The Second Cultural Revolution

I know this is supposed to be a running blog, but since very few people are reading it these days, I'd thought I'd put in something new.

THE SECOND CULTURAL REVOLUTION
BY
JOHN MATNEY


The United States is currently undergoing its first cultural revolution and the similarities between this one and the cultural revolution in the Peoples Republic of China of the 1960’s and 1970’s are so nearly identical that it is truly frightening.

First, there is Mao and Obama. Known for singular names and politics. Both are cult figures with huge followers of young people. Blindly following their leader’s directives, hints and slogans. Each has its own “Bible,” Mao’s being the “ Little Red Book” while Obama presents his Audicity of Hope.” Disagreement with the authorized dogma is not permitted by our “Leader” and his followers. The Red Star was the official PRC publication while in the United States, we have Time Magazine which faithfully places the photo of our leader on its cover every two weeks.

While Mao had his wife to oversee the youth and their education and cultural activities, which included encouraging children to turn in their parents as counter revolutionaries, Michelle Obama oversees the youth movement known as “AmeriCorps” that is to become a “citizen army” as well funded as the Department of Defense. Soon, the youth will be advised to turn in their parents for offenses such as reading Milton Friedman or Adam Smith, using coal in their Weber BBQ or refusing to turn in their non-hybrid cars.

Second, as in the PRC, where elites were placed in charge of entire industries, armies and the collective farms, we now have dozens of “CZARS,” unelected experts chosen by Obama and are accountable only to him who will dictate the “leader’s” will and ensure that those dictates are carried out by the plebes or peasant citizens. Expertise is no longer valued, only loyalty to our “leader.” Soon, we can expect to read about five year plans that these CZARS have created. Lawyers will be running factories or General Motors, knowledge about building and selling cars is no longer necessary, only that one has pledged his or her loyalty to the Messiah.

Just as Mao had Chou En-lai, Obama has Rahm Emmanual, the man charged with putting the leader’s thoughts into practice. Whipping the politburo into shape and spitting out directives and “laws” will become commonplace. Soon there will be no thought given to reading the laws that are passed, no debate taking place and as in the PRC, lots of smiles for the cameras as we march steadily into our brave new future. A future where we are all eating “healthy” food, driving correct cars or better yet, riding our bicycles and encouraging the elderly to stop taking up so much space and kill themselves.

So, let’s look forward to the day when we fellow comrades, wearing identical organic clothes can gather in stadiums all across this great land and cheer at our “leader” as he gives another brilliant speech on the future of our Peoples Republic. Don’t forget your red book!!

All Natural or Total Geek

In the never ending quest by road runners to get faster, an entire multi million industry feeds these runners with charts, tables, ultra light shoes, dvd's and articles and books that have decimated entire forests. Deluged with this information, some runners, myself included, stop reading and watching and charting and go back to what we love, name running. Granted, I am blessed to live at the base of Mt. Diablo and can get to a trail head via an easy 10 minute jog. So excuse me for making the decision that charts etc. take away the fun from my runs. Will I ever average 6 minute miles on the trails I run? No way! Is running the trails harder than running on the roads? Definitely! Is it a lot more fun? OH YEA!!!!! So, pardon me, while I head off to run on Donner Road and the Tickwood trail for a nice sunset run. See ya!

Lack of Motivation? Feeling Guilty?

All athletes have times when the motivation is just not there. For self coached athletes, this is a problem that comes up more than for athletes that have a coach. Coaches provide constant motivation. Most of us have to provide our own motivation. Yesterday, I skipped a run to spend time with my wife and to travel to Sonoma to check it out. It was nice, the weather fine and the company even better. Still, on the drive home, I felt some guilt for skipping my run. Coming home, I still felt some aches and pains from earlier workouts this week and hoped that skipping a run was actually a good thing.

This morning, I woke up and turned on the tv to watch the Wimbledon Final between Roger Federer and Andy Rodick. Both players were seeking something historic. Federer was trying to become the winningest tennis player of all time for Grand Slam tournaments (US OPEN, AUSTRALIAN OPEN, FRENCH OPEN AND WIMBLEDON) and Andy Rodick was trying to win Wimbledon for the very first time. The match was incredible! All tied going into the fifth and deciding set, Federer finally won 16 games to 14. The stamina, speed and athleticism of both athletes was awe inspiring. So inspiring for me, that I just had to hit the trails after the match. Pushing myself hard, I got in a much better workout than had I not watched the match.

