The (Sort of) Half-way Point

OhmygoshcanItellyousomething!

When I started this blog, I had two goals: Finish every Hugo Winning Novel in as many weeks as there are awards and at the same time, finish a marathon.  As of last Sunday at about 10:30 am, I have officially completed half of this two-part blog challenge.

I am officially a marathoner.

Sometimes this combination reading/running challenge has resulted in some pretty cool experiences.  Sometimes not.  Most of the time I wondered why the hell I would try to mash these two things together but now that it’s said and done, I’m just happy I’ve done something I’ve always wanted to try.

I really wanted to post more about the whole experience over the weekend, but my nerves and/or emotions and/or muscles were so jacked-up throughout the entire weekend that it was really hard to focus.  I tried to keep track of the highlights where I could so enjoy:

Regular Time SAT 12:15 pm We leave Grandma and Grandpa’s house and decide to take the rural route to Cocoa Beach as it’s only about a 4-hour drive compared to about a half-hour more on the interstate.

RT 1:30 pm MOMMYDADDYI’MGONNAGETSICK!  We stop on the side of the road and look at the cows.  Of course, she doesn’t get sick but she does pull a good deal of my hair out.

RT 4:45 pm We arrive at the Kennedy Space Center to pick up my Race pack and after everyone punches or pinches someone else, we pile out of the car and (more hair- pulling) try not to look homeless.

RT 4:46 pm Emmeline tells an employee with cornrows that he has crazy hair.  Um...

INTERLUDE - KSC IN PICTURES:

We made it!

Danger you idiot!

I now have two handfuls LESS hair than before.
Should've listened to the robot.

Taking a moment to breath.

We could totally go to the Moon!
Well, we would fit anyway...

RT 6:00 pm We almost didn’t make it out of the Space Center alive but somehow make it to an Italian restaurant for dinner with a friend who was running the Space Coast Half-Marathon.  This happens in a haze pretty much.  It’s loud enough in the restaurant that no one (including myself) can hear the children and my head is pretty much swimming anyway.

RT SUN 4:40 am I switch on my computer to “check stuff”.  Actually I think I’m just doing something familiar for the nerves as I have nothing to do on my computer next our tiny hotel bathroom.  I see Neal’s comment reminding me the first marathoner died and the brief moment of levity nearly picks me up and sticks my head through the roof.  Time to start breathing deep.

RT 6:15 am The marathon begins to a simulated shuttle lift off and music off the Star Wars soundtrack.  Freaking sweet.

Me and my Dad, just before the start.
It was cold...for Florida.

Marathon Time 47:00 Hundreds of gulls sitting on a dock, squawking, “mine”.  I increase my pace.

MT 57:01 10 Kilometers.  Not my fastest 10K, actually pretty slow.  I realize I’m feeling great and running slower than necessary.  I increase my pace.

MT 1:11.00 A spectator, approximately 12-years old, does an amazing robot on the sidewalk.  We exchange glances…and both laugh.  Probably one of my favorite moments from the run.

MT 1:34.00 “Katherine must go.”  I had very serious anxiety over some technical difficulties which kept me from finishing Green Mars during the marathon.  Instead I went back to Fledgling by Octavia Butler, a book I started for the RIP challenge in Sept./Oct. but was never able to finish.  I’m not gonna lie, I started to lose my shit when I realized my planned listening materials were not working out but it turned out alright because I’m now almost done with my first book by Octavia Butler despite what has been a hectic reading schedule of late (for me anyway). 

MT 1:57:15 Half-Marathon complete, I see my parents, who were a really awesome support team, and hand off my MP3 Player to my cheering Mom.  I increase my pace.

MT 2:20.00 A spectator is holding a sign that reads, “Let the Wookie Win!”  Too true. 

MT 3:02.04 20 Miles.  Every step I take after this point, I am running further than I’ve ever run before.  A dolphin surfaces on the banks of the Indian River.  My foot pain is causing me problems.

MT 3:30.00 My foot, the right one with plantar fasciitis, is officially going to break in half and I can feel my pace slipping.  I try to fall into step with a guy in a red shirt and tell him I’m running with him.  He just says, “misery loves company,” and that’s all I need to hear, so random guy that I chose to force myself on, Andrew from Washington, I hope I didn’t ruin the end of your marathon with my grunting and chattering.  And thanks!

MT4:14.30 After much pain and then also some more pain.  I cross the finish line.  Ali (Wife) runs up from behind me and literally right after she snaps a photo we both start crying and just hold each other.  It was an amazing feeling and I didn’t realize how important the feat was going to be until just then.

