great.
Anyway, the 11 miler went as expected. It was tough, as my legs are trying to adapt to mileage that is growing a little too fast. I again went with the GU tabs. This time I had four gel blocks after about an hour and then the last two about 20 minutes later and that seemed to work well. My legs were really aching going into the 7th mile, just like the previous week, but the four gel blocks gave them new life and the additional two blocks made them feel almost fresh going into those final few miles.
Because I was going far this time out, instead of wearing my simple Timex wristwatch, I charged up and took my old Garmin Forerunner 305 that my parents got for me way back in '07 when I first got seriously into running. I mapped my run on Running Ahead, as always, and it came out to 11 miles. But the Forerunner said I ended up running just 10 miles, for some reason. I did go off course at different places, but not 1 mile's worth, to be sure. It was hard not to go off course around Patterson Park, given my relative unfamiliarity with those smaller streets. Check it out:
But, the reason I generally stopped using the Garmin in the first place is that it tended to lose its satellite signal when I was running through downtown Baltimore due to the skyscrapers. So, I'd get wacky pacing and elevation data for portions of my run. And even then, sometimes it would lose contact and not reestablish until I was well out of downtown, which may have happened here. I haven't installed the Garmin software on our new PC, so I can't go back and compare.
Nonetheless, I know I ran 11 miles, no matter what my Garmin might insist.
This weekend I originally thought I would try to hit 12 miles, but now I'm wondering if I should bring it back to 8 or 9 to "taper" in a limited fashion and not exhaust my legs less than a week before the race. We'll see how I feel as the week goes on. It'll probably be a game time decision on Sunday morning.
In other running news, looking at my monthly totals since I got back to really trying to consistently run, my distance is increasing nicely. July 2012, the first full month of getting back, I ran just 38 paltry miles (see discussion about my laziness and its impact on my training program now, above). August saw a nice improvement to 49.3 miles. But the real success was September, when both my required distance and motivation increased. Last month I logged 74.5 miles on the roads, which is very encouraging
But, my laziness made that an impossibility, so I've had to add a mile per week to my long runs. The rule of thumb is to add no more than 10% of your total mileage to your long run per week, and back in August, that limit was definitely exceeded as I tried to get beyond the 6 and 7 mile range. It hasn't been optimal, but I've avoided any serious injury like runners knee or the like. The worst I've had thus far are some minor tweaks early on. But since I started practicing yoga, those aches and tweaks have started to disappear, which is great.
Anyway, the 11 miler went as expected. It was tough, as my legs are trying to adapt to mileage that is growing a little too fast. I again went with the GU tabs. This time I had four gel blocks after about an hour and then the last two about 20 minutes later and that seemed to work well. My legs were really aching going into the 7th mile, just like the previous week, but the four gel blocks gave them new life and the additional two blocks made them feel almost fresh going into those final few miles.
Because I was going far this time out, instead of wearing my simple Timex wristwatch, I charged up and took my old Garmin Forerunner 305 that my parents got for me way back in '07 when I first got seriously into running. I mapped my run on Running Ahead, as always, and it came out to 11 miles. But the Forerunner said I ended up running just 10 miles, for some reason. I did go off course at different places, but not 1 mile's worth, to be sure. It was hard not to go off course around Patterson Park, given my relative unfamiliarity with those smaller streets. Check it out:
But, the reason I generally stopped using the Garmin in the first place is that it tended to lose its satellite signal when I was running through downtown Baltimore due to the skyscrapers. So, I'd get wacky pacing and elevation data for portions of my run. And even then, sometimes it would lose contact and not reestablish until I was well out of downtown, which may have happened here. I haven't installed the Garmin software on our new PC, so I can't go back and compare.
Nonetheless, I know I ran 11 miles, no matter what my Garmin might insist.
This weekend I originally thought I would try to hit 12 miles, but now I'm wondering if I should bring it back to 8 or 9 to "taper" in a limited fashion and not exhaust my legs less than a week before the race. We'll see how I feel as the week goes on. It'll probably be a game time decision on Sunday morning.
In other running news, looking at my monthly totals since I got back to really trying to consistently run, my distance is increasing nicely. July 2012, the first full month of getting back, I ran just 38 paltry miles (see discussion about my laziness and its impact on my training program now, above). August saw a nice improvement to 49.3 miles. But the real success was September, when both my required distance and motivation increased. Last month I logged 74.5 miles on the roads, which is very encouraging
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
New Yorker Article on Running (Really!)
Short post today. There are no new comics out this week that I'm looking to pick up, although I because I spent all day Saturday setting up our new desktop computer, I never made it to Alliance Comics. So, I'm hoping to make it down there this weekend at some point.
However, I will call your attention to an article from The New Yorker that ran a few weeks back. I've been meaning to post about it since then, but have either forgotten about it, or had other things I wanted to post first. The article discusses a middle-aged dentist and runner from Michigan, Kip Litton, who's become infamous over the last several years for running improbably fast marathon times around the country. As in, breaking three hours routinely and winning his age group. I say improbable because Litton nearly always starts his races well behind the starting gun (i.e. his chip time is much lower than the gun time because he doesn't start the race until the majority of runners have already started ahead of him). Couple that with statements from several age-group runners up, who said they never saw Litton along the course, nor were ever passed by him, and you have a small controversy brewing.
The article is fascinating because it not only delves into the evidence against Litton, but talks about his possible motivations. The author manages, after several tries, to interview Litton at a Wendy's in his hometown, and his responses deepen the mystery. It's a long article, but you'll get sucked in to it, I promise.
Is Kip Litton a Marathon Fraud? - by Mark Singer of The New Yorker
However, I will call your attention to an article from The New Yorker that ran a few weeks back. I've been meaning to post about it since then, but have either forgotten about it, or had other things I wanted to post first. The article discusses a middle-aged dentist and runner from Michigan, Kip Litton, who's become infamous over the last several years for running improbably fast marathon times around the country. As in, breaking three hours routinely and winning his age group. I say improbable because Litton nearly always starts his races well behind the starting gun (i.e. his chip time is much lower than the gun time because he doesn't start the race until the majority of runners have already started ahead of him). Couple that with statements from several age-group runners up, who said they never saw Litton along the course, nor were ever passed by him, and you have a small controversy brewing.
The article is fascinating because it not only delves into the evidence against Litton, but talks about his possible motivations. The author manages, after several tries, to interview Litton at a Wendy's in his hometown, and his responses deepen the mystery. It's a long article, but you'll get sucked in to it, I promise.
Is Kip Litton a Marathon Fraud? - by Mark Singer of The New Yorker
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Double Digits
This weekend marked the first time in a long time that my weekly long run reached double digit miles. A. and I both completed 10 milers this weekend out on the NCR Trail and it felt good to realize that although I'm not setting any land speed records, my body can handle the distance.
The run was about as good as I could have hoped. My goal was to keep to a roughly 10:00/mile pace and I got within a few seconds of that. Although I felt like my first 5 miles were slower than my second half. But that too was by design...I was afraid of going out too fast and then flaming out before I made it back to the car.
We both went five miles north and then turned around and came back to the parking lot at the trailhead we chose. The parking lot was already full when we got there around 9:30, so we had to park on the shoulder. But the trail was not that crowded with bikers and runners and walkers spaced out. In fact, once you got about 3 miles in, between parking areas, it was generally empty.
So I was able to keep a decently steady pace throughout and with the nice, dry weather, I wasn't laboring that badly. This week I tried out the GU sports drink tabs (one tablet in 16 ounces of water), and decided to eat 4 gel blocks rather than the three I did last week. The drink worked out well, although it's a little more bitter than the homemade Gatorade powder mix. Which is saying a lot because the powder doesn't have the extra sugar you get when you buy Gatorade (or any sports drink) in liquid form at the convenience store. The taste wasn't terrible though, as I like a slightly more bitter taste; too sugary and my stomach hurts. And it was definitely superior to just drinking water. I just had water last weekend for the 9 miler and despite the gels I still felt sluggish from the lack of salts as the run wore on. Sunday, I felt better, especially in those final few miles. Going with four blocks was also a good decision, as it gave me a little more energy to finish the run.
The biggest challenge of the run was simply the pounding my legs took over the ~100 minutes. This is something that I think will get better, but never really go away. I focused on maintaining something akin to decent running form throughout the run, which I think helped. But my legs definitely started to tire by around mile 6 or 7. By mile 8, they were hurting and by the end, I was in straight up pain. Few things felt better than sitting down on a bench after finishing the run.
The good news was that while I was sore the rest of the day, the aches and tired leg feeling were both gone by yesterday morning. No lingering pain of any sort, even after walking to and from work yesterday. This weekend is 11 miles, so the ramp up continues.
The run was about as good as I could have hoped. My goal was to keep to a roughly 10:00/mile pace and I got within a few seconds of that. Although I felt like my first 5 miles were slower than my second half. But that too was by design...I was afraid of going out too fast and then flaming out before I made it back to the car.
We both went five miles north and then turned around and came back to the parking lot at the trailhead we chose. The parking lot was already full when we got there around 9:30, so we had to park on the shoulder. But the trail was not that crowded with bikers and runners and walkers spaced out. In fact, once you got about 3 miles in, between parking areas, it was generally empty.
So I was able to keep a decently steady pace throughout and with the nice, dry weather, I wasn't laboring that badly. This week I tried out the GU sports drink tabs (one tablet in 16 ounces of water), and decided to eat 4 gel blocks rather than the three I did last week. The drink worked out well, although it's a little more bitter than the homemade Gatorade powder mix. Which is saying a lot because the powder doesn't have the extra sugar you get when you buy Gatorade (or any sports drink) in liquid form at the convenience store. The taste wasn't terrible though, as I like a slightly more bitter taste; too sugary and my stomach hurts. And it was definitely superior to just drinking water. I just had water last weekend for the 9 miler and despite the gels I still felt sluggish from the lack of salts as the run wore on. Sunday, I felt better, especially in those final few miles. Going with four blocks was also a good decision, as it gave me a little more energy to finish the run.
The biggest challenge of the run was simply the pounding my legs took over the ~100 minutes. This is something that I think will get better, but never really go away. I focused on maintaining something akin to decent running form throughout the run, which I think helped. But my legs definitely started to tire by around mile 6 or 7. By mile 8, they were hurting and by the end, I was in straight up pain. Few things felt better than sitting down on a bench after finishing the run.
The good news was that while I was sore the rest of the day, the aches and tired leg feeling were both gone by yesterday morning. No lingering pain of any sort, even after walking to and from work yesterday. This weekend is 11 miles, so the ramp up continues.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Bagging the 15K & New Comic Wednesday (Belated)
After some thought, I've decided to bag the Falls Road 15K next Sunday for a few reasons. To wit:
- We haven't registered yet. So, not running the race won't cost us anything. Not the most important reason, but saving $60 on a race we don't want to run is non-trivial.
- Both our training plans call for long runs greater than 9.3 miles (15K) next Sunday. A.'s plan calls for 10 miles, while I will try to drag myself 11 miles. So, we'd have had to run a good distance farther than the actual race.
- No course map had been posted to the race's Active.com website. That meant that we had no idea what the course would be ahead of time. Not the end of the world, but if you're trying to plan to run an additional mile or more after the race, you need to know where the finish line is.
- Our experience with these sorts of events is that they're typically not well organized beyond registration. The course may or may not be clearly marked and accurately measured. There will be water stations, but no way of knowing where (at what distance) on the course. While the fast runners will be at the front, no doubt, so will a bunch of slow joggers and walkers. Without clear instructions to pull their head out and get in the back of the pack, they'll block the other runners behind them.
