Ah, the daily tasks just keeping piling up. Updating my running diary is one that's been on the bottom of the list for quite some time but I want to capture some information for posterity's sake.

My running has been consistent since November or so and I decided around the first of the year that if I'm going to get out there and run regularly I might as well try and get faster. No more plodding along--I won't win a marathon but I should be striving to get faster.

So far it seems to be working. Ran a couple 10K's this year and was pleased with my time and my "long" runs (standard disclaimer: I use that term loosely) have been a minute or so faster per mile than in previous years.

After a long hibernation from exercise and running, I'm back. A cleaner interface, an updated blog site, and a new elliptical trainer.

More to follow . . .

Wifey called me today to tell me that Cleburne Cafeteria, a place just down the street from us, was featured in Sunday's New York Times magazine. This is a great restaurant, not your typical cafeteria. The portions are huge and yummy. All the paintings inside the cafeteria were painted by the restaurant founder and you'll see the founder's son (and his mother) in the restaurant almost every night.

Read the story and then go eat there.

My friend Zane blogs about how he wants to love Wal-Mart but just can't . . . an animated version here.

. . .

Finally got a decently long run under my belt on Saturday. Had to do it without the Polar chest strap (I'm blaming Wifey for it being misplaced). But the speed sensor worked fine so I could see my pace and distance and that's all I was concerned about on this particular day.

My planned route included the railroad crossing on San Felipe just west of River Oaks. From a few streets away I could hear the train whistle (it's a busy track, something like 21 trains per day) and as I came around the corner and approached the crossing the train was idling on the track. It must have been there for a few minutes because the traffic was stacking up on my side of the track. This road is a popular one for weekend runners and I could see a group of runners on the other side of the train and you could tell from their body language that they weren't happy to be standing around waiting for the train to move out of the way. Well, wouldn't you know it, one of the runners decided he'd waited long enough and proceeded to climb onto the train between two cars and crossed over. He then tried to convince the rest of his party (probably 7-10 other runners) to follow his example. Thankfully the others had more sense and appeared resigned to waiting it out. I turned around so I can't be sure what the group did but I did see pea-brained train jumper continuing on my himself. Serves him right—is the planned route so important that you'll risk climbing between train cars on an idling train that will be moving imminently? How about doubling back for a mile or two until you hear the train moving again? Let's exercise our brain, too.

John Moore, an ex-Whole Foodie and author of the Brand Autopsy blog, reports that John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, has a blog.

When you're hot, you're hot, and Whole Foods is smoking these days:

Latest discovery at Whole Foods: ready-to-cook beef meatballs. No, these aren't the pre-cooked frozen meatballs but meatballs made right in the store. Put them on a lightly greased cookie sheet at 350° for 22 minutes (turning once) then plop them in your sauce for a couple of minutes. Perfect and, in my opinion, better than homemade because there's not much cleanup.

As if I needed another reason to despise Wal-Mart: Answers sought in death outside Wal-Mart, Man accused of theft begged to be let up from hot pavement, witness says 

I dunno, I just don't see this happening at Target or Costco.

Can you imagine the reaction and outrage if the cops pinned a shirtless man to the asphalt (asphalt can be 60 degrees hotter than air temperature which was reported to be 96) in a choke hold while he begged to be let up from the pavement? But these aren't cops, you say? Well they had handcuffs and they forcibly restrained a person they suspected of a crime. But you're right, they're not cops, they're vigilantes working for the largest private employer in the world.

Just another bad PR problem for Wal-Mart? Maybe, but it seems they get a lot of bad PR and where there's smoke there's fire.

Funny I should stumble upon this link about Whole Foods at the Brand Autopsy blog because I was just thinking about how much I've come to depend on Whole Foods. So much so that I won't relocate to a city that doesn't have one (or a store very much like it such as Larry's Markets in Seattle) and any dwelling I live in has to have a Whole Foods within a reasonable distance.

