Neighborhood walkers explain Tuesday's results

Good decisions require good judgment  

Today's run (street): 3.2 miles

Happy Veteran's Day.  This is a holiday that actually means something and I always take the time to appreciate the men and women who have served our country. I'm disappointed that our country will soon be led by a man who has neither served nor sacrificed, but thinks it's okay to insult Gold Star families and expresses disrespect for war heroes, "because they got captured."

As I ran through my neighborhood this morning, I thought about Tuesday's election result and the fact that close to half of American voters voluntarily chose a woman-hating racist over his far more qualified opponent. That had made no sense to me until I rounded a corner and saw two people walking abreast on the right side of the street.

It clearly didn't occur to this pair that they had better, smarter and safer choices, such as the sidewalk. If they absolutely had to walk on the street, they had the option of staying on the left side where they could see oncoming cars rather than trust the drivers behind them. I'd never understood why people will make such clearly bad decisions until I saw the election results on Wednesday morning. I finally understand that many people just aren't smart enough to anticipate the consequence of their actions.

Do I think people who voted in the president-elect are stupid? How about people who walk on the right side of the road and trust that distracted drivers aren't going to run them down? That's not for me to say. But I will suggest that both are examples of bad judgment, something usually correlated to low intelligence.

The fashion-challenged runner

Sorry girls, but I'm married

Today's run (street): 3.4 miles

The only thing that travels faster than light is communication between women. I know this sounds sexist, but hear me out. This morning I went out for my 3 miler and this is what I wore (see above). I know, I know, but my daughter wasn't there to give me a her look that combines horror, shame and pity, followed by a polite suggestion that I change into something less embarrassing. I dressed for the weather - the temperature was 45 degrees (39° with wind chill) and didn't give a thought about how I looked.

I felt good, even better than yesterday, so I felt I could push my pace a little harder. I ended up running a half a minute per mile faster than on Wednesday. A scan of my Garmin data showed I ran the same cadence, but my stride length today was .2 meters longer. Doesn't sound like much, but it's almost eight inches. Multiply that by 4,000 or so steps and you cover a lot more ground. Apparently it's 27 seconds per mile more.

I loved the run and being outside, except for when I ran directly into the wind. That was unpleasant, but at least it wasn't freezing like yesterday. I planned for only three miles, but my route took me beyond that. About two miles into my run I took a right and spotted a car that turned in after me on the same street. The car continued and parked in a driveway a few houses north. When I passed the house the driver was just getting out of her car and I saw that it was one of my wife's good friends. I said hello and continued on.

When I got home my wife told me that she heard I was spotted running in the neighborhood. It was then that I saw myself in the hallway mirror and realized that I was dressed like a complete dork. My wife's friend didn't mention my fashion choice, but she happens to be very polite. Oh well. It used to be a lot easier when I'd run at 4:00 AM. The only person who ever saw me was the the guy who drove around tossing the NY Times on driveways. You should see how he dresses.

Stingers, Kinvaras or Hattori's? A hard choice to make

Hard to argue with success

I'm less than two weeks away from running my fourth consecutive Marcie Mazzola race.  The first time I ran it was in 2009 when the distance was 4 miles. The course was shortened the next year to 5K to increase the number of participants. What didn't change was the big hill on Woodhull Road that makes up a good part of the first mile. After three races along that course, I'm actually looking forward to the hill challenge this year.

Once runners get past the big hill, the course reverts to a net negative elevation, providing some great opportunities to let loose on the downhills. I'm on the fence about which running shoes I'll use for this race, but I'm thinking it may be between my latest two pairs: the Spira Stinger XLT's and the Saucony Kinvara 3's.

I've done my last two long runs in the Spiras and they have performed exceedingly well. I was prepared to dismiss them as a gimmick when offered the opportunity to test them on Runner's Tech Review and I'm glad I stayed open minded. Make no mistake about this shoe - it's lightweight, comfortable, supportive and responsive.

The Kinvara 3's are also very nice. I loved my original Kinvaras but found the Kinvara 2's less appealing each time I tried them on. To be fair, I never ran in them, so I don't really know how they'd have performed. I do know that the Kinvara 3's feel more like the original and, with their 4mm ramp angle, suit my preference for a lower platform. I have had noticeable irritation in one foot when running in these shoes, but I suspect it's as much a foot issue as it is a shoe problem.

It's hard to determine which of these shoes would serve me better for a fast 5K. Perhaps I'll simply opt for door #3 and run with the venerable Hattori's. These shoes, despite over 300 miles on their thin soles, still deliver one of the best running experiences I've ever encountered.