Ken Wheaton's Blog, page 7

Don’t Taint Your Run! A Marathon Packing Checklist

[image error]Pro tip: For better results, bring a matching pair. Failing that, bring one for the left foot and one for the right.

So you’re not only doing something as foolish as running 26.2 miles on your day off, you’re going out of town to do it. Since your already-addled brain has probably been made worse by a combination of Taper Crazies, race anxiety and stress over that one stupid thing at work, I thought I’d help you with this packing list for your out-of-town marathon.

Shoes. Don’t forget them....

Back to the Beginning: Hamptons Half Marathon

[image error]I’m running the Hamptons Half Marathon in Southampton tomorrow. It’s sort of a return to the beginning for me.

Prior to running it for the first time in 2010, I had actually run the New York City full marathon twice. But the Hamptons was the first time I ran a race with Team in Training. And it’s where, thanks to the kick-ass coaches of Team in Training, I learned the proper way to train for a long-distance race without doing something stupid or hurting myself.

2010 was a hell of year.

I got...

How is the Brisket King’s brisket?

[image error]It was one of the more Texas things I’ve seen. The big guy walked into the place and took off his jacket, exposing the holstered pistol on his hip. He joined his two friends, each of whom were working on an $80 prime-rib steak. The big guy sat down to a rib that looked like it had come off of a T-Rex rather than a cow.

I’ve seen plenty of guns before. I’ve used guns before. I have family members who walk around their own houses with guns in their pockets. I’m okay with guns. But I kept steali...

Review: ‘It’ (or Rated R ‘Goonies’)

[image error]

In the 1980s, a rag-tag group of misfits band together for an underground adventure in order to save themselves — and their town! Come for the journey, stay for the laughs — and the scares! You’ll laugh, you’ll scream — you might even cry! I’m going to type a complete sentence — and then set off another related sentence with a dash!

You may have heard of the runaway success of this small indie film, “It.” It’s based off of one of the less-well known works of a relatively obscure short-story...

The Brilliant Insanity of ‘Claws’

[image error]Photo courtesy of TNT

Last night, I took a break from binge-watching Season 1 of TNT’s “Claws” to watch “Game of Thrones.” After a perfectly fine episode of “Thrones” — and by fine, I mean one in which numerous ridiculous decisions are made by characters who are supposed to be leaders, as well as Arya being a total snot and neither she nor Sansa actually mentioning the name Littlefinger, which would TOTALLY clear up their issue — I went right back to “Claws.”

I actually started watching “Claw...

A Thousand Words on Patricia Lockwood’s ‘Priestdaddy’

On one hand, we have a female character who’s dad is, somehow, a Catholic priest. On the other hand, we have Patricia Lockwood’s “Priestdaddy,” billed as a memoir about growing up as the daughter of a Catholic priest.

[image error]If you know me at all or if you’ve read “The First Annual Grand Prairie Rabbit Festival,” it’s pretty damn clear why I’d be drawn to Lockwood’s book. In my precious little baby of a first published novel, Father Steve meets and befriends Vicky, the daughter of the priest he’s co...

Random Observation: Night Moves

Spent a few days in a car. Which means radio. Which means classic rock. Which means Bob Seger’s “Night Moves.”

Man. A song that was sort of groovy, slightly hormonal background music when I was younger now strikes me as melancholic look back at youth bordering on genius. Getting old does things to you. 

Not So Cool Runnings: How Not to Run Your First International Race

[image error]The wrong kind of pre-race party.

With more than a dozen half marathons and a handful of marathons under my belt — some of those run with coaches — I know the pre-race script. But for my first half marathon in an international locale, I went off script. As one tends to do in Jamaica.

Now before you conjure up an image of someone in a smoke-filled room, listening to reggae and surrounded by Rastafarians, let me assure you that’s not what happened. But only because pot makes me paranoid. 

[image error]I’m r...

Reading and Speaking: A Brief Trip to Atlanta

[image error]High-tech communications equipment at Ivy Hall. I should have done the reading through this.

Last week, I went down to Atlanta. I’d been invited by SCAD Atlanta to talk to a couple of classes, do a reading and a book signing.

(If, for some reason, you’ve never bought my books drop dead you can check them out here or bug your local bookstore.)

I couldn’t tell you the last time I’ve been to Atlanta other than for airport transfers.

I was only in town for a couple of days, so I didn’t get to exp...

The Big Debate: Tipping at Sonic

[image error] Photo courtesy of Sonic

For those of you who go to Sonic, do you tip the server? 

On one hand, it’s a fast-food joint. You don’t tip at McDonald’s, why would you tip at Sonic?

On the other hand, these people walk food out to your car. Sometimes they SKATE food out to your car — on inclined pavement that typically leads to a busy road. 

Take Our Poll