tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-286706322024-03-07T07:25:15.238+00:00Wise and OtherwiseWe have what it takes, but perhaps not what you’re looking for.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger552125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28670632.post-71387970044347728002012-12-20T14:49:00.000+00:002012-12-20T15:49:48.493+00:00Passed by a Christmas Tree<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I was proud to bring my marathon time back under five hours on Sunday, yet a few things from the race kept me humble.<br />
<br />
Like getting passed by a Christmas tree on Mile 7.<br />
<br />
I typically get passed by a couple runners pushing strollers. That only happened twice on Sunday, right around the 5K point, and those runners may have been running the 5K or half marathon.<br />
<br />
Then, shortly after I had passed the Mile 6 marker, I heard a jingling sound behind me, and in my peripheral vision came a Christmas tree, chugging up next to me. As soon as she passed me, I commented aloud, “I think I just got passed by a Christmas tree.” The ornamented stunt runner, and those nearby, chuckled. I passed her back a minute or two later.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a alt="Christmas Tree Runner and DRH" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHICIpOh2Fsg2uLGzml7hHCgAuVsQBLANx33gzSE-B4K8IcSHPFskv9prxjMVUxUIHADOqE5MMlEPce_VYwoWNuTq4fqhNvviKzIGtF22c18eMYYX9uIQ1DaQBoZIo6UDgh0220A/s1600/ChristmasTreeRunner_DRH.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="I was outrun by a Christmas tree."><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHICIpOh2Fsg2uLGzml7hHCgAuVsQBLANx33gzSE-B4K8IcSHPFskv9prxjMVUxUIHADOqE5MMlEPce_VYwoWNuTq4fqhNvviKzIGtF22c18eMYYX9uIQ1DaQBoZIo6UDgh0220A/s400/ChristmasTreeRunner_DRH.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><br />
A few minutes after that, she passed me for good, and I didn’t see her Christmas lights again until I reached the finish line, where she apparently arrived about six minutes before I did. However, for roughly twenty miles, I saw the occasional shred of tinsel along the course, where she had just run.<br />
<br />
I had also run the Jacksonville Marathon in December 2005. One of my memories from that race is being somewhere near Mile 4, one week before Christmas, and having to endure Kenny G.’s Christmas hits from police motorcycles patrolling the course. I had hoped for something a bit more “Eye of the Tiger”-esque while running.<br />
<br />
The 2012 race, my seventh full marathon (see recap from my sixth marathon <a href="http://wise-and-otherwise.blogspot.com/2012/09/notes-on-number-six.html" title="Notes on Number Six">here</a>), came on a gorgeous day. We had fog at the start. Overcast weather is nice for a distance race, and it’s tough to get much more overcast than fog. By the time I reached the point where the Kenny G. Christmas music was – mercifully – not playing, the fog had lifted, and it was a comfortable, sunny day. Most of the course had shade, so we had a pretty day, without a ton of direct sunlight.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a alt="DRH 2012 Race Medals" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXW9kiuVuHzHQkajhV3eo-bF7xJw4q-qNVt2AnvlSaNddLJbvAnT7q6LnVglUGW-Z_cioYuhsVNnlVMTIJZwQgUoy-Fvd8HDtFL1LTkU_Flk26ltNVN0TdipX8Ftg-8kzMGfaA/s1600/DRH_2012_RaceMedals.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Medals from 2012 Races"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXW9kiuVuHzHQkajhV3eo-bF7xJw4q-qNVt2AnvlSaNddLJbvAnT7q6LnVglUGW-Z_cioYuhsVNnlVMTIJZwQgUoy-Fvd8HDtFL1LTkU_Flk26ltNVN0TdipX8Ftg-8kzMGfaA/s400/DRH_2012_RaceMedals.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
This race completed my race circuit of two half marathons and three full marathons in 2012. My main reason for adding this race was to keep me on track, physically, for <a title="How am I training for Kilimanjaro?" href="http://kiliclimb4emi.blogspot.com/2012/12/how-am-i-training-for-kilimanjaro.html">climbing Mount Kilimanjaro</a> in January 2013.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28670632.post-68892243827319404752012-11-29T22:35:00.001+00:002012-11-29T22:35:50.865+00:00Boom Goes the Napoleon<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I subbed for a French teacher. She had students complete a packet on Napoleon Bonaparte. A middle school student, being completely serious, said, “I thought it was Napoleon Dynamite.”<br />
<br />
Upon hearing this, my brother, who used to maintain a <a title="Live in Contrast" href="http://liveincontrast.blogspot.com/">blog</a>, commented, “That would have been Napoleon Blown-apart.”</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28670632.post-8346597295371736582012-11-08T15:01:00.000+00:002012-11-08T15:01:19.946+00:00“We need your prayers.”<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I lived in a predominantly Muslim nation in North Africa for half a decade. Each Sunday, I went to one of the nation’s few registered Protestant churches, where the government allowed foreigners (like myself) to gather. We willingly and intentionally prayed each Sunday for our host nation’s head of state, asking God: to bless him; to give him and his advisors wisdom to lead well; and to help him lead in a way that brought God glory. At one point, leaders from our church even met with the head of state and communicated the church’s commitment to praying for him weekly. I wasn’t there when the church leaders met with him, but I remember hearing that the head of state replied, “We need your prayers.” That sort of solidified our commitment and built in a bit of accountability to follow through with what we said we’d do.<br />
<br />
Over the past few years of living in the United States, where I’ve regularly attended one church and freely visited several others, I’ve found this sort of intentional, public, weekly prayer rare, if it has happened at all. Admittedly, I haven’t made it a priority for myself, even though I intentionally spend daily time in prayer.<br />
<br />
For followers of Christ, prayer for our leadership isn’t optional. It doesn’t depend on a leader’s walk of life or whether an election is coming up soon. It’s simply something <a title="1 Timothy 2:1-6" href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Timothy+2%3A1-6&version=NIV1984%3BNKJV%3BAMP%3BMSG%3BESV">the Bible urges us</a> to do.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28670632.post-83190792101886991712012-11-04T19:08:00.000+00:002012-11-04T19:08:01.915+00:00Ciderman<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">After church this morning, we decided to avail ourselves of the apple cider at the church café. My nephew, just days removed from trick-or-treating, still had Spiderman on his mind. Look at his hat. For real...Spiderman was on his mind.<br />
<br />
