Biking

I wasn't able to get any cycling in last weekend due to our celebration of John's 3^rd birthday, my birthday, and Mother's Day (lots of things to celebrate in our house around this time of year!), but today I reversed the trend, powering through a long ride of over 50 miles. Here are the stats:

50.18 miles

3:06:36 time elapsed

16.1 mph avg speed

3159 total calories (I'm going to be ready for a big supper tonight!)

Legs were pretty fried by the end. Good thing there is still about 2 months until the century ride in San Jose (12 July) – I'm certainly going to need the time to prepare.

Weather was gorgeous, not a cloud in the sky. Cool temps near the coast, but by the time that I got inland about 10 miles, I felt like I was riding into a furnace (the differences between the coastal temperatures and those inland can vary by tens of degrees).

Here's a little map chip of my route:

GJS

Format Change

Time for a fresh look. This layout will allow more room for my text to fill your screen. Let me know what you think.

GJS

A Possible Future for this Blog

I've thought quite a lot about what I would like this blog to be. Now it is sort of a hybrid of a personal (family stuff) blog and a "business" (military matters and other current events, as the spirit moves me) blog, all mixed together. I recently came across another blog that does a good job of separating the two realms from one another (actually, this newfound blog's got 3 partitions). It's done by separating the different disciplines really into separate blogs and using hyperlinks at the top of the pages to connect them. Not really rocket science, I know, but this is the first time I had actually seen a blog that divided these things up in about the same way that I have been thinking about doing. Further, the personal blog is username and password protected, something I have been mulling over doing to this website for some time as well. (It's no secret that too much exposure of the details of one's personal and family business "in the clear" like this can become a liability in short order.) It's done on the same Blogger.com "chassis" as Garblog. I can see from this blog that the types of changes I have been mulling over are do-able. After all this, what is this blog? It's Building Peace. If you're thinking that this must be some nutty left-wing peacenik blog, you're wrong. It's actually the blog of a fellow 2009 Olmsted Scholar who I have probably met at least once, and although we were students at DLI at the same time for about the past year or so (him in Arabic, me in Chinese), I don't really know him. It's too bad, because it doesn't take reading too many of the posts to determine this fellow is pretty smart. I only recently came across Building Peace, so I have yet to read the majority of the posts, but I plan to get to all of them in time. I like the level of detail that he goes into in discussing whatever topic it is that is at issue – not too much, not too little. He touches on a variety of things, from those relating to Middle Eastern affairs, military education, DoD internet use and blogging policies, and more. And he is a good writer. In all, a nice piece of work, that Building Peace blog is. It may be the direction Garblog is heading in. We shall see – stay tuned.

GJS

Quote of the Day

"If you put your hand in my pocket, you'll drag back six inches of bloody stump."

 

    -Author and screenwriter Harlan Ellison on digital piracy (taken from an article in the 11 May 2009 edition of the New York Times, which you can read in full here)

A Rare Break from “The Grind”

Today DLI held a "language day" to show off what goes on there to high school students from around the region in the hopes of building interest in learning about foreign countries, their cultures, and languages (read more about past iterations of the event here or here, or better yet, check out this video news report about last year's program). This brought the unexpected windfall of a day off of class for me and my 2 tongxue (fellow students). Many of our sister classes were involved with the festivities, preparing skits and presentations to perform, but one of the (few) perks of the accelerated 50-week course that I am in is that we are generally excluded from those type of "extracurricular" requirements. I guess they feel sorry for us in all that we already have to do on a compressed timeline. I was able to take advantage of this day off and accompany John to his morning playgroup – just me and him! Mom got to go off and do other things for once – a nice break for her, too. Please enjoy a couple photos I took with my mobile phone this morning at the playgroup.

I am also working this afternoon on planning for our move. There are myriad administrative and logistical requirements for an overseas move well in excess of the "usual" stuff one experiences in a typical military move from one location in the continental US to another also in "CONUS". Should have most of it pretty much squared away by the end of the month, including medical and dental, setting up the movers, travel arrangements, etc.

GJS

John’s B-day

Sorry, only one "teaser" pic for you here. Hopefully there will be time this weekend to put some more up here. Looks like he is having fun, doesn't he?

