The Race That Wasn't Intended To Be

Miami Marathon - Sunday January 30, 2011
Time: 4 hours 57 minutes

I am aboard the flight from Atlanta to JFK, on my way from  Miami, Florida.

This is Monday January 31st.

I ran the Miami Marathon yesterday, and yes, it was the race that wasn’t meant to be.  

I arrived in Miami on Friday evening.  This was my first visit to Miami, a city I have avoided despite its promise of glorious weather.  Somehow, none of Florida has ever enticed me to travel down there.

About eight months ago, I was planning my 2011 race itinerary and stumbled upon the Miami Half Marathon.  I looked past it and scanned for other Half Marathons in and out of the US.  None seemed to fit well enough into my schedule and budgets.  Eight months ago, it was still nice and warm in New York but I shivered at the thought of the NYC winter and wondered how much worse it could be this time around.  Miami Half Marathon continued to pop in and out of my peripheral vision and then I stared at it right in the face.  I decided to do it.  Then began my search for a cheap flight and hotel, both were as tough as anticipated.  Nothing can be cheap about visiting Miami smack in the middle of winter when snow laden blizzards wail and howl outside our tremulous windows in the northeast.  I decided to use my miles for the flight and opted for a relatively inexpensive hotel in a neighborhood of Miami not too popular with the tourists.  

Winter came early for us in the northeast and as feared, it has been brutally cold.  A week without a storm has been a rarity thus far.  My last race of the 2010 season was the Amsterdam Marathon in October.  I took a well-deserved break from training and, at the advice of my chiropractor, took a couple of months off from running so that my body could heal.  I focussed on swimming and biking but, the 2011 season was upon me.  I had to commence my training and the relentless inclement weather was giving me enough reason to hibernate.  I had begun to worry about my training for my first Marathon of 2011 in March.  I had scheduled two Half Marathons before the Full Marathon with deliberate intent to serve as forced training runs.  

Over the past several weeks, leading up to the Miami Half Marathon, I had hardly managed to accumulate any miles in my training bank.  My longest run was a 10-miler about 4 weeks ago in windy and frigid sub-zero conditions.  The Miami Half was a week away and I began to monitor the weather in Miami as I battled icy winds and snow of NYC, hopped over large puddles of slush and skidded over black ice everyday.

Miami weather was everything I had dreamed of.  Bright sun, no winds, the temperature in the mid to upper 70s, considered warmer by most athletes but I was in Heaven.  On Saturday morning I visited the Race Expo to retrieve my Race Packet and on my way, a thought crawled into my mind - the weather is beautiful, how about attempting the Full Marathon, instead of the Half Marathon.  It won’t be my first Full, my body is familiar with the distance and even if something were to go awry physically, I could stop and abandon the race and consider it my first long training run.  Nothing to lose, I figured.  I marched up to the Registration Desk, and enquired about upgrading to the Full M.  I was told it was possible and 25 additional Dollars later, I walked out with the Race Bib number for a Full M.  

There is something profound about visiting the Race Expos.  For me it is like a Toy Store and I am the wide-eyed child.  It excites me and the company of other like-minded people with similar athletic aspirations, is most invigorating.  Suddenly my body is alive, heart is racing and the mind is overwhelmed with the desire to get out there and run.  

A Full M requires a very different pre-race preparation than a Half M.  A Full M is an endurance event and requires adequate training and proper nutrition leading up to the race.  After the “race upgrade”, I was scrambling for food.  I gobbled everything vegan in sight to consume the extra carbs and calories necessary before the race.  

I was up at 3:30AM on Sunday, the Race Day.  The Hotel had provided a Shuttle Service for the guests participating in the event.  The Shuttle Bus ferried us to the Race Start.  The Race began at 6:15AM.  A very comfortable 58 degrees welcomed us at the start.  There were 21,000 runners at the Starting Line.  We began running, the sun broke through the skies and it grew progressively warmer as the hours floated by.  Extra bright sun, no winds, a perfect day.  Simply glorious!  As I ran, I was getting baked and loved every moment of it.  

