All fixed!

Ted Haggard, the evangelical minister who was outed by a male prostitute after a long time relationship, has been cured. Phew! So sayeth a minister who oversaw the process (that ust have been a sight): he's "completely heterosexual!" Look out, Missouri and Iowa - there might be a new - and hetero - sheriff coming to town.

Now he can get on with his normal heterosexual lifestyle. Speaking of those pesky heterosexual lifestyles, it seems that being heterosexual can make you a little mentally unstable.

If you need to get something out of your eye

Easy tear shedding to be had over at the NY Times website, where they are collecting people's comments on Barbaro, who sadly passed away yesterday. Call me cheesy, but I cried a little when I heard the news on the radio this morning.

To quote one of the posters:
"Rest in Peace with many fresh carrots Barbaro. "

Whaaa!

I think there's something larger going on...

In checking the NY Times just now, I saw that the article I've been tracking re: questions to ask prior to marriage, continues to rank among the top 10 most emailed. It sits comfortably at #9. In reviewing the larger list, there seems to be a pattern is emerging... At #4 is an article from June 2006 that compares dolphin training to marriage relations. True animal husbandry, if I were to make a pun of it.

And sitting at #1? An article exploring a recently released factoid revealing a slight majority of women are now living sans spouse. It seems they are referring solely to male-female relationships in this one, so I may falsely be counted in the majority on that one. I doubt same sex marriages (or equivalents, pending your state of residence) would tip the scales, but it's worth noting.

So, either the NY Times is semi-obsessed with relationships, or it's readership is.

Back in Manchester

Phoenix is come and gone. All in all, a great trip.

A brief recap of the race, and the surrounding trip:

1. The first day I arrived, I went to see Catie Curtis in concert. Totally different than seeing her on the east coast… The crowd was frustratingly sedate. Still, I enjoyed it. Catie is a good storyteller, and generally has an anecdote for each song. Sometimes they fit, sometimes they don’t, but I always find them entertaining, and definitely reminds me of why she is so good to see live. Prior to one of her songs, she looked out into the crowd, asking me to ID myself. She informed the room that I was in Phoenix, hailing from NH, for the road race. She then relayed a story of someone asking her on her plane ride if she was running in the marathon, saying “she looked athletic.” She indicated no, just playing a gig and laughed, as she doesn’t see herself as particularly athletic. (No one asked me if I was running the race on my way out… J ) That little shout out led to some words of encouragement from strangers after the show, which was nice. One guy identified himself as a Nashua native, and we had a little New Hampshire moment.
2. The morning of the race, I went with the rest of the cattle into my assigned corral. I was in corral 14 out of 30. Waited about 30 minutes there prior to starting our actual run – I can only imagine how long corral 30 had to wait… It was an unusually chilly morning in Phoenix – maybe 30 degrees? – and I watched lots of people hopping about trying to keep warm. I managed to find a patch of sunlight, and parked myself there to gather warmth. Between that and my determination to soak in every moment of this, my first ½ marathon, I was fine.
3. The mayor of Phoenix was in my corral. I saw his arms pop up in a political wave when it was announced just prior to our release, but other than that he was just another runner in tights.
4. For some reason, Born Again missionaries decided to post themselves along the first half mile of the race. There were four of them, staggered two to a side, and positioned far enough apart that when one left your site, another one appeared. They were easily identifiable given their enormous neon colored signs letting us know that if we didn’t accept Jesus into our hearts we’d burn in hell (one of my least favorite approaches to making one interested in any particular sect). The first two people were actually yelling at us to accept Jesus, warning us of the consequences laid out in their signage. The last guy was simply wishing us a good run, which I felt was at least a kind gesture.

That whole part was a bit weird, and thinking about it kept me occupied for the first mile of the race. Why here? Why at the start? Was it because we were a captured audience? Do sad, empty-feeling people (which, to me, seem like the most likely candidates for conversion via the neon side methodology) enter into marathons? I imagine this would be a low incidence conversion territory.

Mind you, there were a fair share of deeply religious types running. I saw shirts decorated with “Got Jesus?” or “Running every mile for Jesus” or similar slogans. That seemed innocuous enough, and heck, good for them. It is when it is so forced that it feels somehow desperate.

5. A friend suggested to me that I assign each mile to a person, which I did. It was a soothing exercise. Lots of shout outs to people who hold a special place in my heart. P got both mile 4 and the .1 at the end. J
6. At the 10k mark, I thought back to the Tufts 10K that I had run with P a few years ago, and mentally noted the difference in my conditioning, and simply how my body felt. I still think back to the days of awful back problems and eventual back surgery, and the brief moment where I essentially lost the ability to walk (thank heavens for my fabulous wife!!!). Every time I run I appreciate the various parts of my body working in harmony.
7. Around mile 8, I passed the pacer for my initial goal time. That felt good, and I knew I had plenty of miles ahead of me to methodically break away even further. My time was finally posted: 2:11:47. Works out to an average of 10:04 per mile, which is better than my initial goal of 10:15. Yay, me! My Nike+ thingy should have also provided me with this information, but due to my fussing with it in the early part of the race, I lost about .5 miles, and had to start the workout session on my Nano over again. After kicking myself for the next half mile, I let it go and instead stared out into the beautiful, red hued Arizona hills in the distance. That cured everything, and I was back on my way.
8. All the training really paid off. I felt a blister coming on around mile 10, but as of today I can only feel a little bit of soreness creeping in. My quads might need a little extra attention. But my post race recovery was quick, and I wondered how others prepared when I saw them cramping up. People that, on the surface, look like they would be in better shape than me. Go figure. Perhaps just a bad day for them.
9. I slapped a lot of kids' hands along the way. I have been one of those people that sticks out their hands and yells encouragement to runners from the sidelines, so it was a little like returning a karmic favor. Plus the little kids get a huge kick out of it. I heard a few squeals of pleasure after I made contact and moved on.
10. I did it! I can’t wait to run again.

Next up – the Cherry Blossom 10 miler.

PS – the NY Times article on questions to ask before marriage remains on the top 10 most emailed articles. Crazy. As of today at 8pm, it is back up to #3!

Did you ask the right questions?

I think I need to start keeping a tally of where a semi-recent article on marriage stands in the "most emailed" section of the NY Times. Originally published on December 17th, it has remained one of the 10 most popular stories. It will move up and down (it dangled at 9 for about a 1/2 day, then moved back up to 5), but has yet to leave the list.

Currently, it sits at #4. It's been there for over three weeks, and it is #4. It's not like it's been a slow news time...

It isn't a long article - it lasts 301 words. Just a simple listing of questions you should ask prior to marriage, without any fanfare. My current favorite is number 12: "What does my family do that annoys you?" Not "Does my family annoy you?" but what about them is annoying. I guess it's universal...

Who are all of you people that keep emailing this? And why aren't you talking to your significant others?