Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Runner's Heights: The Compass Trail

Do you take vaccines for the flu season or should you just test your luck? Well, for me, the answer is usually is the former. Not that I am afraid of the flu but because I am afraid it might result in some result in some time off from running and concomitant fall in the weekly mileage. So, for the sake of running, I will brave the flu vaccine needle and bear any symptoms that the vaccine wishes to dole out. And although, I am not completely sure if they work, but I have been regularly taking the Echinacea and Golden Seal supplement from Trader Joe's. Only time will tell if these home-made remedies will help tide over the flu and cold season. Maybe, I will revisit this topic again in spring.

I recently bought a Famous Trails watch. The watch has a digital compass which is why I was interested in it. It is has a large footprint, almost as large as timepiece-on-a-chain and unfortunately, for such a large watch, the bezel is surprizingly cluttered with unnecessary displays such as a circling dashed line for displaying seconds (it could have been easily replace with pulsating dots if that's what the manufacturers were interested in). The back seems to be stainless steel but has no information or serial number identifying the make, manufacturer or the country of origin. After a google search, I learned that the watch is a generic from China with a serial model number LP984N sold by a Hong Kong based exporter, Best Fortune Products Co. The offset printing on the box is hazy and the user manual is a single sheet of incoherently-written instructions made out of the same type of paper that grocery store receipts are printed on. All in all, the packaging and the documentation are extremely shoddy.

Famous Trails features the watch on its site.

I bought it on sale for $30 and perhaps, the watch is worth even less. The Big5 Sporting Goods label says that the regular price is $130 which would have been ridiculously exorbitant.

Here's a picture in case you wish to avoid this product like the plague.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Runner's Heights: No End to the Freeway

Cumulative mileage: 54

Crossing 50 miles doesn't seem like much at all but after two weeks of sickness and indisposition, I am relieved to have reached this milestone. This was a chequered run about the 50 with several firsts for me since I started recording the cumulative mileage -- I ran on consecutive days, gave up espresso (my favourite), and worked through some strange cramps in my calves. All in all, this was something that I have been meaning to keep for a while -- a runner's log without too many fancy frills. It would have been great to keep this log from the very first time that I ran in these shoes. The support on these New Balance 766 feels a little different after all these runs and it'd be nice to know how many actual miles I have put on these shoes.

There was a massive traffic jam on the 405 South this morning because a crane got jammed in an overpass. The snarl in traffic lasted for miles and I am sure that a lot of people were either late for work or missed their doctor's appointments. If you take the 405 freeway, you must have noticed that they are trying to add one more lane to both directions of the freeway along parts of West L.A. I can only swagger a guess, but this entire project, including, rebuilding those sound-proof walls, must cost close to a billion dollars, not counting the time wasted due to the increased traffic jams due to the construction. Broadening the freeway was either a madcap idea or someone's clever scheme to get rich quick. The funds that the city/state is spending on this hair-brained project could have easily gone towards developing mass-transit along the same stretch of the freeway. Adding an extra lane does little to alleviate traffic -- it is perhaps, conventional wisdom, that that extra lane will soon be clogged up because more people will chose to take the highway since there is significant housing development around the Playa del Rey/LA airport area that abuts the freeway. And no one's counting the environmental impact of more cars on the residential communities next to the freeway. Once again, it's making the coffers of some councilfolks and construction workers heavy.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Runner's Heights: The Anatomy of Cool

Cumulative mileage: 46 miles

Despite the air-quality reports, I ventured out into the Ballona Creek this evening with the feeling that the ocean breeze would mitigate some of the haze and smoke in the air. I might have been partially right but the stench of the stagnant water in the creek and the mild breeze almost proved me wrong. The sun skies however were a different story -- hues of violet, orange, cadmium red and burnt sienna. The drama was in the skies with the orange ball of a sun hiding behind the iridescent curtains of the clouds and smoke. The NASA satellite images of the Southern California wildfires demonstrated the immense swathe that the fires have drawn for hundreds of miles. The Santa Ana winds, being very low in humidity, dry you up as you run and you perspire very little until you have notched up a few miles. All the reason to stay hydrated because your skin is cooling you less efficiently without the perspiration. Since I was reading the weather reports, I was prepared for this and drank a lot of water throughout the day. So, this is how I might have been able to stave off any cramping.

