Mark Matthews's Blog, page 43
September 11, 2012
When Does Fall Officially Arrive?
Part of the magic of running is the chance to experience the changes in the seasons. The running motion remains the same, but the scenery, the air you breath, and all the wonderful things you soak into your body cycle. From the cold air of winter that makes your cheeks red and icicles form on your eyebrows, to the warmth of spring that sucks the tulips from the ground and thaws out your muscles, and then the scorching heat of a mid day summer run that makes your brain delirious. And now perhaps the best running season of all, Autumn, where the air is brisk, and earth is metamorphosing all around us.
Autumn running is perhaps the best, but are we there yet? Sure, the calender says September 22nd, at 10:49 am, but...
When does fall officially begin?
The first day you put on a long sleeve shirt to run in?
When the first brown leaf falls from its branch, and zig zags down to the grass?
When you wave to the bus full of kids, two of them being your own, and they're off for their first day of school?
When the brisk air of a Saturday makes you hear college football fight songs in the air?
The first snap of a NFL game and the hills are alive with the sound of fantasy football geeks everywhere?
When you start marking your calendar trying to hit all those 20 mile marathon-training runs sponsored by local shoe stores?
When Target clears out a special row for Halloween costumes? When you buy a bag of Halloween candy from Target, but then open it up and eat it a month early?
When the grass finally stops growing and the mower hibernates?
When you finally wear those running tights or put on those dollar store pair of running gloves?
When you don’t have to worry about the humidity and heat of running at one o'clock on Saturday?
When the first episode of Modern Family, or American Horror Story, or The Walking Dead finally air? (shows I"m looking forward to)
When your lungs breath in air cold enough to make them burn, and can see your breath in the morning, and you remember how, as a child, you'd pretend you were blowing out smoke?
When the apples become more delicious, and the apple orchards become fantastic sugarlands of doughnuts and cider?
When all around you, the green of plants explode to a brilliant color burst before slowly dying and descending to earth, readying themselves for an even deader winter, frozen in cyrogenics, waiting for a warm spring to bring them back to life?
Okay, that last one was waxing poetic and waxing pretty bad. Here are what minds and mouths much greater and poetic than mine have said about this glorious season:
Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.
George Eliot
Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower.
Albert Camus
I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house. So I spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air.
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold,
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
Robert Frost
Fall is my favorite season in Los Angeles, watching the birds change color and fall from the trees.
David Letterman
Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all.
Stanley Horowitz
Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile.
William Cullen Bryant
The Jade Rabbit, on Amazon $3.99, the story of a miraculous marathon run.Reviews of The Jade Rabbit
STRAY on Amazon, U.S Version $2.99 Reviews of Stray**After an Amazon Prime promo, Stray has taken off in the United Kingdom for some reason, and is at or near the top of some charts. (Stray in the UK)
#1 in Books >Health Issues > Addictions >
Treatment
#11 in Kindle Store > Books > Health, Mind & Body >
Recovery
#86 in Books > Fiction > Psychological 
September 8, 2012
Running From Road Rage Onto Some Trails
So, I went off-roading this weekend. Yes, partially inspired by a post on RunChat challenging runners to get off the roads and hit the trails, I ran to nearby heritage park. It's a perfect mile and a half warm up run to get there, but I just don't go there nearly enough. I have no idea why. There are wonderful hills that go on just long enough, a mix of wide, meandering trails and small, twisty, off-piste single track where you have to choose your landing area three steps ahead and bounce off roots, fallen trees, and rocks.
Heritage in the SummerIt always feels more like play on a trail run, it forces me to not always gauge my speed and mileage. On nearby streets, I know the exact mileage between pretty much every telephone pole, landmark, and my brain's just a GPS-ing Garmin. On a trail I leave all this behind and feel free and easy. Easy like Sunday Morning.Heritage is not huge, and it's hard to get in a ton of miles here without running the same track twice, but there are also tons of off-shoots to get lost in. Nearby are the incredible longer trails of Potto, Maybury, and Pontiac Lake. If you live in Michigan, chances are you've scrapped some flesh off on a rock at one or all of these. Running Fit's Trail Marathon, one of the toughest 25 marathons in the country, (as ranked by Marathon & Beyond) is one that I finished in record slow and grueling time and is ran on the Potto trail.
I've always admired trail runners. They have an edge to them, a hardcore halo over their heads that I admire, yet a peaceful aura from their hearts that can only come from so many miles in the woods.
My eight miles in pictures.
If you want the best condition trails and dirt here, you have to go off-piste.
A nice downhill with a little barrier in the middle. Too high to jump over, too low to duck 
Yes, that's a deer at the tip of my finger. I ran upon him and he barely moved. Object is closer than it appears. 
A troll who lives under this bridge runs the trails by night and sleeps by dayYes, Trail Runners are an incredible breed, and exist in a world I only visit but should do so much more often.I leave you with Rudy the Rabbit, who displayed the incredible extra strength runners can infuse when they run trails, and let their animal instincts take over. His trail-run victory in the movie Meatballs, inspired by one of the greatest pep talks of all time, still brings a tear to my eye.
"On open ground this guy could take you, but you're runnin' through the woods. You got a chance. You're smaller and you can run through bushes faster. You're like a little rabbit. You're Rudy the Wabbit, okay? When you're running, think, "I'm Rudy the Wabbit." The Jade Rabbit, on Amazon $3.99, the story of a miraculous marathon run.Reviews of The Jade Rabbit
STRAY on Amazon $2.99 (Currently #1 Substance Abuse Focused book in the UK) Reviews of Stray
September 5, 2012
Guest Post - Janice Woodward Comments On Paul Ryan's Sub 3 Hour Marathon
Thank you kindly for visiting my guest blog post.
I am many time marathoner Janice Zhu Woodward, MSW. Janice is my professional name, and is usually turned to Jan for my friends. Z stands for Zhu, a name given to me by the orphanage that raised me for six months in China, and Woodward is the family where my new identity took roots after the adoption. The Masters of Social Work is still being paid for with a two hundred dollar electronic withdrawal each month.
Yes, I volunteered to write this post. And what inspired me to ask for permission is Paul Ryan
I like Paul Ryan, I really do, and I would love for him to visit the runaway shelter in Detroit where I work and speak with the children here. But when I heard him causally mention running a sub 3 hour marathon, the very thing that I had been my Raison d'être, my purpose to prove myself worthy, the goal I had wrung out every last bit of energy from my soul just to accomplish, it stung a bit. Yes, I was a bit relieved to learn he was mistaken, I confess.
