My January 2013 Running Report

In January, my running mileage continued to mount as I continued to run both mornings and nights.  Also, each run tended to be for longer distances.  This was supposed to be the one month of the year that I could count on for pleasant, cool and cry conditions outdoors.  Instead, it was usually hot and humid.  Nevertheless, I plodded on and even did the Ocala Half-Marathon on the 20th, with an unanticipated fast (for me) time of 1:55:20.  Considering that I hadn't run a half-marathon in over a year, not to mention the very hilly course located primarily just south of Ocala, I was surprised how well this race went for me.  But for the past several days of the month, I have been suffering from upper respiratory tract woes and the running has dwindled.  Still...

I still managed to top 200 miles, with a total of 200.72 for January.  Also, I ran on every day, bringing my running streak to 276 consecutive days.  But this streak may not last very far into this month unless the health concern I just mentioned doesn't clear up.  My longest run was, naturally, the 13.1 mile half-marathon.

I don't see myself in February running as much as I did in January. Still, once I've recovered I hope to resume "running" up the mileage and at least adhere to my original 100-miles-per-month strategy...

Upcoming February Stress and My Serenity

The upcoming month of February, 2013 looms as one of those transitional (or transformational) times that I find myself passing through, albeit not necessarily as I would like.  It seems, though, that, like it or not, many areas of my life will be tested and most probably changed considerably by the time that March 1 rolls around.  Health, family, work...everything seems to be coming to a head in February.  Some things I see ahead for me that are for the good, but some give me an ominous feeling of foreboding.  There is a wonderful saying that some Christian circles use for stressful and potentially dangerous times like this, and it is called The Serenity Prayer, composed by Reinhold Niebuhr (this is just its first part):

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.

I need to pass through what I see as a period of stressful instability in my various situations, but I can remain serene through it all!  As a matter of fact, this may be a vital survival strategy for me...

Renewing Interest in Watching Tennis

My 86-year old father is mentally sharp as a tack, although he often complains that the rest of his body seems to be breaking down.  One of his passions, something that he has enjoyed for decades, is watching professional tennis on TV.  I remember as a teenager following players like Chris Evert, Evonne Goolagong, Martina Navratilova, Billy Jean King, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, and Björn Borg in the 1970s, but once I moved away to live on my own I ceased to care about the sport.  So the years have passed and now it is 2013.  I talk regularly on the phone with my father, and he often brings up tennis.  He knows that I don't follow it, but still he speaks the names of various players and tournaments as if I know who and what he's talking about.  Well, I now feel I'm in a better position to hold my own in a tennis discussion with him because...

I already knew (from my dad) that the Australian Open was ongoing.  Favored Serena Williams had already been eliminated, and my father had already mentioned an upstart young American woman who had advanced far past her ranking.  On the men's side, my father favored Novak Djokovic over the others, which as it turns out is a good thing...he's the best player in the world right now! But I was only marginally aware of him until a few nights ago when I accidentally dozed off in front of the television with the channel on ESPN...and woke up in the wee hours of the morning to witness a live broadcast of an Australian Open semifinals match between Djokovic and fourth seeded David Ferrer.  Normally, I would have just dozed back off to sleep.  Instead I became entranced by the match and thought that maybe...just maybe, tennis wasn't all that boring to watch after all.  After Djokovic disposed of his opponent in straight sets, ESPN showed a replay of the final minutes in one of the women's semifinals pitting eventual champion Victoria Azarenka against that "upstart American" Sloane Stephens.  In one game, Azarenka had five match points against Stephens, including a double match point, but her young opponent managed to come from behind with incredible tenacity and win that game.  She eventually lost that match, but made a deep impression on me as someone who may end up ranked #1 in the not-to-distant future.

I also later saw the replay of the men's finals match between Djokovic and Andy Murray, which the former won with much more difficulty than he had in the semifinals. 

Tennis is something that I may find myself watching more of.  Of course, just knowing what I do now already greatly enhances the quality of the phone chats I have with my father.  But I also like the timelessness of the sport, something akin to baseball, where the athletes, coaches, fans, and officials aren't slaves to the clock...

Are L.A. Lakers Back on Track?