I think it was difficult for him to understand that we were drinking <em>cider</em>, not spiders. “Warm spider?” he asked. I decided not to fight it. “Yes, it’s warm spider. Please just drink it.”<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a alt="Ciderman" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLo_QjV9kmIFhkwXmw7zmrOigswEYL2pe8xWS2Jrg5mYU_YnbL4dwbYK7pRIrQgWKEMvgFwu8L7uaB93EmH06IDIGxO2m4ms7kl4zR88j-eADdcLfOf8Nlm1ixSxO0cYQ-P73ZEw/s1600/MiniSpidey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Ciderman"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLo_QjV9kmIFhkwXmw7zmrOigswEYL2pe8xWS2Jrg5mYU_YnbL4dwbYK7pRIrQgWKEMvgFwu8L7uaB93EmH06IDIGxO2m4ms7kl4zR88j-eADdcLfOf8Nlm1ixSxO0cYQ-P73ZEw/s640/MiniSpidey.jpg" width="424" /></a></div><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28670632.post-58453905346289358002012-10-27T19:56:00.000+00:002012-10-28T02:56:51.431+00:00To the Rooftop<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Both of my readers have probably noticed a <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paucity" title="Look up “paucity.”">paucity</a> of <a href="http://wise-and-otherwise.blogspot.com/" title="Wise and Otherwise (You’re already here.)">W&O</a> posts lately. To each of you: I’m sorry.<br />
<br />
Over the next few months, you may have more success getting regular posts from <a href="http://kiliclimb4emi.blogspot.com/" title="Journey to the Rooftop of Africa">Journey to the Rooftop of Africa</a>, which highlights a trek up Mount Kilimanjaro I plan to join, while helping raise funds to help <a href="http://www.emiea.org/index.html" title="eMi: East Africa">eMi: East Africa</a>. (I could probably write the name of that organization a different way, but I like the nod toward a <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=csi+crime+scene+investigation" title="Search for “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.”">popular crime show</a> that writing it as I did affords.)<br />
<br />
The last time I did something athletic to raise money for something significant was a couple years ago, when I <a href="http://wise-and-otherwise.blogspot.com/2011/05/personal-record-in-cheesiness.html" title="Personal Record in Cheesiness">ran in Wisconsin</a> with my friend, <a href="http://marathonbenj.blogspot.com/" title="MarathonBenj’s Running Blog">Ben</a>. This time, I am working with my friend, <a href="http://austins2uganda.com/" title="austins2uganda">Jeff</a>.<br />
<br />
See you on the <a href="http://kiliclimb4emi.blogspot.com/" title="Journey to the Rooftop of Africa">Rooftop</a>!</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28670632.post-19397201421149496092012-09-19T13:06:00.000+00:002012-09-25T19:34:54.231+00:00New Pirate-y Version<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day, a subject of at least one <a href="http://wise-and-otherwise.blogspot.com/2010/09/pirate-day-confession.html" title="Pirate Day Confession">previous post</a>. Interestingly enough, one of my favorite sites featured the <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians%204:29&version=NIV1984;NKJV;AMP;MSG;ESV" title="Ephesians 4:29">verse</a> below, which I have taken the liberty to translate into Pirate. Seemed fitting.<br />
<br />
“Let nay corruptin’ talk come ou’ o’ yer mouths, but only such as be good fer buildin’ up, as fits th’ occasion, that ‘t may give grace t’ them who hear.” – Ephesians 4:29 (New Pirate-y Version)</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28670632.post-29217760929375158932012-09-15T23:55:00.000+00:002012-09-16T21:53:43.487+00:00Notes on Number Six<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I finished. After essentially not training for my sixth marathon, I crossed the line roughly six minutes slower than I did in my <a href="http://wise-and-otherwise.blogspot.com/2012/06/five-full.html" title="Five Full">fifth full marathon</a>, fifteen weeks earlier, in June.<br />
<br />
This race featured a few firsts for me:<br />
<ul><li>Running a full marathon that I had run previously (last time: 2009, <a href="http://wise-and-otherwise.blogspot.com/2009/11/breathtaking-away-cinematography.html" title="Breathtaking (Away) Cinematography">click here</a> for recap).</li>
<li>Eating a Krispy Kreme doughnut during a race. While I had previously eaten a Krispy Kreme doughnut <a href="http://wise-and-otherwise.blogspot.com/2012/06/marathon-just-two-days-away-but.html" title="Marathon just two days away, but...">a couple days <i>before</i> a race</a>, this was the first time I downed a doughnut mid-race – or while running, in general, for that matter. In 2009, when I ran the Air Force Marathon, Mile 17 traversed a runway. At first, I thought, “Cool, I’m running on a runway!” Then, with the sun beating down on the hot, asphalt surface of the runway, it quickly became less cool. This year, the course did not include the runway, but included volunteers offering Krispy Kreme doughnuts, instead. Much improved, race organizers!</li>
<li>Quite possibly too much information, but...this was the first race, of any distance, during which I availed myself of those little green booths along the course.</li>
</ul><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghkrfqhrdQwmX4HzgHMdaTGahHpLwQ7Y3W27oLdEuneMQTXwm9pEdaNNuT_9OKkfPW33fYm6wkBJnPwtKbsWOvz0pZxwbR5QjlpoqcLioYfVPlQpqEYFmnWW00TJrX1DtEWhcj1g/s1600/2012USAFM_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="2012USAFM_01" border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghkrfqhrdQwmX4HzgHMdaTGahHpLwQ7Y3W27oLdEuneMQTXwm9pEdaNNuT_9OKkfPW33fYm6wkBJnPwtKbsWOvz0pZxwbR5QjlpoqcLioYfVPlQpqEYFmnWW00TJrX1DtEWhcj1g/s400/2012USAFM_01.jpg" title="Finisher’s Medal and Bib" width="400" /></a></div><br />
A few notes on what I wore:<br />
<ul><li>The shirt and shorts have now completed fourteen half marathons and six full marathons with me. They kind of feel like friends.</li>
<li>I wore the socks through a Peruvian mudslide in April.</li>
<li>The shoes still have African dirt on them from August.</li>
</ul><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUgDkNDKwqG-arNW1LEO7rIpvVDOQOuYrsM9KyZRyqG6BBSLX790yQCMrxzZ2coQWqlc2xQ_ylUP10DJw5cpPLXs1NoAer-pUENHDjePTLSurWTVIClLfWNJmNAZ14rfW-rJ8UDw/s1600/2012USAFM_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="2012USAFM_02" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUgDkNDKwqG-arNW1LEO7rIpvVDOQOuYrsM9KyZRyqG6BBSLX790yQCMrxzZ2coQWqlc2xQ_ylUP10DJw5cpPLXs1NoAer-pUENHDjePTLSurWTVIClLfWNJmNAZ14rfW-rJ8UDw/s400/2012USAFM_02.jpg" title="Pre-Race Routine" width="267" /></a></div><br />
</div>Two more notes:<br />
<ul><li>My favorite spectator sign, which I saw in downtown Fairborn during <a href="http://mileten.com/" title="MILE TEN – AIR FORCE MARATHON SPECTATOR GATHERING SITE">Mile Ten</a>, read: “WWHHD: What would <a title="Hal Higdon Training Programs" href="http://www.halhigdon.com/">Hal Higdon</a> do?” Made me smile.</li><li>As I crossed the finish line, the announcer said, “We’re at five hours and twenty-eight minutes, so David just crushed the five-thirty!” Take off a few more minutes for my chip time, and yes...I suppose I did.</li>