Here's a brief excerpt from a book I wrote, The Jade Rabbit, chronicling my attempts to run such a sub 3 hour marathon that the Senator took credit for so casually. (Cleverly, I wrote the book disguised as a sort of dorky white male named Mark.)
st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }
"I have done many runs with only numbers in my head, doing equations for hours to figure out paces, averages, and remembering personal best times at various race distances. All of this just to find the magic formula to run a marathon under three hours. Sometimes it felt like running a marathon in under three hours was my reason for being on earth, as if when the day came that I finally broke the three hour barrier I would finally catch someone or something that had run away from me. Then I could finally stop and rest. It was validation. A test of worthiness. Until I did that I was a non-entity, not really a runner, just a fragment of my potential to be discarded and dismissed.
There was the time in the Chicago marathon when I ran through the jammed aid stations and over metal-girded bridges with crowds cheering everywhere. I came up three minutes short, but I knew I could have broken the three-hour barrier if I was not delayed during the first few miles when 30,000 runners crowded the field. Plus it was seventy degrees and sunny at the finish, which, when you’re in the last miles of a marathon, feels like ninety-seven and broiling. This time at the finish, I saw three people drop to the ground and faint as if they’d been shot in the head.
The year I did Boston was unique. The only 10 am start I’ve ever done and also my first official DNF – Did Not Finish – after my calf ripped going up the hills at mile twenty. I limped for two miles with the injury, my goal time long ago vanished but my spirit unwilling to yield. A large CITGO sign mocked me like an unloving god in the sky, waiting for me to break, but I refused and raged on in tears until finally I couldn’t even walk any longer and just sat by the side of the road. Medics pulled me off and drove me away.
To this day the calf injury continues to flare up.
Two years ago, in my hometown Detroit Free Press marathon, I felt I was in perfect shape – but at mile fourteen it began to rain. It dampened my shoes and socks so that I was lugging around an extra pound with each stride. I rambled in at 3:13: not what I hoped for, but still a top ten finish. Many runners left the course this day early looking for a dry ride home, and the finish line this time was near empty.
I used to run shorter distances. It was on a high school track just like this one that I finally broke the five minute barrier during the mile run in a track meet. Mom was in the crowd then, as she always was, and I cried in her arms under the bleachers afterwards. I really was sad, like I was scared what had happened and had done something unforgivable. It was a cold day, and after the run my mucus had mixed in with tears and gotten all over Mom’s sweatshirt. I ran a 4:54, ten seconds better than my previous best, but never came close again.
Strange how meeting our goals can be so somber."
Congratulations just for finishing Senator Ryan. You are a winner just for having the courage to line up at the starting line. The race is long, and in the end, it is only with ourselves.
Read the full story of my Marathon here: The Jade Rabbit, on Amazon
Reviews of The Jade Rabbit
Reviews of StraySTRAY on Amazon
I am many time marathoner Janice Zhu Woodward, MSW. Janice is my professional name, and is usually turned to Jan for my friends. Z stands for Zhu, a name given to me by the orphanage that raised me for six months in China, and Woodward is the family where my new identity took roots after the adoption. The Masters of Social Work is still being paid for with a two hundred dollar electronic withdrawal each month.
Yes, I volunteered to write this post. And what inspired me to ask for permission is Paul Ryan
I like Paul Ryan, I really do, and I would love for him to visit the runaway shelter in Detroit where I work and speak with the children here. But when I heard him causally mention running a sub 3 hour marathon, the very thing that I had been my Raison d'être, my purpose to prove myself worthy, the goal I had wrung out every last bit of energy from my soul just to accomplish, it stung a bit. Yes, I was a bit relieved to learn he was mistaken, I confess.
Here's a brief excerpt from a book I wrote, The Jade Rabbit, chronicling my attempts to run such a sub 3 hour marathon that the Senator took credit for so casually. (Cleverly, I wrote the book disguised as a sort of dorky white male named Mark.)
st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }
"I have done many runs with only numbers in my head, doing equations for hours to figure out paces, averages, and remembering personal best times at various race distances. All of this just to find the magic formula to run a marathon under three hours. Sometimes it felt like running a marathon in under three hours was my reason for being on earth, as if when the day came that I finally broke the three hour barrier I would finally catch someone or something that had run away from me. Then I could finally stop and rest. It was validation. A test of worthiness. Until I did that I was a non-entity, not really a runner, just a fragment of my potential to be discarded and dismissed.
There was the time in the Chicago marathon when I ran through the jammed aid stations and over metal-girded bridges with crowds cheering everywhere. I came up three minutes short, but I knew I could have broken the three-hour barrier if I was not delayed during the first few miles when 30,000 runners crowded the field. Plus it was seventy degrees and sunny at the finish, which, when you’re in the last miles of a marathon, feels like ninety-seven and broiling. This time at the finish, I saw three people drop to the ground and faint as if they’d been shot in the head.
The year I did Boston was unique. The only 10 am start I’ve ever done and also my first official DNF – Did Not Finish – after my calf ripped going up the hills at mile twenty. I limped for two miles with the injury, my goal time long ago vanished but my spirit unwilling to yield. A large CITGO sign mocked me like an unloving god in the sky, waiting for me to break, but I refused and raged on in tears until finally I couldn’t even walk any longer and just sat by the side of the road. Medics pulled me off and drove me away.
To this day the calf injury continues to flare up.
Two years ago, in my hometown Detroit Free Press marathon, I felt I was in perfect shape – but at mile fourteen it began to rain. It dampened my shoes and socks so that I was lugging around an extra pound with each stride. I rambled in at 3:13: not what I hoped for, but still a top ten finish. Many runners left the course this day early looking for a dry ride home, and the finish line this time was near empty.
I used to run shorter distances. It was on a high school track just like this one that I finally broke the five minute barrier during the mile run in a track meet. Mom was in the crowd then, as she always was, and I cried in her arms under the bleachers afterwards. I really was sad, like I was scared what had happened and had done something unforgivable. It was a cold day, and after the run my mucus had mixed in with tears and gotten all over Mom’s sweatshirt. I ran a 4:54, ten seconds better than my previous best, but never came close again.
Strange how meeting our goals can be so somber."
Congratulations just for finishing Senator Ryan. You are a winner just for having the courage to line up at the starting line. The race is long, and in the end, it is only with ourselves.
