Category: General

Can’t escape the news

General, Politics

I went for a walk to get away from the news. A long walk. (I’m not running because I’m in my “taper” before the Pints-to-Pasta on Sunday. I’m taking it a bit more seriously than previous races; where, before, I would take a two-day taper, this time I’m following the advice in Runner’s World and taking a 4 day taper. We’ll see how it goes).

Yeah… so, anyway, the news out of the Gulf Coast and the political situation surrounding it just gets worse and worse. The Bush administration is in full “protect the president’s reputation” mode, rather than, y’know, taking care of America. And without the stress relief of a good hard run, I’m finding it harder and harder to maintain my cool.

So I set out, about an hour and a half before sunset, for a walk. I chose my 6.5-mile loop. When I was walking around the Eastmoreland Golf Course, I picked up some stray golf balls. Smacky will get a kick out of them. Walking over Holgate above the Brooklyn Train Yards, I got some good pictures (I’ll post those in a bit and link to them; when I do, I’ll remove this note).

And, walking back along Milwaukie Blvd., passing in front of the Masonic Lodge, I found that I couldn’t escape the news.

Five fat white guys, in button-down short-sleeved shirts and Dockers were standing around in the parking lot. Looked like a meeting had just finished, and they were finishing up a conversation. One of them was making a point, speaking each word loudly and emphatically, a mode I’ve seen in men of little confidence, using volume instead of reason:

“If you disobey a mandatory order to evacuate, and you die, whose fault is that? It is your own damn fault!”

And the other pasty white fat fucks around him nodded and smiled in agreement, as if this was an entirely reasonable and reality-based thing to say, laughing satisfied chuckles at anyone dense enough to not get out of the way of a hurricane.

I almost said something right then. The words “It’s Bush’s fault” were on the tip of my tongue. But discretion held me back. I wouldn’t have changed anyone’s mind, and they obviously wouldn’t accept the idea that the Federal government has the resources to actually protect the American people from harm. Certainly, the Bush years have been an accountability-free zone.

But with every step past them I took, my anger boiled more. I saw, in my mind’s eye, the infirm and elderly who were stuck in hospitals around the area, unable to leave. I could see the dirt poor people who likely never even heard the “order” to evacuate, the ones who were hoping to ride out the storm because they couldn’t afford to miss too many days of work. The ones with kids who had had to make a choice between keeping the car running and buying groceries… or choose between cable TV and groceries, or were waiting for the month-end Social Security check to get their phone service reconnected? What about the authority-averse folk who declined a helicopter ride, because they “couldn’t afford a ticket”? For that matter, what about the crackheads who were too brain-addled to make a decent choice? Did they really “deserve to die”?

All these people gathered around me, like ghosts. And the ghostly cohort grew larger.

What about the nurses who stayed behind to assist the hospital patients, the ones who were told that help was on the way?

What about the ones who did as they were told, and gathered at the convention center, only to be locked inside by FEMA officials? Kept waiting in inhuman filth and squalor, with no food, always being promised that buses were coming, but were not allowed to leave? Did they “deserve to die”?

What about the ones who tried to walk across the Mississippi Bridge into predominantly-white Gretna, but were shot at by the Gretna sheriffs and told “the West Bank was not going to become New Orleans and there would be no Superdomes in their City”? Huh? What about them? If those people died, having been forced to stay… would their deaths be their own fault?

Fuck. I could go on and on. And I could link all of the above, and, I suppose, if anyone challenges me in the comments to this on any of the above, I’ll either dig up links or post a correction (I won’t just remove the incorrect statements; I realize I’m writing out of anger but I’m still trying to be careful to only post what I can document if need be).

But my point is that there were thousands of people in New Orleans who either tried, or were literally unable to leave, or, worse, may have been in a position where they were either too scared of non-hurricane-caused consequences, or even unaware of the extent of the possible damage, to leave. If any of those folks are dead or die, is it their fault?

If the government (and, I’m not partisan; if the Governor or Mayor made mistakes that cost peoples’ lives, they need to be held accountable, too) had resources available and did not use them to evacuate the area in advance of Katrina, and also incompetently managed those resources to assist and rescue those trapped after the fact, then yes, it’s the leaders that should be held responsible.

And since one of the primary functions of government is the protection of its citizens, that failure would be the single largest possible.

