I have seen the future and it is to be run in Brooks Ghost

Today was the first run I've been on that had absolutely no shin pain in weeks. I had almost forgotten the joy of running without fear of sudden pain. I went so slow that I'm sure anyone that saw me from the road thought all sorts of mean things about how I may as well be walking. But I didn't care because it meant that I could see the light at the end of this horrible dark tunnel.

I did finally go out and get new shoes after having put an excess of 700 miles in the last pair. I went and got fitted for a bunch of different shoes but ended up going with the Brooks Ghost and they're a dream. 

They're marvelous. I'm a mid-forefoot striker and they seem to do very well for that. The fit around my ankle is also superb. I'm not sure if I have weird protruding ankles but sometimes certain shoes will crash against them. I also seem to have a strangely wide toe box but narrow heels. Women with these issues will understand the pain I must endure when forced to wear formal shoes for weddings and the such. Shoe manufacturers seem to think a lady's toe box should be just as slender as her heel the same way disney animators seem to think a woman's waist should be the same circumference of her neck and her eyes as big as her brain.  

Again, I'm going slow but I think this has given me the boost to register for the half marathon in February!

Anyone else in?

First 10k completed and running dogs

It was actually April 12th but I haven't gotten around to writing about it. I ran it with some friends who are all way better and faster runners than me but I'm proud to have finished running it anyway. I walked up hills but ran the rest. Next up: half marathon!

I think I'll go ahead and register so that I have to train. The last couple weeks have been light on the running but it's picking up again. Even better, without really meaning to, I find myself running faster than I used to. Not sure why but I do know one thing that will for sure keep me motivated.

I got a new puppy yesterday. When I started running initially, I took my little 7 lb dog, Marvin, out with me. He's a little chihuahua mix but he's lanky and could run for miles. I had to stop running with him because he has some cervical vertebrae issues and it was making him gimpy. This little one, Estelle appears to be a chihuahua/terrier mix of some kind and at two months she's already half of Marvin's weight. Once we get through with all the puppy training I'm hoping she'll get big enough to run with.

I know what people think. "Why not just get a big dog?" Theoretically, I love bigger dogs. Bigger than 90 lb gets hard but within reason, I think they're super cool. The problem is everything is more expensive with a big dog and I really like the ease of portability that little dogs give you.

Anyhow, here's hoping Estelle gets past 12 lb.

lululemon: Now with more wasp!

Back with more griping about the top clothing choice for bored, rich, waspsy women who really want a good looking behind in yoga pants.

Again, disclaimer: I am not a student or scholar of Buddhism or Hinduism by any means but I know bullshit co-optation when I see it.

Today it is about Dhyana. According to abuddhistlibrary.com it means the practice of mind control by which we stop thinking and seek to realize Truth in its essence. The entry for it is super long and difficult for my non-enlightenment seeking brain to understand, which is why I'm SO glad I can GET IT with this nifty t-shirt!

I mean, why study the ancient wisdom that informs yoga when you can just slap that shit on your thin waif form and just absorb that through diffusion? Yeah, it's $58 but I mean, you spend that much on your weekly Iced, Half Caff, Ristretto, Venti, 4-Pump, Sugar Free, Cinnamon, Dolce Soy Skinny Latte budget? Budget? AHAHAHAHAHA!

In conclusion, Lululemon, suck it. 

Group runs, the shudders and hot sprinters

I've never been a group exercise person. I've avoided aerobics, yoga, jazzercise and all similar activities that involved sweating in a confined space with lots of strangers. I never played sports as a kid and so naturally feel completely out of my league in any sort of team activity. Running is fantastic because you don't have to suffer though any of the pit falls of team sports. However, there comes a time when running by yourself seems less than enough.

I came across this group run that starts at Uncle Billy's Brewery. It seems less scary than early morning group runs because the end goal is to get sloshed on home brew. Still, some of the fear remains, especially because I'm really not sure how long it actually it is. Might be a few miles, might be 10?

They're on Wednesdays, so today. I subconsciously decided to not go when I went for a long run this morning. The weather was perfect and half way through I realized I didn't want to push it by going on another long run later that night. I actually got to 4 miles, which is great for me though I realize it's chicken scratch to most.

I would like to get up to 5 miles at least before the 10k in a couple of weeks which at this point I realize is totally doable. Mercifully, my shin splints are a thing of the past. The thing to avoid, I realized, is engaging in any kind of sprint behavior. I sprinted 3 days ago now and my quads are still very upset with me. It's incredible all the muscles sprinting actually requires, not to mention the stamina. I barely got to a tenth of a mile each time. Totally get the wide sea that separates marathon bodies and sprinter bodies.

