One Full Day Left for Jupiter to Explode

.......according to the late Sir A.C.C.

Every Seat Taken

This morning I slept in, instead of running as I had planned. Er... actually, I had planned to run yesterday, but well, I just didn't feel like it. But you know, I probably needed the sleep anyway. But having slept and eventually woken up late in the morning on a work day (reporting time 2:30 pm), I also missed out on my early morning Starbucks session, where I tend to focus my brain on what I want to do during the day (and even occasionally compose a blog article). That opportunity having been shot to hell along with another missed running day, I decided to try to salvage something out of my dwindling pre-work freedom. I dragged myself around the house in a half-stupor eventually cleaning, dressing, and finally getting the hell out of the house. My goal: sit in a Starbucks and concentrate my thoughts on my day and what I had left to salvage out of it. I went to the closest Starbucks, at the Hunters Crossing shopping center: every seat was taken, and I quickly walked back out. Then to my old dependable Magnolia Parke Starbucks, where, ditto. Then I drove past the 441/16th Avenue Starbucks: "drove past" since every parking slot was taken. Down to the Archer Road Starbucks and the neighboring Panera's (both packed to the hilt). Then it dawned on me: just go to McDonald's! The seats were plentiful and the coffee was cheaper and better tasting!

Ran On Christmas Anyway, Covered 20.68 Miles

You could probably tell by the tone of yesterday's article that I had wanted to go running and was disappointed at the outside haze. But by early afternoon, it turned out that the haze had dissipated and, although the temperature had risen to 70, I decided to go out on a run. I initially decided to run just for continuity's sake, not trying to cover any appreciable distance. But as I ran, I decided at each step to cover each section of my personally-designed marathon course. I was feeling pretty good for most of the run, and after 13 miles was sore but still had plenty of energy and muscle coordination. The sky was overcast for almost the entire run, and this contributed to a premature nightfall as I found my way back into my home subdivision. I was pretty tired by then, but already had the repeated experience of "gutting it out" during previous runs and thought that I had a chance to complete a full-length marathon (26.2 miles) on this run. I also realized that, to do this, I would be finishing under very dark, night conditions. I was still on target with this goal until around the 19-mile mark, when I "ran" into a figurative wall: my energy level plummeted and I suddenly felt like a feeble old man, with my feet hitting the pavement hard instead of springing with elasticity and balance. At that point I realized that going another 7 miles just wouldn't happen today, and I valiantly struggled to finish my course, albeit curtailed a bit at the end. My final distance was 20.68 miles, a personal record length, with a time of 3:23:56.

Ten minutes after I hobbled back into my house around 5:40, the rain began to fall and didn't let up until late at night. So I was spared a thorough soaking, which would have happened had I run any further. Still, my recovery from this run was pretty rough. I had made the mistake of quickly downing a couple of 20-oz. bottles of G2 (Gatorade "lite") after the run, consequently inducing severe abdominal cramping and pain for about a half-hour. My legs were also very sore and ached badly for a while. It wasn't until after midnight when I finally began to feel a sense of relaxation. Yes, the recovery was rather brutal; the run itself was a piece of cake in comparison. But here I am the next morning, sitting here and feeling good in my good old dependable Magnolia Parke Starbucks, thinking about when I'll once again set out to conquer a personal distance record!

I look back on yesterday's run and feel that I had made some substantial progress with my endurance training. It is within that painful struggle at the end, which is actually more mental than physical, that I grow and approach eventual marathon-level capability. It had been a while since I had pushed myself this far, but it was how I had successfully prepared myself to run the half-marathon at the beginning of this year. I'm taking today off from running, for recovery's sake. I wonder how I will run on Monday!

Christmas Haze Fits the Occasion For Me

Today I stepped out of my front door, to go out on another long run as planned, when I took a whiff of the air: smoky haze. Apparently, the winds shifted and were blowing this stinking haze through Gainesville from a woods fire somewhere in the vicinity. No, I wouldn't run outside in these conditions (although I saw others running). Instead, I'll wait until tomorrow and see what the weather brings. I'd rather run under just about any conditions other than smoke. I mean, if I wanted to poison myself this way, I could just go down to the store, buy a carton of cigarettes, and chain smoke for a couple of hours!

