Columns

Grinding It Out, One Mile at a Time

Linky Love

I just haven’t had the time to put together a Carnival of Running lately, but I do want to spread some linky love I’ve been saving up. Check out these fascinating blogs:

Constant Crosswind

Earn Your Donuts

Jogging Jeans

Tegan Running

Tri-Karen-Tri

And last, but certainly not least, The Wither Port Review. Not because it has anything to do with running, but because it features, by its own description, the “the raw, scrotum-pulling work of one Chickenhead Antonucci, the infamous recluse from Newfoundland whose all-too-brief genius peaked between February and September of 2001.”

I’m pretty sure I’m not related to him, but wouldn’t you adopt a namesake who goes by “Chickenhead?” Here’s to you, Uncle Chickenhead!

Who Says You Have to Run to Write a Great Race Report?

Dom Joly is a British comedian and humor columnist for The Independent. He recently covered the Marathon du Medoc in France, which is famous for providing wine at aid stations. And if you take a look at the marathon’s official web site, you’ll quickly see the race is more about the wine than the running.

Joly wrote a detailed account of the proceedings. Here are some highlights:

For some reason there were a lot of Japanese lady runners and there seemed to have been some cheeky mix-up in the translation of the dress code. Whereas everyone else seemed to be dressed as animals, they had come as sexy French maids. This being France, nobody was complaining, and everyone seemed incredibly keen to ply them with wine.

…The owner of the chateau here told me in great seriousness that red wine was fabulous for runners as it contained sugar. As we talked a man dressed as what was probably once a chicken tried to grab a glass of wine, missed and staggered into the table knocking about 10 jeroboams over. “Not to worry,” said the chateau owner. “That was the 2008 – not my favourite.”

…At about 22km in we sat on a particularly beautiful terrace overlooking fields of vines that stretched all the way down to the Gironde. The golden sun blazed down on the surreal scene below us; a human stream of people dressed as cows, seagulls, ladybirds, doggedly jogging along between the vines, many of them three, even four sheets to the wind.

As I watched, one man from a rival chateau peed contentedly all over his rival’s grapes. Meanwhile, a man dressed as Jesus, complete with a large wooden cross on his back, chased a man wearing an 8ft giraffe costume until Jesus tripped up and went head over cross into the vines.I think he’d had a touch too much to drink. I waited for a minute or so but he didn’t rise again. If I ever run a marathon (which is extremely unlikely) then this will most definitely be my first choice.

Disney Running Music

Karla Bruning has an entire mix of Disney music for running purposes, but inexplicably omits my two favorites, “A Pirate’s Life for Me” and “Grim Grinning Ghosts.”

Most Disappointing Costumed Race

Britain is famous – or infamous – for its love for costumed road races (or fancy dress, if you prefer). Brits dress as Santas, snails, sumo wrestlers, gorillas, and just about anything else at the drop of a running shoe.

As I look through this BBC slideshow and an Internet search of the Robin Hood Marathon in Nottingham, I see Smurfs, drag queens and Mr. Potato Head, but no one dressed as Robin Hood, Maid Marian, the Sheriff or Friar Tuck.

Do you go to Halloween parties dressed as Santa? C’mon, UK! Get with the theme!

Dog Days

When you combine the number of “out of office” replies to my e-mails with the giant stack of personal business I have awaiting me, it looks to be a good time to enter a period of sporadic blogging. I’ll still be around, will keep an eye on things and post, but it just might not be daily for a short while. Enjoy the heat!

You Guys Are Great

I just wanted to thank everyone for your good advice and kind words in response to yesterday’s post. In fact, all the advice was so good I’m still not sure what to do. However, I am a firm believer in the old adage: When in doubt, procrastinate.

If I do another marathon, it will be my local one – the California International Marathon – on December 4. That means my current mileage level is too much, too soon. So my short-term plan is to reduce mileage to roughly 33-37 miles per week, then run a 10-mile race next month and a half-marathon in October. If I decide to do CIM after that, I’ve got two months to ramp up to marathon mileage. If I decide not to, I can look for another half, or try trailing, or any of the other excellent ideas you’ve proffered.

The only small hitch in my master plan is that CIM registration closes out no later than October 1, so I do have a deadline.

Anyway, we’ll now return to our regularly scheduled programming. I’ll let you know when I do something significant.