Bicycle stagecoaches

This needs to happen. Pedicabs are cool for event centered/drunkard transportation but let's face it, they're too slow to provide a real alternative to cabs. Bike pulled stagecoaches however would totally be able to replace other forms of public transportation.

In Mexico, there are these 'buses' that are little more than large vans that act as city buses. They're cheap and have certain routes though you can ask to stop anywhere along them. I don't know of any city here that has them but stagecoaches would be an awesome way of providing that kind of transportation without the gas required for huge city buses.

For them to make sense though, I think they'd have to be partly subsidized by a city government or even user memberships.

*sigh* one day...

The Ancient Olympic games

I've long been a fan of the classical world. History, myth, religious cults, and on and on. In reading a few books on the ancient games there were tidbits that I found too good to not share.

The first 13 Olympiads had as their only event a short foot race which dictated the length of the stadium. Later the diaulos was added which was two lengths of the stadium and then the dolichos (roughly equivalent to today's 5,000 meters), which was the long distance race at 20 or 24 lengths of the stadium.

Leonidas of Rhodes did what today would be unheard of. He, "with the speed of a god," won all three events at four successive Olympiads between 164 to 152 BC. Accordingly so, he was worshipped as a deity in some towns.

Much later came the pentathlon which consisted of discus, jumping, javelin, running and wrestling. Even later, chariot racing and boxing.

As for nutrition and conditioning, different 'trainers' and doctors of the time each contributed their own advice. Vigorous dancing was held as an excellent training activity which is of course, perfect. Ancient father of medicine, Galen, contended that 'natural' activities such as rowing and digging could properly prepare an athlete. He also recommended a diet rich in beans, boiled of course to reduce, ahem, flatulence.

Others said a diet with plenty of dried figs, wheat and cheese was key. Later a trainer Pythagoras, held that meat was the way to go. This of course, at the time, was an extravagance that many athletes could indulge in. Most of the commoners were stuck with their bread, olives and oil.

Women, of course, were excluded from the Olympiad but they had their own festival, the Heraia, in honor of Hera. It had only one event, a foot race of approximately 160. Runners were divided by age groups. As the men, the victors were allowed to set up statues of themselves in the temple of Hera. Many ancient male figures did actually advocate a certain amount of athletic ability in women. This sometimes could include sword fighting!

My favorite thing about the ancient Olympic games has to be the commonly respected truce that allowed the games to take place. Myth holds that King Iphitos of Elis from around the 9th century BC asked the oracle how to end the civil wars and plagues which ravaged the Greek city-states. The oracle told him to reinstate the Olympic games which apparently had been held unofficially for a long time before. During the games, a truce should be announced between all the Greek territories.

Before the games could begin, three heralds were charged with going out and carrying the message of the games and of the truce. Ultimately the truce ended up lasting for two to three months to allow for the travel of spectators. As you might imagine, this did contribute quite a bit in reaffirming common Greek identity.

stupid running injury

I was ignoring it at first but finally have to come to terms with the fact that despite all my caution, sigh...I have medial tibial stress syndrome, aka shin splits. More disturbing is that so much of the information out there kind of leaves you hanging in regards to what you should do next.

So MTSS occurs when there is too much stress put on your tibia suddenly, as in with a new training program. It turns out that what seems like 'just shin splints' are actually a kind of stress on the bone itself, not just the muscles. Which means, ignoring it and overtraining can land you in stress fracture land. So what to do?

Ideally, you let your bone build itself up to deal with the stress of a new running program. On the one hand bone remodeling can take up to a month but on the other, the idea of resting for a whole gd month sounds insane and counterproductive. Also, because of the way bone remodeling works, your bones are actually more vulnerable during this process.

Going off along the physiology tangent, bone remodeling is super cool. Osteoclasts, which are actually derived from white cells, break down bone with hydrochloric acid which dissolves the mineral component and lysosomal enzymes break down the organic parts. Then osteoblasts follow and secrete the ground substance and collagen fibers which will be the organic matrix and in a week or so inorganic salts crystallize within said matrix. Once these little guys are totally surrounded by this stuff, they become regular osteocytes, or bone cells.

Back to running...

After much research, I came across this article from the blog Running Writings which was extraordinarily helpful. It doesn't seem like I have to stop completely, just take it easy with pace and back off of increasing mileage for little while. Which I guess is ok.

so take away:
- Reduce the volume, intensity and/or frequency of runs
- Work on strengthening calf muscles every day
- Take your vitamins!

Can dudes just calm the F down?

This has always been the case but I have especially been noticing it lately. Whenever I mention to a male that I'm super psyched about training to run the 10k I get almost the same exact response from every single one of them.

"You don't have to train for that. I could run 10 miles right now."

*sigh*

enter agro man.

The human body is resilient, especially for the young. I know that if my life depended on it, I could probably run 20 miles. That. is. not. the. point.

