Ravings of an Intermittent Fool

I can't believe it but the end is in sight. There is now less than a week before I wake up at a completely insane hour an attempt to run 26.2 miles in the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon. Today was our last run of any serious distance which was about 7 or 8 miles. It consisted of the 3rd leg of what will be the marathon relay course. We chose that because it is the leg that Jennifer will be running this Sunday. All in all it was a good day to run and the rain held off while we are out there. Next weekend however might not be so kind. Current projections show a 60% chance of rain for Sunday. I hope that changes quite a bit before 6am Sunday. Water in a cup every few miles or so is what I was hoping for and not the variety that falls from the sky.

This weekend I was listening to an interview (MP3) with writer Caitlin Flanagan and she had something interesting to say that you don't hear too often in public discourse:

When a mother works something is lost and when a mother stays home something is lost.

On the face of it that seems like a reasonable true statement that no one could refuse. Of course, all of our decisions have consequences and there will be trade off with whatever we choose. During the rest of the interview the writer said that she was frequently attacked by "her own side" despite her self professed status of being a feminist, a liberal, a life-long democrat and being pro-gay marriage. She also apparently in their eyes had the gall to say something positive about George Bush promoting marriage (She mentioned it in a section on things that can help people avoid poverty. The stats seemed very similiar to something I mentioned before.)

With that in mind, I wanted to take a look at what Amazon users had to say about her book because I like a good controversy. So here are some excerpts of the feedback for To Hell with All That : Loving and Loathing Our Inner Housewife:

If you're a stay-at-home mom with a nanny who cleans the sheets after the kids have the stomach flu, this book is for you.

For the rest of us, though, "To Hell with All That" is a curious look at stay-at-home motherhood through the eyes of a wealthy anti-feminist who has the time and the energy to actually consider following Martha Stewart's over-the-top housekeeping suggestions.

and another:

Why are women so conflicted about their roles and wives, mothers and economic agents? Beats me. But at least I don't feel quite so alone now that Caitlin Flanagan has weighed in on the subject, in a funny, straight-on manner that feels like a close friend has poured a glass of wine and sat us down for a real talking-to. Plus, it's kind of fun to hear a conservative golden girl use the word "hell".

Despite Flanagan's reputation as an Instrument of the Right and a Prototypical Anti-Feminist, no one gets off easy - not conservatives, not liberals, not anyone in between.

Man, so what is she: liberal or hated tool of the right? Its been my impression when you have people on both sides of an issue pissed off you should look at what is being said and you have a decent chance of finding some truth in there.

I made an interesting discovery a few days ago after pulling out my hair. I was working on a Windows Server 2003 box and trying to access a WebDAV folder on another machine. The folder just wasn't resolving at all but the same mapping on my local XP workstation was fine and the server could access folders shared thru the traditional sharing mechanisms. This led me to conclude that something specific about Windows Server 2003 was different. Thru some research and poking around, I found that the poorly named WebClient service is what implements the client portion of WebDAV support in Windows. On Win2k3 Server, this is disabled by default. Enabling it fixes the problem.

Things are shaping up. The longer term forecast is showing Sunny and a high of 64 for Sunday. That sounds like great weather to me.

Well I am two days away from the big dance and I am starting to get the nervous energy. The weather forecast remains positive at a high of 71 and sunny. I can't believe that about 6 months of effort is about to pay off. With that said, I couldn't believe a Ask Metafilter poster who wanted to know if they could train to run a marathon in a month. That seems pretty insane. At least he isn't following this training plan.

I write this a little bit more than 7 hours before the race starts. The jitters and nervous energy is really kicking in now. Thankfully I am feeling tired so hopefully I will get some sleep. All the plans have been laid for tomorrow and I have my socks, shoes, underwear, bandaids, iPod, energy bar, shorts, shirt, bib and rfid tag all ready to go (man that is a lot of gear).

I hope everyone running good luck and a healthy race.

A few years back I did the silly thing of jumping out of a fully functional airplane. The sky diving company made a big deal afterwards about the fact that my friends and I could now call ourselves "Sky Divers" and count ourselves among the relative few who have done this. I don't think much of that any more (espacially since I haven't exactly been chomping at the bit to do it again). I am however very pleased to claim the title "Marathoner".

I made it across the finish line of The Pig in 4 hours, 30 minutes and 27 seconds (and in one piece). Not too shabby for someone who was 250 pounds 2.5 years ago. When I started exercising back then a 10:32 per mile pace was tough to do for 1 or 2 miles, let alone for 26.2.

I of course didn't do this all by myself. I had a lot of help from my friends Jeff and James in terms of training and motivation. (Motivation is key and self-motivation is great but it isn't everything, espacially when facing the dread of 20 mile training run on a cold winter morning).