Read the full story of my Marathon here: The Jade Rabbit, on Amazon
Reviews of The Jade Rabbit
Reviews of StraySTRAY on Amazon
September 4, 2012
Cooking And Running With Walt - Breaking Bad, Season One
I put on my apron, stole a gas mask from the local high school, grabbed some Bunsen burners, and I started cooking. Yep, I’ve cooked me up some episodes of Breaking Bad, the story of Walt, the high school chemistry teacher who starts using his skills to make the best Crystal Meth around after being diagnosed with lung cancer and unable to afford cancer treatment.
I finished season one in less than a week and watched many of these episodes on the treadmill including 3 episodes back to back during one 20 miler. I’ve had plenty of folks tell me I would love the show, and thanks for the push. Loved the first season, and here’s my hodge-podge of thoughts.
The writing is incredible. The conflicts always buzz in the background quietly, while the current crisis is exploding in your face. So many of them are intermingling; it's like looking at a Christmas tree where the lights sparkle off the ornaments which sparkle off the tinsel which make the candy canes look tastier which makes the presents seem more luxurious.
The show sparkles due to the contrast between Walt’s conventional world as a teacher and his blossoming career as the best meth cooker around in the most dangerous drug trade on earth. Walt has a quiet, emotionally stunted face, but he’s a witness to the darkest of society’s underbelly, and once he shaves his head you can just tell there’s a cauldron of trouble boiling under the surface
Quiet, reserved, and soft spoken while with his son and his family, his assertive, aggressive side lets loose when he’s with Jessie, his meth-cooking defacto son. It is like being a Cooker of meth has finally set him free.
Then there’s the comparison between the effects that chemotherapy has on the body compared to the deterioration caused by the meth. They aren’t that dissimilar.
As a middle-aged suburban man myself (as far as I know, currently cancer free) the series still speaks to me. It is suburban angst turned outwards, a metaphor of the battle of a middle classed man against the powers that might strip him of what he needs to fend for his family, powers that are greater than him and operate with little ethics or morality. Walt is certainly less naïve than you think, but still naïve enough to think he can step into the world of Meth and hold onto his values.
Of course, you also have to question the morality and ethics of his mainstream world which would allow a man to get less than the best cancer treatment since it is not covered under his HMO.
But Walt's adventure is about much more than just trying to raise funds for chemo and to secure his family’s future. It is proving his might, proving he still has fight in him yet. Chemotherapy may make him bald but it wont’ break his balls. His mad chemistry skills may be lost on the indifferent high school students, but it can be explosive in the underworld of Meth. Just because he’s terminally illy doesn’t mean he can’t still make an impact. He is Walter, hear him roar. A megalomaniac is born.
The show is visually powerful. All addicts have triggers, but experience has shown me how the sight of just the tiniest dot of Crystal meth has a power unlike none other, and I am sure there are meth addicts across the country watching this show high as can be, saying all sorts of explicative’s.
It’s only been season one, of course, but the winter running season isn’t too far off, and it is comforting to know I have about 40 fifty minute episodes of Breaking Bad to still dive into. I figure I can run about 245 miles on a treadmill in front of Walt, and you can just tell that some weird crazy shits about to happen to him.
And it's a huge blessing, because if I didn’t run like a junkie, I am sure I would be back as one of Walt's customers. In order to truly get into the show I’m thinking about watching and running in my Tighty-Whitey's
And please, no spoilers! I’ve already ran across pictures of Walt apparently in Jail, getting shaken down by his DEA brother in law, and another with his face all busted up. Hoping to catch up to watch the last ever episode in real time and have a Sopranos experience. Thanks again AMC!.
Reviews of The Jade Rabbit The Jade Rabbit, on Amazon
Reviews of StraySTRAY on Amazon
I finished season one in less than a week and watched many of these episodes on the treadmill including 3 episodes back to back during one 20 miler. I’ve had plenty of folks tell me I would love the show, and thanks for the push. Loved the first season, and here’s my hodge-podge of thoughts.
The writing is incredible. The conflicts always buzz in the background quietly, while the current crisis is exploding in your face. So many of them are intermingling; it's like looking at a Christmas tree where the lights sparkle off the ornaments which sparkle off the tinsel which make the candy canes look tastier which makes the presents seem more luxurious.
The show sparkles due to the contrast between Walt’s conventional world as a teacher and his blossoming career as the best meth cooker around in the most dangerous drug trade on earth. Walt has a quiet, emotionally stunted face, but he’s a witness to the darkest of society’s underbelly, and once he shaves his head you can just tell there’s a cauldron of trouble boiling under the surface
Quiet, reserved, and soft spoken while with his son and his family, his assertive, aggressive side lets loose when he’s with Jessie, his meth-cooking defacto son. It is like being a Cooker of meth has finally set him free.
Then there’s the comparison between the effects that chemotherapy has on the body compared to the deterioration caused by the meth. They aren’t that dissimilar.
As a middle-aged suburban man myself (as far as I know, currently cancer free) the series still speaks to me. It is suburban angst turned outwards, a metaphor of the battle of a middle classed man against the powers that might strip him of what he needs to fend for his family, powers that are greater than him and operate with little ethics or morality. Walt is certainly less naïve than you think, but still naïve enough to think he can step into the world of Meth and hold onto his values.
Of course, you also have to question the morality and ethics of his mainstream world which would allow a man to get less than the best cancer treatment since it is not covered under his HMO.
But Walt's adventure is about much more than just trying to raise funds for chemo and to secure his family’s future. It is proving his might, proving he still has fight in him yet. Chemotherapy may make him bald but it wont’ break his balls. His mad chemistry skills may be lost on the indifferent high school students, but it can be explosive in the underworld of Meth. Just because he’s terminally illy doesn’t mean he can’t still make an impact. He is Walter, hear him roar. A megalomaniac is born.
The show is visually powerful. All addicts have triggers, but experience has shown me how the sight of just the tiniest dot of Crystal meth has a power unlike none other, and I am sure there are meth addicts across the country watching this show high as can be, saying all sorts of explicative’s.
It’s only been season one, of course, but the winter running season isn’t too far off, and it is comforting to know I have about 40 fifty minute episodes of Breaking Bad to still dive into. I figure I can run about 245 miles on a treadmill in front of Walt, and you can just tell that some weird crazy shits about to happen to him.
