deep thought

The Cubs now have Wellington Castillo, Darwin Barney, Blake DeWitt, and Thomas Diamond on their roster.

Jane Austen must have done their drafting the last few years.

What I write about when writing about someone who writes about running

I ran about three miles tonight, and my legs are feeling it. Further proof that it’s a lot harder to begin a running program at 49 than it was at 22. The heat has been no help, of course.

Despite the aches (Advil ahoy!), I can tell I’m making progress, albeit much more slowly than I’d like. The key is to be patient and keep in mind that it’ll take that much more time to get to a level near where I was ten years ago. I have lost a few pounds since the first of the year, and my resting pulse is lower, so there have actually been tangible benefits. Not having sore knees after running is an even greater benefit. Amazing how shoes make so much difference.

This brings me to a book review, of What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, by Haruki Murakami. I’ve read only one other book of Murakami’s, which I liked, so I know very little of his fiction writing, which is highly acclaimed.

There are moments of insight – his thoughts on why he still runs after unsatisfying results, and how it’s part of his entire persona. At times, though, and perhaps this is a result of being lost in translation, but the prose is pedestrian. Particularly at the end of his description of a run from Athens to Marathon, the writing is not what I’d expect from a novelist of his stature.

Despite the occasional clunker, though, it’s an interesting read, as Murakami subjects himself to fairly rigorous inspection as to just why he runs.

Dog Walking - the play-by-play

A slightly embellished play-by-play of this afternoon’s walk:

1540 – Maggie gets antsy. Ernie, hearing this, dashes from the bedroom to the front door, where Maggie joins him. A couple minutes pass while I find my shoes, a poop bag, and my sunglasses.

1543 – M & E dash out the front door and down the steps. The next few minutes are spent sniffing the base of the small tree in the front yard. Meanwhile, I’m trying to remind them that the purpose is to walk, not sniff in the yard.

1546 – We finally start heading up the street. Two minutes later, Maggie starts circling around in a neighbor’s yard before settling on a spot to poop. The resulting poop is about 20% of her body weight. How an eleven pound dog can make such a gigantic pile…

1549 – Ernie, in his usual fashion, simply stops and poops. No fussiness from him.

1555 – Around the corner, where Jake the mutt greets them. Much tail-wagging ensues. Jake is their pal.

1600 – Around the next corner, up a small hill, and we stop to browse the yard of a local hardcore Republican. This was one of several houses to have “Keyes for Senate” signs back in 2004. Despite my best efforts, I could not train Maggie and Ernie to poop in this yard on command, then or now.

1605 – Further up the block, and two Wheaton police officers are walking into a yard. We put on our best faces, but it isn’t necessary, as it turns out that someone’s burglar alarm had gone off. No signs of burglary, apparently. The gendarmes return to their squad cars, a youngster skateboards by, and it’s a fairly nondescript turn around the last corners.

1611 – Maggie leads Ernie by about twenty feet over the last leg, but Ernie catches up as we reach home. Their reward is a baby carrot apiece. Well done, my faithful friends.