Granddad, The World's Oldest Lungfish, Passes Away.

This is indeed sad news! Granddad was one of my favorite visits at the Shedd Aquarium, and though most people I dragged there initially had no idea what they were seeing, most left with an deeper appreciation of the aquatic dinosaur-cousin.

While Granddad, the Shedd lungfish, lived a fairly cushy life in a clean, well oxygenated tank in the aquarium, in the wild he, she? did they ever figure this out?, would have lived in a stream bed that would be wet in the spring and summer and dry the rest of the time, surviving by burying himself in the mud and using his lungs rather than gills to breathe. Of course, being buried in mud would have made him less likely to be eaten by predators.

For those of you at home writing your own management and career books, there might be a parable or two that could be used in your next tome--the ability to survive while moving very little or using much air is something I've seen many people do in the rough-and-tumble corporate world. It seems to work evidently.

On a more personal note, Granddad made his debut at the 1933 Chicago Century of Progress Exhibition, or World's Fair, on my father's third birthday. According to legend, my mother was there with her mother for the fair, though Mom's only remembrances were fireworks and an Indian's head dress. incidentally, Dad would have been in Kansas City, and they didn't know each other then anyway.

Well Granddad, as my friend Bob would say, "Lung this!" and Godspeed!

An Era Passes with Granddad  -- Full Article from the Shedd Aquarium.

My Thoughts on the Dalton Gang

As someone who visited the Dalton shrine many times as a child, I still have to say that the Dalton Gang remains one of the crummiest outlaw gangs ever. Most of the gang started as lawmen of various types, but were stiffed of their wages and turned bad--how crummy of a lawman must one be to be stiffed?

Once they became a lawless band of robbers, their time was short-lived, and their most famous act was screwing up a robbery so badly that most of a town showed up to shoot them all dead. Of course, it gave us this fine picture that would make a great album cover had they lived long enough to record some music:

In the end, it's worth noting the most famous musician of the area, Joe Walsh, born up the road in Wichita, played with a band called the James Gang, not the Dalton Gang.

upload.wikimedia.org

upload.wikimedia.org

Anytime I think of work I turn on one after nine o nine. Then I feel better.

Re-Redefining Slow--In the Snow

For those of you who've dutifully followed the blog, I've been a little remiss at updating. Please accept my deepest apologies. The snow and ice here have been very deep, and I've been inside on the elliptical machine. I saw no great audience to a progression of: "I watched Oprah for 45 minutes again."

Fortunately I broke down and bought a pair of cross country skis which gives me a great reason to get outside and get some exercise (with thanks to the fine folks at Free Flight).

Of course I know very little about cross-country skiing, so it's an
interesting experience. I'm presuming that at some point I'll stop looking at my
skis while I'm doing this (like I've finally quit looking at my feet while
running). I'm also hopeful that I'll be able to get down a hill without thinking
of Herman Maier's Nagano wipe-out.

However, with all this talk of skiing, spring is surely around the corner.
Among the peace of a nice winter day were literally hundreds of squirrels
digging wherever there was exposed ground. I've never witnessed squirrels in
herds before. There were also geese flying up over the hill from the river and
heading undeniably north. Between these signs of nature, and the gentle
reminders to start thinking of lawn care from every store, I can tell I'll be
back on the road soon.

X-Country Skiing

1/2 Marathon--Take Two

Even though my front yard has two feet of snow on top of the grass, it's time to think about new challenges for the new year.

As such, with the encouragement of a few of my friends, it's time to do it again. While I felt that I "redefined slow" in Phoenix (click here for pictures), I'm hopeful that I can do a little better and get closer to the time I was shooting for there: 2:40 (still slow for those of you keeping score at home).

With the support of my family and friends, I'm off to Madison, Wisconsin on the 28th of May for the Madison Marathon (I'll take 1/2, thank you). I'm hopeful that a lack of snow and ice on the sidewalks will make for a much better training experience and a much better result.

As much as I love Oprah and Dr. Phil, training indoors bites.

Done

"Redefining Sweaty"

A's

9

Southern Girls Love Runners

Denise and Ann appreciate Curt's pre-sweaty presence. Photo by Ray.

Looking for my "Corral"

Enjoying the Pre-Start Chaos

Winter Running Conditions

View From a Window

Where's Yukon King?

Sushi Zen NYC

I was never compelled to use any of this while ice fishing in the East River.

NY State of Mind

This morning I took a nice run through Central Park in New York City. According to the little map I downloaded, it was a nice six mile loop through the little forest within the city.

The weather was around 40, and the sky kept looking like it was going to dump snow or rain at any moment, but held off. Though I could always hear the traffic, there were actually times I couldn't see it directly, though the tall buildings ringing the park let me know that no matter how idyllic it might seem, I'm still surrounded by humanity in all directions.

Central Park is set up well for all the folks who walk, wander, run, bike, relax, or live there. There are large vehicle-restricted areas that keep the casual observer from trying to share the same place as a taxicab or the occasional fearless civilian driver, and somehow even despite how many people are there (particularly near the south end), things flow smoothly. Running up the east side of the park, I was passed to my right by bicycles, and likewise I was passing walkers and strollers to my left, and especially north of 72nd St., there was nothing interrupting the pace of the folks out there.

