tuesday tattle

One-and-a-half hours spare in the mid-afternoon today ... just about enough time to munch, run and get changed (and quickly blog). I should have done it in the order of "run, (then) munch and change", but too late now. I did the neighbourhood loop in 11:30, and then ran fast but aimlessly until 20 minutes, like a ravenous pig around an empty trough, my stomach gurgling all the way. That'll teach me, although the real triathletes seem to have no problem doing that. But no one drinks a full mug of tea in an Ironman, I suppose. I hope to do some hourly weights and pressups over the course of the evening, in between students.

More Tuesday morning stuff from the elementary school I work in.

Me: (to student) "Can you play me the notes, A, B, C, D, E, F and G on the piano?"
Student: (plays)
Me: Now play 'E-G-G'.
Student: (plays)
Me: 'F-E-E-D'.
Student: (plays)
Me: 'D-A-D'.
Student: (plays)

As usual, I'm intend to go for the mega one, "C-A-B-B-A-G-E". But student interrupts.

Student: "I'm not doing that 'CUCUMBER' again like we did last time."

Where's the "Kids say the Funniest Things" crew?

Back to work - adios!

Weighty Issues

I don't get excited about running when it's dark and cold, but I needed to GROW. This morning's running was short - a one-mile warm up, then 400m intervals along a straight road. I did three at an average of 1:30 ("only 45 seconds off world-record pace"), running back in between at 7:30 mins/mile pace to the same start point. I did the first 400 as I would normally do, the second 400 with a higher cadence, and the third with a slightly-larger-than-usual stride. The third gave me the best time, although I think the second style would be more beneficial in the long run. Job done, I packed up after twenty minutes. It would have been useful to remember not to gulp air like a trout, but so much for hindsight. "Hindsight, my hind," as they say.

Weights yesterday. 3 sets of curls, 2 sets of kickbacks, 2 sets of lateral raises, 3 sets of pressups, and calf raises. I should do some leg extensions some time. I'm content to do this sequence of exercises every other day, or even once every three days. I do them all one after another, with minimal rest - more for time-saving than anything else. Should runners lift light weights, heavy weights, or no weights? Should we do them fast or slow? How many reps? Should we incorporate some variety in lifting (a good way to sit on the fence)? Does anyone have any useful exercises to suggest (no abs for the pig please)?

Happy Running!

Mosaic of my week

Busy. I'm glad my school tomorrow has what it terms Exeats (unnecessarily Latin-posh for "exit"), which are like long weekends every 1/4 and 3/4 term. I could do with one tomorrow to get organized in all other facets of life.

House-wise, the legal documentation is being prepared. It will still take a couple of weeks, but the seller (here, they prefer the term "vendor", and to pronounce it "VanDAW") seems content not to accept any offers on the property, so gazumping is becoming less of a worry.

Thanks to everyone who responded on the previous post. Based on the comments, the overall conclusion I have arrived at is that one's safety should always be the primary concern, and one should just move on - even if it means tolerating incivility - because you cannot reason with Unreason. I have to say, though, that it's not so much racial slurs that bother me, but the flawed values that such people uphold - the fact that they think it's alright to act like that; that Wrong is Right to them. But unless I want to expend the time and energy into a lost cause, I should just forget about it, even though I am disturbed that these people will grow up to have children who then assimilate their parents' sins as the norm.

I so wanted to run today. I spent yesterday and today thinking about it. Oh yes, I also did it. 5 miles in 38:34 this evening after work - not world class, but not snail class, and I can accept that. I'll just have to be a bit more regular with the running from now on. We've had a chilly couple of days and today I had to go with gloves and hat. It was about 40F - warm to some. I am a scaredy pig.

The cold is good though - it makes people run fast. You'll have to check here for the proof later, as I don't want to spill the beans. Richard and Dianne - it was my true pleasure to meet you both. Hurray for blogging, otherwise I'd never have met you!

Have a good week everyone and happy running!

“What’s ‘paranoid’?”‘Two noids.’ “What’s a ‘noid’?”

I’m annoyed.

