Month: August 2015

Race Training – Outing 6 (February 18, 2010)

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Broken Shamrock

Wowee! My dogs (not to mention my calves) are barking. Consider this shamrock officially shuffled!

I have never been the greatest runner. My trainer Rob described my usual stride as “lethargic and heavy footed” – not a compliment by any standard. But when I commit to a challenge, I want to give it everything and do it right. My aversion to social embarassment is off the charts, but serves me well when it comes to the study and practice necessary to avoid peer mockery. So in the midst of last week’s blizzard, PMS and plenty of overtime on the day job, I have thus far stuck to my plan of running at least 4.5 miles twice a week. Starting Monday, the frequency will be upped to thrice.

Everything, and I mean everything, hurts during this adjustment period, as my body attempts to acclimate to running a lot farther and a lot faster than it ever has before. I was prepared for sore legs, but sore arms and abs too? I meet Rob on Tuesdays and Thursdays for kettle bell strength training, which is fairly intense. But it seems I don’t feel the full brunt of those efforts until I have spent an hour pumping my arms in the wind. The walk up the four flights of stairs to my apartment never feels longer than after a practice run – sweat running everywhere, winter hat stuck to my head.

But you know something? Through all the discomfort: the cramping in my left calf, the aching between my shoulder blades, the chafed skin on the left side of my torso (windburn) – I have never felt better. A month before the Shamrock Shuffle officially begins, I feel like I have already achieved so much. This old dog is learning a new trick, and the results of my efforts are showing up in my timing.

When I started training almost three weeks ago, it took me 70 minutes to run 4.5 miles. When I put the key in the lock to my front door last night, I had covered the same distance in 47 minutes. Better yet – I managed to jog briskly for the first two miles without slowing down to catch my breath. During my first drill, I couldn’t get to one. Surely, I am not where I want to be yet, but I think I see a dimly lit path to success. Yes we can!

And Then There Were 58…Bayh, Bayh Evan (February 16, 2010)

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Bayh

http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20100216/pl_bloomberg/a6qybv5vkza4

Aw nuts!

If there is one thing I admire about the hard Republican right, it’s their apparently insatiable appetite for battle. Over the last 12 months, the “Party of No,” has used its spare energy for nothing beyond intense ideological and bureaucratic grudge matches – and seems to relish the confrontation. Like Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple as well as Pixar, the people who have taken you back to the Revolution – literally to the 1770s with the resurgence of the “Tea Party” – seem to thrive on adversity and their underdog status. It’s like they are daring anyone in Congress to actually try something. Democrats are body checked at every turn.

But the bullying gets so much easier when your opponent takes his toys and goes home. It has always stymied me to come up with reasons why those most wed to change (many, but not all of the left leaning Dems) appear to have the weakest stomach when it comes to fighting for it.
Today we learn that Evan Bayh, a former two-term Indiana Governor, and two-term Senator, who has never lost an electoral contest, is leaving the game. His reason: “‘There’s just too much brain-dead partisanship’ in Congress, Bayh told ABC, and the American people need to vote out those who are ‘rigidly ideological.’”

Alright, I feel you there Evan, but how does your resignation help us to achieve that goal? By vacating your formly Democratic seat, aren’t you just opening it up to Republican takeover, a prospect not impossible in semi-conservative Indiana?

It is hard, both as a staunch liberal, and as a lover of the textbook (rather than actual) political process, to find much to celebrate these days. Though I do not place the blame on Obama, who has nonetheless developed into a curiously “lame duck” first term chief, “Change” becomes an ever dimmer possibility with every news cycle. The divided electorate seems more fractured and unwilling to come together to get work done than at any time in our history. And that is dangerous, because we have a comprehensive list of real problems that need solving now.
I would beg Senator Bayh to reconsider, but I am sure he has already fielded calls from Majority Leader Harry Reid, possibly even the President himself.

I am daydreaming of a targeted flood, a la Noah, that could wash away Capitol Hill and give it a fresh start. It appears nothing short of that is going to move American democracy forward. I guess Evan Bayh shares my dream. It’s just that I thought we went through the process of electing officials so they could help us, not get bored/frustrated/annoyed and give up. If Senators get disillusioned and quit, how do they expect us to stay engaged?

Wow, John Mayer, Just Wow (February 11, 2010)

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john-mayer-borat

A few weeks back, my co-worker Lora and I took a little break from the grind to play a game. It was called “What celebrity would you like to have hit on you, just for the joy of being able to turn him down?” Lora’s choice was Brad Pitt, a controversial one for certain, and largely driven by the ugly beard he was sporting that he has since shaved off.

