ayn rand died 27 years ago today :(

ayn rand died 27 years ago today, march 6, 1982, at the age of 77. the author of "atlas shrugged," "the fountainhead," and "we the living," considered herself first and foremost a philosopher of "objectivism." when she died, the day after john belushi was found dead of a drug overdose, i was still relatively unfamiliar with this incredible woman. i had read "the fountainhead," but hadn't yet picked up "atlas shrugged."

a few years (and a few books, and a film) later, i had become a serious fan. while in law school, i was lucky enough to study constitutional law with rand's attorney. he had not only represented rand in various legal matters, but also assisted her in locating the 1942 italian film of her novel, "we the living."

"It was not until the late 1960's that Ayn Rand was able to locate the original nitrate negatives, still in good condition in the vault in Rome. Both films were restored, combined into one, and released (with English subtitles) in 1986 as We the Living (1986) at the Telluride Film festival in Colorado where it received rave reviews, over forty years after its original release."

while "we the living" has the more interesting back story, to say the least - "the fountainhead," with gary cooper and patricia neal, is the decidedly more familiar (and accessible) rand film (to most fans). it's a classic that i never tire of watching.

rip: ayn rand.

john belushi died 27 years ago today :(

it's shocking to realize that comedic genius john belushi has been dead for almost 30 years! he died of a cocaine/heroin (a/k/a "speedball") overdose 27 years ago today, march 5, 1982, at the tragically young age of 33.

anyone who grew up in the late 70's would be instantly familiar with his classic saturday night live performances. my personal, all-time, favorite snl bit was belushi's frighteningly dead-on impersonation of joe cocker in concert!

then there was his iconic role of bluto, in the classic, "animal house," that defined the entire genre of party animal frat brother. his half of the blues brothers, jake, was the other iconic role that came to define the belushi image.

but belushi was a much more versatile performer. two movies filmed in the last year of his life, "continental divide" and "neighbors," were far removed from his 70's t.v. and film personae.
the latter, "neighbors," was an incredibly twisted dark comedy where he reteamed with his blues brothers' partner, dan ackroyd.

his biography was penned by none other than bob woodward - "wired: the short life & fast times of john belushi."

rip: john belushi

colchester half marathon: race report

i began this race report on sunday when i went over my splits. now, four days later, it seems like the colchester half marathon took place weeks ago (instead of last saturday). the colchester half was a very last minute addition to the race calendar. when the boston build-up 25k was officially postponed on friday, emmy suggested this race as an alternative. when i checked out the race description - hilly (to say the least) and low cost - i was in.

turned out that the colchester half is one of last no frills, old school races - tough course, low-fee ($12; $15 race day), no shirts, no awards - and best of all, awesome post-race FOOD! i loved it. and, to add that extra edge to the hilly course, it was seriously cold (27 degrees at the start) and windy. while i had a vague thought of running the caumsett park 50k on sunday morning (i didn't, but emmy did), i planned on using this half as a training run.

i would have been happy with a sub 1:40 given the weather and hills. in a rare moment, i took my ipod with me - practically a guarantee that this would be a training run instead of an all out effort. i lined up with the "all-american rejects" on deck to keep me company. my plan was to run 7:30 miles and get in a good work-out. things turned out a bit differently.

first off, mile one clocked in at 7:00 - which i conveniently blamed on the music. so i backed off (so i thought) the second - and ran another 7 minute mile for a split of 14:00. this was something of a shock and i started toying with the idea of targeting a 7:15 pace. mile 3 clocked in at 7:20 - way more realistic. but another pair of 7 minute miles (7:01 and 7:04) got me to 5 miles in 35:35, a 7:05 pace.

i wasn't in the mood to argue with my body at this point. while i planned (and did) walk portions of two steep hills, i managed to reach 10 miles at 1:12:32, a 7:15 pace! to my astonishment, that included a 6:55 tenth mile! then hubris kicked in and i decided to readjust my target down to a 1:35 finish. only 3 more 7:15 miles would do it. mile 11 clicked by at 7:15. now, only 2 more (albeit uphill and into the wind) to go.

if i had stuck with my original target, i would have been incredibly pleased with the outcome. instead, i paid a dear price for that mid-race burst of hubris. my calves seized up in mile 12, forcing me to take 5-6 step walking breaks. still, it came in at 8:04. the calf cramps continued into mile 13, necessitating a few more walk breaks. that mile took 9:00. i gingerly crossed the line in 1:37:44, a 7:28 pace, not at all pleased. it was ironic to realize that at the start of this race i would have been overjoyed with at 1:37. instead, i stood there sorely disappointed with the very same outcome - all because i'd expected that 1:35 - argh!

that disappointment didn't last too long. bekkie and joe, two good friends, were at the finish line to cheer on the runners. inside the school, the race organizers had set up an incredible array of hot food, salads, and dessert! all in all, it was a great morning to be out there racing.

afterwards, i found a great race report on posted on kickrunners, that included this nifty course elevation profile:



if i had seen this before the race, it would have scared some sense into me - ha.

here are my race photos.

