On Runaway Train in Politics

I haven't written much on this blog about politics...I'm not sure what good it would do other than just having something out there on the record.  Sometimes with these elections I feel like someone stuck on a runaway train with no control over my destiny while the rabble swinging these contests in different states and districts are dupes for whatever campaign tactics the candidates and media perpetrate.  It does me no good to see through everything, with my one measly vote per contest. And now, it appears, that one of the major parties sees no wrong with attempting to undo the results of any close election they lose...fascism, pure and simple, and one of their leaders who refused to certified the electoral vote count on January 6th, 2021 is now the Speaker of the House, while the then-sitting president who instigated all of the election denial widely leads in that party's polls to regain its nomination in 2024. Runaway train...and me riding it into the cloudy future...  

Constellation of the Month: Vela (the Sails)

 

Vela is a southern constellation, one that I, as a stargazer, have never seen in the night sky in its entirety due to its low latitude as it peaks during the early April evening hours, often obscured by trees, buildings and city lights.  Originally, with Puppis (the Deck) and Carina (the Keel) the three constituted the mega-constellation Argos, representing the ship from Greek mythology carrying Jason in his pursuit of the Golden Fleece.  The star designations are still the same although the constellation was split up...hence no Alphas or Betas with Vela, the brightest star being second-magnitude Gamma on its west end.  The rest of "Argo" is on Vela's west and south sides (right and down on the above star map).  If you look at the bottom of the map I drew, you'll see a figure of a cross with broken lines...that's the famous "False Cross" that observers sometimes mistake for the Southern Cross (aka the constellation Crux) which lies further eastward...those two most southerly stars in the False Cross are actually a part of Carina.  Some time I'd like to get myself south of the equator in a place unobstructed by city lights and relatively clear much of the year and just stand there taking in all the southern constellations I cannot see from my latitude here at 30 degrees North...the ancient constellation Argo, with its components Vela, Puppis and Carina, would be one of my top priorities...

Next month: another constellation...

Ran the Depot Parkrun 5K Here in Gainesville This Morning

Having goofed up and missed the main race I was going to run in April (Hawthorne's "Run Your Buns Off" half marathon on the 8th), I decided today, a couple of weeks later, to mosey on down to my hometown of Gainesville's Depot Park, just a few blocks south of downtown and the site of a free 5K race held every Saturday morning...this was my 13th run since I began in 2019.  I usually drive down Main Street to get there, living on the northern fringe of the city.  This morning marked the opening day for the semiannual Friends of the Library book sale, which is located on the 400 block of North Main and starts at 9 am.  But at 7, when I drove by on the way to the park, there was already a long line of people standing outside the warehouse where the sale was to take place...guess they had nothing better to do: I'd still be in bed sleeping if I didn't have this race to run.  Ditto for the folks in their long line at a bagel shop further down the road...but at least that place was already open!  Seems like there were a few more people at today's race than usual.  The temperature was a pleasant enough 63 degrees, but the humidity was a punishing, extremely muggy 98%: ouch!  I wore my relatively new Nike Air Monarch shoes with wide width and toe space, heavier than your typical running shoes but kinder on the feet...I'm not looking to set any records anyway.  The shoes served me well, but that awful humidity didn't, and I wondered early on in the race whether I'd finish running it or have to walk part of the way. And then the proverbial "second wind" kicked in when my body synced with my environment, and I found my groove...a wonderful thing to experience.  My final time...nothing to brag about...was 32:47. But I kept my continuity going and look forward to the next race, which if anything will probably be just as muggy, only hotter.  Click on HERE to view today's race results. By the way, at the top of that results page, if you click "Home" then you'll get some information about the Parkrun and how you can sign up to be a part of it, which involves getting a barcode printed out that you take to the race to be scanned: no racing bibs here...

Quote of the Week: On the Back of a Marathon Runner's Shirt

SHUT UP, I'M NOT ALMOST THERE.      ---on a New York City Marathon runner's shirt.