Last night I was watching a basketball game on TV.  There haven't been too many lately that have attracted my interest, but this one was special: the Los Angeles Lakers were hosting the Oklahoma City Thunder...and were slightly ahead early in the fourth quarter.  The Lakers were supposed to be the team to beat in the NBA this year after they acquired Steve Nash and Dwight Howard.  But instead, they floundered and now find themselves on the outside of a playoff spot, several games under .500 with the regular season just past halfway over.  The problem with this team that has such a star lineup as the previous two, along with Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and Metta World Peace, has yet to figure out a way to work effectively together.  I know that the Miami Heat faced a similar situation a couple of years ago when they acquired LeBron James and Chris Bosh, but at least they were generally winning their games.  The Lakers have looked comparatively weaker.  But very recently, it has begun to look as if they are beginning to get their "mojo" back.  This game against the Thunder, which has the best record in the NBA, showed a different LA team: everyone playing in harmony!  I was stunned by their lead, and wondered whether they could hold it until the end of the game.

I happened to encounter this game while running on a treadmill (which sports a built-in television) at my workout gym.  I sometimes play a little game of my own and tell myself I'll keep running until a specific thing happens on a show I'm watching (usually its ending). So I vowed to stay on the treadmill until this game was over, although I had originally only intended to run a couple of miles.  Instead, when the shocking final score of "Lakers 105, Thunder 96" was flashed on the screen, I had covered four miles.  Thanks for the inspiration, team!

I used to despise the Lakers because one of their players, Andrew Bynum, displayed thuggish behavior during the playoffs a couple of years ago against a Dallas Mavericks player.  He's gone, and they still have a problematic member in World Peace, formerly known as Ron Artest, a player with a long trail of behavior problems.  Still, he seems to fit well with the others and I do think that Nash and Bryant are incredible players.  So I'm rooting for them now.  We'll just have to see how lasting this resurgence truly is.  They already just made a huge statement by beating the Thunder!

Goal, Project, Routine, Habit, Event, Review

I am 56 years old, and I have a long way to go.  No, I don't mean by this that I know that I will live to be very old; nobody really knows what the next day, or for that matter, even the next minute will bring.  No, I mean that, for where I am standing right here in my life, there are several areas that could stand improvement, some being in the zone of "dire" improvement.  Some of these areas can be observed by others, while some are internal in nature, not readily discerned.  But all have the same basic features in common when it comes to tackling them and making some lasting improvement. 

First, there is the goal.  Say, for example,  that I want to keep my home and car clean, uncluttered, and organized (this turns out to be one of those "dire", observable needs). I first have to recognize not only that I want to improve in this area, but also be more specific in my aims.  Then comes a plan of action, sure to spotlight the need for routines. But often the first thing to do is an initial project...

Before working to maintain my home area, I first need to undertake the major, time consuming task of overhauling the mess I've built up over the years.  This project is not necessarily something that can always be broken down to daily routines.  Rather, large blocks of time often have to be set to get this work done.  In other areas, it isn't necessarily time that is a factor: obtaining the necessary equipment and tools for the goal is often a prerequisite.  Once that initial project has been completed, though, it is time to institute routines...

Routines are regular actions I take, and for which I record my progress, that are designed to improve the area of my goal.  So when I spend time and effort working on my car, in my yard, or house (and especially that cluttered garage), I time myself and write down time spent, along with the nature of the activity.  Sometimes doing this before I plan out routines gives me a more realistic picture of what I am capable of doing, avoiding making unrealistic targets that set me up for failure.  Once these routines become a part of my unconscious behavior, they become habits...

Developing good habits is the ultimately successful outcome in any self-improvement goal.  Because, after all, I am by definition trying improving my self, and I want the habits to be healthful and part of me.  But along with developed constructive habits goes something that, in my opinion, makes them more permanent: the event...

An event, or test, if you will, exposes the results of a self-improvement program, usually in a more public or social setting.  With keeping my home environment clean and in order, this might well mean having people over for company...even regular group meetings for various purposes.  In running, the event would be a public race.  Writing could be culminated in seeking publishing for money (this blog is automatically published and counts to me as more of a routine). Each area can have its own type of event that publicly demonstrates what has been accomplished.

Finally, there is one other stage to self-improvement, one that I think often gets neglected: review.  Looking back through my records (and memory) at my goals and their fulfillment (or lack thereof) can shed light on what is really important and what isn't.  It can lead the way to new goals or a redirection of old ones.  The problem with reviewing is that too often, no time is set aside to perform this necessary function. 

The goal, project, routine, habit, event, and review are each important elements within a program of self-improvement.  Taken together, they greatly enhance the prospects for success and personal empowerment...

