My Track Record    

"You know that part of a wedding where the pastor says, 'If anyone knows of a reason why this couple should not wed, speak now or forever hold your peace'?"

"Um, yeah...." The question from my undergraduate research assistant caught me off-guard, coming as it did in the middle of a discussion on doctoral dissertations.

"Does that sort of thing happen at people's Ph.D. defenses?"

I think he was just kidding, but I love the idea.

Weddings, by design, chug slowly and verbosely toward a foregone conclusion. Although the guests invariably opt to hold their peace, except in soap operas, the invitation to do otherwise provides a moment of delicious tension while everyone wonders whether some crazy uncle or besotted friend might derail the ceremony.

Doctoral defenses, like weddings, are long, wordy, and devoid of drama; the candidate knows that he/she is going to pass. All of this is as it should be. But why not put the person's destiny on hold for a few extra seconds while the audience is offered a chance to contest the awarding of the degree? Wouldn't it be fun to imagine rival scholars emerging from the woodwork in such situations?

At the very least, this change in protocol might cause more Ph.D. defenses to be featured in soap operas.

Posted by crowther at 10:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

August 11th through 17th was the first week in which I've ever run a full 100 miles.

There's no great significance to this "milestone"; the numbers just happened to add up that way. And if anyone else out there is planning their first 100-mile week, I don't especially recommend my approach, which was as follows:

Monday: Ran home from work via Capitol Hill, including the usual time-trial segment (10th & Roanoke to 14th & 15th) in 21:02, then the neighborhood loop with Lucy. 7.6 miles.

Tuesday: Ran home from work, then the neighborhood loop with Lucy. 6.7 miles.

Wednesday: Ran to work. 5.8 miles.

Thursday: Ran to work. Later, ran home, then the neighborhood loop with Lucy. 12.9 miles.

Friday: Ran home from work, then the neighborhood loop with Lucy. 6.6 miles.

Saturday: Slow, self-supported run around Lake Washington (starting and ending at home). 55 miles.

Sunday: Out and back on the Chief Sealth Trail with Phil in the baby jogger. 5.4 miles.

Or, to put it more succinctly: easy, easy, easy, easy, easy, hard, easy.

I did the Lake Washington loop (using a route recommended by TWBC.org) as a sort of feasibility study. I wanted to assess whether I might do well in a 24-hour race like Ultracentric. If I ran slowly enough, with regular walk breaks and copious food and fluids, could I finish the loop with the sense that I could do it again if necessary?

The answer on this particular Saturday was a resounding NO. Of course, it didn't help that the temperature hit 90 degrees that day, but the long and the short of it is that I had a moment of clarity about eight hours into the run. I thought: "Not only has running -- one of my all-time favorite activities -- ceased to be pleasurable over the last couple of hours, but eating -- one of my other all-time favorite activities -- has ceased to be pleasurable as well. What exactly am I doing out here?"

I did finish the loop, but, three days later, I'm still hobbling around, a minute per mile slower than usual. This week's mileage will probably be about 50.

Posted by crowther at 9:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The last parenting book I've read -- OK, the only one -- says not to bother with potty training until a child is at least two years old. But Phil, now just shy of 22 months, has already logged solid progress in this area. He's seen what older kids do and, with minimal encouragement, is imitating them rather successfully.

Our day-care provider says that, in her 20 years of working with small children, she's never seen anyone actually use the potty at such a young age.

Does that make him a smartass?

Posted by crowther at 10:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)