Saw some bands, some theatre, a bunch of lost panoramic photos, and this stuff:
Also, tons of amazing food and better than usual used record stores.
Archive for the 'travel' Category
We went there, and it was awesome.
But I wish it looked more like it did in these Expo ’67Â Postcards.
After Mark picked me up at the train station in Buffalo on Friday night, he took me to his last photo assignment of the day, to photograph the new lightshow on the Peace Bridge. Here’s the video:
The rainbow Peace Bridge | Buffalo News Video.
I”m in the Jet Blue Terminal at JFK this morning, on my way to Austin to take my qualifying exams. I meet with my committee chair Monday morning at 9, get my 4 questions, and begin writing around 50 pages worth of answers by 5pm on Friday. I polled some of my colleagues and have decided on the following as my game plan:
- As Joe suggested, I will plan all of my meals in advance. This should be fun and delicious, since I have a super long list of Austin restaurants I miss. Having Kelly and others around to deliver the meals, as Don suggests, is going to be helpful.
- Lisa convinced me that I should only spend about 3 hours each day reading and reviewing literature so I can force myself to write for the rest of the day.
- I’ve asked Kelly to reset my bloglines password so I can’t procrastinate with my RSS feeds.
- Everyone suggested avoiding staying up all night writing and trying to adhere to my regular sleep schedule, until perhaps Thursday.
- Save save save save.
I’ve brought with me my APA publications manual and a bunch of pdfs and things I’ve written, but that’s about it. I’m excited and nervous to see the questions I’ll be answering.
Kelly and I are staying in Austin until the 12th, so we’ll have time to relax once it’s all over.
The only real bummer I can foresee is that I’m still in physical therapy for my leg so I can’t run Town Lake at all while I’m there.
Ok, going underground….. now!
It’s been a while since I updated do to travel (bus rides to Fredonia & back), visitors (Jeremy was here), and lots of miles logged on the roads in the last two weeks (86!). The Fredonia runs were great– make sure to click on the maps to see the satellite view. It was pretty hot while we were there, but the change of scenery was great.
The only back-in-Brooklyn run I’ll comment on was yesterday’s 18 miles. I got a bit of a late start and was feeling quite sluggish all along. The splits tell a sad tale– I went to my dark place at the end of mile 15 and walked .25 mi or so for each of the last three miles. It turns out that I was really only supposed to go 16 (an error on my fridge sheet!), so I can’t feel too bad about it, but I know that getting up the endurance to run it all the way through will be slow to come. I have another chance this weekend, with 17 on the same course. The first 15 miles were right where I need to be pace-wise. I took an ice bath afterward, and though I was moving slowly this morning, I feel ok now. You should have seen me get off the bus this morning at work, though. Here’s the links to my runs:
18 miles Sunset Park to Coney Island & back
8 miles in Prospect Park
4 miles on treadmill
8 miles in Prospect Park
4 miles on the treadmill
10 miles in Prospect Park
7 miles in Western NY
3 miles around Lake Erie State Park
7 miles SUNY Fredonia to Lake Erie State Park
3 miles around Lake Erie State Park
14 miles Lake Erie State Park to SUNY Fredonia & back
The trip to Fredonia was great, and we got to see many people. Had tons of great food, but I’m glad to be back on a regular diet again. The one bad part about the trip was that I ended up in the hospital with stomach pains one morning, but it seems like it was just a bug (though they mentioned the possibility of an ulcer!). The hospital in Dunkirk has a bad reputation, but it was about the best ER experience I’ve ever had. Got checked out by my own doctor this afternoon, and it seems like I should be fine– he took more blood to check to see if there was anything to worry about. He gave me the additional good news that my cholesterol numbers were great (which I wasn’t expecting) and that I have the blood pressure of a pre-teen. I’m interpreting that as permission to eat buffalo wings and bacon at every opportunity.
There is probably so much more to tell, but I have a million other things to do. Including finishing my redesign of this site. The upgrade went pretty smoothly, but left me with the irresistable opportunity to overhaul everything. Some stuff still points to older pages, but that should be over soon. Let me know if anything starts looking kooky.
I upgraded to WordPress 2.6 and had a few problems… taking the opportunity to fix a few other annoying things.
In the mean time, check out our Lake Erie vacation pictures. I ran almost 40 miles while we were there.
I had a rough 7 miles in Prospect Park this morning. Usually Friday is my rest day, but since we’ll be on a bus all night, and clamoring to get the cabin stocked and set up tomorrow, I figured I’d better get it in while I can. The good news is that Sunday’s 14 miles will take place in Fredonia, probably this loop 2x. For the next week, we’ll be at the same cabin at Lake Erie State Park we stayed in last year. I can’t wait for all of the campfires and outdoor cooking. Best of all, 82 is the projected highest temperature all week. I’ll try to post about my runs, and maybe some pictures, but I will likely be without a web connection while were out. Probably a good thing.
