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Showing posts from June, 2008

A New Angle

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Here's a short piece from the New York Times on exploring new running routes in Central Park: Out of the Loop and on the Run in Central Park ; there's a great map of alternative routes; I especially like the one that's longer than the 6 mile loop - important when you're trying to accumulate a lot of miles. The article also has a picture of my nemesis ; it's shot from a different angle from my picture.

Who Knew?

New York Magazine takes a typically provocative approach to the issue of sharing Central Park in Who Owns Central Park? . Having spent a lot of time in the park this year, I've not personally noticed a biker vs. runner dynamic. The only time I see problems is on weekend mornings when there are just way too many people in general - no matter what they are doing - to expect free and easy movement around the park loop.

The Best Laid Plans.....

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With just 109 days, 1 hour, and 40 minutes to go until the Chicago Marathon , I'm now into my official training schedule (more on that in a future post). The training program includes one day per week of speed training, and I set out today with plans to do my first fartleking (funny word, no?). Fartleking involves running short bursts of speed, say for two minutes, followed by a comparable amount of recovery time. My original goal for the day was to do a full loop of Central Park with some fartleking around the reservoir. I've got a head cold though, and quickly realized it's hard to run when you can't breathe! I tried all the positive visualization exercises I could (thanks Amanda!), but even that didn't work, so midway through the run I decided to drop the reservoir loop and do the fartleking in the Central Park loop. After just two speed segments I felt woozy and lightheaded and decided not to push my luck. I will try again next week....

NYT Review Of Books On Wellness

Thought provoking article in The New York Times called: Achieving Wellness, Whatever That Is . The article reviews two books which present opposing perspectives on managing one's health, which I'd summarize as 'worry about everything' vs. 'don't worry about too much'. My favorite lines of the article, which I think speak more broadly to how people choose their media outlets....: By now, it should be obvious why no one but me is likely to be reading both these books. You, reader, have undoubtedly already decided which author is a sage and which one a lunatic, which advice is sound, worthy of reading and re-reading, and which is simply misguided. And that is the final thought-provoking lesson. Our health beliefs are so deeply ingrained that data, admonitions, guidelines and oceans of ink on reams of paper will seldom dissuade us from believing what we want to be true.

If You Get The Blog Via Feed....

....and wonder what 'teaching me this' is, check this link .

It's The Neighborly Thing To Do

Our next door neighbor in Connecticut (the one who invited me on the boat ride last night) is looking for a spot to store his motorcycle and asked if he might use our garage. We agreed that would be fine as long as he teaches me to do this.

A Great Sunset

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I had the chance to go out with our CT neighbors on their boat last night. We enjoyed a takeout pizza, some drinks, and this great sunset. If you are interested to know exactly where we were, check it out on this map .

A Big Training Day

I set out around 7AM this morning for my weekly long run, hoping to do at least 15 miles. Though it was in the mid-60's when I left, the humidity was close to 90% and it was quite sunny. It's amazing how hot the mid-60's can feel when it's humid and sunny. I ran into Central Park and started with a loop of the Reservoir. At that point I was feeling pretty junky and thought about whether I really, really wanted to do such a long run given the weather.....but then I remembered that conditions this morning are probably as good as they are going to get for my long runs, given that the longest of those runs will take place in August and September leading up to the race in October. I kept going, and my next big milestone was reaching the point where I enter the park from our apartment (77th Street). That's the place where it's easy to say - oh, I don't really feel like running another loop of the park. Given a detour for a bio-break, I had already run 9.5 miles -

Returning To The Scene Of The Crime

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Had a nice run this morning after thinking I wouldn't run at all. I did a double yesterday - a fast 7-mile run in the morning followed by an evening run. I guess evening run is a bit of a misnomer since it was actually the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge, where I joined 20,000 or so fellow New Yorkers in a 3.5 mile journey through Central Park. With all the miles logged yesterday followed by a late dinner out with a friend, I figured I would take this morning off. That said, since Thursday is typically a training day and since it was another beautiful morning with temps in the high 50's, I figured running with tired legs would ultimately be good for me. I returned to the Reservoir in the park for the first time in a while and did two loops - one fast and one slow. The race last night was quite an experience. I'd not run in the Corporate Challenge for many years, and for the first 1.5 miles last night, I was pretty sure I'd never run in one again. Having grown accusto