My pick was instantaneous and for me, way too easy: John Mayer. For years I have watched this slutty egomaniac get famous for too many things besides his music – like his sidewalk press conferences, endless Twittering and the stream of hot Hollywood babes he has banged, and then had the class to report about. Never will I understand what some of these impressive women saw in this fleabag (et tu Jennifer Aniston – twice?!). Incidentally, I might also mention that I hate his music. He may be a fine guitar player, but his singing voice sounds like a small barnyard animal in heat.

So it’s clear I do not like the guy and would love to personally give his ego a check if the opportunity presents itself. But it seems Mayer himself has beaten me to the punch. Have you folks seen this? I could paraphrase, but it packs a greater wallop to read the disgustingness first hand:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35334100/ns/entertainment-celebrities/

If I had any respect left for Mayer, I do believe this would have finished it off. Is there anyone out there who will admit to being a Mayer fan? If so, what do you make of this seeming attempt to self-destruct?

The Ship’s Going Down: Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em! (February 9, 2010)

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ship

Ah yum, the familiar taste of egg on our faces. Too bad I don’t care for eggs, but to be a resident of Illinois, you’d better learn to love that chicken born protein, because as long as you are a voting adult of this State, one humiliation after another is to be your lot.

It almost seems like a farway dream that a man named Obama: classy, intelligent, thoughtful and competent, could have ascended the ranks of the political mire we crawl through in the Land of Lincoln. But it did happen, a once in a lifetime gift, and enjoy it folks, because it looks more and more like that’s all we’re going to get.

Because no sooner did the primary polls close last Tuesday night, then we found ourselves in familiar territory:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/elections/2036963,CST-NWS-cohen09.article

A pawnbroker, a repeated domestic violence offender, consorter of admitted prostitutes and SuperBowl party killjoy (did you SEE that mess as he withdrew from the Lt. Governor’s race in a teary press conference, in the middle of a pub, as innocent people attempted to watch the Saints march to victory?) I would ask, fair citizens, what we have done to deserve this nightmare, except we, or at least the Democratic ilk of us, actually voted for this loser. Let this be a cautionary tale to those who think their vote couldn’t possibly matter. When you achieve a paltry 25% turnout, you get Joey Buttafucco as your candidate.

I didn’t vote for Cohen, but no matter. I am again ruined through guilt by association. And now that Cohen has quietly (ha!) exited the race, where do we go from here? Are there any good choices? It seems some would like Dan Hynes, the Democrat who just lost the nomination for Governor to incumbent Pat Quinn, to step forward. But surprise, surprise, he seems a little reluctant to fill the shoes of a man who will let his morbidly obese son weep with heartbreak next to him on national TV.

http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2010/02/hynes_not_interested_in_illino.html

Between this crap and the blizzard, I need a drink already. It’s gotta be noon somewhere…

Go New Orleans! (February 6, 2010)

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superbowl

It was not until the Fall of 2006 that I began to take a real interest in the NFL. At first, my thirst for knowledge was driven by the need for information, a competitive edge so that I could take everyone’s money in the Pick A Winner Pool which I participate in every year. I haven’t actually mamanged to take it all yet, but I am working on it.

Anyway, I found as I studied, once I got past the assumption that I will ever understand EVERYTHING that happens on the field (the sport is just too complicated), I started to like what I saw. I enjoy the way a lead changes four or five times in a game, the way that a pick can shift momentum and put you back on the edge of your seat when you’d already given up on the home team. I like the loud, rowdy fans, the crunching of hot male bodies (in some cases), the failure of my enemies (I am talking to you Brett Favre). In short, football kind of makes me feel alive, riding a roller coaster of emotions that are precarious from one whistle blow to the next.

Tomorrow, as you know, is the Super Bowl, another championship game without the Chicago Bears (I maintain they didn’t show up to the last one they played in either). No matter because I find myself firmly on the side of the New Orleans’ Saints. Not only have they never won a team ring before, but the City has been through an awful lot in the last six years. They need the morale boost, and with the play of their football team this year, they deserve it.

I am also a bit tired of Peyton Manning and the Colts, not the least because they were the team to humiliate the Bears this weekend in 2007. The Colts are becoming like the Patriots once were, or the Yankees still are – that annoying team that always seems to find itself in the last stages of the playoffs, predictable, the ones you start rooting against.

It promises to be a good match. I have picked my side. What’s yours?