So, the lesson to be learned here is that inspiration and motivation can be found almost anywhere, just keep those eyes open.
REMEMBER-quality runs are more important than just putting in the miles.

Beating the Heat

It's that time of year for most of the country. Hot and sometime very hot days. Still, you want to go for a run without risking heat exhaustion. I have some suggestions.

1) Time-if at all possible, run just after sunrise or just before sunset. If its more than 90 degrees, don't run between 9am and 4 pm.

2)Before run-hydrate, drink water, gatorade or other fluids, except coffee or tea (which will dehydrate you) as much as you can drink without feeling bloated. Sunscreen is very important. I suggest using a "sport" sunscreen that doesn't wash off with sweat or water.

3)During run-if the run is more than an hour, take fluids with you. Either in a carry bottle or a camelback type pack.

4)Types of runs. Trails are better than running on the street in most cases. Trails will offer shade either part of the run or larger parts of the runs. The mix of sun and shade is much safer than running on asphalt or concrete where the sun reflects and absorbs the heat. If you have to run on the streets, try to run a route that has more shade coming back because by that time in your run, you'll be dehydrated. You don't want to run your last half of your run in the blinding sun with no fluids.

5)Post-run. Hydrate right away. Gatorade or something like that works best. Get out of the sun and preferrably near some air conditioning. Stay out of the sun the rest of the day. It's not the time to sit outside in the sun. Wait until sunset before going outside.

Running as a Couple, Part deux

It was her idea, I swear. Run a 5K together. I wondered if running together would lead to a fight. Would I be frustrated at running slow, in a race? Would I be able to keep myself from offering non-stop advice and commentary? Well, here's what happened.

The Race was in Danville CA with the money going to families of soldiers and Marines killed in Iraq and Afganistan.

Arriving at the park, we don't see the usual pop ups, signs and dozens of volunteers. What we see are families and little leaguers. Are we in the wrong place? A glance down the hill from the parking lot proves otherwise, we see a few dozen people wearing red shirts and stroll down to register. After the organizer introduces the mother of one of the fallen, I feel humbled. After she thanks us for coming (like running a 5K is a big sacrifice) and for our support. We all wear our red shirts with the picture of the traditional memorial for the fallen, a rifle stuck on the ground with the helmet sitting on top.

She is getting nervous, just like most runners. This is her very first race and I should not push her she says to me over and over. I keep my mouth shut. The gun goes off and we set off down a gentle sloped street. She goes out to fast and I have to tell her to slow down, she does and we keep a steady pace, passing several women along the way. At the turn around, she looks gassed and I ask her if she wants some water, she does and looks better. She asks me how far we've gone, I tell her and she nods. With a mile to go, she slows to a stop, takes a few steps and looks at this woman passing her. She starts running again. No complaining, just heavy breathing. I tell her to try to keep her breathing in a steady rhythm. She tries.

Now we're going up hill and soon we pass the woman who had gone by earlier. We keep to a nice pace and soon I can see the park come into view. I can't resist. "We're almost there honey." She looks like she is suffering as we go up the hill through the park with two women on our heels. She and I speed up to the finish and our "fun run" is over. She looks around, in pain and I tell her how proud I am of her, then I tell her she beat all the other women. That made her smile.

Plans for the rest of 2009

The rest of the year looks to be a busy one. A trail race in June, the San Francisco Marathon (half for me) in July, another trail race in August and the San Jose Half Marathon in September. The biggest race will be the New York Marathon on November 1, 2009. I am thinking that the focus in 2010 will be trail races and budget permitting, a race in Japan or Italy.

Recovering from Boston

A week since the race the effects are wearing off slowly. The post race euphoria is gone, replace by thoughts of summer trail races and a chance for redemption at the New York Marathon in the fall. The back is still pretty tight. On Monday (4/27) ran a very slow 7 miles. Tuesday, I swam during the day and did some light weight lifting at night. Going for another run today.

Read Scott Dunlap blog (one of my favorites) and discovered that I finished just in front of Scott and his father. It is so great that he was able to experience Boston with his father. Kudos to the both of them!!

Already, my geeky side is returning. Writing down training schedules, reviewing the Brad Hudson book and doing a lot of thinking about what I can do better for my next race.