The Running Tourist Thwarted

When I first became interested in entering the longer running races like marathons and half-marathons a few years ago, I naturally went on the blogosphere to see what other similarly interested folks were writing about the topic and their experiences.  One blogger, a woman a few years older than me, had just completed the Walt Disney World Marathon (I think it was January 2010).  She wasn't a fast runner and that didn't bother her a bit, something that I could definitely relate to.  Instead, while completing this theme park course she would take pictures of what was going on around her, effectively becoming a "running tourist".  I thought that this would a cool thing for me to take up, too.  I had just finished a local half-marathon, my first ever, and discovered by surfing the Net just how many there were nationwide.  I also had plans then of lengthening my distance to the marathon event.  Had I the free time and funds, this would have been a fun ongoing adventure.  But alas,  I am limited in what I can do.  Still, I have thought of taking pictures while in the races I do enter.  With poor results...

Take this last race I ran, the Ocala Half-Marathon, a few days ago.  I had thought about bringing my Kodak digital camera along, but instead opted for running with my cellphone and its camera.  Bad decision.  The few photos I took on it were too blurry to use.  Better to just strap on a fanny pack and take out the Kodak instead when a photo opportunity presents itself.  More than that, though, I found myself too caught up in the running to pay that much attention to my surrounding environment.  And the start of the race was relatively dark, anyway. 

The last time I was in Ocala running this course, I had been forced to walk much of it due to a leg injury.  I enjoyed the sightseeing, at least, and wished then I had carried a camera along.  But this time, the running changed my focus, even though I could have looked around more.  I wondered why I'm like this and then it dawned on me that when I am training, I am either running around my neighborhood, past house after house, or using the treadmill.  With the latter, I had better not look around too much or I'll lose my balance on the machine.  And with the former, I have been very careful not to look as if I am casing the neighborhood by gawking at other people's private residences.  So I generally look down the road instead.  Frankly, after all of these years of running past the same houses, I couldn't begin to describe what the great majority of them even look like...

So if and when I enter another half-marathon, I'll just strap on that fanny pack and whip out that Kodak.  And resurrect the running tourist...

Jerks on the Half-Marathon Course

Regarding Sunday's half-marathon I ran in, I noticed something again that had happened to me the previous half-marathon I participated in more than a year before.  At a relatively early time in the race (with this one it was around the five-mile mark), a male runner passed me...and then slowed down, as if he were trying to express something to me.  I, in turn, had to slow down and get behind him, because at that time runners were coming at me head-on in the opposite direction and he had essentially forced me into their path when he passed.  I think he knew this and deliberately pulled this stunt just to get my attention.  A little while down the road I passed him again...and then he would speed up and pass me...and then slow down.  This went on for miles.  He was changing his pace over and over again while I kept at a pretty constant rate.  Finally, toward the race's end, he seemed to be permanently behind me.  Until just as we were about to cross the finish line, when he suddenly sprinted full-throttle past me and crossed the finish line.  I meant to ask him after the race what all this b.s. of his was about, since he was obviously much younger than me and I looked like a pretty old dude.  But this creepy person had disappeared.  Later I found that he was in his early thirties by looking at the results. 

This guy obviously was trying to personally compete with me among the 262 runners entered, for reasons only he knows.  So he was competitive: I get it, this is a race, after all.   But had he done what I did and run at a more challenging pace for himself, he would have been perfectly capable of running five to ten minutes faster.  I myself was spent at the end, with no capacity to sprint to the finish line.  So he, in my opinion, is little more than a coward in his sport, too chicken-**it to take a chance and see what's he's really made of.  Instead he picks a "fight" with a complete stranger who is old enough to have been his father...

A similar instance occurred at the DeLeon Springs Half-Marathon I ran back in January 2012.  Another runner decided to do this same coy act on the course of speeding up and then slowing down for me to pass him.  And then sprint past me at the end.  Another dude who could have finished much faster had he decided to gut it out like a real man and not pick a contest with another entrant who wasn't even in on the "joke". 

Lance Armstrong and the Competitive Psyche

The news is out, not that it's really news, as far as I am concerned.  Lance Armstrong has finally admitted to all sorts of illegal drug use in order to gain an unfair advantage over his opponents in bicycle racing.  In each of the seven Tour de France competitions that he won, Armstrong was doping himself up, according to his own words expressed in a recently released interview with Oprah Winfrey.  But I already knew the dude had been doing this: many witnesses, including his own teammates, had testified to this fact already.  It is annoying, but I suppose also human for someone to belligerently and repeatedly deny their guilt even when confronted with the facts.  That, though, isn't what this article is about.  It's about the competitive psyche of folks like Armstrong.

