Running Shorts

But does the new Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial remind anyone else of Han Solo frozen in carbonite? I mean, they're not exactly the same, but come on...there are definitely some similarities there, right?

"Delaware Slide" by George Thorogood and the Destroyers So I don't think it was too much of a secret that I was scrambling for a Delaware song.  Well, I found one, and it didn't actually take that long.  I don't know why I didn't have one before... And as an added bonus, I enjoy this song.  It's just some old fashioned blues rock.  Nothin' more A-murrican than that (except for the British bands that brought it back to America in the 1960s.  But that's another story...) But anyway, I'm pumped that I found another song I didn't have...and a good one, to boot.

"Kylie From Connecticut" by Ben Folds Meh, not a huge fan of this song.  I do like Ben Folds, but this one just doesn't do too much for me.  But hey, it works for Connecticut, and that's what counts. Fair warning: I'm still searching for a good next song, so I may be shamelessly skipping a day.  I know that probably makes me a horrible person, but oh well.

"Colorado Sunrise" by 3OH!3 Ok, so I know what you're thinking.  Isn't there a better Colorado song by some guy who's got the same name as the state's capitol city? (Thanks Nester) Unfortunately, I'm using a different John Denver song for another state that I thought was a lot more obscure song-wise than Colorado.  ( I wonder what song that could possibly be...) And I wanted to try to stay away from using the same artist multiple times (which, I have to admit, I have failed on a few times), so I decided to go with this one instead. I'm not a huge 3OH!3 fan, and I think this song's just okay, but hey, it works for Colorado. Sorry for skipping yesterday, but I don't feel like posting double today to make up for it.  And the reason for the laziness is that I still don't have a song for Delaware, so I'm putting that off as along as possible.

I bought a pair of Lunaracers the other day.  Typically, they're a grey upper with neon yellow soles and laces and a blue Nike swoosh.  Mine also have some red in them.  Here's why: So I had a workout this weekend, basically it was a simulated half marathon at goal marathon pace.  So I figured it would be good to break in the flats on a workout like this. Usually I race without socks, so again I thought that's what I'd try today.  I don't know what people normally do in the marathon, but I figured it'd be best to test it out in a workout before racing.  Turns out it was a good decision in the long run (bad pun...) but a terrible one for the workout. Really, I didn't notice too much until I finished.  I could tell the heel and pinky toe on my right foot had been rubbing the whole time, which bugged me a little but definitely not enough to stop.  Then I took my flats off...and they were very very red.  Then I noticed my feet were all ripped up.  And th

"California Girls" by the Beach Boys Aren't you lucky, dear reader; you get two for one today!  (mostly because I was lazy and missed Friday...) But anyway, California is one of those states where there are so many songs it's hard to pick just one.  That's why I decided to go with the original California song.  None of this "California Gurls" Katy Perry shit.  I mean, come on, who doesn't like the Beach Boys?  They're California in a band. By the way, honorable mention for California goes to Train's "Save Me, San Francisco."  Gotta rep NorCal.  I'm sure all of us NorCal boys (Matt Riley, Joe Ryan, myself) would approve (I hope...).

"Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros "Alabama, Arkansas, I do love my ma and pa..."  Count it for state #4. So I guess this could have worked for Alabama, too...but I already had one for it, so I decided to use this song for a state I didn't have. Also, I dare you to listen to this song and not smile.

"Arizona" by Kings of Leon This song's definitely better than the last one.  This one came up on my Pandora a couple times and I think it's a pretty cool song.  I have no idea what it's about, no idea why it's called "Arizona;" I just think the guitar riff is sweet.

"Alaska" by Sky Sailing I should call no homo on this one. It's the Owl City guy, but just a different name I guess.  I dunno.  It was all over the iTunes store last summer when I started putting this thing together. Joe Ryan first showed me Owl City, and it was pretty cool...until "Fireflies" was on the radio non-stop.  That kinda killed it.  Although, there may or may not be another Owl City song later... The next song/state is gonna be better, I promise.

"Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd Ok, so I promise that not all the songs will be as cliche as this first one.  But come on...in my defense, this is an awesome song.  Anyone who claims to dislike this song clearly has no taste. I've never been to Alabama and can't say that I ever plan on going, but the sweet thing about this song is that it somehow still manages to make you feel nostalgic for the state (even for those, like me, who've never been).  But anyway, I like this song and it's about a state, so...chalk it. Only 49 more to go!  Coming tomorrow: Alaska.  (Oh and did I mention I'm doing this alphabetically instead of geographically?  I guess I just did...)

Hey blogosphere, Check out the 50 States Song Challenge page to see what it's all about.  I'm gonna be posting it on here and it's gonna be awesome. Ok so I'm probably over-selling this thing, but I'm bored.  Humor me.

I ran 21 miles on Saturday. It wasn't rewarding.  I'm not glad I did it.  I do not feel like a badass.  Mostly, I just felt like lying face-down in bed all day. It was a humbling experience.  I'd say I'm the most humble person I know.  (That's supposed to be a joke) But here's what made it fun: I went into the run expecting about 12 miles.  Oh wait, nevermind...switch those two digits.  For some reason I thought I was doing 2 by 3 mile; not an easy workout by any means, but definitely something I could handle.  What I was actually supposed to do (and eventually did) was a 3 mile at tempo, a 2 mile at tempo, an hour run, and then another 3 mile at tempo.  Add in warm up, a very brief cool down, and a mile between the first two tempos and you get 21.  Blackjack. I felt like ugh during that last 3 mile tempo.  I ran close to a minute slower than the first.  It wasn't even tempo pace anymore -- it was dear-god-please-let-me-be-done-i-just-want-to-stop-ru

Oh, I also thought of something else that's totally unrelated to getting a job: I bought an Iron Gym the oth er day. The same one from those cheesy commercials. With that and my dad's Perfect Push-Ups, I'm gonna get swoll. Take that, Cory.

(That's called "litotes," by the way.  It's a literary double negative that's supposed to make me sound smart.  But I think it makes me sound pretentious...or just stupid.  Thank you high school junior English -- it's only been 6 (?) years, and that's probalbly the first of those useless literary devices I've ever used, after we spent months learning them.  I mean, seriously...synecdoche?  Polysyndeton?  Caesura?  When am I ever going to need to know that those are?) But that small rant aside, brace yourself, reader (all 3 of you...): I got a job. It's true. That makes me like Pinnochio...not a liar, but a real boy (man?  Debatable). But anyway, it's for this small internet company called Dean's Cards.  You should check them out.  Basically, they just buy and sell vintage baseball, football, basketball, etc cards; memorabilia; and vintage Sports Illustrated and Sporting News magazine covers.  I'm psyched because I'm a sports

...that I totally forgot to mention running with Kais yesterday afternoon. I also ran with Kais yesterday afternoon. It was sweet.

Ok let's be honest, that's not true at all. I just felt like one today.  So I got up early (does 7:30 count as early?) this morning to do 4 by mile at Withrow -- the goal was to do it early enough to be beat the heat.  As it turned out, the heat wasn't the problem... The workout started fine, nothing too crazy.  But pretty quickly, we noticed ominous dark clouds in the distance.  And then lightning.  And thunder. And of course, it was moving this way. So by the end of the second interval, it had turned from light overcast to straight dark and stormy.  And on the third interval, the rain was coming down horizontal and there was lightning in every direction around the track.  And no freshmen to hug the flag pole, either. We cut the workout after that one, because running around a track with an open field in a thunderstorm is a little dangerous I guess... But anyway, it was totally sweet.  At least for a little bit, I felt pretty tough. Below is an artist's r

If you're reading this right now, that means one of two things.  Either 1) you know me and I told you to check out my new blog.  If that's the case, then hey, what's up [insert name here]?  Or 2) you don't know me and somehow stumbled upon this.  If that's the case, then hey, what's up random internet person?  Kudos on your internet surfing skills (I'm more of a boogie boarder than a surfer).  And no, I'm not selling running apparel. So here's the deal: I decided to start a blog, mostly because I'm pretty bored.  But I thought it would also be fun and a cool way to keep in contact with friends and old teammates and stuff.  Oh, and there may have been some peer-pressure involved. They say you're supposed to write about what you know, and since I don't really know anything else, I guess the theme here is running.  I'm currently training for the Chicago Marathon this October, and the goal is to run an Olympic Trials qualifier (2:19).