Cool Running Stuff

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I wrote some time back in Running, Brands, and Marketing about getting a Nike+ sensor/ipod add-on. I've enjoyed the product so far and admit a certain affinity for Nike+ and the community it's created. The web site is pretty cool but runs slowly enough that it's frustrating to use. The best part of the product so far for me is getting periodic emails from Nike+ when I cross milestones (100 miles, 500 kilometers, etc.). I'm up to almost 400 miles running with the sensor and I think Nike will send me a t-shirt when I pass 500 miles. Not so bad, really. One of the community features is the ability to set up challenges with other runners. I've recently joined a challenge called Run Like NYC Nike+ Challenge where runners from different neighborhoods log their mileage to see which neighborhood can do the most miles. The logging starts in the next few days, and I've put a cool tracking widget (also included below) on the blog web site. I'll be interested to see

Calling All Bakers!

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Thanks to the father-in-law for the heads up on this fascinating article about White Lily flour. Check out Biscuit Bakers’ Treasured Mill Moves North from the New York Times. Lots going on here: baking and family traditions, working with fanatical customers, history, food science , managing change, etc., etc. Check it out!

WSJ article on health

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Of all the articles I read about Tim Russert , the Wall Street Journal article A Visceral Fear: Heart Attacks That Strike Out of the Blue stuck with me the most; the article also reminded me of the origin of my commitment to exercise. Way back in 2002 I had a physical exam and learned I was up to 192 pounds, good for a BMI of 29.2 (well into the overweight range). The doctor told me I needed to lose some weight, so I started exercising and trying to eat better. Nearly 6 years and 1,250+ exercise sessions later (an average of 4.3 sessions per week), I'm down almost 25 pounds and have seen marked improvement in my blood pressure and my cholesterol. Aside from the obvious health benefits, I feel the exercise helps me reduce stress and maintain my sanity - always a good thing.

What A Difference

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Amazing how much impact the temperature and humidity have on running performance. Last Monday, in the middle of a brutal heat wave here in New York, I struggled (a lot) to run 4.5 miles at a 10 minute per mile pace; at the time I ran it was about 73 degrees with high humidity. Today is beautiful - it's a bit below 60 degrees with moderate humidity. Just back from a 7.1 mile run which I was able to do pretty comfortably at 8:18 per mile. I was just shy of a PR for this route - missing by about 10 seconds. I'm running in the Chase Corporate Challenge later today - 3.5 miles in Central Park . Planning to take it easy.....

My Cape Cod Favorites

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While it's fresh on my mind I wanted to share with you some of my favorite Cape Cod places and activities. Since our friend Phyllis lives in Chatham most of the activities are centered around the southeast portion of Cape Cod, but it's easy enough to get to other parts of the Cape. In no particular order..... Running While a portion of the Cape Cod Rail Trail runs through Chatham and is a great place to run, I've grown comfortable enough with the area to venture farther afield. Chatham's streets are very well marked so it's no problem at all to navigate. On my most recent trip I went for this 12.75 mile run: <a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/united-states/ma/chatham/614801742282">Loooong Chatham Run</a><br/><a h

600 Miles....and Counting

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It seems like just yesterday that I passed the 500 mile mark for 2008. I'm now up to 600 and feeling great; surprisingly, my knees feel better today than they did before I moved the mileage up to 30+ miles per week. Though the knees are good I am fighting a new challenge: blisters . I'm hoping it's a phase that will pass as my feet get used to running in the hot weather. The blisters aren't so bad I have to stop running - yet - but it's something to watch and manage carefully. Fortunately the New York Times ran an article ( At Trail’s End, There’s Nothing Like Happy Feet )recently on caring for blisters, so I've got some new remedies/protective measures to try. I'm also experimenting with different socks and Bodyglide on my feet for long runs. If you've got any other ideas, please let me know!

Napping

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By way of 43 Folders , here's a Boston Globe article on How To Nap . On my recent vacation I actually took a nap in the morning - a first for me. Related articles Cheat Sheet for Power Naps [Sleep] [via Zemanta]

The Perfect Thing For A Long Car Trip

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We had a 5 hour drive yesterday from Cape Cod to New York City. For really long car trips, we bring a portable dvd player for the kids. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Yesterday we had just the right thing: The Brady Bunch - The Complete First Season The kids were very, very happy.....and very, very quiet - for the entire trip. Thanks to Bob for the recommendation!