*************************
Obviously, today is not New Comic Wednesday. But yesterday was busy and I basically forgot to post, so there you go. Before getting to what I plan on purchasing this weekend, let me very quickly recap what I picked up last Saturday.
Manhattan Projects #6 - "Star City"
Image Comics
I haven't read this yet (probably tonight), but I was disappointed that this book got pushed back throughout August. As a result, they didn't release a MP book in August, so it feels like forever since I read it. I'm going to have to skim back through issue #5 to refresh my memory. But the book is outstanding, and I'm hoping the delays don't recur for #7 in October.
Batman #0
DC Comics
Like all the other "zero issues" coming out this month, this book puts a new spin on the origins of Batman. But what I most like is that you get to see bits and pieces of how other characters from the other Bat-books came to be. I very much liked that you were seeing the Bat-universe in its earlier stages; like the real universe maybe a half billion years after the Big Bang. I also really like the taste you get of the Red Hood Gang, given where the overall story is going in the book.**
Green Lantern #0
DC Comics
This zero issue got rave reviews all around, and I was intrigued by the first Arab American Lantern. The story is crisp; it moves along really well and I reached the end before I knew it. I'll have to go back and re-read it, no doubt. Simon Baz's character is going to be very interesting; I like that Green Lanterns aren't perfect when they're chosen and have to "grow into" the role, often the hard way. I'll definitely be picking up Green Lantern #13.
Star Wars: Blood Ties #1
Dark Horse Comics
This five-part series came out back in 2010, but I'm on a Star Wars comic collecting stint now, and found this at my local shop for $1.00. It's a good start to the series, and I'd say Boba Fett is one of my top Star Wars characters (I'm an Obi Wan man, myself). I'll be keeping my eyes open for the other four issues of this, of course, along with other series. I'm using this to get pumped for the Brian Wood Star Wars book coming out in January.
So this week, Alliance Comics is having their anniversary sale, and with A. gone all day Saturday at a rehearsal, I plan on going down and checking out what they've got. But I have two must-haves as well:
- Walking Dead #102
- Star Wars: Darth Vader and the Ghost Prison, Part 5 of 5
In addition, I'll rifle through their back issues a little more and see if I can turn up any other Star Wars books (at $1.00 each, it's not a huge hit to swoop in and get a bunch). If the price is right, I'd like to pick up Batman: Knightfall or Arkham Asylum or The Dark Knight Returns graphic novels.
**My sleeper prediction for the new story arc is that The Joker used to be the leader of the Red Hood Gang. He and Batman face off during some robbery at a chemical plant, the Red Hood leader gets knocked into a vat of chemicals by Batman, thus creating The Joker. You heard it here first.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Weekend Running Review
Another weekend has come and gone well before its time, and that means I'm writing this from my desk on a Monday morning. Don't worry, I'm multitasking and writing this while I run a series of reports and chip away at a long term project, so I'm being doubly productive.
Going into the weekend, our plan had been to get up early on either Saturday or Sunday morning and do our respective long runs on the NCR Trail. Because the trail is a popular weekend destination, and because the weather here in Baltimore has been excellent the last week or so, we would have to be up there early (as in, pre-8AM) to avoid parking on the shoulder and walking to the trail versus snagging a space in the lot at the trailhead. Not to mention that the trail gets more congested as the day progresses.
We decided to try for Sunday morning, as we both ran Friday morning and wanted a day between that and the long run. Unfortunately, we were up late Saturday night attending a gala concert for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, so we totally slept through the 7AM alarm on Sunday morning. So, I ended up doing my 9 miler around town instead, as I had other errands to run later in the morning.
My route (map and elevation chart are below) took me from our neighborhood out to Ft. McHenry and back, a route I hadn't run in quite some time. Unfortunately, I ran into some "intestinal distress" about 2 miles into the run, which made for an increasingly uncomfortable/painful run as the miles ticked by. By the time I was coming back from the fort, it was wearing on me for sure, and there are few places to make a pit stop along that route. I foolishly passed up the only McDonald's along the way, and every place else they generally expect you to be a paying customer in order to use the facilities. Unfortunately, I didn't bring any cash or a debit card along, so that option was out of the question.
The other notable development with this run was the beginnings of my fueling strategy. On Saturday morning, we drove up to our nearest REI and stocked up on gels and the like. A. wanted to try the GU Espresso-flavored gels, while I needed to get some shot blocks. We were able to find everything we were looking for and even got a "bulk discount" for buying a dozen different energy items.
We picked up a few of the espresso gels (which A tried and liked a lot), some Power Bars, a half dozen Clif shot block packets, and a tube of recovery drink tablets. I thought I'd try them as a possible alternative to my homemade Gatorade. If they seem to provide better in-running hydration, I may switch. But if not, it's definitely more economical to just mix up my own stuff at home.
But yesterday I just used the shot blocks (tropical punch flavor), and was pleased. Counting yesterday, I have four long runs remaining between now and the half marathon. So, I started yesterday by just eating the minimum recommended (3 blocks). They tasted like fruit snacks (think Gushers or the like), and about 10 minutes after eating them, I felt less tired, particularly in my legs. I think I could have eaten one or even two more and felt better, but I don't want to eat all six and then feel sick. But overall, sticking with three or four blocks midway through the race should be fine. Next week, I'll use the GU tablets and see how that goes.
Going into the weekend, our plan had been to get up early on either Saturday or Sunday morning and do our respective long runs on the NCR Trail. Because the trail is a popular weekend destination, and because the weather here in Baltimore has been excellent the last week or so, we would have to be up there early (as in, pre-8AM) to avoid parking on the shoulder and walking to the trail versus snagging a space in the lot at the trailhead. Not to mention that the trail gets more congested as the day progresses.
We decided to try for Sunday morning, as we both ran Friday morning and wanted a day between that and the long run. Unfortunately, we were up late Saturday night attending a gala concert for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, so we totally slept through the 7AM alarm on Sunday morning. So, I ended up doing my 9 miler around town instead, as I had other errands to run later in the morning.
My route (map and elevation chart are below) took me from our neighborhood out to Ft. McHenry and back, a route I hadn't run in quite some time. Unfortunately, I ran into some "intestinal distress" about 2 miles into the run, which made for an increasingly uncomfortable/painful run as the miles ticked by. By the time I was coming back from the fort, it was wearing on me for sure, and there are few places to make a pit stop along that route. I foolishly passed up the only McDonald's along the way, and every place else they generally expect you to be a paying customer in order to use the facilities. Unfortunately, I didn't bring any cash or a debit card along, so that option was out of the question.
The other notable development with this run was the beginnings of my fueling strategy. On Saturday morning, we drove up to our nearest REI and stocked up on gels and the like. A. wanted to try the GU Espresso-flavored gels, while I needed to get some shot blocks. We were able to find everything we were looking for and even got a "bulk discount" for buying a dozen different energy items.
We picked up a few of the espresso gels (which A tried and liked a lot), some Power Bars, a half dozen Clif shot block packets, and a tube of recovery drink tablets. I thought I'd try them as a possible alternative to my homemade Gatorade. If they seem to provide better in-running hydration, I may switch. But if not, it's definitely more economical to just mix up my own stuff at home.
But yesterday I just used the shot blocks (tropical punch flavor), and was pleased. Counting yesterday, I have four long runs remaining between now and the half marathon. So, I started yesterday by just eating the minimum recommended (3 blocks). They tasted like fruit snacks (think Gushers or the like), and about 10 minutes after eating them, I felt less tired, particularly in my legs. I think I could have eaten one or even two more and felt better, but I don't want to eat all six and then feel sick. But overall, sticking with three or four blocks midway through the race should be fine. Next week, I'll use the GU tablets and see how that goes.
We're going to try to make it out to the trail this weekend. I'm thinking on Saturday morning, since we may go to the Maryland Renaissance Festival on Sunday, and the last thing I want to do is run 10 miles and then spend another half day on my feet. I want to be able to enjoy my turkey leg, mug of ale and time in ye olde tymes!
Thursday, September 13, 2012
2012 Blue Moon Run Race Report
Our local running store, Falls Road Running, runs a series of races throughout the year and the Blue Moon Run is one of those events. Of course, they only hold it every few years, given the rarity of a blue moon. In fact, I think after this one, the next blue moon won't come around until 2015. At any rate, this was my first time running this race. It, like many of the other Falls Road Running races, was pretty informal, although you did have to register. But there were no race bibs, so I'm certain there were numerous people who ran it who didn't pay the affordable $15 registration fee, most of which went to restoring parts of the trail.
The race was a simple out and back route along the North Central Rail Trail and was billed as being six miles total. That was perfect for both A. and me, as we were looking for a six mile long run for that weekend. Since the run was being held at night (under the blue moon, obvi), I really wasn't worried about getting a solid time. I just thought it would be cool running at night.
So we headed out to Hunt Valley, MD, which is about a 25 minute drive from our apartment in Baltimore City, parked and got on the shuttles taking runners to the trailhead, as the parking lot there was too small. I thought there'd be maybe a few hundred runners doing the race. I was wrong. I heard a final tally of over 700 runners! On a trail about 7-8 feet wide. And on an out and back route, which meant two-way traffic. But we got our glow sticks and waited for word from organizers about where and how to line up.
As I said, Falls Road Running events tend to be informal, and much of the time that's fine, as a.) you're running in the daylight and b.) the course can handle the number of runners. Neither was true this time, unfortunately. Nobody made any announcements, although at one point I did see someone with a bullhorn saying something, but it was so garbled nobody paid any attention. People just started lining up on the trail at some point, so we did too. Then suddenly, the pack lurched forward and we went with it, thinking the race had begun. It had...but with walkers up front blocking the trail, traffic backed up quickly.
Much of the first half of the race was stopping and starting and darting around joggers and walkers walking two or even three abreast blocking the trail. Much of the time, I just ran in the grass/bushes on the side to get around them, hoping I wouldn't step on a log or a rock or a turtle. A. and I ran together at the beginning, but I moved ahead after a few moments. But she reported the same frustrations as I had. By the time we turned around, runners were better spaced out, but I still dodged and passed people on my way back who by that time were walking. And I am by no means a speedy runner.
My run overall was good, but tough. After the first two miles, I was able to find some people to draft to pace me a bit so I could find a comfortable level of effort, and that carried me to the turnaround. Unfortunately, the turnaround was not really at 3 miles, but more like 3.5 miles. Which made a six mile run a seven mile run. Not a huge deal if you're already hitting 7 miles or more regularly, but we weren't at that point, so the miles coming back were rougher. Plus it was frustrating because with the darkness, there was no way to gauge where you were on the trail or identify many landmarks. Lighted mile markers (Just a stick with a number and some glow sticks) would have been a great addition.
Making it more burdensome was the humidity. While the temperatures cooled significantly out in the country, the humidity did us in. By the time the race began, temps were well into the 70s, which was an improvement considering that temps in downtown Baltimore that day had risen above 90. But the quick cool down caused fog/mist to form and that humidity got trapped beneath the trees on the trail. It made the trail much more humid than it otherwise would have been, although seeing the moonlight come through the trees and refract off the mist hovering above the tall grass was really cool; like something out of a ghost story. I was soaked through, as if I had been running through the rain, by the time I got to the finish.
