Like father like son

A few days ago I sent out an e-mail with details about the wedding to everyone in my family.   The e-mail mostly talked about the date, the venue, and other miscellaneous details, but I also mentioned that I was planning on hosting an informal "Wedding Day Dash 5k" for wedding guests on the morning of the ceremony. I concluded the e-mail by encouraging anyone to write me with questions if they had any.  My dad wrote me back with the following questions tonight:

1. When and where can I pick up my chip for the race?
2. Will there be long-sleeve or short-sleeve race T-shirts?
3. Will there be a 65 and over age group?
4. Is there a push up contest Saturday morning?
5. And a suggestion: add a triathlon of ping pong, darts, and standing broad jump to the Saturday activities.

Dad, this excerpt from the race's website should cover all the basics:

"Online registration will open tomorrow at 8:00am EST.  Those with a qualifying time of 20:00 or better in a previous 5k may register first.  Two days later, qualifying times of 25:00 and better will be accepted.  (Note: qualifying times from the Norm Draper Qualifying 5k will not be honored).  If spaces are still available, registration will open to the general public two days later.  On your registration, please note which corral you belong in: 1 (faster than Usain Bolt), 2 (might beat the groom but might regret it too), or 3 (mangelhaft). Registration must be completed through a sketcho third party company that will charge an exorbitant "processing" fee.  Registration through and including October 31st will be $95 and will increase incrementally leading up to race day.  Online registration closes two days prior to the event.  Race packets may be picked up at the expo the day before, however there is no race day pickup.  If you are picking up a packet for a friend you must provide your license, your friend's license, your friend's birth certificate, a ticket stub from the 1996 Blockbuster Independence Day, and $500 in unmarked, nonconsecutive twenties.  Technical race T-shirts will be available in your choice of taupe or mauve, but we have already run out of every size except XS and XXXXXL.  Prizes will be awarded  in age groups, including but not limited to a year's membership in the Jelly-of-the-Month Club and Stevie's hand in marriage."

Good luck, Dad.  I'll see you on the course.

Changes

What are some changes I've made this school year in regards to my personal health?  Thanks for asking...

• Sleep (The American Way):  I wake up at 6am every day.  At school by 7, first class at 7:45. Therefor, if I want to get in 8 hours of sleep, 10 o'clock bedtime it is.  Getting enough sleep has become super important to me, because there were too many days last year when I felt like a zombie in class.  I'm now super strict about going to bed at 10, sometimes earlier.  If I'm working on something and it's 9:55, I'll drop everything, brush my teeth, and go to bed.

• Cooking (Do People Still Do This?):  I've always enjoyed cooking; I've just been doing it a lot more lately, despite living on a street with every kind of restaurant known to man.  Everything from ginger-chicken-stir-fry to black bean burgers to butternut squash soup.  All this is directly related to:

• Lunch (Pizza or Chicken Nuggets Today?):  I've only bought lunch from the school cafeteria once this year.  It's no surprise that American public schools have notoriously sketchy food.  The cafeteria at my school offers a few decent options, like made-to-order wraps, salads or milk cartons, but these, like anything, lose appeal with over-consumption.  Surprise rancid milk or soggy wraps don't help the situation either.  So I end up cooking more so that I'll have leftovers for lunch the next day.  Or I make a turkey and cheese sandwich.  I also bring my own milk in a Nalgene.

• Biking (When Runners Get Lazy):  My bike was stolen ages ago and I finally got a "new" one. Joined my town's bike share and got myself a mountain bike for $25/year.  I now ride my bike to work almost every day.  Have you seen that movie "Premium Rush" starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt?  In my head I'm speeding through crowded Manhattan streets escaping bad guys.   

Getting older is less than glamorous.  Sometimes I think I would rather stay up till 3am writing manifestos fueled by whiskey and dreams, but the other way seems a lot more sustainable.

Your turn... what changes have you made/can you make?

History repeats itself

I tried to register for the Philly Marathon a few nights ago.  I checked the website one night and was informed that there were only 200 spots left.  The next night that number had dropped to 25, so I grabbed my debit card and clicked on the registration button.  No way I wanted to be left out again like last year.

But then there were several options of the marathon to click on.  It would not let me click on the regular marathon.  It only let me click on "elite marathoner" or "charity marathoner" or a few other options, all of which required a password for further registration and none of which applied to me anyway.

The next day it was sold out.

I can't believe I won't be running the Philly Marathon for the second year in a row.

Pork and sweet potato stew

While reading another runner's blog, I stumbled upon a recipe for cuban-style sweet potato and pork stew. So I decided to give it a go.

I threw the ingredients into a crock pot and let them simmer all day, which made my apartment smell ridiculously good.

The original blogger claimed it was the best thing he'd ever made in his life.  Well... my guess is that I either used the wrong kind of peppers, or the original blogger has some seriously defunct taste buds, because this was far from the best thing I've ever had.

Stevie seemed to like it, though she preferred adding sour cream to it.

Thus concludes another episode of Scott's cooking corner.

Still running

Still out pounding the pavement in four and five mile increments.  

Still living above the fire extinguisher shop. 

Still taking awkward self-portraits for the blog.

Some things never change.

Post five miler

Movie Monday XXXVIII

Depending on the time of day, or your current mood, this could either be one of the dopiest videos you've ever seen, or one of the most inspirational.