Lessons Learned

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I went out this morning to shoot sunrise pictures, taking only 18-200mm and a 12-24mm lenses with me. I came across some birds hunting for breakfast with perfect morning light and still water. I was able to get some pretty decent pictures, but without the kind of detail (what exactly is the bird eating?) that would make for great pictures. Next time I will bring the whole camera kit.

Sunrise, Sunset

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There are a lot of great places in Chatham for sunrises and sunsets. Here's the view of today's sunrise by the Chatham lighthouse: And here are two sunset pictures from Skaket Beach (our favorite beach among many great beaches in/near Chatham):

Greetings From Chatham

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Just back from a great vacation visiting a dear friend in Chatham, MA. In spite of living in Boston for five years, I never really spent time on Cape Cod until Phyllis moved there a few years ago. We're now up there a couple of times a year and really love it. I was up VERY early this morning and got out to shoot some sunrise pictures by the Chatham lighthouse - a really beautiful spot. Managed to fit in a few self-portraits as well.....

My Photojojo Time Capsule

The photography web site Photojojo has a cool feature - a twice a month time capsule. To participate you link your flickr account to photojojo, which then twice a month emails you a sampling of pictures from a year ago. Here's a link to sign up if you're interested, and here's a link to my latest time capsule ; these pictures were taken during last year's June visit to Chatham.

Getting It Done

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In contrast to last week's failed attempt to run up to the George Washington Bridge, I successfully finished the job today. It's about 5.5 miles from our apartment up to the bridge, and it was tough; though the recent heat wave has broken, it was very sunny, humid, and still pretty warm. Sadly, I encountered a lot of downed trees from heavy thunderstorms in the city last night and last Sunday night.

Thought-provoking Article

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I thought this New York Times Op-Ed piece by David Brooks was very interesting. Reminded me of this piece by Joe Nocera a few months back. Scary stuff.

This Just In - A GREAT Photography Book

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In Dragging The Shutter I mentioned a couple of photography books I've found really useful. I've now come across a book - How to Photograph Your Life: Capturing Everyday Moments with Your Camera and Your Heart , by Nick Kelsh, which I highly recommend for anyone who takes pictures and wants some non-technical, super-easy, hints and tips which will dramatically improve the quality of their photos. The book is full of interesting before and after shots, where 'before' means the way people typically take a kind of shot (for example, photographing a kids birthday party), and 'after' means the picture taken according to the author's suggestions. The photos in the book are taken with a point-and-shoot camera, so high-end gear is not required!

A Great Way To Start The Day

I took the kids to school today so Mrs. Longest Run could get some stuff done at home. As I was leaving school I met up with our friends Steve and Ellen. Steve offered to buy me an iced coffee at a shop around the corner from school which sounded great as it was already hot and humid. When we arrived at the coffee shop we found another friend - Jordi - sitting outside in a shady breezeway. We joined him and then a few minutes later were joined by Bill and Michelle. It was fantastic to have a bit of unexpected time with friends with no distractions (i.e. kids) - a great way to start the day.

Garden Slideshow

WARNING: there are a LOT of flower pictures. Watch the slideshow at your own risk.

Before and After

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Working through a backlog of pictures from my garden in Connecticut to process tonight and came across these two pictures. Interesting to look at them together as they were taken only thirteen days apart; it's amazing how quickly the plants grow once the weather warms up. There are some great flowers blooming right now; I'll post some more pictures soon.

Apparently Connecticut Can Be Dangerous

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Came in to the house today from working in the yard to find this:

Great Music For Kids

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Courtesy of Entertainment Weekly, I came across some fun kids music earlier today: the album is Pop Fly , by Justin Roberts. Perfect for a 6 and and 8 year old. Amazon.com Widgets

Crossing A New Threshold

I ran 13.25 miles this morning - including two full loops of Central Park. It was a real slog given the temperature and the humidity, but I was careful and took it easy; the run took 2 hours, 7 minutes, which works out to 9:36 per mile. The best news is that I've now done 35.4 miles for the week - a new peak - and that I've logged some good miles in the kind of uncomfortable conditions which lie ahead.

The Local Food Thing Has Gone Too Far

Woodchuck au Vin . Gross.