Because of the dodging and weaving, and the extra mile (literally!) that I went, my time was north of an hour. But again, I knew going in that running at night with 700 other runners would not yield a PR, and I was fine with that. But the lack of organization at the trailhead created a lot of problems, I felt. Surely someone had to raise a concern about putting 700 people on that trail at the same time without any organization by speed or ability? Capping the race at 500 runners, and organizing them into several waves (fastest to walkers) might have at least made the congestion less acute. And at night, the lack of communication and organization is amplified. Remember, out on the trail, there are no lights at all, so it's pitch black save for the moonlight and glow sticks. You can't assume people will know where to go or what to do; you need to tell them. Apparently, somewhere afterward there was Gatorade, bananas, an granola bars, but we had no way to know that because there were no (lighted) signs or people telling runners about it. So we got on the shuttle thirsty and hungry, only to find some runners get on with snacks. Frustrating.
So, overall, the idea of running on a trail at night is better than the reality. We likely won't do that race again, although with proper planning and communication, it could be a very cool and unique event. As it stands, it was a near free for all with an improperly measured course and little organization beyond the shuttle buses (which ran relatively smoothly!).
The race was a simple out and back route along the North Central Rail Trail and was billed as being six miles total. That was perfect for both A. and me, as we were looking for a six mile long run for that weekend. Since the run was being held at night (under the blue moon, obvi), I really wasn't worried about getting a solid time. I just thought it would be cool running at night.
So we headed out to Hunt Valley, MD, which is about a 25 minute drive from our apartment in Baltimore City, parked and got on the shuttles taking runners to the trailhead, as the parking lot there was too small. I thought there'd be maybe a few hundred runners doing the race. I was wrong. I heard a final tally of over 700 runners! On a trail about 7-8 feet wide. And on an out and back route, which meant two-way traffic. But we got our glow sticks and waited for word from organizers about where and how to line up.
As I said, Falls Road Running events tend to be informal, and much of the time that's fine, as a.) you're running in the daylight and b.) the course can handle the number of runners. Neither was true this time, unfortunately. Nobody made any announcements, although at one point I did see someone with a bullhorn saying something, but it was so garbled nobody paid any attention. People just started lining up on the trail at some point, so we did too. Then suddenly, the pack lurched forward and we went with it, thinking the race had begun. It had...but with walkers up front blocking the trail, traffic backed up quickly.
Much of the first half of the race was stopping and starting and darting around joggers and walkers walking two or even three abreast blocking the trail. Much of the time, I just ran in the grass/bushes on the side to get around them, hoping I wouldn't step on a log or a rock or a turtle. A. and I ran together at the beginning, but I moved ahead after a few moments. But she reported the same frustrations as I had. By the time we turned around, runners were better spaced out, but I still dodged and passed people on my way back who by that time were walking. And I am by no means a speedy runner.
My run overall was good, but tough. After the first two miles, I was able to find some people to draft to pace me a bit so I could find a comfortable level of effort, and that carried me to the turnaround. Unfortunately, the turnaround was not really at 3 miles, but more like 3.5 miles. Which made a six mile run a seven mile run. Not a huge deal if you're already hitting 7 miles or more regularly, but we weren't at that point, so the miles coming back were rougher. Plus it was frustrating because with the darkness, there was no way to gauge where you were on the trail or identify many landmarks. Lighted mile markers (Just a stick with a number and some glow sticks) would have been a great addition.
Making it more burdensome was the humidity. While the temperatures cooled significantly out in the country, the humidity did us in. By the time the race began, temps were well into the 70s, which was an improvement considering that temps in downtown Baltimore that day had risen above 90. But the quick cool down caused fog/mist to form and that humidity got trapped beneath the trees on the trail. It made the trail much more humid than it otherwise would have been, although seeing the moonlight come through the trees and refract off the mist hovering above the tall grass was really cool; like something out of a ghost story. I was soaked through, as if I had been running through the rain, by the time I got to the finish.
Because of the dodging and weaving, and the extra mile (literally!) that I went, my time was north of an hour. But again, I knew going in that running at night with 700 other runners would not yield a PR, and I was fine with that. But the lack of organization at the trailhead created a lot of problems, I felt. Surely someone had to raise a concern about putting 700 people on that trail at the same time without any organization by speed or ability? Capping the race at 500 runners, and organizing them into several waves (fastest to walkers) might have at least made the congestion less acute. And at night, the lack of communication and organization is amplified. Remember, out on the trail, there are no lights at all, so it's pitch black save for the moonlight and glow sticks. You can't assume people will know where to go or what to do; you need to tell them. Apparently, somewhere afterward there was Gatorade, bananas, an granola bars, but we had no way to know that because there were no (lighted) signs or people telling runners about it. So we got on the shuttle thirsty and hungry, only to find some runners get on with snacks. Frustrating.
So, overall, the idea of running on a trail at night is better than the reality. We likely won't do that race again, although with proper planning and communication, it could be a very cool and unique event. As it stands, it was a near free for all with an improperly measured course and little organization beyond the shuttle buses (which ran relatively smoothly!).
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
End of Crazy Two Weeks
Ed.: I totally forgot about the Blue Moon Run back on the 31st. Mainly because we left town the next morning for a wedding in DC. I'll make my next post a race report. Promise.
By today, the craziness of the last two weeks or so will, with any luck, abate somewhat, and allow me to breathe a bit. I've essentially been doing three jobs (mine, and two other guys who have been on vacation or who have left our group) since last week, which doesn't sound all that hard. But I was in the office only two days last week, which meant I was doing five days' worth of work in two. Multiply that by three jobs and you see why the posting has been sporadic. Truth be told, I spend a little time at the office taking a break and writing posts, so that spare time was the first to go when things picked up. It was hectic, to say the least, and I was thrilled when the weekend arrived and we got out of town for a few days.
But, that hasn't really impacted my training, for the most part. We were in DC for a wedding for Labor Day weekend and I was able to get my 7 miler in before the ceremony. It was really humid that weekend, which made the run very tough going, much less the outdoor wedding ceremony later that afternoon. But it was a scenic run down the Rock Creek Park Trail, to the Lincoln Memorial and back again.
We spent this past weekend at The Homestead resort in Hot Springs, VA. It's an old resort out in the mountains that's all about old-school Southern luxury and it was really nice. We had planned to go canoeing on Saturday, but it was rainy much of the day, which actually worked out better. A. and I both went to the fitness center and did our long runs instead. I generally hate doing long runs on a treadmill, but there really wasn't any other option. The resort is literally off a state road in the mountains of southern Virginia, so there are no sidewalks to speak of. And the trails, while beautiful, are steep and not ideal for a slow 8 mile run. For instance, we hiked to the top of a mountain hill overlooking the resort on Friday evening after we arrived. I'll post our pictures from the hike later, as they're on our desktop at home.
So, the treadmill it was. But I got it done without too much trouble, and am on track to hit a nine miler this weekend. And afterward, we changed and relaxed in the heated indoor pool while it rained and temps dropped into the high 50s outside. Then we hit afternoon tea (free hot or iced tea, sandwiches and sweets!) and then went back to the room and chilled until dinner. So, not a bad way to spend a Saturday.
The weather here in Baltimore has broken, at least for the time being, and temps are barely reaching 80 with reasonable humidity. A. wants to go up to the NCR Trail this weekend to do our long runs, so the weather should be ideal for that. We're done traveling for a bit, which is good because we've spent the past three weekends out of town and I'm ready for a weekend at home, frankly.
By today, the craziness of the last two weeks or so will, with any luck, abate somewhat, and allow me to breathe a bit. I've essentially been doing three jobs (mine, and two other guys who have been on vacation or who have left our group) since last week, which doesn't sound all that hard. But I was in the office only two days last week, which meant I was doing five days' worth of work in two. Multiply that by three jobs and you see why the posting has been sporadic. Truth be told, I spend a little time at the office taking a break and writing posts, so that spare time was the first to go when things picked up. It was hectic, to say the least, and I was thrilled when the weekend arrived and we got out of town for a few days.
But, that hasn't really impacted my training, for the most part. We were in DC for a wedding for Labor Day weekend and I was able to get my 7 miler in before the ceremony. It was really humid that weekend, which made the run very tough going, much less the outdoor wedding ceremony later that afternoon. But it was a scenic run down the Rock Creek Park Trail, to the Lincoln Memorial and back again.
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| Red balloon marks the start and end points |
So, the treadmill it was. But I got it done without too much trouble, and am on track to hit a nine miler this weekend. And afterward, we changed and relaxed in the heated indoor pool while it rained and temps dropped into the high 50s outside. Then we hit afternoon tea (free hot or iced tea, sandwiches and sweets!) and then went back to the room and chilled until dinner. So, not a bad way to spend a Saturday.
The weather here in Baltimore has broken, at least for the time being, and temps are barely reaching 80 with reasonable humidity. A. wants to go up to the NCR Trail this weekend to do our long runs, so the weather should be ideal for that. We're done traveling for a bit, which is good because we've spent the past three weekends out of town and I'm ready for a weekend at home, frankly.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Incommunicado
I don't even know if that's how you spell that, but I'll let it stand.
So, it's been what, a week or so since I posted last? Too long and that's more a product of being busy than slacking off. Work has generally been hit and miss, but I've been working steadily on some long term projects that have taken up more time than I thought, and I've gotten a few other items of more urgency added to my plate as well.
Plus, we spent a long weekend in the Midwest with the in-laws, so I really didn't have any opportunity to write anything from Thursday night through Monday. And I failed to pack my motivation to run, so you'll notice a nice four day gap in my training there as well.
Nothing very mind-blowing to report on the running front. I'm still mostly on track with my training for the half marathon and have a 7 miler planned for this Sunday, even though we'll be in DC for a wedding for the weekend. I'll post that route and elevation on Monday after we get back. I'm hoping I won't get off track with this run like I did with my run back in July. I'll be running mostly on Rock Creek Park Trail, so it'll be more difficult to go off the path this time around.
I have made good strides with my cross training, however. I started going to yoga classes at our nearby studio. My wife has gone for more than a year and has really liked it. Plus, she got me a free one-month membership for $15 (they normally want $99 a month!) to try it out, so I thought, why not? I can go to unlimited classes until September 15 and have gone to three thus far. And I have to admit that I really like it. It's pretty difficult for me, mainly because I'm about as flexible as a piece of steel. But also because I've never done (practiced?) yoga before. But, I've stuck to the beginners courses and have improved each time.
The challenge of the stretches and poses, mixed with the focus on relaxation of your mind and body appeal to me, I guess. At this point, of course, I'm just trying to make it through the class without falling over like an oaf, but I think as one practices more, you go beyond trying to physically do it and begin to focus on the mental aspects of yoga. Certainly, your improved strength and flexibility play a part in that as well.
As it stands, I sweat more in yoga class than I do while running (unless it's exceptionally hot out when I'm running, which is rare)! In fact, the only time I've sweat more was when I played squash in prep school and college. I went to a class last night and was dripping, literally, by like 20 minutes in. I weighed myself before and after class and found that I lost 3 pounds in 75 minutes! And this was not a "hot yoga" class! But, I drank a liter of water afterwards and felt really fine. Fine enough to head out for an easy run this morning.
I'm going to try to go twice per week until my month trial expires. After that, I plan on going at least once per week to the community classes they offer. The community classes are taught by the same instructors, but they're much cheaper. So, a monthly membership is $99, which is pretty high. We already spend $70 per month on the gym (that's for each of us...they don't have a family membership option, to my chagrin). Spending another $200 a month is a lot to ask, even though we both very much enjoy yoga. If you pay per class, it's $16. The community classes, however, are a cool $6 (cash only), which is much more reasonable. We can each go once per week and spend about $50 a month, which is a bargain.