I was doing some virtual running at home while watching a YouTube video of the 2022 New York City Marathon, held early in October of that year.  The particular video I saw is from the viewpoint of a participating runner, so in addition to the path ahead and the area's scenery to each side, you're pretty much looking at the backs of the other runners as you either pace behind them, pass them or get passed by them...the last two happening here a lot more than when I'm running most of my own races.  I also noticed a relative absence of the Jeff Galloway alternating walk/run method which apparently is much more popular in Gainesville than in other places.  One of the runners I saw in the video was a woman with the above interesting message boldly displayed on the back of her shirt, certain to draw lots of laughs from others...including myself.  The last long distance race I ran with any appreciable number of roadside spectators was the final Life South Five Points of Life Half Marathon, held here in Gainesville in February, 2022.  I was just completing the final "badass" hill on NW 16th Avenue at about the ten-mile mark of the race when one of those spectators began shouting that I was "almost there".  Only one problem: I still had more than three miles to go!  As I kept plodding along toward that hoped-for finish line, more onlookers kept crying out the same nonsense...it got to be quite annoying although I knew that they were trying to show encouragement.  The ultimate irony was that when I actually got to that final stretch of road ending with the finish line, no one was around to yell it out when it was actually true...ha, ha, ha.  I've run at home watching a number of different city-based races...Hartford, Toronto, Oakville (near Toronto), Cardiff (in Wales), Boston...and, of course, New York City...and it's that last one that, by far, shows a lot of fan spirit cheering on the runners as they pass by, and not just at some confined sections of the course, either: NYC rocks!  Yes, I pick up a lot of positive vibes "running" down the streets of the five boroughs of Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx...and then Manhattan again in that order.  Yet the other day, when I noticed that YouTube also carries a 24/7 live video of someone walking the streets of New York City (I'm assuming they do this in shifts), the surrounding people were silent, looked away from the walker and conveyed a strong sense of "mind your own business" and suspicion.  If they only held marathons there 24/7...

Podcaster Gives Some Pointers on Getting Out of a Rut

For those of us who every now and then...or more often for that matter...find ourselves just moping around directionless and never getting around to getting anything done during our day, Rob Dial on his Mindset Mentor podcast a few days ago laid out seven strategies to overcome the lethargic and often negative inertia.  They are (1) get up and get the body moving, (2) just take a few small steps doing something, (3) celebrate small wins even if only by congratulating yourself, (4) turn off the phone and electronics in general, (5) focus on the next 60 seconds instead of what's down the line, (6) ride the momentum when you feel it and (7) try to get around other people who can help you to move.  Of course, as with everything else I pick up from Dial and others, I need to filter it all first through my own sense of discernment.  Generally, I agree with his suggestions but also recognize that sometimes I just need some more sleep...and that doesn't constitute being in a rut.  Yet this morning my body felt a bit achy, and I did what he suggested and started moving it...now I'm much better...pat myself on the back!  As for the electronics, I don't check my phone anywhere as much as I see others stuck on theirs, and a lot of the time when I'm working out at home I have the TV on channels that help me, such as music or marathon videos.  Momentum can be a good thing, but sometimes my schedule will mandate that I cut off my activity to get ready for the next one.  And although being around others can sometimes be a drain on me instead of an energizer, I also recognize that sitting in a public place like a coffee shop can help me to rivet my thoughts in a more organized way that enhances my writing, reading and studying.  So, kudos to Rob Dial on this particular podcast...I'm not always in tune with his message but this one...with some thoughtful caveats...was pretty helpful...

Weekly Short Stories: 1990 Science Fiction, Part 5

Here are my reviews of three more short stories from 1990 appearing in the Gardner Dozois anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction, Eighth Annual Collection.  Let's see...music-wise, in that year I was into mainstream/alternative rock, with Midnight Oil's Blue Sky Mine and Depeche Mode's Enjoy the Silence my top two favorite songs...the latter, with singer David Gahan dressed like a king and roaming the countryside, also has one of the greatest videos ever made, in my humble opinion.  Anyway, let's get back to those stories...

THE FIRST SINCE ANCIENT PERSIA by John Brunner

A young, single woman is traveling around in near-future rural Argentina and the tradition-wed folk living in the spooky, stagnant little town she visits think there's something wrong with her since she isn't married and at least pregnant.  Meanwhile, a secretive community of scientists exists a few miles out of town...and they have a secret project that bodes well for humanity...or does it?  And what have they to do with the villagers, who think the outsiders are evil? Another tale in which science can cut both ways, depending on who's holding the strings...yes, I'm mixing metaphors...

INERTIA by Nancy Kress

Gram ("grandma") lives in a quarantined community with her affliction and family.  The affliction is a permanently skin-disfiguring eruption that is otherwise harmless...yet it renders the victim very ugly to see.  The community, while just getting by, has learned to live peacefully among themselves, which is the opposite of the "normal" outside world that is descending into chaotic, self-destructive violence.  A scientist from the outside pays them a visit, and besides arousing suspicion from them, promises a solution to both their problem and the world's. This story's ending reminded me of an old movie I saw, Pascali's Island...

LEARNING TO BE ME by Connie Willis

For me the most intriguing of today's three stories, it is sometime in the future as people's skulls are implanted with an artificial "jewel"-centered parallel nervous system that senses, feels and thinks everything the original, organic brain and nervous system are experiencing...eventually the jewel, which is immortal, will take control and replace the brain after a medical procedure...this is a socially promoted rite of passage. Besides being scary as hell, this story brings up the question as to what really constitutes the identity "I" that we feel about ourselves.  This one's worth returning to...

And that's it for this week.  Next week: more from 1990 and Dozois' excellent book...