Yes, by the way, it's Christmas today. I am frankly not a fan of Christmas; in fact, I actually may detest it to an extent. For someone like myself, who tries to live an ordered life, this holiday "season" throws everything around me in turmoil, not the least of which is the whipping up of unbridled greed among the population, along with the stress of an imposed deadline on supplying the "goods" for the "greedies". Yuck. Thankfully, I have some gracious, mature intimates in my life who have helped to shield me from this crap. But there is no completely avoiding it.

And then there is this pretense of "respecting" the holiday by closing practically every business in town, starting in the evening on Christmas Eve and going through the following day. But wait, come Christmas Day + One, the greed comes blowing back with a vengeance (post-Christmas sales). Whoopee, I can hardly wait.

Still, there is still a smidgen of rationality remaining as my favorite Starbucks happens to be open this Christmas morning (where and when I am writing this instead of choking on the haze outside). Now that is at least something to help my life get back in order!

Weather Forecast Disconnect

I'm a little bit curious about the disconnect between my newspaper (Gainesville Sun) weather forecast and that on my cable TV weather station. On TV it says that tomorrow's weather will bring partly cloudy skies and just a slight possibility of rain. Then on Sunday there will be a lot of rain, with the temperatures staying in the forties all day. But according to the paper, it will rain tomorrow in the afternoon, intensifying in the evening. By Sunday, it will clear up (in this alternate universe).

So which will it be on Christmas day tomorrow? Since I'm planning on a long outdoors run, it matters to me a little more than usual. Of course, it might actually turn out better if it rained a little during my run. After all, in the marathons I plan to run during the next two months, there is no telling what the weather will be like then and it might be helpful to get in a little "rain-running" experience. I remember seeing the photos of last year's Knoxville, Tennessee Marathon with all of the rain-soaked runners, so although we are technically in the "dry" season here in northern Florida, rain still happens!

What kills me is that on some weather sites they have something called a "100 Day Outlook". And they can't even get it right within 24 hours! Shoot, why don't I just buy the Farmer's Almanac and consult it instead?!

Back to Long Runs

Earlier today I once again ran a "long" run (15 miles or longer): 16.18 miles to be exact. I had decided to skip one more day to further my recovery from my sinusitis, and then decided to see how far I could go. Alas, due to the chronic restraints of time in my life, that wasn't entirely possible, but I was able to squeeze in a good run anyway. My time was 2:26:32.

The next logical opportunity for a long run should be two days from now on Christmas (Saturday). I wouldn't have any time restraints on my run, either. But the weather station I have been watching is predicting a lot of rain and stormy weather that day. But...maybe this could be a fun adventure, running in a storm. After all, I remember that beach run earlier this year in a raging lightning storm!

Back to Running

I am looking forward in the next few weeks to my special adventure in running: training up to marathon distance (26.2 miles) and then participating in at least two races: the Ocala Marathon on January 23 and the Gainesville Five Points Marathon on February 20. Monday I ran 7.18 miles as I recovered from my sinus infection after taking a few days off from running. Tomorrow I will see if I can't get the distance back up to around 14 miles. And then, bit by bit I will try to attain the marathon distance during one of my training runs.

Busy As Usual At Work in December

December is definitely by far the busiest month of the year for me, a postal worker. And even more so, since I work in the section that processes parcels. I have been working my off days and even overtime on top of that as the volume of mail has skyrocketed. Today was possibly the peak volume day. The company man within me says, "Hurray, keep going with the USPS, we deliver, go team go!" But the rest of me emphatically says, "Bah humbug!"

Senate Repeals Don't Ask Don't Tell

One of the unexpected, albeit probably temporary, benefits of the recent bipartisan agreement between the President and the Republican side of the congressional aisle regarding tax cuts and unemployment compensation may have come with yesterday's Senate vote to repeal the onerous "don't ask don't tell" policy in the U.S. military. This policy, in effect since the Clinton administration in the '90's, has had the effect of persecuting gays by denying them their right to reveal their own sexual orientation while in service to the country. I was surprised that several Republican senators crossed over to support the repeal, especially Nevada's John Ensign, Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, and North Carolina's Richard Burr. Cool. I wonder whether, after Murkowski's encounter with the reactionary Tea Party during her recent Senate reelection campaign, she won't "go rogue" on occasions against her own party. Not that the Republicans are always wrong: I am just tired of this party-line block voting and would like for our elected representatives in government to vote according to their own personal and professional convictions and not just the way their hack party leaders order them to.

