Month: January 2014

Alpinist 45 came in the mail yesterday and Rafael Slawinski has an excellent piece on he and Ian Welsted’s ascent of K6.

So here is a bit of synthesis. In his recounting of the decision to go/no-go after the tragedy on Nanga Parbat he talks about possible futures based on the decisions we make – and each future branching off and occurring or not occurring. He notes that this model fits with the theories of a quantum mechanics and entanglement. Note: he’s a physics professor.

Later in the evening, flipping through Zite – I came upon this article. So… woo-woo. And yet. And yet… I think Pynchon is drawing upon these very post-modern ideas of time and space in Bleeding Edge. Multi-layered and complex. Specifically when referring to the sightings around NYC of people who were killed on 9/11. Pynchon also manages to mix in the Montauk Project … I think he covers every conspiracy theory – which is entertaining for sure.

I’ve been thinking a bit about the character of Maxine as well.  From a gender studies angle, she’s pretty fascinating. My first thought is that she’s “like a dude”. The complex roles she plays in the novel are fascinating. She’s a fraud investigator (“Tail ’em and nail ’em” is the name of her firm), but she also sleeps around, pole dances in one scene, is the primary caregiver to her 2 sons and has a complex relationship with her ex-husband. Lots going on.

Starting to periodize my mileage with the goal of ending up in a good place for the Gorge 50K. After 2 weeks of 30+ miles, I’m going to dial it back to around 20 before increasing mileage next week.

I haven’t run since Sunday so… this is generally how I’m feeling after 3 days of run rest:

My right heel is still a little bit sore from descending council crest. After switching to the Brooks Pure Grits I definitely felt more confident opening it up coming down the mountain… which resulted in a little too much heel striking.

I think the most amazing thing about the book is the author’s imaginative mingling of the physical world and the digital world. He’s writing about the digital as if it were a physical place (DeepArcher). There are definitely some HT’s to Neuromancer and some of the early cyberpunk fiction, but it’s modern (2001 modern… in 2013).

The other concept that underlies the story is this idea of directions and progress and choices and alternatives not taken. There is a great quote about the physical space being overtaken by advertisers and essentially ruined… and the question of what it (the Internet, capital I) would have become if that had not occurred. All in a nostalgic yet accepting way. I was very surprised how he handled the actual ‘event’. It was understated, he didn’t follow the common script at the time (and really the historical record of the event). There is a lot of heavy emotion around 9/11 and the author really handled that deftly, a little bit removed in fact. It was a different telling and it surprised me. I had some anxiety b/c I knew the book covered it – but it was subtly comforting in that he didn’t dig it all up again.

The other point is the historical perspective of programs like MKultra in light of Snowden and the NSA. The logical question is, why would you need a ‘Manchurian Candidate’ and a program like MKultra if you could surveil every bit of information from the population? The answer is you wouldn’t.

The time travel narrative is pretty weird… coupled with the idea of sightings of dead people walking around NYC. Maybe in a historical perspective (Pynchon is 76 now) he’s completing the narrative begun in the 60’s continuing through 9/11 and onward to the present intelligence apparatus. He’s touching on the ideas of loss and enduring the ‘atrocity’ (he uses that word) but approaching it from a unique perspective. He focuses on the return to normalcy – which I think is different than the media’s narrative at the time.

I’ve always resisted reading fiction about the tech world. I think primarily because I’ve been living it for 15 years. I never read Microserfs, I don’t want to watch movies about Google, never watched AK play Jobs – I’m kind ‘anti’ the fictionalization of the industry. Maybe that’s odd, but it is so (I did read SJs bio though). I guess I’m not cool with the hagiographic representations of tycoons and robber barons.  That sounds bitter. Not my thing.

I think Pynchon portrays “late capitalism” and the character of Gabriel Ice as they should be portrayed. The kind of person who after shaking their hand, compels you to go and wash yours.

(such a great biological synthesis + indication of compatibility by the way… I always note the urge if it’s there when meeting someone new… but that’s just me)

There are so many compelling ideas to explore … these are just a few.