I'm rarely in a "regular" supermarket such as Safeway or Kroger (though we joke that we patronize these places to buy our chemicals) but this morning I had to run into Randall's to buy some coffee (ever start a Monday with the kids screaming only to find out there's no coffee in the house?) and once again I was reminded how much more pleasant the experience is at Whole Foods. What, specifically, makes Whole Foods more pleasant? I don't know, maybe the softer lighting (no fluorescent lights blinding you as you walk in), the natural colors (or lack of garish colors), the cleaner displays with no SAVE! tags hanging from them, the staff, the comfort in knowing that whatever you buy won't have something crazy in it—too many things to count. But the difference is night and day and one you've experienced it it's hard to go back.

Which list of ingredients would you choose for your blueberry syrup?

High-fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, water, blueberry puree, pectin, citric acid, xanthan gum, natural flavors

OR

Blueberries, sugar, lemon juice

Yeah, me too. The first list is from Smucker's Blueberry Syrup. The second is for syrup you can make at home in about fifteen minutes. I'm a fan of blueberry syrup on my pancakes and finding a real blueberry syrup (one without corn syrup) hasn't been easy. Stonewall Kitchen has a Wild Maine Blueberry Syrup that's very good but I've been wanting to make my own now that they're in season. There's lots of recipes on the web but they looked a little too involved. So here's something quick and easy that can probably be improved upon but is easy enough to whip up before you cook the pancakes:

You'll need:

Small sauce pan
Mesh strainer
12 ounces fresh blueberries
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 ½ tablespoon lemon juice

Combine the blueberries and sugar in a small sauce pan over medium-high heat. Stirring frequently, the blueberries will collapse releasing their juice. Continue to simmer until the berries are completely flat (4-6 more minutes). Remove from heat and press mixture through strainer (you do not want too fine of a strainer because you want some of the bits of berries to come through). Add juice back to sauce pan, mix in lemon juice, and return to low heat. Remove from heat five minutes before serving so syrup thickens.

I had my doubts whether it would be syrupy enough but the consistency was fine. The contrast of the dark blue-purple syrup against the pancakes is perfect and the taste is wonderful.

Huh, so late Friday night the Department of Agriculture announces that a cow somewhere in the U.S. (they won't say where) has tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, aka Mad Cow). There were several stories on this over the weekend but it's a bit played out at this point. Call me cynical, but presidential administrations (companies, too) have been known to release unpopular news on Friday nights so the item is buried over the weekend thus being "old" news by Monday:

The Bush administration seems to be following an axiom that guided many of its predecessors: To keep negative headlines to a minimum, release bad news on a Friday. [. . .] To attract little attention, the strategy makes sense. Friday night's network news broadcasts are the least-watched of the workweek. Saturday newspapers are the week's least-read editions.

^{Source: It's TGIF for the White House when it has bad news./USA Today}

Maybe it's just coincidence the news came out Friday night. Besides, the USDA will probably claim that this cow came from an Indian reservation so technically it's not even in the U.S. And this test isn't even conclusive, the USDA is testing again with a more rigorous screening and they'll let us know when those results are in—probably on another Friday night.

This reminds me of an old joke. A man is left in charge with his neighbor's house, including his cat and bedridden mother. One day the man on vacation calls to check up on things:

MAN: How's my cat?
NEIGHBOR: I'm sorry to tell you that your cat died.
MAN: No, no, no. You aren't supposed to just up and say that he died! The first time I call you say he's up on the roof. The second time I call, you say the firemen are on their way. The third time I call, you say that the six days the feline spent on the roof wore his little heart out, and it gave out during surgery.
NEIGHBOR: Oh. I'll try to remember that next time. I'm very sorry.
MAN: It's all right. I understand. So, how's my mom doing?
NEIGHBOR: She's up on the roof.

So the business press and obtuse analysts are finally realizing what we've known for years: Wal-Mart stores are dirty, uninspiring, and full of junk. MSNBC has the AP story here but the net is that poor service and crappy products are starting to slow Wal-Mart's growth. Yeah, well, no kidding. No one wants to be at Wal-Mart, customers and employees alike. Should you feel bad for a company that pays it hourly employees poorly, violates labor and immigration laws, and compares opponents of their banal box superstores to Nazis? Not in my book.