I used to be able to jump right into a game of soccer without stretching. Then, the day came when I realized how incredibly stupid that is. The point is not what you are capable of, the point is what you can do and enjoy yourself and not suffer for it the next day or further on down the road.

I bought this book recently even though I have absolutely no exercise related injuries to speak of. Being 30 now though, it's suddenly very important to me to prevent, at any cost, anything that will enfeeble me. It's a great resource in general but because it's written by an MD it has lots of anecdotes of dumb things runners do. For example, run way too much, too quickly. Usually, of course, they are male.

All I'm saying is that our life expectancy is pretty damn high at this point, do you *cough, men* really want to spend 40 of those years with a shit knee?

Still loaded, a less little less hunched. Oh yeah and screw Lululemon.

I took up running last spring but got interrupted over the winter. I started up a couple weeks ago and I realized I had forgotten how addictive it is. So addictive, in fact, that I've decided to run the Cap10k here in Austin. It's in April and it's my first race ever so I thought I would take my running from relaxing hobby to goal-oriented training. Having never played competitive sports, very uncharted.

Point is, my chatter will now include running joys and woes as well.

Woe of the day: Luxury work out gear
I don't think much of high end brands in my day to day life but today I was reminded of how revolting they can be.

Exhibit A: Lululemon
I know there are a lot of athletic brands that sell horribly overpriced goods made by small south asian hands. This, however, deserves mention.

Mala beads, I just learned, are used in Hinduism and Buddhism during prayer and meditation. They remind me of the Rosary used in Catholicism. Lululemon has decided to manufacture these. Fine. They are charging over a hundred dollars for their co-opted version. 

There are obviously many other garments they sell that are stupidly overpriced like 60 dollar tank tops but that's a lot of companies and that's a rant for a different day. It's the need to validate the outlandish price tag on a string of cheap beads with an ancient religious practice that's not even their own.

So like I said earlier, screw Lululemon.

Long hiatus: invisible bike helmets and fancy cycling

I've moved back to Austin after my stint in Houston. Austin has much to offer cyclists in the way of smoother roads and a larger bike culture but Houston has absolutely no hills so you can ride forever.

Now that I'm older and wiser I've started wearing a helmet. Now I just think it's insane that I ever scorned it. I have however become aware of a new invisible helmet that sounds like the coolest thing.

That's on my order list along with this. Having ridden to many a formal event and shown up flushed and sweaty, it'd be super nice to get around that.

As a trained anthropologist...

I like to open up ridiculous claims with this. Yes, I studied Anthropology in college and I love to make observations about aspects of culture otherwise reviled but sadly, I am far from being a well-trained anthropologist.

This guy can actually say that however. And he's awesome.

bike messenger turns academic

Clipless pedal swag and relationship fallout

I love clipless pedal riding. I hate clipless shoes. They're ugly and bulky and look funny with dresses. I've been dreaming of the day that mary jane style shoes are made with cleats but I think that's a long ways off. In the meantime Chrome has made these great clipless shoes that don't look all that different from shoes I might wear anyway but there's a mental block that's keeping me from actually buying them and eventually wearing them.

And it's petty.

My ex-boyfriend has a pair.

I'm not actually sure if they're the same exact ones. They look the same but I don't remember them having the cleats. Regardless, the effect is the same.

It's not repulsion or anything. It's a vague need for distance. Like if I bought them I'd subconsciously be reviving that failed 6 month stretch for some kind of personal torture.

I might still buy them anyway but it's going to take a lot more ruminating than any other purchase I've made, including that $80 set of Kohl pens.

sigh.

Rainer Maria Rilke und Regen

Finally getting into Ranier Maria Rilke after knowing I should for years. I'm glad though that I can get into it like this.

Und daß das Stille und das Ungestüme

wie Stern und Sturm dich kennen? : Weil ich rühme.

Heat exhaustion soccer sadness and damned loose dogs

This weekend consisted of the above mentioned things. The first looming, the middle one crushing, and the last chasing behind.

Houston summer creates the perfect environment for heat related conditions. 20+ miles a day in daylight hours without a direct line feeding me lost fluids and electrolytes day after day catches up in a nasty way. I found myself watching the women's final light headed and depleted in the first half. Fortunately the intensity of the game helped rouse me. Unfortunately, US women were no match in penalty kicks.

A moment of silence for the glory the US women could have had.

...

Completely unrelated but omnipresent...loose dogs. Loose dogs are the scourge of my neighborhood, as well as countless other lower-income neighborhoods and it's gotten incredibly old. The reason this gets me goes beyond the simple irritation of getting the stool scared out of you by the sudden appearance of a snarling dog trying at best to run you off his turf and at worst to have your calf for lunch.