Scenario #1
I’m walking on the sidewalk. There are two teenagers walking towards me – one wearing his hoodie. As they pass me, Hoodie makes a sudden lurch towards me and screams. As I jerk away, he gleefully tells his mate, “I got him. Yeah, I’m good, man.” Hoodie’s pleased he’s made me flinch.

Scenario #2
Wifey and I are walking out of the train station. The path through the pedestrian tunnel is divided into two lanes by a rail, and each lane is wide enough only for two people. During rush hour, it is common practice for slower pedestrians in each lane to keep to one side and leave space for faster-moving pedestrians to navigate around.

We’re walking alongside each other, taking up the whole lane, but it’s a quiet day and there’s no one behind us. Midway through the tunnel two cyclists come up behind me. That’s right, cycling is not permitted, but these two 30 year-olds do it anyway. I don’t want them tailgating us, so I move over to let them pass. There’s no mention of thanks, and as they’re cycling out the first complains incessantly to the second that “the fucking Chink gave me a look” and acts out that he’s been maligned.

In both cases, I thought I’d say something, but I didn’t. How do you reason with such people? I’ve been through similar situations to know that when you try, it’s often (a) pointless, because their values are so skewed they don’t see it as wrong, or (b) when they sense they are losing the discussion, they find fault with something else, such as disliking the tone you’re speaking to them with, and turning it into an issue. “Are you disrespecting me? Are you disrespecting me? Are you disrespecting me?”

I sometimes let things go (probably too easily), to avoid the futility, but it bothers me. Part of me believes that letting something go unchecked is deference towards such behaviour, and one should always speak out. It’s also a measure of your own self-respect – how much do you allow others to roughshod over you? But balancing the fact that one should speak out, with the knowledge that it is pointless … well, that’s bothering me.

One thing that helps me to deal with it is to concentrate on other things, the nice people I’ve met (both in real life and in blogworld), the nice random acts of kindness I’ve encountered, and things like that. I suppose the positive I can take out of this is that the both of us were so pi$$ed off, we went running afterwards.

These two incidents are really getting at me. And even worse, these incidents are making me develop bad opinions towards certain groups of people – and I know I shouldn’t.

Some advice please – and I really would appreciate your opinions on any or all of the following:

1) Is this sort of behaviour typical of what one should expect, living in a big city?
2) How do you think I should have reacted in those cases?
3) Should one overlook acts of incivility, because failure is inevitable and trying to reason with perpetrators is merely prolonging the agony of the victim?
4) How would you have reacted? If you did stop to remonstrate, what might you have said?

Thank you for your perspectives.

Hello Texans

Yesterday's mini-exercise:
Tricep kickbacks/lateral raises/bent-over raises - 3 sets
Pressups - 3 sets
Calf raises - 2 sets

I left out the crunches. I'll have to find a more suitable substitute, because I don't seem to do crunches right - each time after I've done them I get a neckache the next day. I'm making sure not to pull my neck, and all that, but I still get neckache when I've done the reverse crunches - with bum off the floor. I think what would work for me is to target the abs indirectly rather than directly - worth a few gos anyway.

Today's mini-exercise:
Shoulder presses
Bicep curls
Lateral raises (legs)

I might superset them. Or might have to.

Time is a premium this week - apart from the usual work in schools, we've got more students at home in the evenings - music exams coming up next week and thereafter and everyone's trying to book in a few last-minute lessons. Sometimes even two. Which is good, work-wise, but finding that 45-minute to 1-hour window to run is going to be tricky. I'm not sure I'm going to want to head out running at 9pm or thereabouts, or eat/run/get changed in that space of time. We'll see.

I met Massoman and BW yesterday near their hotel and we had a nice enjoyable meetup. I feel like I've known them for much longer. Richard says he'll be popping in to the internet cafes, so I won't try to steal his blog thunder.

That's all for now. Have a good week!

It's my body and I'll slob if I want to, slob if I want to ... slob if I want to ...

I have just completed the Running Detox diet.

Since just before Christmas, when I completed the last of those 50 runs, I have run about four or five times in the past three weeks.