It is always interesting to see salespeople at a store pitching items based on their form and less on their function, i.e., harping more than the "cool" factor than its utilitarian value. Now, I am not talking about the fashion aisle in Nordstrom but a bike store. This was Wheel World in Culver City and we were looking into clipless pedals. A customer asked why he needed clipless pedals and the salesperson answered that it was because he thought they looked "cool." Noting the disbelief in our faces, he did explain that clipless pedals help with the upstroke assist during pedaling but then proceeded to show us clipless pedals that were $109 a pair! The customer had brought in a used bike that was worth less than $200 but this sales person was recommended pedals that were more than half the worth of the bike. The interesting part is that the salesperson hadn't bothered to look at the bike at all to begin with. While flaunting off the $109- a-pair Shimano pedals he was waxing rhapsodic about the coolness factor of the shiny, nickel-plated pedals.

You would think that bike stores, surfboard shops, and music stores were the last bastion of stores where the sales people actually were passionate about the trade and made intelligent suggestions to customers based on experience and value. But, alas, this is a waning phenomenon. It was the same bike store that another salesperson convinced me to buy a Knog Frog LED light over a CatEye light. On hindsight, I should have bought the CatEye light because it had greater illumination power despite the fact that it takes several AAA batteries to produce that illumination. But I am convinced that the salesperson sold the Knog Frog because it was more cool than the staid CatEye product.

As Aerosmith would say, "Live and learn from fools and from sages..."

Monday, October 22, 2007

Runner's Heights: Soldiers of Fortune

Another cross-training day coming up. The weather is bone-dry, thanks to the Santa Ana wind conditions. The fire in Malibu and rest of the Southern California rages on and if we ever needed rain, this would be the time and place. I am guessing that on a day like this, when relative humidity is in single digits, the ocean side would be the best place to run. If that's not an option, then the best bet would be run after dusk or when the heat and dry condition have mellowed a bit. And having a humidifier at night would ensure some restful sleep and energy for the next day.

On the same day that an article appeared on yahoo that for most Americans, it is getting harder to live from paycheck to paycheck (see,
Living paycheck to paycheck gets harder), the chief executive of the U.S. asked for another 46 billion dollars to fight an illegal war of occupation (see, Bush asks for $46 billion more for wars). Here's a leader whose people are living from hand to mouth and skipping meals just to feed their famished children while he plunges the nation into greater debt and financial insecurity. While the average American makes a little higher than minimum wage, his/her taxes go into paying Blackwater USA mercenaries 100 times the wage that an average American earns. And these mercenaries hired by Blackwater USA are not just U.S. citizens and residents alone -- they could be soldiers of fortune from any corner of the world. Blackwater USA and many other contractors in Iraq have been accused of gypping the U.S. Government and you have to wonder how much of Bush's 46 billion is going to fill the coffers of Blackwater USA and its ilk. For a company such as Blackwater USA and its right-wing crusader, Eric Prince, this war in Iraq must be a God-send (no pun intended) and there's every incentive for Blackwater USA to ensure that this is a war without an end.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Runner's Heights: Double Time for Super Scoopers

Cumulative mileage: 43 miles

It is amazing how much yoga, stretching, and hydration can impact your running experience. I haven't been doing yoga for the last three days and I forgot to drink my daily dose of water on this especially dry and hot day and I felt that every mile was about to bring me down to my knees. In fact, there were times that I had to switch to a run-walk mode because I was afraid of pulling a muscle or spraining my calves. Throughout the 30 min. short run, the calves remained tight and adamantly high-strung -- uptight twits.