</ul></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28670632.post-15060127268807335632012-08-03T20:06:00.000+00:002012-09-14T19:00:30.669+00:00Chocolate Olympics<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">Victory Celebration!</span></strong></div> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAIaUk3HUAOKobOefBr1DYJ0KVl9oV0Z6NVbjDxQHBDjp1zjo49g2wbEaS9NNy_0KrCycfnXEHEa6gMuPUjhAoigfnh86FUB_DScuLEhFe-vQXI61n0hBdLQpiljOAfivaHrhcfQ/s1600/COVC%2521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Victory tastes so sweet!"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAIaUk3HUAOKobOefBr1DYJ0KVl9oV0Z6NVbjDxQHBDjp1zjo49g2wbEaS9NNy_0KrCycfnXEHEa6gMuPUjhAoigfnh86FUB_DScuLEhFe-vQXI61n0hBdLQpiljOAfivaHrhcfQ/s400/COVC%2521.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Not pictured: The chocolate that <a href="http://wise-and-otherwise.blogspot.com/2012/07/king-solomon-and-olympics.html" title="King Solomon and the Olympics">aped</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<strong>And the events...</strong><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Rowing</strong></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a title="Rowing" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZPaFDtZjqHxqvopo3Hc52yghJufb0AHN66Tqmkwgi8hWrULBTnd5-oyNEDIw2W2znSrirCptO5s24ra9YkfzsGhGGo8X3b6PD7mA-NocS0UyfrqSjAbaj86pXYfNOG4FST7Gaaw/s1600/CORowing!.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZPaFDtZjqHxqvopo3Hc52yghJufb0AHN66Tqmkwgi8hWrULBTnd5-oyNEDIw2W2znSrirCptO5s24ra9YkfzsGhGGo8X3b6PD7mA-NocS0UyfrqSjAbaj86pXYfNOG4FST7Gaaw/s320/CORowing!.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Volleyball</strong></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a a title="Volleyball (Aerial View)" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXHuJiPTtFhyi1GCxVYANt_jBBM-_zf38dH-5y1p3cgj82Uiw3CRVsuavaORZyu5bAaFARWaWQJj1P7yjj1rtprjuqGPX64iJ62Tn29ievsOBAU6nLCHBx5kDiOQTL0WcCUL6Faw/s1600/COVolley1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXHuJiPTtFhyi1GCxVYANt_jBBM-_zf38dH-5y1p3cgj82Uiw3CRVsuavaORZyu5bAaFARWaWQJj1P7yjj1rtprjuqGPX64iJ62Tn29ievsOBAU6nLCHBx5kDiOQTL0WcCUL6Faw/s400/COVolley1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a title="Volleyball (Sideline View)" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5wID8BG19mFN7XcChiTrD_qILaCVQrRk2OCfPNGJsWXsXQKxdF7z7Z8sIYiBh5qVV1V9s_zCWmpHnA4JvoQUB-OhhDQRqLV4_PBlY3IWrxpud_LJ1-l-_-eb9SN8C7v2v3BhQ1A/s1600/COVolley2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5wID8BG19mFN7XcChiTrD_qILaCVQrRk2OCfPNGJsWXsXQKxdF7z7Z8sIYiBh5qVV1V9s_zCWmpHnA4JvoQUB-OhhDQRqLV4_PBlY3IWrxpud_LJ1-l-_-eb9SN8C7v2v3BhQ1A/s400/COVolley2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Archery</strong></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a title="Archery" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdMk-UhAARFDKVIXdDQkSd1N333pohDsP10iF5Dn1Ns8IptSniJ-apuiQlP5AtFkAkKNzzb3ROHTpa1R4RQQHFGiqeSdkH_ggGYujRGckuca4ohqUzctvgpQFc7LEKs7kCdYfjjw/s1600/COA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdMk-UhAARFDKVIXdDQkSd1N333pohDsP10iF5Dn1Ns8IptSniJ-apuiQlP5AtFkAkKNzzb3ROHTpa1R4RQQHFGiqeSdkH_ggGYujRGckuca4ohqUzctvgpQFc7LEKs7kCdYfjjw/s400/COA.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Weightlifting</strong></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a title="Weightlifting" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigidU0VNVXUexGzbzhW9G4jOwihNJ0ztwAH4PFIpkWeCVtiB2HfGNwxHnke0MYIS_QqJxpyNIAfjjJCoD2htKy-xlNYCJ1K52UcCJ5izDDbIm5RB3cTTq4HuVbqfpbZmwwXU54Ag/s1600/COWL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigidU0VNVXUexGzbzhW9G4jOwihNJ0ztwAH4PFIpkWeCVtiB2HfGNwxHnke0MYIS_QqJxpyNIAfjjJCoD2htKy-xlNYCJ1K52UcCJ5izDDbIm5RB3cTTq4HuVbqfpbZmwwXU54Ag/s400/COWL.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28670632.post-6291810500600015142012-07-25T19:22:00.000+00:002012-07-25T19:22:03.061+00:00King Solomon and the Olympics<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">A few days ago, I was reading the Old Testament and came across <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Chronicles+9%3A21&version=ESV;NIV;NASB;NKJV" title="2 Chronicles 9:21">2 Chronicles 9:21</a>, which occurs in the <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Chronicles%209:13-28&version=ESV;NIV;NASB;NKJV" title="2 Chronicles 9:13-28">context</a> of a passage detailing King Solomon’s wealth, power and splendor.<br />
<br />
With the <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=2012+Summer+Olympics" title="Search for “2012 Summer Olympics.”">2012 Summer Olympics</a> set to get underway, I couldn’t help but notice a few things:<br />
<ul><li>First, the ships came from Tarshish once every three years – not quite <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quadrennial" title="Look up “quadrennial.”">quadrennial</a>, but close enough to get me thinking of the Olympic rings.</li>
<li>Second, I saw the progression of “gold, silver...” and ivory, rather than bronze. It was a different era. Perhaps ivory worked for third place.</li>
<li>The next part really got me thinking. The fourth item on the list was “apes.” It’s hard for me to comprehend why a shipment of apes would be interpreted as a gesture of goodwill. Odds are, if a courier arrives at my doorstep today with a shipment of apes from you, a courier will not be arriving at your doorstep in December with a Christmas card from me. Seriously, what am I supposed to do with a boatload of apes?</li>
<li>Back to the Olympic theme... What if athletes who finished fourth – just barely missing the bronze medal – were given apes to commemorate their almost-medal-worthy Olympic accomplishments? Imagine the conversations with the grandkids. “You competed in the Olympics? Did you medal?” “Nope, I aped.”</li>
<li>Finally, among different translations of the Bible, there seems to be some discrepancy about what the fifth item on the list actually was. Some versions list the fifth item as “monkeys” or “baboons.” Both of these are primates, and while differences among species are important, at least these two species have opposable thumbs in common. Other versions list “peacocks” fifth. I don’t understand how anyone could confuse a baboon with a peacock.</li>
<li>It’s interesting, though, that NBC, whose logo includes a peacock, is broadcasting the <a href="http://www.nbcolympics.com/" title="NBC Olympics">2012 Summer Olympics</a>.</li>
