An open letter to shoe companies

Dear Running Shoe Companies,

Every few months, I provide you with between $100 and $150. Most of the time I will purchase one kind of shoe for a year until you either change it drastically or I hurt myself and I need to try something new to support my newly found injury.  Dearest Running Shoe Companies, you may have noticed that I haven't been keeping up on this running blog over the last few months...and that is because I have been dealing with (or-not-dealing-with-whatever-leave-me-alone-I-am-going-to-the-doctor-tomorrow-shut-up) a hurt ankle.

So after working my last pair of shoes into the ground as part of my non-impact, non-running, very-boring work outs at the gym, I needed a new pair of running shoes. I decided a pair with significantly more support, perhaps even motion control, would be a good idea to protect my ankle from pronation thanks to my super flat feet.

I went off to Sports Basement to get a new pair of shoes and committed to the support. But to my dismay all of those options were ugly and monochromatic.  I am sure you know, Running Shoe Companies, I like to wear crazy shoes and wacked out running gear. But why you got to be like that with the supportive shoes?

Not all of us are grandmothers trying to get in a few laps with our mall walking group.  Some of your most dedicated runners are slightly larger with flat feet and flair for the dramatic running outfit. Ok that is just me, but really what gives?

Brooks, one of my favorite running companies has BRIGHT shoes and gear but BORING motion control kicks. Nike seems to have some fun stuff for the support-deficient crowd, but nothing like their insanely fun to look at Free Series or fly knit woven shoes.  Asics, makers of those neat-o painted shoes, make gray and blue shoes for people like me.

Step up your support shoe decorations folks. I like to look fly when I am running and it seems if I ever can get back to really covering great distances, I would like more choices than topee and light green stripes.

And yes, it feels good to be back even it if is only for five or six miles.

Send my best to your family,

thedcc

Without a plan

I don't have one of these right now.

For nearly the past three years, I have been constantly training for a marathon or half marathon.  I could have run a half marathon on one day's notice pretty much at anytime during this period. I had a plan I would stick to it no matter what, even to the determent of my own body (see: busted ankle posts).

But now, thanks to the parenthetically noted busted ankle, I am not following an official training plan.  And as I noted late last week, my not-on-paper plan of three runs and three spins was just a bit ambitious for my out-of-shape self. 

So I am without a plan. I feel lost and cold inside.

Confronting the Royalty

Kara Goucher is American running royalty.  She is fast, well-sponsored, widely respected for being nice to average Joes, and a total babe. But she might not be helping people with their training.

I read her Tweet today and was sort of  pissed about it. Because that just isn't true.

All of us fail at some point and for someone like Kara to say otherwise is not fair to the mere mortals who look up to her and other elites.

In short, failure is what makes us stronger and faster. Failure also makes us better people.  For example, many of us, myself included, would love to qualify for Boston. Odds are I will never qualify for that race so I will live vicariously through my chums who are wicked fast and elites like Kara. However, this failure to qualify at my current marathon times pumps me up to train harder for the possibility to join my wicked fast chums in Hopkinton.

In recent years Kara has expressed her desire to win that race.  Now, if she doesn't win this year is that failure?  Under most definitions it would be.

But that is a good thing.

We need a lot more than love

This morning as many of us on the West Coast were getting ready for work, the cheery December morning shows were interrupted shattering our normalcy.  Mocktail recipes were cut short to blast images of SWAT teams rushing into an elementary school and lackluster journalist reports telling us that many children were killed in a small town in Connecticut.

At this hour 20 children, six adults and the shooter have been pronounced dead in Sandy Hook Elementary School.  Kids were shot in two classrooms. Classrooms. At school. 

In the aftermath of today's horrific events we need a hell of a lot more than love.

Sorry, we need more. (source)

Pictures of hugging and smiling children don't stop another Sandy Hook.  They don't save the lives of the children who will be killed in the next school shooting, because we know there will be another one.  Prayers will not do anything to stop a person from legally purchasing an automatic weapon, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and pulling the trigger. Tweets and Facebook posts will not provide mental healthcare services to those who need them.