On the down side, I am dismayed to observe the continuing slide into a reactionary worldview by John McCain, who led the opposition to the repeal. McCain, for whom I initially was delighted in 2008 when he won the GOP nomination for president, used to really be a maverick at times against his own party's often overly conservative stances on social issues. Now he seems like a very bitter, angry old man every time I see him get up on the Senate floor to talk.

The repeal of "don't ask don't tell" was important, but still is only one step toward gays finally being accorded the basic human rights that straights enjoy in our society. In other areas, such as gay marriage, the struggle for progress goes on. Still, this vote was something to give me some hope for the future.

Under the Weather, But Recovering

For the past three days, I have been suffering from a sinus infection. While running 14 miles on Wednesday, I noticed aches that normally didn't exist. Later that day, I could sense the process of inflammation in various parts of my body as well as headache, stuffed sinuses, and sore throat. I went to my nearest urgent care center and was able to obtain a prescription for an antibiotic, which I have been faithfully taking and am happy to report that I am recuperating (gradually).

I remember a time about thirty years ago when I suffered an infection on one of my fingers and consequently endured a flu-like malaise for a couple of weeks before I finally had the precipitating problem taken care of. It's important, at the first sign of infection, to see a doctor and get it treated before it spreads. Also, the inflammation that is caused by the body's response to the infection can present its own hazards. So I have been laying off the running or any other form of strenuous exercise until this sinus infection clears up.

I have also read that running in an arid environment, which presents itself more often here in northern Florida during the wintertime, can dry up the sinuses and make sinus infections more likely. So I'll have to keep that in mind as well, although the running continues! Maybe a nice, long, hot, steamy shower after a workout would fix that problem!

One of the problems I experienced with sinus infections has been their insidious nature. Sinusitis with me first manifests itself as something resembling a light cold, but after a few days the cold doesn't subside, a threshold is passed, and the symptoms become full-blown. I need to take greater care in the future to pay attention to the warning signs my body is giving me that a sinus infection is beginning to occur.

Muschamp Replaces Meyer As UF Coach

Will Muschamp has been hired to be the new University of Florida head football coach, replacing retiring two-time national champion coach Urban Meyer. Thirty-nine year old Muschamp, although without experience as a head coach, does have an extensive resume as an assistant coach, and with some great teams (like LSU and Texas). Hopefully, Gator fans will show some patience with him as he establishes himself in his new position and works to build a formidable, winning team.

But it is not considered to be a very wise thing to try to fill in the shoes of a legend. After Steve Spurrier left UF to coach professional football, his replacement, Ron Zook, had difficulty gaining acceptance from the Florida faithful. Muschamp may experience some similar skepticism, although the rather disappointing last season (7-5) that Meyer coached should give him a break, at least as far as expectations for next year are concerned. I just hope that he turns out to be a coach who runs a clean program and who doesn't take himself too seriously (as Meyer did).

After all, football is a game, a form of entertainment. It's good to be rooting for a winner, but having a winner to root for means more when the fan has the experience sometimes of rooting for a loser!

Marathon Race Outlook (For Me)

I am looking at my marathon calendar to see what's ahead. It appears highly unlikely that I will be participating in the Jacksonville Bank Marathon this Sunday morning unless my boss unexpectedly offers me Saturday off at the height of the heavy Christmas season where I work. Besides, the weather forecasts indicate rain for that day. The Florida Marathon in Clermont (a few miles west of Orlando), scheduled for January 1, has been canceled. I had thought about entering it as my first marathon, but decided against it because of the very hilly, challenging terrain. I need to focus first on just covering the 26.2 miles! But that decision is moot, anyway, since that race has been wiped off the slate.

