The Internet at work pretty much took a dive into uselessness, so doing anything net-related is a major chore. We've been slower than usual for the last couple of months and, as of today, we're on a new network and things are actually worse. My dad's old dial-up was better. At least it showed the page loading each item over a painful few minutes, whereas this new Internet shows no loading at all for several minutes before loading mostly just the text. In preparing for rewards, I realized I still need to calculate final results. DR, you should come over and assist me with this endeavor some time.

Here's an excerpt from the CBRC's most recent website update, just to give an example of how the League is both similar an dissimilar (and how we might perhaps tip further to the former). "We’ve a lot to discuss at our next meeting on January 14, 6 p.m. at Nicolletti’s. We’ll have a de-briefing on the SMCN Resolution 5K, get updated on races in development, and solicit nominations for the additional non-race Grand Prix Awards – Runners of the Year, Most Improved Runners, and Volunteers of the Year. We’ll finish up with the “election” of our new officers. I’ve placed “election” in quotes since our selection of officers is usually by acclamation rather than popular vote. Unless there are any last-minute nominations, the following will be running unopposed: Vic Papagno for President, Travis Priest for Vice-President, Paul Serra (returning) for Treasurer, and Sierra Schenk for Secretary. See you all there! As always, positive waves, negative splits – Liza"

I stopped by that CBRC meeting, asked Liza if anything important was on the agenda, determined that in my view nothing was, and didn't stay. Actually I was mostly looking to see if someone from the new tri(athlon) group was there, and he wasn't.

I'm fairly doubtful that it will make it down to the Lexington Park theater. Maybe, just maybe, it will come out on DVD before the marathon, allowing me to Netflix it.

I went to the encore screening of "Spirit of the Marathon" this past Thursday. Being that the event was notated in bold letters in a bright yellow block in my Excel training log, I figure I should at least mention it here. Val and I got to the theatre about 30 minutes before the show, expecting a large crowd. Luckily, we were among the first to enter the theatre, so we got our pick of seats. People poured in over the next thirty minutes, and everyone was sat arm-to-arm as the screening was sold out. At this point, I was wishing the screening was held on my home turf at The Senator... it would have been incredible to see this film on a huge screen amongst over 900 runners. Being that this was an independent film, it started abruptly and without any trailers. We saw a first time female marathoner doing a long run through the woods. She voiced-over how some people are intrigued by the concept of her doing the Chicago Marathon, others were confused. She noted that some people would ask her, "Do you think you're going to win?" That set the tone for what the movie would be. This movie pretty much explained to the average person (and weekend warrior) why anyone would want to train for a marathon. Everyone has a different reason, so the documentary focused on six people: - A PhD candidate in her mid 20s, a first time marathoner - A married guy in his early 30s who recently fell 11 seconds short of qualifying for Boston - A single mom, first time marathoner - A grandfather in his mid-to-late 60s, going for his fourth marathoner - Deena Kastor (2004 silver medalist) - Daniel Njenga (an elite marathoner with a PR near 2:06, but almost always seems to place 2-4 in the top marathons) I'll try not to give away anything that happened to these people throughout their training, as I think that would rob you of a future movie experience. I will say, however, that none of the individuals on which the documentary focused were people who got up one morning with zero running experience, and decided "I'm going to run a marathon next month." Aside from Kastor and Njenga, all other the individuals were involved in a large marathon training program. That being said, the film didn't focus on the training that goes into a marathon as much as I would have liked, but it wasn't that kind of documentary. Overall, I think it's a movie that most runners would enjoy. If you go to the movie website, www.marathonmovie.com, you can put yourself on a contact list to be notified as to when the movie comes out on DVD. The film also helped me come to terms with the fact that I'm becoming a bit of a running dork. First, I began studying VO2 max and heart rate monitor training... now, slowly my mind is starting to fill with bits and pieces of running trivia. I'm not sure what business I have knowing the story of Kathrine Switzer invading the 1967 Boston Marathon, or the fact that Paula Radcliffe won the 2007 NYC Marathon less than a year after having a kid. Also, I don't know who Stefano Baldini (out of Italy) is, but for some reason I'm pretty sure that he bested America's Meb K in the '04 Olympics. Meb K, however, finished something like eighth in the US Men's Olympic trials last yet... I believe our top three this year will be Ryan Hall, Brian Sell, and Dathan Reitzenhein (correct me if I'm wrong). I blame Running Times.

If only that movie had come out a few months sooner! But I was also aware of Paula Radcliffe's achievement --- via Running Times, as well.

If you were to remain a 5k runner, then I'd say just stick with a basic sportswatch. But if you do indeed plan on tackling half-marathons and marathons, then I'd strongly recommend the Garmin. I wouldn't go on a long run again without it. Granted my confidence in it was shaken at the marathon, but now I have a theory for the malfunction: my house had experienced a black out the day before --- right when the watch was on its charger (yes, these watches need to be charged just like cell phones). While it was attempting to locate satellites during the start of the race, text appeared on the screen reading "Are you indoors right now? Yes/No" and "Have you traveled over 500 miles in the past 24 hours? Yes/No" Perry's Garmin 205, meanwhile, experienced no difficulties (that I know of). As far as the pacing function, I've decided that it's actually fairly accurate. It takes about 200 yards after starting to catch on, but after that it's relatively dependable. The fact that the pacing figures jump around sporadically is probably indicative of the fact that, even if you run a mile in 8:00, you're not maintaining a precise 8:00/mi pace the ENTIRE time (ie, from here to the mailbox might be at an 8:45/mi pace, then from there to the next 10 yards might be at a 7:59/mi pace ... and then it eventually evens out).