For those who think that Wal-Mart is unstoppable, take heart in Netflix's victory over Wal-Mart's DVD rental business. That's right, the 800-pound gorilla couldn't match the nimble folks at Netflix and is turning over its DVD rental business to Netflix. But don't fret, you "value-shoppers", Wal-Mart is here to stay. Springsteen was talking about textile jobs going south in My Hometown but it works for a Wal-Mart grand opening, too:

Now Main Street's white washed windows
and vacant stores
seems like there ain't nobody
wants to come down here no more

I hate to be one of those people who links to silly things on the Internet, but if you've got ten minutes (and a fast connection) check out Store Wars, a parody of Star Wars with a good message regarding sustainable agriculture and organic farming. This is from the same group that did The Meatrix, another worthwhile and funny way to kill ten minutes when the boss ain't looking.

. . .

Took a treadmill stress test today as part of a routine physical exam. I mentioned to my doctor that I am a runner and occasionally felt some tightness across my chest when first starting out on a run and can't remember it not happening since I started running. He thought this was nothing significant but suggested the treadmill test to err on the side of caution. A treadmill test at a doctor's office, how hard can that be? Harder than I thought. While only fifteen minutes long, the last four minutes are at a quick jog at an 18% grade. I stepped off that treadmill (the test requires no cooldown so time-to-recovery can be measured) and was ready to call it a day. So much for my plan to wow the staff with my awe-inspiring conditioning.

KRAMER: Yeah, yeah, then all of a sudden, this guy pulls out a gun. Well, I knew any delay is gonna cost her her pinky toe, so I got out of the seat and I started walking towards him. He says, "Where do you think you're going, Cracker Jack?" I said, "Well, I got a little prize for ya, buddy - " (Kramer throws two quick punches and a massive uppercut) - knocked him out cold!

GEORGE: How could you do that?!

KRAMER: Then everybody is screamin,' because the driver, he's passed out from all the commotion ...the bus is out of control! So, I grab him by the collar, I take him out of the seat, I get behind the wheel and now I'm drivin' the bus.

GEORGE: You're Batman.

KRAMER: Yeah. Yeah, I am Batman. Then the mugger, he comes to, and he starts chokin' me! So I'm fightin' him off with one hand and I kept drivin' the bus with the other, y'know? Then I managed to open up the door, and I kicked him out the door you know with my foot, you know - at the next stop.

JERRY: You kept makin' all the stops?

KRAMER: Well, people kept ringin' the bell!                            _{Source: http://www.seinology.com/scripts/script-84.shtml}

Every feel like Kramer, fighting off a mugger, driving a bus to save the proverbial pinky toe while still making stops for everyone else? My life's not that crazy but it's been a hectic week and I'm feeling stretched. Our 15-year old cat is probably on the last of her nine lives and has required several recent visits to our vet (who's probably driving a new car with the fees we've paid) and medicine three times a day, our other cat got out last night and it took almost two hours for Wifey and I to find him (walking around in someone else's backyard at midnight with a flashlight is just asking to get shot in this part of the country), and then there's all the other typical things—work, kids (birthday parties, summer activity planning, toilet training, colds), family, bills, the list goes on . . .

So this means that if I'm going to run it has to be at dawn (so I can be back before the boy is awake) which requires that I go to bed decently early. But it's only after the kids are in bed that I can relax and read, watch some television, etc.—so turning in doesn't sound that appealing. Running is supposed to be fun for me, not another chore hanging over my head.

Wifey mentioned that the folks on Colonial House (PBS reality show) look content and relaxed despite the challenges of living in a simulated 17th century. But that's because they aren't burdened with all the nonsense us advanced souls living in the 21st deal with on a daily basis. David Allen alludes to this in Getting Things Done, things appear less stressful then because it was obvious what had to be done—chop the firewood, feed the animals, milk the cow—and when it was finished. Now, we've got interminable tasks and we're overwhelmed with choices that lead to other commitments.