There were at least nine fires in Southern California today and they coincided with an unusually hot and dry day. Most news reports ascribed the weather to the Santa Ana winds -- those legendary winds that always make their presence felt at this time of the year with a brush fire or two. As you drove down from downtown Los Angeles on 10 West towards the Pacific Coast you could see all the Amber Alerts screaming, "All Lanes to PCH Closed" and no sooner than you made the turn towards the coast beyond Overland Ave, you could see the bales of white smoke smother the skies. The super scoopers, the helicopters, and the fire fighters are all there and it's going to be a long and exhausting day for those trying to douse the fire and get it out of harm's way. It must be the time of the year in Southern California when narry a fire fighter can take a vacation.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Runner's Heights: Blog the Knog Frog

Cumulative mileage: 40 miles

That whopping surge in the cumulative mileage is certainly deceiving because it was not attained in one try. It took three spells of running to notch up 10 more miles. But seven of those ten were achieved in consecutive days -- a first since 2005 when I was leg-injury free for most part. Runs are getting easier because it's much cooler in the evenings but it's a tradeoff -- you have to run in the darkness as the dusk sets in sooner these days. And when you are running on embankments or off-road, you have to watch out for potholes, steep run-offs and dips to avoid twisting your ankle or spraining your calves. So, if you have a 9-6 work routine, a possible solution would be to switch to running around lunch or before work. The latter is probably not an option for me since I was never an early riser.

Since I find myself biking well into the evening and I share the bike path with pedestrians, I felt it might be safer for both parties if I outfitted my bike with some lights. I recently acquired a used Gary Fisher Hoo Kee E Koo with street tires and love riding it out to the sunset and the cool ocean breeze. I can go faster because of the street tires and the thinner Mavic rims but that means I closer to a pedestrian than they think. The salesman at Wheelworks in Culver City convinced me to buy the Knog Frog which an LED light wrapped in a silicone straps that allows you to attach the Frog to your helmet or any round tubing (handle bar, seatpost, etc.). I have to admit that I was skeptical when I bought it and I am still not convinced that it has ample lighting power. But it is lightweight, easily attachable, fairly inxepensive and comes is three llight colors -- white, red, and blue. When you put it in flashing mode, it can announce your presence more effectively. However, as headlight to illuminate the path ahead, it is woefully inadequate because it has a tiny illumination radius and is practically useless when you are cycling relatively fast (15 mph or faster). So, the verdict is that it might a light accessory to a main lighting device on your bike.

More at Knog's website...not the most user-friendly website...

Here's a picture of some Knog Frogs:

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Runner's Heights: More Rice for Russia

Cumulative mileage: 30 miles

I am back in the running fray. You lay off running for a week and it's hard to notch up the usual mileage again. Also, without your music, you might have to work on your rhythm too. But I am genuinely sore after street-pounding a paltry 3 miles. Hey, I am not complaining or bitter. I am grateful to be back on the streets with my music, my jogging shoes and the sweat on my brows. In addition, running is becoming a joy in the late afternoon here because it is cooler and best of all, it rained last night in LA and the ground was soft. It felt like running on cupcakes...past the kid soccer games at Mar Vista park and beyond the Halloween trinkets put up by residents along Barrington Ave in West Los Angeles. The air was crisp and a tad moist...perfect for a run.

The media in the U.S. has attention deficit disorder even when there are no large catastrophes happening in the world that could be sensationalized. Witness the lack of coverage of the Burmese monks. The last we heard was that they had been corralled into some northern province and held under surveillance lest they cause more problems with their peaceful, non-violent protests. In the meantime, Condolezza Rice finds more reason to lecture Russian President Putin on the salient features of democracy and governance. She still hasn't felt the need to apologize for being part of a regime that orchestrated an unprovoked attack against a sovereign nation followed by an occupation that has never been ratified by the United Nations or has been put to vote for the occupied peoples.

Friday, October 12, 2007

Runner's Heights: Noble Enough for Nobel

More cross-training du jour. I have recently acquired a used Gary Fisher and decided to take it out for a spin across the Playa del Rey. Since the dusk is inching in closer to the rest of the afternoon, I got started at 5:45 pm from the Playa area and made it to the beach by 6 pm...The Gary Fisher, although being a mountain bike, has street tires and that made it fairly easy to pedal upwind into the ocean breeze. I must have clocked an average of 12 mph going by my Navman GPS device which seems to be pretty accurate and consistent. I always wonder which satellite -- or big brother -- it is looking up to get its position. So armed with my cell phone, my Navman and Walkman, I feel like I am harnessed to all the technology that I can possibly cope with. If I could fast forward about 20 years, maybe I'd add a pacemaker, hearing aid and some nanocapsule embedded in my skin to the list. The latter would be for all my creditors to know where I am at all times.