The route of the Miami Marathon is visually stunning!!  It is one of the best courses I have ever ran before.  A great way to see and experience the City on foot, which is otherwise not possible in Miami.  Miami is not a walkable city and its mass transportation system is quite inadequate.  A wait for the bus could easily extend up to 45 minutes to an hour.  A train might arrive anywhere within 20 minutes to 45 minutes.  It can be a real test of patience.  I don’t drive and therefore, had to depend upon the City’s trains and buses.  Its taxi service is scattered and that too can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour to get to you (happened to me more than once during my stay).  We started the race at the American Airlines Arena and then passed through Port of Miami, Miami Beach, Ocean Drive, Washington Avenue, Venetian Islands, Downtown Miami, Bay Heights, Coconut Grove, Brickell, ran over Miami River and finished the race at Bayfront Park.  Here is a really cool video to watch which takes you through the entire 26.2 mile course in about 4 minutes or less.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg3kFEWmmgY&feature=player_embedded

The first 15 miles went by without much to ponder about, but soon followed what could be deemed as my body’s revolt against my sudden, impromptu decision to run the Full M.  Running a marathon is never without discomfort.  No matter the countless number of hours of training, race day always brings surprises that were not anticipated.  Pain and discomfort can erupt anywhere at anytime without warning, however, after running nine marathons, I can almost predict what might happen and where.  The knees, the hips, the ankles - they protest solo or often, in unison.  This race was no different.  My mind was feverishly at work preparing for the battle.  There were moments when the mental fortitude began to lose the tug-of-war against my body but eventually, it won.  

26.2 miles were over.  I went past the finish line.  A huge sigh of relief escaped my body as the finisher’s medal rested on my heaving chest.  It was over.  I had logged in my first race of the year - a Full M.  I was happy.  I hadn’t planned this one.  This one came as a surprise to me, the one that wasn’t intended to be......

DADT - The Reactions

I find the assumption by straight men that just because they are men, they are going to be objects of desire by their gay colleagues....to be hilarious.  Guys, very often we are not even attracted to our own.  So, take a chill pill, please.  But I do feel that the army barracks will have to re-done by Tom Ford and, there will be longer lines at the nail salons. 

http://www.tsweekly.com/6797-dadt-gay-bashing-and-the-icky-ness-factor.html

“There is an ‘icky-ness’ about homosexuality that affects everything it touches. The close-quarters service in the military makes the prospect of open homosexuals serving with, sleeping with, showering with those to whom they are sexually attracted – in an unnatural way – even more ‘icky.’ The whole disgusting nature of it will likely turn off many Americans.

“Many Americans who now are quiet supporters of the military, including its funding, will simply no longer carry with on that support. Many middle-class American families who once saw the military as a legitimate option for giving their children a strong start in life, will now no longer see it as a possible benefit to them.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/20/us/politics/20gays.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rssSay

Showers will be awkward,” Private Tuck said outside a shopping mall here, expressing a worry mentioned by just about every Marine interviewed. “But as long as a guy can hold his own and protect my back, it won’t matter if he is gay.”

But a friend of Private Tuck’s injected a note of skepticism. “It won’t be totally accepted,” said Pvt. Justin Rea, 18, from Warren, Mich. “Being gay means you are kind of girly. The Marines are, you know, macho.”

When present tense, becomes past tense...

I can't believe she is gone.

Every morning, as I walked into the office, she would look up from her post at the reception desk, flash her bright smile and say, "Good morning, Sweetie Pie!"

She was a daily fixture of my life at the office.

She used to call me "Fresh Pot".

She was someone I expected there to be, always, and she was....

And when she wasn't, it felt vacant, as if, something was amiss. 

That voice, that thousand watt smile, that warmth.....is gone..... forever.  

In an instant, it is all over.

Silenced forever.

Vanished.

Disappeared.

Ceased to be.

Cold.  Still.  

It is remarkable, how in an instant a lifetime of "present tense" becomes the "past tense".

From "Louise is", it is now, "Louise was".  

"is" becomes, "was"

all, in an instant

such is life

when we reach the last page of the book of life

there is no other page left to turn

all that is left, is the yearning for more, that won't be.....

Goodbye, Mama Louise.....

Love,

Fresh Pot

The Murder We So Joyously Celebrate

What happens to the "Save the Forests", "Save the Earth", "the Green Planet Movement" during Christmas time when millions of trees across the world are uprooted, and their dead branches are decorated and electrocuted, gifts placed under their dead, lifeless bodies, people sing and dance around them...and a week later, ornaments and decorations are stripped off them and their lifeless bodies are discarded on the roadside.  Is this celebration?  Why must our celebrations have a destructive impact on nature?  When do we learn to celebrate nature?  We are born of it, we are it, then why do we murder it?  

Trees are killed every year and perched in front of the White House and the Rockefeller Center here in New York City.  Decorated, and then they become the center piece of a celebratory event, with millions across the world watching in awe and celebrities gracing the event.  The Rock Center Tree is perched right in front of the GE Building....and GE is ranked no. 47 on the list of the Top 100 Global “Green” Companies.  (http://www.newsweek.com/2010/10/18/green-rankings-global-companies.html#)  Does "Green" mean killing trees or planting trees?  GE, I am a little confused here, help me out.  Meanwhile, the present and the past First Ladies of America are shown tending the flora and growing vegetable gardens, planting trees and lecturing us about healthy living, the Green Movement and Saving The Earth while a perfectly healthy and gorgeous tree is killed and decorated RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEIR HOUSE!  I guess, the Holiday Season also spells a “holiday” for our principles and initiatives.  

