Crappers and devil's dreams.

The Queens Half Marathon (1/2M) is full!  Crappers.

[Betcha thought a title of "crappers" would implicate something entirely different, didn'cha??]

I remember back in January or February that the Brooklyn 1/2M, set for late May, filled all its spots in a ridiculously small amount of time.  Brooklyn is the most popular of the borough affiliated 1/2M series (go figure), and while it usually hits max capacity 2 months ahead of time this year it was full some 4-5 months ahead.  Here's the deal: New York Road Runners this year started guaranteed entry to the NYC 1/2M if you run all the other borough 1/2Ms.  Its not like the NYC full M where you run any 9 races and volunteer once -- you can only get in by running the other 1/2Ms.

What does that mean?  Last year the Queens, Bronx and Staten Island 1/2Ms each had thousands of entrants but never hit max capacity.  I had been debating a few races (Bronx 1/2M or a 50k in KC, since they are the same weekend) with the intention of signing up for them all at once so as to avoid multiple processing fees.  But a few days ago when I'd finally decided on my late summer/early fall race lineup... lo and behold, the Queens 1/2M is full.  It's probably the scuzziest of them all, stuck in concrete-laden Queens with late July heat and lots of icky traffic pollution, and yet its full solely because of the guaranteed entry deal.  So this year it'll be claustrophobic on top of its regular hot sticky icky cement-y grossness.  Maybe its better that I miss it.  But I will need a different mid-summer race to keep me going.

[On a side note, "scuzziest" never developed a red squiggle line beneath it indicating that either I had misspelled or I had made up the word.  Awesome.  I'll add that one to my supporting list next time Nathan makes fun of me for my term "warbly-warb."]

Continuing the theme of running, I've realized that grad school and a youth spent in the sun have aged my eyes so that I wear my glasses all the time and need protection from the sun when running or outdoors.  I don't run with my glasses because there's no way they'd stay on my face.  Maybe they would, but somehow their small, subtle prescription never seemed to require it when I'm merely putting one foot in front of the other at a quicker pace.  Turns out, I realized as of late, that I focus on the road about 10 feet in front of me because its more in focus than the surrounding scene.  My eyesight is only so nearsighted as the 8th and 9th (or so) lightest lenses of the eye doc's assessment box -- you know, those lenses the eye doc uses when they ask "is this better, or that?"  Yet it is significant enough that I don't keep a good head/neck posture.  The dream solution is a pair of Julbo brand sunglasses called, ironically, Run that fit most excellently, stay in place, are NOT polarized, and can come with what they call Zebra lenses that morph from light to dark depending on the environment.  For the other gear geeks, these lenses allow a visible light transmission rate of 7% if super bright to 51% if in shade or mid-range light.  Downside: they cost $160 before adding prescription lenses.  I've drooled over them for the last two year, and the cost has been the main hindering factor.  Debating what the solution should be.

Aside from realizing that parts of my body are getting older, this week was the first full week where every run felt good.  I wondered how long full recovery would take following a major race like the Bear Mountain trail 50k, and it seems about a month is a good estimate.  My running total was 34.3 miles over 4 hours and 36 minutes, and walking totaled at least 25 miles but was probably more.

I've mentioned before that songs will pop into my head during a run.  I've become very disconnected from music since I started listening to NPR in Iowa.  The shift was partly because I didn't want to suffer through some of the experimental hipster stuff on college radio while waiting for songs/styles that I enjoyed.  Then, once I re-entered academia, I realized that I cannot study if I hear different words from what I am reading and thinking.  Classical music works, but NYC's classical station can be rather hit or miss.  Honestly, I forget that having music on is an option.  That's partially because some song is usually playing in my head, and that keeps me musically occupied for much longer than one might expect.  I don't play a song just before a run unless the devil's dream was a decidedly foul move by my deejay-ing subconscious.  Sometimes a bodega (aka NYC corner deli) or store will be playing stuff that pops up a few days later, or Nathan will usually keep music on at his apartment.  Or every once in a while I put something on while I cook.  The subconscious deejay has ten times its usual options thanks to the outpatient clinic at which I'm currently posted.  It's funny how most of these pop-up songs reflect the needs of the run or of that day's mental needs quite well. 