Ideally, I'd like to go twice per week, but the community class schedule doesn't really fit my schedule wherein I could attend two classes per week, and I can find other things to use that ~$25 per month on anyway. So, I'm going to look into getting some sort of DVD program.
So, we'll see how it goes. I'll give it a few more weeks before I make any final pronouncements about yoga's ability to relax my muscles and mind and improve my flexibility, although I have felt great after all three classes. Even after the first class, which was painful and made me sore the next day, I felt good and slept like a baby.
So, it's been what, a week or so since I posted last? Too long and that's more a product of being busy than slacking off. Work has generally been hit and miss, but I've been working steadily on some long term projects that have taken up more time than I thought, and I've gotten a few other items of more urgency added to my plate as well.
Plus, we spent a long weekend in the Midwest with the in-laws, so I really didn't have any opportunity to write anything from Thursday night through Monday. And I failed to pack my motivation to run, so you'll notice a nice four day gap in my training there as well.
Nothing very mind-blowing to report on the running front. I'm still mostly on track with my training for the half marathon and have a 7 miler planned for this Sunday, even though we'll be in DC for a wedding for the weekend. I'll post that route and elevation on Monday after we get back. I'm hoping I won't get off track with this run like I did with my run back in July. I'll be running mostly on Rock Creek Park Trail, so it'll be more difficult to go off the path this time around.
I have made good strides with my cross training, however. I started going to yoga classes at our nearby studio. My wife has gone for more than a year and has really liked it. Plus, she got me a free one-month membership for $15 (they normally want $99 a month!) to try it out, so I thought, why not? I can go to unlimited classes until September 15 and have gone to three thus far. And I have to admit that I really like it. It's pretty difficult for me, mainly because I'm about as flexible as a piece of steel. But also because I've never done (practiced?) yoga before. But, I've stuck to the beginners courses and have improved each time.
The challenge of the stretches and poses, mixed with the focus on relaxation of your mind and body appeal to me, I guess. At this point, of course, I'm just trying to make it through the class without falling over like an oaf, but I think as one practices more, you go beyond trying to physically do it and begin to focus on the mental aspects of yoga. Certainly, your improved strength and flexibility play a part in that as well.
As it stands, I sweat more in yoga class than I do while running (unless it's exceptionally hot out when I'm running, which is rare)! In fact, the only time I've sweat more was when I played squash in prep school and college. I went to a class last night and was dripping, literally, by like 20 minutes in. I weighed myself before and after class and found that I lost 3 pounds in 75 minutes! And this was not a "hot yoga" class! But, I drank a liter of water afterwards and felt really fine. Fine enough to head out for an easy run this morning.
I'm going to try to go twice per week until my month trial expires. After that, I plan on going at least once per week to the community classes they offer. The community classes are taught by the same instructors, but they're much cheaper. So, a monthly membership is $99, which is pretty high. We already spend $70 per month on the gym (that's for each of us...they don't have a family membership option, to my chagrin). Spending another $200 a month is a lot to ask, even though we both very much enjoy yoga. If you pay per class, it's $16. The community classes, however, are a cool $6 (cash only), which is much more reasonable. We can each go once per week and spend about $50 a month, which is a bargain.
Ideally, I'd like to go twice per week, but the community class schedule doesn't really fit my schedule wherein I could attend two classes per week, and I can find other things to use that ~$25 per month on anyway. So, I'm going to look into getting some sort of DVD program.
So, we'll see how it goes. I'll give it a few more weeks before I make any final pronouncements about yoga's ability to relax my muscles and mind and improve my flexibility, although I have felt great after all three classes. Even after the first class, which was painful and made me sore the next day, I felt good and slept like a baby.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
New Comic Wednesday: Batman and Picard and Zombies
First, running: I had meant to get up and get my 3 miler in this morning, but I guess I turned my alarm off without realizing it, because when I awoke, it felt later than 6AM. And indeed, it was 7:10, which meant no run this morning. But, I may head out for an ultra-rare evening run to make up for the lapse. Or I may go to the gym and do it there, as further punishment for oversleeping.
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It's not often I actually get to the comic book store on Wednesday to snap up that week's latest new offerings. Usually, I hit Alliance Comics once every other Saturday or Sunday to pick up whatever new issues off my subscription list are waiting for me. I have to do this for a number of reasons:
Batman #12
I am unclear if this is the final entry in the Court of the Owls arc, or if it's the one-off between CoO and the Issue #0 installment that's supposed to come in September/October. As you can see from the cover, it doesn't say Court of Owls, but I had seen somewhere that this was supposed to be the wrap up for the story. I'm guessing this will be a stand alone issue with a little bit at the beginning about the Court and then a small lead in at the end with the new Joker story arc coming in October/November, which I can't wait to read.
Walking Dead #101
It feels like it's been months since Walking Dead #100 came out, and I guess that makes sense. They really pushed hard to get to issue #100 right before CCI back in early July, which probably exhausted everyone. Then they actually went to CCI and did panels, autographings, interviews, etc. And even still, issue #100 came out the second week of July (I think), and it's only been a month. It just FEELS longer after two months of getting a TWD book every three weeks or so.
I typically re-read the previous issue of all the books I get before diving in to the newest issue, just to refresh my memory and get my narrative momentum up. I'll definitely do tat with TWD #100 and #101, too.
The Massive #3
The story concept for The Massive is compelling (check out the review of issue #1 from CBR for a run-down), and I really liked the art throughout most of the first two issues. But it has been plodding along a bit, with so many flashbacks interrupting the present-day action, the story has advanced very little. I'm hoping that changes in #3, which has gotten good reviews.
Star Trek 100-Page Spectacular Summer 2012
And a relatively last-minute purchase. I grew up watching Star Trek: TNG and caught wind of this book yesterday while perusing CBR in the evening. I have not really gotten in to the Star Trek comics, mainly because they tend to focus on the original series, or the recent re-make of the original series movies. And while there is a Star Trek: TNG/Dr. Who crossover book out there, I'm not a Dr. Who fan and the book has gotten only middling reviews. I'm waiting for Jonathan Hickman's new Star Wars comic coming in January and would consider something similar with a TNG book if one ever emerged.
Anyway, this is actually two stories in one: a TNG story and a Voyager story. I was never THAT in to Voyager (I'd rank them as TNG, Enterprise, DS9, Original Series, Voyager) but will always take a Star Trek story involving the Borg. I have high hopes for this and may look in to other IDW Star Trek books if this is really good.
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It's not often I actually get to the comic book store on Wednesday to snap up that week's latest new offerings. Usually, I hit Alliance Comics once every other Saturday or Sunday to pick up whatever new issues off my subscription list are waiting for me. I have to do this for a number of reasons:
- While close by, driving from the apartment to Federal Hill on a Saturday afternoon is annoying. Parking is a pain and you're dodging hung over college kids stumbling out of doors for the first time at 1PM. Like I said, annoying.
- If I went to the store every week, I'd be broke. I inevitably see something I want and risk impulse buying far too many issues.
- A corollary to #2: spending that much money on comics would almost certainly incur spousal wrath. As most married men know or soon learn, a happy wife means a happy life. Words to live by.
Batman #12
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| Source: DC Comics |
Walking Dead #101
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| Source: Image Comics |
I typically re-read the previous issue of all the books I get before diving in to the newest issue, just to refresh my memory and get my narrative momentum up. I'll definitely do tat with TWD #100 and #101, too.
The Massive #3
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| Source: Dark Horse Comics |
Star Trek 100-Page Spectacular Summer 2012
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| Source: IDW |
Anyway, this is actually two stories in one: a TNG story and a Voyager story. I was never THAT in to Voyager (I'd rank them as TNG, Enterprise, DS9, Original Series, Voyager) but will always take a Star Trek story involving the Borg. I have high hopes for this and may look in to other IDW Star Trek books if this is really good.
Monday, August 13, 2012
Everyone is Running Downhill Except Me
So, turns out that the men's Olympic marathon was on Sunday and not Saturday...who knew? In the back of my mind, I thought Saturday was not the right day, but I plowed ahead anyway. And within maybe an hour I realized I was wrong, but really didn't feel like logging in to Blogger and changing the post, etc. So, my bad. Somehow I doubt it made much of a difference.
But, for those who didn't blindly follow my post and not visit any other Olympics-related website the entire weekend, Ugandan Stephen Kiprotich won the gold medal, claiming that country's first gold in the marathon in 2:08:01. Silver and bronze were claimed by Kenyans Abel Kirui (2:08:27) and Wilson Kipsang (2:09:37).
However, American Meb Keflezighi came in fourth after being as far back as 19th around the halfway point in the race. That's a fantastic finish for Meb, who is 37 and was the silver medalist in Athens in 2004. He covered 26 miles, 385 yards in 2:11:06. Here's an article on Runner's World about his race. These were his final Olympics, and I'm happy to see he went out on such a positive note.
Anyway, this weekend saw some wonderful weather here (for August, of course), and I completed my 5.5 miler under a cloudless sky in high 70s temperatures and low humidity. The sun was intense and it was definitely toasty in the sunlight versus the shade, but compared to some runs earlier in the summer, it was nice. I ran around the harbor and down into Federal Hill/Locust Point before turning around and coming back up into Mt. Vernon.
But, for those who didn't blindly follow my post and not visit any other Olympics-related website the entire weekend, Ugandan Stephen Kiprotich won the gold medal, claiming that country's first gold in the marathon in 2:08:01. Silver and bronze were claimed by Kenyans Abel Kirui (2:08:27) and Wilson Kipsang (2:09:37).
However, American Meb Keflezighi came in fourth after being as far back as 19th around the halfway point in the race. That's a fantastic finish for Meb, who is 37 and was the silver medalist in Athens in 2004. He covered 26 miles, 385 yards in 2:11:06. Here's an article on Runner's World about his race. These were his final Olympics, and I'm happy to see he went out on such a positive note.
Anyway, this weekend saw some wonderful weather here (for August, of course), and I completed my 5.5 miler under a cloudless sky in high 70s temperatures and low humidity. The sun was intense and it was definitely toasty in the sunlight versus the shade, but compared to some runs earlier in the summer, it was nice. I ran around the harbor and down into Federal Hill/Locust Point before turning around and coming back up into Mt. Vernon.
As you can see from the elevation chart above, the route has some decent elevation changes and the final mile or so is all uphill as you climb from sea level at the harbor up into Mt. Vernon. But I swear every time I ran uphill, I passed several other runners going downhill. But then when I was running downhill, I never once saw anyone else running uphill in the opposite direction. More than once I was trudging uphill only to be passed by another runner cruising downhill at warp speed. They ran almost effortlessly as I seemed to drag myself up the side of a mountain. Yet I never got the reward of feeling (mistakenly) athletically superior to those poor saps heading uphill as I glided, as if on two little clouds instead of shoes, downhill. "Well, everyone's a freaking Olympic marathoner when running downhill," I kept thinking to myself. Yet that didn't take away the indignity.
OK, maybe that's a bit hyperbolic, but still, when you run up a hill, you want SOME form of instant reward. "This will pay off in October" only does so much to take away the burn of the lactic acid in one's legs, you know. At some point, one needs to see someone else suffering a little to take away that sting. Yet on Sunday, it seemed I was stuck in some sort of runner's punishment where I run uphill and a.) it always feels awful and b.) never run downhill and feel satisfied that someone else is suffering too, which makes the next uphill feel more awful.
But, them's the breaks, I suppose. And really, it will all be worth it come October. Right?