My Stats

Space Coast Marathon in Cocoa Beach, FL

Training miles 303+ (I didn’t keep track of these very well, but this is what I logged on this blog)

Finishing time 4h 14m 30s with a pace time of 9:43

Placed 358 of 886 overall and 23 of 31 in my age group

After finishing the Space Coast Marathon, Green Mars, and Doomsday Book this week, I am feeling pretty drained, and at a loss for words.  A great marathon and two great books in one week has left me mentally, emotionally, and physically drained, but it also means that the only thing that stands between me and the end of this entire ridiculous challenge is 20 Hugo Award winners.  Holy crap, I can totally do this.  I think.

Go Forth...and Die.

The Space Coast Marathon, my first marathon, is about 30 hours away.  I haven't yet figured out how any blogging might work this weekend but I might even try to resurrect the video update!

I had my last training run on Thursday and even though it was really short, my energy was crazy high.  At the risk of sounding overly dramatic, I was feeling like I was standing outside the Stratos, 128,000-feet up and ready to jump.  At this point, I know I'll cross the finish line but how I get there is anybody's guess.  I'm confident adrenaline and the prospect of completing one half of the challenge of this blog would propel me to Mars right now, and I will be near Cape Canaveral so there's a good chance I'll reach escape velocity.

Sure Emme, you can measure Daddy.  I have nothing better to do.

Well, I've done just about everything I can except train in a way that doesn't suggest I am a complete idiot.  For the record,
<-------that is my happy face.

But seriously, I've got just about as much gear as I could ask for.  Here, the only thing missing is my clothing which I bought in preparation for warm weather.  As it turns out it should be a low of something like 53-degrees, which in Florida may as well be the temperature of the surface of the Moon.  Again, my intelligence on display.

Some things of note here.  1) The weird sock.  I've developed pretty bad Plantar Fasciitis.  The sleeve is made just for the problem and my local running shop gave it to me for free.  I likely would not finish without it.  It was only in the past month that I realized my foot pain was neither normal nor acceptable and it has progressed to the point now that at about 3 to 5 miles into a run, my foot feels like it will break in half.  I'll let you know how it feels after 26.2-miles.  2) Once the sweat happens, my current pair of glasses literally shoot off of my face.  I'll be running in an old pair which means I'll be running half-blind.  Setting myself up for success.  3) That little deodorant looking thing.  It is simultaneously one of the things I couldn't run this marathon without and also my final reminder before running that what I am about to do is just moronic.  I am about to run so far that my body will literally fall apart if it is not properly smeared with a great quantities of grease.  It's like a horribly depraved runners anointing.  In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti, go ye therefore and run until thy body doth crumble.

Admonishing Myself...and Feeling Pretty Good About It

I am exceedingly good at setting impossible and only half-thought out goals for myself.  Case in point: The Hugo Endurance Project.

You may have noticed that my posts have become less and less frequent.  Often my only posts for weeks are my actual reviews and it seems every week is harder to post, even those, on time (regardless of when I actually finish the book).  Well, behind my absence of posts, there is actually a lot going on; I am have been working through some problems.  So, since you’re all along for the ride, how about making some time for the airing of grievances eh?

Issue 1: Finishing books on time.  I suck at that.

Do you remember back when I was reading Stand on Zanzibar and thought I was so clever for choosing to start the book early because it was “too long”?  It’s funny how I thought I had conquered the Hugos and was rapidly marching my advance with nothing to stop me.

I am an idiot.  I think I’ve said this before.

So then came Downbelow Station, and you all know how that went.  And the very next week my wife came home from the library with her hand hidden in the library bag and just said, “I’m so sorry Jeremy,” and pulled out CYTEEN.

Issue 2: Long distance running.  I suck at this too.

About the same time that I was struggling through Downbelow Station, my marathon training schedule was starting to get ridiculous.  Up until that point, I had been running in the evening, often after my daughter was put to bed and because my runs were always pretty short, I was done quickly and still had some time to spend with my wife before reading and blogging.  But now while my weekend runs have rocketed to upwards of 15 miles, even my week day runs have gotten long enough that I just don’t have time to do this and actually be a part of my family AND read crazy amounts of pages and then talk like an idiot on the internet about them.

So I started thinking about the early start time of the Space Coast Marathon – 6:15 am – and said hey, I better get practicing at that time.  I figured I’d stumbled onto the secret to making time for running and for books and from here on out, life would be peaches.  I hadn’t and it isn’t.

Issue 3: Listening to my body.  I don’t.

I am always treating my body like I’m still a little kid.  In my mind, I still run my high school sub 6:00 mile.  In my mind, I can wake up on any given day and my body will do any given thing I ask of it and I have super powers.  In reality, my body does not respond the way I want it to, sub 8:00 miles are tough and recovery seems to take weeks (my wife suggested I’m just getting older which sounds to me like she is crazy).  Unfortunately, I do not have those super powers, and that is just one of the harsh realizations I’ve had to face up to since the double-whammy of C.J. Cherryh and miles and miles of training created the perfect storm of collaboration against me.

