It's no SI, but . . .

I'm one of many who made the cover of this quarter's American Randonneur magazine. That's me in the yellow, second from the front. This was taken 10 miles in to a planned 750-mile ride. I've already written that 60 miles down the road I bounced on my melon, putting a mercifully early end to this Qixotic adventure. Not sure whether in light of that failure to be ashamed of the photo, or proud, but I guess I think it's at least a little bit cool.

3. Run to reconnect

Visiting Kansas for my grandmother's funeral, which after 101 tremendous years was not a tragic event, I laced up the shoes twice with C__, my cousin once removed by marriage, and enjoyed the crisp Kansas mornings. I've known C__ now for 13 years, for much of which I've known he enjoyed running, and these were somehow our first runs together. We learned we graduated together from Cornell and he even roomed with a rowing teammate of mine during his freshman year. I learned that C__ is a real runner, too, as he steamed past while I hyperventilated my way up the final hill (yes, Kansas has hills, and steep ones at that!). C__ has been looking to qualify for a Boston marathon entry. My suggestion to him is to find a sea level race, rather than the Denver marathon, and to run it like he ran this weekend.

Two runs and I now know a long-time family member better than I did before, or ever would otherwise. How's that for getting something out of this sport?

Winter Officially postponed until late January

This just in. Winter in Chicago has been postponed from December 21st for approximately 30 days. Every day has been clear and sunny in the 40s and 50s. I don't recall being out in shorts this time of year here. The entire city has turned out for running and biking during this unusual respite. Undoubtedly we shall pay later, but until then I am out on the lakefront exploring side trails that are usually sheet of ice by now.

Monetize this Blog?

On the blogger dashboard there is a button marked "monetize this blog", As best I can figure out, it involves enrolling in Adsense a Google product which places ads on the blog based on the words and phrases used in the posts and the comments. Revenue is then shared with the blog (and Google) based on click throughs. This concept fascinates me as I continue to research the antitrust implications of on-line advertising and social media. While our small merry band of prof runners are unlikely to ever earn more than pennies even if we had a dedicated program of clicking on an ad every day, it might be interesting and enlightening to see what kind of behavioral advertising is sent our way. Would folks be up for a 90 day trial? {No is a perfectly acceptable answer]

2. Not every day

is race day. Remembered this when cycling, of all things, with a group on January 2. Some of those guys seem to have forgotten that the year has 365 days -- 366 this year -- and only 5-10 of them are races. Here is my theory: every workout has a purpose. But that purpose may be as mundane as keeping your joints lubed for the big workout coming tomorrow.

Antitrust Novel

Is it possible to write an enjoyable, even pulpish, novel, which is actually a (1) legally accurate, and (2) true-to-life picture of an antitrust violation? I'm thinking of Eichenwald's "The Informant," in the reading of which I learned much about the realities of antitrust conspiracies; of course, The Informant tells a true story. Nothing that Hollywood has done in this space, except for turning the Informant into a movie, is even interesting, let alone educational.

I think this would be a great line of books, which I'd call the law school "novels" series. I just wonder if it is possible. It might require a collaborative effort -- how many of us are that interesting of writers, anyway?

1. It's not how far, it's not how fast,

It is that you ran at all that matters. My first lesson from running is to just get out. Some days a slog turns into a joy. Some days it stays a slog. Some days you can't keep yourself in, and those are the easy days, when you may just add the extra out-and-back because who wants to go home, anyway. But this lesson applies to the other days, which in my life represent about half, or even 55% of days. If the calendar says it's a running day, then run.