The Disney World Marathon on January 9 was something I had been considering, but I read some accounts of participants in previous years and decided against it. I don't see the point in trying to run in a group of 24,000 runners, and the convoluted way in which Disney World herded the participants around in the wee hours of the morning before the race didn't seem very appealing, either. So what's left with marathons around where I live?

On January 23, the Ocala Marathon will be held, about forty miles from Gainesville. This event will be easy to travel to and from. If I am in shape, I will run in it. On February 20, LifeSouth will once again stage its Five Points of Life Marathon in Gainesville. Last year I ran the half-marathon; this year it will be the full distance.

If all works out well for me with the Ocala Marathon (meaning that (1) I complete it and (2) I make a complete recovery) I may apply for some time off in early March to compete in the Snickers Marathon in Albany, Georgia.

And then the marathon season once again goes northward. Seeing that I have a job, a budget, and other obligations, I am not in a position to go flying willy-nilly around the country running various marathon events. But it would be cool, once I have the experience of actually completing a marathon, to pick out some remote, obscure place (like in North Dakota or Wyoming) and run one more marathon there. Then I'll reevaluate where I'm going with my running: I will either continue with the marathons or taper down my distance a bit.

The Aviator at Wild Adventures

I miss the enjoyment of sitting through simple theme park rides like this one, The Aviator, at Valdosta, Georgia's Wild Adventures. This park is slightly less than a hundred-mile drive from Gainesville and is the closest theme park with roller coasters and other thrill rides. Perhaps later this month I'll see if I can't steal some time away from the elements in my life that are stealing it from me and go there for a few hours of fun.

Cold, Windy Morning in Gainesville

Once again it dipped below freezing this morning in Gainesville. But unlike up north, the air is very dry with not a hint of any kind of precipitation. But there is a very, very strong wind from the northwest at a sustained 25 mph. The question I have to pose myself is how much of a wimp am I going to be to excuse myself from running this morning because of the weather?

Later today.....I did wimp out on running in the very strong, cold wind, but I didn't cop out on my training: I went to the YMCA instead and ran ten "miles" on the treadmill there. Treadmill running isn't something I want to do regularly, but it does come in handy, like on this extreme weather day.

A Little Difficulty with China

I'm having just a little difficulty with China these days. I keep hearing how capitalistic it has become, with the free market dominating its economy. Many Chinese come to the U.S. for study and employment, and then return to their beloved homeland. I don't see here the extremism of the Cold War Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe, where citizens of socialist "paradises" were shot trying to escape into supposedly evil, decadent capitalist nations across their borders. As a matter of fact, there is still one of these Cold War holdovers adjacent to China: North Korea (whose border is closed to China).

When I last went to Walt Disney World's Epcot Center, I visited the Chinese pavilion there. There was a large gift shop which contained "things Chinese". I saw a lot of traditional stuff, but strangely not a thing about socialism, communism, or the "revolution". Not a single picture of their bigshot revolutionary hero and leader Mao Zedong was to be found there. Yet, whenever the Chinese government comes out with anything, it is still clouded with all sorts of references to this clearly outmoded system that essentially collapsed on itself in the mid-1970's. So why...

Why is it a crime for a Chinese citizen like Liu Xiaobo to publicly advocate for a peaceful transition to a pluralistic, representative democracy that more appropriately reflects its newly found economic freedoms? Why is the Chinese government so uptight about Liu, who is in jail serving an eleven-year sentence, being picked for this year's Nobel Peace Prize...even to the point of pressuring other sovereign nations to boycott the ceremony?

The extent to which the Chinese authorities are going to quash any dissent or push for democratic reform tells me one thing: that like the repressive Iron Curtain regimes, their authority is built upon a "house of cards". No one believes in the Marxist-Leninist theory that the State still officially sanctions; it's just that for anyone serving within that government to condemn or even criticize it is taboo, a sure-fire formula for losing one's job or even freedom. But once the door gets jarred open a little and more and more people openly push for reform, an irreversible threshold may be passed and the ensuing torrent of freedom will be difficult for the repressive regime to withstand.