I think it can possibly be a dangerous lure for someone to have just enough talent in an athletic area that they can catch "competitive fever" and go all out for that championship in whatever sport they happen to be involved with.  I see people involved in running who are like this.  I'm not one of them because I'm not all that talented.  But others are consumed with competition, and it is from these that a few are so fanatical and single-minded about winning that they will cut any corner, violate any rule, in order to get their "victory fix".  I don't personally know of any athletes who have crossed the line into illicit doping, but at least in the sport of running I know of some who define themselves in terms of how fast their times are.  Needless to say, I don't "qualify" to be in the same company.

That doesn't mean, though, that I don't care how fast I run my races.  Before yesterday's Ocala Half-Marathon that I ran in, I set the bar pretty low for myself as far as personal goals were concerned: just finish the danged race without having to walk!  But as the race developed, I found myself in a competitive cloud, trying to outpace other runners and finish fast.  Crossing that finish line was in itself important, to be sure, but at the moment it happened I was keenly aware of my finishing time as well! So I have a competitive streak within me, too.  But although I tend to get caught up in the fervor while the race is on and sometimes brag a little if I finish relatively well, I don't enter races with the view of beating others or setting personal records.  And the thought of cheating by using banned substances defeats the whole purpose of it all, since (1) I'm not in a class where my results would matter to others beyond myself or closest friends and family and (2) (more importantly) using those substances would be tantamount to getting on a bicycle and whizzing by the other runners while proclaiming myself faster than them, an idiotic notion. And, of course, there are the ethical ramifications of cheating.
 
Sports are games, and as such shouldn't be taken so seriously.  But there are some people how don't know how to lighten up and take the significance of "their" sport into perspective.  They seem to have an issue with self-esteem, with winning a prerequisite to feeling good about oneself.  But when they win, more often then not they are arrogant about it, as if this means that they are better than others.  I remember a lot of this in high school, and my track team had some real athletic snobs on it.  It's no wonder, in fact, that with all of the performance-enhancing chemicals floating around in the black market, that many athletes at the top of their sport would jump at the chance to gain an edge...and "matter", at least in their own minds. Of course, the fact that the big money to be made in sports is usually reserved for the very top performers is an aggravating factor leading to illegal doping...

Happy With Ocala Half-Marathon Experience

This morning I ran the Ocala Half-Marathon, marking the second time in three years I've gone down there (in 2011 I entered their marathon).  This time I wanted simply to enjoy running the course to completion, something impossible the last time when a leg injury forced me to walk much of the distance.  And it was a resounding success as I finished the 13.1-mile course in 1 hour 55 minutes 20 seconds, pretty much tying my personal record for this distance.  The fact that the course was very hilly made this time surprising to me, along with fact that I hadn't run this far at one time since I ran the DeLeon Springs Half-Marathon on New Years Day 2012. Here are the results from the event's website.

The starting temperature at the 7:15 AM starting time was in the mid-fifties and rose to around 70 by the race's completion.  The humidity was high throughout (a negative), but the sky was mostly overcast (a definite positive, eliminating sunrise glare).  I had loaded up by eating a whole pizza the night before and had plenty of energy to sustain me throughout.

The folks who organized this event, along with the volunteers and other runners, were all friendly and easy to talk with.  I have no complaints on any front (well, maybe one about one of the runners) and plan to enter the Ocala Half-Marathon next year...as long as my health holds up, that is.

I credit much of my running success in this race to the fact that, although I rarely did long training runs, I still amassed a lot of mileage by running twice on many days.  I also lost some weight in the process, and that no doubt helped me to "drag" my body though 13.1 miles...

2013 Ocala Half-Marathon Almost Here

As the number of days before this Sunday's Ocala Half-Marathon dwindles, I am trying to train in the best possible way to avoid any injuries while maintaining my running endurance level.  The two seem to run contrary to each other, though.  If I run too much, that increases the risk of a strain or pull.  That's what happened in 2011 when I trained too much in the two weeks before the Ocala Marathon; I was in pain for most of that race, having to walk the past seven miles with an IT-band injury.  But the way I see it, after my recent nearly-eleven mile run to see if I could handle the race distance of 13.1 miles, just sticking to what I have been doing is probably the best way to success.  After all, I won't be losing endurance this way...

I will run moderately short distances on Saturday and Monday.  That should help both in pre-race readiness and in post-race recovery.  I am not trying to beat anyone and, quite frankly, am not very concerned with my personal finishing time.  Just being able to run in this event, which features some pretty scenic views and back roads, is a treat.  I'll be happy just covering the race course successfully to completion, running this time across the finish line (instead of walking).

