A Step Back

You know how when some people finish college they spend a year or two doing something awesome before getting a regular job and living a regular life?

I never did that.  I spent nine months living with my parents working at a Books-A-Million in the cafe.  Unfortunately, this was before I liked coffee.  (And long before I really liked coffee.)  I did get to do some cool stuff - I did some community theatre and a lot of fishing that summer at my family's cottage on Keuka Lake, but it wasn't like I toured Europe or hiked the Appalachian Trail.  I mostly just hung around the house and got really out of shape.

I've been writing this blog for over four years now.  Which is like 28 in blog years.  Then a couple weeks ago, I went to Barnes and Noble and stood looking at the running books.  There were several new ones I hadn't read, and I couple older ones that I've missed.  And I really had no desire to read them.  At the same time, my desire to write about running has waned in recent weeks as well (although I've been stoked to get out and run in this spring-like weather!).

Why Run Marathons #9: To Provide Clean Drinking Water in a Developing Country

Did you know that in the developing world, women and children will walk an average of six kilometers in order to collect water for their families?  And every day 4,200 children will die from dirty drinking water and poor sanitation.

By doing a marathon with Team World Vision, you can help change that and make a major difference to the lives of families in Africa and Haiti.

Don't Mess with Mimi Lepage

Rideau Canal Skateway by Ashwin Kumar

It could happen to anybody.  You're out on a training run in the dead of winter and all of a sudden these fast guys come up behind you.  You try to be courteous and move to the right to let them pass, but one of them collides with you, sending you to the ground and them on top of you.

That's what happened to Mimi Lepage, a Canadian bureaucrat when she was out for a run in January, 2010 on the Rideau Canal jogging path.  Naturally, Lepage sued the runner that collided with her, the others in his running group and even the running club of which he is a member (even though the run was not an official club outing).

But the "fast guys" that collided with her were Jason and Jon Dunkerly, two blind paralympic runners.

Running Song of the Week: Ain't No Rest For the Wicked by Cage the Elephant

Cage the Elephant was formed in Bowling Green, Kentucky in 2006.  In 2007 they were signed by Relentless Records at the South by Southwest music festival, then moved to London England (which explains why they have a bit of British flavor in their music).

Their self-titled debut album included the single "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked."  The song did well in the UK, but it topped off at number 92 on the Billboard 100 in the U.S. - although it did reach #3 on the alternative charts.

I Stepped on the Scale

I've been purposely avoiding the bathroom scale since last fall.  Between my voluntary break from running, my involuntary break from running and my failure to bear the ninth fruit of the spirit (self control) over the holiday season, I knew I wasn't exactly at my "racing weight" or even in good off-season form.

I made sure I had been working out regularly and gotten my diet under some semblance of control before I dared checked my weight.  So finally, mid-February, I stepped on the scale.