But, y’know, a bunch of middle-aged porkers, after snorting up their dinner in the comfort of an air-conditioned hall, just couldn’t see that as they grunted and oinked before crawling into their shiny SUVs to drive the half-mile home…

I have never taken a punch at someone in my life. But I felt like doing so tonight. I had gotten about a half-block away, when the rage reached it’s boil-over point. I walked back.

Perhaps lucky for both of us, the doughy sidewalk pundit was no longer around. Maybe he felt a chill as the hair on the back of his neck rose, warning him that he had attracted the attention of a conscience?

Nahhh. Impossible. That pasty fuck had no empathy.

Stick to the plan

General

After my seven miles yesterday, I woke up this morning with a sore left ankle and my normally-sore right heel. Probably not good. Tried my stretches, walked up to the Skybox to get breakfast, both were still sore. Probably should have iced them both but didn’t.

The plan called for hills today, as part of my speedwork. Finished breakfast around 10 AM, figured I’d go home and clean up the house a bit, then head out for a run around noon, come back and find a large delicious lunch close by.

I got caught up in the cleaning, though; took my bottles back to the store for the deposit, bundled up my newspaper for recycling, vacuumed, did the dishes that were stacked up in the sink, laundry, rolled up my loose change. The whole shebang. Even gave Smacky his flea treatment.

So there it was, nearly 3 PM, and I hadn’t had any lunch and still hadn’t run. I was getting hungry. Breakfast was big but not that big, to tide me over for 5 hours plus a grueling hill workout.

…but I decided it would have to do. I stuck with my plan. I may come to regret it later but for now it’s behind me. I did make one small concession; I still did eight times up the hill and jogged back down, but I did not aim for 5-10 seconds better each time. I only pushed myself to go a little bit faster each time. As long as the numbers went down, I was OK. And they did almost each time, although I was pretty wiped out by the last time and forgot to time myself.

The best part was coming home and finding this month’s Runner’s World in my mailbox. Perfect timing.

Total miles today: 6.8
Total miles for the week: 26.55

…um, wow. Didn’t realize I’d ran that much this week. Next week I’ll taper off the end of the week and then run the 10K on fresh legs. Yay.

My thoughts for New Orleans

General

I know I’m late with this, but I can’t let the event pass without some small comment.

New Orleans was my favorite city in the whole world, at least of the few places I’ve actually been. And now, it seems, it will have to live on in my memory. Partying, drinking, eating the most amazing food, the local color and history and architecture. Of all the cities I would have liked to retire in, to sit in the shade, drinking and writing and people-watching…

Mark Twain, Tennessee Williams, Andy Jackson and Jean Lafitte, Delphine LaLaurie, Marie Laveau… The Garden District, the French Quarter, Storyville… Preservation Hall and CafĂ© du Monde…

Katrina has all but wiped it from the face of the Earth.

The sewage, the toxic chemicals from the refineries and industrial ports, the dead bodies being exhumed from the Big Easy’s unique above-ground gravesites and floating down streets-turned-canals… It’s going to be uninhabitable for a long time to come.

My thoughts go out to all the victims of Katrina.

And… the economic devastation is going to be rather harsh, too. The Port of Southern Louisiana is one of the five largest ports in the world, and the largest port (by volume) in the United States, larger than New York, larger than Los Angeles. Not only does New Orleans handle oil imports, but it handles food and timber exports to the rest of the world.

We haven’t even begun to feel the effects of this natural disaster.

Non-speed day

General

Ran tonight. Non-speed day, so I didn’t take my watch. 3.5 miles (only I did it the opposite direction shown on the map).

Kept a very good pace and only stopped twice for traffic, once to cross Tacoma and once to cross Milwaukie Blvd at Bybee. Even threw in several (three, I think) near-sprints. Felt good. Nice and cool, not warm and muggy like it has been. And I made it back just before the rain hit.

Hills. Ugh.

General

Wow. I woke up today with one thought: sheesh, I planned on doing speedwork today. Hills. Ugh.

The thought of tackling a hill over and over (and over and over… and so on) again, after the speedy 4 miles on a treadmill Thursday evening, and the long slow slog of 6.5 miles Friday, made the idea of hill work today unbearable. And yet, and yet… I want to challenge myself I want to push past the 20-miles per week and the 6-mile limit and the 10:00-11:00 pace of the past. Want to be really prepared and in peak condition for my 10K in a couple of weeks. And that takes effort.