Finally, a Run

First time back out on the pavement since the marathon. Couldn't help it, the weather was beautiful, I got out of class early, and tonight's homework is (gasp!) light. I will probably sleep like a baby tonight after the less than 3 mile run. Ran it slow, too – same pace as what I ran the marathon in. Oh, and I pushed John in the jogger stroller. C'mon, you didn't think I would take it THAT easy on myself, did you? J My legs will be sore tomorrow, but it's a good soreness, don't you think?

“Taking Chance”

…was released today on DVD. Netflix will have it at my house tomorrow. I will watch it this weekend and let you know what I think of it. I think it is unlikely that I will not be a fan.

GJS

Marathon Pics

You can see an assortment here.  These are from the commercial photographer who had the contract to take photos of all the marathon participants, and no endorsement of this company by me is implied or specified.

 

We didn’t take any photos of our own at the event, so this is all there will be.

 

GJS

 

Marathon Results

4:05:51, 9:23/mi pace.  Full details are here (select “Marathon” in the upper left hand drop-down menu, then enter my bib number, 506).  Not my best work, but in my corner is that this marathon course was by far the most difficult I have run.  This may come as something in the TMI (“too much information”) department, but one of the things that slowed me down was that I was unable to evacuate my bowels prior to the race, so I had to stop at a porta-potty at about 5.5 miles into the race.  Take away the 5+ minutes that I was delayed there and I achieve my goal of a 4 hour finish. 

 

That wasn’t the only complication, though (never is, is it?).  The course is a point-to-point race (i.e. starting at one place, and running to a completely different place; it does not end where it started), going from Big Sur south of Monterey and running north along the Highway 1, the Pacific Coast Highway.  The scenery was a beautiful as advertised, and so was the challenges presented by the terrain.  For a better idea about the race route and, more critically, the terrain profile, click here and scroll down to the bottom of the page.  I want to talk a little bit about a place called Hurricane Point.  This is a hill, about 2 miles long, that starts at mile 10 and goes through mile 12 or so.  It’s grade is about 5% and reportedly is one of the steepest and longest in any marathon.  I was warned about this place – “don’t go up that hill too fast, and especially don’t run down the back side of it too fast, you’ll blow out your quads!”  What can I say, I can’t keep myself from powering up a hill, even one that is 2 miles long!  I won the battle against the hill, not having to take a walk break going up it, and I listened to the advice about taking it easy down the backside.  But in the end, the hill won the war.  I didn’t realize how much that hill had taken out of my until about mile 17, when my legs just didn’t want to play the game anymore.  The rolling hills of the last 10 miles were pretty tough for me.  Did I mention that there was a still headwind from the north throughout the race?  That did not help things, either.

 

Even with all that, I am pleased with my overall performance on this “moderately difficult” (their terminology, not mine) course.  This was my first full marathon since the Honolulu Marathon in 2005.  I have now completed five full marathons – Twin Cities (2002), Lincoln (2003), Marine Corps (2003), Honolulu (2005), and now this one.  Until about a month before the race, my training and preparation for this one had by far been better than for all previous marathons.  Then the “train came off the track,” so to speak, and I tried to salvage what I could of my fitness in order to complete today’s race.  In that respect, completing the marathon in the time I did was an accomplishment in and of itself.

 

It’s time for some rest!  I hope to be back on here soon.

 

GJS

 

Big Sur

Yep, the Big Sur Marathon is tomorrow, Sunday, 26 April. I'll be there.
You may find yourself wondering how my last couple months of preparation
went, as that I have not posted anything about my marathon training (or
anything else, for that matter) in a couple of months. "One of the these
days" I am going to be "caught up" with everything and I will have time
to write more (or so I keep telling myself). I tell you what, I'll make
you a deal � tomorrow after the marathon is over, I will, at the very
least, post my finish time and a few comments about the event. I don't
think this race has a "follow along online" feature on their website, but
if you want to query the race results online (look at www.bsim.org), my bib
number is 506. If I have time tomorrow, I will also write about some other
recent / near future happenings, but that may be a bit too much to ask for,
we shall see. Sound good? See you then. 现在我得复习复习功课。