<ul></ul></ul></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28670632.post-61788208630106676442012-07-13T21:32:00.000+00:002012-07-20T01:21:16.261+00:00Water and Light<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEXru2FEVfR0e8jaOvO5uJjiF36Pdzl2eiY931rvEbk1TUZdWiLMNec_b3qh0_pyNK8jdEyQ-uPNYAN8eGXIcBSzWms_TS0qdGJEhkDV66ZEiijuqqQSxDJ2Eji1c_MigNX3d0pg/s1600/W%252BL_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img title="Niagara Falls" alt="Niagara Falls" border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEXru2FEVfR0e8jaOvO5uJjiF36Pdzl2eiY931rvEbk1TUZdWiLMNec_b3qh0_pyNK8jdEyQ-uPNYAN8eGXIcBSzWms_TS0qdGJEhkDV66ZEiijuqqQSxDJ2Eji1c_MigNX3d0pg/s400/W%252BL_01.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4PX4QI3Sw335171SkmfaWnhW2IHbS9q_7RNB4PMofwW5M-nNI9BwqokkQjMxCli3g9cL9xGFMljcdz91eEMjUB2qgFs90YacHLBFVSNkRv1GyQOWCk8QhD-yaCcvmXCQYIi1ycg/s1600/W%252BL_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img title="Lake Champlain" alt"Lake Champlain" border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4PX4QI3Sw335171SkmfaWnhW2IHbS9q_7RNB4PMofwW5M-nNI9BwqokkQjMxCli3g9cL9xGFMljcdz91eEMjUB2qgFs90YacHLBFVSNkRv1GyQOWCk8QhD-yaCcvmXCQYIi1ycg/s400/W%252BL_02.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb4RzNnlSkvG6E8NBfHkxhJ4Tq_lOqWFY69M1exuewSki0fBeYxe6AlyHkXB6aBA0vbuHSER5F2NHnJDo88slNxYfEhkKZHg2FHIDu9JpqBtghfBjHIY7E7AzGUu3lcxiRAW5peg/s1600/W%252BL_03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img title="Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse" alt="Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse" border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb4RzNnlSkvG6E8NBfHkxhJ4Tq_lOqWFY69M1exuewSki0fBeYxe6AlyHkXB6aBA0vbuHSER5F2NHnJDo88slNxYfEhkKZHg2FHIDu9JpqBtghfBjHIY7E7AzGUu3lcxiRAW5peg/s400/W%252BL_03.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28670632.post-60831658886457931372012-07-08T23:45:00.000+00:002012-07-20T03:57:59.539+00:00Splash<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Photos below are from the Atlantic Ocean and should not be confused with the photo from <a href="http://wise-and-otherwise.blogspot.com/2012/06/five-full.html" title="Five Full">this post</a>.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF-gBSxNDbdxu4Z5uUEgW_C3xCqB69uuyTmHfY1zOLvef6ClgBChLojLiAhIsitQKWo04_wT4cjnGnJ4AhQZ__JhizKs1SvGKfPLY2CTTvNPFsk4I3kfqGDj74o4m674V9IOrJ4Q/s1600/Splash_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img title="Flip" alt="Flip" border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF-gBSxNDbdxu4Z5uUEgW_C3xCqB69uuyTmHfY1zOLvef6ClgBChLojLiAhIsitQKWo04_wT4cjnGnJ4AhQZ__JhizKs1SvGKfPLY2CTTvNPFsk4I3kfqGDj74o4m674V9IOrJ4Q/s400/Splash_01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwlHOwN-BynfXdFv4wpA3EtNuHkOtrnsdNJWrc94C2949rfnJsyU72mgJi_0a9vjt5Lr3EhLTCPmHAdVyBnMQQldhKIKFf4EUZ-7DP4lwzH_RvAK-9a8lv3w1ydtkS0ODW3QRTeQ/s1600/Splash_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img title="Dip" alt="Dip" border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwlHOwN-BynfXdFv4wpA3EtNuHkOtrnsdNJWrc94C2949rfnJsyU72mgJi_0a9vjt5Lr3EhLTCPmHAdVyBnMQQldhKIKFf4EUZ-7DP4lwzH_RvAK-9a8lv3w1ydtkS0ODW3QRTeQ/s400/Splash_02.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsSB3bC8qiye3Pne3PAVP68Yfnk6NiSRcSwyTGWShd2znuoaD4EV_oPfQCS0oLAaaYFu3J3qzVkJmzJ5t-X9m0I6Vn8u5tWDn1-zed_kIRQu3gEGym2j6litWiFRHB2PRguDrQNg/s1600/Splash_03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img title="Drip" alt="Drip" border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsSB3bC8qiye3Pne3PAVP68Yfnk6NiSRcSwyTGWShd2znuoaD4EV_oPfQCS0oLAaaYFu3J3qzVkJmzJ5t-X9m0I6Vn8u5tWDn1-zed_kIRQu3gEGym2j6litWiFRHB2PRguDrQNg/s400/Splash_03.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28670632.post-44151682740250462482012-06-29T23:36:00.000+00:002012-07-20T00:47:43.354+00:00Shades<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifxF1pA3byvMf-vy6qGJ9EmlUf0NSbuGuRrlw5YYTHR_5j5tLr_Z5q9GPjeeNuz1Y1k9zfJN5il67Aaf7DkaASLw-T_ae-mE52dx-ui8Ce0v-D_9vgS_0gzKrAGMhexESqA71FLA/s1600/Shades01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img title="norteamericano" alt="norteamericano" border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifxF1pA3byvMf-vy6qGJ9EmlUf0NSbuGuRrlw5YYTHR_5j5tLr_Z5q9GPjeeNuz1Y1k9zfJN5il67Aaf7DkaASLw-T_ae-mE52dx-ui8Ce0v-D_9vgS_0gzKrAGMhexESqA71FLA/s400/Shades01.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuCTtisLvpTGF9_VvuyNrD_7ShOg2sXGUOuOMTmHwZSiwT16W3mwe-pIlJv-PIoqoSrFnIxk17YhNKuRbezRAi9oX8HEs_5w0NTEU88UqhRpi2YSXxbWQ1V6vfKbR5SRIFiGmOfA/s1600/Shades02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img title="peruano" alt="peruano" border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuCTtisLvpTGF9_VvuyNrD_7ShOg2sXGUOuOMTmHwZSiwT16W3mwe-pIlJv-PIoqoSrFnIxk17YhNKuRbezRAi9oX8HEs_5w0NTEU88UqhRpi2YSXxbWQ1V6vfKbR5SRIFiGmOfA/s400/Shades02.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28670632.post-84732248917289529232012-06-21T18:05:00.000+00:002012-06-21T18:05:58.843+00:00“Zapped” Art<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCb12BkC3REY66C1wuirXJzBgV8uxnOE3C85qF36qCvqXYqb6OMef18mW1i25j4Z7FBxyGTwiueuq33BJZSxBu5axEPQPqj-8a-3MavCNrFzu42_1WfK5lwmbBheSZHd577awBzw/s1600/ArtsyVBS_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Links" border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCb12BkC3REY66C1wuirXJzBgV8uxnOE3C85qF36qCvqXYqb6OMef18mW1i25j4Z7FBxyGTwiueuq33BJZSxBu5axEPQPqj-8a-3MavCNrFzu42_1WfK5lwmbBheSZHd577awBzw/s400/ArtsyVBS_01.jpg" title="Links" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRD4OjgFSqBoiyecNYfokV95hcOOX_AQ-81SG8i4sSQJCtQQEVpBeCezY-IjdeDPSRwUVVjrTzpn1BltclJPtykAdc-1u9eoU4EFNyUksoy3u86HWmeleeBrEG1j7iSyXhsqw1lQ/s1600/ArtsyVBS_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Shells" border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRD4OjgFSqBoiyecNYfokV95hcOOX_AQ-81SG8i4sSQJCtQQEVpBeCezY-IjdeDPSRwUVVjrTzpn1BltclJPtykAdc-1u9eoU4EFNyUksoy3u86HWmeleeBrEG1j7iSyXhsqw1lQ/s400/ArtsyVBS_02.jpg" title="Shells" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjot0_B7dD5HqbmtN_TTYRuYongC1jcW-u-ZJbPAzUv_4DfXwICtXgE-DjFws7zs6iKNwzQUj6MQrVOu10wDD2zj2J3fskFDwiBaG1lPAP_Gi-LeBYucleZyFrdsGDqIfOFZy_cMw/s1600/ArtsyVBS_03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Crayons and Paper" border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjot0_B7dD5HqbmtN_TTYRuYongC1jcW-u-ZJbPAzUv_4DfXwICtXgE-DjFws7zs6iKNwzQUj6MQrVOu10wDD2zj2J3fskFDwiBaG1lPAP_Gi-LeBYucleZyFrdsGDqIfOFZy_cMw/s400/ArtsyVBS_03.jpg" title="Crayons and Paper" width="400" /></a></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28670632.post-12011378379811046512012-06-05T22:10:00.000+00:002012-06-09T04:45:31.279+00:00Letterbox Photos<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Something about these photos needed to be in letterbox format.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1ESnGATIHoOGKVzL1hj642DFQY4g2-hEYyeUSJ-wxfHb4e2jYSyo2msx-cRs7JoAMIvYVlkjtfF9k7nr478vBoDGiBj2QDpoVGZ6guSGT52K58tPgbLysAblxR9bM1ZPqq1dyMA/s1600/Beverly_Hollywood_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Beverly Hills" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1ESnGATIHoOGKVzL1hj642DFQY4g2-hEYyeUSJ-wxfHb4e2jYSyo2msx-cRs7JoAMIvYVlkjtfF9k7nr478vBoDGiBj2QDpoVGZ6guSGT52K58tPgbLysAblxR9bM1ZPqq1dyMA/s400/Beverly_Hollywood_01.jpg" title="Tourists in the 90210" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEX8U64Tm7baaagtn_r3pY3wmj-MmCdvKHm6FgIEp9LINgxkGbBZt52oo_kGBxEYfZYqGQb0lYcRnwX_gPybZIjAHvqsxE3xZ9YOWBCqEKBn1iEjLIOy0qFJ2DRgwRZDbd3RmUfQ/s1600/Beverly_Hollywood_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Hollywood Sign" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEX8U64Tm7baaagtn_r3pY3wmj-MmCdvKHm6FgIEp9LINgxkGbBZt52oo_kGBxEYfZYqGQb0lYcRnwX_gPybZIjAHvqsxE3xZ9YOWBCqEKBn1iEjLIOy0qFJ2DRgwRZDbd3RmUfQ/s400/Beverly_Hollywood_02.jpg" title="Vantage Point: Blocks from Hollywood Boulevard" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgubssFHIggohVQ6q5WwkYc3VghZhUB3Ls4b8tJIVvRNdnIyGVtj5w58qiWR9Wp_bxQtyGBgL6GnrYeYdRbOYQTGaieHmBxL4xDVDvsg58Wpxn5Myc37_wTkzBJ7QgbQYd_6lFkoA/s1600/Beverly_Hollywood_03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Hollywood and