"beyond the epic run" documentary review

"beyond the epic run" had it's nyc premiere monday night, on the heels of an unwelcomed snowstorm that dropped in that morning. luckily, the remnants of that snowstorm that mucked up the sidewalks didn't dampen the attendance. i walked over to the anthology film archives, across practically the length of bleeker street, from the blind tiger ale house.

it was the 4th running documentary i'd seen in the last year ("spirit of the marathon" last winter, "run for you life" at the tribeca film festival last spring, and "running the sahara," last summer"). in addition, i'd seen marshall ulrich finish his record breaking run across the united states on the steps of city hall last fall. "beyond the epic run" shared similarities with "running the sahara" and marshall ulrich's run across the united states. but the story of serge and nicole roetheli went well beyond a run across one desert, or one continent.

serge roetheli, together with nicole, his wife and one person crew on motorcycle, set off from switzerland in 2000 to circumnavigate the globe on foot. this incredible film, based in large part on nicole's own contemporaneous diary entries, documents that epic five year journey. in something of a prelude to this adventure, two years earlier the couple had completed another similar epic run. it took them from tierra del fuego north, through two continents, to finish in alaska! that, itself, would be an impressive lifetime accomplishment!

serge covered more than 25,000 miles on this journey. at one point the trip was interrupted because nicole contracted malaria, and required hospitalization back in switzerland. at another point the trip was briefly suspended when serge and nicole flew to alaska to secure renewed funding for the run. that was necessitated when the original charitable sponsor of the run withdrew it's sponsorship (b/c they weren't generating enough contributions!) - as serge and nicole completed the first, of what would be six, continents.

in scenes reminiscent of "running the sahara" course changes were made because of war ravaging certain countries. in another instance, the course was altered because they could not get permission to bring the motorcycle into the country! serge covered a marathon distance every other day. for the most part they camped out in the surrounding countryside - occasionally staying at indoors. they recorded stunning images of the locales and locals encountered on the trip.

if running itself wasn't all consuming, serge took 14 days to summit the highest mountain in south america -aconcagua! this he did solo, while nicole remained behind. the video of he managed to take of himself at the summit was incredible - as were the vistas! as if mountain climbing in south america wasn't off the beaten path enough, he arrived in florida just in time to run thru hurricane charly! and, to make us here in the northeast feel right at home (at least, for the preview night), the coldest stretch of running he did was north, from new york city to montreal! from canada they flew back to europe to complete the odyssey.

this was an inspiring film. don't pass up the opportunity to see it.

warming up at the blind tiger ale house

last night todd and i went over to the blind tiger ale house for some decidedly hearty winter brews. it was a far colder night than our visit here for the rogue beer tasting last spring! i stopped by the blind tiger after the international friendship run, for a weekend taste of their infamous "bloody beer!" did i mention this is one of my favorite nyc beer bars ;)

i this particular order: i had a stone smoke porter, young's double chocolate stout, and stone imperial russian stout.







after this series of decadent indulgences (w/a cubano sandwiched between the chocolate and russina stouts), it was time to head over to the nyc premiere of "beyond the epic run."

another month kicks off with a snowstorm!!

is it just me, or did january kick off with a snowstorm? not to be left out, february followed suit and did the same. with spring a couple of weeks away - now march joins the club and roars in with something close to a nor'easter!

i just finished digging out of the first wave of snow (6+ wet inches). as my fingers slowly defrost, a second wave is forecast for later this morning - argh! on the plus side, not only does katie have a school day, but my afternoon class was cancelled! still, i have to head into the office later and get some work done this afternoon.

then, tonight i'm really looking forward to the new york city premiere of "beyond the epic run." if weather doesn't keep them in connecticut, emmy and rob will be there too. in fact, nyc area runners should try to attend (it's free, just rsvp in advance).

here is the new york city info from the movie blog:

"Next up is New York[!] The New York screening is 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 2, 2009 at Anthology Film Archives. Doors open at 7 p.m.

All screenings are free and open to the public! Help us spread the word by telling your friends and family. For questions [...] e-mail annie@jenningspr.net."

rundangerously blog is a year old today!

it's hard to believe that an entire year has flown by since i began this adventure in blogging on march 1, 2008!! that the posts continued on for a month thereafter was, in and of itself, a pleasant surprise for me. but to see my posts ramble on for an entire year and, hopefully, into the foreseeable future without any serious abatement, is something that truly amazes me!

i'm not one for statistics (unless they deal with football), so i won't dredge up blog-related numbers (posts, visits, and the like).

instead, i'd like point out that i've been honored to have some incredibly great guest posts during the last year (including those on topics unrelated to running :D)! and, even luckier, that friends and family stood still long enough to get photographed and find their images grace these pages (and i'm even happier to report they still talk to me afterward) :D

so, with apologies to that immortal american walt whitman, "i celebrate myself" today :D