I suppose I could blame it on the cold I've had, which has knocked out running motivation for the past ten days or so;

Or I could put it down to "house-buying stress", which has created more than its fair share of sleepless nights;

Or I could blame it on the bad weather: it's windy, 80mph today; it's rainy, and I don't want to risk catching yet another cold.

I could blame it on a combination of all three. Hey, that's an idea!

Instead, in true honesty, I shall place the blame where it deserves to be.

I blame all you stymates for not holding me to account.

(hahahahahaha.......)

Seriously-speaking, I know I need to get back on track with running. I have been occasionally dipping into the weights, and each week I walk about 10-12 miles (which I keep insisting counts as mileage), but there's nothing like running.

On another note, what's with this new Blogger? I have migrated, because I thought eventually everyone would have to, but now it's messed up the words of wisdom people left. Many stymates are now "anonymous". Where's the "Move Back to Old Blogger" button for me to click?

All drugged up and going nowhere

I have the cold, so this evening's run is off. I'm not at all thrilled to get it at the start of the term, but I guess that is what usually happens when I have a long break from work - that's when I'm at home most of the time, snacking, not eating properly or drinking enough water. It's been quite windy and rainy these past few days too, so that can't have helped either.

So today I made it to work, loaded with ibuprofen, and manage to get by on one tablet every four hours. My nose has run uncontrollably all day and has probably done the nasal equivalent of the New York Marathon. All I can say is, it's an interesting challenge, when you're accompanying someone on the piano, to time the sneezes or "blow-nose" moments in between the breaks in the music (or sections where you can play the parts for both hands with one) so the music continues to flow continuously. As most of my students are learning "Titanic" at the moment, today there was a lot of:

Every night in my dreams *ptttth!* *swipe*
I *atchoo!* you *sniff*
I *ptttttttttttth!* you
That is how I know you go *pttttttttttth!*
*swipe*

My snot will go on and on. Tomorrow, among others, we do the same thing with "Copacabana", "You are my Sunshine" and "Raindrops keep falling on my head". Should be fun. I hope not to rename the last to "Mucus keeps falling on the keys".

Running to GROW ...

GROW runs are similar to ARIDs (Another Run is Done). "GROW", of course, is short for "Get Run Out of the Way", which is what's been happening lately in bustling Hoghaven. Ever since we've got back it's been a constant barrage of calling, and calls, to various estate agents, solicitors and surveyors, and I'm fortunate to have had a few days free to handle all that before I'm back to the daily grind.

We found a property and have had our offer for it accepted, so it's time for working out the various forms of paperwork. In England when you have your offer accepted, UNTIL you've completed the legal documentation, you can still get "gazumped" - outbid - and all the money you've spent on solicitors' and surveyors' fees cannot be reclaimed. It's a bit of a nagging concern that while we're proceeding ahead with finalizing the purchase, someone can come in and pull the rug from under your feet. I prefer how they do things in Scotland - an accepted offer is legally-binding. That's how things should be.

Since the last post, I've only run once, and that was this morning - a short, 20-minute, untimed run. In the last couple of days I've developed excess around the pork belly. Or maybe it's when I don't run, I notice the fat more. Still, the way things are, I'll probably be GROWing the next couple of weeks and trying to find a comfortable work-life balance.

Adios!

Pig Paces #1

Back from the in-laws', and the relative excesses of Christmas and the New Year... to wet floorboards. The new washing machine we got a few weeks ago mustn't have drained properly on its previous run, and had decided to master cleanse all over the floor. Oh well, at least it was a contained detox.

After ten days of little running, some weights, and some stretching, I re-embarked on the quest to fleet-footedness this morning. I ran around our little local park, doing the usually 5:15-30 laps in 4:25; after three laps I eased back a bit and jogged the way to 25 minutes, running past a few houses nearby that we hope to view. It was still dark at 7:30; at this time of year it only starts to get brighter at about 8, and was a little drizzly, but that was okay. A little chilly for my liking when I began, too, but I'll pick chilly runs over hot itchy runs.

Not much else to report, except I intend to do a little stretching and weights before the next run. Stretching is a definite must this time of year.

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope 2007 is a good one for all.