Highland" border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgubssFHIggohVQ6q5WwkYc3VghZhUB3Ls4b8tJIVvRNdnIyGVtj5w58qiWR9Wp_bxQtyGBgL6GnrYeYdRbOYQTGaieHmBxL4xDVDvsg58Wpxn5Myc37_wTkzBJ7QgbQYd_6lFkoA/s400/Beverly_Hollywood_03.jpg" title="Hollywood and Highland" width="400" /></a></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28670632.post-82556322062900718282012-06-03T19:45:00.000+00:002012-06-09T03:02:43.850+00:00Five Full<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">On a mostly overcast day in San Diego, I completed my fifth full marathon. It was easily my slowest 26.2-mile effort, requiring me over five hours to reach the finish line. I accomplished my primary goal of completing the race. It remains unclear whether a certain earlier <a href="http://wise-and-otherwise.blogspot.com/2012/06/marathon-just-two-days-away-but.html" title="Marathon just two days away, but...">post-run snack</a> helped or hindered my effort. Regardless, if ever I aim for marathons in all fifty states, that’s three down, forty-seven to go. At my current pace it would take over ten full days of racing alone to complete that goal!<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzxAbi5g7LQRKh7QNUpOa0HjONi1lNEIfFAEelpjR1QjnCD4DyQW5VTemVAD3uz50NaWNziPxQe27GwVycwYtsfkuZfHU2i7Lp9CCNvnhsteM2MruYntw3T2DJEUBAar9fwJLOAg/s1600/SanDiegoMarathonFinish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="San Diego Finish Line" border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzxAbi5g7LQRKh7QNUpOa0HjONi1lNEIfFAEelpjR1QjnCD4DyQW5VTemVAD3uz50NaWNziPxQe27GwVycwYtsfkuZfHU2i7Lp9CCNvnhsteM2MruYntw3T2DJEUBAar9fwJLOAg/s400/SanDiegoMarathonFinish.jpg" title="We made it to the finish line!" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Meanwhile, in another time zone, another friend set a <a href="http://marathon-ben.blogspot.com/2012/06/updated-chip-time-33730.html" title="Updated Chip Time 3:37:30">personal best</a> in a full marathon, just four weeks after setting a personal best in a <a href="http://wise-and-otherwise.blogspot.com/2012/05/video-highlights-of-2012-wisconsin-half.html" title="Video Highlights of 2012 Wisconsin Half Marathon">half marathon</a> we ran together. Congrats, Ben!<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXpXK3qqqWCu4k94pCy3_sOyeAVcKklil5tonTXzaYrW98L7gdS5wye2pvwUbqXCN2JyZxlw3cUiku1DhzzxPl1JsWm0jet3iT3rbNocBllTQqADGZGZiWYVUaCweBVLqlokD8zA/s1600/ShamuExcitement.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Shamu" border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXpXK3qqqWCu4k94pCy3_sOyeAVcKklil5tonTXzaYrW98L7gdS5wye2pvwUbqXCN2JyZxlw3cUiku1DhzzxPl1JsWm0jet3iT3rbNocBllTQqADGZGZiWYVUaCweBVLqlokD8zA/s400/ShamuExcitement.jpg" title="This is one of many Shamus, actually." width="400" /></a></div><br />
And then, because I received a free ticket to SeaWorld® from the race, and the race ended in the SeaWorld® parking lot, I visited Shamu.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28670632.post-44784640736875343052012-06-02T23:55:00.000+00:002012-06-08T18:41:30.911+00:00Numa, Petco, Retro<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">The marathon kicked in a complimentary Padres ticket. No <a title="Pierogi Justice" href="http://wise-and-otherwise.blogspot.com/2012/05/pierogi-justice.html">pierogies</a> raced at the <a title="Diamondbacks 4, Padres 2" href="http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=320602125">game</a>. However, a certain <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=numa+numa" title="Search for “Numa Numa.”">Numa Numa</a> clip made an appearance. I’m struggling to decide which of these more indicated that the best action at the ballpark wasn’t happening on the field: the “Numa Numa” dance or “The Wave” (which also made an appearance during the game).<br />
<br />
Also, I wonder whether the Numa Numa guy ever realized, when he made his famous video, that he’d eventually be featured on MLB scoreboards between innings.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8iY8eavLYBNYGsogsz6J6Cq0H18cFxrwQYTaqMBCTMpl6_OgvbOnWdKy3XcMxPH7ClK1KqgjHFsWlVp7zvEUMBI9vgnZ9PGt1yolhLJTqGTPErqMPiVgcwD7AmhRIUsAzO9a_ow/s1600/Petco01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="Pierogi Justice"><img alt="Numa Numa" border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8iY8eavLYBNYGsogsz6J6Cq0H18cFxrwQYTaqMBCTMpl6_OgvbOnWdKy3XcMxPH7ClK1KqgjHFsWlVp7zvEUMBI9vgnZ9PGt1yolhLJTqGTPErqMPiVgcwD7AmhRIUsAzO9a_ow/s400/Petco01.jpg" title="Numa Numa, eh?" width="400" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb1KoZijwkDWEAD3xafB_2SACvSAW4wTwwfbmpy8IL9NDJyuw715uzh2BBTg_ICwVv_5pLg91eEqU2TPcblPYZDar66t2B_6VjgJlATRKeSkppMTnHOyn3Vq6y3pd6j5EcsQAfuw/s1600/Petco02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Petco" border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb1KoZijwkDWEAD3xafB_2SACvSAW4wTwwfbmpy8IL9NDJyuw715uzh2BBTg_ICwVv_5pLg91eEqU2TPcblPYZDar66t2B_6VjgJlATRKeSkppMTnHOyn3Vq6y3pd6j5EcsQAfuw/s400/Petco02.jpg" title="Welcome to Petco Park!" width="400" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPmiXfKwgP28gWzHXavWYaJbcCJrILYB3Jm_IE5dC7qs2BvYFkA_bW_Ee4mzE_kRfHJEbpqTirhpw9mSQyXwiMEX9jEXqAvgCEFeu1h-uh2iuohfhoWtzXD9Nlve4vY6nwRBz5cA/s1600/Petco03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Western Metal Supply" border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPmiXfKwgP28gWzHXavWYaJbcCJrILYB3Jm_IE5dC7qs2BvYFkA_bW_Ee4mzE_kRfHJEbpqTirhpw9mSQyXwiMEX9jEXqAvgCEFeu1h-uh2iuohfhoWtzXD9Nlve4vY6nwRBz5cA/s400/Petco03.jpg" title="Western Metal Supply Company in Left Field" width="400" /></a></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28670632.post-65667749171191256592012-06-01T14:03:00.000+00:002012-06-02T04:42:04.004+00:00Marathon just two days away, but...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">...today is <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=national+doughnut+day" title="Search for “National Doughnut Day.”">National Doughnut Day</a> in the USA! <a href="http://www.krispykreme.com/" title="Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and Coffee">Krispy Kreme</a> gave me a key lime pie doughnut, no purchase necessary. I ran for half an hour immediately before visiting their store. Yes, good has been done here today.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP5mCSmCpBpjsOClxV50OuOTB42UfHaOBQII5YBG1aVHozWiYZiJgNqCh9ky42NoDrWuU6mx13n4A8jAexXamOj1IeQwPiCzMjG3OBRKda5XHh0flPJYgTGMnio5aGt5BtDpYBGw/s1600/DoughnutDayFreebie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Free Doughnut" border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP5mCSmCpBpjsOClxV50OuOTB42UfHaOBQII5YBG1aVHozWiYZiJgNqCh9ky42NoDrWuU6mx13n4A8jAexXamOj1IeQwPiCzMjG3OBRKda5XHh0flPJYgTGMnio5aGt5BtDpYBGw/s400/DoughnutDayFreebie.jpg" title="Key Lime Pie Doughnut!" width="400" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28670632.post-72642695645755005312012-05-28T21:13:00.000+00:002012-05-29T22:23:26.426+00:00Pierogi Justice<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">When you go to a <a href="http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=320528123" title="Pirates 4, Reds 1">baseball game</a> and your team loses, yea, fails even to score until the ninth inning, you have to find something about which to cheer. So you cheer for scampering <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=pierogi" title="Search for “pierogi.”">pierogies</a>.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6fLDV7KVJjrUtmtd2FSuvVdYBUaDQt_U-Jy7_VvmiYCktu7O03_IO-1Y1-j6oXi_Pxq71Ib0XSXLny-n1OFp9N2cOYXdUUbX5cnqNUBp0Upclmn5me4JxLEUSvl0gJzCfpoVVtQ/s1600/PerogiesPNCPark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Pierogies at PNC Park" border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6fLDV7KVJjrUtmtd2FSuvVdYBUaDQt_U-Jy7_VvmiYCktu7O03_IO-1Y1-j6oXi_Pxq71Ib0XSXLny-n1OFp9N2cOYXdUUbX5cnqNUBp0Upclmn5me4JxLEUSvl0gJzCfpoVVtQ/s400/PerogiesPNCPark.jpg" title="Pierogies at PNC Park" width="400" /></a></div><br />