As I was reading the swarm of news media covering Al Gore's Nobel win, I realized that Gandhi had never received a Nobel prize for peace. A man of Gandhi's stature and calibre should have been awarded the Nobel posthumously although I am not sure that the award has a provision for that. And as one of my colleagues pointed out, since the Nobel committee does not discriminate against group awards, it would be great if the Burmese monks could have won the prize and the monetary award that goes with it. They could have certainly use the fame and the fortune to push their agenda and pressure the military junta into relenting. And come to think, they ought to institute a Nobel prize for humour and my first nomination would go to Robin Williams. But if posthumous awards are allowed, then it would be a tough call between Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd, the doyens of silent comedy.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Runner's Heights: Trust Your Prophets

Since I am still recovering from the bout of cold, it's still cross-training time. The elliptical trainer is still the best choice because you still feel a full-body workout. I am also able to work some straight punches while on the machine, so I feel like I am moving a lot. It is the sense of motion that's important especially after you have been sitting all day at a desk. The more all-round motion that you get, the more you feel that you have had blood flow through your joints, particularly the spine.

Well, Christmas is a little over two months away and it would be nice to get some time off at the end of the year. I was wondering that since, we all pretend to be secular, yet respect only a Christian holiday, why not let the floodgates of religion open in acceptance of all prophets from all walks of life. So, a holiday each for birthdays of Buddha, Moses, Zarathustra, Muhammad, Krishna...etc...just add your prophet. That would be true secularism and more holidays for all, a win-win for all.

Monday, October 08, 2007

Runner's Heights: This Creek's for You

I am still out of commission with a cold, but today is Blog Action Day and so, I have to proffer some words for the environment. I run by the Ballona Creek at least thrice every day and each time, I try to remind myself as to how lucky I am to be jogging my way to the beautiful Pacific ocean. Sometimes, when the tide rolls in, it does swell up the waters in the creek and brings in the majestic pelicans who swoop and dive into the waters with effortless ease and consistency. But as you run past the pelicans and their habitat, upstream you see the man-made litter, styrofoam cups, grocery bag, and all kinds of flotsam. I even spotted a bicycle and a shopping cart stuck in the middle of the creek, like someone reminding us how uncouth human callousness could be. For the birds, this water is their home and a source for their subsistence. That's hard to forget and what is reassuring is to see the people that feed the birds and the seagulls breadcrumbs to ease our guilt.

I am not into expensive gifts, but lately, I have been thoroughly enjoying the gift of a Baby Taylor guitar. It's a mahogany solid top and oval back that nestles nicely into the side of my blues belly. The sound is incredibly bright and textured for a 3/4 size guitar and although I have had it for less than a week, the workmanship seems very professional, although, there are two visible screws on the fretboard that attach the neck to the body and are a sight for sore eyes. It hasn't affected playability so, I'll rest easy. The gig bag that came with it is nice and roomy but if I am travelling, I'd prefer to get a hardshell case because that would at least give it some hope of surviving the fury of some disgruntled baggage handler.

Here's how it looks:

Saturday, October 06, 2007

Runner's Heights: Day of Nagging Cold and Mahi Mahi

The progress on the cumulative mileage has stalled...I am still nursing that cold. Hot chai with ginger and Tylenol Cold multi-symptoms are the only recourse from this affliction. My only hope is to, a) not infect any one else and b) to develop a resistance for the rest of the season if there is such a thing as cold-induced immunity. I guess I could take this opportunity to do some yoga but that hasn't happened either but some twisting and bending asanas would have been perfect today. "Ah, there's always tomorrow," says the pragmatist in me. And if I do end up going to the gym for some weight training, I will be glad that there are the hand sanitizers mounted on the weightroom walls so that I don't infect anyone with my germs. Oh, maybe, someday, we'll invent germicidal gloves to work out with.

