Beyond the schmoozing, there were some good panels. Much more consumer protection then past years but seemingly less international and comparative ones. I attended part of the IP panel until I realized that it was a rather technical rehash of the FTC recent report on suggested changes to the patent laws (none of which are going to happen anytime soon). From there went to a better panel on settlements of indirect purchaser cases including recently retired federal judge Vaughan Walker who was both interesting and candid. In the afternoon, there was my panel on New Approaches to Remedies. Big crowd, seemed engaged, almost no one left or slept which seemed like a good thing. More of a structured conversation rather than just talking heads reading powerpoint slides which people seemed to appreciate. Panel included Patty Brink of DOJ, Dick Steuer of Mayer Brown, Frank Maier-Rigaud of OECD and Howard Morse of the Colley firm.
That took us to 5:15 when I then hit various law and economic consulting firm parties. I miss Howrey & Simon, they always had the best sushi. Over ate a bit but enjoyed the schmoozing and the relief from being done with my part of the show.
Today, I slept in and managed to miss the editorial board meeting of the Antitrust Law Journal (something you should get involved in). Thoroughly enjoyed the 2 hour chair's showcase on Competition and Consumer Protection in Web 3.0. Even though it was mostly people with a dog in the fight (Google, Micosoft, etc) reading the party line, I learned a lot that will eventually go into my piece on Social Networking and Antitrust for Haifa in May and then North Carolina in the fall. Hung out with the AAI crowd for lunch and then headed home. Now playing catch up on a bunch of projects that I put on the back burner while I prepared for the spring meeting panel.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
A Cherry Blossom Run
Before joining thr ABA antitrust spring meeting I managed to get out for a 65
Minute run. Left the JW Marriot headed down 14th street, and circled the tidal
Basin. Blossoms just past peak. Said hi to both FDR and Jefferson and headed
over the bridge to Virginia. Heaed west? toward memorial bridge back to DC, saw
Abea, vietnam, WW2, and Washington monument before a quick shower and then off
to the conference. More about that later.
Minute run. Left the JW Marriot headed down 14th street, and circled the tidal
Basin. Blossoms just past peak. Said hi to both FDR and Jefferson and headed
over the bridge to Virginia. Heaed west? toward memorial bridge back to DC, saw
Abea, vietnam, WW2, and Washington monument before a quick shower and then off
to the conference. More about that later.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Bar Mitzvah weekend and beyond
My only nephew had his bar mitzvah this weekend. This included a family dinner at my place on Friday, a nearly three hour service he mostly led on Saturday morning, an afternoon party at a great space near Wrigley field, and a Sunday brunch in the neighborhood where his family lives. How to avoid ingesting 8 thousand calories a day? There really isn't any but was able to get in a 7 miler on Friday and a 6 miler on Sunday which helps.
Looking forward to a couple of brisk runs in Chicago plus an early morning cherry blossom run in DC before speaking at the spring meeting. I normally stay around Kalorama and run in either Rock Creek Park out past the zoo and back through Georgetown or down to Arlington Cemetery and back. But this time I will start from the JW Marriott, circle the tidal basin and then probably the mall and maybe over the bridge to Virginia and back.
Just trying to keep the mileage above 20 a week and then get serious come mid-April.
Looking forward to a couple of brisk runs in Chicago plus an early morning cherry blossom run in DC before speaking at the spring meeting. I normally stay around Kalorama and run in either Rock Creek Park out past the zoo and back through Georgetown or down to Arlington Cemetery and back. But this time I will start from the JW Marriott, circle the tidal basin and then probably the mall and maybe over the bridge to Virginia and back.
Just trying to keep the mileage above 20 a week and then get serious come mid-April.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
National Half
It was cold at the start, and I was regretting wearing a singlet with nothing on the arms. My right hand never thawed out; it was like a claw trying to handle the gel pack mid-race. My legs started out heavy. I had none of that springiness that I usually feel from the overdose of adrenaline at the start line. I had some acid stomach issues, with those terrible burps that are needed to alleviate the pressure that might otherwise lead to vomiting.
Mile one went three seconds under target. The next couple of miles they wound us past Union Station, the old SEC (now Antitrust Division) building, the Department of Labor, and out onto Constitution for a great photo shoot with the Capitol and rising sun in the background. (The photographer had the audacity to call out for me to run closer to the camera. I'm happy when a race photo comes out well, but I ain't posing!). All this time I was thinking, "I can't hold this pace. When is it excusable to quit trying and jog the rest of the way?"
On Constitution we passed the federal and DC courthouses, the FTC building, the DOJ building, several Smithsonian buildings, and, if you were inclined to take a look, the White House not far away at 1600 Penn. We then turned right and headed north up 18th Street, through the K Street office quarter, onto Connecticut and into DuPont Circle.
Somewhere in here the woman I followed for most of the Marine Corps Marathon last October passed me. I was aware that she is faster than I, but I noticed she was wearing a marathon bib; unless she was going out way too hard she was heading for a 2:50. Not knowing her name, I can't tell which it was. I didn't latch on this time, but I did end up running the rest of the way within 100 meters of her (until the marathoners peeled off at about mile 12.5).