Here are some thoughts that I had during the race.

Starting Line
My word there are a lot of people here. The runners spill out of the streets and onto the sidewalks which mix into the spectators. It was very disorienting. One minute you are trying to line up to start, the next you are wondering why the guy in front of you is drinking a Venti coffee and is wearing jeans. Then you realize, "Oh, I haven't made it into the actual runners yet". Later that day I watched television footage of this and they showed helicopter footage of the start. The mass of people out in the streets in the pre-dawn hour made you imagine that they had to evacuate a series of hotels in the middle of the night.

The start itself was rather anticlimatic. It took over 6 minutes for me to pass the starting line and even after that there was still a lot of people on the course that were walking. There has got to be a better system in place. Prehaps a convention that walkers stay to the right and runners to the left for the first mile or two? Weaving thru crowds and leaping up to the sidewalk aren't what you expect to have to do at the beginning of the race.

The other memorable thing about this portion of the race is running under the Taylor Southgate bridge. There was something beautifully odd about hearing the rythmic pounding of thousands of feet on the road deck above you.

Mile 2
This was where I first took water and where I first realized how crazy and chaotic the fluid stations are. From here on out I vowed to always take water from the last person so that i could try to avoid most of the people who suddenly slow down to a crawl at the beginning of the fluid station. I was also pleased that I was able to drink pretty much everywhere without breaking stride (if I ever get faster, this might be a problem...and if I drink more Gatorade, I might want to slow down because no one wants to be covered in Gatorade except for after the Super Bowl). Most of the cups were conviently half filled which let me do my squeeze the cup to make a funnel trick.

Around this time I saw a woman running with a disposable camera. At the time it struck me as a good idea since I like to document the events I participate in. After all, I am the person who took 300 pictures at his own wedding. But, I don't think I would want to carry that bulky object with me over the whole course.

Mile 7
Mile 7 brought me to the top of Eden Park at the overlook. I didn't find the ascent to be too difficult and my mile splits were only 20 or 30 seconds slower than normal so it didn't effect me as much as I had thought during my training. This part of the course was pretty interesting because there were a lot of spectators in the park and people had prepositioned a lot of signs in the park. One I particularlly liked said, "Watch out ladies, Mike Spencer is on the course" (I'm making up the Mike part because I can't remember his name but it was a funny sign nonetheless). Also at the top of the park in the little U that makes up the overlook was a group of 20 or so older men singing in the style of a Barbershop Quartet (what do you call a barbershop quartet when there are more that 4 people?) If you paid attention to the words it was clear that they were singing about watching all the pretty girls run by. It was quite funny and I got a good chuckle out of it.

Mile 15
By this point in the race, we were in the heart of Mariemont. I am still feeling pretty good and I don't ache anywhere too badly and my knees and hips show no signs of pain. I had been watching my splits and by this time I knew that it was possible for me to hit my stretch goal of 4 and half hours. I tried to tamper my excitement because I knew I had 11 long miles to go but the anticipation was starting to build up.

Mile 20
Will Power is certainly the watch word for this point in the race. At this point, I have reached the distance of my longest training run. I knew that my goal was 6.2 miles to go and I had a little over an hour left to finish. This is also where I started to feel the aching in my feet and legs. It is also where will power was needed to keep from walking. I kept telling myself that it was only 10km to the finish, don't let up, push thru the aches and pains.

Mile 23
Now I had done 5km of the remaining 10km. I decided I had to run faster. My splits of the previous three miles were too slow and it felt like I was resting on my laurels. I need to amp up the speed. Fortunately besides two small hills, this part of the course has a nice downward slope to it.

Mile 25.2
The last mile of the race was a timed segment with prizes going to the person with the fastest last mile (The fastest time by the way was 5:02!!!). Neat idea but why did they have to put the start of this competition right before the steep, short, last hill of the course. My back was killing me as I tried to keep my pace as I ascended the hill. On a more positive note, I think I heard Julie Isphording, Cincinnati native and great marathoner, yell words of support to me.

The Spectators
Once you pass Eggleston Ave the crowds begin to line the course in considerable numbers. This is such a great portion of the race because you have so spent so much energy and you have so little left to go on but now you hear each and every person yelling out to you as you run by (this is espacially true since the field is very spread out by now).

The Finish Line
After rounding the turn and poping out from under the covered plaza that connects the baseball stadium to the arena, you enter the final stretch. I personally found it to be a bit disorientating. The pathway under the plaza was relatively narrow and it up pops open to this very wide open space. I think a more deluded person might have had troubles figuring out where to go. The next thing I hear is my wife and family calling out to me and then Jennifer and Jason yelling from the opposite side. Now I can see the opening in the crowd ahead...that must be where I am suppose to go. Right at the opening, were two sets of sensor pads, just like the ones that we ran across at other points in the race. I also slowed down to a stop at this point thinking the race was over. For a split second there I thought that might be a bit of an anticlimatic way to end the race. But then I realized that 20 yards in front of me was the real finish line or Finish Swine as the Pig likes to call it.