Finding An Old Friend In The New Yorker

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Illustration used with permission from Quickhoney Who out there hasn't heard the lament of the typical New Yorker magazine reader? You love the magazine but find it impossible to get through issues within a week's time; back issues pile up and lead to guilt and cognitive dissonance until you come to your senses and throw away the pile. Well, it's Friday night, and with one daughter at a sleepover and the other hosting a sleepover here in our apartment, it's clean up the desk night. In 'processing' old issues of the magazine, I came across Idolatry , an article from the May 19th issue on the American Idol phenomenon. Having missed the show a lot since the stunning conclusion a couple of weeks back (go David Cook!) it was nice to have an excuse to revisit some of the highlights of the season.

Scientific American on Amazon's Kindle and Doctoring Digital Photos

I'm a pretty regular reader of Scott Kelby's Photoshop Insider blog ; one of today's posts mentioned an article in Scientific American called How Experts Uncover Doctored Images ; the article is interesting, but even better is the sidebar called Digital Forensics: 5 Ways to Spot a Fake Photo . Definitely worth checking out! While on the Scientific American site I came across an article which takes the reader inside the Amazon Kindle ; very interesting if you are interested in e-books. This piece also has a good sidebar called Inside the Kindle E-Book Reader [Interactive] .

Snap Shots

I just installed a nice little tool on this site called Snap Shots that enhances links with visual previews of the destination site , interactive excerpts of Wikipedia articles , MySpace profiles , IMDb profiles and Amazon products , display inline videos , RSS , MP3s , photos , stock charts and more . Sometimes Snap Shots bring you the information you need, without your having to leave the site, while other times it lets you "look ahead," before deciding if you want to follow a link or not. Should you decide this is not for you, just click the Options icon in the upper right corner of the Snap Shot and opt-out.

Critters

As promised in Accounting For Unwanted Visitors , here's a small gallery of photos: If you can't see the slideshow, it's available at this link .

Racing In The Rain: NYRR 50th Anniversary Run

I set out yesterday morning at 5:15AM in the dark and in a steady downpour to run in the NYRR 50th Anniversary Run - a 5 mile race in Central Park. I've been remarkably blessed this year in that I've not had to run in the rain or cancel workouts due to weather, but that certainly wasn't the case yesterday. As a result of the weather a race that would otherwise have had 5,000 runners had fewer than 2,000, but still a large number given the time and the conditions. I jogged down to the start of the race in front of Tavern on The Green, timing things so I'd end up at the start line with as little time as possible before the race got under way. After spending about 5 minutes huddled under some tall trees with fellow runners, I moved over to my starting corral for the pre-race announcements. The rain tapered down to light sprinkles as we got underway, which was obviously a big relief. There was a bit - and I emphasize a bit, not a lot - of a festive air given that the run w

Accounting For Unwanted Visitors

Having fought my own battles with woodchucks in my garden, I read Peter Rabbit Must Die in today's New York Times with great interest. I was dismayed to discover one day last year that woodchucks had dug a tunnel which conveniently exited in the middle of the main garden bed in our yard. A number of plants were destroyed, including a unique liatris I've only recently been able to replace. The woodchucks snacked on all sorts of plants, leaving us with far fewer vegetables (primarily beans) and flowers (primarily purple coneflower) than we'd have otherwise had. I first tried filling the hole, but within a day the hole had been reopened. We then went the humane route; the company which mows our grass put out a havahart trap, the plan being that they would release anything we caught at a nearby nature preserve. We trapped a variety of animals - first a possum, then some skunks, then some woodchucks (pictures to come)! Things got quiet after that, but once there were signs of

Race Results

More details to follow, but I'm just back from this morning's NYRR 50th Anniversary Run - a 5 mile race in Central Park. In spite of ugly conditions (steady rain), I managed to finish in 38:16 - a pace of 7:39 per mile.

What Was I Thinking, Part 2

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Following Sunday's overly ambitious outing , I wasn't sure I wanted to run at all on Monday. Inspired by the beautiful weather, I decided to run along the Hudson River, which is something I'd never done since moving to New York City in 1997. We've had friends tell us it's really fun to do a family bike ride all the way up to the George Washington Bridge, so I thought it would be cool to run all the way up to the bridge. Not knowing how far it is from our apartment up to the bridge, I did a quick check of a map on MapMyRun ; notice I said quick check. It looked to be about 3 miles up to the bridge, making the round trip around 6, and I figured with the cool weather and an easy pace it would be no problem. Since I know it's 20 blocks to a mile in Manhattan, that distance seemed a little light but not out of the question. Brimming with confidence, I set out close to 7AM and took my camera with me; the kids have always loved the GWB (it's a really beautiful bri