Friday, August 10, 2012
Men's Olympic Marathon Reminder
Almost forgot! Tomorrow morning at 11 AM in London (6 AM here on the East Coast, 12 AM Sunday morning if you're reading this from Tokyo), the men's Olympic marathon gets underway.
I'll be rooting for Ryan Hall, as he has the best chance of the American delegation. However, his best time of 2:06:17 is still the 69th fastest in the world. As this post from Runner's World's Amby Burfoot points out, the top 33 times in the world this year are owned by Kenyans or Ethiopians. So it'll be an uphill battle for Ryan and everyone else in the field tomorrow.
Nonetheless, I'll be TiVO-ing it to watch after I get back from the gym in the morning.
I'll be rooting for Ryan Hall, as he has the best chance of the American delegation. However, his best time of 2:06:17 is still the 69th fastest in the world. As this post from Runner's World's Amby Burfoot points out, the top 33 times in the world this year are owned by Kenyans or Ethiopians. So it'll be an uphill battle for Ryan and everyone else in the field tomorrow.
Nonetheless, I'll be TiVO-ing it to watch after I get back from the gym in the morning.
Impromptu Tempo Run and Friday Misc.
My battle with myself over sleep schedules continued this week and impacted my running. I did well with getting enough sleep early in the week, but faltered on Wednesday night, going to bed after 11 PM with the intention of waking up at 6 for a run Thursday morning. Needless to say, it didn't happen. So, I needed to wake up this morning to make up for it.
Unfortunately, I awoke to a sky that was as dark as night...I got dressed and walked outside to see dark clouds rolling in overhead. I looked on the radar back inside and sure enough, a mass of heavy rain was moving in at 6:15 in the morning. I don't mind running in bad weather, so long as I don't start my run in bad weather. For instance, beginning a run with cloudiness that turns into rain a few miles in is no big deal. But it's demoralizing to begin a run when it's raining. By the time I did all that, it was nearly 6:30, so I decided t bag the outdoor run and hit the gym for a short tempo run. My 2 mile run got me finished about 7. Just in time to head back in pouring rain. Hooray! So, my tempo run was a little longer, as I ran home, getting soaked along the way.
An interesting side story: there were two people (one man, one woman) working out with a trainer while I was there. They were downstairs at first, but then ran up the stairs and did a jogging circuit around the gym. Then they came upstairs to the treadmills. At one point, they got on the treadmill and proceeded to run way faster than they were capable of running. The woman was beside me and I could tell she was going faster than her legs could carry her because her feet were pounding on the treadmill as the mill took her feet out from under her. Luckily, the trainer was there and slowed it down for her. Otherwise...well, you've seen the YouTube videos of people getting swept off treadmills.
This sort of thing continued for about 10 minutes and the woman would speed back up, only to start grunting, gasping, crying out and wailing until the trainer slowed it back down. Then she'd keep saying, "It's too hard! I can't do this!" and so forth as she walked to catch her breath. Then they chatted about preseason football and the Real Housewives show on Bravo. Then he'd speed her back up and the weird cycle would begin again. I kept thinking the woman would realize how much energy and breath she was wasting with the melodrama and chatting, but it never happened. Eventually, the shenanigans ended and they moved on to some other part of the gym.
Ain't nobody got time for that.
In other news, tomorrow is my bi-weekly comics run, and I'm looking forward to picking up this month's Batman issue, which has gotten strong reviews all around. I found the first trade paperback combining the first seven issues of the comic (this month is issue #12) at the local library, so I now only need to read issues #8 and #9 to be fully caught up. All the issues are strong, but I think issue #5 is perhaps one of my favorite comics ever. Full stop.
This weekend is Wizard's World in Chicago, which is their comic-con. Here is an interview with Greg Capullo (lead artist of Batman) from the Chicago Sun Times.
I'm also picking up The Massive #3. The jury is still out on this book, and the third issue will be pivotal in determining whether I continue to read the book or not. It got a good review on Comic Book Resources, but I feel they engage in grade inflation to maintain access to creators and artists, so I will see for myself.
Unfortunately, I awoke to a sky that was as dark as night...I got dressed and walked outside to see dark clouds rolling in overhead. I looked on the radar back inside and sure enough, a mass of heavy rain was moving in at 6:15 in the morning. I don't mind running in bad weather, so long as I don't start my run in bad weather. For instance, beginning a run with cloudiness that turns into rain a few miles in is no big deal. But it's demoralizing to begin a run when it's raining. By the time I did all that, it was nearly 6:30, so I decided t bag the outdoor run and hit the gym for a short tempo run. My 2 mile run got me finished about 7. Just in time to head back in pouring rain. Hooray! So, my tempo run was a little longer, as I ran home, getting soaked along the way.
An interesting side story: there were two people (one man, one woman) working out with a trainer while I was there. They were downstairs at first, but then ran up the stairs and did a jogging circuit around the gym. Then they came upstairs to the treadmills. At one point, they got on the treadmill and proceeded to run way faster than they were capable of running. The woman was beside me and I could tell she was going faster than her legs could carry her because her feet were pounding on the treadmill as the mill took her feet out from under her. Luckily, the trainer was there and slowed it down for her. Otherwise...well, you've seen the YouTube videos of people getting swept off treadmills.
This sort of thing continued for about 10 minutes and the woman would speed back up, only to start grunting, gasping, crying out and wailing until the trainer slowed it back down. Then she'd keep saying, "It's too hard! I can't do this!" and so forth as she walked to catch her breath. Then they chatted about preseason football and the Real Housewives show on Bravo. Then he'd speed her back up and the weird cycle would begin again. I kept thinking the woman would realize how much energy and breath she was wasting with the melodrama and chatting, but it never happened. Eventually, the shenanigans ended and they moved on to some other part of the gym.
Ain't nobody got time for that.
In other news, tomorrow is my bi-weekly comics run, and I'm looking forward to picking up this month's Batman issue, which has gotten strong reviews all around. I found the first trade paperback combining the first seven issues of the comic (this month is issue #12) at the local library, so I now only need to read issues #8 and #9 to be fully caught up. All the issues are strong, but I think issue #5 is perhaps one of my favorite comics ever. Full stop.
This weekend is Wizard's World in Chicago, which is their comic-con. Here is an interview with Greg Capullo (lead artist of Batman) from the Chicago Sun Times.
I'm also picking up The Massive #3. The jury is still out on this book, and the third issue will be pivotal in determining whether I continue to read the book or not. It got a good review on Comic Book Resources, but I feel they engage in grade inflation to maintain access to creators and artists, so I will see for myself.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Embryonic Cross Training Routine
Now that I've gotten my running legs back, somewhat, I need to add cross training to my weekly routine. In the past, this has been a weak spot for me, as it's much easier to classify a rest day as a day to sit on one's ass, rather than as a day to do some activity that's not running. I'm certain this has put a ceiling on my fitness in the past and this time around, I'd like to fix that.
But, I also know that going to gym and lifting some weights and riding the stationary bike won't cut it, either. For one thing, I don't know what the hell I'm doing when it comes to weight training. And I don't want to pay for a personal trainer. So, the strength training will be a relatively smaller proportion of the routine than it might be were I not aiming for endurance over building lots of muscle. Secondly, I like variety and get bored in the gym easily. Doing the same routine twice or three times per week for years at a time is not for me. Thirdly, I'm not flexible at all and so my cross training must integrate some activity that improves that deficiency to further help me avoid injury over the longer term.
So, I think I am going to try a series of activities on my non-running days and we'll see how it goes. First, spinning classes. I don't own a road bike and frankly, riding a bike in Baltimore is a terrifying prospect. Spinning classes are free at my gym and can burn serious calories while building endurance over time.
Next: basic strength training exercises like some light free weights, push ups, core work, etc.
Next: a consistent stretching routine for running and non-running days. Admittedly, I have no concrete idea as to what this will entail. But it sounds pretty great, right?
Finally: yoga. A. has gone to hot yoga classes off and on for a few years now and she likes it a lot. Our local studio offers community classes weekly for beginners at $6 a pop, so that sounds like a good place to start. Once a week is perfectly fine.
We'll see how this goes for the next few weeks and adjust as necessary.
But, I also know that going to gym and lifting some weights and riding the stationary bike won't cut it, either. For one thing, I don't know what the hell I'm doing when it comes to weight training. And I don't want to pay for a personal trainer. So, the strength training will be a relatively smaller proportion of the routine than it might be were I not aiming for endurance over building lots of muscle. Secondly, I like variety and get bored in the gym easily. Doing the same routine twice or three times per week for years at a time is not for me. Thirdly, I'm not flexible at all and so my cross training must integrate some activity that improves that deficiency to further help me avoid injury over the longer term.
So, I think I am going to try a series of activities on my non-running days and we'll see how it goes. First, spinning classes. I don't own a road bike and frankly, riding a bike in Baltimore is a terrifying prospect. Spinning classes are free at my gym and can burn serious calories while building endurance over time.
Next: basic strength training exercises like some light free weights, push ups, core work, etc.
Next: a consistent stretching routine for running and non-running days. Admittedly, I have no concrete idea as to what this will entail. But it sounds pretty great, right?
Finally: yoga. A. has gone to hot yoga classes off and on for a few years now and she likes it a lot. Our local studio offers community classes weekly for beginners at $6 a pop, so that sounds like a good place to start. Once a week is perfectly fine.
We'll see how this goes for the next few weeks and adjust as necessary.
Monday, August 6, 2012
Operation Cannoli Follow Up (also Running Stuff, Too)
Operation Cannoli was a great success, although we ended up going with Italian cookies over cannoli, simply because of the potential mess factor. But the overall plan worked like a charm. We had the cookies in a bag and got no trouble walking in with it. We also bought a large drink and soft pretzel, so the theater company got plenty of our money for the evening anyway. The only problem was that once the movie began, it was impossible to see the cookies to see what kind you were eating. Next time, as a logistical improvement, I'd arrange the cookies in a particular order so we knew what we were blindly eating. However, freshly made Italian cookies beat Twizzlers any day.
I won't bore anyone with a review of The Dark Knight Rises, other than to say I think it was a.) the best of the three Christopher Nolan Batman movies (although they're all great) and b.) the best superhero movie I've seen maybe ever, and that includes Superman II. But, I like Batman darker and grittier like Nolan envisioned him, so that has a lot to do with it. Plus, as I've noted before, I'm not a big Spider-Man fan. I will say that this movie and the first Iron Man movies are close in my book, but my affinity for the Caped Crusader seals the deal for me.
I also had a successful running weekend and managed to get both my intervals and long run done. No major problems, although the weather was very humid, so the long run was a tough slog and it was a challenge to keep my heart rate under control throughout. From here on out, I'm going to be focusing on ramping up my mileage as the half marathon in October approaches. So, this weekend will be a 6 miler, building up to 10-11 miles the week before the race, ideally. To supplement that, I'm going to be much better about cross training, stretching, etc. I need to improve my aerobic fitness, but also my flexibility, as I don't want to pull a hamstring trying to get through a long run.
Cutting out Italian cookies might be helpful too, now that I think about it.
And, in a brief follow up to Saturday's post: Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher came in 10th and 11th in Sunday's women's Olympic Marathon, respectively. They were up with the leaders for much of the race and, given the heavy hitters in the field, I think they did great. The winning runner set an Olympic record, so being the 10th and 11th fastest women in the race is nothing to feel bad about at all.
And the Curiosity rover touched down on Mars early this morning (in the east), without any problems, which is really unbelievable. The rover sent a few pictures back from the surface already and it's incredible to think that hundreds of scientists and engineers were able to put a car, basically, on another planet, after shooting it into space and building a computer to navigate the millions of miles from Florida to freaking Mars.