No in fact the only thing those things will do is make you feel better for not getting killed today.

So here are a few things you can do that might help.

Call the President and demand he send a bill to Congress.  Fiscal Cliff or not, dead children should be enough to make him act.

Call Congress and tell them to get their act together. They must support and improve access to mental healthcare and pass a comprehensive assault weapons ban. Again, dead kids motivate people.

If you are in D.C. join my friend Adam Barr and thousands of others tonight at the White House to demand action because #TodayIsTheDay to end gun violence.

 Make a donation. 

There is no explanation that we can give for a massacre of children. All Americans are responsible for this one.  Let this be the last day we place our hands over our mouths and watch the unimaginable play out on the news.

An Anti-Government Rant

Over the course of my running I have lost a good deal of poundage.  I was pushing American unhealthy when I started running. Now I am in better shape...I even have one of those before and after shots. 

Pre and Post Running

I am in even better shape now than I was in this picture which was taken during the IU Mini Marathon in 2011.  But according to the USDA I am border line obese with an estimated Body Mass Index (BMI) of 29.  Now I don't feel like I am on the edge of death by heart disease or walking up stars and having the house lit on fire. 

Not in the humble brag way, but I have run 974 miles this year and will complete two marathons within a month and I love it. I eat at least 1/3 of a plate of greens with every meal and I don't have red meat more than a few times a month. We have cut most of the "bad" foods out of our at home diet and have low-fat high-protein breakfasts 6 days-a-week.  I can't tell you the last time I had McDonald's and I have  completely ended my Diet Coke addiction.  All of this and the Government says I am border line obese -- which sucks.

Two Hours and Fifty-something

In today's installment of why I hate politics I would like to focus on a lie that any marathoner can spot. In that this post is really about running, you don't get an early exit puppy link.

In an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt last week, Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan said he's run a sub-3:00 marathon.

In the interview, after Ryan told Hewitt that he ran in high school, Hewitt asked if Ryan still runs. Ryan replied, "Yeah, I hurt a disc in my back, so I don't run marathons anymore. I just run ten miles or less." When Hewitt asked Ryan what his personal best is, Ryan replied, "Under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something." Source: Runner's World (Updated at 7:20pm with new info.)

I call bullshit, Mr. Ryan. If you ran a Boston Qualifying marathon, either with this year's or last year's rules, you would remember where it was, the weather, how you felt at mile 22, what you wore and for sure you would remember your exact time.

Ryan's finish line photo

I don't believe runners are a significant voting block so this won't matter much. But this kind of crap is a sure way to piss us off. These are PERSONAL records and should be held as point of pride.

My first marathon was completed in 5:00:03 and I am proud of that. It stood as my personal best time until I ran my second marathon, where I cut nearly an hour off my time with a 4:00:11 marathon.  Believe me I would remember my 2:50ish marathon for sure.  And I am not alone; we all remember how we did in that PR race.

NYC Marathon 2010, Owning 5:00:03

It is one thing to lie to me about medicare funding (which you did) or even about the President's record (which you did).  But don't lie to me about your marathon times you blowhard. You are no longer a guy with a big heart from a small town; you are on the main stage.  Mr. Ryan, you have graduated to the big leagues and now you need to run a clean race and finish, but not make up your times. When you came up fast from the back bench of Congress people were impressed with your P90X routine and your boyish good looks, but that doesn't cut it anymore.

Step-up and lead, or get off the course.

Fine, here is a puppy link.

The Word of the Day is Liar

Puppy Link

When I was in fifth grade, my class took a trip to Sacramento to do gold rush stuff, take pictures, and eat too much candy in Old Town Sac. But there are two things that I remember most from this trip.  My dad came along as a chaperone and we watched a comedy show, which I think was In Living Color, in which they spoofed a kids' show with a word of the day.

The word of the day was liar. L I A R, Liar.  The bit was way above my head at the time but the adults who were in the room thought it was really funny, and the kids just laughed along.