The further north I went, the fewer the number of people out. The young mothers with the jog strollers left in the mid 70s, and passing the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservior there were few folks other than the park workers, the occasional police car, and the determined NY exercising folks who look neither left nor right and don't make eye contact with anyone. I did see an apparently homeless man, dragging two bags of miscellaneous stuff, and sporting a three-liter Camelbak hydration system. In New York apparently, high-end accessorizing has made it throughout the various social strata for which I'm presuming some presidential candidate will take credit.

After heading back south past the open fields at the north end I encountered an older German couple I'd met in my hotel who were out with a book on North American trees and in search of several different kind of leaves for their collection. In their long coats and somewhat pointy hats, they looked as though they could have been on some sort of Tolkein-inspired Hobbit hunt, but they assured me their interest was trees.

Further down, I saw a blind woman riding a bicycle. She had a friend following behind yelling directions, and she didn't try to go too fast. I remain very impressed with her skill and the level of trust she has in her friend. At one point I was concerned that the blind cyclist was going to ram a popcorn cart that was being unloaded from a truck, but she swerved just in time.

At the end of the run it was time to head out of the park and back down 7th Avenue into the swarm of Manhattan where smiling at a stranger or saying "good morning" has the typical resident thinking of dialing 911.

As for the run itself, the pace was good, around 12 min./mile, and the walk too and from the park was a great warm-up. The one thing that I didn't expect is that the park is somewhat hilly. It's not the Himalayas, nor even the Poconos, but it's certainly not flat. It's a very nice run, and certainly worth the schedule-bending it took to fit it in.

It's Not Winter, Yet...

This morning gave me a full challenge of layering and wind protection. There was a nice, gusty wind, and an air temperature of somwhere south of thirty degrees. The legs felt good, however, and the increased mileage in my regular loop (now up to four miles) didn't seem to hurt. Carmex and some lubriderm before starting out seem to help, but it will be a hat and a scarf before long.

My pace has been around 12 minutes per mile at this point, and the training plan is looking for around 45 minutes of running at each point during the week. I'm on the three minutes running/one minute walking plan, so I'm feeling more like I'm actually running, and the walk breaks seem to come quickly most of the time.

I'll keep my eyes open for snow, and keep the heavier polar fleece at the ready.

Thanksgiving in Wichita

Yesterday, I declined to run since it was thirty degrees with a twenty mile an hour wind and blowing drizzle. I wimped out.

Today, my son, daughter, and cousins all said, "you will freeze,” as I prepared. It was beautiful outside, however. I'm in Wichita preparing for the excitement of the Thanksgiving Dinner hosted by my aunt Lenore. In order to fully prepare for the inevitable overstuffing, today’s run was very important.

I chose a four mile loop up a bike trail along an expressway and then back through a housing development’s “fitness trail.”

The sun shone brightly this morning, the wind was mild, and the cold was an abstract concept. There was a heavy layer of frost on the grass though the street and sidewalks were mostly clear.

The calm wind really helped keep my temperature right, though the layering techniques I’ve been learning also contributed to this. I ran with a lightweight jacket and pants with a light Polartec mock-turtleneck underneath. For the first time, I also wore a stocking cap, which came off about halfway through.

Aside from the deceptively icy bridges on the “fitness trail,” the run was uneventful and pleasant. It was cold enough that the casual folks who would normally be clogging the trail with $600 imported jog-strollers were inside watching the Macy’s Parade, leaving the day to those of us who enjoy the nip in the air and the fog from our breath.

Runnin' by the River

I woke up this November morning thinking that I was on my way to spring break. I'm in Lawrence, Kansas, I have a full tank of gas, and it's 60 degrees and damp--what's normally an early March morning, except that it's three days before Thanksgiving. Oh yeah, and I'm in a motel with my family, and I'm due in Wichita to see relatives tomorrow.

Running from the hotel, I crossed the Kaw river and stepped onto the nice crushed gravel and sand path that runs along the top of the levee. Normally I run on sidewalks and the street, and the comparative squishiness of the softer unpaved surface takes some getting used to. The little side to side motions in my knees was felt fairly quickly, and probably thinking about my knees made the situation worse since I was trying to control the movement. I'll report that the knees are a little more sore than usual, but not in a particularly bad way.

My initial plan was to run through Lawrence and do a "Roy Williams Loop" which is through the cemetery, around James Naismith's grave, and then across the river with a spit into the river on the way across and another spit on the way back. However, thinking about crossing many streets in the daylight on a misty, cloudy morning made me re-think my strategy, and I decided to cross the river and run on the levee instead.

Since I didn't live up to one former coach's shadow, I did the next best thing. I spent the week thinking of Don Fambrough, two-time Kansas football coach who has made a second career out of being a Jayhawk Football partisan. Fortunately, Don wasn't far away. His speech was everywhere, and if you click here, you too can understand the importance of winning the Missouri game.

Sushi Boat @ Wa, Lawrence Kansas

Wa was a fine respite from hotel food, and I was very pleased that none of the sushi appeared to have come from the Kaw. I did not notice that the tuna were running when I crossed the river in the morning.