I decided to cheer for Oliver Onion, the purple pierogi, in the <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=Great+Pierogi+Race" title="Search for “Great Pierogi Race.”">Great Pierogi Race</a>. Unfortunately, whoever was in the Oliver suit ran as though he or she had recently eaten several pierogies. In other words, in this four-pierogi race, it was a bad day to have Oliver in your trifecta.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA4GFG5sm198QpSqKO_2KHSuqGwctuWtEk_mVJjH7N6s-7C8HkDb085of0WaKfl0cOd8Tr6szmX4aoqY-X3YT5z2T-b94alTPR2T8AepQQo83cKW91c2jBiK2eWaVXh90d7nyUcA/s1600/PerogiFinalStretch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Final Stretch of Great Pierogi Race" border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA4GFG5sm198QpSqKO_2KHSuqGwctuWtEk_mVJjH7N6s-7C8HkDb085of0WaKfl0cOd8Tr6szmX4aoqY-X3YT5z2T-b94alTPR2T8AepQQo83cKW91c2jBiK2eWaVXh90d7nyUcA/s400/PerogiFinalStretch.jpg" title="Oliver is definitely cut." width="400" /></a></div><br />
Then scandal struck. With Oliver Onion and their green-behatted co-competitor, Jalapeño Hannah, left in the dust, Cheese Chester (yellow hat) and Sauerkraut Saul (red hat) surged ahead toward a photo finish. From my perch in the cheap seats behind the first base side of home plate, I snapped one photo of the finish line and determined that Cheese Chester won, quite literally, by a nose. Much to my chagrin, however, the public address announcer awarded the race to Sauerkraut Saul.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2ROm7Kv0FqGwZQ5sKuIgjm7AvGQy66qMIzDurC8NLxhBzOOlg_9H2R7ObB9fDs9_sIf_VakPHUO0PyMPY8HG5V1pM_AKDYQMMJqwqQYupXF40fZ36pkC5B1BDSHe64xVFzwWMdQ/s1600/PerogiFinishLine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Pierogi Finish Line" border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2ROm7Kv0FqGwZQ5sKuIgjm7AvGQy66qMIzDurC8NLxhBzOOlg_9H2R7ObB9fDs9_sIf_VakPHUO0PyMPY8HG5V1pM_AKDYQMMJqwqQYupXF40fZ36pkC5B1BDSHe64xVFzwWMdQ/s400/PerogiFinishLine.jpg" title="Cheese Chester won by a nose." width="400" /></a></div><br />
A few innings later, the public address announcer made a special announcement, explaining that those in attendance were at the ballpark on a very momentous occasion: the day when they reversed the results of the Great Pierogi Race! After pierogi race officials reviewed the frame-by-frame photos of the finish line, they determined that Cheese Chester had indeed won. I left the ballpark saddened that my baseball team lost, but heartened that pierogi justice had prevailed.<br />
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In addition, I was pretty pleased that my single frame of the finish, which I captured from the cheap seats, correctly indicated the result of the race.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28670632.post-71712520927199165272012-05-27T20:12:00.000+00:002012-05-28T01:04:39.082+00:00Video Highlights of 2012 Wisconsin Half Marathon<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Below are video highlights from the 2012 Wisconsin Half Marathon. You can read my recap <a href="http://wise-and-otherwise.blogspot.com/2012/05/run-faster-not-cheesier.html" title="Run Faster, Not Cheesier">here</a>, and Ben’s recap <a href="http://marathon-ben.blogspot.com/2012/05/wisconsin-half-2012-flying-in-kenosha.html" title="Wisconsin Half 2012 - Flying in Kenosha">here</a>.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qqvuaxO-me4" title="2012 Wisconsin Half Marathon" width="560"></iframe></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28670632.post-90576242472643424272012-05-05T18:26:00.001+00:002012-05-06T05:12:05.318+00:00Run Faster, Not Cheesier<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">During <a href="http://wise-and-otherwise.blogspot.com/2011/12/very-cheesy-presentation.html" title="A Very Cheesy Presentation">last year’s version</a> of the Wisconsin Marathon, the emphasis – ours and the race’s – was on cheesiness. This year the race went a somewhat tackier route (at least on the medal, T-shirt, etc.), and we focused on running faster times. Ben <a title="Wisconsin Half 2012 - Flying in Kenosha" href="http://marathon-ben.blogspot.com/2012/05/wisconsin-half-2012-flying-in-kenosha.html">ran his fastest time to date</a> at the half marathon distance. I improved roughly eight minutes over the time I ran in my <a href="http://wise-and-otherwise.blogspot.com/2012/03/thirteenth-131.html" title="The Thirteenth 13.1">thirteenth half marathon</a>, just seven weeks earlier.<br />
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It’s too bad that race organizers didn’t pick up on the Cinco de Mayo theme this year. The race is slotted for the first Saturday in May, but that only occasionally coincides with May 5. If anyone was wearing a cheesy sombrero, I didn’t see it. I even inquired about cheesy sombreros at the expo. In any case, it would have been fun to see a Wisconsin take on Cinco de Mayo.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnCuEuh4uSjlIt9kaTrULF5AcJPMiLY3Cw2hGEwLaBplIAosrngPcCUXcqPvoQJ6ehyphenhyphenbNDhwqm36b9O-RHI5KUEHkCI2sMNfuv81x3lZmjqUAcZPtxggR0hafsVTxYTXLKGnn6kQ/s1600/WM12-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Post-Race Photo" border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnCuEuh4uSjlIt9kaTrULF5AcJPMiLY3Cw2hGEwLaBplIAosrngPcCUXcqPvoQJ6ehyphenhyphenbNDhwqm36b9O-RHI5KUEHkCI2sMNfuv81x3lZmjqUAcZPtxggR0hafsVTxYTXLKGnn6kQ/s400/WM12-01.jpg" title="Post-Race Photo" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwkJP_1t8S1eEkoI3vvwpeIG785SrUWgFUm5xk8mVysEs7dSP9LtUZ87Uoy5evZ3oIStJ-5AxcoxQSQq-i4UTmDMfdecsXSwUgPliVOlSeTTb0Vz7eq523N5Ey5PF8UlDRlncXJQ/s1600/WM12-02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Watch and Medal" border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwkJP_1t8S1eEkoI3vvwpeIG785SrUWgFUm5xk8mVysEs7dSP9LtUZ87Uoy5evZ3oIStJ-5AxcoxQSQq-i4UTmDMfdecsXSwUgPliVOlSeTTb0Vz7eq523N5Ey5PF8UlDRlncXJQ/s400/WM12-02.jpg" title="Watch and Tacky Medal" width="400" /></a></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28670632.post-18091319425882644982012-04-26T23:38:00.000+00:002012-04-27T01:56:42.577+00:00Man Versus Farm<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">He fought the farm, and the farm won. An hour was not enough to pack away this meal.