Ran what felt like a sluggish 5 today, but turns out my speed was right about what it needed to be. It was eerily cool out, but the humidity was so high that it seemed like raindrops were forming right above the ground. I can probably blame some of the sluggishness on the fact that Kelly and I were out late last night.
Anyway, my Saturday runs are supposed to be harder runs at marathon pace, and since I’m aiming for 8 minute miles at the marathon in NYC, my splits were pretty much in line (if you accept that mile one was slower due to negotiating the crowd and traffic on Union Street and the Prospect Park farmer’s market):
Mile 1: 8:25
Mile 2: 7:23
Mile 3: 7:52
Mile 4: 7:54
Mile 5: 7:25
I’d like to be more consistent, but I’d also like to bring them all a bit closer to 7:40. Once I get used to running at that pace, I think I’ll be less likely to go out too fast like I did in Buffalo.
Oh, and you’ll notice that I had no heart rate on this run– not because I died, I just forgot my HRM strap.
I got back from California sorta late on Wednesday. I had a great time; squeezed in a few nice runs, some pool time, a couple of movies, and plenty of good food in between all of the ALA conference sessions I attended. .
The first run, a 7-miler finishing up the 21-mile week in my interim training plan. The next two, a 3-miler and a 5-miler, were the first two runs on the Hal Higdon plan I’m using; it starts with a 23-mile week, so I should be ready to go without risking increasing my mileage too quickly. I put all my runs in the program on my calendar this evening, and noticed that there are a few 50-mile weeks in there– a terrifying proposition for now, but I’ll work up to it. Even though these runs were on the street in high-traffic areas, they definitely broke up the monotony of the Prospect Park runs, which is about to begin again.
It was really easy to get up early and run in Pacific time, and the weather was generally low-60s when I was running. It is unfortunately a lot warmer and muggier back in NYC. Yesterday’s 3 miles were on the treadmill in the AC.
I walked a lot while in Anaheim, probably 8 or so miles a day, which I guess begins to justify all of the lavish meals, donuts, and hamburgers I consumed. I have to admit, though, it will be nice to get back on a regular diet of my own design this week. I got up early on the 4th to pick up tickets to see the Feelies reunite, one of Kelly and my favorite bands, in a Battery Park, and stopped at Trader Joe’s on the way home for most of the week’s groceries. I’ll make a produce run tomorrow to fill out the pantry. I think I’m gonna share some of my sloppy recipes this week if anyone’s interested.
Saw Hulk and Wanted while in Anaheim, which were both better than I expected. Left my phone behind at the latter, and when I returned to the theatre (a 2 mile walk each way!) to retrieve it, it had been swiped. But I got a new phone now; the cheapest one in the store. Give me a call to hear me struggle with it.
For the 4th, we attended that free Feelies show in the afternoon, and then headed over to Union Hall with some Friends for the R&B-B-Q, featuring our faves the Sweet Divines. They get better every time we see them. The icing on the cake was that the show (and another buger) was also free, due to Kelly and I once again dominating at Name That Tune before I left for California (we took first at trivia the next night at the Black Sheep!).
That’s my plan for building from my post-marathon week off toward starting my training, in 2 weeks for NYC. I’m in the middle of my 19 week; running 7 tonight or tomorrow to make the target. Part of my 21 miles next week will be in Southern California!
Two of my other runs this week were on the awesome Charlotte Greenway, in different directions. Nathaniel wanted to see them, so here they are:
- Easy trails 10K in Charlotte(6/14)
- 7.8 on Charlotte Greenway(6/16)
- 4 miles in Prospect Park 59 degrees(6/18)
I didn’t get temps for the Charlotte runs, but it was hot as hell. The last two of those I ran with my new shoes, some Brooks Adrenalines, and some new Injinji toe-socks. I’m a big fan of both now (sorry New Balance 992s and Target socks– I still got much love for you).
The folks at Run For Your Life were really helpful and taught me a lot about shoes. This pair is much, much lighter, and are only giving me support where I need it. & the socks are keeping my jacked-up toes from tearing one another apart. I went back and picked up a few more pairs before leaving Charlotte.
One last 4 mile run to post before I leave for Charlotte to see my peeps. I’m looking forward to some great southern food, some cheerwine, and hopeful, my first 5+ mile run since the ‘thon. Also, though she doesn’t know it, I’m gonna bug Beth to take me to Run For Your Life to pick up some new kicks. I’ve been running in NB 992s for years, and feel I might benefit from a change– something a little lighter, hopefully (not that there aren’t other reasons!). I currently use some posted heel orthotics, and I’m interested to see if the gait analysis will set me free from those. They’re an extry $60 a year or so.
