January « 2010 « Zetetical Society Meeting Notes

January 29, 2010

Painful Fitness Irony

Filed under: Exercise — Aram @ 9:40 pm

The enjoyable fitness irony of the day is the inimitable Dutch Lowy posting a picture of his torn apart collarbone a day after his guide to shoulder injuries.

Back when my knee MRI came up, I posted a log of hang wringing stuff about never being able to run again. I packed up all the running kit. I gave Torch from CrossFit Brooklyn my unread copy of Born to Run.

Then, I healed up a bit, got a different medical opinion, and I spent a little while rebuilding my running. I’m back up to 15-20 miles a week and was seriously thinking about some more racing and distance trail running. I pretty much planned out a long slow distance program with some supplemental strength work.

But deep down inside, I know that running is terrible for you. It weakens you. It gives you relatively poor conditioning in return for hours of effort. In doses of more than a few miles, it’s just a sorry program to have. So in the end, my reaction to this was, “you know, you can have running back.” The happy old guys don’t do a lot of it. Ultimately, it’s just a painful combination of ego, podcasts and Central Park that keep me doing it at all. I can get in better shape following any number of programs, even one that incorporates occasional running as a part of other training.

So, I was at peace with this decision, tore open a box from Amazon and remember that I had ordered another stupid copy of Born to Run. Augh. My life…

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January 9, 2010

An Open Letter To My Wife on Her Return From Christmas Vacation

Filed under: Life — Aram @ 2:24 pm

Honey,

Nice to see you’re back. I wanted to fill you in on a few things around the apartment now that you’re here.

It’s true that there are now small piles of pine needles from the Christmas tree in every room. While this wasn’t intentional, it adds a fresh scent and holiday feel to the apartment that I think was lacking. Add a little cinnamon and it can smell like Christmas in here until at least March.

I may have overestimated my ability to clean out the fridge. While you’re right to notice that I have eaten everything in it, I didn’t find the time to do the promised scrub. This brings up another point. Whatever automated system to we have that refills the fridge with food seems to have broken down in your absence. Do you know how this works? I couldn’t figure it out for the life of me and resorted to take out once it was clear that the fridge was staying empty.

I also wanted to see if you could help me track down the source of the pervasive smell of used gym clothes in our bedroom. You have a much keener sense of smell than I do and I just can’t tell where it’s coming from.

The bathroom… Yes, best not to speak of it. However, the good news is that most of the pine needles are out of the tub. Just kick the rest towards the drain and they’ll take care of themselves.

I have no idea who ordered that pay per view.

Love ya.

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