L I A R

This is a long way of saying that the spelling of liar in that sing-song kids' show way was ringing through my head while reading Paul Ryan's speech from last night. (Yeah, I don't watch. I just read in the morning. Better than coffee to get you moving.)

But this morning the liberal Internets exploded with claims of FOX News calling Ryan a liar. This claim is just a lazy and untruthful as his speech.

Sally Kohn, an opinion contributor to FOX News' website, is a left-wing, community-organizing, feminist with a history of working for foundations and organizations that support equality for LGBT Americans. Sounds like the typical FOX News contributor, right?

History is Written By the Victors

This is a political post so, here is the requisite puppy link.

While the title quote cannot be attributed to one source, we can attribute the degradation of our educational system to the Tea  Party.  In a story you can file under "You have got to be kidding me" we learn that Tea Party activists in Tennessee are actively lobbying to include the rosier aspects of the Antebellum South in the state educational curriculum.

This group of activists wants to include the following in the standards for selecting text books, according to the HuffPost's report:

"No portrayal of minority experience in the history which actually occurred shall obscure the experience or contributions of the Founding Fathers, or the majority of citizens, including those who reached positions of leadership."

In order to celebrate the Founding Fathers, says the Tea Party, we must ignore aspects of history.  Look at the bright side, at least they aren't out-right denying the rape, pillage, and murder.

Seperating Sox in the News Cycle

Here is your puppy link, as promised.

It has been a tough few days in Red Sox nation. We lost Youk.  This hard-nosed, ass-kicking, Jewish infielder and killer batsman who helped secure the first and second championships for my Boston Red Sox in eons was traded.  His age, diminished speed, injuries, and the presence of a new guy hitting about .375, all mean that this super star is off the Chicago White Sox.  It was sad.  He will be forever loved in Boston and throughout the Red Sox nation.

Then to make matters worse, the President of the United States made a joke about this trade.  The President, an ardent White Sox fan, is excited about having Youkilis on his team.  Obama struck a cord when he joked about it at a fundraiser in Boston.  It was a bit too soon to make a joke at the expense of a team, my team, so soon after loosing a hero.  You could say, his joke stung just a bit.

You know, reading back over that last paragraph I note the excessive use of the word JOKE.  It was pretty funny, a bit mean, but pretty funny.

But not to the Romney camp:

“Last night in Boston, President Obama went to the heart of Red Sox nation and committed an error by taunting fans over the Kevin Youkilis trade to the Chicago White Sox,” [Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea] Saul wrote in an email. “And he was booed for it. . . at his own event! The Red Sox have suffered many setbacks over the years – the Babe Ruth trade, the ball through Buckner’s legs, the Bucky Dent home run. Maybe the President should have congratulated the team for winning the World Series in 2004 and 2007. Instead, he chose to mock them for trading away one of its favorite players at a time when the team is struggling.”

Oh, for sake of something people!  There has been an entire news cycle dominated by this silly comment.  The President is a White Sox fan. He was digging at Red Sox fans. That is what sports fans do.  And when politicos pretend to care about the team for votes, nothing good happens. I remind you of an interview with former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson in which he said on Meet the Press that he liked the Red Sox and Yankees.

This non-issue should have been left for the sports guys on ESPN to talk about not the Romney camp or the Obama guys.  Sports are fun and totally meaningless, and that is what makes them fun. 

Come on now.  I will forever distrust this front office for canning the best (with his own set of problems) manager the Red Sox ever had for this blowhard and for showing Theo the door but I know my life will go on after the Red Sox don't make it to the play-offs.  Also I hate the Yankees (had to get it in).  But that is for Sports Center debates and bar room conversation with like-minded fans.  Just a thought, the presidential campaigns could talk about the economy or healthcare or foreign policy or seniors or education or anything else...

SPORTS ARE FUN.  Making fun of an opposing team, when done for fun, is fine.  Now. SHUT UP and try to make the country better.

Why No One Can Have it All

Or Why Anne-Marie Slaughter is wrong.