I’m also working out some changes for this site; I’ve upgraded WordPress (for the first time since 2004!) and figure I might as well give things an overhaul and play with some of the new features and add-ons.
So, I’m off to Charlotte in the morning, returning Monday night. Sadly, I’m going to miss Beth’s spinning class, which is probably for the best, so she won’t work me to death out of sibling competition.
Some of the songs that kept me going:
Re-make/Re-model by Roxy Music
You! Me! Dancing! by Los Campesinos!
I Don’t Want To Grow Up by Scarlett Johansson
On The Table by AC Newman
Moods For Moderns by Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Ex-Guru by David Byrne
Love und Romance by The Slits
Do The Du by A Certain Ratio
Photocopier by Fujiya & Miyagi
I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do) by Hall and Oates
Caravan by Inspiral Carpets
Superblast! by Lush
The French Open by Foals
Vitamin C by Can
Misadventure by Squeeze
Use It (live) by The New Pornographers
Whips & Furs by The Vibrators
P finishing the Buffalo Marathon
Originally uploaded by activitystory.
I finished my second marathon, this time in much higher spirits. I did a bit better than I expected to, I ran it in an official time of 3:44, though according my watch, my time was 3:39, since it accounts for every step, the extended bathroom break I took in mile 21, and some stops to stretch my hamstrings in the later miles. But whatever, either way, I’m ecstatic.
I didn’t really stick to my gameplan, which was to keep an 8 minute mile pace. Each of my miles up to 11 was well under 8 minutes… which I tought was ok because it felt good and I was banking under-pace minutes for later on. Once I got past the half-marathon point though (another personal record– ), I started to feel some fatigue in my quads and couldn’t keep pace. Miles 13 to about 16 were dark times for me… I’d stopped passing people, the road was uphill, there was a headwind, and the pack had totally spread out. Pretty desolate feeling, but I did my best to keep my spirits up. I can’t explain why these long races are so emotional for me, but I spend the whole time bouncing between emotional highs and lows that I tend not to experience in normal life. Probably endorphins.
Miles 17 to about 22 were in a park a ways north from the rest of the race, and the twists and turns broke the monotony a bit. Also, Kelly and the Mulvilles showed up to cheer me on right when I needed it. These were my slowest miles; I found myself walking through the water stations and in a few other spots.
Once I hit mile 22 or so, I got super psyched again and picked things up. Had to stop to stretch my hamstrings a few times, but I certainly was excited to be in the homestretch.
I saw Kelly and the Mulvilles near the end of the race, this time they’d met up with Kelly’s mom. It gave me a nice little burst of energy to finish strong. Right when I got to the finish line, I saw Mark snapping away. .
After the race, my ice bath was not as scary or painful as I had imagined, and I think it worked… I’m much less sore than last time. I’ll definitely try that again after the NYC marathon in November.
Along with the cheering and up-to-the-second pace and distance updates from my Garmin, music also got me through the tough times in this race. I repurposed some of my training mixes and had a playlist of tracks just for this race. Here are the training mixes, which Libby has already distributed over the last few months:
- Mix from P (weirder stuff from Charlotte Marathon playlist)
- Marathon Mix 2 (rockier stuff from Charlotte Marathon playlist)
- March training mix
- April training mix
I’ll put together a mix of the “loose” songs I listened to later in the week.
Thanks for all of the support. I’ll be posting my progress for the NYC Marathon in the coming months as I work out how to make myself go faster for longer.
Some of you may have already seen these, since I’ve been feverishly emailing out the link, but I meant to post about these a few weeks ago… our pictures from our visit to the Czech Republic last month. We had a great time, and just missed the windstorms.
Oh, and there are some photos of me running a half-marathon in Central Park the weekend we got back, not sure how long those will be up.
Here’re 91 photos to prove it:
TX to OR and back again, June/July 2006
I know that’s the oldest Wurstfest joke in the book (and I’ve been using it for years), but how better to let all of y’all know we’re back from another successful salute to sausage. I posted my pictures to flickr, so take a look at the fun.
Highlights included:
- Wurstgoulash
- Sandy and Randi screaming Wurstfest to everyone we passed in the car
- Longest game of "What’s your favorite?" in recorded history
- Bob provides inspiration and examples for next Assignment:The World assignment (more to come on that)
- Paul eats four rounds of german food in about an hour
- Bread Pudding with Butter Sauce
- Fellow Resort-at-the-Bahn guest warns us of gators in the pond at 4am
- Trains passing w/ in 100 feet of the hotel room all weekend long
- Tag-along praying mantis
I also recently posted pictures of folks on halloween, if you’re interested.