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Miscellany

Random mid-week stuff:

The official Boston pictures are online and I was hoping to copy some here, but marathonfoto.com is just too smart. They have the pictures protected. Here’s the best I could do:

The good thing is that it’s proof that I finished and I was conscious enough to remember to look up at the cameras. I should have a few post-race pictures from friends at some point and maybe I’ll even order the official ones.

Right before Boston, I mentioned Ming Chew and the Ming Method and appropriately gave him a fair amount of credit for helping to get me running again. Ming is a unique pain and physical therapist who has developed his own method of treating chronic pain. As best I can describe it, the Ming Method is a combination of proper diet, hydration, supplementation, stretching, fascial release (similar to ART) and strength training. You can read more about it at his website (www.mingmethod.net) and, in much more detail in his book, The Permanent Pain Cure. The book is a great how-to guide on healthy living, especially for those of us who push our bodies beyond “normal” limits. If you live in NYC and are in pain, you can be treated by Ming himself. Seeing Ming is expensive, but to me at least, worth it and you might only need to see Ming a few times to be “healed”. That’s in part because unlike other physical and manual therapists, during each session with Ming, you get a full hour of his attention, most of which is spent being physically treated.

A quick shout-out to Chris Bergland who recently signed on with Asics to help with their new social networking website: www.yourrunningpartner.com. Chris is the “Motivator”. I spent a little time the other day checking out the site and it’s a good concept. One thing is for certain, the dude who ran 24 straight hours on a treadmill (153.76 miles) is probably a good person to get motivation advice from.

One benefit of not working is that I have a lot of extra time for reading. I’ve been taking advantage of that time and finally putting a dent in that stack of books that’s been piling up for a couple years. And I’ve read some really good stuff. The best book I’ve read recently is Replay by Ken Grimwood. It’s a time travel/fantasy book and reminded me of one of my all time favorites, The Time Travelers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I also really enjoyed The White Tiger by Aravind Ardiga. I’m currently most of the way through What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami. I’ve actually never read any of his books and Elizabeth gave me this one last year. So far (about 2/3 of the way through it), I’m not sure what I think. I should like it and I want to like it. He’s an accomplished distance runner (running a marathon a year and has run at least one ultra) and triathlete writing about running and writing and life lessons. So far, though, I’m not sure that I see his “point”. I know there doesn’t have to be a “point”, but I feel like this book gets a little lost in his ramblings. It’s part memoir, part training diary, part what it takes to be a writer, part comparisons between running and writing and part observations. Unfortunately, so far, none of it really sticks. It is an interesting read, and a quick one. And, it’s building to his experience running the 2005 NYC Marathon, which I’m interested in reading.

Training is going well. (Another benefit of not working!) My recovery from Boston was pretty easy and painless. Since Boston, I’ve been on the bike four times and in the pool three times. I’ll start running again this week. So far, I’ve been riding my Felt road bike, but tomorrow I’m finally going to get my Guru put back together. It’ll be nice to have that old friend back.

Swim – April 22
Distance: 2,187 yards (2,000 meters)
Time: 45 minutes

Bike – April 23
Distance: 17.5 miles
Time: 1:20
Average heart rate: 117
Course: West Hollywood/Hollywood/Griffith Park
Conditions: Overcast, 60’s

Swim – April 24
Distance: 2,296 yards (2,100 meters)
Time: 49 minutes

Bike – April 26
Distance: 20.75 miles
Time: 1:21
Average heart rate: 129
Course: West Hollywood/Hollywood/Griffith Park/Burbank
Conditions: Sunny, 60

Indoor bike – April 27
Time: 30 minutes
Average heart rate: 120

Swim – April 28
Distance: 2,515 yards (2,300 meters)
Time: 56 minutes