While a number of very smart women have chimed in and written great articles about why this interminable essay was bad, missed the point, is dangerous, or simply stupid, there aren't a lot of men who have or will.  I grew up in a household were my mom went to work and climbed the corporate ladder.  My dad stayed home, ran his own business, and waited until both kids were in or done with college to have what you could call a traditional career.

Arguably you could say, my home life was very much a product of the feminist revolution. I have been called on occasion a feminist.

But before going on to my thoughts on The Atlantic article, I asked two people who also lived in my house to comment on the article:

“Jesus, I got to the end of the first page and saw there were six more pages. No wonder she couldn't get her work done. Fucking academics -- they don't know when to shut up. – Mother, 58, Senior Executive at a Fortune 50 Company

“Ugh. This has been floating around all day and I've been avoiding it, because I don't give a shit why The Atlantic thinks I'm going to be barefoot in the kitchen.

“I just think [the concept of the article is] so stupid. Men make the same choices, it's just that they don't care as much -- or maybe they do! And then they step down too! Like, cool the fuck out; life is full of compromises…obviously you have to make compromises. I just think this is so dumb and backward ...  You can't be a traditional stay-at-home mom and a high powered executive in the same way you can't be a high-powered executive male and coach all your kids’ sports teams. There are 24 hours in a day, regardless of your sex.” – Sister, 25, Ivy League Graduate and Third-Year Medical Student at a Top 10 Medical School

My mother went on to say that the unbelievably long essay was a "six page cop-out" of the ideals that the author allegedly still supports and was riddled with hypocrisy and contradictions. 

And I agree.  The issue at the heart of this essay should be what do you value you more, not finding a way to have everything at once.  Feminism, as I understand it, was (and is) a fight for choices, not a fight for women have the same life as men.

Everyone, as my sister notes, must make choices in life.  This does not mean that society couldn't shift slightly to help make those choices easier.  And there is no doubt that because of women (and men) who came before my sister, she is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate and is well on her way to earning her M.D. at one of the best medical schools in the world.

The only thing she has to thank them for is opening the door.

And while that door was a real pain to open, she had to learn, study, lose sleep, sacrifice health, and make many other CHOICES to make it to where she is today. You cannot take away the fact that my sister -- not some conceptual fem-ubermench -- worked hard.  There were real sacrifices that were and continue to be made. 

The entire concept of work-life balance is a myth.  You either work more or you "life" more. There is never a perfect mix if you are racing to the top. Something has got to give.  And the sooner you realize that, the sooner "having it all" becomes just as meaningless as an essay written by an academic who had to live through two years of what every female executive at a large or growth company deals with everyday.

The choices aren't tough

When I haven't been blogging about running, food, or other fun stuff in my new city, I have been talking about why I am sick of political discourse.  This is another installment in my multi-part, ever-developing series exploring my disgust of the political space.  So if you too are sick of politics, are one of my friends who makes his or her living in the space, or just don't care what I have to say about the issue, here is a link that will take you to pictures of puppies.  (Future installments will always have an early exit puppy link.)

As you know, 2012 is an election year.  This year we will be faced with plethora choices of very stupid candidates promising all sorts of craziness. Local, state, and Federal elections will dominate the news outlets for the next five or so months. These news outlets will break news that will sound freakishly like this:

OBAMA SLIPS 3% WITH UNDECIDED VOTERS AFTER HE ATE SUSHI

or

ROMNEY IN THE MARGIN, POS OUTWEIGH NEG FIRST TIME 

Two things come to mind when I read these kinds of headlines:  

1. I think Greece actually got this one right.
2. WHO THE HELL ARE THESE PEOPLE?

The Business of Sports

There is no doubt in anyone's mind that when Little Johny gets his first Little League Jersey, he is dreaming of his first contract, complete with slugging percentage bonuses.

Oh, sorry.  He is most likely pretending to be his favorite player on his favorite team as he cracks a game winner in the bottom of the ninth, the standing ovation from the capacity crowed and jumping-slapping-head-home-plate-dance that the norm for MLB walk-off celebrations.

