AFTAC Ironman mile 75

The end is in sight, I feel pretty good, and it's snowing! There's something right about running through a snow storm with Nightwish blasting in the headphones...

I saw a pair of owls. They had a nest at the very top of a cottonwood. I was a bit surprised to see an owl nest so exposed. I gues it's because we don't have that many crows around here.
While I'm on birds, there were some rather militant Canadian geese in the middle of the path, forcing me to take a detour. There was one bird in particular that made it clear that if I got any clase, there would be a fight. Geese are a creatures that I have learned never to underestimate... I detoured and let it have it's precious bit of dirt.

AFTAC Ironman mile 65

Imagine that you are running up a steep hill. You've been running for a while, your legs ache, your lungs are on fire, your feet are left feeling like every step is a blow from a sledge...
You are confronted by a brick wall. You do not change course, but run full tilt right into it. It hurts a lot. Running into a brick wall will do that. However, you go right through it, punching a cartoony outline of your self, and you find self in midair. You are flying.
THAT is how I feel right now.
I changed up the playlist. It's random... everything from O-Zone to Celldweller.

Things in the news

I have some good news... you may not be aware of this situation, but there was a sack of crap masquerading as a seaman. He issued an appology in a press conference, stating that he was sorry for dedcating himself to war.
Well, well, well... the sack of crap that decided to reneg on a commitment to serve his country has been charged with unauthorized absence and missing movement. He faces a year of hard labor, forfiture of pay, and rank reduction.
I wish he could be dropped into one of the many places in the world that is still in the grip of tyranny, but rules are rules and his punnishment is just fine... it just won't illustrate to him the value of war when it is waged to break tyrants. It might show him how selfish he is, content to live free while others that he could help are suffering from tyrany... Hope springs eternal.

Now the bad... Sumatra was on top of another quake... a big one. For those of you with short memories, this comes months after another one. We are so small, aren't we? I really feel bad for those there. Imagine your house getting leveled. Imagine that you scrape together all you can to build a new one. Now imagine that it gets destroyed as well... Remember this: we do not know which way the wind will blow and we can not possibly plan for tomorrow. The earth does things, things that hold near ultimate sway over our lives, things that we can not hope to control. Remember that it can happen to you. No, I don't sell insurance.

..and now for something completely different: A clock that runs away from you.
I wish I had thought of that! That is so cool! Only thing is that, as friend pointed out, it will likely create more creative snoozers. My answer? put Clocky's 'brain' in a battle droid. Hit the snooze, I dare you!

AFTAC Ironman mile 60

It feels like I'm trying to pull a cow behind me...

There was a police cruiser parked on the side of the trail today. There was one cop in it and one leaning on it. I waved, they waved...
On my return leg, a detective was at the spot, not the cuiser. He hauled a shoppin cart with what looked like a gurney on it from a shrub near a building... What I am I supposed to make of this?

No changes to playlist. I like In Flames.

AFTAC Ironman mile 55

...it's one of those days that I doubt that I'll make it. I HURT... I think it's because I used the stupid treadmill. I hat that thing. Actually, as soon as this is over and I run for my annual physical fitness test, I'm SO back in the pool. I need the torso work anyway... now, to waterproof my MP3 player...

AFTAC Ironman halfway!

Mile 50 is here!
It was snowing when I last ran, leaving a coating of ice on my leading edges... It's been wet the past while, but I love it.

The playlist is still In Flames, with emphasis on their instrumental work.

AFTAC Ironman mile 40

It was still cold and grey when I ran, with enough mist in the air to get my leading edges damp.
My stetching routine needs to be lengthened to prevent the 3 mile cramps... it feels like my legs lead out there...
The weather really cut down on traffic: I only passed two other people and saw one another at range... dead for mid day.

Anyway, it's really smoothing out. Playlist is all In Flames.

I'm only happy when it rains...

It's always interesting to leave work. Being a stargate technician*, I have no windows from which to look. It's a total suprise when I get into the daylight. Today, for example, visability was near zero from fog. This is so unusual for Colorado... it was that thick, sweet, nearly drinkable fog like I encountered in the spring in New England. How absoutly gorgeous it is! With all the sun I get, I love the rainy, the foggy, and the overcast days. I hope that fog is still here when I go running.


*If I told you, I would not have to kill you. Somebody else would, and then they would make me live permanently on Level 13, never seeing daylight again... I mean, I pretty much live at work now, but... anyway...