Televised Pro Sports Just Doesn't Cut It with Me Anymore

I'm having a great deal of difficulty generating any degree of enthusiasm for professional sports right now, be it the National Basketball Association or National Hockey League playoffs, or the start to the Major League Baseball season...and my recent interest in professional golf and soccer has considerably waned as well.  Next month is the Kentucky Derby in horse racing...let's see, last year's winner was disqualified over banned substance issues, so I won't even know who won it after the race: what fun is that?  Maybe it's just as well this way...I watched a couple of NBA playoff games and realized that I didn't care who won...same with last weekend's PGA tournament at Hilton Head in which the two leaders played what should have been exciting three rounds of sudden death playoff: ho-hum.  It could be that I just have other things on my plate, but that's always been true.  And now they're showing two competing off-season pro football leagues, the XFL and USFL...are you kidding me?  On the other hand, I do enjoy watching videos of people running marathons and half-marathons in various locales...but almost always as a home workout tool, not vicarious entertainment.  No, when I do sit back to watch TV, I'd much prefer to put on a YouTube coffee shop video and enjoy the ambiance...

Working on Reorganizing Personal Information System

This book I just read (and wrote about), Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte, has made a big impact on my thinking, and it's occupying a good deal of my "free" time right now as I construct a personal data and retrieval system that complements what I already have "in my head".  It's fun and at the same time a bit tedious...but once I have everything in place this all should make my life flow a lot more smoothly.  But it does take time and I may have to scrap whole ways of doing things in order to make it work better for me.  I recommend the book, and who knows: you might just pick up better on Forte's often arcane language than I did.  But I did clearly get his core message, having lived through a muddle of excessively tangled, disorganized information for years...

Just Finished Reading Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte

Tiago Forte is a computer/IT expert with an interesting premise: that we all could use a "second", external brain, in which the incredible amount of detailed information we accumulate over the years is processed, prioritized, organized and arranged for easy access.  Forte believes that use of digitalized notetaking apps can greatly enhance the function of this all, although traditionally people have relied on notepads and other paper-based media...count me as one of them.  He expresses this in his 2022 book Building a Second Brain, which I just finished reading.  I agree with that premise of his, although his language is such that I felt as if Mr. Spock on Star Trek were feeding me a lot of incomprehensible gobbledygook without actual laying out specifics on how to maneuver around the often very arcane field of knowledge management, especially as it applies to using computer technology.  Forte also has a tendency to go heavy on acronyms...not a good way to endear me to his message. Still, I recognize that over the years I have been bombarded with information and memories, much of which is lost, deeply buried in my mental recesses without an effective means to retrieve it.  Fortunately, with some things...like my running record and list of books and short stories read...I have this very blog as an external memory device...and therefore an element of Forte's suggested "second brain": I just need to streamline the data and make the articles with all the info easy to access.  That's why I used yesterday's article to update my running race history: I plan to place links on each race entry to be able to quickly access the pertinent articles.  I plan to do the same with my reading list...that project is going to be much longer, though.  And there are some areas more personal and financial in nature, for which using a public blog is inappropriate, yet still demanding a better external organization of prioritized and retrievable information.  So, although the author's writing style, in my opinion, left a lot to be desired, his core message strongly resonates with me as I already see a strong need to better organize my personal information.  Thank you, Tiago Forte...

Latest Updated Cumulative Running Race List

Below is a revised listing of the public running races I've entered and completed, up to today's date (4/15/23).  The first five lines are from my distant past, growing up in south Florida. Following the date on each line is the race's length (m=miles, K=kilometers, HM =half marathon, M=marathon).  Then it's the race's name and, finally, its location...a specific place usually means that it was held within the city of Gainesville.  I added a couple of new features from the last updated list: next to the names of races I've run more than once, I indicate the "nth" time I ran it.  And I've put links on each race (since 2008) so that you can conveniently read my report on that race but clicking on the name.  This article may be interesting (or not) for you, but I put it here primarily as an external memory for me to refer back to.  Oh, one other thing...if you read some of the individual articles about specific races you'll often notice that I put in them links to race results.  Unfortunately, many of these old sites are now defunct...I'm looking for those results on different sites and will change those links accordingly.  And by the way, even though this listing was originally done on April 15, 2023, you may notice that with the passage of time that later races have been added: this is a "live", changing entry with the times, a feature I plan to apply to other areas as well in the future...