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJVAhKFJvLw4XvuptDjzrpMb6nHU6V46EiXXHxnkctNl30ewLAlk9qQAxtp38PRdZQT6azoGlsBHofepuGCb8j1d4zHSz3S2bQRsProF2kpIIuQsj27owan5-fn8e-5jCcIhnhDQ/s1600/EIEIO_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Pre-Attempt" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJVAhKFJvLw4XvuptDjzrpMb6nHU6V46EiXXHxnkctNl30ewLAlk9qQAxtp38PRdZQT6azoGlsBHofepuGCb8j1d4zHSz3S2bQRsProF2kpIIuQsj27owan5-fn8e-5jCcIhnhDQ/s400/EIEIO_01.jpg" title="Prior to the attempt." width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm2C3qZOTdy_cUUlB3pO0kM0AwMBcAeMnxwSi8brt9-U-7ex7zm4Gxxt7lWsNJiaIxYUxKGqIKNi6dX_Y-nTRbNvg0lngQO-PRErVb9c8qd1x3XwWOmGZcNa3H-k8Zf-vzai9_Sw/s1600/EIEIO_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Start" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm2C3qZOTdy_cUUlB3pO0kM0AwMBcAeMnxwSi8brt9-U-7ex7zm4Gxxt7lWsNJiaIxYUxKGqIKNi6dX_Y-nTRbNvg0lngQO-PRErVb9c8qd1x3XwWOmGZcNa3H-k8Zf-vzai9_Sw/s400/EIEIO_02.jpg" title="Start of attempt." width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0NVaaeqYnbTLBhiWmdeMQ6ZDU9IrlFjNRxn2eKYM5Im6JTfr5zjFcpvHvgWIPZsYq6QKZc-06yL5p2WAQq60UmIt5n8QMAJJeupmkveCyjz8MsiAHqDWyQP8_FkN4Z5ExGcBPXA/s1600/EIEIO_03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Post-Attempt" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0NVaaeqYnbTLBhiWmdeMQ6ZDU9IrlFjNRxn2eKYM5Im6JTfr5zjFcpvHvgWIPZsYq6QKZc-06yL5p2WAQq60UmIt5n8QMAJJeupmkveCyjz8MsiAHqDWyQP8_FkN4Z5ExGcBPXA/s400/EIEIO_03.jpg" title="After the attempt." width="400" /></a></div><br />
This post is related to <a href="http://wise-and-otherwise.blogspot.com/2010/10/oink-doodle-moo.html" title="Oink-a-Doodle-Moo">this post</a>.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28670632.post-5517255667078728912012-04-15T06:22:00.000+00:002012-04-27T02:32:03.398+00:00Número Veintidós<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">The least important thing I did all week, it was the last thing I did at the airport before boarding my flight home. That’s six continents – all of them, except for the cold one. The previous one in the sequence lives <a title="And on the Eighteenth Day..." href="http://wise-and-otherwise.blogspot.com/2010/08/and-on-eighteenth-day.html">here</a>.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaGP7irOlE6G25rFH6dw9XGKl-3G18HIzvhmSilRmpqPRChI1wP288o4MAmncR0gIB9OoHF4nKNIj9EfX8a131H-BKNxca96DkiAUCnr_O6JAVkB9InmAfhtAJ3WeEVKMm14Fsmg/s1600/McD22_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Lima Airport McDonald’s" border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaGP7irOlE6G25rFH6dw9XGKl-3G18HIzvhmSilRmpqPRChI1wP288o4MAmncR0gIB9OoHF4nKNIj9EfX8a131H-BKNxca96DkiAUCnr_O6JAVkB9InmAfhtAJ3WeEVKMm14Fsmg/s400/McD22_01.jpg" title="At the airport in Lima, Peru." width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-OM6OK6DU48YWrHJRlEW_D-gFiZ97nk5U9kMkgtGqpIVCqCxA8DascJjJ4CYR8W1TUcOeAa5diMBGHhqPBXgwq_B1LT4ubPXZOP2JsGjNTQxgXO3oxBSGtSNgGpxSP5V0bZVtWQ/s1600/McD22_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Box" border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-OM6OK6DU48YWrHJRlEW_D-gFiZ97nk5U9kMkgtGqpIVCqCxA8DascJjJ4CYR8W1TUcOeAa5diMBGHhqPBXgwq_B1LT4ubPXZOP2JsGjNTQxgXO3oxBSGtSNgGpxSP5V0bZVtWQ/s400/McD22_02.jpg" title="The box." width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYEnnAgIZcOBKaN5Fnl5VkeuMIeT2SgnyUTFOutFT6nvu1mODsrTeRZTWpnpJr7LXUA20YasD5HgBkBdJ5PB8M1YXAiFaWPY7gUAv9Z1m3LBJ9yrU1VD8CUM91iTTa1jjs990HoQ/s1600/McD22_03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Menu" border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYEnnAgIZcOBKaN5Fnl5VkeuMIeT2SgnyUTFOutFT6nvu1mODsrTeRZTWpnpJr7LXUA20YasD5HgBkBdJ5PB8M1YXAiFaWPY7gUAv9Z1m3LBJ9yrU1VD8CUM91iTTa1jjs990HoQ/s400/McD22_03.jpg" title="The menu." width="400" /></a></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28670632.post-63056484172448328112012-03-30T23:37:00.001+00:002012-03-31T00:38:07.648+00:00Morning RoutineEach morning, one of the students in my classroom reads the day’s lunch menu. On the menu today was “Manager’s Choice,” which the student misread as “Manger’s Choice.” You know, when I decided to post this story to my blog, the story somehow seemed longer and funnier than just the idea of lunch coming from a feeding trough.<br /><br />Okay, so each day we get a joke for the day, too. My favorite this week? Glad you asked...<br /><br />Did you hear that the Energizer Bunny got arrested? He was charged with battery.<br /><br />I’ll be here all week.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28670632.post-69501418376753950742012-03-18T19:40:00.016+00:002012-03-25T23:38:09.880+00:00The Thirteenth 13.1I ran my thirteenth 13.1-mile race on St. Patrick’s Day in <a title="March in Washington" href="http://wise-and-otherwise.blogspot.com/2012/03/march-in-washington.html">Washington, D.C.</a>, finishing in 2:21:21. It’s difficult to say when my friend Doug, who previously ran a <a title="Wanted: Official Photographer (or OPH)" href="http://wise-and-otherwise.blogspot.com/2007/11/wanted-official-photographer-or-oph.html">full marathon</a> with me and also joined me on the course Saturday, finished the race. For reasons that will become apparent, a video of my thirteenth 13.1-miler will not be forthcoming. If you’d like to see the video from my twelfth half-marathon, <a title="A Very Cheesy Presentation" href="http://wise-and-otherwise.blogspot.com/2011/12/very-cheesy-presentation.html">click here</a>.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZib9BGi3Rxl_8dRhqsgWfWfholzjQlBM5vpXBT7NEHpcVAKl8kj0ZICfbgq2mQGVUWKsXtu_FlAOSOAkAJIZPDSKbVxu5tNg0A0G-ZQqR5b8I9PqTywSu3MFtxN-uJMkxx3eU_g/s1600/Thirteenth13.1-01.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 267px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721411496296817378" title="Robert F. Kennedy Stadium" border="0" alt="RFK Stadium" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZib9BGi3Rxl_8dRhqsgWfWfholzjQlBM5vpXBT7NEHpcVAKl8kj0ZICfbgq2mQGVUWKsXtu_FlAOSOAkAJIZPDSKbVxu5tNg0A0G-ZQqR5b8I9PqTywSu3MFtxN-uJMkxx3eU_g/s400/Thirteenth13.1-01.jpg" /></a>Here are a few photos Doug took of me during the first half of the race, which included most of the course’s major national landmarks. Below are Union Station, the Capitol, the Washington Monument, and the White House (which is nestled behind the trees, if you look immediately to the left of my glistening forehead).<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPV5c3yA_ohb_1i2uODSxTt-Bne_nRWxrJHf0u1fP5tR8IhkqZ6qdvqBfIUG_2RJUDkCyU5GcdAMjPxFvk60Ea4I7vYxjmeerKp5QCTtr5RVDvlB2xRPzWy3Q2LxOWRyukmVrrxw/s1600/Thirteenth13.1-D01.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 225px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723977826509540034" title="Union Station" border="0" alt="Union Station" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPV5c3yA_ohb_1i2uODSxTt-Bne_nRWxrJHf0u1fP5tR8IhkqZ6qdvqBfIUG_2RJUDkCyU5GcdAMjPxFvk60Ea4I7vYxjmeerKp5QCTtr5RVDvlB2xRPzWy3Q2LxOWRyukmVrrxw/s400/Thirteenth13.1-D01.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdsQId0AvJIRJWiH2dfg7YBvTpadN4ulJpgtV2MX9YAFdvwFqJ1qm4o9kr_94bLG9RikY81pfYgerQdYtK0xXX12_DfP9XZfoPTYmTfGbKGC7fmQ6j97DOANfMsBwXH62RAN8kLg/s1600/Thirteenth13.1-D02.