While there is no doubt that sports are big business, there are a few things within the business of sport that transcend the money. I would like to think that kids playing, the thrill of winning it all, and the spectacle of the Olympics still fall into the transcendent category.  But it would appear I would be wrong.

It appears that the always classy Dwayne Wade, the measured and thoughtful Marc Cuban, and the author of that post and editor of My Athletic Life Tim Huntley believe that the athletes should get paid to compete in the Olympics.  Huntley points to a number of ill-advised responses to Wade's recent commentary from an ESPN blog.  The reason why those who say they would rather lose the Olympic championship than have greedy (yeah I said it) NBA stars represent our country are right is based on that kid who dreams of the big hit.

This isn't to disparage those with limited other skills from making millions of dollars but rather to say at some point, money should dictate all actions.  There are some things you do for honor and some you do for pay.  Oh yeah, you PLAY A GAME for a living. So shut up you spoiled brat, be thankful for your gift and the culture that pays you to be a brute, and go win the gold for the best country on earth!

USA USA USA USA USA USA!!!

Maybe it isn't nuance

Maybe it is just because people are really stupid.

My last post was all about the inability of people and leaders to see the shades of gray in any situation. But rather, it may be that people and leaders are simply ignorant.

Ignorant of history. 

Let's start with a little test -- Fill in the blanks:

[The] solution to the current problem is “more prisons and migrant detention camps,” and that BLANK must “prepare more military bases where we can jail all of them without exception.” (Italics mine)

Any guesses? Oh, yeah it is Israel. Interior Minister Eli Yishai said this in an interview where he claimed that Israeli woman are "often" raped by African migrant workers but don't report it because they are worried about the stigma of getting AIDS.

Yup. Israel.

My initial reaction: ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  Did you miss the reason why Israel was supported by the UN? Did you not get the memo?  Remember that time when Jews had the same issues in Europe?  It is bad and equally historically ignorant when anti-Semites make the Nazi=Zionism connection but when you make it this easy, it is hard for anyone outside of the extreme to support Israel.

Idiots, and Nuance in Debate

Over the past few months I have been trying to figure out why I don't care about politics as much as I used to care about politics.  I also wanted to know why I have become so much more cynical about almost everything.

My lovely wife thought it may have to do with the somewhat isolating experience and the fact that many of my secondary needs (my wife, my stuff, my "life") were still in New York while I was living in San Francisco.  In other words, my Maslow's hierarchy of needs were down graded.  She has a Master's degree in this stuff so I trust her on that front. 

But I have an other idea. While I still care a bit, I am significantly more suspicious of "true change agents" and "value based conservatives." I can't stand the bullshit of it all any more and it seems like I could very easily unplug and just care about myself and my family.  It would be hard at first, but eventually, it would be easier than hitting my head against the wall working for the fairness of it all.

Unfair: Cheese Destroyed By Earthquake - via The Atlantic

But beyond the "life isn't fair" argument I think the loss of perspective and nuance is what makes me crazy.

Earlier yesterday I posted an article from The Jerusalem Post on my Facebook wall. This article reported that a number of Jewish women were detained briefly by the police for wearing Jewish prayer shawls and p the Western Wall in Jerusalem, to which I commented that Israel can't use the open access of its holy sites as justification of the occupation of the West Bank if the state isn't going to provide actual open access to its holy sites.

The reaction from my right-wing radical friend was swift, saying that these 'brave' (quotes where his) women should also fight for access to Muslim holy sites because Islamic regulations are worse than those ratified by radical regressive rabbis and enforced by the state of Israel.  Even if the world was a series of choices between clear rights and wrongs, without any shade of grey this would still be a stupid ass argument.  But this isn't the only example of the loss of nuance within debate that is bugging me right now. 

Mayor Cory Booker and Governor Deval Patrick have come out in support of Private Equity generally and Bain Capital specifically. Again this is a huge problem for those black and white thinkers. As you most likely know, Booker and Patrick are both rising stars in the Democratic Party and both openly and wholeheartedly support President Obama.  