List Madness: Kasabian Songs Rated From Top To Bottom

Kasabian is a British alternative rock band that has made four albums in the past eight years.  I first heard their music in 2005 when my local alternative rock radio station (which has since abandoned that genre) frequently played their hit Club Foot.  Not particularly liking this piece at the time, I ignored them until the next song they played a few months later: L.S.F. (Lost Souls Forever).  And then the following song was even better: Reason is Treason.  All three were from their debut eponymous album.  Later I acquired their subsequent works and have developed quite an attachment to their music.  Instead of repeating information about the band's members, here is a link to the article in Wikipedia.

Lately, Kasabian has become the band that I predominantly listen to, especially while out running.  So I decided to do what I've done with other musical acts and list their songs according to my liking.  Please note, though, that ALL of their material is good, even that #45 track!

Following each song's listing is a letter standing for the album it's from: [k] Kasabian, [e] Empire, [w] West Ryder Lunatic Asylum, and [v] Velociraptor!.  The band is still intact, in fact trying to get a foothold in the United States market by touring over here.  Good luck to them!  Anyway, here's my highly subjective, personal list...

1 Fire [w]
2 Me Plus One [e]
3 Test Transmission [k]
4 Secret Alphabets [w]
5 Days Are Forgotten [v]
6 Sun Rise Light Flies [e]
7 Reason is Treason [k]
8 I Hear Voices [v]
9 L.S.F. (Lost Souls Forever) [k]
10 Velociraptor! [v]
11 Switchblade Smiles [v]
12 Processed Beats [k]
13 Stuntman [e]
14 Butcher Blues [k]
15 Where Did All the Love Go [w]
16 Pinch Roller/Cutt Off [k]
17 Empire [e]
18 Swarfiga [w]
19 Running Battle [k]
20 Last Trip (In Flight) [e]
21 Shoot the Runner [e]
22 Fast Fuse [w]
23 Ovary Stripe [k]
24 I.D./Orange [k]
25 Re-Wired [v]
26 Let's Roll Just Like We Used To [v]
27 Club Foot [k]
28 British Legion [e]
29 By My Side [e]
30 Underdog [w]
31 Seek & Destroy [e]
32 Apnoea [e]
33 Thick as Thieves [w]
34 Happiness [w]
35 Vlad the Impaler [w]
36 Take Aim [w]
37 West Ryder Silver Bullet [w]
38 U Boat [k]
39 The Doberman [e]
40 Man of Simple Pleasures [v]
41 Acid Turkish Bath (Shelter From the Storm) [v]
42 Neon Noon [v]
43 Goodbye Kiss [v]
44 Ladies & Gentlemen, Roll the Dice [w]
45 La Feé Verte [v]

Twilight 10.84 Mile Run

Yesterday at twilight, with the temperature at an unseasonably unpleasant 79 degrees, I set out on what I determined would be a test run.  Testing what, you might ask.  Testing my ability to withstand a 13.1 mile run, I might answer.  For I intend to register and run in the Ocala Half-Marathon, scheduled to take place this coming Sunday morning, January 20.  But first I had to see how I did on a longer-than-usual run. I had been amassing some impressive mileage recently but they were split runs.  I had to see what I could do in a single run...

As it turned out, I had nothing to be worried about.  I ran 10.84 miles and could have gone further had the nighttime poor visibility not made more running nearly impossible.  I had been concerned about hitting an "energy wall" when I would be too exhausted to finish.  That had happened to me a couple of years ago at about the 20-mile mark when I was training for the marathon.  But no energy wall this time; I just felt sore, which was to be expected since I hadn't covered this distance in nearly a year.  So now I'm waiting to see how well I recover from yesterday's run.  Today I ran 2.38 miles around my neighborhood and will most likely run a couple more on the treadmill later tonight.  Then, if I still feel good, I'll sign up for the race.  Should be fun.

I should have a easier go at it on race day morning, the way I see it.  For one, it should be cooler.  For another, I will have done my "carb-loading" the day before and should have more energy reserved for this race.  I have been wanting to return to the site of my painful 2011 marathon finish, when an IT-band injury compelled me to walk the last 7 miles of the 26.2 mile race.  This time I'm sticking with the half-marathon event, although the course is, for all purposes, the same, albeit without a repeated loop and a detour in the early goings...

