We Can Be Heroes, Just for One Day...and Ultrarunning

After several years--indeed, the love affair has only intensified--I rely mightily on my Sirius XM Radio for musical enjoyment and inspiration.

Just today I heard a David Bowie song--Heroes--that I had not heard for some time. The passage of time enabled me to hear it from an Ultrarunner's perspective.

I think it probably hits on one of the key precepts of why we run these vast distances: we can be heroes.  We have our everyday lives, but for one day, when we don the mantle of an Ultrarunner--we can be heroes.  We could be set apart from every other human being on the planet.



This tune is so not at all about athletic achievement, but I think of it in that way anyway.  The music and the main lyric are so catchy:
  
     We can be heroes
     Just for one day.

If that day is our day, the day when "suddenly it is all as easy as a bird in flight," then we can achieve distances or times that were formerly unimaginable.

Like when I cracked the 24 hour barrier for 100 miles at Umstead in 2010, when--seriously--all I was hoping for was to finish.

You all have your stories, I am sure, of the day when you were a hero, if just for one day.

 

The Slow Erosion of our Freedoms

As usual, security expert Bruce Schneier gets it right on the question of why "It's smart politics to exaggerate terrorist threats."

He lists 3 reasons.  Here's the first one:

Terrorism causes fear, and we overreact to that fear. Our brains aren't very good at probability and risk analysis. We tend to exaggerate spectacular, strange and rare events, and downplay ordinary, familiar and common ones. We think rare risks are more common than they are, and we fear them more than probability indicates we should.

Our leaders are just as prone to this overreaction as we are. But aside from basic psychology, there are other reasons that it's smart politics to exaggerate terrorist threats, and security threats in general.

The first is that we respond to a strong leader. Bill Clinton famously said: "When people feel uncertain, they'd rather have somebody that's strong and wrong than somebody who's weak and right." He's right. 

The second is that doing something -- anything -- is good politics. A politician wants to be seen as taking charge, demanding answers, fixing things. It just doesn't look as good to sit back and claim that there's nothing to do. The logic is along the lines of: "Something must be done. This is something. Therefore, we must do it."

The third is that....

You'll have to click over here for the last reason and some more fascinating analysis.  

 

Bike Pretty...and Ultrarunning

Ever get tired of all that Spandex in glaring colors when you bike?  The site Bike Pretty may give you some good alternatives.

 

Of course, Ultrarunners are immune to fashion and pretense.  We are rooted in the earth and have no place in our lives for infernal machines such as bicycles, much less the associated clothing.

 

Not.

 

Many runner, of course, also bike.  And a few of them also might favor the outfits espoused on Bike Pretty.  But as for me I don't bike much and when I do it's usually in shorts and a tee-shirt, as I own no biking Spandex garments.

 

When I run I also dress simply and in muted colors.  The bride tells me that among her co-workers there is a color they call "Gary Gray'" meaning the color of athletic tee-shirts.  Happens to be my favorite color.

 

This might be a good place to again comment upon my oldest and favorite garment, which I posted about here some 3 years ago.  It still exits, barely.

[image credit Gary]

I use this thin cotton shirt on hot summer days.  Unfortunately, the seams at the shoulders are simply falling apart from age and wear, so I fear that this summer may see the end of this shirt.  I will probably do a ceremonial burning to dispose if it, much like old flags are destroyed.

Then I can go to Bike Pretty to replace it.

 

 

 

"Three Planets Dance in the West After Sunset"

Here I go again: if you are not already a follower of Bad Astronomy, you should be (see my blogroll on the right).  Author Phil Plait combines just the right blend of interesting science fact mixed with the real world mixed with a touch of geekiness.

If that doesn't entice you, what will?

I stole Phil's title for mine, in his post from Monday called "Three Planets Dance in the West After Sunset."

Seems that this week Mercury, Jupiter, and Venus are fairly close together in the low western sky just after sunset.  Here is a shot that Phil used from a photographer named Ken Griggs, who posted it to Flickr:

As I write this Monday PM locally it is cloudy, so have not seen this so-called triple planetary conjunction.  I am hoping for better luck Tues or Wed.