Unpleasant Friday Run

Yesterday I set out to run another 14 miles as I had previously established as a minimum training distance. I had run 14.03 miles Wednesday, or so I thought. But no, as I began running yesterday, the thought occurred to me that I had inadvertently skipped a .1 mile segment of my course, finishing instead at 13.93 miles. Dammit! Still, I did run 14 miles, for all practical purposes: especially when considering the distance accrued from the times I crossed streets back and forth for various reasons. That alone would have put me over the 14-mile mark.

I wasn't too happy seeing Friday morning's humidity at 70%. Regardless whether it is cold or hot, a high humidity usually leads to a more taxing run for me. This is one of the main reasons I have avoided night running, since the nighttime is usually marked by an upward spike in humidity. As it turned out, at the run's start it was 45 degrees. I first felt uncomfortable with a tee shirt, as opposed to some heavier clothing over my upper body, but within a mile of running I was glad of my decision.

It's funny how others seem to relish the high humidity: the roads and paths were full of joggers. Most of them were heavily clad; I wondered how they would survive the sweltering heat they were building up under their clothing. But to each his-or-her own, I suppose.

My run went pretty well, given the unwelcome moisture in the air (it actually broke out into a light misty rain a few times). But I had to curtail it at 10.48 miles because my bladder was overloaded. I suppose that, in retrospect, I could have gone back out and finished the 14 miles after relieving myself. But it simply was not an enjoyable run. And as I have stated before in another article, I seem to always have a time limit hanging over me anyway, with other areas of my life making their demands on me.

Urban Meyer Retires

After six seasons of coaching the University of Florida football team, Urban Meyer is retiring, citing his family's interests as his primary reason. Meyer, who led the Gators to national championships in 2006 and 2008, has also struggled with his health during the last year. I appreciate his efforts and contributions to giving UF not only such a successful football program in terms of winning, but also in terms of maintaining high ethical standards for the players and staff. He will be missed.

During the next few weeks, UF athletic director Jeremy Foley will face the task of finding a suitable replacement for Meyer. Several names are already floating around in the media, among them Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen (who used to be offensive coordinator at Florida under Meyer). Oklahoma's coach Bob Stoops is also on the long list of possibilities.

Regardless who gets the job, Florida's very demanding fan base needs to give him some initial latitude in setting things up the way he wants it. This almost certainly will entail a different emphasis on each aspect of the game. Florida's current players also need to work with whomever the new coach is and not automatically assume that transferring to a different school or opting out early for a professional football career is the best route (although I think that anyone who feels capable of getting one of those high-paying NFL jobs should jump at the chance whether or not Meyer had stayed on).

Let's just sit back and enjoy Florida's final game under Meyer: New Year's Day at Tampa's Outback Bowl against Penn State.

Running Upped to 14 Miles

Today I ran 14.03 miles (time span: 2:12:31), marking a change in my training pattern. For the previous eight workouts, I had run between ten and eleven miles apiece. I had established ten as the base mileage for a run. Now, as the time for running a marathon nears, I am raising the bar and establishing fourteen as my base mileage. I have a great course to run, and all I have to do is just step outside of my house...and return after 14+ miles! Today I could have run much further, with temperatures in the upper forties and the humidity dipping to 22%. But alas, I do have a life, and with that life there are time limits to what I can do. But 14 miles rocks!

I read that Mr. John Wallace, the sexagenarian marathoner with his Maddog Marathon site, recently ran the Space Coast Marathon in Cocoa. I wonder what his future Florida marathon plans are. If I ever run into the dude, I'd like to shake his hand! He is an inspiration, although I think I would be wiser to listen to his advice about generating personal wealth than about running marathons! Wallace likes to refer to fellow competitors he thinks might be in his age category as "old farts". I'd be sure to let him know that, all visual evidence to the contrary, this "old fart" isn't in his age group!

Florida's NFL Teams So Far This Year

It looks as if there is a real possibility that all three Floridian National Football League franchises, the Miami Dolphins, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Jacksonville Jaguars may miss the playoffs this year despite all three having pretty good teams.