And it's a huge blessing, because if I didn’t run like a junkie, I am sure I would be back as one of Walt's customers. In order to truly get into the show I’m thinking about watching and running in my Tighty-Whitey's
And please, no spoilers! I’ve already ran across pictures of Walt apparently in Jail, getting shaken down by his DEA brother in law, and another with his face all busted up. Hoping to catch up to watch the last ever episode in real time and have a Sopranos experience. Thanks again AMC!.
Reviews of The Jade Rabbit The Jade Rabbit, on Amazon
Reviews of StraySTRAY on Amazon
September 1, 2012
My 3 Current Experiments
“We Are Each An Experiment of One.” This is what George Sheehan called marathon training. The results you get from your training are not based on a 'one size fits all', and we are constantly observing, recording the effects, and making choices.
After following so many words of advice and wisdom and training plans I’ve come to fully believe this.
I always cringe a bit when I hear certitudes with certain marathon training tips. For example, you should never run over 20 miles. If I had heeded this as a black and white given, I would never have qualified for Boston. (Here's how I finally did.)
We have to learn about our bodies to figure out how they work best, what they respond to, what is going to cause injury and take us away from training, and most importantly I believe, what is your weakness. Asking other folks what works for them, and doing research, is a great way to learn, but we learn more by examing our own choices and results closely. (Click here for my top secret marathon training program.).
It takes experimentation to figure out how much weekly mileage we can handle, how long to taper, nutrition, what clothes to wear, what long runs to do and at what pace, interval lengths, recovery time, and which shoe to put on first before we head out each day. All of these factors I point to as my excuse as to why it took me ten years before I qualified for Boston.
But the experimenting is never over. Some of my experiments are going on right now.Three of these are:
1. Calf Sleeves. – Should I wear them during running?
I am certain they work and aid in recovery, that experiment is over. I wear them after every hard run. My uncertainty is if I should wear them while I run or not?
I have worn them many times for a run. My calfs feel so snug and comfy in there. Like two little babies nestled warm in their blanket.. And I feel the squeeze, which means they are working in pushing blood deeper into the muscle.
But I am not sure if they help during the run, and wonder if perhaps they even hurt since I have had knee pain after using them (but I do believe this was caused by the hills). During one run, when my calfs did their typical debilitating tightness, I took the calf sleeves off, balled them up and ran with them off, and instantly felt better. Of course, with any experiment, cause and effect is not easy to determine.
It was about 5 years ago when I remember first seeing calf sleeves on runners at events, and since this time their popularity seems to be exploding. More than once after morning long runs, I have worn them while visiting extended family. I then hear plenty of jokes, including ones about me wearing my ‘girlie socks.’ 'Girly socks?' to which I think:
In my circles, I fit right in and this is standard wear.I just ran 20 miles, moving for nearly three hours straight, largely on the power of my gonads, so you really can’t emasculate me right now.If you only knew. They are, in fact “girlie socks." In order to get a pair that actually fit my tiny Cankles, I had to get a woman's small. No joke.There are thousands of 'girlies' who run much faster than me, and by default, you too.So, to wear calf sleeves during a run or not? I will keep experimenting.
2. Kirvana 3’s – Will My Legs Adjust?
These are the 4mm drop, 'light as a plastic bag,' minimalist-leaning shoes I bought about a month ago. So far, I love them. Kirvana’s are Nirvana. They beg to be ridden fast. Yet the very area in my leg that they demand a stronger muscle from is my weakness. Yes, my Achilles heel is my Achilles heel.
I have only worn them for 20-40% of my weekly mileage, the longest being a couple 14 mile runs. My legs feel sore in different places after wearing them.
What I’m trying to figure out is:
Will my gait adjust to a more pure running form, especially since I do not wear them during all of my runs? (I am making a conscious effort to change my form)And…
Can I adjust in time for NYCM n November?
I do plan to wear them for the full 20 milers at least two or three times.
3. Six 20 milers - Twice the usual - What will this mean?
Since I ran a marathon as early as June, I’ve been able to run three 20 milers to date, with three more scheduled before I run New York. This is twice what I have normally done. Will this injure me, tap me out, kill my soul and make me barf out pea soup, or will it leave me with some incredible endurance so that 26.2 feels like a walk through (central) Park?
I expect the results to all of these three experiments to explode into some powerful running.
Reviews of The Jade Rabbit The Jade Rabbit, on Amazon
Reviews of StraySTRAY on Amazon
After following so many words of advice and wisdom and training plans I’ve come to fully believe this.I always cringe a bit when I hear certitudes with certain marathon training tips. For example, you should never run over 20 miles. If I had heeded this as a black and white given, I would never have qualified for Boston. (Here's how I finally did.)
We have to learn about our bodies to figure out how they work best, what they respond to, what is going to cause injury and take us away from training, and most importantly I believe, what is your weakness. Asking other folks what works for them, and doing research, is a great way to learn, but we learn more by examing our own choices and results closely. (Click here for my top secret marathon training program.).
It takes experimentation to figure out how much weekly mileage we can handle, how long to taper, nutrition, what clothes to wear, what long runs to do and at what pace, interval lengths, recovery time, and which shoe to put on first before we head out each day. All of these factors I point to as my excuse as to why it took me ten years before I qualified for Boston.
But the experimenting is never over. Some of my experiments are going on right now.Three of these are:
1. Calf Sleeves. – Should I wear them during running?
I am certain they work and aid in recovery, that experiment is over. I wear them after every hard run. My uncertainty is if I should wear them while I run or not?
I have worn them many times for a run. My calfs feel so snug and comfy in there. Like two little babies nestled warm in their blanket.. And I feel the squeeze, which means they are working in pushing blood deeper into the muscle.
But I am not sure if they help during the run, and wonder if perhaps they even hurt since I have had knee pain after using them (but I do believe this was caused by the hills). During one run, when my calfs did their typical debilitating tightness, I took the calf sleeves off, balled them up and ran with them off, and instantly felt better. Of course, with any experiment, cause and effect is not easy to determine.
It was about 5 years ago when I remember first seeing calf sleeves on runners at events, and since this time their popularity seems to be exploding. More than once after morning long runs, I have worn them while visiting extended family. I then hear plenty of jokes, including ones about me wearing my ‘girlie socks.’ 'Girly socks?' to which I think:
In my circles, I fit right in and this is standard wear.I just ran 20 miles, moving for nearly three hours straight, largely on the power of my gonads, so you really can’t emasculate me right now.If you only knew. They are, in fact “girlie socks." In order to get a pair that actually fit my tiny Cankles, I had to get a woman's small. No joke.There are thousands of 'girlies' who run much faster than me, and by default, you too.So, to wear calf sleeves during a run or not? I will keep experimenting.
