so many wars we fought / so many things we're not

[silveraspen]

(Today's subject line attribution: lyrics from "Marchin On," by OneRepublic.)Anyone who's seen me on Twitter in the last couple of days may have noticed that I've spent a lot of the time angry thanks to the shenanigans going on in Congress right now. (At the time of this writing, a budget deal has apparently been struck; a temporary measure is in

Comments

[winding_path]

I learned about ultrarunning about nine years ago, when my sister started dating (and later married) an ultrarunner. It's fascinating, especially when contrasted with the side of the family on which I have an uncle who could (in his prime) run a sub-four-minute mile. To the best of my knowledge, though B-in-L has done all his in shoes. :) I'll have to see if he's heard of the book.

[gramarye1971]

My diss supervisor at the LSE did ultramarathons, including one that involved running some obscene distance across South Africa. She had a few good stories about training, including one where she was about 25 miles into a 40-mile practice run in the middle of nowhere in South Africa when a pickup truck drove past -- and then slowed down enough for the elderly couple inside to roll down the window and very politely offer her a lift (with the clear implication that they thought she was completely out of her mind to be running on this road in the heat). When she declined, equally politely, they drove off...but drove very slowly for at least the next five miles, apparently on the off-chance that she might yet need assistance.

I did distance swimming, so I know how it feels to get into a groove like that. If it helps you, it sounds like a good thing. ^_^

[angelinamaria]

Nike Free sneakers = best purchase I've ever made. I wear them every day, now going on two years. No shin splints or foot pain to speak of and they aren't goofy looking like those Vibram 5 Finger shoe/socks.

The Tarahumara make a complete mockery of our notions of fitness by easily running 50-100 miles with a few pit stops for unfiltered cigarettes and beer. :)

[vureoelt]

That`s awesome that you found a very healthy way of dealing with it!

I`d never try running barefoot simply because my feet are far too problematic that I`m sure it would be worse. Some of the people I run with mentioned the Tarahumara running technique, though. I haven`t really successfully incorporated yet, but I`m still working on it.

Anyhow, Happy (and Peaceful) Birthday!