Sunday 6/05:  17.3 mile long run out-and-back on across the George Washington Bridge and onto the Long Path.  Song: The Beatles, "Get Back." 

Tuesday 6/07:  8 miles loop in Central Park, 5x8-minute intervals.  Song, which I definitely blame on the clinic: Journey, "Any Way Your Want It."  Made me laugh, but I'm glad that one didn't play for very long after my run was finished....

Thursday 6/09:  9 mile out-and-back on the Hudson greenway to Dykeman St. and back, 8x5-minute intervals.  Song:  U2, "With or Without You."

Now time to catch up on this week's Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me episode, and possibly another shot of Radiolab.  Yes, I am the nerd that will list NPR shows when originally asked what TV shows I watch.  Also, for those who noticed and were left wondering, I opted for the 50k road race in KC in lieu of the Bronx 1/2M.  This way I get to see some of my family before the fall semester starts, although I do shed a tear for missing the Bronx, since in my opinion it is by far a more interesting race than most other NYRR races.

Colloquialisms

I did not realize I had a twang until I moved to NYC and then 4 months later visited family for the holidays.  It bugged me, because I thought Kansas City was rather accent-neutral, but I have come to terms with the twang and, quite honestly, have come to like it.  Maybe its because I'm so over this city and its Brooklynisms and Long Islandisms.  Anyways, with the twang also comes phrases than drive Nathan absolutely bonkers.  I've had a few other New England or New York raised friends also balk at these, either finding them funny and endearing or just peculiar.  Another one popped out the other day, and it brings me endless humor to expose Nathan to these phrases.

What are they?  They aren't that creative.  The first is oftentimes.  A former roommate with a secret love of grammar always claimed that it is a double statement since often already describes a frequency of times and thus the times is repetitive and should not be included, whereas sometimes correctly quantifies times by the use of some.  Well, seeing as how oftentimes is to my knowledge a valid entry in the OED -- I win!  I also find it interesting that this same former roommate asserts the incorrect number of periods necessary for use of an ellipsis.  He uses only two dots ".." for every instance, whereas accurate punctuation requires three dots "..." mid sentence or three dots followed by a period "...." as the end of a sentence.  I may not have a stellar vocabulary, but those things instilled in me early by Mrs. Black (the engligh and newpaper queen at the former Hickman Mills High School) are strong and true.  Regardless though, the debates with said former roommate became unnecessarily heated in a way that I no longer use the term.  And yet I year almost everyone else using it, including those educated with doctorates and with years of experience.

The next is sh*t ton.  When I use it regarding my own affairs, Nathan gives me another of his "you've got to be kidding me" looks.  N: "Sh*t ton?"  Me: "Yes. Sh*t ton."  N: "Why can't you just say 'a lot'?"  Me: "Because I have a twang and I need em-PHA-sis."  And then Nathan just shakes his head.    Sh*t ton is meant to describe when there is an obscene amount of something that you find more than a little distasteful or annoying, hence adding the tone of the first word.  I was momentarily vindicated when I used the term in a conversation about baseball, of which he is mightily, at times almost fixatedly concerned whereas its one of few sports I just can't get into aside from cheering against the Yankees.  I don't remember how the term was used exactly, but it probably had something to do with talking down about the Yankees the day that the ever-so-sad Royals beat them by an obscene amount of runs.  I pointed out that he understood exactly what I meant.  Nathan replied that yes, it made sense, but real english could also have been employed.  At least it was a small, partial victory.  My younger brother Sam's suggestion was to next time use metric sh*t ton.  Nicely done, little one.  Nicely done.

I also use my Gramma's term hot spit every once in a while.  There's no getting Nathan to even remotely understand this term of excitement, so I usually let him have his moment of giving me the look and move on.  Then there's the use of the silly this-them-that-there.  Nathan's response: "Why?!?"  Me: "Because I needed silly em-PHA-sis.  And why not?"  Again he shook his head, and I let the subject drop.  

To Nathan's credit, he merely strives to be understood correctly.  I greatly appreciate that this means he simultaneously tries to understand me correctly.  He also indirectly challenges me to be a better person, which I think should be a part of any relationship.