3-23-73        2m       11:56      Nova HS at Piper track meet         Piper High School, Ft. Lauderdale

4-10-73         2m       11:35      Broward Country South Division Meet    S. Broward HS, Dania

11-27-74      ~2m      ??            Turkey Trot  (BCC) (1)                  Davie, FL

11-?-75      ~2m      ??            Turkey Trot (BCC) (2)                     Davie, FL

7-?-76      ~5m      ??            -unknown-                                         Hollywood, FL   

10-04-08    5K       25:10      Red Cross                                         University of Florida

10-18-08    5K       24:07      Hope Heels                                       Westside Park

11-01-08    5K       24:28      Dog Days                                            Westside Park
2-14-10     HM    2:17:10     Five Points of Life (1)                      Gainesville
3-27-10     15K    1:23:55    Climb for Cancer                                Haile Plantation
4-24-10      5K        23:05     Run Amuck                                        NFR Office Park
5-22-10      5K        25:00     Somer's Sunshine Run                   Orange Park
6-05-10      5K        23:23     Cpt. Chad Reed Memorial                     Cross City
7-04-10      3m        23:04     Melon Run  (1)                                Westside Park
11-6-10    HM    2:01:41    Tom Walker Memorial (1)              Hawthorne Trail
1-23-11      M       6:04:35    Ocala Marathon                                South of Paddock Mall
11-12-11    HM    1:59:38    Tom Walker Memorial (2)              Hawthorne Trail
1-01-12      HM    1:56:07    De Leon Springs                              De Leon Springs
7-04-12      3m        25:45     Melon Run (2)                                Westside Park
11-22-12   10K       53:10     Turkey Trot (1)                                 Tacachale
1-20-13      HM    1:55:20    Ocala Half-Marathon                    South of Paddock Mall
3-03-13      HM    1:50:53    Orange Blossom                             Tavares
11-09-13    2m     untimed    Gator Gallop                                   University Ave, SW 2nd Ave
2-01-14      5K        25:53     Education for Life                           Westside Park
2-16-14      HM    2:07:36    Five Points of Life (2)                    Gainesville
11-27-14   10K        56:56    Turkey Trot (2)                                Tacachale
12-20-14    HM    2:03:30    Starlight Half-Marathon               Palm Coast
1-31-15     15K    1:18:21       Newnan's Lake (1)                          West of Newnan's Lake
2-15-15     HM     1:58:48    Five Points of Life (3)                    Gainesville
3-14-15     10K        56:24    Run for Haven (1)                           Tioga
12-05-15   6.5m   1:03:52    Lumber Around the Levee           Micanopy
1-30-16     15K    1:31:20    Newnan's Lake (2)                           West of Newnan's Lake
3-12-16     10K       59:00    Run for Haven (2)                           Tioga
5-14-16       5K       28:36    May Day Glow Run (1)                    Tioga

7-4-16         3m      28:22    Melon Run (3)                                  Westside Park

11-24-16    10K    1:01:13    Turkey Trot (3)                                Tacachale

2-26-17     HM    2:24:29    Five Points of Life (4)                    Gainesville

3-11-17      10K        58:45   Run for Haven (3)                           Tioga

5-21-17        5K        33:00   May Day Glow Run (2)                 Tioga

1-27-18       15K    1:38:41    Newnan's Lake (3)                        West of Newnan's Lake

2-18-18    HM      2:19:37    Five Points of Life (5)                   Gainesville

3-17-18        5K        29:17    Chris Lacinak Scholarship           Gainesville

12-8-18      15K     1:37:33    Season of Hope (1)                       Hawthorne Trail

1-5-19          5K        30:00    Depot Parkrun (1)                        Gainesville

2-9-19         5K        30:36    Depot Parkrun (2)                        Gainesville

3-16-19       5K        31:16     Miles for Meridian                        Tioga

4-27-19      10K    1:01:52    Run the Good Race (1)                 NFR Office Park

5-5-19         5K        30:38    May Day Glow Run (3)                Jonesville

11-10-19    HM    2:35:20   Tom Walker Memorial (3)          Hawthorne Trail

11-28-19    10K    1:02:16    Turkey Trot (4)                             Tacachale

12-7-19      15K    1:35:48    Season of Hope (2)                       Hawthorne Trail

4-3-21         5K        32:40    Headwaters (1)                             Gainesville

5-29-21      5K        30:50    Depot Parkrun (3)                        Gainesville

6-12-21       5K        33:06    Depot Parkrun (4)                       Gainesville

12-4-21       5K        33:03    Depot Parkrun (5)                        Gainesville

2-12-22       5K        31:28    Depot Parkrun (6)                        Gainesville

2-20-22     HM   2:33:51     Five Points of Life (6)                  Gainesville

3-19-22      10m  1:48:24    Micanopy Ten-Mile                      Micanopy

3-26-22       5K      30:45     Depot Parkrun (7)                        Gainesville

4-9-22         5K       29:28     Headwaters (2)                            Gainesville

10-15-22     10K   1:04:55    Tom Walker Preview                   Hawthorne Trail

10-22-22    10K   1:03:20    Run the Good Race (2)                Gainesville

11-06-22     HM  3:05:29   Tom Walker Memorial (4)           Hawthorne Trail

11-12-22       5K       31:38   Depot Parkrun (8)                         Gainesville

12-10-22      5K       31:46    Depot Parkrun (9)                        Gainesville

1-1-23           5K       32:59   Depot Parkrun (10)                      Gainesville

1-15-23       HM   2:34:42   FTC Mary Andrews                      Hawthorne Trail (east end)