North of DuPont we split off onto Columbia Avenue and up into Adams Morgan. (This was my daily commute when I worked at the firm and P__ and I lived in that neighborhood, nearly a decade ago.) That's the hard part of the race, a long gradual uphill through the 10K marker. I crossed the 10K nearly exactly on schedule (running, I think, my 6th fastest 10K ever). I still wasn't feeling loose, and now fatigue was starting to creep in.
From Adams Morgan we headed east on Columbia through Columbia Heights and into the neighborhoods around Howard University. At Howard there has always been an enthusiastic cheering section, and while this year it was less populous, it was no less enthusiastic. Around McMillan Reservoir and east to North Capitol. Heading south on North Capitol not only offers tremendous views of the Capitol building, it is downhill. I checked my watch at the 10-mile marker -- only the second marked mile on the entire course! -- and was three seconds under my target pace. Now for a moment of resolve: "I will run this last 5K hard."
Well, I tried. Apart from the views of the Capitol, and the downhill, the rest of the race has little to recommend it. K Street and H Street NE are in disrepair and the neighborhoods are not well maintained. South again on 13th NE to Constitution, North Carolina and C Street. At this point you can see the fast marathoners heading back out for their second loop, a long, lonely stretch through southwest and southeast DC that I did not envy them.
We approached RFK Stadium and split off from the marathon pack, turning back right to an uphill and the finish straightaway. The short guy with the funny hat whom I had caught about two miles back poured it on and I watched him go. A muscular guy was lagging on the uphill; I put my arms into it and duck-walked past him. Here I caught a woman who had blazed out of the start. We ran shoulder-to-shoulder toward the finish, but she wanted none of that; she put on a spurt and crossed two seconds ahead of me. I wonder if I could have caught her. I was mostly just concerned that any uneven pavement would mean my taking a fall. I clicked my watch at 1:25:05, five seconds behind my goal, and leaned on the metal fence long enough to attract the interest of an attentive marshal. But once the breath came back, I felt fine, even good.
Mile one went three seconds under target. The next couple of miles they wound us past Union Station, the old SEC (now Antitrust Division) building, the Department of Labor, and out onto Constitution for a great photo shoot with the Capitol and rising sun in the background. (The photographer had the audacity to call out for me to run closer to the camera. I'm happy when a race photo comes out well, but I ain't posing!). All this time I was thinking, "I can't hold this pace. When is it excusable to quit trying and jog the rest of the way?"
On Constitution we passed the federal and DC courthouses, the FTC building, the DOJ building, several Smithsonian buildings, and, if you were inclined to take a look, the White House not far away at 1600 Penn. We then turned right and headed north up 18th Street, through the K Street office quarter, onto Connecticut and into DuPont Circle.
Somewhere in here the woman I followed for most of the Marine Corps Marathon last October passed me. I was aware that she is faster than I, but I noticed she was wearing a marathon bib; unless she was going out way too hard she was heading for a 2:50. Not knowing her name, I can't tell which it was. I didn't latch on this time, but I did end up running the rest of the way within 100 meters of her (until the marathoners peeled off at about mile 12.5).
North of DuPont we split off onto Columbia Avenue and up into Adams Morgan. (This was my daily commute when I worked at the firm and P__ and I lived in that neighborhood, nearly a decade ago.) That's the hard part of the race, a long gradual uphill through the 10K marker. I crossed the 10K nearly exactly on schedule (running, I think, my 6th fastest 10K ever). I still wasn't feeling loose, and now fatigue was starting to creep in.
From Adams Morgan we headed east on Columbia through Columbia Heights and into the neighborhoods around Howard University. At Howard there has always been an enthusiastic cheering section, and while this year it was less populous, it was no less enthusiastic. Around McMillan Reservoir and east to North Capitol. Heading south on North Capitol not only offers tremendous views of the Capitol building, it is downhill. I checked my watch at the 10-mile marker -- only the second marked mile on the entire course! -- and was three seconds under my target pace. Now for a moment of resolve: "I will run this last 5K hard."
Well, I tried. Apart from the views of the Capitol, and the downhill, the rest of the race has little to recommend it. K Street and H Street NE are in disrepair and the neighborhoods are not well maintained. South again on 13th NE to Constitution, North Carolina and C Street. At this point you can see the fast marathoners heading back out for their second loop, a long, lonely stretch through southwest and southeast DC that I did not envy them.