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 267px; height: 400px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723978367463409394" title="United States Capitol" border="0" alt="U.S. Capitol" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdsQId0AvJIRJWiH2dfg7YBvTpadN4ulJpgtV2MX9YAFdvwFqJ1qm4o9kr_94bLG9RikY81pfYgerQdYtK0xXX12_DfP9XZfoPTYmTfGbKGC7fmQ6j97DOANfMsBwXH62RAN8kLg/s400/Thirteenth13.1-D02.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdypEvOAlEGFjC3Q16gRF2DIx1_apoEsdonyJhM9GGp7eSRbCcnzyZs0ctMOLsykpj_oMPKvozEs7mVFRGylfq-_u_nRCTh-cwnVLsQXSVyWIE2JNIg64n_ewmGahimBOHnJTRhw/s1600/Thirteenth13.1-D03.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 267px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723978643040639682" title="Washington Monument" border="0" alt="Washington Monument" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdypEvOAlEGFjC3Q16gRF2DIx1_apoEsdonyJhM9GGp7eSRbCcnzyZs0ctMOLsykpj_oMPKvozEs7mVFRGylfq-_u_nRCTh-cwnVLsQXSVyWIE2JNIg64n_ewmGahimBOHnJTRhw/s400/Thirteenth13.1-D03.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhla_XyUI6jLfmtGYRrSVi2a_q4nSA818eqWxl2ZmzWPyPQjPX3uJzU78hzytPCgiklFq3ar7OuzudO8BdH3mfhGevzHQGJYdmacosLh_ZVROkBEVyyKIMHKok075zmNcBNm-ALGA/s1600/Thirteenth13.1-D04.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 267px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723978941204260498" title="White House and Glistening Forehead" border="0" alt="White House" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhla_XyUI6jLfmtGYRrSVi2a_q4nSA818eqWxl2ZmzWPyPQjPX3uJzU78hzytPCgiklFq3ar7OuzudO8BdH3mfhGevzHQGJYdmacosLh_ZVROkBEVyyKIMHKok075zmNcBNm-ALGA/s400/Thirteenth13.1-D04.jpg" /></a>Doug’s plan all along – he told me weeks ago – was to exit the course well short of the finish line. He’s had a history of running-related injuries, and his gradual mileage build-up didn’t work for a 13.1-miler just yet. I completely understood, and I respected both his willingness to run part of the race with me and his restraint in not pushing his body too hard too quickly.<br /><br />So after running eight miles and change on Saturday, Doug pulled off the course, walked up to a crowd of spectators in the neighborhood where the race had taken us, and asked, “Is there a Metro stop nearby?” As I continued my race, behind me I overheard laugher from the locals, as they assumed Doug was looking for public transportation to the finish line.<br /><br />Which he was.<br /><br />When he told me he’d catch the Metro to the finish line, it was no big deal. I still planned to finish the race. We would meet up at the finish line, where he’d be waiting for me.<br /><br />At some point in the final days leading up to the race, however, Doug remembered that he likes collecting medals from races he’s run. Many runners do. Yet for some reason, Doug discarded the medal he earned from finishing the full marathon we ran together in Greece. So Doug decided he’d kind of like the medal from Saturday’s race. Perhaps it was then that he decided to work his best <a title="Who is this Roberto Madrazo?" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=roberto+madrazo">Roberto Madrazo</a> impression.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVHSuvg7ynm_3EErWH-j32UAJCUfge4oKr3RJmLO8NYVkpDG-70HZe9l3uuDKReMfGDJX64gaIqolJVHitZLq4BC_jJgtX-6xuGZivUcFO_iXlK28c01-dIMWzyJ4uIRXmyccBzw/s1600/Thirteenth13.1-02.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 267px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721418990471044450" title="“Finisher’s” Medal" border="0" alt="“Finisher’s” Medal" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVHSuvg7ynm_3EErWH-j32UAJCUfge4oKr3RJmLO8NYVkpDG-70HZe9l3uuDKReMfGDJX64gaIqolJVHitZLq4BC_jJgtX-6xuGZivUcFO_iXlK28c01-dIMWzyJ4uIRXmyccBzw/s400/Thirteenth13.1-02.jpg" /></a>As Doug tells it, he was on the Metro, still wearing his race bib, still warm and sweaty from running eight-plus miles, when he encountered sign-carrying spectators (“Great Job, Emily!” “13.1 – WOW!” and the like), also riding the train to the finish line. They apparently kind of looked at Doug, sized up the situation, but were cautious about saying anything. I still laugh when I imagine the awkward tension of Doug looking them in the eye, knowing their thoughts, and saying, “Don’t judge me.”<br /><br />Even as I write this, I still don’t know when Doug actually reached the finish line. I only know that I met back up with him several minutes after I exited the finish area.<br /><br />He had a medal around his neck.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidNamqLjCO0vd4fmigs7mXcHPsTHBK88T95Beur9Th-TXP85wzDuzjKD4WZ59gUyA8BtKcLYil4qqC1UfB7JSOJGhNmEWsRuYQtdM1HSPjMcCDnYC6c5gQY2jJvsy6uYqvkv1loA/s1600/Thirteenth13.1-D05.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; width: 400px; height: 225px; text-align: center; display: block; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723980257028334802" title="I had a medal around my neck, too." border="0" alt="DRH Medal" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidNamqLjCO0vd4fmigs7mXcHPsTHBK88T95Beur9Th-TXP85wzDuzjKD4WZ59gUyA8BtKcLYil4qqC1UfB7JSOJGhNmEWsRuYQtdM1HSPjMcCDnYC6c5gQY2jJvsy6uYqvkv1loA/s400/Thirteenth13.1-D05.jpg" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28670632.post-7916922574053877302012-03-16T23:02:00.003+00:002012-03-18T21:30:37.480+00:00March in WashingtonSpring has arrived a bit early in Washington, D.C.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1dFTww6RM82vkflFz9He-ifoO8nGY7rRpLrTp1dv2ip_kaCo2YsGZW-wmSWW4gxGgXiv0wdbvslAYCAINMcRTOZKUERyGCjizs5vaSh5y5H82JX4MXyeXUurgsmcsuCKy76lo6w/s1600/MiW-01.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1dFTww6RM82vkflFz9He-ifoO8nGY7rRpLrTp1dv2ip_kaCo2YsGZW-wmSWW4gxGgXiv0wdbvslAYCAINMcRTOZKUERyGCjizs5vaSh5y5H82JX4MXyeXUurgsmcsuCKy76lo6w/s400/MiW-01.jpg" border="0" title="Cherry Blossoms and Capitol" alt="Cherry Blossoms and Capitol" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721350157417079074" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAzprHIwrZnhzzs6LATFNcfeSakOKC6x2NOMcfhY5QijwOK2Rzy_8H1aQn1SdOgDQSl5SkScZXMZhTpKobnX0O-B3jEyYr48xFqwOiHtMiV7PeTye9mFkxioTGufIeNOabviNtcw/s1600/MiW-02.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAzprHIwrZnhzzs6LATFNcfeSakOKC6x2NOMcfhY5QijwOK2Rzy_8H1aQn1SdOgDQSl5SkScZXMZhTpKobnX0O-B3jEyYr48xFqwOiHtMiV7PeTye9mFkxioTGufIeNOabviNtcw/s400/MiW-02.jpg" border="0" title="Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial" alt="MLKJr Memorial" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721350818460416818" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDWS3mtdik2B1KNbEKWsuyw_nEPJ6GuqlwFZwPPJrboA0tezVZ8tbxMnIm7D0EIaLKXM82pEs6YDA58kFsu0DaTgR5XnAYGXAZE809DGlK6hhGXT3mxJ8bBzdnYRuHNADAIJtLeg/s1600/MiW-03.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDWS3mtdik2B1KNbEKWsuyw_nEPJ6GuqlwFZwPPJrboA0tezVZ8tbxMnIm7D0EIaLKXM82pEs6YDA58kFsu0DaTgR5XnAYGXAZE809DGlK6hhGXT3mxJ8bBzdnYRuHNADAIJtLeg/s400/MiW-03.jpg" border="0" title="Rainy Day at Union Station" alt="Rainy Day Union Station" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721351366438038386" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0