ANYWAY, making the switch was way, WAY, harder than I expected.  The first time I ran eleven miles after waking up, my body almost called it quits.  I refused to believe it was my fault.  It must be the heat!  Maybe my Camelbak isn’t big enough?  Maybe I just need to do it MORE!  Then one morning I was listening to Foundation’s Edge and thinking, how is it these people, with such incredible mind control, can still have hidden parts?  And in a moment of inspiration I thought, You do…you don’t listen.  You don’t listen…and you know it.  It was a moment of clarity and intense self-loathing, inspired by none other than 1983’s Hugo winner (my birth year, freaky huh?).

Issue 4: Following directions.  I can’t.

So after some soul searching, I decided I needed to get serious about making some changes.  I needed to go to bed earlier, wake up earlier, pay more attention and just keep working hard.  So what is the first thing I do?  Decide to start a new (to us) TV series on Netflix with my wife.  I told myself I needed balance, not just between pages and asphalt, but with my wife too.  I was probably right, but that led me to continuing to make the same poor sleeping and reading decisions.  The result:  I’m still not even half-way through Cyteen and I continued to struggle with waking up early enough to run before work.  So you add that to all the other rules I’ve broken in the course of this dual challenge and wow, my record of violations is embarrassing.

But you know what?  Who the hell cares!  Despite all my complaining, I’m getting a heck of a lot better and smarter as a runner (15 miles last Saturday and another 13 this week); I’ve actually amassed over 200 training miles now.  That must count for something…right?  I’m also over half-way through the Hugos.

Say WHAT?!

Yeah.  I’m half done and I’m only behind by one book.  I’ve been listening to more audiobooks and 24 became too stupid for me to continue watching so I’m back to slogging through Cyteen so it’s looking like I’ll be back on track soon.  BOOYEAH!

Despite some of my setbacks and complaints and not being able to follow my own rules, I feel pretty good about finishing this thing.  In just over 9 weeks, I’ll have run a marathon.  About 20 weeks later, I will have read every single Hugo winner.  In terms of my own personal fantasy-world opinion of myself, I’m kinda feeling like a BOSS right now (not really, I always feel like crap ;-) ).

I Am Really Slacking

After my first 3-or-so months of beginning this blog, I had racked-up about a hundred miles of training runs and was progressing pretty well toward my goal of being able to run a marathon by the end of November.  I was battling long-lasting sicknesses throughout and then the heat of Florida's summer set in and I apparently felt sufficiently justified to explain away my poor training habits.  Of course they were never good excuses anyway, but now I've really got stop avoiding it.  The race is coming up in only 16 weeks and I've got to get moving, so hopefully you'll start seeing my mileage ticker slowly increasing again.  NO MORE EXCUSES!

Running on Mars!

I was finally able to run for the first time in quite a few weeks tonight (yesterday by the time you read this).  Poor respiratory health has tried to keep me from my marathon training, I’m finally back and although my body really tried to make me think I didn’t want to run, it felt great once I did.  Boy was it NOT like riding a bike though.

You all know my issue with GEAR.  It has been so long since I ran last that I actually some entirely new gear this time and all the excitement began with me filling my Camelbak and promptly dumping it all down the front of the refrigerator.  Naturally, my response was to stand there with a limp sack in my hands babbling like an idiot until my wife told me to get a towel.

Long story short, I had to retie my shoes a few times because my new insoles felt funny, couldn’t remember how to use my watch (finished my run in 00:00:00 – not bad!) and fumbled with my headphones for at least the first ¼ mile.  At least I’m healthy enough to run again.

Now I have to backtrack a little.  For the past couple weeks, I’ve been reading/listening to Red Mars in preparation for Kim Stanley Robinson’s Hugo Winner Green Mars which is the second book in the Mars Trilogy.  It has been an AMAZING book, but juggling between the HEP books and other challenges/reading whims have me pausing and restarting and generally taking forever to read an already massive book.

I think the only reason I’ve been able to jump back and forth is because Red Mars is so good.  It doesn’t feel like someone imagined the colonization of Mars the way they’d like it to be, but the way that it inevitably must be.  The characters are compelling, convincing, terribly and realistically flawed and the dialogue (and sometimes monologues) just feels right.  And the Science.  Oh god, the Science…

So, it is taking quite a long time to get through but it is always in the forefront of my mind, even as I switch back and forth with other great books like The Lies of Locke Lamora.  So much so that when I came within 30 mins of finishing part 2 of the audiobook this weekend, I decided to finish it during my run last night.

About the time that I was half-way through my run, I had reached the climactic scene when everyone had gathered to witness the icy asteroid burn up in the Martian atmosphere.  I started to get a sensation that I was running down a darkening tunnel when Hiroko approached John Boone and called for a speech.  The tingly burst that hit my spine harder than any 2^nd wind came on right when everyone started chanting BOONE!  BOONE!  BOONE!