3-11-23        5K         34:02  Depot Parkrun (11)                      Gainesville

3-25-23       5K         33:19   Depot Parkrun (12)                     Gainesville

4-22-23       5K         32:47  Depot Parkrun (13)                      Gainesville

4-29-23       5K        33:34   Depot Parkrun (14)                      Gainesville 

Quote of the Week...from Baker Mayfield

It doesn't matter what cards you're dealt.  It's what you do with those cards.  Never complain. Just keep pushing forward.  Find a positive in anything and just fight for it.                      Baker Mayfield

If you're not a football fan (or even if you are one), you might know Baker Mayfield primarily as the dude living in the Cleveland Browns' home stadium in a series of funny Progressive Insurance commercials a few years back.  He's a Heisman Trophy winning quarterback from Oklahoma.  After being shipped around in 2022 to the Carolina Panthers and Los Angeles Rams with uneven results, he finds himself now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers now that their star QB Tom Brady has retired...at least Tom hasn't changed his mind yet like the last time he left the game.  The Bucs already have Florida Gator standout Kyle Trask on the roster and soon plan to draft high for another signal caller.  But I think that Mayfield has what it takes to do well as a starter with this team and has shown flashes of brilliance in the past if he can avoid injury...always a danger in this very rough sport.  Nobody's expecting much from Tampa Bay in 2023...last year, even with Brady at the helm, they went 8-9, barely made the playoffs and made a quick exit.  I'd like to see Baker Mayfield confound the critics...and if he wants to make a few more insurance commercials that's all right by me, too.  I like his above quote, since you can apply it to just about anything in your life, regardless of whether you're a star athlete or not.  Do I always follow Baker's words of wisdom? Hell no...

Working Out at Home Watching YouTube NYC Half-Marathon

My morning workout today consisted of me running around through the house...trying in the process to avoid tripping over our puppy dog Daisy...while watching a YouTube video of a New York City half-marathon, recorded by the same Chinese-speaking dude who recorded the full NYC Marathon back in 2019.  I went to the computer to see the race's course map, and quickly noted that it didn't conform at all to what I was watching.  The map had it starting in Manhattan and going to Brooklyn while "my" race had a reverse course...they're now toward the end, running right down Broadway past Times Square where Melissa, Rebecca and I visited (and stayed at the Marriott Marquis) back in 2010.  And then I discovered that within New York City and the nearby area there are several marathons/half-marathons each year.  Awesome, if you're a resident you can sign up for the ones you like and the subway system and shuttles can circumvent any transportation issues.  But, of course, if you're like me and live more than a thousand miles away, then it gets quite a bit trickier.  I wonder how many of those running in "today's" race flew or drove in from more distant locales and how many were already planted in the immediate region.  Sometime in the future I'd like to have a go at a New York City race...but the external issues of getting there and getting a place to stay while fitting it all on my calendar seem to be, at least at this stage of time, pretty daunting.  And I already know that, for some of the races, they're booked up many months in advance.  Until I figure it all out, though, I'll keep watching videos like this one, thanks to the thoughtful people who make them...

Weekly Short Stories: 1990 Science Fiction, Part 4

Here are my reactions to four more tales from 1990, presented in the anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction, Eighth Annual Collection and edited by the late Gardner Dozois. In the summer of that year, Gainesville and the University of Florida in particular were excited about the arrival of Steve Spurrier as their new head football coach...and then tragedy struck with the five murders of young people in their apartments...panic struck the city and area until the culprit was caught...a loser ex-con from Louisiana...but not before the police chief had practically convicted in the media a different, completely innocent and mentally ill young man: shame, shame, shame.  And now, about those four stories...

THE CAIRENE PURSE by Michael Moorcock

An interesting mood piece set in the Aswan High Dam region of Egypt in the near future as the dam's negative effect on the environment is evident and an Englishman searches the area for his missing archaeologist sister, who he discovers has picked up a reputation as a healer, a dabbler in witchcraft...and what is it about that strange spacecraft? 

THE COON ROLLED DOWN AND RUPTURED HIS LARINKS, A SQUEEZED NOVEL BY MR. SKUNK by Dafydd ab Hugh

A plague of sorts in the future has leveled the intelligence of infected animal life and humans, lowering that of the latter while increasing the former's to the point where dogs, cats, skunks and other critters can freely converse and hang out...when they're not eating one another, that is.  A group, let by the skunk narrator, is on a mission to "liberate" the remaining "normal" humans hidden by an insulated dome protecting them from the virus.  I liked how the story was presented from the skunk's viewpoint...ha-ha...

TOWER OF BABYLON by Ted Chiang

The Biblical tower of babel from Genesis is the model for this tale of humanity painstakingly...for generations...building a tower tall enough to literally pass the sun, stars, reaching the dome of the sky that borders heaven.  Told in a narrative that conforms to ancient beliefs about the state of the universe, I enjoyed the story's ending...I wonder if Stephen King picked up on it for his Dark Tower series (read the final book)...