Here's a link (courtesy of The Atlantic and NASA) to the video of the control room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the minutes leading up to the confirmation transmission from Curiosity that it had reached Mars. I think I'd be jumping up and down ecstatically too, if I had spent years working on that project.
I won't bore anyone with a review of The Dark Knight Rises, other than to say I think it was a.) the best of the three Christopher Nolan Batman movies (although they're all great) and b.) the best superhero movie I've seen maybe ever, and that includes Superman II. But, I like Batman darker and grittier like Nolan envisioned him, so that has a lot to do with it. Plus, as I've noted before, I'm not a big Spider-Man fan. I will say that this movie and the first Iron Man movies are close in my book, but my affinity for the Caped Crusader seals the deal for me.
I also had a successful running weekend and managed to get both my intervals and long run done. No major problems, although the weather was very humid, so the long run was a tough slog and it was a challenge to keep my heart rate under control throughout. From here on out, I'm going to be focusing on ramping up my mileage as the half marathon in October approaches. So, this weekend will be a 6 miler, building up to 10-11 miles the week before the race, ideally. To supplement that, I'm going to be much better about cross training, stretching, etc. I need to improve my aerobic fitness, but also my flexibility, as I don't want to pull a hamstring trying to get through a long run.
Cutting out Italian cookies might be helpful too, now that I think about it.
And, in a brief follow up to Saturday's post: Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher came in 10th and 11th in Sunday's women's Olympic Marathon, respectively. They were up with the leaders for much of the race and, given the heavy hitters in the field, I think they did great. The winning runner set an Olympic record, so being the 10th and 11th fastest women in the race is nothing to feel bad about at all.
And the Curiosity rover touched down on Mars early this morning (in the east), without any problems, which is really unbelievable. The rover sent a few pictures back from the surface already and it's incredible to think that hundreds of scientists and engineers were able to put a car, basically, on another planet, after shooting it into space and building a computer to navigate the millions of miles from Florida to freaking Mars.
Here's a link (courtesy of The Atlantic and NASA) to the video of the control room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the minutes leading up to the confirmation transmission from Curiosity that it had reached Mars. I think I'd be jumping up and down ecstatically too, if I had spent years working on that project.
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Saturday Reminder
What? A post mid-weekend when we're all out and about? That's right. But I forgot to add a few things to my Friday post. Two reminders, really.
First: the women's Olympic marathon is on tomorrow morning at 6:00 AM Eastern time. Yeah, it's crazy early, but that's an 11:00 AM start time in London, so it could be worse. Imagine if they decided to start at 8:00 AM GMT. As it stands, I'm going to set the TiVO to record the whole thing so I can watch it later in the day. I'll be up, but out running myself when they cross the finish line.
The Americans in the field are Desi Davila, Kara Goucher and Shalane Flanagan. Here's an article from Runners World laying out the odds for the Americans in the super stacked Olympic field. Kenyans Mary Keitany and Edna Kiplagat, along with Russia's Liliya Shobukhova Nonetheless, I'm rooting for them and hope at least one of them gets on the podium tomorrow.
Secondly, and not running related, early Monday morning NASA's Curiosity rover vehicle will approach and then land on Mars. The mission kicked off last November with the launch of Curiosity into space for the ~150 million mile journey from Earth to Mars. At around 1:00 AM EST on Monday morning, the craft will begin its descent into the Martian atmosphere. If the landing is successful (fingers crossed!), the 2K pound rover will explore an area of Mars thought to have a good chance of once supporting water, and thus possibly life. The rover will operate for several years, although the small nuclear reactor onboard (!) can power the craft for up to 14 years. The descent will take seven minutes, but it takes communication 14 minutes to travel from Mars to Earth, so NASA will receive confirmation that the craft has started its descent seven minutes AFTER it's already landed. Crazy!
Anyway, here's a story from NPR about the anxieties and challenges of taking a huge multi-billion dollar spacecraft, shooting it into space at another planet and landing it safely on said planet. Amazing stuff.
And with that, I bid you a fond weekend until Monday. Details on Operation Cannoli then as well. Maybe also some running stuff.
First: the women's Olympic marathon is on tomorrow morning at 6:00 AM Eastern time. Yeah, it's crazy early, but that's an 11:00 AM start time in London, so it could be worse. Imagine if they decided to start at 8:00 AM GMT. As it stands, I'm going to set the TiVO to record the whole thing so I can watch it later in the day. I'll be up, but out running myself when they cross the finish line.
The Americans in the field are Desi Davila, Kara Goucher and Shalane Flanagan. Here's an article from Runners World laying out the odds for the Americans in the super stacked Olympic field. Kenyans Mary Keitany and Edna Kiplagat, along with Russia's Liliya Shobukhova Nonetheless, I'm rooting for them and hope at least one of them gets on the podium tomorrow.
Secondly, and not running related, early Monday morning NASA's Curiosity rover vehicle will approach and then land on Mars. The mission kicked off last November with the launch of Curiosity into space for the ~150 million mile journey from Earth to Mars. At around 1:00 AM EST on Monday morning, the craft will begin its descent into the Martian atmosphere. If the landing is successful (fingers crossed!), the 2K pound rover will explore an area of Mars thought to have a good chance of once supporting water, and thus possibly life. The rover will operate for several years, although the small nuclear reactor onboard (!) can power the craft for up to 14 years. The descent will take seven minutes, but it takes communication 14 minutes to travel from Mars to Earth, so NASA will receive confirmation that the craft has started its descent seven minutes AFTER it's already landed. Crazy!
Anyway, here's a story from NPR about the anxieties and challenges of taking a huge multi-billion dollar spacecraft, shooting it into space at another planet and landing it safely on said planet. Amazing stuff.
And with that, I bid you a fond weekend until Monday. Details on Operation Cannoli then as well. Maybe also some running stuff.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Dark Knight Cannoli Smuggling and Weekend Training Schedule 08/03 - 08/05
Another week is gone and another two days without having to sit at my desk are just a few tedious short hours away. I have no desire to work on the project(s) that sit before me, so I'll write this instead and kill some time. See? Positive thinking!...
Anyway!
It'll be a busy weekend, both running-wise (hoping!) and otherwise. I had meant to finally get back to my weekly interval training at the gym I pay to not go to, but staying up late to watch the Olympics on Tuesday night killed that ambition. So, I rescheduled my return to the treadmill for tomorrow, after a volunteer orientation at the Maryland SPCA in the morning. I'll start out modestly, maybe going for four or five 400m repeats and seeing how I feel. Then I should be able to get up early on Sunday and get a five-mile "long" run done, as we have no commitments to speak of.
"But wait," you say. "Interval training and a long run on back to back days? Is that wise?"
Well, maybe not. But hear me out. First, neither training session is going to be particularly grueling. I mean, 4X400 is very meager in the grand scheme of interval sessions. Second, a five mile run is not going to wear me out. Third, I do what I want. Taken together, this means it'll be fine.
Outside of running, we'll be going to see The Dark Knight Rises tomorrow night. I'm really excited to see this movie, as my previous comments about Batman will demonstrate. I've heard mostly good reviews and the bad reviews have generally gone with the "the movie is just too unrealistic." To which I say, it's Batman...a guy who dresses up like a bat and fights crime. If you want realistic, I'm sure there's an independent movie theatre showing some French documentary on dissident Algerian poets nearby. If you pay to see a movie based on a comic book, well, you should try harder to suspend your disbelief, is all I'm saying. Nonetheless, I'm excited.
Even more exciting will be our theatre fare. We go to a theatre down in the Harbor East neighborhood of Baltimore, which is the super yuppified part of town. As in, you can buy Hagen Daaz for $10 and then go buy "designer" flip flops for $100 next door before buying a $35 "designer" T-shirt next to that. But the movie theatre is awesome! The seats are large and comfortable and because it's in a part of town made up mostly of young couples or old empty nesters, you get very few obnoxious people (i.e. kids and teenagers) messing up the movie. Plus they have a decently-enforced no cell phones and no texting policy. They throw you out if they catch you. And the tickets are just as expensive ($10) as any other theatre. So, win.
The theatre is also near the Little Italy neighborhood, so we're going to try to buy some cannoli to smuggle in to the theatre to enjoy. I think the "hiding in plain sight" tactic might work: get the cannoli and cookies in a nice box and put them in a shopping bag and just walk in the theatre. It might work.
Anyway!
It'll be a busy weekend, both running-wise (hoping!) and otherwise. I had meant to finally get back to my weekly interval training at the gym I pay to not go to, but staying up late to watch the Olympics on Tuesday night killed that ambition. So, I rescheduled my return to the treadmill for tomorrow, after a volunteer orientation at the Maryland SPCA in the morning. I'll start out modestly, maybe going for four or five 400m repeats and seeing how I feel. Then I should be able to get up early on Sunday and get a five-mile "long" run done, as we have no commitments to speak of.
"But wait," you say. "Interval training and a long run on back to back days? Is that wise?"
Well, maybe not. But hear me out. First, neither training session is going to be particularly grueling. I mean, 4X400 is very meager in the grand scheme of interval sessions. Second, a five mile run is not going to wear me out. Third, I do what I want. Taken together, this means it'll be fine.
Outside of running, we'll be going to see The Dark Knight Rises tomorrow night. I'm really excited to see this movie, as my previous comments about Batman will demonstrate. I've heard mostly good reviews and the bad reviews have generally gone with the "the movie is just too unrealistic." To which I say, it's Batman...a guy who dresses up like a bat and fights crime. If you want realistic, I'm sure there's an independent movie theatre showing some French documentary on dissident Algerian poets nearby. If you pay to see a movie based on a comic book, well, you should try harder to suspend your disbelief, is all I'm saying. Nonetheless, I'm excited.
Even more exciting will be our theatre fare. We go to a theatre down in the Harbor East neighborhood of Baltimore, which is the super yuppified part of town. As in, you can buy Hagen Daaz for $10 and then go buy "designer" flip flops for $100 next door before buying a $35 "designer" T-shirt next to that. But the movie theatre is awesome! The seats are large and comfortable and because it's in a part of town made up mostly of young couples or old empty nesters, you get very few obnoxious people (i.e. kids and teenagers) messing up the movie. Plus they have a decently-enforced no cell phones and no texting policy. They throw you out if they catch you. And the tickets are just as expensive ($10) as any other theatre. So, win.
The theatre is also near the Little Italy neighborhood, so we're going to try to buy some cannoli to smuggle in to the theatre to enjoy. I think the "hiding in plain sight" tactic might work: get the cannoli and cookies in a nice box and put them in a shopping bag and just walk in the theatre. It might work.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Sing in Me Muse...
Sorry for the posting hiatus; the weekend was hectic and not very run-filled, and this week my running blog muse has gone on vacay, leaving me with little in the way of inspiration.
A quick recap of my weekend to explain: Friday we took Tedster in to the vet for a deep dental cleaning. His teeth were kind of a mess when we got him from the rescue organization back in December 2010, but this was a product of his original owners, whoever they were, not caring for him at all. His breath had gotten worse as of late, so we decided to pony up and have the deep cleaning done. They ended up extracting four of his top teeth, which were rotted, in addition to the cleaning, so they gave him some pain meds and we took him home Friday evening. But later that night, his breathing became very shallow and the vet said to bring him back, so we ended up back at the vet that night (it's a 24 hour animal hospital). THey agreed to keep him overnight for observation (no charge). But that meant I had to get up and go get him Saturday morning, which meant no Saturday morning run.