再见，

沙普瑞

"Taking Chance" premiere, from usmc.mil

Movie premiere hits close to home for service members  2/11/2009  By Lance Cpl. Bryan G. Carfrey  , Headquarters Marine Corps  WASHINGTON —  Senior military officials and government dignitaries gathered to watch the premiere of “Taking Chance,” the HBO made-for-TV movie, Feb. 9 at the Motion Picture Association of America.  “Taking Chance” depicts the experiences of Lt. Col. Michael R. Strobl while escorting a fallen Marine from Dover Air force Base in Dover, Del., to Dubois, Wyo., in April 2004.  Lance Cpl. Chance Phelps was killed in action during combat operations April 9, 2004, in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, while assigned to Battery L, 3rd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment.  “When we started filming the movie I thought the American people should be the main character,” said Strobl, who retired in 2007 and co-writer of the movie. “That’s why I wrote it - the reaction of the American people who witnessed the journey along the way.”  Actor Kevin Bacon portrays Strobl in the movie and also made an appearance at the premiere.     “I was amazed and surprised I didn’t know anything about it and had no idea about the (escorting) process,” Bacon said.  “I liked that it was a simple telling of Mike’s journey with Chance. It doesn’t really hit you over the head.  It kind of sneaks up on you, and the accumulative effect of watching the process and the way people reacted along the trip is what I responded to as an actor.”   To prepare for the role, which was his third time portraying a Marine, Bacon said he met with Strobl on several occasions.     “I try my best when playing Marines to pay attention to detail and try to humanize them as much as possible,” Bacon said. “People who aren’t in the military sometimes find it tough to look past the uniform.”  After the movie, spectators, which included Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. James Cartwright, were given the opportunity  to shake hands with and express their thanks to director Ross Katz, who co-wrote the screenplay with Strobl.  “I wanted to portray honesty in this movie,” Katz said. “When you witness the remains of a young man who gave his life for civilians like me, we aren’t red states or blue states, we’re purple states.  We’re all Americans. “  “Taking Chance” is scheduled to premiere on HBO Feb. 21. Lance Cpl. Bryan G. Carfrey, 2/9/2009 2:15 PM" width="250" style="border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-right-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-bottom-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-left-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; "> WASHINGTON-Retired Lt. Col. Michael R. Strobl stands next to actor Kevin Bacon during a premier showing of HBO's made-for-TV movie 'Taking Chance.' Bacon plays the role of Strobl in the movie as a uniformed military escort bringing home the body of Lance Cpl. Chance Phelps who was killed in action April 9, 2004. The movie is based off of the journal Strobl kept during the escorting of Phelps from Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Del., to Phelps hometown in Dubois, Wyo., Lance Cpl. Bryan G. Carfrey, 2/9/2009 2:15 PM

New video: John gets a bike!

It was supposed to be a Christmas present for John, but when he broke his leg, we figured it didn't make much sense to give him a new bike that he couldn't even try to ride until the cast came off.  The cast came off this week, so we decided it was time to give him the bike, even though, as you will see, it is still a tad on the "big" side for him (he'll grow into it soon, no doubt).  Video clip is from yesterday, about 2 min 45 sec.  Hope to have another clip of him actually riding the bike very soon, but in the meantime, enjoy this one!

GJS

 

iPhone Applications: Better or Dumber?

I don't have an iPhone but may get one at some point in the future, if they work in Taiwan.  This week I read a pair of articles about a couple of the various applications that are available for download or purchase on the iPhone.  Apparently for a nominal fee, a buck or two (or in some cases, free of charge), iPhone users can download software developed by iPhone users from Apple's website and install it on their iPhones.  One article I read talked about the magnificence of a particular application, how it was so awesome as to transform a mere piece of electronic equipment generally considered to be a phone into a collaborative musical instrument (read the article by the New York Times' technology columnist David Pogue; it's pretty interesting and cool-sounding!), while the other article (Yes, also from the New York Times, this time a piece in the weekly Magazine that comes as a part of the Sunday paper.  What can I say - I read the New York Times, OK?) denounced a particular application in that it turns the fancy iPhone into nothing more than a fancy, electronic whoopee cushion.

I'm not here to say either one is good or bad, it just shows the range of the possible.  The second one, though, it made me laugh and think about when we were younger, growing up on the Trey Deuce in L-Town, going up to the Craigs' house to watch Nebraska football games on the big screen with Larry.  He always seemed to have some sort of battery-powered, flatulence noise producing device close at hand to be used as required for tomfoolery or what have you.  Good times, not easily forgotten.  I am sure he would get a pretty good kick out of the latter iPhone application, with all of the rest of us laughing along with him.