2. Kirvana 3’s – Will My Legs Adjust?
These are the 4mm drop, 'light as a plastic bag,' minimalist-leaning shoes I bought about a month ago. So far, I love them. Kirvana’s are Nirvana. They beg to be ridden fast. Yet the very area in my leg that they demand a stronger muscle from is my weakness. Yes, my Achilles heel is my Achilles heel.
I have only worn them for 20-40% of my weekly mileage, the longest being a couple 14 mile runs. My legs feel sore in different places after wearing them.
What I’m trying to figure out is:
Will my gait adjust to a more pure running form, especially since I do not wear them during all of my runs? (I am making a conscious effort to change my form)And…
Can I adjust in time for NYCM n November?
I do plan to wear them for the full 20 milers at least two or three times.
3. Six 20 milers - Twice the usual - What will this mean?
Since I ran a marathon as early as June, I’ve been able to run three 20 milers to date, with three more scheduled before I run New York. This is twice what I have normally done. Will this injure me, tap me out, kill my soul and make me barf out pea soup, or will it leave me with some incredible endurance so that 26.2 feels like a walk through (central) Park?
I expect the results to all of these three experiments to explode into some powerful running.
Reviews of The Jade Rabbit The Jade Rabbit, on Amazon
Reviews of StraySTRAY on Amazon
August 28, 2012
Watch What Happens Live - Arbitrary Marathon Goals
Skylar: "So, maybe we could go out for coffee sometime?" Will: "All right, yeah, or maybe we could just get together and eat a bunch of caramels." Skylar: "What do you mean?" Will: "Well, when you think about it it's just as arbitrary as drinking coffee."
I booked my flight, and I have my official race code to enter the 2012 New York City Marathon. Yep, it's a secret password and includes iris scanning technology and fingerprint analysis that allows myself and myself alone to enter. If I do not raise the expected amount for Covenant House as required, then the entry will self-destruct.
Damn, I'm excited. I already have three 20 milers under my belt, one of them progressively faster, finally a couple 40 mile weeks, feeling strong now, and I'm looking to make a brand new New York themed playlist.
Once I finish New York - which is not a given, since stronger, faster, and more prepared runners than I have DNF'ed plenty - but if I finish, I will have completed 3 of the world's 5 major marathons. Boston, Chicago, New York. Just a hop across the pond to run Berlin and London, and Bamn! got the 5 majors done. (Here's a list of folks who have completed all 5 majors)
This is much more reachable than doing 50 in 50 states, but then again, there are a slew of other accomplishments I can think of just as arbitrary. (Here's a list of folks who have done 50 marathons in 50 states)
How about running a marathon in all major brands of shoes? Asics, Saucony, Nike, Brooks, New Balance, Mizuno, yep, I'd do one marathon in them all, and then do at least a half marathon in some Newtons. (sorry, no list available)
Or maybe I could run a marathon in every emotional state as described by Wikipedia? Or one while committing all of the seven deadly sins? (they'd close the course on me while running in Sloth mode, of course, I'd hog all the post race-swag during Gluttony mode, but I'd probably PR during my Wrath phase)
Or I could run one marathon while listening to the entire soundtrack of Led Zeppelin, then another while listening to The White Stripes, and finally one to the tunes of Justin Bieber?
I personally would prefer to run a marathon in every city associated with Grateful Dead's Song Truckin, ("Chicago, New York, Detroit, and it's all the same street") which means I just need to do Houston and Buffalo. No, I'm not counting New Orleans, since the song warns to stay away from there.
A marathon dressed as each of snow whites Dwarfs?
A post and pre-op gender reassignment marathon?
A marathon for all of those who died during the U.S invasion of Grenada?
It all starts to sounds like some drinking game made up by Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live.
Still, all of these are noble goals to shoot for, all excuses to simply stick out a carrot and make us continually chase the dragon down. Even if we get there, we'll find something new.
And afterwards I can go for coffee, or, I can just go out for Caramels, because when you think about it, its just as arbitrary as a cup of coffee.
Reviews of The Jade Rabbit The Jade Rabbit, on Amazon
Reviews of StraySTRAY on Amazon
August 24, 2012
Chasing The Dragon
I started this blog after hearing all about how I needed an "author platform" Yes, I was starting to feel quite inferior. So, I threw one up.
Yep, I threw it up and it looked like word barf. But as the various thoughts came forth and it started to define itself, I've found that writing about running has come nearly as natural as running itself.
But, I've also tried to mix in thoughts of writing, book and movie reviews, and once in a while a blurb about my own novels.
I'm thinking that some of these post bore those who are interested primarily in the running. They are kind of like those songs in concerts that make everyone sit down and stop dancing. The audience doesn't mind it, but they're really waiting it out until the next number. Thus I'm holding them back a bit.
So, I don't think the current blog title really fits for me anymore. The writing stuff and book reviews have slowed to a sprinkle.
So, a slight name change for this domain, a switch in word orders, and adding..
"Chasing the Dragon."
Chasing The Dragon is the analogy drug users refer to when they are always chasing their next high, looking for it to live up to their experiences from memory but never quite getting there. It becomes a case of diminishing returns, always seeking the highs of yesteryear but never finding them, yet instead of giving up, the chase becomes more desperate and frenetic. This chase for this mythical experience persist into eternity. It is certainly something I know quite a bit about. (link)
When I think about why I run, it's to get high, pure and simple. It's for the buzz. The feeling of a new kind of blood coarsing through my veins, feeling more alive, more free. The high can be running away from rage or stress or frustration, or it can be to accentuate joys, but the number one purpose I run is to transcend my body for a while, to become something larger than life but also outside of my life. During the run, the atoms spinning in my head are rearranged, my emotions get boiled into something more pure, and my spirit feels unencumbered by tmy body as a cage.
It certainly doesnt' happen every time, but I know if it doesn't happen on today's run, then the High of the run will happen sometime soon.
Sometimes this high is due to an accomplishment, sometimes it's due to the beauty of where I'm running, but largely it's due to the internal chemical combinations going on inside me, and the spiritual, mental, emotional benefits that moments of being lifted from everything mundane and transcending
In this sense, I'm still 'Chasing the Dragon', except in the case of running rather than in drug addiction, once in a while, I actually catch the monster, throw a lasso around his neck, and go for a sweet ride for an hour or three.