Today's Wall Street Journal (link requires a subscription so I'll save you the aggravation) reviews wrist-top exercise computers (as they call them) and the Polar S625X comes out on top:

Polar's $370 S625X displayed the specific data we wanted to see on a single screen (no toggling), was the only watch in our test with a heart monitor that worked flawlessly underwater, and was the most comfortable of the bunch. "There were times I couldn't even tell I had the heart-rate transmitter on," said one of our testers. It's our Best Overall.

I'm happy to see Polar recognized for their good work, I've been very happy with all three of my Polar watches. Other models tested were the Timex Bodylink 5E671, Garmin Forerunner 301, Fitsense FS-1 Speedometer, and the Nike Triax Elite HRM/SDM.

. . .

I've blogged before that my drink of choice when running is Accelerade. My ultra-marathoner friend John told me about it a few years ago and it's worked well for me. Their shtick is that Accelerade contains carbohydrates plus protein in a 4:1 ratio and they claim that this extends endurance and improves recovery time. If you research the merits of protein in hydration drinks (as opposed to just carbohydrates) you'll see a lot of opinions on whether it really works. I can't say if it's helped me over Gatorade or Cytomax because I never used those in any serious manner—I started using it when I got serious about running and before I found anything else.

Anyway, Runner's World has an article on the debate and it's worth a read if you're wondering why there is a debate—why can't this easily be proved or disproved? Seems like a study on this would be a no-brainer to resolve but it's trickier than I thought.

. . .

I was excited to go to Chicago this week. I always hear great things about the city and wanted to experience it for myself. Wifey and I were there several years ago for a weekend but my perspective on things has changed since then (read I have two kids now). My employer has two offices in the Chicago area, downtown and Downer's Grove and I was going to Downer's Grove, west of the city.

Nothing against Downer's Grove, but as I drove from my hotel to the office I really couldn't tell what city I was near—Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Minneapolis, Phoenix? The problem with these suburban office/residential areas is that they have the individuality of a slice of Wonder Bread (I'm borrowing that phrase from someone). There were all the usual chain establishments—Bed, Bath & Beyond, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Best Buy, Panera Bread, etc. Every suburban area across the country looks the same these days and it's kind of depressing. Sure, that's what I get for being in the 'burbs but I can't help it, that's where the office is. And being in these areas means that you've got almost no chance of trying something different when it comes to restaurants. Yes, there's something to be said for consistency and a familiar brand but traveling on business to some of these cities is really anticlimatic—it looks just like the place you left.

Another run, again at the gym which is kind of strange because the weather in Houston is really nice right now. Probably the last cool weather we’ll see until the fall (I keep saying that and we keep getting cool fronts so maybe Houstonians should be thanking me for this recruiting weather).

I also did some rope jumping yesterday. Mark, who is now a Pose-Method convert, mentioned that he’s been jumping rope to help him develop his Pose form. I was at the sporting goods store the other day (they don’t warrant a mention) and picked up a jump rope. It’s one of those “speed ropes” (but made with rubber/plastic as opposed to leather) which is important if you’re going to really get a rhythm going. I tried jumping rope a few years ago with a rope made with cotton/poly rope and it wasn’t fast enough—you couldn’t get the rope back under you quickly enough. The speed ropes are lightning quick and this makes it easier to get going.

But wow! Once you’re going it doesn’t take long to be huffing and puffing. My heart rate shot up to the mid-160’s in no time. My goal was five minutes but this required a couple 15-second breaks. And wouldn't you know it, there's a slew of resources on the web all about jumping rope. The Jump Rope Institute? What did people do with all their time ten years ago?

. . .

President Bush is on my mind since he was in my town yesterday visiting Tom "Cockroach Killer" Delay. The President's been out campaigning for his Social Security reform bill and Jon Stewart's The Daily Show has some insight on how these events are orchestrated (click on the "Hall Of Same" icon).

Haven't been running—any time I take an extended break, voluntary or not, it's hard to get back into the swing of things. Plus, with the new bikes, I've been having a blast riding with the boy (and now Wifey and Baby Girl have a bike of their own). I can see how people can get really wrapped up in cycling. Bike shops with those beautiful bikes, cool gadgets, accessories, enthusiastic community, it's enough to get one hooked. But I'm a runner first. Now I just need to run. Tomorrow, tomorrow, there's always tomorrow.