It angers me because despite the fact that I've had pets for as long as I can remember, I've worked with animals for the last 7 years and I often favor the company of cats and dogs over people, EVERY time I get chased the anger that wells up is enough to forget all that and throw my U-Lock right in the offending dog's muzzle.

The feeling dies down as soon as the chase stops but if that happens to me, I can only imagine the depth of ill-will that builds in people who aren't as animal friendly.

Which brings up an interesting similarity to bikes.

When I'm driving and I see a biker, I am courteous, I give him/her enough room and wouldn't think of honking or charging. I act this way because I know what the receiving end feels like. Drivers who have never ridden down a busy street or depended on their bike for transportation might not think twice of showing aggression toward bikes. People who don't own dogs and have only been chased or scared by them know only to regard them as a menacing presence.

But I digress. The point here is, really, I am more angry at the irresponsible owners that let their dogs wander the streets and chase anything that moves until they get run over than the dogs that threaten me with bodily harm. I would much rather thrown my U-Lock at these people than their dogs, but in the mean time, I suppose I might just have to switch back to the clip-less pedals for instant acceleration.

The might Fanny Pack

I usually carry my big pack with me to take tools, an extra book, extra tube, a sweater and my hand pump lest I be stranded, bored or cold. This, however can get cumbersome and the other night I decided I was being ridiculous in carrying my pack just for bike tools. Enter: THE MIGHTY FANNY PACK. I was able to fit a patch kit, tire levers, chapstick, I.D., debit card, cash, a couple of cigarettes and a multi-tool in it and then I just attached my hand pump to my rack with a zip tie and voila!

A pack-free night.

Adios

Just rode home in a borrowed jacket. Two things:

1) northface, marmot, patagonia, y'all can all suck it, because this simple cotton jacket kept me pretty dern warm.

2) even with the bulk of a men's cut jacket, I got an 'adios' a few blocks from my house.

2.a) I had just been thinking about how much I love Brooksmith because it reminds me of Mexico with all the people hanging out on the wrought-iron fenced-in patios and the faint wafts of fajitas in the air. Then I get the 'adios.' It was a bit too perfect.

I love bridges

I'm not sure why, but biking over a bridge gives me a weird sense of expansiveness. In this case, it was the bridge over Highway 59, so not as pretty as the Congress street bridge in Austin but still, it's nice.

common courtesy goes a long way

If I'm at a red and there's someone behind me I'll look and see if they need to turn and I'll scoot up if I see their blinker on. This sometimes doesn't work because motorists can be stupid and not use their blinkers (or directionals, as I like to call them). Most of the time it does though, as it did this morning. The driver pulled up and before he turned, rolled down his window and thanked me profusely for paying him this small courtesy.

I felt pretty damn good about myself and then promptly told myself to not get a big head for such an obvious and easy gesture.

obligate Seinfeld reference (episode #307): "...I am a kind man. Who else would do something like this? Nobody. Nobody thinks about people like I do. All right, snap out of it you stupid jerk. You're eating a turkey sandwich. What do you want, a nobel prize?"

F*ck these streets

That's what this blog should have been called.

I was stuck at an intersection where left turns are protected. There were no cars behind me so I got skipped. My body weight plus an aluminum frame are not enough to activate the sensors under the street I guess. I got skipped twice while the left turn lane on the other side got greens. I got pretty pissed for being fooled into thinking that if I follow the traffic laws, I'll be afforded the respect given to cars. That's when I yelled the title of this post and just took the red.

Are those halloween decorations or lynch victims?

There is a house on San Felipe that I've passed for two nights in a row now. The family in said house have gotten in the halloween spirit by hanging decorations from their very stately oaks that stand closest to the curb. And by halloween, I mean 'the south will rise again'/rebel yell spirit.

There are two figures that I can only imagine are supposed to be ghosts. There are several problems with this assumption though, and I will list them here:

1) the 'ghosts' are not white nor do they have the instantly recognizable black eye holes and black howling mouths that everyone has come to associate with halloween ghosts. Instead, they are a dark khaki to light brown color and uneven in their shading...say, like rags a chattel type slave might have worn.

2) they are life-sized and have head-like globes instead of amorphous contours as ghosts might usually have. Their being life-sized removes a certain element of fantasy. Ghosts are usually depicted a slightly to moderately larger or smaller than the average 5'8 human being. These seem to be almost exactly that long. Also taking away the fantastical element, their heads. Halloween ghosts, just to be specific, usually do not have spherical heads. These do.

3) and probably the most damning of all: the 'ghosts' are hung from their necks. THEIR NECKS. Not heads. Their NECKS.

dear inhabitants of generically wealthy/crypto-racist San Felipe House: Take down your 'ghosts.' You might have consciously chosen those specifically because they looked classier to you than your run-of-the-mill white and black ghost but they ended up looking like the subject of Billie Holiday's Strange Fruit.