4/29/11

yesterday: 5 mile road run, relaxed. night run. still really cool in the am and pm. perfect running weather. all good.

4/28/2011

yesterday: still cool and cloudy. good running weather if nothing else. 41:00 fartlek. 8 pick-ups of about a minute apiece. this qualifies as a "speed" workout for me. felt nice.

i admit it, i've become a fan of the nba this year. the playoffs are awesome, just about every matchup is a good one. here is my take going forward from today:

East:

Bulls vs. Atlanta/Orlando: Atlanta is the better matchup for the Bulls. Rose will simply be too much and stylistically they should be easier even than Indiana was. Bulls in 5 if this happens. Orlando is tougher because of Howard, but I still think the Bulls win. Orlando is a very streaky shooting team and honestly they don't have the perimeter speed to handle Chicago. Bulls in 6 against Orlando.

Heat vs. Celtics: Boston is old and fading, Miami is young and surging. I really don't think Boston has a chance here. Miami in 6.

Bulls vs. Heat: This will be a great series. Ultimately I believe that Chicago's team defense and cohesiveness will win out. Noah and Boozer have also shown that they can neutralize Bosh and Rose is every bit as dangerous as Lebron. Bulls showed in the regular season that they can beat the Heat. Great matchup and really a coin flip. Bulls in 7.

West:

Thunder vs. Spurs/Grizz: Do not sleep on Okla. City. This team is dangerous. I honestly think they dispatch either one of these teams. Westbrook and Durant are deadly and they have the interior defense with Ibaka and Perkins to negate Memphis' post strength should they hold on and win. Thunder in 5 over Grizz in 6 over Spurs.

Lakers vs. Dallas: We'll look ahead here. I think this will be the matchup. I really love Dallas and am a huge Nowitzki fan. The Lakers are there to be had this year, the problem for Dallas is that they don't have the tools to get it done. They can't defend Kobe, and although Chandler has had a great year, Bynum and Gasol are too much. This will be more competitive than people think, however. Lakers in 6.

Thunder vs. Lakers: Time for a changing of the guard. Kobe has lost a step, Westbrook's time is now. The Laker's frontcourt advantage is blunted by a solid Okla. City line and Durant feasts from the wing. The youth of the Thunder finally matures and makes the Lakers look like what they are, old. Thunder in 6.

Championship:

Bulls vs. Thunder: We're assuming Rose is healthy, which he looks to be. The Rose/Westbrook matchup has us salivating. Thibs' commitment to defense rears its head again, Rose shows why he's MVP and leads the Bulls to a title. Bulls in 7.

Kerouac and Japhy...

hiking Mt. Tamalpais in 1955, just prior to Japhy's (Gary Snyder's) excursion to Japan and before Kerouac leaves for his season as a fire lookout on Desolation Peak. If you hike or run or whatever, this rings true still:

“Trails are like that: you’re floating along in a Shakespearean Arden paradise and expect to see nymphs and fluteboys, then suddenly you’re struggling in a hot broiling sun of hell in dust and nettles and poison oak… just like life."

-Jack Kerouac in The Dharma Bums

4/25/2011

6 1/2 miles or so on streets. relaxed pace. felt generally good, this time got the run in before the rain. not sure if that is good or bad.

4/23/11

saturday night run. 10:00 or so. watched the chicago fire draw a game they should have won against the dynamo. why not go out and run? 4.5 miles or so. easy. air was beautiful, a few people out around bonfires. the world is peaceful after dark. at least my world is.

4/22/11

wed. night: ran on the streets after dark. 41:00 fartlek with eight pick-ups. light on my watch not working, i'd guess between one and two minutes each. so fast, oh so fast. feels fast at least. slowly gaining a little quickness back.

fri: today. 8 1/2 miles or so, stupidly in the rain. started light, downpours later. lady stopped at 4 miles and asked if i needed a ride. no ma'am i'm dumb enough to choose to be out here. no matter, fun effort despite the storms. oh, it's perfect clear out now. something about building character?

Dharma Bum

Re-reading my favorite Jack Kerouac novel, first read 18 years or so ago (yikes), Dharma Bums.

"The secret of this kind of climbing, is like Zen. Don't think. Just dance along. It's the easiest thing in the world, actually easier than walking on flat ground which is monotonous. The cute little problems present themselves at each step and yet you don't hesitate and you find yourself on some other boulder you picked out for no special reason at all, just like zen.~ Japhy"
— Jack Kerouac

race with yer heart

saturday: race with yer heart 4 mile. benefit for heart house womens' shelter. cool, 40's, windy, as in straight-up headwind the first two miles out heading west, wind at back the two miles heading back in (that's logical). 30:57.4, 7:44/mile, 31/108, 1/3 fat guy division.

sunday: nothing. oh wait, celebrate bday with bbq chicken, and pie. that's not a run.

monday: run 41:00 roads around lake. 7:03 a.m. cool. 42 F. easy pace.

April of Eleven

monday trail run. stuff is coming out, just in its infancy. buds and such. 48 minutes out my back door onto grass, down the floodplain, short loops thru the woods. warm, 60 F. sun. sun. foot feels ok. hip feels ok. i feel ok.

tuesday road run. 6:24 a.m. air feels warmish on skin. maybe it isn't. 36 minutes. "speed" pickups. five or six of them just because i felt like it. andrew wheating is my favorite track runner. six foot five, one of the fastest in the world. i am not one of the fastest in the world, still i can do "speed" pick ups. fartleks if you're swedish. hip doesn't complain much.

thursday road run. 6:11 a.m. chill in the air. 43 F, i guess. no objections, bodily or spiritually. pace of leisure through the streets. i enjoy running past my grandparents' graves in the morning. something refreshing and renewing about that. something like 48 minutes total. sunrise over a maple while running east down harrison. worth the early wake up.