THE DEATH ARTIST by Alexander Jablokov

It's hard to find a likeable character in this future world of people that keep their real physical bodies protected while able to project their essence into clones that they use for diversion and adventure, with dying in them no cause for alarm as they always wake up in their original form.  Death for oneself...and others as well, becomes a numbing, repeated experience in this decadent world...

Next week: more about short science fiction from 1990...

Running Races Being Pushed Off the Streets and Onto Remote Trails

I'm noticing a trend in public running races here in northern central Florida...and judging by the race calendar elsewhere in the state, it isn't just happening here.  It used to be that we'd have races in a more urban setting, races that were more or less looped courses that afforded the participants a variety of the experiences and sights belonging to the city in question...that to me was always one of the big appeals of racing.  We had the annual Five Points marathon/half-marathon that ran right through the heart of Gainesville in such a looping course, even passing through the University of Florida's football stadium at one point.  Ocala also had its annual racing event, another loop (at least for the half-marathon event) although its course covered the more rural horse farms south of the city.  Both of these events are gone now, leaving runners who want to experience marathons or half-marathons races in this area to do so on the Hawthorne Trail, either from Boulware Springs Park in southeastern Gainesville or from the Eastern Trailhead in the town of Hawthorne.  Ocala is holding no marathons or half-marathons anymore, not even on some remote rails-to-trails course.  Gainesville still holds these two distances in races, but they're now confined to that one trail way off in the boondocks far from civilization...a nice surface but pretty much boring scenery: just trees and more trees.  Plus, the races are all there-and-back, and two of the three offered additionally required repeated laps...ouch!  It's as if society has said that we runners aren't welcome among them anymore and we need to go hide somewhere off in the woods to do our "thing" from now on.  Nowadays if I want to remain in north central Florida and experience marathons or half-marathons, I'm left to either retreating to the Hawthorne Trail or to watching videos others have made of marathons elsewhere...which is what I've been doing lately.  Interesting races, like the Toronto Half-Marathon, New York City Marathon, Walt Disney World Marathon and the Boston Marathon, all provide a visual backdrop of the always changing surroundings, with the sense of a Tolkienesque quest as the runners plod onward to the finish line...and I'm right there (in my living room) with them.  None of those courses are looped either, meaning that real-life participants in those places have to figure out their transportation strategies beforehand...no jumping out of the car before the race and jumping back into it afterwards.  On the other hand, at home I can just flick "pause" to take a bathroom break (or leave it running). Back in the late 1940s science fiction writer Clifford Simak...one of the best in my opinion...wrote a series of tales in which our society in the future would evolve to where people lived lives of rural seclusion, hardly ever directly interacting with one another and depending on robots to serve them and vicarious entertainment to fulfill themselves.  Move over future, here we are now...at least in my "section of the woods"...

A Little Gripe about a Local Non-Profit

It's been my experience that it's a losing proposition to criticize non-profit organizations, especially the ones that are directly connected to physically improving...even to the point of saving...people's lives.  Still, I feel the need to call out Life South, a locally based blood bank that has sponsored and organized Gainesville's wonderful Five Points of Life dual marathon/half-marathon races annually during the month of February.  From 2010 through 2022 I ran in six of the half-marathons: great, memorable experiences and each of which I wrote about on this blog.  According to Life South's own website a few years ago (but removed since), one afternoon back around 2005 a couple of Life South employees took a break from work and jogged the few blocks down Newberry Road to the nearby Starbucks (now a Relish restaurant), where Marty Bower worked as store manager.  The three got to talking and Marty suggested that their employer hold a marathon to raise interest in their cause...and reportedly that moment set off the chain of events leading to the annual tradition.  The racecourse stayed the same up until 2020 when they moved both the marathon and half-marathon to southwest of Gainesville, starting and ending at the newly built Celebration Point.  In '21 everything was cancelled due to Covid, but in 2022 they resumed it, going back to the center of Gainesville while altering the course and eliminating the full marathon as an option.  I also ran that event and thought the new course was fine although I was saddened by the end of the 26.2-mile race.  But they decided for this year to hold only a short 5K race and don't seem interested in longer distances anymore.  I think that's sad and disagree with their decision, but they have a right to do so.  What I do have a problem with is the half-assed way they went about not openly informing the general public that those longer races would be no more...and worse, they seem to have erased their online history of past race results, as if they are somehow ashamed of it all.  Yes, I have a BIG problem with that.  It made me wonder whether there was a change in leadership at Life South, and the new persons in charge were negative about running and wanted to take them into a different direction.  And apparently that new direction involves pestering me with annoying, guilt-riding e-mails about the perpetual catastrophic shortage of a certain blood type.  You see, I have donated blood to Life South before...I'd like to again (after first receiving clearance from my doctor), but right now I have a very serious transparency issue with that organization, which at least as I see it has gotten to be pretty arrogant about itself.  It's not just a reaction to them cancelling those races, either.  After all, I've always felt that our fair city...in conjunction with the University of Florida...should instead be the driving forces behind an annual local marathon/half-marathon event, especially considering Gainesville's important historic place as a center for running and local past standouts like Marty Liquori and Frank Shorter...no need to put all the pressure on one non-profit organization.  Still, although I appreciate Life South's involvement with local long-distance running races over the past several years, they could have been more candid about their recent decision to shut them down...

