It's a sunday afternoon and I have nothing to do so I decided to write a blog. I wrote a blog last year when I lived in Germany but it was honestly a lot of work and I quickly ran out of creativity (a finite resource) so I quit. But then I joined twitter last week and realized that everybody who is anybody (mostly middle class over-educated white people) had a blog and so after reading a pretty good one this morning, I was inspired to give it another shot.
Disclaimer: You should know that probably about 95% of anything I say (write) is unnecessary pointless drivvle, but who doesn't like to hear themselves talk?! Of that 95%, a small minority is also blatantly rude, jerkish, discriminatory and angry! So be prepared for that...
I'm currently watching the Women's FIFA World Cup where Canada is facing the host Germans in Berlin (and are losing at half-time). The other day I got in a friendly argument with some females about why womens sports would never amount to much since it is inherently less exciting than male sports (a statement by which I firmly stand) but nonetheless got an earful about inequality and how women don't ever get the chances that men do and Yada Yada Yada...the world sucks for women. Well, here I am supporting female sports and admit that it's not half bad. Hell, how often will I ever see Canada represented at a FIFA event?! Canadian women rule!
So ya, I joined twitter. And have been harassed ever since. Just for the record, I didn't join because I thought I had anything valuable or important to say but because it's truly a great source of information, news, and a way to be in the know. Admittingly, I have already made some (useless) tweets but felt incredibly guilty for it. More importantly though, as a wannabe academic in training, I think it's important to stay informed and eventually to try and contribute to the sharing and dissemination of "knowledge" which I one day hope to generate (or plagiarize).
For those who don't know, my MSc thesis (U of T; Exercise Sciences) is about what committment to exercise means; what it takes to maintain it; and whether this is healthy and adaptive. But enough about that.
As mentioned, today is Sunday and as a runner that usually means one and only one thing: long run. We (I'm a member of a Toronto running club called Longboat Roadrunners) met at the usual spot (West end YMCA) but decided to start one hour earlier (8am) which meant my alarm went off at 7, and for a few brief seconds I honestly considered ignoring it and skipping the run. I'm really glad I didn't becacse it turned out to be a beautiful morning and a very enjoyable run (probably because it was run extremely "slow" relative to the speed work I've been doing). There isn't much to say about long runs...they're long! It's like taking a 2 hour period out of your day and running...without stopping! But at least it means I get to be outside in a well-landscaped area. I guess it's just like golf except that it requires some basic health and fitness. (*Tangent Warning: A great blog post from a fellow (and much better) runner, SpeedRiver's Rob Watson, highlighted the difference between a sport and a game, being that the latter can be completed and indeed excelled at by individuals who are both old and fat; which is near impossible in the former. Thus, a sport might include the likes of tennis, running, cross-country skiing, football (soccer), and lacrosse; while a game would be something like golf, darts, horseshoes, curling, baseball and perhaps cricket!) But back to my sport: running. I'm sure some would argue that even running is not a sport...but those people are idiots who probably watch baseball and American football and likely lose their breath walking up a single flight of stairs. Anyway, I've been running for what seems like forever but has only been about 2 years. In that time, I've gotten a whole lot faster, ran like 3000km, but may now be reaching my physical limits. Next week I will test those limits in the Pride 5k race in downtown Toronto. I want to run under 17:30 which for those who don't know is pretty fast (3:30/km) and never comfortable. After that, I will "rest" briefly before getting set for marathon training. It (the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfromt Marathon) is not until mid October but doing it well will mean a 15 week training program and some mega-mileage. I honestly don't even want to think about it now. And yes, marathon running is pretty stupid...even we runners acknowledge that! I mean running 42km; 3+ hours; It's ridiculous! I plan to get it over with as fast as possible and if I could do it in 2 hours like the East Africans, I would! But I'm a white guy from Canada so will be more than happy with something under 3 hours! Okay enough about running.
Well, I've rambled on for far too long so will bring this senseless writing to an abrupt close. The end.
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