The Dolphins are 6-6 but in the most competitive division: the AFC East with perennial power New England ahead at 10-2, closely followed by the much-improved New York Jets at 9-3. Miami has games against each team, but they lost both of their first contests with them earlier this year. The Dolphins don't have much of a chance to catch up with them, so these games to me just seem now like very difficult obstacles to surmount. Their only real hope of reaching the playoffs would be to win their remaining four games and hope that someone else stumbles.

Tampa Bay, likewise, is in a very competitive division, the NFC South. Atlanta and New Orleans are ahead of them in the standings. At 7-5 the Bucs are also behind in the race to make it as a wild card team. Still they are much improved from their 3-13 season last year.

Jacksonville probably has the best chance of getting into the playoffs. Picked by many to finish last in the AFC South, the Jaguars have managed to get themselves, with a 7-5 record, into a one-game lead over surprisingly disappointing Indianapolis with four games to go. The Jaguars still have a remaining game against the Peyton Manning-led Colts, whom they beat earlier this year. Should Jacksonville win again against them, they would be in a strong position to make the playoffs as division champion. If they lose, I doubt that they would make it even though they would still be in the running.

I like seeing Florida's NFL teams doing relatively well, but it has been a while since any of them has enjoyed a banner season. One or more of them, though, could well do just that next year.

Temperatures Falling in North Florida

One of the funny things about living in Florida, even the northern part as I do, is discussing the winter weather when it gets cold. The cold temperatures here have been long in coming, which you know if you've been following this blog. Now that they are finally here, I am beginning to wax nostalgic about the summer!

For the last three mornings, the temperatures plummeted below freezing, lows being around 30. But for the rest of the week, starting tomorrow morning, we are expecting record lows, dipping down into the low 20's. The highs shouldn't pierce the 60 degree mark until the end of the week.

Meanwhile, I just heard that New York City got four feet of snow. Relatives living in Kentucky are sending pictures showing snowman construction zones. And I'm harping about the weather here, which incidentally is exceedingly dry, no precipitation of any sort forecast in the foreseeable future.

This past February, I was dismayed on the morning of the LifeSouth Half Marathon when at the 7:00 start of the race it was 28 degrees. I wore a sweatshirt (the same one I'm wearing right now in Starbucks writing this) and long training pants to run the race. It heated up during the run, though, resting in the early 40's when I finished sweating like crazy under the insulation. So my current training strategy is simple: wait until temperatures climb up to the 40's and then go running in my usual tee shirt and shorts.

No, I WILL make an effort to revel in this coldness and even thrive in it! After all, down here I don't have to concern myself with snowdrifts and icy roads!

Birthday Celebration Propriety

Someone at work recently celebrated her birthday, and some of her co-workers organized a small celebration with a cake and mini-party. Then they decided to meet after work at a local late-night restaurant to continue the festivities. Everyone was invited to celebrate the fact that this individual had been born. I for one was very glad that she was born and had a birthday to celebrate. But being the obnoxious curmudgeon that I am, I have a problem with certain people being singled out in a social environment for this honor while others are virtually ignored. Does the converse hold here: if some are publicly shown appreciation for having been born, then does it follow that for those so ignored, their lives then don't add up to a hill of beans for these people? That may be the unintended message that is conveyed.

In a family, it would be catastrophic for parents to celebrate one of their children's birthdays while ignoring the other's. Within a circle of tight, close friends, whether or not someone gets the birthday "treatment" can be seen as an indication of their acceptance by the others (unless of course the circle isn't one to celebrate birthdays at all among any of its members).

Now come to place like a school classroom or the workplace. There are also tight social circles here and birthday celebrations abound in these areas. But in my opinion, they should be confined to a more private setting and not imposed on everyone. Especially on those whose own birthdays are clearly ignored by the same ones bestowing special honors on their personal buddies. I understand this and don't feel slighted about having my birthday passed over while another with whom I closely work is doted upon. I am not into the "birthday" thing anyway, at least outside my immediate family. I couldn't care less when anyone else was born. Why can't we all just get together and openly express happiness that we're ALL alive? But I have seen it happen in the past when a colleague, wanting to have her own upcoming birthday remembered after seeing others so recognized, slipped obvious hints around that her birthday should be publicly celebrated as well. She was ignored, her birthday passed by, and this obviously fostered some bad feelings that lingered long thereafter.

