Lost worlds and ports of call

Month: October 2012 (Page 1 of 3)

When to tackle Ironman?

A great post on when to start considering moving up to the 140.6 mile Ironman distance. I’m looking at 2014 as my goal, but I might even push that back a year. I first want to finish three half-Ironman events and progress from wide-eyed noob to someone who can handle the distance. I currently have four Sprint and one Olympic distance triathlons under my belt, and a tremendous amount of learning ahead, especially handling the running part after the bike, since I’ve always approached it from the “I’m already a runner” perspective, and that doesn’t really seem to work. I’ve swum, biked and run the half distances, but never together. I know I’m not ready for the full distance yet, and will need at least a full year to train.

Singularity Summit

Not sure where I stand on the Singularity. The idea has been mocked (Rapture of the Nerds), embraced (Ray Kurtzweil) and treated with great debate. The 7th Annual Singularity Summit recently took place in San Francisco. Featuring people like Temple Grandin, Peter Thiel, and others, I can see why libertarians are drawn to the futuristic aspects of the Singularity, which seems to promise greater liberty, along with immortality and opportunities for peace and prosperity.

To cancel or not to cancel New York Marathon

I’m probably in the minority, but unlike Christine Brennan in USA Today and elsewhere, I don’t think New York should cancel the New York Marathon in the aftermath of hurricane Sandy. I am not registered for that marathon, nor do I live in the New York area, but I think putting on the marathon is vital for the area’s mental recovery, however, “non-essential” people may deem the act of running 26.2 miles through the five boroughs. There are certain economic benefits, but if there are goals like getting runners on Staten Island for the start, and clearing downed trees, then maybe the marathon will push those goals to fruition. Then again, I could be totally wrong and Sunday may end up being a logistical nightmare for all involved. But consider this, what would happen if the event was cancelled? Calls for refunds would flood web sites and the NYRR offices, next year would be full before registration began, and the cancellation this year would ripple through the marathon for several years.

Older marathoners

Interesting article at the Wall Street Journal about older runners completing marathons. I finished my first marathon at age 44, though I’d been running all my life. I just never ran with purpose until much later, and it took a couple of years of serious training before I attempted a marathon. I’ve dealt with one persistent foot injury, despite careful training. Just goes to show you can’t control everything.

Disneyfying Star Wars

This news about Disney buying LucasFilm and planning a vast stream of Star Wars sequels seems almost like an early April Fools joke. Then again, the endless Clone Wars focus (live and animated) must end some time, right? And there are plenty of novels from which to mine movies in the Star Wars world. The experience will be a little watered down, but somewhere a good plot or space ship design will surface.

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