Now, as you also know Bain Capital is evil because Governor Mitt Romney ran it for many years and now he is running for President.  Bain has created and cut jobs.  There is no denying this. But painting all Private Equity with one brush is just as ridiculous as thinking that three politicians at different levels of government, working for very different constituencies would be in lock step ideologically because they are all black.

However the truly atrocious issue here is that Booker has had to publicly clarify his statements to prove he was loyal to the President Obama.  He said that a company that has a role in the market isn't evil or bad.  Yet the reaction of the press has been as if he endorsed Mitt Romney and the GOP platform. Where is the critical thinking?

We could go on and on but these two examples of all or nothing, black and white thinking is why I am on the brink of being done. 

I do have some hope but not too much.

I feel the need to rant

I know exactly what I want to say and to whom I would like to say it, but I KNOW it won't do any good.  This group is currently in transition and I believe they are totally missing the point.

However, because I don't want to waste my good will (or breath) and believe doing so would not benefit anyone, I will rant about something else.

Today I will rant about communal washers and dryers.

First of all, if you clean you nasty cat piss covered cat bed in our community washers, WIPE DOWN THE WASHER AND DRYER.  I get you are a cat lady and are in everyone's damn business but for the sake of all things, will you do my a favor and clean the machines that I am trying to use to make my clothing clean?  If not, buy my Claritin D and leave it in my mail box.

Now on to the rest of this:

Power: Africa, Social Media and Meaningful Change

For those of you who do not choose to earn a liberal arts degree in the International Relations and have not sat through a number of courses that focused on Sub-Saharan Africa, here is the 30 second version of history:

There were thousands of small and large communities, states, and nations that lived, grew and shrank for thousands of years in Sub-Saharan Africa with as many government, political, and religious structures as there were communities, states, and nations. There were times of peace and prosperity and times of strife and war.

Then Europeans showed up. Stuff started changing. We can talk about the raping and pillaging if you want but what is key is that European powers saw the continent as a place for raw materials, from minerals to rubber to slaves. LOTS of things happened over the next five or so generations but here is the take away: Africa was a place for resources and nothing else.

Then "Africans" -- that singular group of people (...) -- started demanding independence and started getting it. Through this process some bad stuff happened, most notably the violent expression of repression tactics employed by the Europeans to control different groups identified as different by the Europeans.

You are now up to date.

Clearly this is unbelievably abridged and painfully flawed but so was that video you told me to watch yesterday.

The Culture of Expectation and Entitlement

Members of the Jewish community are often flabbergasted when people my age choose not to join a synagogue or other institutions. As the token "young person" on boards and committees, I have heard it all before: Why don't you come? Is it too expensive? Would you come if it was free? And my answer to these question is always the same: It is an issue of values not value.

However, this is lost of the major funders of the Jewish community - Case In Point: Birthright.

Taglit Birthright Israel provides thousands of young people with what it would call an opportunity to experience Israel. Nay, they would call it a gift. The gift of Birthright. In fact we are told that it is a gift and we just should say thanks and enjoy it.

There are thousands of pages of journals, blogs, and news paper articles praising or condemning the programing of this "journey." And while there is a lot that is great about Birthright, there is a lot wrong with this program.

But the worst thing Birthright has done to my generation is that it has created an expectation of free goods and services.

This could not be any more clear in the completely misguided BirthrightNext Shabbat in a Box.

Meat Grinder Jews
Put in Numbers Get Committed Community Members

At the Speed of Business

Look. I get it. San Francisco is all hip and cool. The pace is slower and the nights are shorter and for sure the weather is better than New York. Over all things are easier here in California. But for the love of God! Could you walk a bit faster?

It is like everyone in this town is a tourist in Time Square mesmerized by the lights and sounds.

Put your head down, watch where you are going and get there, faster.

I would understand if this was along Fisherman's Wharf or in Union Square but in the middle of the Financial District? Come on people, we have stuff to do and we have places to go. Put down the iPad and individually and intentionally brewed Blue Bottle Coffee and get out of the way.

Thanks!