 

Sole Challemge 24 Hour Run

Ultarrunners are a strange breed.  Well, crazy might even be a better word.  For of all the activities and pursuits that are available to us in this world, we choose to run vast distances.

And within the Ultrarunning world, we have a split between those who like to run distance-oriented events on trails, and those who prefer to run timed events over fixed course.  An example of the former would be a 100 mile trail race in which you have 30 hours to complete the course; an example of the latter would be a 24 hour run over a short measured course (or a track) to see how far you can go in that time.

Of course, there are crossovers.  While I prefer trails, I once did a 24 hour run on a 400 meter track.  While I truly did enjoy that challenge I have not been motivated to repeat it...but anything's possible.

All of this is background to a local timed event just completed this weekend, The Sole Challenge, which consisted of 6, 12, and 24 hour timed runs around a pleasant 1.547 mile paved walking trail in a township park. 

I showed up--as a spectator--at about 15 hours into the 24 hour race (1:00 am) to cheer on a close running buddy.  In the dark it was a bit problematical to locate the course, then my friend, but soon I settled in under the full moon to observe the widely scattered runners coming thru the start/finish line area. I must have just missed him, as it was a good 20+ minutes before he appeared, running up the slight incline to where his wife was settled under a million blankets on a chair in the crew area. 

My friend was around the 70 mile mark, and although he was slowing down and dealing with some issues, he was still moving well.  He was on pace to reach 100 miles within the 24 hour limit, which I believe was his A-list goal.  Looks like 7 of the 28 runners made it at least to 100 miles, so making that milestone distance is indeed a tough challenge.

I remained only about an hour, as no pacers were permitted on the course, and left, wishing him well.

I just checked out the results and see where he finished in the 80s, so it'll be interesting to get the firsthand account of how the final hours of the race played out.  My hat is certainly off to him for a great effort--to stay on course and keep moving continuously for 24 hours is no easy feat.

Well done!

Cats in Art: The White Cat (Bonnard)

From my continuing weekly Sunday series of cats in art. I'm using some ideas from the coffee table book, The Cat in Art, by Stefano Zuffi.

This is part 3 of 8 of a multiweek study of the cat art of Pierre Bonnard, a French painter (1867-1947). In this series I've moved beyond the two pieces featured by Zuffi and am now studying the rest of Bonnard's cat paintings in chronological order.

 

Image credit WikiPaintings, The White Cat, Pierre Bonnard, 1894, oil on canvas, held by Musee d'Orsay, Paris, France.

 

Since I have no comments from Zuffi, I get to be the analyst/critic here.  Basically we have a disturbed cat, arching its back, almost rearing up, with flattened ears, and one can almost hear the "Hissssss!"

 

Although the muted yellows and browns are usually soothing, in this image they seem a bit foreboding in their role as a stark contrast to the highly agitated kitty. 

 

Bonnard captures quite well the agitation and anxiety of the poor cat.  One hopes that whatever riled it up soon passes. 

How to Survive an Elephant Charge...and Ultrarunning

Courtesy of the way cool site Boing Boing, we learn what to do and what not to do when faced with a charging elephant:





Your choices are:

1. Run between its legs
2. Turn and run away
3. Scream and yell

Were you correct?


This is especially for our Ultrarunning buddies in Africa and southeast Asia.  As for me, living as I do in North American where elephants are not endemic, I doubt I'll need this specific advice...although it's also appropriate strategy for dogs, bears and mountain lions, etc. 

In short, any menacing critter.

 

Flagstone Step Project

This has absolutely nothing to do with Ultrarunning--much of what I post here doesn't--but I was proud of this step project in a new flower bed and wanted to brag.

Below is the finished project. The stone at the bottom is a large natural slab of limestone from my property. The others are purchased natural flagstone (origin unknown).

 

 

Below is the "before" shot, showing the behind-the-scenes landscape timber framework to support the stone steps.  The main key was leveling the cut timbers front-to-back and side-to-side.  Then it was like stacking Legos.