Friday, February 17, 2017

Serenity Now!



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I got pretty nervous as soon as the producer said she was turning on her microphone, so I failed pretty hard at trying to make my point. What I wanted to say was I still love Serenity because it's energizing, hopeful escapism -- the kind we (I, at least) need more than ever these days. (By, "these days," I mean we got Trump making Nazis like Reavers set loose upon the 'verse and it's going to take all the little bands of principled folk working together to fix the broken pieces of society.)

All entertainment is political, whether we like it or not, even the escapist kind. The best westerns are about figuring out how to live together in a way that celebrates and protects people's freedoms. They show us people riding horses in the great wide open, sleeping under the stars, etc. but they also show how those cowboys and outlaws get bound together with the teachers, bartenders, sheriffs, and shopkeepers in a community that stands together against the cruel injustices of nature and greedy men. Serenity isn't merely sci-fi with Western trappings; it explores the themes that go along with the dusty long coats and holstered weapons as effectively as any John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, or Kevin Costner sun-drenched epic. Better than most, I'd argue. Certainly with less white supremacist baggage than the typical Western.

What actually came out of my mouth though was more, "OMG if only it were really possible to get the hell out from under our current government and bring it down with the righteous truth and blasters instead of having to carry around protest signs in marches and constantly getting my elected officials' voicemail to leave pleading messages for sanity -- messages that are ignored."


Sunday, February 12, 2017

I Heart 5K 2017

There's definitely something satisfying about setting a goal, then being able to tick it off. For my 3rd 5K, I wanted to be under 27 minutes and I managed it by logging a 26:58 time at the I Heart 5K run this weekend.



The course was fun, not much in the way of flat stretches, but the ups and downs weren't too steep overall. There were a couple long-ish, steep-ish hills, the last uphill climb coming to the finish was deadly, but I managed to only pass, and not be passed on that last one, so I felt pretty good about how I did.

Next race will be back in Cary at the soccer complex, same course I ran in January, so my goal will be to beat that time. Not sure I can say how the courses compare overall in terms of difficulty, but I hope I can go a little faster than I did in this last race. Have a feeling it will be tough though as I felt like I never let up in this last one, didn't leave anything in the tank. In the first couple, I feel like I didn't push myself the whole way, so my gains might be more about focus than improving fitness. Still, I'll keep up the every other day runs and try to keep a more consistent pace. The fact my fastest kilometer was the 4th, and was 20 seconds faster than the first, tells me I can be less conservative and come out a little faster. If I could do each kilometer around 5:10, that'd get me under 26 minutes ... probably too aggressive to shoot for in the next one. However, after the March race, the next one I've registered for is the Run the Quay in June, and I think I should set my goal for that race to at that point by then, maybe shoot for 25:30 or better.

If all goes to plan, I'll also have started swimming and biking before June, with an eye towards my first sprint triathlon in the fall, so I may be doing less running as I work in training for the other disciplines.

Race 1 - "Decem-burrrrr Dash" - 12/3/16 - 29:10
Race 2 - "SPCA Hot Chocolate Run" - 1/15/17 - 28:25
Race 3 - "I Heart 5K" - 2/11/17 - 26:58

Starting line

Approaching the finish line

Done.

Apparently cooking up an evil scheme, by the looks of things.

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