NFL Now Down to Conference Title Games

The National Football League divisional playoffs are finished, so now we are left with the conference championship games to be decided next Sunday.  And then the winners will go on to the Super Bowl to determine the champion for this year.  I have had mixed results regarding my preferences (not necessarily the best teams) and their "survival".  This weekend saw me go 2-2 with the games: Green Bay sadly lost out to San Francisco and Houston (which I don't like anyway) fell to my nemesis New England (I'm a Miami Dolphins fan, understand).  On the plus side, though, the two teams I liked the most, Atlanta and Baltimore, won their games against Seattle and Denver, respectively (although the emotional theatrics demonstrated by the Ravens' soon-to-retire linebacker Ray Lewis were embarrassing, to put it diplomatically).  Oh by the way, you Denver fans...

I am still beside myself about the horrible way that the Denver Bronco management, in particular John Elway, treated Tim Tebow after he heroically lead his team from last place to division champion and a spot in the playoffs they had been missing out on for years.  Then to top it off, he led his team to a win against the then-defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round.  They lost in the division playoff round the next week.  And now we come to this year and Tebow's replacement, "Mister Perfect" Peyton Manning, who was supposed to be their certain ticket to the Super Bowl.  But guess what? They didn't advance any further in the playoffs then Tebow's team and are now OUT!!! Whoopee! I hope they NEVER make it to the Super Bowl after the way they treated ol' Timmy...

For the remaining teams, here are my personal preferences:

1-Baltimore Ravens
2-Atlanta Falcons
3-San Francisco 49ers
4-New England Patriots

But it won't exactly hurt my feeling if "my" teams lose and those pesky Pats win it all.  After all, at least they had the decency to avoid going undefeated this year...

Don't Give Up, But Change is O.K.

As I wrote in a letter to a loved one recently, a sign posted very visibly in the workout room of my local 24-hour gym (by the treadmills) gives the famous Winston Churchill quote "Never, never, never give up".  It is intended to be a motivational tool for the members as they work hard to get in shape.  I'm on board with it, too, but with one caveat...

Yes, determination usually pays off with our goals.  Keep trying and eventually there should be a positive payoff.  It helps, also, to be focused on one's goals with specific outcomes in mind, to be completed according to a timetable, however loosely that is devised.  Time should be allotted as well, giving a regular period when priority is given to working on the goals in question.  Good and well, I say.  But...

Sometimes, as goals are pursued, it becomes increasingly apparent that they really aren't the ones worth pursuing, and they change. This changing of goals to things more worthwhile isn't a violation of Churchill's exortation, though: it is a sign of maturity, not an indication of "giving" up, but rather "growing" up...

Unpleasantly Warm, Muggy Weather and My Running

I am quite beside myself with the state of the "winter" weather here in northern Florida.  Every day it's muggy and warm, not exactly conducive to the type of long, pleasant runs I had been anticipating for now.  Instead, I am left with the choice of building up my mileage by combining two separate runs: one in the morning pounding the streets of my neighborhood and then one late night after work, in my 24-hour workout gym on a treadmill.  Together I have been putting up impressive numbers (for myself) and am on pace to surpass last month's total.  Still, I would gladly trade that second treadmill run for a longer morning run in the cool, dry January air that used to exist in a bygone age.  Apparently it does not anymore, and from what I have seen on weather reports, no relief is in sight.

Surveillance Nation

There used to be an ethic in this country, at least perfunctorily adhered to, that it was a virtue to mind one's own business and live and let live.  But it seems that lately, and this may be partially due to 9/11 and a heightened sense of insecurity among the population, that as long as anyone sets foot outside their own front door, they are sure to come under scrutiny and surveillance.  It can also be argued that we have little privacy within our own homes, either, because of the unwelcome fact that practically anything we do on the Internet, on our own private computers inside our own formerly private domiciles, is subject to being traced.  And if we have cable, even what we watch on TV can be traced by the cable company; they even drive around neighborhoods with their "sweep analyzers" checking out homes to make sure no one is watching any "unauthorized" channels. But the saddest thing about it is that if I belabor this overwhelming loss of privacy and dignity to others, than I stand the risk of sounding like one of those paranoid ranters who see conspiracies everywhere and usually focus on them as being exclusively directed at themselves.  But I don't subscribe to this delusional thinking; I'm just reporting what I see.