GJS

PBS Nova's "The Spy Factory"

I saw a review of this documentary about the NSA in Tuesday's New York Times online.  It was slated to air on PBS Tuesday night, but unfortunately I missed it (busy studying Chinese, sorry).  Luckily for me, it is posted in its entirety on the Nova website in 5 parts; so far I have finished viewing 3 of the 5 segments.

The program prominently features author James Bamford, who has written extensively about the NSA in books like The Puzzle Palace, Body of Secrets, and his latest work, The Shadow Factory.  Sharp readers will note that the title of the documentary and this last book are almost the same.  I have read the book, and after viewing 60% of the documentary, it is clear that consuming both media will have you covering a lot of the same ground.  The documentary is pretty much the "made for TV" version of the book.  

That's all for today, further critique will have to come after I have a chance to see the other two parts.

GJS

Plug for upcoming Marine-related movie on HBO

Kevin Bacon played a Marine captain in the movie, "A Few Good Men."  His promotion came in - he will play a lieutenant colonel in the upcoming HBO movie, "Taking Chance."  Basically, the movie tells the story of a Marine officer, played by Bacon, and his heart-touching experiences as a "casualty assistance officer" escorting the body of a fallen Marine (killed in one of the "Global War on Terrorism - family of conflicts") back to his hometown.  It is based on a true story.  As a Marine, I would probably be interested in seeing this film whether or not it was purported to be "worth seeing" or not, but in this case, the accolades are rolling in, fueling my desire to see it.  The film was reviewed in the February 2009 issue of the Marine Corps Gazette and also in the February 2009 issue of the U.S. Naval Institutes's Proceedings.  (This latter magazine arrived at my mailbox today and I have only had a brief chance to skim the contents as of now; don't worry, I will post some comments about this new periodical in this space soon!) 

"Taking Chance" will be on HBO on Saturday, 21 Feb at 8PM (check your local listings).  I don't have HBO, so I may need to see if I can find a buddy around here to watch it with.  I recommend you do the same.  If the reviews are accurate, you may need to bring a box of tissues with you.

GJS

The Cast is Off!

You've been waiting for this - photos from John's "cast off day"!  Yes, this happened Monday; I am a few days behind.  

John with the two pieces of his cast.

    

John with his new hand puppet.  He made it himself!

You will note in the bottom two photos that he is leaning on the kitchen cabinet while standing.  He is still favoring his left leg (the one that was not broken) quite a bit, but even since Monday, he has gotten a lot better.  His right leg is noticeably skinnier than the left, and for some reason, it is also much hairier!  He is sure enjoying being able to take a bath every night and soon should be pretty much back to normal.

GJS

[Yesterday's] Periodical

Meant to write about this yesterday but ran out of time.  I mentioned earlier in the week that I had received new issues of both Runner's World magazine and Triathlete magazine over the weekend, and then proceeded to talk a little bit about the content of the RW magazine, excluding any talk of Triathlete.  That was because I only had time to look at RW during Monday's workout.  Yesterday as I rode the bike I finally had a chance to peruse Triathlete.  There were a couple of things I found worthy of mentioning. 

 

First, the latest edition includes a special feature (really a separate magazine of a decent size in and of itself), dubbed "The Kona and Clearwater Qualifier's Guide".  These two places, Kona, HI, and Clearwater, FL, are the locations of the Ironman World Championship and Ironman 70.3 World Championship (popularly referred to as Half-Ironman) races, respectively.  While my immediate plans do not include being able to run a qualifying time for either race (it is similar to qualifying for the Boston Marathon, only it is not done on a purely age-to-finish time basis, like Boston; rather you need to finish in some portion of the top finishers in a qualifying Ironman or Ironman 70.3 event either overall or in your age group, an achievement that for me is far away - I am happy just to finish the races I enter!), I do like that this supplemental magazine lists out all the qualifying events and provides descriptions and other information about each.  I like to look at the dates and try and scheme about which one or ones I may have a chance to run in the next few years.  For example, while we live in Taiwan, I would like to try and run the new Ironman China race, which happens in April every year.  Supplemental events that I may be able to do in preparation / conjunction with that race would be the Singapore Ironman 70.3 or maybe one of the races in Australia or New Zealand, or maybe the Ironman Japan.