. . .

"Do you have your Randalls card with you today, sir?"

Do companies really think anyone is happy with their customer loyalty cards? Randalls used to be a good supermarket before they were bought by Safeway. Among other changes for the worse is that you now need a card to get the "special" savings. And if you don't have your card you can always provide the telephone number associated with the card so they can look it up (and so the folks behind you can quickly do a reverse-lookup on your number when they get home—I do) and bless you with the savings. You want loyalty? Don't make me carry a card. Have cashiers that are happy to work there (that means pay them decently). Stop selling the imported crap from China in the lobby that made a once nice supermarket look like an open-air bazaar. You can't beat everyone on price so stop trying.

Whole Foods doesn't make me carry a card, takes my whole paycheck, but makes me feel good about shopping there. The cashiers give me an item for free if they can't find the price at checkout and more than once they've re-opened a line for me because I'm too dense to see the "This Line Closed" sign on the belt. I don't want to carry a card, any card. Petco, Randalls, Kroger, it's enough to drive you crazy without engendering any customer loyalty.

And there is no savings. The Wall Street Journal did a rather thorough story a few years back on these cards and when comparing two stores, one with a card program and one without, you pay the same for groceries in the long run. No surprise.

. . .

How long does it take me to read a book? My Currently Reading section hasn't been updated in months. Well, I've read those two books but I haven't read anything since. I go in spurts with book reading and I'm in a lull at the moment. Plus, my book links go to Amazon as part of their associates program. If you're really into all this you can supposedly make money if someone clicks on those book links and then buys it. Well, I never expected to make anything (and I haven't) and only did it so I could get the HTML code for each link (Amazon has a really nice wizard to generate the code). But I'm going to switch my links to Barnes and Noble. Amazon may be convenient but their links don't always work and when they don't you get some cheesy ad instead of a picture of the book.

Someone who I don't know just called me on my work line and started the conversation with "Hi Patrick, how are you today?". I said "Uh, fine, thank you?" but what I wanted to say was "Well, that depends on who I'm talking to".

I speak with a lot of people on the phone throughout the day and I get this introductory line at least once a month. Where is this coming from? Do people really think this is a legitimate way to start off a conversation with a stranger?

Next time this happens I'm taking a stand. I'm going to answer with something that sounds legitimate but much too personal. As with most things, it's subtlety that works here, if you go overboard it's obvious that you're just being a jerk.

Responses I'm considering the next time some stranger makes the mistake of opening with this line:

• "Not so good. I left my ring cushion at home today."
• "Great! My fartleks this morning were exhilarating!"
• "Really well, thanks! I just picked up my prescription and the ointment is now odorless and greaseless."
• "Sore. I went long on Saturday and now my groin is killing me."

I kill me.

Sick (again), just in time for the weekend and my planned long run.

A worthwhile article in the New York Times (thanks to Zane for passing on the tip about generating URLs for Times' content) about Sidd Finch, George Plimpton's imaginary Tibetan monk turned Met whose fastball was clocked at 168 MPH.

After reading Mark's review of Without Limits, I put this movie at the top of my Netflix queue and it arrived a few days later (with no scratches). This is one of two movies (the other, Prefontaine) that came out in the late 90's about Steve Prefontaine, the Oregon distance runner who competed in the 1972 Munich Olympics and held all 7 American records between 2,000 and 10,000 meters before his death at age 24.

These are both good movies, I saw Prefontaine several years ago so I can't really compare the two. But what are the odds that two movies would be released within a year of one another about the same 20-something runner who died 23 years earlier and that most people have never heard of? I'm not sure if these films were a critical or commercial sucess (I seriously doubt the latter) but either of these films is a refreshing break from the mind-numbing clatter typically offered at the 96-screen megaplex.

And while watching Rocky is inspiring and Hoosiers motivating, I'm a little too old to start boxing and way too short to play basketball. But run? Yep, I can do that. Not very fast, but I'm working on it. And while I'll never compete in the Olympics there are still personal records I want to break and races I want to finish.

