Running 14 Miles on a Sunny Day

 My last long run before the half-marathon. A slight breeze with temperatures in the 60s eased the burden of yesterday's slog up into the Angeles foothills. A hard work-out the day before meant tired legs and a slow pace. Overall, my training has been erratic. Very little speed work, lackluster tempo runs, and hardly any cross-training. I'll be fortunate to complete the half under 3 hours.

I'm prepared to skip the L.A. Marathon in March. My focus will be to regroup, pick a marathon for late spring, early summer, and apply all the same training lessons used in ramping up for the 2022 California International Marathon. 

Enough whining. Time to cross-train.

 

The Bald Brothers

 

 

 

Making Fun of TikTok

A trio of shorts poking fun at that social media magnet for the disturbed: TikTok.

Jest Videos

 

Top 3 Visualizations for Dogs

Do Dogs Crave Calm?

View and learn. 

John P. McCann Channel

Why Cats Make Terrible Secret Agents

 

Jest Videos

Happy New Year 2024!

 

ixpap.com

Cleaning up my office for the upcoming year, I found some old journals and Day-Runners. Odd to read my thoughts from decades back. Seems like I battled many of the same issues, overcame a few defects, and acquired fresh ones. The improvement process on John P. McCann continues.

A pleasant new year's day to all!

 

Cosmic Horror Defined

    Something invented by H.P. Lovecraft; possibly something dreamed up in the most literal sense by Howard Phillips.  That's just how he rolled.

 

Jest Videos

A Warner Bros. Merry Christmas v.2

 Ten years ago,  posted the below remarks. All the best today to you and your family.

 Inspired by a Facebook post from friend Josh, and plucked from the blog of Tom Ruegger, here are the Warners Brothers (and sister) as shepherds from "The Little Drummer Warners." Back in the day, we showed the episode to Steven Spielberg who joked that we now owed him a Warner Bros. tribute to a Jewish holiday. Hanukkah and Thanksgiving at the same time would have been perfect, but that kind of calender gold doesn't roll around too often. Plus Animaniacs would've needed to be airing for twenty years like Gunsmoke. So we still owe him.

Does TikTok Reward Madness?

 I would say 'yes.' It seems the emotionally unhinged are rewarded with traffic. This holiday season, try to avoid TikTok. Your family will thank you.

Jest Videos

Epic Gift-Wrapping Fail

 Not everything goes smoothly over the holiday season. A smple gift-wrapping can turn into a chore if approached with the wrong mindset.

John P. McCann Channel

TikTokers React to Pearl Harbor

Educated by the dim, today's youth respond to the 82th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

 

Jest Videos

Pomona 5k Race Report

From l. to r.: Me, Joy & Chevy Chase

Having not run a race since last year's marathon, I only had a few 2023 weeks remaining to notch one.  So I joined my wife Joy for a 5k out in Pomona. Chilly in the early morning hours. Neither of us wished to leave bed. But off we went on Saturday morning. As noted in the 5k link, I finished second in my age group out of six participants. That was enough to earn an age group medal, which is basically awarded for outliving faster runners. The course was flat asphalt, used in the warmer months for auto racing. I was stiff as a plank having not warmed up properly.

This particular 5k had a number of drawbacks including people violating course rules and running with their dogs—there are parks for that—strollers, and loose children who tend to run as fast as they can, stop, then bolt off again. I was passed a half-dozen times by the same kids.

That aside, it was a good time, with decorative Christmas cheer all about. We enjoyed ourselves, then departed for a well-earned heavy breakfast. 

I'll report in soon on my upcoming half-marathon in January. All in all, I was glad I got out of bed.