 

Secondly, the issue also contains a wetsuit buyer's guide, sort of like the feature Runner's World does on shoes that I talked about a few days ago, except much less useful to me.  I realize that at some point I may have to purchase or use a wetsuit to race in a triathlon, but I am glad that up to this point, having some dozen plus triathlons (I am not really sure how many I have done, more than 12 but less than 20, I would say), I have yet to have really needed to use one.  Because of this, I find the many pages devoted to wetsuits in the magazine of little use.  I do realize, of course, that clearly there is a large group of triathletes who have used and do use wetsuits (largely based on the locale of the events they participate in, I would wager) and this feature is aimed at them.  I find it interesting, though, the contrast between the shoes feature in RW, in that I would say the vast majority of runners use a running-specific shoe to train and race in, while I don't think nearly as great a proportion of the overall number of triathletes regularly use or train for swimming using a wetsuit.  I would definitely say, though, that most triathletes who conduct ocean swimming 'round these parts DO use wetsuits.  That ocean water is just too cold!

 

GJS

Promotion Photos

The promoting officer, Major Richard J. Schmidt, USMC, gives some opening remarks to the small formation before commencing the promotion.

Major Schmidt and Barb (holding John, partially obscured) remove the old rank insignia and replace it with the new Captain's bars!

The old rank is safely deposited in my hand, ready to be "round-filed."

Major Schmidt administers the oath of office to Captain Sampson.

Congratulatory handshakes all around!

My class and instructors (from L to R): Beth Kristenson, spouse of Olmsted Scholar and fellow UNL alum; Xinyi Wu, chief instructor; Sgt Chase Garcia, USMC, who read the warrant during the promotion ceremony; Naro Zheng, former instructor; LT J.D. Kristenson, USN, Olmsted Scholar-Beijing, China 2009 (also a fellow UNL alum); SSgt William Stewart, USAF, military language instructor; Captain Gary J. Sampson, USMC, Olmsted Scholar-Kaohsiung, Taiwan 2009; Major Richard J. Schmidt, USMC, promoting officer and current Spanish language course student; and Capt Lewis Vaughn, USAF, Olmsted Scholar-Nanjing, China 2009.

Interesting note: although today was the first time I had met Maj Schmidt in person, I was a student of his father at UNL.  Dr. Richard J. Schmidt is a professor of exercise physiology.  Dr. Schmidt favored me with his attendance at my commissioning ceremony in Lincoln in December 2004, and I thought it was a great touch for his son to perform my promotion today.

我非常高兴！

GJS

Today's Periodicals

This weekend, the latest issues of Runner's World and Triathlete magazines both arrived at my mailbox.  This morning while riding the stationary bike I perused the former.  I only made it about halfway through today, but in the process I saw a couple of interesting articles.  The first was an explanatory article on some very useful exercises runners can do at the gym or at home (most without any external resistance, which is the way I am tending in the strength training exercises I do nowadays - using bodyweight only) to stabilize the pelvis.  Most of the exercises illustrated were core stability movements that are popular in many circles currently.  I think I can add some of what I saw in the current issue of RW to my routine and bolster my own running ability in the short- and medium-term.

 

There was also the periodic (quarterly? bi-annual?) "new shoes recommendation" feature.  I find these pieces to be useful in selecting what will be my next pair of running shoes.  I generally try to buy the "Editor's Choice" - after all, these people have full-time jobs testing and evaluating running shoes, I figure they probably know what they are talking about.  Plus, I have had good results in doing this in the past the vast majority of times I have done it.  The shoe selected as "Editor's Choice" this time around is the Asics Gel Kayano 15.  Fifteen? you say?  Yes, it is the fifteenth of the line.  I currently run in the Gel Kayano 14 and have been very satisfied with those shoes from the day I bought them right up to the present.  As a matter of fact, I was a bit concerned when I bought them, back in October, because I purchased them the day immediately prior to a planned 10-mile run.  My previous shoes were well past their prime and needed to be immediately retired, so I used the Gel Kayano 14 straight out of the box on the 10-miler.  The verdict?  No blisters, no pain, a very comfortably, well-cushioned ride for the entirety of the session.  I have had nothing but good experiences with the shoe in the meantime.  My only issue with the RW shoe issue is that I have sometimes found it difficult to find the new model shoes shown within in stores soon after seeing them in the magazine.  There seems to be some degree of time lapse between when these new shoes are available to the testers at Runner's World and when they are on the shelf at my local department store or running specialty store.  I hope this time it is different, for I am really piling up the miles on the current pair of Gel Kayano 14's!

 

GJS