**I’ve never seen those shows btw… I should write a post about my theory of creators and consumers some time. It would be epic.

http://www.strava.com/activities/104336371

2300 calories in 2 hours 48 minutes

I’m not really a foodie. I love food made with love. Small portions, elegant plating. Farm to table… etc, etc.  But sometimes when the furnace is burning – it doesn’t matter what goes in. The worse feeling … not actually a feeling, but a smell – is the smell is ammonia. After a long, sustained effort with too little nutrition going in, the body will start to  break down muscle – the catabolic state. Ammonia is the smell of your body eating itself.  I wasn’t quite there today, but I definitely didn’t bring enough food. One vanilla Gu and a grandma strawberry hard candy – you know the ones. Love those things.

At mile 6 (about 45 minutes in) I got all excited to find some water and and eat my Gu that I forgot to zip my pouch back up after throwing away the Gu packet at the Rose Garden and continuing on.

Other contents of my pouch included my keys,  driver’s license and a debit card. At about mile 8 I looked down and noticed the zipper was open and my ID and debit card were *fucking gone* … along with my strawberry candy – that was like 15 calories at least! Gone somewhere between the rose garden and arboretum. So I turned around and ran all the way back looking along the side of the trail. Near the playground I found my candy. Yes! But no dice on the ID and card.  Then I turned around and ran back the way I was going – up to Council Crest and back to PSU over the Hawthorne bridge and home.

How to say that the run wasn’t so great without saying it sucked. It didn’t sucked. I lost my ID… but found my candy (in the street) so I had that after 2 hours and the sugar provided me a little energy. I was a bit wrecked when I got home though – the total elevation came in around 1800 ft mostly because I ran one hilly section twice looking for my ID. It had me thinking that … who cares how you react when things are going well. It’s when things go pear-shaped, or something unexpected happens – how do you react? How fast can you recover. I was rushing. I think the losing the ID weighed on my mind and my performance suffered. I need to work on that…

The Cocoon

Since the summer I’ve had this ritual when I get home. I start thinking about it when my focus starts to waver as I’m getting closer to home.  My running shirt and hair are typically drenched when I get home – even when it’s below freezing as it was when I started today.

So here’s my top secret, little slice of heaven, super cocoon ritual. I strip off my shirt(s) … let the air in the house dry me off a little bit and then …. wait for it… I put on my 900 fill puffy jacket. If you’ve never worn a puffy (synthetic or down) with nothing on underneath it – you’re missing out on a little slice of heaven.  You must try it.  And the beauty of the cocoon is that you can zip all the way up and… no one will *ever* know that you have no shirt on underneath. Sooooo… nice! Trust me.

So I’m standing in the kitchen in my puffy eating a bagel with almond butter and honey, and a banana, and a big cup of diluted gatorade and a cheese stick and some crackers… when I hear my phone buzz and it’s an email from TB:

“I found your ID and card in  Washington Park just now — let me know how to get it back to you.”

WAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!! I was like this guy (turn captions on):

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vC8gJ0_9o4M]

So I emailed back and an hour after I ate some more food and took a shower – recovered by DL and card. My week was about to start off very badly… but saved by an awesome person. They exist.

Time for a couple of days off from running and  lower mileage this week.

Lesson

Slow is fast and fast is smooth. I was rushing, not paying attention. I shouldn’t keep my ID with my food. I think I’ll take some cash in the future and just wear my Road ID for emergencies.

Zip zip. Felt super-speedy today.  Anaerobic threshold coming down from OHSU.
Mile 5 felt like flying (6:42). Some days there is only heart, lung and muscle. Those days are pretty rad. Today was one of them.

http://www.strava.com/activities/103578695

“Hills are just speedwork in disguise”. – ?

I ran on Tuesday also and there were a few people out on the trail – maybe people starting their New Year’s resolutions early. I had a bit of that old competitive feeling with one other runner. He peeled off to the left around the rose garden when I went straight up to the visitor’s center. We then intersected at the playground and were both going up the MAC trail (to Wildwood). He saw me in his periphery no doubt.

He entered the singletrack first about 10 seconds before me and what did I do? I tracked him like a wounded animal. I hung back just slightly, but close enough that he knew I was there on the switchbacks, and let him self-destruct on the climb. At the top of the water tower he slowed to a walk, hung his head and moved off the trail.

I looked over and said, “move upside and let the man go through, let the man go through!” (Nah… but that’s what I was thinking) 🙂

Here’s to getting after it in 2014.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Xlkla4Jrbk]