I was running pretty slowly since I hadn’t run in a while, so I know it wasn’t my endorphins.  But I swear if I had jumped, I would have flown.  The combination of running again and listening to Boone’s speech was a feeling unlike anything else and that same tingle kept hitting me over and over throughout his speech to the crowd of “Martians”.

Another part of the experience was John Boone’s ability to speak and inspire off-the-cuff.  I have occasion to speak publicly every-so-often and dang-it do I wish I could talk to a group of people like that.  It really was an inspiration.  Mentally, physically, I felt like I could do ANYTHING!  I could have run a marathon right then while convincing the world of anything I wanted.  Don’t question me on it!

So, to actually make a long story short, while Red Mars it isn’t for everyone by a long shot, as Emmeline likes to say “guac-a-moly-moly” (holy guacamole) do I not want it to end.

"Serious" Runners

Lately my wife has been struggling to understand what sets us apart from “serious” runners.  She has convinced herself the key to appearing “serious” lies in the relative brightness of one’s clothing.  I think she is only half right.  There is also The Gear.

The last race that Ali and I ran together was on a frigid 60⁰ morning in Florida’s week long winter.  I have no cold weather gear so I very nearly froze to death.  I began to realize how woefully unprepared I am for a full year of all-weather marathon training and thus I began populating my now monolithic list of suddenly indispensable gear if I am to have any chance of completing this challenge.  Since that time, the paraphernalia has been steadily growing.  Watch, sunglasses, proper running shoes, mp3 player.  I thought I was nearly prepared, until I started training in earnest.

The first thing I noticed: runners need fluids.  I have, in the past, stuck to short distance races and have never really needed to worry getting enough fluids.  Even when I was young, playing hockey and baseball, I always declined hydration; I don’t know exactly why I’ve always been this way.  I began running longer distances shortly before starting this blog though and now that I have started to increase my mileage, I am learning the value of staying hydrated.  So much so that I am, literally, in the process of purchasing one of those damn Camelbacks.  As much as I don’t want to use it, there are no drink stations every half-mile throughout SCP and the unthinkably oppressive heat of Southwest Florida has forced me to give in.

Lately, I have been running at night.  Because I have given myself the deceptively difficult task of training for a marathon while reading almost every night (in addition to my normal life), I have been forced to do a majority of my running at night, after the females in my life have become too cranky for human interaction.  This necessity combined with the dangerous road conditions in SCP, has left me feeling extremely uncomfortable without having some kind of light to alert drivers of my presence.

Then, there is another piece of gear.  To which I am determined and unrelenting in my opposition.  It probably doesn’t precisely qualify as a fluid or a gear.  Terrible Gear.  Just like the areas of the body it is applied to, it occupies some kind of netherworld of running paraphernalia.  Imagine rubbing your hands together for 2 hours, how raw your hands would be.  Imagine rubbing your more sensitive parts for that length of time.  At some point, even clothing becomes a vicious irritant, literally tearing away at your skin.  In case you’re slow on the uptake, I’m talking about butts.  I’m talking about nipples.  I am talking about nipples, dripping with blood.  From running.

The solution to this problem, I am told, is Vaseline.  Vaseline.  There are runners out there, who are so determined to run that they will perform a pre-run lousing of Vaseline.  Vaseline!  They are so committed to putting themselves through hell that they are willing to pack Vaseline into the darkest corners of the world.  You might be thinking the idea of Vaseline on nipples would probably not be all that bad, but in this case, the essence of slathered nipples precedes the existence of slathered nipples.  Sartre could not separate these slippery nipples from the reason for their raison d'être.  Even in the face of terrible nipples, it is the Vaseline that inspires in me true horror.

To date I have not had to submit to the vaselaic lousing of my secret places, even for an hour and half of uninterrupted running in the hot Florida sun.  It is this coming weekend though, that I am scheduled to run my longest distance ever of 11 miles.  Should I finish my run with blood dripping down my shirt, the future of this project will really be in jeopardy.  Now, I’m exceedingly proficient at swallowing my pride, and I’ve enjoyed the last week and a half of blogging, but I don’t know if I can handle washing that kind of blood out of my shirt.

Of course, I have my theories as to why I have never required a pre-vaz session, and the one I’m more inclined to believe is that my latent super-powers are finally coming to bear.  Think about it.  In The Incredibles, Dash needed a specially formulated suit to withstand the friction.  I bet Superman never worried about chafing.  Man of steel, titanium nipples.

Getting back to the moral of the story though, if this is what it takes to become a “serious” runner, to dog-ear my nipples, I emphatically refuse to be anything other than vaguely engaged in the sport.