After that I wandered aimlessly around the finishers area trying to hold onto my free towel and mylar blanket while eating whatever I could get my hands on. It was a relatively difficult task. I kept moving except for posing for a few pictures for the next hour or so since I knew that once I stopped moving, my body wouldn't want to go any further.

I think that is enough on the actual race. I will follow up this article with another that details my thoughts on achieving this goal.

More pictures are available in the usual place. I've also created a Wayfaring Map of the course with some notes that point out key points in my race.

I just came across a MSNBC article on the scientific validity of its online polls (the link was shown under a poll results with the words "Not a scientific survey. Click to learn more). Anyone who taken an intro sociology or psychology course could tell you that self-selecting polls are meaningless but this is the first time I have seen a web poll be honest about it. Bravo to MSNBC!

Don't you hate it when you are at a conference and the person next to you is snoring?

I was in Seattle this past week. I don't have a lot to say about it right now but I can say that it is very pretty and the topography really surprised me. It really is a whole like San Francisco with evergreen trees.

Like I said, I was traveling last week at a technology conference. One of the interesting things about being around technologists from around the world, you get to observe their behavior. Here are some things I saw:

One woman wore a belly shirt three out of the four days of the conference.

I saw two different men wearing what suspiciously like capri pants.

Lastly, on several days of the conference I saw a man wearing a soccer jersey, shorts to his knees, white shoes and black socks. It was quite the sight!

Its been two weeks since the marathon and I think enough time has passed for me to reflect on the experienced.

The training
I think most people understand that it takes a fair amont of commitment to train for a marathon, I certainly knew that in the back of my head years ago. What I didn't realize was how much time you have to dedicate to the training. Mid-week runs lasting an hour and a half and weekend going for three or four hours really monopolizes the free time. This is espacially true if you tack on all the extra prep time, cool downs and showers that you have to do. It just adds to the bottom line.

We were very fortunate to have a mild dry winter this year which helped with the training immensely. There would have been a whole lot less training runs if most days were below freezing.

Having running partners also helps a great deal to ensure that you get your miles done. I would have run a whole lot less if it wasn't for James and Jeff. There is reason why you see running/training clubs with tons of people in them. It adds just enough positive peer pressure that you are encouraged to participate.

The gear
The gear I used for the race was top notch and it didn't let me down. I successfully made it thru the day without nipple chaffing thanks to some waterproof band-aids (man they are tough to remove). The only chaffing I did have was a very minor case of it on my upper inner arm. I hadn't ever had anything like that in all my runs so I am not sure what was up with that. My shoes, Asics Gel GT-2100 and my socks Ultimax Triathletes treated my feet really well. I think if you are going to do something like this you should make sure you get properly fitting socks and shoes. You don't want to screw up your feet. The socks by the way are so wonderful that I often catch my wife wearing them because she loves how they feel. As for the shorts and shirts I wore standard stuff made from moisture wicking material. I got these from my parents several years ago and it might be time to invest in some that are a bit smaller as this photo reveals.

The Support
Not only is it important to have support during your training but it doesn't hurt to have some on race day as well. Between my parents, wife, brother-in-law, Jeff, Jennifer, Kelly, Sauce, Jena and Jessica I had a lot of friendlies out on the course. This is just one more thing to look forward to while you are running.

The Recovery
I was quite pleased with how I recovered after the race. As I mentioned in my post race piece I stayed moving for a good hour after the race (this is because duing training I found that if I stopped suddeningly after running longer distances, my knees would sieze up and make it painful for me to move). When I got home I took a nice long bath and shower. After that, ice was called for my knees and some pizzas were ordered. Then I took a long, glorious nap. The next day I was sore but not anything out of the ordinary for a long run. Within a day or two I was able to indulge in a nice walk to stretch myself out and by the end of the week I was able to run again. Since then I have gotten in about 5 runs and so far I feel great and I apear to have no lasting, lingering pains from the marathon.

Will I run another one?
This is the most frequently asked question of newly minted marathoners. I must admit that at the end of the race I wasn't anxious to say yes to these queries. However, as time has past, I find myself mentally calculating split times necessary to make me achieve my next running goal. At this point, I think I am ready to say yes to another marathon. I haven't decided if I want to try a fall one or if I should wait til spring of next year but so far I think I have the fever. Unofficially my goal would be a sub 4 hour marathon, effectively knocking off 30 minutes off my time. Ambitious to say the least and I will have to let the trainging speak for itself in the end but that is what I am shooting for.