The Chinese had traditionally solved this birthday problem by the simple concept of having everyone's birthday offically recognized on the same day, regardless when they were actually born (a tradition probably long gone by now). But in our oh-so-narcissistic Western society, forget it! It's ME-ME-ME-ME!

My Running and Swimming Lately

For each of my past seven training runs, I have covered ten miles. This seems to be settling into a pattern, making ten miles my minimum, base distance. Considering that I intend to enter and complete at least one 26.2 mile marathon race between now and March, this is probably a pretty good strategy. I don't think that anything shorter is going to do me all that much good in trying to build up my distance.

I don't run every day, usually (but not always) leaving a day set aside for recovery. Often I take these occasions to go down to my local YMCA pool and practice my swimming. I am currently reteaching myself to swim freestyle, as well as the backstroke and the breaststroke for the first time. I am following swimming instructor Terry Laughlin's precepts on working to achieve and maintain balance in the water while swimming, a difficult but crucial step in becoming able to swim long and efficiently. I've begun to swim pool laps, which are about 25 yards in length. The first lap is usually a breeze, but by the fourth I am very tired and lose my sense of "balance", beginning to lunge and flounder about in the water more. It's funny that my running endurance doesn't seem to automatically transfer over to swimming! Still, I see swimming as a good long-term activity to carry over into old age (along with walking and bicycling).

Although I want to run long-distance for a few more years, I am also aware of the relatively high injury rate with this activity. My plan there is to accomplish my marathon(s) this year, maybe repeat for another year, and then taper down to half-marathons and 10-15K races. From then I'll see what I want to do. It is interesting, though, that with all of the support for swimming given by the medical establishment as a worthwhile athletic activity, there are no publicly-available swimming competitions (other than as a part of triathlons) as there are with running (at least in my area). Maybe this will change, hopefully. Not that I would aspire to do anything in a swimming race other than not finishing last!

Senate Standoff Over Extending Tax Cuts

It looks like a standoff in Congress during this lame duck session. The Senate Republicans, under the leadership of Mitch McConnell, have lined up all 42 of their senators behind the idea of holding up any legislation until the Bush tax cuts are extended in their entirety. These cuts, which the nation as a whole has grown accustomed to being the regular rates, are technically temporary in nature. They are due to expire on January 1 next year, creating a massive de facto tax increase. President Obama and the Democrats want to extend the cuts for the lower and (what they call) middle classes, but want them to expire for those making at least $250,000 per year. It is this arbitrary line that the Democrats have drawn that, in my opinion, is causing the division between the two parties on this issue.

I know that the wealthy can afford to pay more taxes; they won't have to make difficult and even sacrificial personal choices affecting their health care, transportation, energy, or any other areas pertaining to their standard of living. On the other hand, I think that including those making $250,000 as the "wealthy" is stretching things to the point of class warfare. Warfare against the middle class!

I'm afraid that some on the political left hold a stereotypical view of large businesses and small businesses. To them, with the big corporations they see some arrogant cigar-smoking tycoon sitting back in his ritzy penthouse office with his feet on his desk, planning how to exploit the needy for his company's aims and to fatten his own wallet. And on the other end of the spectrum, a small business is typically seen as a little family-owned shop or diner. But while many small businesses are of the mom-and-pop variety, there are others who are larger in scope and whose owners operate their businesses on margins of profit, which they plow back into them. It is with these medium-sized businesses, which employ an enormous number of people nationwide, that dramatically raising taxes will cause hardship to be passed on to "average" people by keeping those affected business owners from hiring new workers.

So I'm holding my nose on this tax dispute and for once siding with the Republicans. We are still in recovery from what the Obama administration itself calls the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression and to which it responded in 2009 with a Draconian stimulus bill. This is not the time to let the Bush cuts expire, for although Democrats can talk until their faces are blue about how they aren't really raising taxes, in fact the sudden rises will be traumatic for EVERYONE. I don't like the way the GOP has conducted itself during the last two years, especially in the Senate, by adopting an obstructionist strategy. This one time, though, that strategy may actually be in the national interest. For a change.