November 2009 Archives
November 20, 2009
downhill
i've never liked or been good at running downhill, no matter my footwear. the fivefingers revealed major flaws in my downhill running, teaching me that though i wasn't heel-striking anymore, i was toe-braking downhill, putting just as much stress on my knees and slowing myself down.
taking the shoes off brings in a whole new universe of teaching sensations, and i learned that toe braking isn't just bad for my knees and hips. without the fivefingers, downhill toe-braking is likely to open a blister on my toes, or worse, depending on the pavement.
i've known for a while how to run downhill, my feet and body know what has to be done, but i wanted independent confirmation -- i wanted someone to tell me how to do it.
today i gave the technique a little practice: lean forward, cadence to ludicrous speed, and suppress the mental voice that's screaming that i'm going to fall on my face and kill myself. the very high cadence tires me out pretty quickly, but the really hard part is overcoming the fear that i'm going to faceplant. maybe if i'd been a skater in my youth i wouldn't have such a fear, but i wasn't, and the fear is pretty strong.
running this way seems to keep my feet landing under me or slightly behind me, eliminating the braking/shearing forces on my footballs and toes, maintaining or increasing my speed, and keeping the body happy. it's the way it's supposed to be done, but i feel that it will take a very long time for it to become second nature.
taking the shoes off brings in a whole new universe of teaching sensations, and i learned that toe braking isn't just bad for my knees and hips. without the fivefingers, downhill toe-braking is likely to open a blister on my toes, or worse, depending on the pavement.
i've known for a while how to run downhill, my feet and body know what has to be done, but i wanted independent confirmation -- i wanted someone to tell me how to do it.
today i gave the technique a little practice: lean forward, cadence to ludicrous speed, and suppress the mental voice that's screaming that i'm going to fall on my face and kill myself. the very high cadence tires me out pretty quickly, but the really hard part is overcoming the fear that i'm going to faceplant. maybe if i'd been a skater in my youth i wouldn't have such a fear, but i wasn't, and the fear is pretty strong.
running this way seems to keep my feet landing under me or slightly behind me, eliminating the braking/shearing forces on my footballs and toes, maintaining or increasing my speed, and keeping the body happy. it's the way it's supposed to be done, but i feel that it will take a very long time for it to become second nature.
November 18, 2009
vacation travel
i dreamed last night that i managed to finally pull together a vacation trip that i'd been wanting to take for a very long time. i had a lot of troubles getting it all set up, and once i was on the plane i began worrying about all that i'd forgotten -- did i have my passport? i figured i must have, since i was on the plane. did i have charger for my phone? no, i didn't. did i have clothes, cell charger, and paper for letter writing? no, not really. but i had a carry-on backpack full of something.
i worried that on arrival, my hosts would discover things about my heritage and lock me up in a dungeon and nobody would come to my aid. that was a real problem, and a risk i was going to have to take -- since i didn't think of it until the plane took off. besides, i figured, i wasn't important enough to warrant that kind of digging, although it wouldn't take much if the government was inclined to be thorough.
oh! i realized with a start that i hadn't told my boss i was going on vacation. that would be bad, i figured, since he might notice a two week absence. fortunately, one of my coworkers was traveling as well, though not "with" me, per se. mr adam burns (ahem), and he had the boss's phone number. i called him from my cell phone, cursing the fact that now my boss would have my private number, and told him i'd be out. he said that was fine.
all that settled, i sat back to attempt to enjoy the long flight to iran.
the plane was very large, with few seats per aisle, tons and tons of leg room, and six foot wide aisles. i got up to go for a little walk and felt the plane landing. it was way too soon for that. as the plane came down, i looked at the floor and could see tiled bathroom floor moving aft where the cabin floor should have been. the plane was no plane at all, just a big metal skeleton full of chairs. the plane came to a stop and my fellow passengers noticed that we had no crew. we all went outside to look around, and found we were in a sandy beach-canyon area, with high, sandy sea cliffs and no sight of water. we poked around in the sand for a bit and went back into the plane.
all our luggage was gone, including my bag that had nothing useful in it, as were our airfares. it was made known to us at that point (by the dungeon master, i guess) that the people running this "airline" were notorious swindlers and scammers, and we'd been had. there would be no trip to iran and no refunds.
that dream came to an end and i moved on to one significantly less pleasant.
i worried that on arrival, my hosts would discover things about my heritage and lock me up in a dungeon and nobody would come to my aid. that was a real problem, and a risk i was going to have to take -- since i didn't think of it until the plane took off. besides, i figured, i wasn't important enough to warrant that kind of digging, although it wouldn't take much if the government was inclined to be thorough.
oh! i realized with a start that i hadn't told my boss i was going on vacation. that would be bad, i figured, since he might notice a two week absence. fortunately, one of my coworkers was traveling as well, though not "with" me, per se. mr adam burns (ahem), and he had the boss's phone number. i called him from my cell phone, cursing the fact that now my boss would have my private number, and told him i'd be out. he said that was fine.
all that settled, i sat back to attempt to enjoy the long flight to iran.
the plane was very large, with few seats per aisle, tons and tons of leg room, and six foot wide aisles. i got up to go for a little walk and felt the plane landing. it was way too soon for that. as the plane came down, i looked at the floor and could see tiled bathroom floor moving aft where the cabin floor should have been. the plane was no plane at all, just a big metal skeleton full of chairs. the plane came to a stop and my fellow passengers noticed that we had no crew. we all went outside to look around, and found we were in a sandy beach-canyon area, with high, sandy sea cliffs and no sight of water. we poked around in the sand for a bit and went back into the plane.
all our luggage was gone, including my bag that had nothing useful in it, as were our airfares. it was made known to us at that point (by the dungeon master, i guess) that the people running this "airline" were notorious swindlers and scammers, and we'd been had. there would be no trip to iran and no refunds.
that dream came to an end and i moved on to one significantly less pleasant.
November 10, 2009
happy new year!
it's frobuary 2, YOMHC 0x4f!
first mohawk with the 00000.
man, that's close. but could be closer. we'll see.
head feels like velcro. need a hat in the evenings. brrr.
first mohawk with the 00000.
man, that's close. but could be closer. we'll see.
head feels like velcro. need a hat in the evenings. brrr.
November 3, 2009
happy new year!
it's Frobuary 3, YOMHC 0x4e!
another mohawk. i ordered a new blade for hte oster, so whereas this mohawk features .5mm stubble, the next one should have .2mm stubble. i might have to wax-polish.
another mohawk. i ordered a new blade for hte oster, so whereas this mohawk features .5mm stubble, the next one should have .2mm stubble. i might have to wax-polish.
