wash-out of a race weekend :(

this weekend was a racing disappoint since i didn't run the roxbury marathon yesterday, nor did i line up for the pete mcardle xc 15k in van cortlandt park this morning. cold weather (my car was frosted over when i woke up saturday) and the long drive (1.5 hours there, longer on the way home) turned me off to the prospect of that road trip. i figured i'd make up for it w/the 15k in van cortlandt park this morning.

instead, i woke up to torrential rain and some heavy winds. i actually ran the pete mcardle 15k in those conditions - in 2008. so i wasn't up for repeating that mud fest. i ran 15.5 miles on saturday, another 8.5 miles today. the 24 miles was 11 fewer miles than 35.5 miles i would have logged with the marathon/15k combination. argh!

oh well, not going to dwell on it. hopefully this will be a more productive running week/weekend - albeit significantly colder... brrr....

other weather-related news: the giants had their game against minnesota postponed because (a) they were unable to fly into minnesota because of a snowstorm and (b), the metrodome's dome collapsed under the weigh of snow! the game was rescheduled for tomorrow night - in detroit!

no roxbury marathon this morning, 15+ miles on the roads instead

i skipped the drive up to roxbury for the marathon this morning. while i had hoped to run it, the prospect of chipping the frost off my car and making the hour and a half drive there really didn't appeal to me. instead, i put on my shorts and went out for a chilly 15.5 mile run.

my days running in shorts look to be numbered - forecast for the week ahead is for even colder temperatures. the early arrival of winter and this ridiculously long stretch of below average temperatures is not fun. if this is what running is like now, what can we expect in january?!

on the great news front (a/k/a proud dad post): last night katie competed in the first track meet of the winter season over at rockland community college. she won her heat of the 55 meter race and went on to take second place overall in the finals!!

jim morrison receives posthumous pardon from florida's clemency board!

it's official - the four member florida board of clemency voted, unanimously, to pardon jim morrison of his 1970 conviction for indecent exposure. the charges stemmed from a 1969 concert appearance by the doors in miami - where, the prosecution alleged, morrision dropped his pants and exposed himself to the audience.

news of a potential pardon surfaced last month when governor charlie crist announced his support for the pardon. the governor, acting alone, could not grant the pardon. he needed a majority votes of the clemency board, which took action this morning, to secure the pardon. governor crist took the unusual step of speaking on behalf of jim morrison at the hearing. here are some excerpts from his remarks:

Much controversy surrounds this conviction, and not only because many witnesses testified they did not see Mr. Morrison expose himself.

Controversy also exists because Mr. Morrison was not arrested until four days after the concert. A case was brought against him only after newspaper articles recounted the alleged events at the concert, based on a complaint filed by an employee of the state attorney’s office who attended the concert.
...

Mr. Morrison appealed his judgment and sentence; however, he died before the appeal was heard. His death prevented him from exercising his right to a direct appeal, a right given to every American by the United States Constitution. If his appeal had been heard, a reviewing court could have resolved the controversies surrounding his conviction.
...

The words of an appellate judge, penned a decade before Mr. Morrison’s trial, provide insight into the question before us today: When death prevents the accused from appealing his judgment, the conviction is “a nullity” and “[j]urisdiction to determine the issue of guilt or innocence is now assumed by the ultimate arbiter of human affairs.”

a full copy of crist's remarks are appended to the ny times story reporting the pardon.

congratulations, in heaven, jim morrison :D

john lennon was murdered 30 years ago today :(

it's hard to believe that it was 30 years ago today, december 8, 1980, that john lennon was brutally murdered outside his apartment building here in new york city. as with millions of other fans, i'll never forget that day. i was a college freshman at the time and i remember that night as someone ran down the hall in our dorm shouting "john lennon's been shot!" i remember how we sat around glued to the t.v. coverage of his grisly murder at the dakota. it was a very, very sad moment in time.

john lennon was only 40 years old (8 years younger than i am right now). he was in the middle a creative rebirth, so to speak, having been working to get out the "double fantasy" album with yoko ono when chapman shot him. he had retreated from the music scene to be a dad and raise his son, sean. lennon had weathered an incredible effort by the u.s. government to deport him - and he was a proud nyc resident. he had reemerged in the public eye.

but the murder tragically ended an incredible life. just imagine how much richer the world would have been with 30 more years of john lennon's creative spirit coursing through it.

rest in peace john lennon

2010 joe kleinerman 10k: race photos and results

i went into the city this morning for the joe kleinerman 10k - not to run it, but cheer on my trrc teammates. while they ran the race, i ran the outer loop course in reverse (in a nice and easy 52:00 minutes). afterwards, we regrouped at the rambling house irish pub in the bronx for some post-race rehydration (in the form of draft guinness, and the stray irish coffee).

on a non-running highlight, our bartender turned me on to an awesome irish whiskey, tullamore dew! we were discussing the relative merits of jamison versus bushmill, and he volunteered that he liked tullamore more than either. after he let me have a taste of it, i have to agree (and it may become my irish whiskey of choice)!

here are the race results from nyrr.

a few more photos, via facebook, here and here.

new york running show podcast

in a first for me, i just participated in a "podcast" for the new york running show. while i've joined my share of running discussions, in various circumstances and guises, this was the first time my words were streamed live on the web and recorded for subsequent download! the main topic of discussion focused on running clubs, but we also talked about upcoming races and other running items.

joe garland ("runwestchester") was our moderator, and the participants included julie ("races like a girl"), amy ("runnin around uptown"), steve ("nycruns"), and me. the program ran (pun definitely intended) for just over an hour. it was an fun time!

listen to/download the program here at talkshoe (episode eight of the series).

december 2010 race schedule

hard to believe december has crept up so fast and 2010 will soon be history! december normally finds few races on my schedule, and this year will be no different. i had planned on just a pair of races, the pete mcardle 15k in van cortlandt park and the norfolk pub 10 miler, both old favorites of mine.

but, in waht may be a first, the ted corbitt 15k doesn't conflict with the norfolk pub 10 miler - so i can't pass up the opportunity to run it! as an aside, i already have my 9 +1 requirement taken care of for the 2011 nyc marathon, so the 2 nyrr races aren't needed for guaranteed entry.

the one real variable on the schedule is the roxbury marathon. while my friends have run it in the past, it's one that i haven't tried yet. if i can get myself motivated for the hour and a half drive up to roxbury for the 8:30 start, i'll do it this year.

still open is whether i'll run a race this weekend. but there's a good chance i'll run a short race (a holiday 5k?) towards the end of the month. two weeks seems like too long to wait before the new year's day races arrive :D

here's what it looks like so far:

12/11 - roxbury marathon
12/12 - pete mcardle xc 15k
12/18 - norfolk pub 10 miler
12/19 - ted corbitt 15k

as always, if you're at any of them, say hi!