+ or at least >-

I really want something cool and nice to write about...

I found a cool website called Radio Free Zion. I found it through a forum thread over on Red Alliance (for all you weekend commies like me :-)... how do you close paranthese with a smiley without it looking whacked?) It's a broad selection of music, but it's all pretty heavy.

I've really been enjoying Star Wars Battlefront lately... nothing is more fun that blasing wookies... GET THIS GAME!!! It rules. Also, if you are a nerd or geek, it is required by law.

Okay, I like to play the bad guy... Whether an Imperial Stormtrooper on a game or a Communist rebel in airsoft... Hey! I'm a REAL good guy all week! I need a break from time to time!

Last but not least, looks like I'm almost ready to start laying tracks on new songs... I have been away from my music project, Evergreen Conspiracy, since December. Well, the bass is restrung, a new (to me) guitar has entered service (the old one worked fine as long as I was beating on it like a maniac... it could not do the whole 'pretty' thing at all... lost tuning stability), and quite a few songs are written, ready to record.

PEACE!

Cynicism is a learned attitude

Still no outcry against guns... we had a a real 'Little Eichmann' kill a bunch of people in Minnesota and nobody is blaming guns! So when will they? This is so not like Liberals...

My guess is that the Left is all tied up trying to make sure that nobody brings Mrs. Schiavo a drink of water... ! This is one of several. Yeah, God forbid anyone should offer a drink to sombody.
This is serious! Stop and think about that! Really think... Giving water a crime? Somebody call the Boondock Saints! What are we to do when the force of justice is forcing a person to die in a way that would never be inflicted on a dog? What are we to do when the law make it wrong to give a person WATER! IT'S A GLASS OF WATER! WHERE IS THE HARM IN THAT? Once authority begins doing thing like this, they loose their mandate.

This is so wrong... and there's nothing I can do. I'm going to spend tonight doing what I can: my part in the vast legion that keeps all of you safe from bombs and what not... but it can be a hollow job when, as I face threats to this nation's outside, my people are committin an act fitting of our enemy behind my back. I wish that I was somehow able to not defend such people. They not only don't deserve it, but they really are the enemies of freedom and the U.S. Costitution... I seem to remember swearing an oath to defend something from all enemies, foreign and domestic... God have mercy on us...

AFTAC Ironman mile 35

It warmed up enough to run out on the paths here. Felt good coming off of mile 30, but felt pretty wasted after 35. That might be because I only waited 14 hours between runs... Playlist includes White Stripes, Offspring, Tait, BT, and King's X.

Comments from the North Woods

Yeah, may as well beat this Schiavo abomination to death:
Here is description of starving and dehydrating to death... this is supposed to be 'a gentle death'? (NY Times, freakin commies...)
Here is an email sent me today, written by a recent grad of the Beth-El College of Nursing:


The exact rate of starvation and dehydration in a given individual is
impossible to predict exactly due to the number of variables involved.
However, it is certain that a person deprived of water will eventually
dehydrate and die and that a person that is deprived of food will
eventually starve to death. The following summation is the result of reading
I have done over the years from a variety of sources, some of which I
do not have available to refer to. It is my intent to summarize from
several sources and more or less common knowledge.
The human body has been seen to survive for over sixty days without
food, though in those cases the persons were consuming water, therefore
they actually starved. The body will dehydrate before it starves, thus
if a person is deprived of both food and water, they won't starve, they
will dehydrate.
Dehydration is a progressive process that affects every body tissue.
It is a relatively well known fact that a fair percentage of the human
body is in fact water. Water is essential to maintain fluid balance in
the body. Fluid balance is essential to things such as chemical
reactions in the body that produce energy, function of the brain, blood flow
and circulation, and maintenace of tissues (skin, eyes, all other
organs). Many people have experienced mild dehydration. The symptoms are
usually headache, dry mouth, nausea, and slight drying of the skin. If
dehydration were to continue, the headache would grow worse, the person
would feel feverish, dry mouth would increase, the eyes would begin to dry
and likely feel like they were burning. As the process goes on, the
person can become delirious, portions of the brain would slowly die off.
It is ultimately a slow and painful death.
Starvation takes longer than dehydration. In the case of dehydration,
the body requires energy. When no more is available from food, the body
first begins to digest fat stores. Once those are exhausted, it turns
to the other tissues in the body. The body prioritizes tissues in order
of importance and digests vital things last. Death can occur from
kidney failure because some of the self digestion can produce more toxins
than the kidneys can handle. Theoretically, barring kidney failure, one
could simply digest a critical portion of the body and die that way. The
most thourough research of starvation was probably conducted by the
Nazis in World War II. Some claim that death by starvation is not
unpleasant, however, those alive to make the claim would not appear to be in
the best position to speak on the point. It is true that digestion of
some tissues can produce endorphins, but that is not true of all tissues.
A person dying of starvation will feel constantly cold as they will
have insuffient energy and fat to stay warm. They may also experience
acidosis, a condition in which digestion of certain tissues causes the pH
in the body to rise beyond the limits that the body can handle.
As for myself, I would not want to be starved or dehydrated. Both are
lingering deaths that are likely to have many unpleasant aspects. I do
not fear death itself, but dying a slow painful death is something I
would prefer to avoid. I would far rather be shot.