. . .

Houston's summer is approaching. I did a mid-day run today and it was hot and I was slow. My heart rate peaked at 89% of maximum, much higher than normal and given my slow pace, higher than what I think it should have been. I need to start regularly using the orthostatic test feature of my Polar so I can start tracking my fitness and see what it says about running for a particular day.

In an effort to shed it's image as the fattest city in the United States and promote fitness and biking, the city of Houston sponsored the Tour de Houston on Saturday, an organized bike ride of 20 or 40 miles. The Chronicle reports that approximately 2,000 riders participated in the un-timed recreational ride that went through city neighborhoods.

But if the city really wants to encourage fitness, how about coming up with a plan to make this city more pedestrian friendly? Why, when walking from my office building to the one next door, do I have to walk through the parking garage, down a ramp intended for cars only and has no sidewalk, and then through a "side" door that looks as if it's there for emergencies only? Strip malls and outdoor shopping centers are another area where pedestrians are given short shrift. Sure, after you park your urban assault vehicle you can walk around while in that shopping center but cross the street? Forget it.

A mental game I play while stuck in traffic is to pick separate business establishments within a few hundred yards of one another but in different strip malls and imagine the route one would have to take if they wanted to walk between the two. You realize that it's not easy—it probably requires crossing a street without a pedestrian crossing, maybe fording a drainage culvert, and walking across a vast parking lot. It's certainly not pleasant and absolutely dangerous. The layout of commercial real estate requires you to use your car to navigate among properties. I can't blame people for putting their fat asses in the car to go from one place to another, all within a one-mile radius—you have no other option. And it's not just Houston. Pick any city that's experienced big growth in the last thirty years and it's likely that it's developed in a manner that discourages walking.

Some highlights from the Surface Transportation Policy Project's report, Mean Streets 2004:

• Walking is by far the most dangerous mode of travel per mile.  Although only 8.6 percent of all trips are made on foot, 11.4 percent of all traffic deaths are pedestrians.
• The most dangerous metropolitan area for walking in 2002/2003 was Orlando, followed by Tampa, West Palm Beach, Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Memphis, Atlanta, Greensboro, NC, Houston, Jacksonville, FL, and Phoenix.
• The portion of people who walk to work dropped by 25 percent between 1990 and 2002, at the same time that the percentage of the population who are obese jumped 70 percent.
• Only about 14 percent of children’s trips to school are made on foot, down from 50 percent in 1969. Forty percent of parents asked about the barriers to children walking to school cited traffic as a major concern.

It's a beautiful morning in Houston—clear and cool and it's perfect running weather for my scheduled 12 miles. Too bad I'm sitting at my kitchen table drinking coffee and updating my blog. My internal alarm awoke me a little too late for me to get out and back in time for work so I'll have to run this evening. Evening runs aren't my favorite, I'm tired mentally and physically and I don't get the same response from my body. Plus that feeling of having the run hanging over your head all day, knowing that you've got to get out of the office at a decent time so you can get your run completed . . . feels like a task.

When I lived in Austin I worked at GSD&M whose office (a.k.a. Idea City) was just a few hundred yards away from the Town Lake running trail. GSD&M also has a nice locker room with showers plus a work environment where you could leave for an hour or so to go run provided you weren't in the middle of something. Whole Foods corporate headquarters is across the street along with its new healthy-food-nirvana store (mega-store, super-store and even flagship are terms I just don't want to use when describing a Whole Foods). If only my hobbies back then went beyond Tex-Mex food and motorcycles.

An interesting article in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine about the restaurant Chipotle. If you haven’t seen this burrito place near you, it’s just a matter of time. I’ve been there, it’s pretty good, but I prefer FreeB!rds. However, Chipotle is using pork (at some of the restaurants) from Niman Ranch, a producer of meat that is free of antibiotics and hormone-supplements. But what’s really interesting is that McDonald’s is a majority investor (one of the reasons I wasn't too keen on the place). But it looks like McDonald’s is giving Chipotle the necessary autonomy to be successful.

