Rant about the global marketplace

Date	Place	Duration (min)	Time
27 Aug	Moscow, Chisti Prudi	28 minutes	08:25

     So I’ve been in Moscow for a few days.  I’ve been living in a hostel, sleeping in the bottom bunk in a room with eight other beds.  One of my friends here says that I should be living somewhere with more status instead of a place designed for students.  I say that I’m saving money.  

Do you mind?

Date	Place	Duration (min)	1/4 mile	Time
10 August	West Des Moines	40 run/walk	1:17.28	07:56

           So today it finally dawned on me that while I am staying with Bill, I am right beside Valley West High School.  Therefore, I can use their track.  I was a bit worried that they might not want random Joes coming by and soiling their pristine athletic facilities.  

Valley West HS

Date	Celsius ° (C*9/5)+32=F	Place of run	Duration (min)	Sets of 25 push-ups	start time
6 Aug	≈ 27	West Des Moines,  Iowa	≈60	2	08:20

            The day was full of rain.  I ran/walked for a good hour, quite unexcitedly.  I listened to Sunday’s “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” episode—it was nothing mush memorable.  I couldn’t run full speed.  My legs were hurting all the time.  Rest says the doctor—the doctor who lives between my ears.

treating the legs gently

Date	Celsius ° (C*9/5)+32=F	Place of run	Duration (min)	Sets of 12 pull-ups	Dewey sprint	start time
July 27	≈ 25	Johnston, Iowa	≈43	2	1:07.56	20:22

Date	Celsius ° (C*9/5)+32=F	Place of run	Duration (min)	Sets of 12 pull-ups	Dewey sprint	start time
July 29	≈ 20	Johnston, Iowa	≈39	2		8:01

Sunday night, I ran my slowest Dewey sprint until this morning when I ‘ran’ or jogged at 1:44.  I’m trying to rest my legs a bit.  It is somewhat painful to run, and somewhat unstable. 

setting goals

Date	Celsius ° (C*9/5)+32=F	Place of run	Duration (min)	Sets of 12 pull-ups	Dewey sprint	start time
July 26	≈ 21	Johnston, Iowa	≈43	2	56.94	07:22

I’m amazed at the human body.  A new way to give myself a compliment is not my goal with such a statement.  I’ve just been thinking about the resilience and the elasticity of the body.  Whenever I come to a place for a time, I try to find a section of road or track that I can run in about 60 seconds, and a one-minute sprint is my goal while I am in that area.  In my experience, I am able to run closer and closer to this goal, usually reaching it. 

56.65 a palindromic record

Date	Celsius ° (C*9/5)+32=F	Place of run	Duration (min)	Dewey sprint	start time
July 21	≈ 15	Johnston, Iowa	≈35	:59.34	8:02

           

Date	Celsius ° (C*9/5)+32=F	Place of run	Duration (min)	Sets of 12 pull-ups	Dewey sprint	start time
July 24	≈ 25	Johnston, Iowa	≈33	2	56.65	16:34

After a couple days off from running during RAGBRAI, I went for a jog today.  My legs and body were well ready for a record.  And I made it!  Shattered the record by 1.5 seconds. 

100 x 5K overshadowed by a personal best for James Martin

Date	Celsius ° (C*9/5)+32=F	Place of run	Duration (min)	Dewey sprint	Dewey sprint	start time
July 17	≈ 11	Johnston, Iowa	≈80	1:07.06	1:03.82	06:34

            I tried the Dewey sprint during the first part of the run today.  The results were terrible.  Not faster than the record, but SLOWER than the previous WORST time.  I felt like I was trying to balance on top of a broom handle.  My legs felt like they were sore, unstable, and ready to collapse. 

            I ran by Dad’s place and stopped in for a minute.  I told him that I might need to STOP running for a couple weeks—maybe walk or something.  I’m not sure if I can allow myself to take such a break. 

Date	Celsius ° (C*9/5)+32=F	Place of run	Duration (min)	Sets of 25 push-ups	Dewey sprint	Dewey sprint	start time
July 19	≈ 15	Johnston, Iowa	≈27	1	1:00.02	58.24	08:13

            As you can read above, two days ago, I was thinking that I might need to rest my legs.  I was thinking that I should walk for two weeks until my legs rest up enough and heal.