It is okay to kill millions of trees every year for the sake of tradition, but not okay to tear down forests???  What is the difference???  The difference is - one is protected by environmental laws, the other killing is not.  Michelle Obama, Al Gore and GE, if you really feel so strongly about the environment and saving the planet and “going green”, then set an example and stop this annual ritualistic murder of trees right in your own homes. 

Some argue that they pick a tree but in its place they also plant one.  I don't understand the logic.  They rob the environment of a tree, the impact of which is immediate.  To yield the same benefits of the uprooted tree, we have to wait several years for it to grow and when that happens, we tear it down again.  Befuddling!  

A perfectly beautiful tree is killed and disposed off purely for fun and merriment. Why?  Because it is a tradition.  Yeah?  The practice of “Sati” was also a “tradition” in India where widows had to jump into burning pyres alongside the dead bodies of their husbands.  Yes, they had to jump and burn alive with their dead husbands.  That “tradition” is banned today.  It is illegal.  We need to re-think some of our traditions and their impact and validity.  These trees, if not uprooted, would grow into beautiful tall trees, and be beneficial for the Planet and ultimately for us and our loved ones. 

How about using fake Christmas trees??? They look equally good and can be used repeatedly for years. Cost-effective, economical and good for the environment and the planet. But no one is listening......

We grow up, get the best education and evolve intellectually.  Each generation claims and prides itself as being more aware and evolved than the previous.  We are quick to shed what is old fashioned and embrace the modern.  Then how come the planet we call our home, suffers more today than it has ever before.  As we evolve, so does our greed and it is said, for greed all nature is too little.


Merry Christmas!

10 Fascinating Facts About Turkeys

Did you know that turkeys communicate their emotions by way of color changes in the skin on their necks, faces and snoods (the flap of skin that hangs over the turkey's beak)? And that a turkey’s snood turns bright red when he is upset or during courtship? This is just one of the fascinating facts about America’s favorite holiday bird being revealed by Farm Sanctuary, the nation’s leading farm animal protection organization, just in time for Thanksgiving. Having rescued more than 1,000 turkeys since 1986 and provided lifelong care for hundreds at their two world-renowned shelters located in Watkins Glen, New York and Orland, California, the organization is recognized as a foremost expert on these sensitive, intelligent and thoroughly fascinating birds.

Those who don’t know a snood from a wattle (the flap of skin under the turkey's chin) are sure to be intrigued by the following little-known turkey facts:

1. Turkeys recognize each other by their unique voices.

2. Researchers have identified more than 20 distinct vocalizations in wild turkeys.

3. Turkeys have excellent geography skills and can learn the specific details of an area of more than 1,000 acres.

4. Like cats and dogs, turkeys are intelligent and sensitive animals who form strong social bonds and show great affection to others.

5. On factory farms, turkeys frequently have the ends of their beaks and toes cut off without anesthesia — practices know as debeaking and detoeing — to prevent them from injuring one another as they are crowded by the thousands into dark, filthy warehouses.

6. Between 1965 and 2000, the weight of the average turkey raised commercially in the U.S. increased by 57 percent, from an average of 18 pounds to an average of 28.2 pounds, causing commercially-bred turkeys to suffer from crippling foot and leg problems.

7. Completely unlike their wild ancestors not only in terms of physique but also in hue, most commercial turkeys are totally white — the natural bronze color selectively bred out of them to eliminate uneven pigment colorations — because of consumer preference for even flesh tones.

8. Also catering to consumer preferences for “white meat,” the industry has selectively bred turkeys to have abnormally large breasts. This anatomical manipulation makes it difficult for male turkeys to mount the females, eliminating these birds’ ability to reproduce naturally. As a result, artificial insemination is now the sole means of reproduction on factory farms, where breeder birds are confined for months on end.

9. Turkeys, along with other poultry, are not protected by the federal Humane Slaughter Act, and are frequently killed without first being stunned.

10. Every year, more than 46 million turkeys are killed for Thanksgiving holiday dinners, but it doesn’t have to be this way. If you think these birds are as incredible as we do, you can join talk show host and animal advocate Ellen DeGeneres, Farm Sanctuary’s 2010 Adopt-A-Turkey Project spokesperson, in starting a new tradition this year by adopting a turkey instead of eating. Visit adoptaturkey.org for details or call the Turkey Adoption Hotline at 1-888-SPONSOR.

The Boys Of Randy Blue - Tribute To Kylie Minogue - Get Outta My Way

Clara: Birthday - Craigery Morgan