It has come to the point with me that, regardless the circumstance I find myself in, I have a peripheral awareness of sources of surveillance around me.  I walk into a store and check for the security cameras, often well concealed.  Most traffic lights I pass beneath have their cameras pointing down into my car. My workplace is so loaded with surveillance and "scrutinizers" that it sometimes feels that even my private thoughts are being scanned.  Even at church of all places, I can't just face forward with my thoughts without someone from the praise and worship team staring down at me from the stage.  And my cell phone, with its GPS feature, can pinpoint and broadcast my exact spot on the map to "concerned" parties, whether I like it or not.

Needless to say, as I sit here at my favorite Starbucks in Magnolia Parke on 39th Avenue, where I have been a regular customer since it opened in 2000, there is a handy-dandy surveillance camera above recording me.  Just in case I'm one of those dangerous types, I suppose...   

Second Thoughts on Racing As 15K Event Approaches

Having recently expressed how little I want to participate in public running races, I may have to backtrack on that a bit as I consider entering a 15K (9.3 miles) race on the 26th of this month.  It's the Newnan's Lake 15K, which takes place around...Newnan's Lake, a relatively large lake due east of Gainesville.  The scenery there is reportedly very pretty, so maybe I'll get to run in a race that is pleasing to my eyes for a change.  I just completed a pretty easy eight-mile run yesterday, so tacking on an extra mile or so doesn't seem like anything that should cause me problems.  Since I'm not going to run in any half-marathons for a while, this race may be one of the last chances I have this year to run a race of reasonable distance (instead of those overcrowded, too-short 5K events).  Maybe I'll take along my digital camera for this one as I play the role of "running tourist".

I would like someday to go back to half-marathons, and think that this will eventually come to fruition.  The FivePoints half-marathon here in Gainesville will take place at a time that I'll be out of town, anyway (mid-February), so any question of my participation in it is a moot point, anyway.  But next year?  We'll see...

Another Great Dreary Day Run

Today it was dreary and overcast, with occasional drizzles and heavier rain into the evening.  It reminded me of that strange Christmas day in 2010 when, after first hesitating to go running due to forecasts of rain coupled with an annoying smoky haze settled over the area, I decided to try it anyway, amassing 20 miles before running out of energy just before the rain began to fall heavily (and the sky was nearly pitch black).  It was 63 degrees at about 3 PM when I set out on my more modest run today, intending to cover 4 or 5 miles around my neighborhood.  But there was something about the dark ambiance that appealed to me and I kept extending my run until I finished with 8.05 miles, the longest distance I have run at one time since April 9 of last year, when I covered 10 miles.  I felt that I could have matched that today as well but didn't want to push myself too hard. 

At the beginning of today's run, the weather was dry.  But about halfway through, rain began to drizzle lightly, lasting until I had finished.  The rain was a rather pleasant experience, I have to admit.  I can't remember when I have last run during a downpour: maybe I should deliberately try a short run when the next one happens to see how it goes for me...

It may seem to be a contradiction that I tend to pace myself faster when the sun is beating down on me, while I want to keep running and running when it's so grey and dark.  But running long and running fast are really two different things:  I like the endurance aspect of this activity more...

Churchill Optimism Quote

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.       ---Winston Churchill

A few weeks ago I wrote someone about this quote, which I think accomplishes the three-fold requirement of an enduring piece of wisdom: it's short, it's catchy, and above all, it's applicable to just about any area in our lives.  Churchill was speaking from the context of a wartime leader, and his people were enduring severe hardship as the enemy was bombing British cities, their economy was under strict rationing, and their soldiers were putting their lives on the line for their country.  In the midst of this situation, it would be only too easy to become negative and dwell on the surrounding difficulty.  But I know people around me who are living in affluence but can only find things to complain about how their lives are going.  When they grumble, it makes me wonder just how much they themselves contributed to their state of relative wealth, and how much they instead are benefiting from the work and sacrifice of others.  Because with an realistically optimistic attitude, I believe, comes one of gratitude and proactivity.

For me to have a "rosy" view of the future, I need to believe that I have an element of choice as to how I personally can contribute to its shaping.  For me to just remain passive and expect things to "work themselves out" would tend, or so it seems, to cause me to adopt a more pessimistic mindset in the long run.  Besides, a busy person, centered in the present moment, has little time to be gloomy about things.  Especially when there is so much cool stuff to do and experience!

GOP Clueless, Sticks With Boehner

I wish that the Republican caucus in the House of Representatives, which apparently has little desire to follow or respect its Speaker John Boehner, would have just selected someone else whose leadership skills they respected, or at least feared.  Instead, it looks as if part of our federal government will continue to be under the dominion of a bunch of extremists who will do everything they can to ensure that this country of mine declines...just so that they can then proclaim Barack Obama to be a failure as a president.  But wait, they've already done that, haven't they, even after he was just reelected.  Then again, though, as I have predicted beforehand, we're hearing that his  reelection was "stolen", wasn't it?

