I've been on a New Order kick lately and this tune from their 2001 "comeback" album Get Ready is one of their best. This video is really funny because it has a fictional band called The Killers lip synching "Crystal". Apparently the current Killers (who are very Joy Division/New Order influenced) took their name from this video!
This winter seems to be a bit worse than last year's but I've been pretty consistent thus far in my winter base phase, managing to do a long run and moderately paced mile repeats and tempos each week. Yesterday I ran 12 miles in sub zero (with windchill) temperatures. Froze my nads off, but felt like a badass afterwards. It's going to get back into the 40's on Wednesday though -- perfect timing for my scheduled interval workout. March feels like a long way off. I don't have any races planned until the St. Malachi 5 miler on 3/14. Part of me wishes I had planned a race somewhere warm and made a vacation out of it, but the only thing that tempts me are the USATF Winter XC Nationals in Baltimore on February 7th and the weather there certainly won't be great. The masters race is 8K though, which is my favorite distance and I could do a shout out to Omar and Stringer Bell while I'm there (If you haven't seen The Wire you won't know what I'm talking about).
Read more...
My sister just forwarded me this photo taken in 1980 from a cross country meet at my first high school, Ann Arbor Pioneer. From what I can remember it was a dual meet against Ypsilanti and me, Dennis Conlon (center) and Kevin Collins (right) tied for first. This is right at the finish line, hence the linked arms. I think the spikes I'm wearing were Onitsuka Tiger Jayhawks. Onitsuka, of course, is now Asics.
The weather is starting to turn bleak, but my winter base training has been going really well. After a few weeks of getting back into the groove after my early November break, I feel "on" again. This week I had three solid workouts: a session of 4 cutdown mile repeats on Wednesday; a hilly tempo run on Friday; and a snowy 14 miler today. March is a long way off, but I'm feeling pretty optimistic that I can lower some of my masters PRs in the Spring.
Read more...I came across this quote from Wanderer, the autobiography of the late actor (and sailing enthusiast) Sterling Hayden, who stared in Fifties cult classics such as The Asphalt Jungle and Johnny Guitar. Pretty inspirational to say the least, especially in these lean economic times:
To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen who play with their boats at sea... cruising, it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about. I've always wanted to sail to the south seas, but I can't afford it." What these men can't afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of security. And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine - and before we know it our lives are gone. What does a man need - really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in - and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all - in the material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer idiocy of the charade. The years thunder by, the dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed. Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?
Back to TOP