Podcaster Discusses Anxiety Attacks and How to Deal with Them

Podcaster Rob Dial, who as a personal development coach has his show Mindset Mentor, on a recent episode discussed ways to alleviate anxiety.  He started with the comment that anxiety is a natural mechanism we have to defend ourselves against outside attacks...but in our more civilized, modern existence it can be counterproductive and even harmful.  He listed three approaches to deal with an onset of anxiety.  First...he says...breathe deeply through the nose for a few seconds, working the diaphragm to accomplish this, and then take twice as long to slowly exhale through the mouth.  Dial recommends repeating this a number of times, and claims that it has helped him.  Second, he says to challenge the anxious feeling, determining its source and replacing it with an alternate, truer reality as to what is most likely to happen instead of the fears underlying that anxiety.  And finally, Rob Dial suggests that familiarizing oneself...in a "safe" way...with the object of the anxiety can take the edge off the fear causing the trouble.  I'm good with all three suggestions, but also recognize that when the emotions take charge, it can be a while before the body responds well to methods to counteract anxiety or panic attacks.  For me, if feasible I take a brief "mindfulness" break and do a modification of Dial's breathing exercises while simply focusing my attention to the immediate physical environment in front of me and away from the anxiety-producing situation.  Seems to work...how do you deal with this sort of thing?

Missed Out on This Morning's Half Marathon: Better Luck Next Time

Through a comedy of (my) errors, I missed out on this morning's "Run Your Buns Off" half-marathon race, held on the (awesome) Hawthorne Trail starting and ending at the little town of Hawthorne a few miles southeast of Gainesville.  In retrospect...and I don't think it's just sour grapes...the fact that I drove all the way out there forgetting to take along my bib with the embedded timing chip was probably for the better.  I had squeezed out a small parking spot near the starting line and got out to pay a quick pre-race visit to the porta-potty when I noticed what seemed to be an endless line in front of the (only) two provided...this all happening only 15 minutes before race time.  But it was then that I noticed the bibs on the runners mulling around and realized that it was "game over" since my own was lying on my desk some 15 miles away.  I walked directly back to my car, scooted out of there and, a few minutes later, did my own mulling over coffee at a Gainesville Dunkin' Donuts.  The race's starting temperature was around 70 degrees with a horrible humidity exceeding 90%...I experienced something similar last October in another half-marathon that was thoroughly miserable.  I also felt sleepy this morning...if I want to participate in these races, I need to get into the habit of sleeping earlier and waking up earlier.  As it was, I went home after Dunkin' and slept for a couple more hours.  I should have known up front that this race wasn't going to turn out as planned...although I had set my alarm for 5:30 to give me plenty of time to get ready, somewhere along the line...in my sleep, apparently...I had turned it off and only woke up, thanks to Melissa, at 6.  So, what did I learn? One, shift my waking and sleeping times to accommodate activities earlier in the morning.  Two, be more selective with these races and who conducts them.  And three: oh hell, I think two lessons are enough...

Quote of the Week...from Dean Karnazes

Struggling and suffering are the essence of a life worth living.  If you're not pushing yourself beyond the comfort zone, if you're not demanding more from yourself...expanding and learning as you go...you're choosing a numb existence.  You're denying yourself an extraordinary trip.           ---Dean Karnazes

I've read criticisms about ultra-distance runner Dean Karnazes such as he's not even one of the Top Ten ultramarathon racers and he's just good at marketing himself.  To me that's like saying that the Beatles, none of whom had formal musical training or could read music, were "just good at marketing".  While I always defer to the elite in any sport, including distance running, it was Dean Karnazes with his book Ultramarathon Man who renewed my interest in this activity, not the fast finishers...and Karnazes has repeatedly emphasized that he's not among those elite.  But he is an elite at popularizing the sport and encouraging others, although I have to admit that I don't exactly appreciate someone standing there on the sidelines near the finish of a long race yelling at me to "Push it!"...there's such a thing as too much encouragement, too!  Regarding the above quote, which I believe is an excerpt from that first book of his, I wholeheartedly agree with it...although I don't think it necessarily means that all of us are suited for ultra-distance running...or running at all for that matter.  I knew a kid in high school who was like Karnazes in that he was always taking the "extreme effort" and "no gain without pain" position about running, often yelling at others to try harder...I liked his enthusiasm, but I think he crossed the line at the same time with his sometimes-unsolicited exhortations.  It's also possible to take one single endeavor and make it into a kind of idol while neglecting other important areas of one's life...Dean's quote has its greatest use when applied across the board to all areas of our lives, not just one.  And one other thing: I don't think it's profitable to seek out struggling and suffering for their own sake...but if you're engaged in something worthwhile and those feelings arise, then the above quote makes a lot of sense...