More of crybaby, profane John to come.

God help us...

This Year's Chick-fil-A and Sugar Bowls

I've been watching some of these season-ending football games, and with most of them I couldn't care less who won.  Take New Year's Eve's Chick-fil-A bowl in Atlanta between Louisiana State and Clemson.  I was confronted with this game on my television screen as being "the" football game available to watch, so I arbitrarily chose LSU to root for.  But as the game wore on, I came to admire Clemson, especially their talented and determined quarterback Tajh Boyd. It was also becoming apparent as the game progressed that, although the LSU team seemed to possess more overall talent and size than their opponent, they seemed to be more poorly coached.  Finally, I switched my allegiance completely to Clemson when the LSU coach foolishly called three consecutive passing plays (all incomplete, each stopping the clock) late in the game when they were protecting a two-point lead and were supposedly trying to run out the clock.  Clemson got the ball back, drove down the field (largely due to the intrepid Mr. Boyd) and kicked a game-winning field goal with time running out. I felt good about Clemson's victory although I had pulled against them for most of the game.  As for this bowl's sponsors, not only do I resent them changing the name of this game from the Peach Bowl to one exclusively of a corporate entity, but I also quickly tired of those endless Chick-fil-A commercials that were supposed to be funny.  But I don't see anything funny about a company whose leaders funnel some of their profits into a homophobic political agenda under the cover of religious doctrine.  Don't expect to see me anywhere near one of their restaurants anytime soon... 

Tonight the Sugar Bowl pits my Florida Gators against the Louisville Cardinals.  I'll be working so I won't be able to see this game, one where I actually care who wins.  Although many see this game as a mismatch with Florida heavily favored, I know better: the Gators have tended this year to play to the level of their opponent, be it higher or lower.  Expect a close game tonight, with Florida prevailing while people around wonder if they're really all that good: that's the way it's been for them all season!

*******
Later...
The better team, Louisville, won 33-23.  Still, I am proud of Florida's improvement this year and look forward to more progress next year!

My Favorite Songs of 2012

Well, 2012 is ending and I suppose it's time for me to list my favorite songs of the year.  You may notice, however, that few of the songs listed are current: these are songs that I enjoyed listening to in 2012, not those that received radio play or promotion.  As a matter of fact, I have deliberately shunned radio music, as it all pretty much sucks.  So those great musical celebrities I see on TV that I'm supposed to be interested in following...well, most of their "monster" hits I've never heard!  And I don't care to hear them, either...

My focus of musical interest in 2012 was pretty much restricted to five acts: the now defunct Gorillaz, Beck (who hasn't released anything new in five years), Linkin Park, Regina Spektor, and Kasabian.  Of these Regina and Kasabian have the most recent releases with songs on my list.  My current favorite act to listen to is Kasabian, an England alternative rock band that has released four albums so far.  I plan to list all of these songs in a future article, ranked from best to least liked. 

Here's my list of personal favorites spanning 2012:

1 Firewood by Regina Spektor
2 Fire by Kasabian
3 Open by Regina Spektor
4 Me Plus One by Kasabian
5 Blackout by Linkin Park
6 Test Transmission by Kasabian
7 Think I'm In Love by Beck
8 Novacane by Beck
9 Secret Alphabets by Kasabian
10 Days Are Forgotten by Kasabian
11 "Messing" With My Head by Beck (euphemistically retitled by me)
12 Sun Rise Light Flies by Kasabian
13 Pay No Mind by Beck
14 Dead Melodies by Beck
15 Wretches and Kings by Linkin Park
16 Timebomb by Beck
17 Reason is Treason by Kasabian
18 I Hear Voices by Kasabian
19 To Binge by Gorillaz
20 Small Town Moon by Regina Spektor
21 L.S.F. by Kasabian
22 Motorcade by Beck
23 Youthless by Beck
24 Veliceraptor! by Kasabian
25 Beercan by Beck
26 Lost Cause by Beck
27 Butcher Blues by Kasabian
28 Empire by Kasabian
29 Jackass by Beck
30 Stuntman by Kasabian

And were I to name an Album of the Year, I'd have to go with Regina Spektor's What We Saw From the Cheap Seats.  But all of Kasabian's albums are quite impressive, too...