trumbull jingle bell run 5K: race report

the last time i went up to trumbull for this race was way back in 2002! this time around i found myself at the jingle bell run 5k as a last minute change to my weekend running schedule. it worked as a short tune-up race the day before the joe kleinerman 10k in central park (also a new addition to the weekend race calendar). so this will be a short race report.

the course itself is pretty tough for a 5k: at least one notable hill to climb out of mile one, another lurking in mile 2, and then a relatively flat last mile back to the finish. it had been 22 degrees when i got up that morning, but by the 9:30 start the temperature inched into the 30's. with the sun out, it was beautiful running weather.

the race kicked off with a loud miniature cannon shot on the green. now that was cool! here are my splits:

7:28
7:15 14:43
6:46 21:30
0:30 22:00

7:06 pace

i ran the first half of mile one with emmy. when we caught up to ronnie, the two of them ran together for rest of the race, while i went on ahead. i had no real time goal in mind for this race, but thought pace in the low 7's would be fine. when i saw my split for the first mile (even with the big hill), i decided to pick it up a bit.

the second mile was faster, but still slower than what i had hoped for. in one of those combined, "let's get this race over" and "let's work a little harder" moments, i sped up in the final 1.1 miles and finished in exactly 22 minutes. i actually didn't see the clock until the chute. had i seen it, would've sprinted to squeak in under 22 - ha.

post-race there was some great panera bread and dunkin donuts coffee waiting for us inside. in addition to ronnie and emmy (who took 1st and 2nd, respectively, in their age groups), i saw marty, brian, sean, karen (and a few others as well). at home later in the day i start to feel a bit under the weather - but not bad enough to skip the 10k on sunday.

here are my race photos.

giants nfc east champions - despite humbling 20-14 loss to eagles.

philly's westbrook does the celebrating for eagles - and giants, who back into the title thanks to dallas defeat.

as if to dramatize how the plaxico gunshot sideshow effected the giants - yesterday's crushing defeat at the hands of last place philadelphia says it all. the game was completely dominated by philadelphia - playing in giants stadium no less! the game was never as close as the score suggested. philly had possession for 35 minutes to the giants 25 minutes. even more of an embarrassment - after coughlin's halftime directive to make the most of the 3rd quarter (because of wind condition), the giants had only ONE, scoreless, possession in the quarter!

more embarrassment? the giants total game offense, 211 yards - was less than the total rushing yardage the giants put up in their last game against the eagles (219). more negative stats? manning, coming off a season high 305 passing yards last week, didn't complete 50% of his passes and only managed 123 passing yards for the game! depressing, demoralizing stats everywhere! and their seven game winning streak sputtered to an end :(

and what about antonio pierce - the non-shooter, pal of plaxico? he made two costly penalties in the second half. but the big ticket item was letting westbrook get behind him and catch a short pass from cunningham (omg! did i really write that - s/be mcnabb). that short pass became the philly's game winning 40 yard touchdown. is unfair to pin all that blame on piece?

is their any silver lining - aside from backing into the nfc east division championship? if it puts the plaxico business to rest after this humbling experience, then it will have been worth the embarrassment. look what happened after the giants were crushed by the browns on monday night football - a 7 game win streak emerged!

joe kleinerman 10k: photos and results

just got back from the joe kleinerman 10k in central park (not to be confused with the joe kleinermand 12 hour run in queens, last summer) with don and emmy. managed to squeeze in under 43 with a 42:47 on a chilly morning. a few familiar faces out there as well :D

here are the race results. will post race report as well (but first comes some giants football this afternoon).

here are some race photos:






emmy, greg, and ned (a/k/a ctmarathoner, mysolitude, and thenedshow)!

pre-race: don and me.

beth and emmy (1st and 2nd place, respectively, age group winners).

me, emmy, and greg.

frank and me.

trumbull jingle bell run, 5k: race photos and results

it was cold enough that the water froze!

just got back from the trumbull jingle bell run, 5k. while it was a cold start to the day (22 degrees when i got up), it was amazingly perfect weather for a race - since it warmed up and was nice and sunny by the 9:30 start. finished in 22 minutes flat - on a nice hilly course.

will write up a short race report.

here are the official race results.

here are some photos:


post-race: me and brian (he has 2 more races to run tomorrow).


karen, emmy, and peter.


post-race : sean...


post-race: ronnie and emmy (1st and 2nd, respectively, in their age group).


marty, getting set to do the awards (wearing the tee shirt for tomorrow's holiday toy run 5k, in fairfield).