What I will have to do to get ready?
Even with one marathon under my belt (plus a couple of 5Km's, a 10 and 15Km) I am still a novice runner. I need to work on my pacing so that I can run faster in the beginning of the race. I know its partially a confidence issue as well since I don't want to hit the wall in the middle of the race. I also need to work on my speed as that is the only way I am going to meet my new goal. I think I can get a hold of both of these items by doing more careful data collection. This will motivate me to go faster as well as prove to myself that I can run faster throughout the whole race.

That's all for now...

The Nike + iPod Nano System looks like a really clever way to track your progress in running. The shoes appear to be in the $85-$129 range and the receiver for the Nano is another $29. That coupled with the price of a Nano is quite the serious outlay of cash for a running program. Since I don't own a Nano (I'm a fairly content Shuffle owner) I don't forsee this in my future, but it might work out well for someone who is already exercising regularly and wants to have more detailed metrics about their performance. What ever you do, don't run out and buy this as an incentive to exercise. Otherwise, this will just be a higher tech version of the proverbial piece of exercise equipment that everyone has in their garage that they bought with the best of intentions (although to be honest, at least the shoes and Nano have practical uses outside of exercising so prehaps its not a complete loss.

So does the Word 2007 Beta 2 Blogging Support really work against a Movable Type 2.6x server? If you can see this, it must be true.

Update: Success! Alas no support for my categories which is a shame. Also I don’t think it will allow me to upload pictures seamlessly to the blog but it is a decent start.

The universally panned movie, The Interpreter had a minor subplot that detailed how Nicole Kidman's character's brother often kept weird and morbid lists of things as a curiosity. I think Wikipedia's list of Self-Immolators certainly follows along in this vein.

I think the Mascolino family has caught the running bug. Earlier this month, I finished a marathon and I am now considering doing another. Yesterday, I received word that my sister ran in her first race, the Ogden 20K Classic. Previous to this, she had run that distance once before with me and her longest run otherwise was 6 miles. Truth be told, my sister is the athlete of the family so finishing wasn't too surprising to me but she did run a good race and finished in a hair under 2 hours and 2 minutes. That nicely exceeds my marathon pace. She seems to have enjoyed herself and maybe I will have a marathon running companion in the future. Congrats Amy, I'm proud of you.

Taste of Cincinnati happened again this year. It was a lot warmer and I was a bit more disappointed than last year. Here is a run down of what I had:

Bella Luna's Bread Pudding - Always good and rich and it was served piping hot. Very filling.

Blue Goose Sports Cafe's Goose Panky Balls - These are breaded ground beef, sausage, cheese and red pepper...well, um...balls. Pretty good and had a bit of spiciness to them. This just shows you that giving your menu item a strange name certainly has a way to attract attention.

Burbanks's Smoked Chicken and Sausage Gumbo - This won Best Damn Dish and it was good (espacially the thinly sliced sausage, but I didn't thnk it was out of this world.

Goodie's Barbecue's Nachos - Pulled Pork, cheese on Nachos. This was a huge amount of food for $5 (probably the resturant portion side). A few bites were good but I couldn't imagine eating the whole thing.

Pit to Plate BBQ's Hickory Smoked Baby Back Ribs - These were smokey and good...the real surprise was the choice of sauces which ranged from mustard based, to vinegar based to a sweet and hot BBQ. I really liked the hot BBQ sauce.

Scotty's Garlic Mushrooms - Good garlic flavor but the mushrooms were a bit tasteless.

Symmes Tavern on the Green's Bacon Wrapped Scallops - Scallops were on the very small size but I enjoyed their flavor.

Tandoor Restaurant's Lamb Curry and Rice - This was very good like all Indian food should be.

Sadly, I didn't get to try the Universal Grille's Deep Fried Twinkie. I don't think my wife would let me have that. ;-)

I think part of my big disappointment this year was that I tried to avoid things that I have had before (except for the bread pudding). The thought there were so many good things out there that I wasn't having must have weighed on my judgements of the food i did eat.

I know I said I wanted to run more but man is the weather not cooperating. Today was oppressively hot and just being outside just completely sapped my energy. I know you are saying, "Wait, doesn't he own a treadmill?" And the answer of course is, I do. However, I wanted to run outside for the change of pace as well as a way to force myself to go a longer distance and make it harder for me to quit early. I guess I was too foolish not to factor the weather into my plans. Oh well, I will be smarter next time and stick to the treadmill when the mercury stays high.

This is pretty late notice, but for those who are into FX's Rescue Me, the third season starts tonight. It does a wonderful blend of surreal imagery, actual comedy and some gritty drama. Plus, the theme song (C'mon C'mon by the Von Bondies) and opening credit sequence is the best I have ever seen.