When running and marathon training is at its peak, you don't experience anything in your life without it being reflected in your training, and your training bleeds into every other area as well. It becomes the musical soundtrack of your existence, so running is part of most anything I experience, especially as the NYCM gets closer.
Still, I'm still gonna have to 'literary-ize' the place from time to time, but will try to chronicle and focus on my attempts at Chasing the Dragon, with more posts pertinent to those who are chasing their own dragons as well.
Reviews of The Jade Rabbit The Jade Rabbit, on Amazon
Reviews of StraySTRAY on Amazon
Yep, I threw it up and it looked like word barf. But as the various thoughts came forth and it started to define itself, I've found that writing about running has come nearly as natural as running itself.
But, I've also tried to mix in thoughts of writing, book and movie reviews, and once in a while a blurb about my own novels.
I'm thinking that some of these post bore those who are interested primarily in the running. They are kind of like those songs in concerts that make everyone sit down and stop dancing. The audience doesn't mind it, but they're really waiting it out until the next number. Thus I'm holding them back a bit.
So, I don't think the current blog title really fits for me anymore. The writing stuff and book reviews have slowed to a sprinkle.
So, a slight name change for this domain, a switch in word orders, and adding..
"Chasing the Dragon."
Chasing The Dragon is the analogy drug users refer to when they are always chasing their next high, looking for it to live up to their experiences from memory but never quite getting there. It becomes a case of diminishing returns, always seeking the highs of yesteryear but never finding them, yet instead of giving up, the chase becomes more desperate and frenetic. This chase for this mythical experience persist into eternity. It is certainly something I know quite a bit about. (link)
When I think about why I run, it's to get high, pure and simple. It's for the buzz. The feeling of a new kind of blood coarsing through my veins, feeling more alive, more free. The high can be running away from rage or stress or frustration, or it can be to accentuate joys, but the number one purpose I run is to transcend my body for a while, to become something larger than life but also outside of my life. During the run, the atoms spinning in my head are rearranged, my emotions get boiled into something more pure, and my spirit feels unencumbered by tmy body as a cage.
It certainly doesnt' happen every time, but I know if it doesn't happen on today's run, then the High of the run will happen sometime soon.
Sometimes this high is due to an accomplishment, sometimes it's due to the beauty of where I'm running, but largely it's due to the internal chemical combinations going on inside me, and the spiritual, mental, emotional benefits that moments of being lifted from everything mundane and transcending
In this sense, I'm still 'Chasing the Dragon', except in the case of running rather than in drug addiction, once in a while, I actually catch the monster, throw a lasso around his neck, and go for a sweet ride for an hour or three.
When running and marathon training is at its peak, you don't experience anything in your life without it being reflected in your training, and your training bleeds into every other area as well. It becomes the musical soundtrack of your existence, so running is part of most anything I experience, especially as the NYCM gets closer.
Still, I'm still gonna have to 'literary-ize' the place from time to time, but will try to chronicle and focus on my attempts at Chasing the Dragon, with more posts pertinent to those who are chasing their own dragons as well.
Reviews of The Jade Rabbit The Jade Rabbit, on Amazon
Reviews of StraySTRAY on Amazon
August 22, 2012
Syndrome E - The Novel
Syndrome E
-It's been a hit in France, it's being made into a movie, and is being called 'Seven' meets 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.' I got a chance to review this book which has recently been translated to English and released exactly a week ago.
A vintage movie connoisseur answers an ad and buys some rare movies, and after watching the clip, goes blind. Thus begins Syndrome E, and the novel explodes from this point, tracing the effects on a single persons Eyes to other areas of the world. Subliminal messages of horror are slowly revealed in the clip, and strange deaths where the eyes have been removed, the skulls sawed open, and the bodies buried to hide decomposition are connected to the movie clip.
Yes, larger world implications begin and end through the complexities of one's eyes.
Syndrome E is a smart horror story, yet can also be considered a piece of dark, literary crime fiction.
While the easy comparison is to the horror movie, 'The Ring', I hardly think this gives the story justice as the novel is much more complex. Two detectives investigating are battling with their own personal instabilities, a backdrop of science and the nature of the human mind guides the novel, and some accurate historical fiction is sprinkled in.
Yes, the story of CIA 'MK-Ultra experiments' is based on historical fact, as is the reference to a horror movie made so real that the director was called in to testify to prove nobody was actually murdered during the shooting of his impalement scenes. Google 'MK-Ultra' and then `Cannibal Holocaust'
The novels greatness is in its exploration inward into the human mind, and its larger implications to the world at large. The origins of mass killings and genocides derive from the sensory impact images have upon our eyes and our brains, yet it is told through the inner world of two individuals who have a personal stake in the outcome.
The ending of the novel - meaning when the 'suspect' is apprehended - was a bit unsatisfying but interesting in the mea culpa explanations, but this was made up for in the final paragraph. An unresolved question dangles before your eyes, and the last sentence has continued to play on in my head, long after the credits roll and the kindle is closed.
Let's hope the movie does this incredible novel justice.
Reviews of The Jade Rabbit The Jade Rabbit, on Amazon
Reviews of StraySTRAY on Amazon
A vintage movie connoisseur answers an ad and buys some rare movies, and after watching the clip, goes blind. Thus begins Syndrome E, and the novel explodes from this point, tracing the effects on a single persons Eyes to other areas of the world. Subliminal messages of horror are slowly revealed in the clip, and strange deaths where the eyes have been removed, the skulls sawed open, and the bodies buried to hide decomposition are connected to the movie clip.
Yes, larger world implications begin and end through the complexities of one's eyes.
Syndrome E is a smart horror story, yet can also be considered a piece of dark, literary crime fiction.
While the easy comparison is to the horror movie, 'The Ring', I hardly think this gives the story justice as the novel is much more complex. Two detectives investigating are battling with their own personal instabilities, a backdrop of science and the nature of the human mind guides the novel, and some accurate historical fiction is sprinkled in.
Yes, the story of CIA 'MK-Ultra experiments' is based on historical fact, as is the reference to a horror movie made so real that the director was called in to testify to prove nobody was actually murdered during the shooting of his impalement scenes. Google 'MK-Ultra' and then `Cannibal Holocaust'
The novels greatness is in its exploration inward into the human mind, and its larger implications to the world at large. The origins of mass killings and genocides derive from the sensory impact images have upon our eyes and our brains, yet it is told through the inner world of two individuals who have a personal stake in the outcome.