Made a round trip from Los Angeles to San Diego today. Thought I would utilize this opportunity to post some more information about obligation-free restrooms. Well, I did find one that I would be glad to recommend and it's at the La Jolla Village Center near UC San Diego. It's the FedEx/Kinko's store and it's one of the most customer-friendly branches that I have been. Besides, there are some excellent stores in the neighborhood where you can grab a bite, for instance, a Mahi-Mahi salad at Rubio's. That's one way to swim in the Triton tide.

FedEx/Kinko's
La Jolla CA
8849 Villa La Jolla Dr
La Jolla, CA 92037-1965
USA
Phone: (858) 457-3775
Fax: (858) 457-0946
Email: usa2693@fedexkinkos.com

A penny for this thought:
"The essence of patriotism today can be distilled down to a $2 bumper sticker."

Friday, October 05, 2007

Runner's Heights: Jones and Her Olympic High

Cumulative today: 27 miles

Down with a dogged cold these last two days. Tried running even though I was quite indisposed and felt every mile towards the end. Self-doubt and physical weakness hobbled me the last two miles and I was lucky to have made it back into the fold without any cramps or injuries. I was feeling very proud of having worked out consistently for 33 days in a row and then this -- a call for penitence and humility. So, no more high-jinx or bravado until this cold works its way out of this weak sinews. Of course, if things get worse, there's always Vitamin M aka Motrin. Pills are a running pilgrim's progress.

Speaking on drugs, Marion Jones had to bid a tearful farewell to her reputation and athletic career. Now, the public's attention span is usually in milliseconds, so time will exonerate and rehabilitate her back into society. In fact, she had been forgotten by the media for a quite awhile until her recent disclosure that she had used performance-enhancing drugs during her Olympic record feats. The drugs were connected to already-embroiled BALCO which has been linked to Barry Bond's alleged drug use in baseball. BALCO's roster of clients in the sports industry, if ever revealed, might run like Heidi Fliess's list of Hollywood celebrities. Marion Jones may be given a slap in the wrist and allowed to go free because she seems to be cooperating with the authorities but what would be also important is to identify the athletes who came in second, third, or fourth after Jones in Olympics and award them their due medals. Jones may return her gold medals in a symbolic gesture but it is important to set the Olympic records straight and identify the people to deserved to win the first, second, and third places on the victory stand. There is no place for performance-enhancing drugs in the Olympics.

Return of the doggone doggerel...

Now and then, I can see,
That what is "I" is not quite "me",
Now and then, could it be...
That "us" in me is not like "we"

Monday, October 01, 2007

Runner's Heights: Have faith my friends

Cumulative mileage: 23 miles

Ending the day with a very good run -- at times, clocking in a speed of 7.1 miles. The average speed might have been at least in the neighborhood of 5.8-5.9 which is really an important milestone for me. What do I attribute this to? Well, don't ask me the medical reason for this because I am not a doctor. You might have a good laugh at this, but here are my conjectures on this improved speed and a strong finish:

- drinking about 5 litres of water before the run...for the ounce mavens it's 160 ounces
- giving up the espressos for about a week now
- cooler weather in Southern California
- and finally (drumroll...), running up and down the bleachers in the UCLA stadium.

So Senator John McCain goes to his constituency and says that he would prefer a president who is of the Christian faith because this nation was based on Christian values. Then, to pacify his Jewish electorate, including his friend, Joe Lieberman, he goes on to add that this nation was based on Judeo-Christian values. It is amazing that a leading figure of one of the most advanced nation could make such a cretinous remark. First of all, the U.S. constitution is designed to separate religion from governance and any president who tries to inject faith-based imperatives should be impeached for failing to uphold the constitution. Secondly, the ethos and the history of this nation belongs to the Native Americans who were displaced by the European settlers and invaders. And to understand the spirit of tolerance, all McCain has to do is look at the Native Americans, many of whom have embraced Christianity in their fold. Now, why can't McCain understand diversity and accept it just like the Native American accepted his forefather's faith? How can he even dream of being a president of one of the most powerful nations when he doesn't even have the power to look beyond his narrow-minded visions? Well, I think I can guess what you're saying..."How can anybody be worse than the incumbent?"

And now, it's doggerel time...

I said what I said
I did what I did...
I would what I could
I should what I would
I know how to make
worse from good
'coz Ah am the Prezdint!