Various running clips (many taken from other videos I've posted on here) are mixed with inspirational music and inspirational film quotes.  Spoiler: there's a lot of Rocky in there.

Another pushup challenge

I try really hard to be modest.  Honestly.  Because really, talent is always relative.  Unless you hold a world record in something, there is always someone, somewhere, who is better than you are.

I may have run a BQ marathon and won a few local 5k's, but on the other hand, I'm not going to compete in the Olympics any time soon.  I could be a jerk and belittle people who are slower than I am, but those Olympic athletes could do the same exact thing to me.

Stevie and I went to Ben's last night for some pizza and beers.  A friend of Ben's was there, and we somehow ended up on the topic of pushups.

Ben's friend: I can do, like, 30 pushups.
Me: That's cool.
Ben's friend: Can you do pushups?
Stevie: Scott loves pushup challenges!
Ben's friend: Let's do it!

There are plenty of things I'm bad at, mind you.  Giving pedicures.  Liking John Mayer.  Speaking Finnish. But doing pushups is not one of those things.  I am really good at pushups.

So I considered my response carefully.  "You've just entered the dragon's lair, my friend," and "You're about to enter a world of pain, son" entered my head as possibilities.  After a dramatic pause, I finally settled on...

Me: Are you sure you want to do this?

Just another Saturday night pushup contest

I'm in the middle, and Ben is in the background inexplicably doing situps.

(I won.)

2012 Philadelphia Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon

Another year and another medal from the Philadelphia Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon, formerly the Philadelphia Distance Run.

Stevie and I headed over via PATCO at 7am, and we were in the starting area by 7:30.  Saw some others who were not impressed with Paul Ryan's marathon lie:

I hadn't run more than 5 miles all summer, so I wasn't expecting to PR today.  I know I said that last year, but I was pretty intent on taking it slowly and enjoying the atmosphere this year.  When I started out, though, I felt sluggish and slow, and I was worried that I was in for a long, painful race.  By mile 5, however, I found my stride, and felt ok for the rest of the race.  I ran just under an 8 minute pace and finished in 1:42:38.

Afterwards I met Stevie, my dad and Debbie, stood in a fountain with my free beer enjoying the sun and music, climbed a statue, then headed home for lunch at the Bread Board.

While I was far off of my PR, I didn't exactly push myself, and I was struck by how easy it felt.  My original goal for this fall has been to train like crazy and qualify for Boston, but since school started recently that goal has gone out the window yet again.  I would still like to run the Philly Marathon in November, however, and the ease with which I completed this race makes me wonder how little training I can get away with for it.

Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon Expo

Tomorrow is the Philadelphia Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon, so today I headed over to the Expo with Stevie to pick up my race packet.

Most big city race expos are like big running carnivals, and today's expo was no exception.  Started out with a photo op:

Browsed the merchandise, got several pounds of free food, was disappointed there was no free MGD this year, then tried my luck doing pull ups at the USMC stand:

                     

I did a total of 11 pull ups and earned myself a Marine Corps water bottle.  4 more would have earned me a hat, 9 more a T-shirt.

Tomorrow I run 13.1 miles.  I haven't run more than 5 all summer.

Deutsch

One of my students admitted to reading my blog on a regular basis.  I briefly wondered if I should be worried about the content I put on here, but decided that the values I tout (hard work, literacy, healthy eating, etc.) easily trump the occasional shenanigans.

So... thanks for reading.  And one more thing:

Movie Monday XXXVII

Watch U.S. Olympian Nick Symmonds run a 5:15 in the beer mile.  Do I even need to say anything more about this?

Don't try this at home, kids.  Unless you have a track in your backyard.

A New Hampshire Wedding

Bates friends surround the groom

Another summer, and another wedding at which Tahsin and I end up being each others' dates.  He has already told me he wants to be my date at my own wedding next spring.

Tahsin just completed his first ironman in July, and was the first Bangladeshi to ever do so, which I plan to write about soon.  While talking about future races, he mentioned that he is doing Boston in the spring, as the company he works for has ten numbers set aside for employees.

Me: Man, I would love to do Boston.  I'm still working my way towards it.
Tahsin: Do you want a number?
Me: What?!
Tahsin: There are about four extras.  One e-mail right now and you're in.

It was astonishing to me that something I've been dreaming about for so long, something I assumed could only be achieved through months of blood, sweat and tears, could suddenly be accomplished through a few taps on a smartphone.

I thought about it briefly but turned him down.  I'm still kind of obsessed with qualifying again, you see.

VP Candidate Lies About Marathon Time

He tried to play it off as simply forgetting a few details after the passage of time, but the fact is that Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan blatantly lied about his marathon time.

In a radio interview with Hugh Hewitt, Paul Ryan, when asked about his personal best marathon time, stated, "Under three, high twos.  I had a two hour and fifty-something."

Only problem is, in the only marathon he's ever run, the 1990 Grandma's Marathon, he finished in 4:01:25.

When called on this lie, he stated, "the race was more than 20 years ago, but my brother Tobin - who ran Boston last year - reminds me that he is owner of the fastest marathon in the family and has never himself ran a sub-three.  If I were to do any rounding, it would certainly be to four hours, not three.  He gave me a good ribbing over this at dinner tonight."

Why lie about something that is so easy to fact-check?  And almost as egregious as lying about a marathon time is mixing up the past participle of "to run."