And since In-N-Out is still fresh in my mind, the article had some kinds words about my favorite burger chain (in sort of a back-handed way):

Just a few years ago, the lone hope for fast food was In-N-Out Burger, a small West Coast chain that has acted as a model of what fast food can be -- made of wholesome ingredients, freshly but quickly prepared. It was the anti-McDonald's, but it has remained a wee competitor, with just 189 locations, compared with the 13,700 McDonald's in America. Good fast food, it seemed, simply couldn't compete with the giants. And yet, In-N-Out won many fans, including Steve Ells, the C.E.O. of Chipotle.

Please, a chain of 189 restaurants is plenty, it’s part of the magic. It loses its appeal when they start showing up across the country in suburban strip malls in front of the Bed Bath and Beyond.

The foot is no better, which means it's actually quite bad. I'm near Scottscale Arizona at the Carefree Resort for two days of meetings and I can't partake in most of the extracurricular activities they have available for us. There is a hiking or mountain bike rides this afternoon that I'm skipping because I'm hobbling around with my lame foot. I may see what their gym has to offer.

My employer sent our entire group here so we could review where we are at the fiscal mid-year and to get us energized for the finish. Every year they bring in a motivational speaker and this year it was Todd Skinner who spoke about mountain climbing and his expedition to climb Trango Tower. The story, accompanied by a slideshow, was incredible. I'm not one who typically takes notes but his perspective was worth capturing.

In-N-Out was as good as I remember it. I got in last night around 9:00 p.m. and talked my roommate (yes, we have roommates, the only downside to this trip) into accompanying me for a late night feast. He's from California so he knew the burgers were good but didn't know if it would be worth the twenty minute drive. The simplicity of their menu is refreshing—hamburger or cheeseburger, French fries, shakes, soft drinks. The food is good, the service friendly, the restaurant clean—what McDonald's used to be thirty years ago.

Yes, this is Eric Alterman's term for his blog postings on Friday but it just works too well.

The boy must have the flu. He's had a fever and cough for days now and the Houston Chronicle is reporting an influenza outbreak in Houston whose strain is not included in this year's vaccination. Oh well, what can you do? At least it's milder than when he had it as an infant (after we declined the flu shot over the pleadings of our doctor only to call a few months later with him sick as hell).

A few months back I commented that I don't find much to read in Runner's World. I don't mind being wrong and here's a "I'm a Runner" story on Rupert Jee, the owner of the Hello Deli who's always humoring David Letterman. Rupert runs because he enjoys it and it makes him feel good, pure and simple.

Hmmm, so first there was a possible link between antidepressants and suicides in children but that risk vanishes when you're eighteen? Well, maybe not. Antidepressants have their place but it seems like everyone's on them. Zoloft, Prozac, Paxil—isn't it weird that we all recognize these names? Can you name three brand-name hypertension drugs? I was at WebMD researching antidepressants and found a self assessment test from a pharmaceutical company (offered I'm sure, in the interest of public health) that just happens to offer a drug to treat depression-like symptoms. Talk about loaded questions. Do I suffer from ". . .  mania characterized by at least one week of severely elevated mood or great irritability, rapid speech, fleeting thoughts, insomnia, poor attention span, grandiosity, and poor judgment?" One week? How about several times a day? Or how about tax season, performance review time, or any time I'm stuck in traffic?

Lastly, my friend David now has his own blog. His report on his experience at the Freescale Half Marathon is hilarious and inspiring.

For me, distance running is a hobby. It's an avocation that involves both physical and mental effort. Because I'm not a "natural" runner, I''ll take all the help science can give me. If there's a sports drink that will improve my endurance and recovery, I''ll use it. If distance running depletes the body of certain minerals, I want to know about it so I can compensate. And with information at your fingertips (or a Google search away), there's a lot of conjecture to wade through (the rec.running newsgroup is a mess, btw).

But this is something related to running that I enjoy—reading the theories and debates about what will improve my performance. One site that I stumbled across recently is Peak Performance, a magazine out of the UK that also archives a lot of their content online. It has some good info if you''re into reading about improving human performance.