I NEED MOTIVATION! So I ordered a magazine

I subscribed today to Runner's World, a magazine I gave up on several years ago because they kept publishing the same stories and giving the same advice over and over and over.... Really, how much is there to say about running? You either do it or not. There is no Nickel Defense or Triangle Offense. There is no right or wrong club, and there are no pawns and bishops.

Uhhh... another reason to subscribe?

You put one foot in front of the other. Repeat.

Why the change of heart? Two reasons:

1. As I continue to, er, train for the Portland Marathon, I find my motivation ebbing and procrastination flowing. I'm doing this one alone: no training partners, no friends nor running clubs... sheesh, even my wife will not join me. So while I should have already run 12 miles for my long run, I find that I've not gone further than 8 miles, which I did several weeks ago. I need focus. I need direction.

Reading the articles, features, advice, etc., puts me in a running frame of mind. Strangely, I find the prose and photos of running motivating. I guess it is kind of like watching golf or tennis on television: when I see it, I want to play it.

2. Go figure, there's some new stuff here. New in the sense that a seasoned runner will learn more about new studies and methods on running performance. There are recipes for those who want low fat or high energy meals to boost their training.

I first picked up Runner's World years ago to help walk me through the process of training for a marathon. When I pretty much got that part down (and presently ignoring all that I learned), the magazine - or any others like it - were of no use.

Alas, the publishers at Runner's World know that there are people like me who do not care to qualify for the Olympics and who have already run a marathon or two.

So the magazine now reveals to me ways to understand and treat the many injuries my older body suffers, how to eat better, and tips on training and equipment.

So you see, this damn rag has inspired me once again. Hopefully it will help me figure out a way to cram for my marathon training for a race that is merely 2 months away. (Runner's World, by the way, would most likely tell me not do this).

The Doctors: What's your BMI, and why should you care?

I have always disregarded Body Mass Index (BMI) as a false, superficial metric. Take my current BMI for example: According to the Centers for Disease Control, I am overweight.

I wouldn't say I look like a triathlete, but I certainly am not fat. And surely there is a difference between what is "fat" and what is "overweight." The CDC explains why BMI is used and how it is calculated, but they don't really explain why this particular metric is an indicator of obesity.

An article from today's USA Today attempts to explain (The Doctors: What's your BMI, and why should you care?). Fortunately, this article admits that the BMI does not take into account age, muscle, and other body dimensions.



Me, in the eyes of the federal government

Still, I'm unsatisfied. I say, BMI... WTF?!

I run, eat fairly healthy, moderate my intake of toxins and other putrefaction, but still the CDC will call me a fatso. And the BMI they recommend for someone of my height is a weight I haven't hefted since early high school.

Maybe that's the point. Maybe the CDC is trying to convey in their motherly kind of way that we are a nation of fatsos. Instead of directly shattering our self image, the BMI is the federal government's way of saying, "Why can't you be more like your friend Adonis? You know, the one who respects his mother."

So, despite my disdain for artificial measurements of health and wellness, I will attempt to lower my BMI. Can I lose 13 pounds - because I am not going one pound lower than 184 (a weight I haven't seen since I was a lanky high school sophomore)?

Portlandia has now become part of my #marathontraining regime

Jaded, bored... alive!

To fully prepare for the Portland Marathon, I have introduced a program of steady Portlandia viewing. Like any new training regimen, I begin at the beginning with season 1.

It is not yet clear to me how this show will improve my marathon performance, but already I feel more sensitive and in touch with the world around me - at least until I am not, which will probably be about 10:30a this morning.

One thing is for sure, The Dream of the 90s is Alive in Portland has become my new favorite running tune.

Oregon to Vote on Pot Legalization - impact on #portlandmarathon?

Post-race snack, or whatever, dude.

Oregonians will go to the polls this November to decide yet again whether to legalize the recreational use of marijuana - which means that by Portland Marathon race day exactly one month before election day, Portland will have reached a fever pitch - or mellow contentedness - of political frenzy - or sleepy indifference.

Curious to know that if the race will now become a "Run to the Border" and if post-race snacks will consist of pizza and Taco Bell handed out by jaded college students.

Back at it, in a manner of speaking (#portlandmarathon)

Greetings! It has been a solid year since my last post. Admit it, you noticed.

So my plan is to run the Portland Marathon in October 2014. This will be race #9 of my "10 Marathons to run before I die" list (assuming none of the 9 kill me before 10).

To recap:

1. Marine Corps (didn't die) 
2. New York City (survived)
3. Mayor's Midnight Sun, Anchorage, AK (made it)
4. Governor's Cup, Helena, MT (not dead yet)
5. Atlanta (beat a 70+ yo barefooted man running in blue jeans... barely)
6. Chicago (nipples died, I survived)
7. Houston (feet died, I survived)
8. Rouge Orleans Ultra Relay (in which our hero ate king cake and drank beer on a 126.2 mile journey from Baton Rouge to New Orleans... and did not perish)
9. Portland, I am hoping
10. Boston through the fundraising back door because I have no desire to actually qualify, or Antarctica, which is really expensive and sometimes unreliable. Could you imagine not making it to shore and running 26.2 miles around the deck of a ship? I would commit acts of piracy and mutiny and other scurrilous seagoing offenses.

I chose Portland for two reasons only:

A. I never run the same race twice - not being snooty. Running is such a mind game that I can't allow boring terrain mess with my head,

B. I have never been to Oregon. Shallow as it may seem, my other buck list besides marathons is to visit all 50 states. I have 9 to go (OR, NE, SD, ND, WI, IN, KY, IA & DE -- Delaware? How do you get to Delaware. Its like on the beaten path of nowhere). Oregon makes it 8.

Turns out that Portland is a great course with hills (I actually like hills) in perfect running weather conditions (cool, possibly cloudy), and the city is one of the hippest places in the US of A. Everybody wins!

Anyway, I have begun training. I should be up to mile 10 but have only completed mile 8 for the long run.

Will keep you posted. Literally. This is a blog.