My mother-in-law flew in later that day to visit us and my wife's sister in DC. Unfortunately, she stepped on an uneven piece of sidewalk in DC and (we found out later) fractured her foot in two places. So, she stayed with us Saturday night but we got up and drove her to National airport the next morning so she could catch an early flight back. Thus, Sunday's run was also nixed.
So, as you can tell, the weekend training really didn't happen, unfortunately. But not for lack of trying! I've been more successful this week in getting out the door and some short runs completed. Pretty standard stuff, which also explains the lack of posting. I'm trying to avoid "junk posts" just as you would try to avoid junk miles during training. And while I have plenty of non-running ideas floating in my head, I want to limit them as well since this is supposed to be primarily a running blog.
In closing, I'll try and get some running posts up here shortly. Just as soon as my muse returns from her holiday.
A quick recap of my weekend to explain: Friday we took Tedster in to the vet for a deep dental cleaning. His teeth were kind of a mess when we got him from the rescue organization back in December 2010, but this was a product of his original owners, whoever they were, not caring for him at all. His breath had gotten worse as of late, so we decided to pony up and have the deep cleaning done. They ended up extracting four of his top teeth, which were rotted, in addition to the cleaning, so they gave him some pain meds and we took him home Friday evening. But later that night, his breathing became very shallow and the vet said to bring him back, so we ended up back at the vet that night (it's a 24 hour animal hospital). THey agreed to keep him overnight for observation (no charge). But that meant I had to get up and go get him Saturday morning, which meant no Saturday morning run.
My mother-in-law flew in later that day to visit us and my wife's sister in DC. Unfortunately, she stepped on an uneven piece of sidewalk in DC and (we found out later) fractured her foot in two places. So, she stayed with us Saturday night but we got up and drove her to National airport the next morning so she could catch an early flight back. Thus, Sunday's run was also nixed.
So, as you can tell, the weekend training really didn't happen, unfortunately. But not for lack of trying! I've been more successful this week in getting out the door and some short runs completed. Pretty standard stuff, which also explains the lack of posting. I'm trying to avoid "junk posts" just as you would try to avoid junk miles during training. And while I have plenty of non-running ideas floating in my head, I want to limit them as well since this is supposed to be primarily a running blog.
In closing, I'll try and get some running posts up here shortly. Just as soon as my muse returns from her holiday.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Weekend Training Schedule & Friday Links
Just a quick end of week post this time around, as the week was mostly a loss to work time demands and other things that made for a lackluster training week. This weekend we won't be going anywhere, so I'll be able to get in a decent run tomorrow morning and then a proper longer run Sunday morning. My mother-in-law is coming to visit this weekend and to see A in her performance as part of the Capital Fringe Festival down in DC. But, I get along very well with my in-laws, and we haven't seen any of them since the holidays, so I can honestly say it'll be nice to see her this weekend.
I'm also hopeful I'll have some time to work on a cross training regimen that will complement my running. I need to get beyond just running and into exercising on my rest days as well...so that's a project for this weekend.
And now, a few links for this Friday.
With the Olympics beginning this evening in London, I'm including some links to running-related Olympics sites. See? Running. Olympics. Theme. Nice.
Sir Roger Bannister is rumored to be the person who will light the Olympic Torch tonight. That would be awesome.
Here's a preview and predictions for every Track & Field event, courtesy of Runner's World. Includes the marathon, decathlon and everyone's favorite event, steeplechase.
So how do you warm up for running in the freaking Olympics? Now you know. From Runner's World.
Apparently, NBC will produce more than 5500 hours of programming over the next 17 days. That's insane. More insane is that you can see just about all of it through some medium (TV, computer, mobile, psychic link with the Hive Mind, etc). So, here's a TV viewing guide from Sports Illustrated.
And finally, the Hive Mind itself: NBC's Olympics homepage. You can plug in directly and become one with the Olympics. Plus watch events online and do 1.4 million other things that will sap your productivity at work.
I'll be heading to Alliance Comics for my bi-weekly comics run tomorrow. I've got Justice League #11 and Manhattan Projects #5 to pick up.
However, as I've said before, I've never really gotten into any Marvel books. I'm not sure why. I guess it was hard to drop into a book like "Avengers vs. X-Men" or "Invincible Iron Man" after years or sometimes decades of issues. Not being familiar with past crossovers or plots means I'm spending most of my time playing catch up, or just missing things, which is no fun. And really, beyond the headliner series like Avengers, Iron Man, Thor, etc, I've never really been enthused about the rest of the Marvel line up. For example, "Avengers Academy" holds no appeal for me.
All this explains, in a way, why I'm looking forward to the relaunching of several key Marvel titles in December and early 2013. Marvel is rebooting "Avengers" and "Uncanny Avengers" (I think that's the title...please correct me if I get these wrong). I believe they're also going to reboot Thor and Iron Man, as Marvel announced earlier that those books would be coming to an end in the Fall. I'm most interested in checking out the new Avengers book, which will be written by Jonathan Hickman. At the very least, it'll provide a good opportunity to get in on the ground floor of potentially interesting Marvel titles.
Which brings me to my final link. Brian Hibbs, staff writer at CBR and comic book store owner, has a new column out wherein he talks about the economics of the Marvel NOW! reboot, and why it isn't all rainbows and butterflies for store owners. Very interesting meshing of my day job and hobby. Check it out.
I'm also hopeful I'll have some time to work on a cross training regimen that will complement my running. I need to get beyond just running and into exercising on my rest days as well...so that's a project for this weekend.
And now, a few links for this Friday.
With the Olympics beginning this evening in London, I'm including some links to running-related Olympics sites. See? Running. Olympics. Theme. Nice.
Sir Roger Bannister is rumored to be the person who will light the Olympic Torch tonight. That would be awesome.
Here's a preview and predictions for every Track & Field event, courtesy of Runner's World. Includes the marathon, decathlon and everyone's favorite event, steeplechase.
So how do you warm up for running in the freaking Olympics? Now you know. From Runner's World.
Apparently, NBC will produce more than 5500 hours of programming over the next 17 days. That's insane. More insane is that you can see just about all of it through some medium (TV, computer, mobile, psychic link with the Hive Mind, etc). So, here's a TV viewing guide from Sports Illustrated.
And finally, the Hive Mind itself: NBC's Olympics homepage. You can plug in directly and become one with the Olympics. Plus watch events online and do 1.4 million other things that will sap your productivity at work.
I'll be heading to Alliance Comics for my bi-weekly comics run tomorrow. I've got Justice League #11 and Manhattan Projects #5 to pick up.
However, as I've said before, I've never really gotten into any Marvel books. I'm not sure why. I guess it was hard to drop into a book like "Avengers vs. X-Men" or "Invincible Iron Man" after years or sometimes decades of issues. Not being familiar with past crossovers or plots means I'm spending most of my time playing catch up, or just missing things, which is no fun. And really, beyond the headliner series like Avengers, Iron Man, Thor, etc, I've never really been enthused about the rest of the Marvel line up. For example, "Avengers Academy" holds no appeal for me.
All this explains, in a way, why I'm looking forward to the relaunching of several key Marvel titles in December and early 2013. Marvel is rebooting "Avengers" and "Uncanny Avengers" (I think that's the title...please correct me if I get these wrong). I believe they're also going to reboot Thor and Iron Man, as Marvel announced earlier that those books would be coming to an end in the Fall. I'm most interested in checking out the new Avengers book, which will be written by Jonathan Hickman. At the very least, it'll provide a good opportunity to get in on the ground floor of potentially interesting Marvel titles.
Which brings me to my final link. Brian Hibbs, staff writer at CBR and comic book store owner, has a new column out wherein he talks about the economics of the Marvel NOW! reboot, and why it isn't all rainbows and butterflies for store owners. Very interesting meshing of my day job and hobby. Check it out.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
B'more Stinks! Literally.
So it was a sparse posting week, but work was hectic earlier in the week and, as you can tell from my training log, I got a little off track over the weekend. And the stress at work made it even tougher to get out of bed in the morning and on the road.
And it figures that the earlier part of the week saw some decent weather, temperature and humidity wise. And that now that I'm back out on the road, the heat and humidity has returned with a vengeance.
Anyway, the run this morning was a pretty typical three-miler. Luckily, the humidity hadn't really cranked up yet, so it was pretty comfortable. The one thing I noticed this morning was the summer Baltimore stink was more pronounced. As anyone who lives and runs in a city knows, the summer heat brings out the various smells and odors of an urban environment that you just don't get in January. This morning, I was treated to the following smells.
- Stewed garbage from a city garbage truck. I shudder to think about the awful brew that ferments in those trucks in the 100 degree heat.
- The smell of a new adhesive bandage, amplified by 100 times. I don't know what caused it, but it was strong.
- The distinct, and deeply unpleasant smell of crap. Not dog crap. Person crap. Again, I didn't see any immediate cause (I think we all know what I'm talking about here), but the smell was unmistakable. It was right around an Irish pub on my route, but usually one gets the typical odors of stale beer, old cigarettes, and the occasional urine or vomit. You know, your run-of-the-mill eau-de-frat house. Crap is aggressive, even for this bar.
Actually, because I ran an out and back route today, rather than a loop, I got to enjoy all these smells twice. Wonderful. October can't roll around quickly enough.
Monday, July 23, 2012
ArtScape Escape Weekend Review
We made it back yesterday without any trouble after our weekend away from the hipster insanity of ArtScape. We found a parking spot in the neighborhood without much trouble, although we took the first spot we found. It was 10 minutes from our apartment, but better than looking around for 30 minutes. Our street was still teeming with people and the streets were pretty gross, so we were glad we got out of town.
My intention was to do a three-mile run on Saturday and a 4 or 5 mile run on Sunday. Below is the route I had intended to run:
Not a big deal, but then I ended up walking about another 4 miles that afternoon going to the Folger Library and then down to the Air & Space Museum. And that's not counting walking through the museum, which, as anyone who's been can attest, is enormous. So, call it 5 miles of walking total. By the time my wife picked me up (she had gone to two performances as part of the Capital Fringe Festival instead), my legs were cooked. And they were still tired when I woke up on Sunday, so I bagged my planned long run and took the dog for a leisurely walk instead.
So, it was not the most successful of training weekends, but I got a decent amount of exercise in for my legs, even if it wasn't all running. And I got to see some exhibits I hadn't seen in a long time at Air & Space and a very cool special exhibit at the Folger. But tomorrow, it's back to the schedule to be ready for the Blue Moon Run at the end of August.
My intention was to do a three-mile run on Saturday and a 4 or 5 mile run on Sunday. Below is the route I had intended to run:
Unfortunately, I ran a hybrid of the three-mile route above and the longer route I had mapped out for Sunday. Instead of turning down Constitution Ave and back towards my sister-in-law's apartment, I ran around the Capitol, as I had planned for Sunday. Running back up Capitol Hill and past the Library of Congress, I thought I was on Independence Ave SE, but a moment later realized I was in fact running down Pennsylvania Ave SE. Not a huge deal, but as you can see from the map below, by the time I figured out where the hell I was going, I had added an entire extra mile on to my route.
Not a big deal, but then I ended up walking about another 4 miles that afternoon going to the Folger Library and then down to the Air & Space Museum. And that's not counting walking through the museum, which, as anyone who's been can attest, is enormous. So, call it 5 miles of walking total. By the time my wife picked me up (she had gone to two performances as part of the Capital Fringe Festival instead), my legs were cooked. And they were still tired when I woke up on Sunday, so I bagged my planned long run and took the dog for a leisurely walk instead.