"joe strummer: the future is unwritten" documentary review

"joe strummer: the future is unwritten" came to my attention when i noticed that it was part of the "punk 'n' pie" series at the brooklyn academy of music last month. it was a week long focus on the u.k. punk and post-punk rock scene (and, fittingly, concluded with a screening of that now classic of punk, "sid and nancy"). unfortunately, for me, i couldn't get over to brooklyn see the strummer documentary (nor "sid and nancy," for that matter). but, thanks to the wonders of netflixs, i got did see it on the smaller screen :D

during high school and early college my friends and i were serious fans of the clash. any biography about strummer would, by necessity, be the story of the clash as well. but more than that, i was especially riveted to the pre- and post-clash strummer story. long before his clash days, joe strummer was the son of a british diplomat - and, for better or worse, lived that life. he was born in turkey, lived in egypt, mexico, and germany before he was sent away to boarding school.

from the confines of boarding school, his rebellion began (you either lead or be led he notes). from there it was art school, hippies, and a rockabilly band (where strummer first began writing songs). then, after catching the a sex pistols show - a glimpse at the future - and a fortuitous meeting with a promoter, he came face to face with his future band mates on a sofa in a rundown apartment. the problem was, he was already in a, relatively, successful band! therein we glimpse at the real joe strummer - a/k/a john graham mellor. he unceremoniously (undiplomatically) quit his band and started, a brand new band, brand new sound, and brand new strummer.

the story is related, matter of factly, but with understated drama, by joe strummer's own words in the voice over. the filmmaker, julien temple (no stranger to rock documentaries) had access to huge amounts of archival footage, interviews, photos, recordings (that he himself, temple, had been filming since the 70's! - talk about a fan!). even more impressive, however, was temple's access to stummer's personal notebooks writings, and materials. he weaved into the film strummer's own doodles (which he animated) as transitions. and he used two orwell stories (a bbc film of "1984" and a cartoon version of "animal farm") as cut-ins to punctuate the narration.

one highlight was the clash's dramatic "takeover" of new york city in 1981 - via the 17 night run at bonds in time square. that was the high point of my interest in the clash. not only did i catch one of those very bond shows, but the following year i caught them again at pier 94 as part of the "combat rock" tour. later that tour the clash opened for the who at shea stadium - and one of those two nights was just been released on cd. unfortunately, by that point the clash was just at the end of its rope. it's implosion was just around the corner.

back to the film: the now, seemingly, legendary bond show where they shared the stage with allen ginsberg was merely alluded to with a vintage photo (and one w/a gaunt william burroughts was even snuck in for good measure). but why was that seminal "beat meets punk" moment not played up? not only did ginsberg take the stage - and sing "capital air" - but he subsequently sat in on one of their recording sessions! the documentary does have clips of bono, matt dillon, steve buscemi, johnny depp, and even martin scorsese! bono's memories of seeing the clash in ireland during the 70's are riveting!

still, the post-clash years are fascinating. i knew little of what happened to strummer (except for his sudden death in 2002 of congenital heart failure). the rare glimpse at him and mick jones reuniting on stage for a fireman's benefit just before his death was amazing. plus, joe's work with bbc radio and the new band, the mescaleros was amply covered. he emerged from the wilderness with new found maturity and creativity, only to be cut short before he could write any more of his future.

this was a powerful documentary. for a rock fan, it's a must see. after seeing it, now i want to get hold of "let's rock again," the short documentary of his tour with the mescaleros!
_______________________________________________

update: i finally got to see "let's rock again" on the sundance channel and it was excellent!

switched a pair of weekend races

originally, i had planned to run 2 races on sunday: a 3 miler in the morning (w/katie) and a 5 miler in the afternoon. but, the combination of katie having to miss the 3 miler, and learning, to my chagrin, that the drive to the 5 miler would be 2+ hours (each way), made me to rethink that race plan.

so, instead of those 2 races on sunday, i switched gears and went with a 5k on saturday, and the joe kleinerman 10k on sunday. i've run the kleinerman 10k numerous times. since it's a team race, there should be a lot of familiar faces in the crowd. but i haven't run the trumbull jingle bell jog in years (2003, or so, was the last time), so revisting that one should be fun.

also, there's word of a new (or resurrected, more precisely) 3 miler in darien, ct, later this month (12/21). when that race information in posted, i'll try to run that one w/katie - and make up for not doing the 3 miler this weekend.

75th anniversary of the 21st amendment - a/k/a the repeal of prohibition!!

after 13 years of self-imposed madness, the 21st amendment to the constitution was ratified on december 5, 1933, and repealed the 18th amendment - a/k/a prohibition. hence, the somewhat interesting moniker "repeal day."

whether you're a drinker or not, celebrate the repeal for what it was - a restoration of american civil liberties.

while an adults ability to consume alcoholic beverages doesn't come close to a fundamental right (at least to the sober), the right to decide what to imbibe - and enjoy, or suffer, the consequences therefrom - is no body's business but your own.

so today, when you're throwing back some water, soda, beer, wine, or something significantly stronger (or even a weak girly-girl cocktail) - smile, and say thanks to the sane (sober) minds that prevailed and brought prohibition to an inglorious end 75 years ago today.