Misleading MSN Newsfeed Story Typical of Media Manipulation in Our Times

This morning as I started up my computer the MSN newsfeed flashed up on the screen with its picks for "news" stories.  One of them carried the provocative title "Iowa Head Coach snubs Jill Biden invite with brutal message for First Lady and President".  It comes at the heels of Iowa's NCAA women's championship game loss to LSU, which the Bidens supposedly watched.  Mrs. Biden liked how Iowa played and actually did invite the Hawkeyes coach and team to the traditional White House visit usually reserved to the champion...LSU was naturally congratulated and invited as well.  I wanted to find out the "brutal message" about the "snub", so I read further and discovered that Iowa coach Lisa Bluder graciously thanked Jill Biden, but said that Iowa would stick with tradition and allow the champions to go visit the President and his wife in Washington.  Nothing mean or controversial or personal or political, no "brutal message" or "snub".  Just a classy example of good sportsmanship and deference to the actual team that won it all.  This is just one example of how the way news is presented can created division and rancor among the population.  If you're someone who just goes by headlines on newsfeeds or lead-in comments on news shows to get your information, you're liable to find yourself seriously misinformed at the end of the day.  These news "sources" depend upon viewer and reader interest, and so they cynically devise misleading (or, in this case false) headlines to tease you into committing to the general article or story.  The network news shows pull this stunt as well by hinting at a tantalizing story later on in the show to keep you watching...when it does come up it usually is hardly discussed and isn't anything like how it was promoted earlier.  Nowadays I think the big news story is the news story itself, and how American public opinion is being manipulated by hucksters to become overemotional and more and more dependent on them to get that "high", a feeling that has absolutely nothing to do with learning what's really going on in the world around them...

Weekly Short Stories: 1990 Science Fiction, Part 3

It's Wednesday, and so once again here I am discussing short science fiction from 1990 as it appeared in Gardner Dozois' excellent anthology The Year's Best Science Fiction, Eighth Annual Collection.  In the summer of that year, nothing in the international news seemed to indicate trouble...in fact, the Soviets had withdrawn from its invasion of Afghanistan and there was a blooming of freedom, democracy and independence in a number of Eastern European countries.  Then, it seemed suddenly, Iraq's dictator Saddam Hussein instigated a conflict with oil-rich neighboring Kuwait and invaded it, setting off a chain reaction of alliances, culminating in the United States and several allies, with at least the tacit support of usual adversaries Iran and Syria, amassing troops in Saudi Arabia near occupied Kuwait's border in Operation Desert Shield...to be changed the following January to Desert Storm when the fighting began. There had been a lot of debate in Congress as to whether to authorize action, but the measures to support President Bush (the original one) eventually passed.  Well, back to these own tense times of ours today and my reactions to three more stories...  

THE ALL-CONSUMING by Robert Frazier 

In a rural Central America of the near future, where the economy sucks and the nearby jungle is a morass of pollution and extremely dangerous, toxic and utterly gross mutated life forms, a man arrives with a lot of money to lure a local man, whose outlook on life has turned cynical because of his past unjust treatment, to provide him with the jungle to eat...and he will eat anything!  The vivid imagery in this story is brilliant and completely disturbing...not for the queasy or weak at heart.  Yet can I say that it resolves itself equally brilliantly? Totally impossible, but fun to speculate about...

PERSONAL SILENCE by Molly Gloss

In a nightmare future of perpetual world war...and I mean covering the whole planet...a pacifist journalist literally mutilated from his travel experiences writes about his one-man planet-crossing from different locales, to be serialized in an overseas paper.  He is now in Miffle, Washington...a nondescript little town on the tip of the state's northwest peninsula...as he decides to build a boat to take him to Vancouver a few miles north.  The man letting him camp on his property has a daughter, and she carries with her a disturbing prophecy about herself and the war.  This is more than about plot or characters, rather instead a mood piece about how it might all go down if the fools at the top aren't careful with their lethal toys and egos: in that sense it's scary seeing some of them doing essentially the same kinds of things today...

INVADERS by John Kessel

This satirical tale jumps between three areas: Pizzaro's Spanish invasion of the Incan Empire in 1532, a "soft" invasion of cocaine-dependent aliens in the near-future bringing with them all sorts of panaceas for humanity's problems...and the author essaying out his thoughts on the fictional genre of science fiction.  A light-hearted story about how time travel into the past might be possible...but I saw the Christopher Pine Star Trek movie a few years ago and already know about it...

Next week I continue with reviews of sci-fi tales from 1990...