Rancho Run

I am really down to three runs a week now, a long one, a tempo run and track work. It is my attempt to follow the FIRST method of decreased mileage and increased intensity. On top of that I am doing at least two additional days of cross training, which is a welcome break from the heavy mileage approach that usually leads to stiffer joints, soarer muscles, and basically tougher training. Now of course the proof of the pudding will be in the eating, i.e. am I getting faster on my feet, or is it just good for my swimming and spinning muscles?
Yesterday Justine, Pat and I ran Rancho. It was actually a lot of fun and a good cure for the malaise I am feeling in this climate (well, both climates actually, the weather and the economy). They went up Rogue Valley together and I did Wildcat Canyon and met them at the top, basically getting in some hill speed while Justine did her first real hill run. Nice day and good work, but unfortunately Jusinte stepped wrong in the last mile and tweaked her ankle, so it was a mixed outing for her.

Total mileage? I'm counting it as 7

Economy Disappears!

These days, when an update comes on about the latest economic indicators, I cringe before I even hear the broadcast. My Better Half usually advises me to just turn off the radio. It's a natural reaction I think, watching in horror as the economy flies by in the handbasket headed for hell. I am waiting for the day that hear: "it was another off day on Wall Street, with the Dow closing off 10 points, to -275."

There is an element of common sense here though that I think we're missing: in today's economy many of the things we used to pay for are free. Music? Ask any teenager where they get there music, and more often than not it'll be from free downloads. Content is free and getting freer on the internet. Adding insult to injury, noone needs to watch commercials anymore as TiVo lets us zoom through them without a glance. Video games can now be bought for pennies.

Hardware is not free of course, but when you consider the price declines we regularly see in those products, isn't it common sense that we arrive at a state of zero profitability?

Now we layer on top of that a complete lack of faith by the consumer, the engine of growth, and look what we get: a disappearing economy. Is it time to save coal for barter, time to buy a goat and secretly raise her in the backyard for milk? Don't buy bonds, yields will be negative. Stock? Short it of course.

It's a jarring time and a world of Catch-22s. Save your cash cuz you'll need it. But if you don't spend your hurting the economy. Time for a run, I've skipped too many days over this holiday.

6.3 miles in the slush, this one was slow....

Day One in the Blogosphere

What if I wrote a blog and nobody read it? Would it make any noise? Have any impact? We'll see.

In any case, it's quiet, it's snowing outside here at grandma's, and it's early enough that there is no line in front of the computer.

Apparently over the past 5 years the family computer has become the water cooler of our home. Somehow I missed the transition, as I've always had my work laptop all to myself. Suddenly though I'm finding that the rest of the family has their own agenda with the PC. The boy and older sister both have pursuits that could easily tie up our lifeline all day: The boy plays Runescape, searches on Runescape cheats, converses about Runescape with his friends, and basically gets into this thing so deeply that I wonder when he'll come out the other side. Older sister has a different passion: This American Life. I think she is catching up on the past ten years of the show.

I can only guess what sites my better half (MBH) visits but I have certaily spied perfume alley on the screen, and I know she has a penchant for posting from my facebook profile.

My daily tour needs some brushing up but it includes a stop at the ESPN soccer message board, followed by a short visit to Velonews to see where Lance has decided to ride today. I'm trying to incorporate more visits to BAJOBS and Monster, I review the banking once a month or so ... and log my friend count on facebook.

Now I'm adding a new stop to my random run, pouring forth here in the blogosphere.

Today's run was an unusual one: 6.3 miles in La Pine, Oregon on a snow covered dirt road, about 25 degrees. took me about 53 minutes though (of course?) it felt faster than that.