So, it was not the most successful of training weekends, but I got a decent amount of exercise in for my legs, even if it wasn't all running. And I got to see some exhibits I hadn't seen in a long time at Air & Space and a very cool special exhibit at the Folger. But tomorrow, it's back to the schedule to be ready for the Blue Moon Run at the end of August.
Friday, July 20, 2012
Weekend Training Schedule: July 20-22, 2012
This week's weekend training post is going up a bit early, as I'm taking today off and heading down to Washington for the weekend. This weekend is ArtScape here in Baltimore, wherein ~350K people descend on our neighborhood for the largest free arts festival in the country (I think). Basically, it's three days of art exhibits, performances, food, music, etc. Which is wonderful for the city, but it's terrible for neighborhood residents. We live a block from the festival, and the last few years the whole weekend has been total loss. Roads get blocked off starting the Monday before and going until the Tuesday after; illegal street vendors set up their tents in front of our building and hawk their wares while blocking the sidewalk (a call to BPD usually puts an end to that, yet they return year after year); traffic along our street is jammed for a week, basically; we have to park our car and not move it, otherwise we'll never get a spot. Nevermind the trash and unpleasant people the festival brings in (a small minority of festival-goers, of course, but still it makes things nasty if they decide to hassle you).
So, last year we decided to pack up and get out of town for the weekend to avoid the awfulness. My sister-in-law lives in DC, so we're packing up, taking the dog and spending the weekend down there. I took today off so we can get out before the festival begins at noon.
I was going to run this morning before we left, but just didn't feel like it. I'll get 3 miles in tomorrow, and I've mapped out a nice loop in DC that will take me around Capitol Hill on Sunday morning, which should be lovely. Come Monday, I'll post that route.
In between, we're going to be tourists, of a sort. Having been born in DC and having grown up 90 minutes from the city, I spent a lot of time at the museums, monuments and other attractions in the city as a kid. It's been a good number of years since either of us spent time in the Smithsonians. So, we're going to hit up the tourist circuit in DC. I want to see an exhibit on the history of London at the Folger Shakespeare Library as well and I'd like to pay a visit to the National Archives, which I haven't visited since literally elementary school.
We'll also go to brunch on Sunday at a restaurant in DC with a patio so we can take The Bear. They even have a Pooch Menu, which includes non-alcoholic dog beer in addition to entrees like a raw bone or dog-friendly meatballs in gravy with rice. We'll stick with water and the meatballs...dog beer is a bit much even for this dog person.
So, last year we decided to pack up and get out of town for the weekend to avoid the awfulness. My sister-in-law lives in DC, so we're packing up, taking the dog and spending the weekend down there. I took today off so we can get out before the festival begins at noon.
I was going to run this morning before we left, but just didn't feel like it. I'll get 3 miles in tomorrow, and I've mapped out a nice loop in DC that will take me around Capitol Hill on Sunday morning, which should be lovely. Come Monday, I'll post that route.
In between, we're going to be tourists, of a sort. Having been born in DC and having grown up 90 minutes from the city, I spent a lot of time at the museums, monuments and other attractions in the city as a kid. It's been a good number of years since either of us spent time in the Smithsonians. So, we're going to hit up the tourist circuit in DC. I want to see an exhibit on the history of London at the Folger Shakespeare Library as well and I'd like to pay a visit to the National Archives, which I haven't visited since literally elementary school.
We'll also go to brunch on Sunday at a restaurant in DC with a patio so we can take The Bear. They even have a Pooch Menu, which includes non-alcoholic dog beer in addition to entrees like a raw bone or dog-friendly meatballs in gravy with rice. We'll stick with water and the meatballs...dog beer is a bit much even for this dog person.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
New Comic Wednesday (No Running...Sorry)
As some of the nerdier of you may know, this past weekend was San Diego Comic-Con, alternatively known as Comic-Con International (CCI) or just plain Comic-Con. The last of these titles is actually a misnomer, as there are many comic conventions across this great land of ours (as well as around this pale blue dot we call Earth), all of which can be called "comic-con". But certainly, CCI is the biggest, taking over the entire San Diego convention center and selling 125K tickets within hours of offering them to the geeked out masses.
As you may also know, Wednesday is when new comics are released, although different comics come out throughout each month.
Since it's Wednesday, and I don't have anything particularly interesting to post where running is concerned, I thought I would drop a post about my own New Comics Wednesday. It's a bit long, so if you're looking for running stuff, it won't be in the paragraphs that follow. Sorry. it was a rest day.
Comic books are a deceptive hobby, because each book by itself is relatively low-cost at around $3.00 or $4.00 each. Some longer running and/or less well-known books can be even cheaper, at around $2.50. So it's very easy to get into a dozen books and end up spending $50 a month or more on new books alone. Then you have additional expenses if you collect other memorabilia associated with your favorite books like action figures, posters, clothing, toys, and trade paperbacks or graphic novels. This is where The Big Two (Marvel and DC Comics) make a lot of money, in addition to proceeds from their movies. Big franchises like Batman, Superman, etc are prime areas for this money suck.
So, I have a self-imposed maximum of five books on my "pull list" at any given time, with two or three additional slots for impulse buys. A pull list is simply a list of books which you buy every month, and is typically maintained by your local comic store. In my case, my local store, Alliance Comics in the Federal Hill neighborhood of Baltimore, pulls my books and I stop in once every other week to get them. Right now, my pull list only has four books on it; I have one non-subscription book I'm trying out as well:
As you may also know, Wednesday is when new comics are released, although different comics come out throughout each month.
Since it's Wednesday, and I don't have anything particularly interesting to post where running is concerned, I thought I would drop a post about my own New Comics Wednesday. It's a bit long, so if you're looking for running stuff, it won't be in the paragraphs that follow. Sorry. it was a rest day.
Comic books are a deceptive hobby, because each book by itself is relatively low-cost at around $3.00 or $4.00 each. Some longer running and/or less well-known books can be even cheaper, at around $2.50. So it's very easy to get into a dozen books and end up spending $50 a month or more on new books alone. Then you have additional expenses if you collect other memorabilia associated with your favorite books like action figures, posters, clothing, toys, and trade paperbacks or graphic novels. This is where The Big Two (Marvel and DC Comics) make a lot of money, in addition to proceeds from their movies. Big franchises like Batman, Superman, etc are prime areas for this money suck.
So, I have a self-imposed maximum of five books on my "pull list" at any given time, with two or three additional slots for impulse buys. A pull list is simply a list of books which you buy every month, and is typically maintained by your local comic store. In my case, my local store, Alliance Comics in the Federal Hill neighborhood of Baltimore, pulls my books and I stop in once every other week to get them. Right now, my pull list only has four books on it; I have one non-subscription book I'm trying out as well:
- Batman (DC Comics): My personal favorite superhero since I was a kid. I've really liked the New 52 reboot of the series with the recently-concluded Court of Owls story arc. The book is darker and more similar to the Christopher Nolan movies than the campier or more cartoonish earlier movies in the franchise (e.g. the Val Kilmer and George Clooney films). The writing is strong and the art is also very good. The Batman presented here is not perfect, and has become more conflicted about his place in Gotham over the last few issues. Now, with the Court of Owls done, DC announced at CCI that the new story arc beginning in the fall will bring back The Joker, which will be fantastic. Some of the ideas Scott Snyder, the writer for Batman (and who will be at Baltimore Comic-Con in Sept), has talked about for The Joker, are very compelling. A solid monthly pick up.
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| Cover from Batman #1, source: DC Comics |
- Justice League (DC Comics): The second of my two Big Two superhero selections, and the most recent addition to my pull list. I have not been an historical JL fan, but the New 52 offered me a nice jumping on point and I've been pleased with the writing thus far. I've particularly liked the recent Journey of the Villain arc over the last two issues (the arc wraps up with the latest issue #11, which is out today). I prefer JL to Avengers for reasons I don't really know. I've yet to really get into reading a Marvel book, but that could change; I have an open mind. I'm sure Batman's presence on the JL team has something to do with my affinity. But I also enjoy the other characters and think the writers have done a good job of making them individual characters. The next few issues going into the end of 2012 are supposed to tackle how the JL goes from a bunch of individual heroes to a cohesive team that can oppose the new villain Graves. And Aquaman leads the way in this issue, I hear! Good stuff!
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| Cover from Justice League #1, source DC Comics |
- The Walking Dead (Image): Arguably my favorite book for a litany of reasons. Up until two years ago, I had never heard of TWD, but ended up loving the AMC TV show. I was surprised to learn about the comic, and once I checked it out, I was hooked. The local library had all of the past issues, so I consumed those to catch up in the book. Last week issue #100 came out right before CCI to great fanfare. I read it this weekend and loved it. TWD is consistently great, both from a story and artistic standpoint. The story is of course a zombie apocalypse, but after 100 issues, creator Robert Kirkman has gone way beyond that to explore these survivors' lives, such as they are. The book is not for young children; there's lots of gore (even though the book is drawn in black and white, it's still messy) lots of f-bombs and other adult language/situations. But it's a wonderful read each month and I can't wait to see how Rick and the survivors make it out of the latest horror show they found themselves in at the end of issue 100.
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| Variant Cover from Walking Dead #100, source Image Comics |
- Manhattan Projects (Image): This is the most surprising member of my pull list, as it came out of nowhere and is now one of my favorites. Like TWD, this is a creator-owned comic, in that the creator retains the rights to the intellectual property in contrast to Marvel and DC, where creators usually at least share ownership with the company. That's another post for another day, but suffice to say this model begets a lot more "out there" books and MP is no different. The premise is simple: what if the Manhattan Project had actually been a front for a government operation where the best minds in the world could work on projects even crazier than an atom bomb? We're talking contact with aliens, different dimensions, etc. The characters are all familiar: Robert Oppenheimer, Einstein, Richard Feynman, Enrico Fermi, etc. But nearly everything has a twist. Oppenheimer, the director of the projects, has multiple personalities (not all of which are good); Einstein is actually from a parallel universe and may not be a good guy; Feynman is actually quite normal actually; Fermi is actually a supergenius, super-old alien. Oh, and when FDR suffers an aneurysm (the book takes place in 1945), they put his consciousness into the first AI supercomputer environment. So, not your typical comic! But it's addictive for an amateur science nerd like me. And I got in with issue #1, so I hope it continues for a long time a la TWD.
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| Cover from Manhattan Projects #1, source: Image Comics |
The fifth slot on my pull list remains empty for now. New books are released or announced all the time, so I won't suffer from a lack of contenders. At CCI, for instance, Image announced a dozen new books under development for release in the next several months; Dark Horse announced a new Star Wars comic book coming in January 2013; DC talked more about the next wave of New 52 series that will start to come out this fall and the New 52 "zero issues" coming out in October; and Marvel talked up its Marvel NOW! project, which is an end for several key series including Thor and The Incredible Iron Man, and the beginning of several new titles utilizing the X-Men and Avengers, among other characters. And obviously, new Thor and Iron Man books will come out in 2013, given all the hype around the movies, etc. So, plenty of material coming.
Finally, the one book I'm reading that's on a month-to-month basis is The Massive, from Dark Horse Comics. It's a story about an environmentalist group led by a former mercenary, who are on a ship, The Kapital, searching for its sister ship, The Massive, after a series of huge natural disasters have ravaged the planet. It's only on issue #2, but it's been OK thus far. A little slow, as the book goes back and forth between the present (in the story) and the past to explain the characters, the disasters, etc. I really like the art and colors in The Massive, so I hope it picks up in issue #3.
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| Cover from The Massive #1, source: Dark Horse Comics |
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