I went out to breakfast, I puttered around the house, and I finally came to a decision. I would run, I would run 5 miles… but I’m not taking my watch. I’m not timing myself, I’m not going to worry if I’m going too slow or too fast, I’m just going to go out and log a no-stress five-miler.

Decided to use my new, alternate, 5-mile loop, just because. Unfortunately, even though it wasn’t yet 80 degrees when I left, it felt much hotter due to the conspicuous lack of shade along much of the route. But since I’d given myself permission to be slow, it wasn’t too bad, and I managed to finish the last mile strong.

But, man-oh-man, I am taking a rest day tomorrow. I am resting the hell out of tomorrow!

Maybe I’ll go to the gym and soak in the sauna. That’d be nice.

Flavor-Aid pedantry

General

I know it’s probably pedantic, and too late to change this particular meme, but here goes my tiny little attempt.

It’s come up at work a couple of times recently, so I wanted to point out that what was served by Jim Jones to his followers was not Kool-Aid.

It was Flavor-Aid. OK?

People who are blindly following the orders of a charismatic cult leader are drinking the Flavor-Aid. Got it? Are we clear?

And, no, Kraft Foods did not pay me to make this statement.

Take heart

General

This post is for a friend of mine who is currently struggling with her weight. She called me in a bit of a panic because, after being pretty good on her diet for a while, she went out and splurged and overate. She was discouraged enough to feel like quitting her diet and exercise all together. I want to point out that the math of calories means that one day doesn’t make a whole lot of difference, but it’s the slow steady grind that can bring either health or obesity.

For instance, we’ll start with the scenario my friend was in. Weeks of good habits, and then, maybe you overdo things one day. But, think about it. One pound, either to gain or to lose, takes 3500 calories – and that’s over and above what your body requires just for daily living. So to gain a single pound in one day, you’d have to eat your daily needs (around 2000 calories) plus another 3500 calories. You’d have to eat all day long (or boxes and boxes of donuts) to gain a single pound in a day. If, after making bad choices one day, you just go back to your diet, first you shouldn’t feel guilty, and second, you’re going to be OK. A dozen Krispy Kreme donuts, just the basic glazed ones, are 2400 calories. Even if you ate your daily needs and a whole box of Krispy Kreme donuts, you still wouldn’t gain a pound. You may feel like you’re several pounds heavier, but that’s temporary; the permanent weight gain would be less than a pound.

But on the other hand, just going a little over every single day is how people become overweight. Just an extra 200 calories, which is about a single Hershey’s chocolate bar or a 12 oz. can of Pepsi, every day, over time, adds up to 104 pounds of excess weight in just 5 years. Think about how easy it is to go over 200 calories a day. That’s why the slow grind of overeating is so dangerous, and why it’s so important to manage your calories daily.

My third scenario is one I call “eat your cake and have it, too”, the one my friend might find herself in as she attempts to manage her health and her weight. Eat at, or under your daily needs (maybe giving yourself some wiggle room by being more active and therefore burning more calories) but, once in a while, splurge and have an ice cream cone or a giant chocolate chip cookie. Assuming you’re eating no more than what your body requires, but every week you have a “treat” of 500 calories, in 5 years you will have only gained 37 pounds in 5 years. Which is troublesome, but nowhere near the 100+ pounds you would have gained if you had gone over every day, as my second scenario above, and could be easily countered by simple eating 100 calories under every other “non-treat” day – in fact, in that situation, you would be losing weight, at 100 calories per week, or about a pound and a half a year.

So, take heart. Occasional days of splurging are OK, as long as you try to be good the rest of the time. And since maintaining weight, once you strip out all of the emotions attached to the food (difficult but not impossible for most of us), is just a matter of numbers, once you understand the numbers you have all the tools you need to take control.

New 6 mile loop

General

Ran my brand-new 6-mile loop last night. It’s a good one, a couple of hills (the stretch along Holgate, at the far end, is very up-and-down), and lots of scenery. Through Westmoreland Park, along the Eastmoreland golf course, by the Rhododendron Gardens, over the Brooklyn train yards, down through Oaks Bottom Wetlands, and back along the river. Very nice. From the starting point at SE 19th and Linn, to the finish line at SE 10th and Linn, it’s just a shade over 6 miles (6.03, according to Google Earth).

I ran that loop in almost the same time I ran the Nike Run Hit Wonder: 1:06:12. It was hot, I did better than I thought I would, but still kinda slow.