Gotta love the talent for understatement...

AFTAC Ironman Mile 25

Okay, the tendon or whatever it was acting up down there fixed itself... back on track...
I feel good enough that I might try to run to reservoir tomorrow. It's 4 miles or so one-way.

Terry Schindler-Schiavo and other things that make your head explode

Sometimes, I really love this place: We live in a society that balks at Christmas celebrations because they might offend sombody, yet so many of those offended people seem to see no problem starving a woman to death... There's a disconnect here that I wish I didn't understand.

Anyway, I am more than a little shaken by this. It once said by Ayn Rand that individual rights are the means of subordinating society to moral law. What I see here is an erosion of individual rights and a society slipping away from law. I see a man whose greed has completely destroyed his adherance to law.. many men, actually... Terry's husband (I'm going to be real generous and professional by identifying him as a turdmunch), I believe, is after money and little if anything more. I see something far more sinister in his supporters...
Now, this case sets the precedent that those who can not speak are non-entities, they have no rights. It fits nicely with the agenda of those those who would kill prenatal children, doesn't it? When Roe vs. Wade fell to the side of those who would kill children, there were some who said that it would lead to the extermination of adults. Anyone doubt that now? Who's next? Political prisoners? The elderly? 18-month olds? Head trauma patients? It might not be too long before we not only allow the killing of those who can not speak for themselves, but of those whom nobody wishes to listen to.
Now here's another little incosistancy: The U.S. Supreme court recently outlawed the death penalty for those under the age of 18 beause it is 'cruel and unusall' (BS, but that's another subject) but apparently, depriving a person of food and water until their heart stops is cool. Ever gone without water for even 12 hours? 16? 24? How were you doing by hour 24? Now if sombody did that to you until YOU DIED, would that not count as cruel? I hear turdmunch talking about compassion... I might buy a case for compassion if this involved instant death... but there is nothing compassionate about starvation and there is nothing compassionate about taking the life of a human being.
Medicine has nothing to offer this discussion. I don't want to hear about any of it. We know so little about comas, but one of the things that we do know is that THEY END from time to time. We also know that Terry Schiavo is not a total vegetable... this is an issue of individual rights, of whether or not one person or group of people have the right to take the life of another person in cold blood. Once again, to Ayn Rand: "We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force."
There's no living will here... therefore, we must err on the side of individual rights (the right to life, say?) and not starve Terry Schiavo to death.

Funny questions: Why won't turdmunch let Terry's parents care for her, as they have volunteered to do? What in her death, helps him?
Who's next?
Why are the authorites not stopping this? Would nobody stop the starvation of a baby? A quadraplegic? Why then does nobody stop this?
God help us.
Next post will be lighter... the last thing I want is to be negative.

AFTAC Ironman Mile 20

I will not be making the 5 mile/day tempo... I knocked myself out of commission last night. Well, you just have to get up when you can...

Intro

I have a lot to say... so why not jump on the blogger bandwaggon?

I have no time for anything cool tonight, so we'll leave it at this:

I am currently running something called the AFTAC Ironman. It's 100 miles over 20 days, along with a modest number of pushups and situps every day. Nothing spectacular, just a way of getting AFTACers in better shape.

I'm on on mile 15... and for some reason, my achilles tendon feels like it's on fire... odd, because, I usually ran 5 files three times a week untill now. Hmmm...
Oh well..
Current playlist (can't be without tunes when I run!): vasrious Orgy from the first two albums, Queen of the Damned sound track, and some ofther sound track.

Oh, yeah... What is the Guac Hole? Well, it's a hole into which goes guacamole, although usually, somthing I hate goes in first...