We approached RFK Stadium and split off from the marathon pack, turning back right to an uphill and the finish straightaway. The short guy with the funny hat whom I had caught about two miles back poured it on and I watched him go. A muscular guy was lagging on the uphill; I put my arms into it and duck-walked past him. Here I caught a woman who had blazed out of the start. We ran shoulder-to-shoulder toward the finish, but she wanted none of that; she put on a spurt and crossed two seconds ahead of me. I wonder if I could have caught her. I was mostly just concerned that any uneven pavement would mean my taking a fall. I clicked my watch at 1:25:05, five seconds behind my goal, and leaned on the metal fence long enough to attract the interest of an attentive marshal. But once the breath came back, I felt fine, even good.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Process Goals
My life-long friend P__ once explained to me the seemingly chaotic hockey offensive strategy: "Hockey is about setting yourself up to get lucky." To what in life does that not apply? Let's try mid-distance running:
I have a goal of 1:XX in the National Half Marathon tomorrow. When will that goal be accomplished? When I take the last step and look at the clock, of course. But if I'm not on track after the second-to-last step, can I make up the lost time? Not likely. So the second-to-last step is only marginally less important. The same, of course, for the third-to last. It's daunting to contemplate the 15,370 steps I can expect to take tomorrow and think that no one of them can accomplish my goal. All have to be within the margin of error. For that reason, I can't reasonably wrap my mind around a goal of running 1:XX. I need something else to shoot for. Something intermediate. Something that, once accomplished, will set me up to get lucky.
A few of the intermediate steps are quite mundane. I need to eat right tonight and tomorrow. Low fiber but high calorie tonight, and a banana, an english muffin, a cup of coffee and a gel pack tomorrow morning. I need to get to the start line early -- none of this rolling up as the gun goes off, like my 5K with P__ (different P) last week. I need to jog around a little to loosen up, run in place to get the heart rate up and do a few 20-stride sprints to get the feel of moving. Having done all that, I'll be about as ready as I can be
Then the most important one for me. I need a good first mile. Not a fast first mile. In my last (and only other) pure half-marathon, I checked my watch one mile in, and found 5:55 had elapsed and I was running with a small pack of front runners. I spent the next 12.1 miles trying to regain my breath. It's one thing to do that at age 27. I might not finish if I tried it tomorrow. A good first mile means hitting my target pace. After that, when I cease paying attention down the road, the start-line adrenaline will be dissipated and there will be no danger of my doing anything too outlandish.
Beyond that? I need nutrition, which means gel at the start, mile 4 and mile 8. I need water, pretty much whenever they'll give it to me. I need to understand after the first seven miles, which will be easy, that this is a race and what I do in the coming 6.1 miles, which will be hard, will help to define what I do the next time.
If I do all those things I will be set up to be lucky. If I then get to the third-to-last step and I realize I can't make up the difference from the 15,367 that have elapsed, I need to be OK with that.
I have a goal of 1:XX in the National Half Marathon tomorrow. When will that goal be accomplished? When I take the last step and look at the clock, of course. But if I'm not on track after the second-to-last step, can I make up the lost time? Not likely. So the second-to-last step is only marginally less important. The same, of course, for the third-to last. It's daunting to contemplate the 15,370 steps I can expect to take tomorrow and think that no one of them can accomplish my goal. All have to be within the margin of error. For that reason, I can't reasonably wrap my mind around a goal of running 1:XX. I need something else to shoot for. Something intermediate. Something that, once accomplished, will set me up to get lucky.
A few of the intermediate steps are quite mundane. I need to eat right tonight and tomorrow. Low fiber but high calorie tonight, and a banana, an english muffin, a cup of coffee and a gel pack tomorrow morning. I need to get to the start line early -- none of this rolling up as the gun goes off, like my 5K with P__ (different P) last week. I need to jog around a little to loosen up, run in place to get the heart rate up and do a few 20-stride sprints to get the feel of moving. Having done all that, I'll be about as ready as I can be
Then the most important one for me. I need a good first mile. Not a fast first mile. In my last (and only other) pure half-marathon, I checked my watch one mile in, and found 5:55 had elapsed and I was running with a small pack of front runners. I spent the next 12.1 miles trying to regain my breath. It's one thing to do that at age 27. I might not finish if I tried it tomorrow. A good first mile means hitting my target pace. After that, when I cease paying attention down the road, the start-line adrenaline will be dissipated and there will be no danger of my doing anything too outlandish.
Beyond that? I need nutrition, which means gel at the start, mile 4 and mile 8. I need water, pretty much whenever they'll give it to me. I need to understand after the first seven miles, which will be easy, that this is a race and what I do in the coming 6.1 miles, which will be hard, will help to define what I do the next time.
If I do all those things I will be set up to be lucky. If I then get to the third-to-last step and I realize I can't make up the difference from the 15,367 that have elapsed, I need to be OK with that.
The Most Caffeinated Law School in America
Yes, US News is out. We did fine, nothing great. But had they measured coffee bars within a four block radius of the law school Loyola would have been a clear #1. By my count, there are 5 Starbucks, at least three other coffee places including the ING cafe (more on that in a later post), and one in our snack shop in the basement. So to paraphrase Bill Murray in Caddyshack: "So at least we've got that going for us, and that's nice".
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Thirty and Sunny
Odd week. Monday was 50 so I went 8. Tuesday and Wednesday were cold, dreary and rainy so I got lazy. Today is chilly but bright so will skimp a bit on class prep to get out there before the first snow of spring arrives later today. Must get serious at some point as Lakefront 10 mile race approaches in mid-April.
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