The ending of the novel - meaning when the 'suspect' is apprehended - was a bit unsatisfying but interesting in the mea culpa explanations, but this was made up for in the final paragraph. An unresolved question dangles before your eyes, and the last sentence has continued to play on in my head, long after the credits roll and the kindle is closed.
Let's hope the movie does this incredible novel justice.
Reviews of The Jade Rabbit The Jade Rabbit, on Amazon
Reviews of StraySTRAY on Amazon
August 20, 2012
Vacation Running
A vacation isn't a vacation if I don't bring my running shoes and let my running soul poke around. Yep, I like to experience anyplace I visit in the throes of an intoxicating run.
My family has a place up north Michigan on Torch Lake, a lake so blue and gorgeous and clear you'd think I was exaggerating if I put all my sentimental wordy might into describing it. The area is full of great country roads separating small villages. Farms and wildlife dot the landscape, and a chain of lakes runs right through it.
Torch Lake Blue
Of course, I've run the area many times, and done everything from a 4 miler to a 20 miler over the familiar routes and monstrous hills which are too steep for snow plows but perfect for the one Llama who lives on one of the local farms. As much as I try to avoid the reference, I always feel like Forrest Gump on the roads where I just run on forever and just because. The air is cleaner, or maybe the lightness is from my vacation eyes, because I'm always energized by the open roads, clean lake-blown air, and farm country stretching before me. When looking up the quarter mile stretch of a hill, I know at at the summit I'll be catching the blue of the lake in the horizon.
One of the localsThe roads always seem new to me compared to the suburbia sidewalks I'm used to
Still, each time I like to adventure somewhere I've never been, and this time it was off-road down a four wheel drive track. Do Not Trespass/Private Property signs warn against folks like me who would stray from the roads, but in between the signs I found a dirt route and veered off. Off-piste, as they'd say in ski country. The green growth had been padded down into two tiretrack trails, and I ran down one, rolling over hills, between evergreens, and came upon a small fenced bee hive farm, is all I can call it. Drawer-like contraptions had tiny dots buzzing around them, just as oblivious as I as to why they were there but still happy to be moving. (I learned later that farms use these hives to help pollinate their plants.) I saw at least 3 deer doing some wicked Fartlek-ing, and I was eager to join the Herd.
Bees make the world go around
Part of me said to turn back. Yes, this road was much less traveled, so I moved on, and it did make all the difference, since , the evergreens opened up into vast land, freshly mowed for hay perhaps, and the ground was smooth, the trail gone,and the short dry grass crunched with each stride. My legs moved in unison, just a motorized two-legged human darting over the landscape and feeling groovy. Hay silos and farmhouses looked on, until I finally came to some telephone poles, a clear sign I'd bumped back into the road and human life, so I turned back the way i came.
Funny to think I'm running in this country as part of my training for a metallic run through the NYCM in November.
It was a most memorable Torch Lake run, 70 degrees but with a slight breeze and so no real need for water stops, no watch on my wrist for my ego to worry about pace, and my endorphin level in my blood was at a .27 and well over the legal limit. Off-roadin and running free and easy, putting aside my fear of farmers with shotguns, hillbillies with banjos, and not a sign of a human anywhere. I was, for a moment, the biblical Adam, the only man on earth, running the the farmland of Eden.
country road
The best runs are often when the beauty of your insides are matched by the beauty of the outsides.
Reviews of The Jade Rabbit The Jade Rabbit, on Amazon
Reviews of StraySTRAY on Amazon
My family has a place up north Michigan on Torch Lake, a lake so blue and gorgeous and clear you'd think I was exaggerating if I put all my sentimental wordy might into describing it. The area is full of great country roads separating small villages. Farms and wildlife dot the landscape, and a chain of lakes runs right through it.
Torch Lake BlueOf course, I've run the area many times, and done everything from a 4 miler to a 20 miler over the familiar routes and monstrous hills which are too steep for snow plows but perfect for the one Llama who lives on one of the local farms. As much as I try to avoid the reference, I always feel like Forrest Gump on the roads where I just run on forever and just because. The air is cleaner, or maybe the lightness is from my vacation eyes, because I'm always energized by the open roads, clean lake-blown air, and farm country stretching before me. When looking up the quarter mile stretch of a hill, I know at at the summit I'll be catching the blue of the lake in the horizon.
One of the localsThe roads always seem new to me compared to the suburbia sidewalks I'm used toStill, each time I like to adventure somewhere I've never been, and this time it was off-road down a four wheel drive track. Do Not Trespass/Private Property signs warn against folks like me who would stray from the roads, but in between the signs I found a dirt route and veered off. Off-piste, as they'd say in ski country. The green growth had been padded down into two tiretrack trails, and I ran down one, rolling over hills, between evergreens, and came upon a small fenced bee hive farm, is all I can call it. Drawer-like contraptions had tiny dots buzzing around them, just as oblivious as I as to why they were there but still happy to be moving. (I learned later that farms use these hives to help pollinate their plants.) I saw at least 3 deer doing some wicked Fartlek-ing, and I was eager to join the Herd.
Bees make the world go aroundPart of me said to turn back. Yes, this road was much less traveled, so I moved on, and it did make all the difference, since , the evergreens opened up into vast land, freshly mowed for hay perhaps, and the ground was smooth, the trail gone,and the short dry grass crunched with each stride. My legs moved in unison, just a motorized two-legged human darting over the landscape and feeling groovy. Hay silos and farmhouses looked on, until I finally came to some telephone poles, a clear sign I'd bumped back into the road and human life, so I turned back the way i came.
Funny to think I'm running in this country as part of my training for a metallic run through the NYCM in November.
It was a most memorable Torch Lake run, 70 degrees but with a slight breeze and so no real need for water stops, no watch on my wrist for my ego to worry about pace, and my endorphin level in my blood was at a .27 and well over the legal limit. Off-roadin and running free and easy, putting aside my fear of farmers with shotguns, hillbillies with banjos, and not a sign of a human anywhere. I was, for a moment, the biblical Adam, the only man on earth, running the the farmland of Eden.
country roadThe best runs are often when the beauty of your insides are matched by the beauty of the outsides.
