Caution: Fiscal Cliff Ahead!

Dec. 26, 2012

Happy Boxing Day or Merry Christmas plus one.

We somehow made it past the Mayan end of times, and now we're headed squarely toward the edge of the fiscal cliff. My greatest fear is that the new normal of the current recession will be replaced by an even newer normal after we drop off the cliff.

Since there is little I can do about it, I might as well run. Left, right, left ... you know the drill.

I wonder if the president and first lady are jogging out in Hawaii this week? You know, that whole fitness thing and setting an example for the youth of America?

In today's Runner's World quote of the day, opera singer Beverly Sills says, "There are no shortcuts to any place worth going."

Somehow this spirit of hard work equaling success was stamped into the DNA of what we regard as the Greatest Generation. These were people who valued a day's work for a day's pay.

I'd like to think whether you're out on the road putting in the minutes and miles or working for a living that hard work will eventually equal success.

Like many runners, walkers and riders, I took Christmas Day off for a rest day. I'm also a bit of a chicken when it comes to cold weather. 

When that old thermometer doesn't crack the freezing mark I'm hard pressed to bundle up and go outside for a run. I just don't have that ice water in my veins that I see in folks who go tromping through the ice and snow in the name of fitness. I admire those hardy souls, but it's just not my style. I've heard the legends of bike riders rolling around with water frozen in their water bottles. That's "yikes" on my cold scale.

But that doesn't mean I'm going to lie on the couch eating Christmas cookies and watching bad college football all day. OK, I might watch some bad college football, but it might come while I'm riding my stationary bike and not lying on the couch.

It's been three or four days since I've gotten out on the mean streets and put my world's slowest human status on the line. I have to admit, the first two days of riding indoors instead of hitting the streets were kind of nice. Not nearly as strenuous, but a good change of pace.

But the guilt is starting to set in. I find myself looking at t he Weather Channel -- MTV for geezers is what a friend calls it -- and plotting out the warmest point of the day. Good luck with that since it's nearly noon and the thermometer has yet to pop past 20. 

But the sun is shining and the siren's song of the road is calling. I miss the warm weather and rolling over the hills toward fitness; skipping the shortcuts in the hope of getting to places worth going.

So hopefully I'll bundle up and get out there. If not, it will be back on the spin bike. 

Either way, happy Boxing Day!

 

Happy Christmas To All ...

"Maybe Christmas, the Grinch thought, doesn't come from a store." 

Dr. Seuss

Dec. 24, 2012

Happy Christmas Eve runners, joggers, bikers and friends.

As I sit here early on Christmas Eve morning I hear the clanging of the trash trucks and the constant drone of the morning news shows on TV. These are the sounds of the early risers in a world of late sleepers on the eve of the most anticipated day of the year.

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care -- check. With hopes that UPS and Amazon will deliver yet today with care. Otherwise, we're a little bit sunk on the present front. Say a little prayer for us, why don't you.

"Expectancy is the atmosphere for miracles."

Edwin Louis Cole

I'm expecting it might take a miracle to get me out on the streets today. Baby it's cold outside, and I'm a wimp in the cold. Looks like it might be another spin bike day. They always say cross-training is important.

"The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live."

George Carlin

George Carlin, yah, it's old-school but so is Christmas. Nothing like cranking up the old movies, putting on some holiday music and letting the season wash over you on cold winter days like today. And I'm still debating that outside run. Maybe we'll go to early Mass, and I'll be off the hook. Hmmm.

And if you're like the rest of us, you need a little holiday cheer and a reason not to work for a couple of minutes. Besides, laughter burns at least 20 calories, so think of this as a way to enjoy the holidays while making yourself more physically fit.

OK, back after a little giggle break. Still debating that cold run? Forget about it, it's Christmas. My gift to you.

"Let's be naughty and save Santa the trip."

Gary Allan

That's right, you naughty little elves, it might just be your duty to save Santa the trip.

"I once wanted to become an atheist, but I gave up - they have no holidays."

Henny Youngman

So have yourself a merry little Christmas and all that. Be thankful for the things you have and not the ones you wish you did. Be sure to pay your Visa bill when it comes and smile because it has an extra zero this month.

Just one last thought as you tuck the little ones in tonight.

"Christmas isn't a season. It's a feeling."

Edna Ferber

There's No Business Like Snow Business

Dec. 21, 2012

There might be no business like snow business, but for runners, Day 2 of snow can go from fun to tromp around in too dangerous to navigate, in a big hurry.

So yesterday's excuses to ride the spin bike as cross-training gave way today to an adventure out onto the mean streets of the neighborhood. That and a drop in the wind and a sun-shiny day made for a perfect opportunity to get back outside.

Now normally I'm not a road runner. I'm content to traverse the sidewalks of my neighborhood. I have just never seen the point of running out on the road with the cars.

Yes, I've heard the arguments that it's softer and smoother to run on asphalt rather than on the concrete of the sidewalk, but normally I'm not buying it.

Plus, most of the road runners I see are out there moving with traffic or so far toward the middle of the road that they are in danger of being hit by an oncoming car. And don't get me started about people who run side by side.

Today was all about breaking the rules and living dangerously. Somehow the Earth had been spared the Mayan's prediction of a sudden end, so playing out of bounds seemed more like the order of the day than some rogue act normally reserved for miscreants.

That, and the fact that if I tried to do my normal loop on the sidewalks I could rest assured that a trip to the emergency room would somehow be involved.

After 2 or 3 inches of snow fell on Thursday most of the sidewalks were still caked with moisture. I was going to call it the white stuff, but by Day 2, it was more like the gray stuff, or the salt and pepper stuff.

Most of the snow was layered over a covering of ice that made the going a little treacherous. I've always had a fair respect for black ice, or that invisible slippery layer that can coat sidewalks and roads and make them extremely slippery.

So I set off on a road run, hop-scotching my way back and forth between open stretches of clean sidewalk and portions of roadway adjacent to the ice-covered sidewalk.

This method worked fairly well. At least until I got onto busy roads where leaving the sidewalk was no longer an option. Then it was a matter of looking for safe spots, running on the snow covered grass or slowing to a walk to get through icy patches.

But like I always say, a day you get to run is always a good day. The crunching of the ice and snow under my feet seemed to make the time fly, and I made it around the loop without falling.

And the biggest plus of all, we made it by the Mayan deadline without vaporizing.

So tomorrow, if you see the world's slowest human out running, give me a wave -- it's almost Christmas, you know!