Reviews of The Jade Rabbit The Jade Rabbit, on Amazon
Reviews of StraySTRAY on Amazon
August 10, 2012
12 Tips For Spectating A Marathon
Yes, I’m watching the Olympics, part of the day and much of the night. Love Usain Bolt, love seeing the local Hansons jersey on a marathoner (even if it was only for a short while) and since watching the woman’s Olympic trials from a treadmill, I’ve become a bigger fan of spectating the marathon. Its just ‘neat’ to watch an Olympian run an event that I have trained for, but (and some will certainly disagree) I think there is as much distance between 3:17 PR-Marathoning Me and 2:08 PR-Marathoning Olympian as there is between regular-me and regular-Orangutan. There’s some comparisons, sure, but the differences are vast and we don’t really speak the same language and aren’t really the same species.
Watching on TV, I wish they’d show the back of the pack a little more. I tend to read a book or something else while watching since the TV just can’t capture the anxiety and energy..
But watching a marathon live is much different.
I’ve rarely been a spectator during a marathon, and when I am, it’s usually after I’ve finished and I’m walking backwards into the course to give the finishers some positive Vibes. I feel it’s my duty to give back a little.
Here’s a truth I believe after watching my wife complete a half marathon:. It’s harder to be a spectator on marathon day than it is to run the race.
When you’re not running, but just trying to navigate the massive crowd to find someone, and hope that they will actually see you when you finally do see them, you’re always wondering where they are. Are they injured, are they hurt, do they need support? Your imagination goes to all sorts of things that have gone wrong and you wont’ to be there to help them.
You could be looking all over the course yet they are not even there since they are off to the hospital.
You could be waiting for them to come in at a 8 min/mile pace but somehow missed them because they had the race of their life and flew by much quicker. Bamn, how do you feel now? You missed them because you didn’t have faith they were capable. Or, you could bail out and leave when they were moving along at a 10 min mile pace, and needing to see you but your impatience got the better of you.
You feel powerless to do anything about your predicament in the crowd, but while you are doing the actual running you are in complete control. Good or bad.
Of course, with all this anxiety, it just makes the final rush when you do see them kinda sweet.
12 Tips On How to Be A Good Spectator:
I’ve seen tons of tips for spectators out there, and of course still feel obliged to give my own. But first, I should say, it's incredible just for someone to get up early on a weekend and show up. So lets start with that and then get more specific.
1. Of course, never say “ Almost there. ” Or “Come on, Not Far To Go.” Or any similar interpretation. Never, no matter what. The right to free speech does not mean you can yell “Fire!” in a crowded theater, nor can you say these terrible words. Unless you can spit across the finish line, you are never almost there.
Satan comes in many forms2 . But do be specific if you want about the distance. I’m cool with that. “You’ve got a 10k to go. You can do this!” Something like that.
Or:
3. If there’s only one or two turns until the finish, say that. For example, “one more turn and your home!” “Just around that bend is the finish” When you’re a runner and can’t see the finish and your head is full of crazy mush and can’t compute, this is essential and incredibly heartwarming.
4. And at these moments. Feel free to scream. To yell. To jump up and down. " 2 miles, 2 miles to the end. 2. 2 miles to go!. There is no tomorrow!! There is no tomorrow! !". It would be impossible to show too much enthusiasm. Fake it even, fake it better than Meg Ryan or Elaine from Seinfeld or a hurt soccer player. Just because my face doesn’t acknowledge you, my brain and my spirit does. So try not to be offended of I don’t show my appreciation. I will remember you hours, days, and even years later.
5 . I love signs. But make them semi – original. No, they don’t have to be totally original, but “Run Forest Run” for example is way out of date. ‘Keep swimming, keep swimming, keep swimming” is new enough to me I still love it. And for some reason, cuss words on a sign work great for me while marathoning. Maybe the visceral nature of the event calls for them. A good sign burns deep into my memory.
Poor Aunt Beth
Perfect!! God comes in many forms as well.6 . If I’m walking, don’t talk to me. Don’t. Not sure how others feel, but don’t say “ come on, you can do it, let's keep it up .” At that point, no I can’t. And this holds true if you are a runner and running by. I know its well-intended, but a hand on my shoulder as you are running by me if I’m walking mocks me. In fact, I feel a bit nauseous as I write this so I am gonna go throw up.
Okay, I'm better now. But in summary, if I’m walking, treat me like I’m invisible. Because I am, mostly. Disappeared. And I promise (not) to respond to other walkers in kind. Forward is a pace.
7. Calling out my race number, I love that. Say dat!
8. Being specific or unique is much appreciated. In the Free Press marathon, where first time marathoners had green colored bibs to reveal their virgin status, spectators give special love and support, with comments like “Way to go greenie!!” Loved this.
If you’re there for a specific spectator, something unique to them is always nice. I remember the day after watching “Gladiator” and my wife calling me “Maximus! Maximus!” during a half-marathon. Yep, corny as it sounds it made the testosterone boil and bubble, and I was on my way to a PR and 2nd in my age group
9. Holding out a hand for a high five. Love it.
10. Offering things out is great. Even if you aren’t in an aid station. And know that I have mentally picked the person many yards in advance of who I’m gonna swipe some refreshments from. So thanks for staying still.
(This situation holds true no longer, but is worth mentioning: Back when we needed to take our chip off our shoe, thanks kindly to those who didn’t make me bend down but instead cut it off for me.)
11 , If you are a priest and a spectator (don’t laugh, I seen them) yes, please do say a prayer out loud for me, since I’m screaming them in my head anyways. There are not atheists at mile 22, so whatever your religion is, I am praying to your god too.
12. If you are the volunteer at the end of a marathon handing out medals, you are like a divine angel, so please forgive me for what I may say or do. Think of yourselves as a dentist who is taking someones wisdom teeth out. I’m under the influence of a heavy drug, so whatever I say or do should be confidential. So far over 13 marathons, I’ve resisted the urge to give you a sweaty embrace and soak you in that weird marathoning mojo slime all over me. This won’t last forever. One of you is gonna get slimed.
*And I’m off, on a six day vacation. But in the meantime, The Jade Rabbit for kindle is holding it’s pace at .99 cents until a few hours after Sundays Mens Olympic Marathon when the winner (Meb!?) has a flag draped over his back. This is the time most of us regular orangutan marathoners are fighting over the post race swag, wearing a generic medal or maybe a metallic space blanket, and looking for our loved ones who have given us such cool support not only on race day, but for many miles in the making.
.Reviews of The Jade Rabbit The Jade Rabbit, on Amazon
Reviews of StraySTRAY on Amazon $2.99 for Kindle, $9.99 Paperback
