Random Saturday Night Thoughts

It's Saturday night. I must be getting old because I'm doing laundry and wishing that my neighbor would turn down the music. Why is it, by the way, that when people blast the tunes, they are always shitty tunes? Does the neighbor ever crank up a Shins record? Led Zeppelin? Something cool and obscure like Kraftwerk? Oh no, its full-on Dire Straights...MTV-era Dire Straights.

Enough of the mundane...In no particular order I can recommend the following:

• Espresso. I'm partial to Peet's, but I'm not religious. As long as it isn't drip coffee, I'm in. But Starbucks burns their beans. I'm just saying...

• Sunsets. It's cliché, but when is the last time you went out of your way to watch the sun go down. And yet, it happens everyday, is quite beautiful, and is free.

• Eating fewer carbs. This is where I would normally place a picture of a great big fat person pushing their overloaded shopping cart around Walmart. But I'm feeling good tonight and the thought of trolling the internet to find said picture is too much of a bummer, even for me.

I did a 5 mile trail run this morning through the Hermosa Beach Greenbelt. It is quite awesome to have this place to run within a stone's throw of my house. 

And as mentioned in a previous post, the fact that I'm running at all is a bit of a surprise to begin with. But if I could only run on a track or sidewalk or a tread mill at the gym, well, I'm not sure it would happen at all. There's something about a trail that makes it a completely different experience.

Another totally fascinating fact which absolutely needs to be recorded into the blogosphere is that I've moved into "minimal" running shoes. It is a different feel for sure, but I think I'm digging them. The idea is that when you go minimal, or closer to barefoot, you are forced to land on the ball or mid-sole. Which is more physiologically correct and will help you avoid injuries, over striding, heel striking, etc. I've only had them a week, but so far the Merrell Trail Gloves are feeling good.

We're funny, modern human beings. Spending $100 for a "minimal" shoe in order to get closer to "running naturally". Well, I'll cop to doing some absurd shit. But I'm still not gonna rock out to Mark Knopfler. A man must retain some semblance of pride.

Cheers!

Something About Football

So here is what I want to say about football (soccer for the die hard Yanks)...

Readers may recall that in a previous post I made a crack about British football and I may have said that they need to STFU. What I mean by that is this: stop telling me that the Premier League is the epitome of football, European or otherwise. If the Premier League is any good at all, it is because of the abundance of non-English players and non-English style of play. Ok, bring on the hate mail from across the pond...

The easiest way to describe the totally boring, ultra-conservative English style of play is the absurd, yet still commonly used, "punt the ball down the pitch and see what happens". You know what I mean. You've seen it a million times. Never fails to be dull. And stupid.

Yeah, why bother controlling the ball when you can just shoot it a mile in the air and hope that it finds the head of one your teammates and that he can somehow control where the ball flies off of his cranium. A winning strategy and so lovely to watch.

Contrast that style with that of a team like Barcelona and the great midfield control of Xavi.

Now, I know they are about the best in the world at ball control and the passing game and all that, but even stupid kids on a playground understand the simple rule that says if you have the ball then your opponent does not have the ball. Note: if you have the ball your chances of scoring are greatly increased, whereas your opponent has equally diminished chances. But hey, screw that, we're English. Our goal keepers send the ball sailing down the field so wonderfully. Its tradition.

Pointless and boring seem more on target.

In a sport like Ice Hockey, the "dump and chase" makes sense - because it is perfectly legal for the defense to flatten the puck carrier. But in a game where the rules favor the player controlling the ball, it makes the most sense to keep control of the ball. (The argument can even be made in Ice Hockey, if you can assemble a talented enough team, that puck control also carries a huge advantage. See Detroit Red Wings recent history).

I was watching a Premier League game the other day and at half time they gave a stats recap. You know what they didn't bother measuring? Possession time. Can't keep control of the ball? Get ready to lose in the Champions League, again. Which is fine. Just stop telling me that England is where its at for soccer. I might be an American, but I'm not totally stupid.

Cheers!

Sisyphus Waning

The tank is just about empty tonight. Read this great short piece by Jon Krakauer. That's all I've got.

Cheers!

Fire & Sweet Monkey Toes

I ran a couple of miles today. I wasn't expecting to after yesterday's trail run. But I was fired up after a nice Twitter exchange with the great Jessi Stensland, who is apparently getting heated up as well.

And when I asked, she kindly offered up some tips for the flat-footed.

The advice about limiting shoe time I can fully endorse. I've been trying to go shoe-less whenever possible and it really makes a difference in the way my feet feel. Obvious as it may sound, way more grounded. Love one-leg exercises and plyometrics (explosive movements) too. But the picking things up I had never thought of. Sweet monkey toes.

Cheers!

Feet Don't Fail Me Now

I did a 4 mile trail run this afternoon. What is significant about this is that I don't run, normally. I've been an athlete all my life, playing multiple sports, spending a lot of time outdoors, doing martial arts, etc. I even run sprints here and there. But I've never been much for any kind of distance. "Distance" to me = anything more than 100 yards. The reason for this is two fold. One, I tend to get bored without a ball or an object. Two, I don't have good arches.

Well, I dunno...I guess I'm always looking for something new to try. About a month ago I started running a little bit here and there. Half a mile, a mile, then a mile and a half. Mostly on a tread mill at the gym. Now I'm hitting a local trail which is much better than the boring treadmill. Being outside in the sunshine and fresh air is the choice to make whenever possible.

The main benefit I'm finding is that running can be sort of calming. Like I said, I have always preferred to run in pursuit of something, a layup on the basketball court, a shot on the tennis court. This has always made sense to me - a reason to run. But running just for running forces you (or me, at least) to get into some kind of zone. It's not meditative, but maybe a close cousin. The secondary benefit is the strengthening of my arches. I've always had sort of flat feet. Now, I'm not sure if this can be changed, but I think I can improve the strength in my arches. I can already tell they are not as tired after a few miles.

What does this rather attractive woman have to do with my feet? Well, let me try to explain...

Looking around at full body exercises designed to help endurance athletes (like runners) I've recently come across Jessi Stensland. Truth be told, I understand a fair bit about body mechanics and exercise science - having gone through the NASM program a few years back and doing some work as a physical trainer. But what I like about Jessi is the way she communicates the ideas around core strength, balance and flexibility so that an athlete can easily see how to apply certain training techniques. Oh, and Jessi is a world class triathlete, so she walks the talk. Check out Jessi and her MovementU training philosophy if you're looking for ways to improve athletic performance or even to just figure out how your body can work more efficiently in everyday life.

Besides, anyone who quotes Balzac on their performance athletic website is ok by me.

Cheers!

Perspective

Ever feel as if the unrelenting heaviness of existence is crushing your more random moments of peace and happiness? Well, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and assume you're neither a world class athlete nor a severely handicapped child, but somewhere in between. The two ends of that spectrum can be found, oddly enough, in one family. For some life affirming perspective, please take a few minutes and watch this short film.

Box of Birds from Alix Lambert on Vimeo.

The brothers Malloy are some big time heroes of mine. I'm planning on a much more extensive post about my man-crush on these three great surfing siblings, but that will have to wait. I'm currently much too busy riding, loving, fondling, and just plain gazing at my newest man-toy.

Cheers!

Not Very Sporting Of You...

This time of year, many of my fellow Yanks are very into sports. Or more to the point - watching sports. The Super Bowl is a few days away. The NBA is in full swing. The Australian Open just wrapped up. Oh wait, nobody actually watches tennis, right? But they do apparently watch people play cards. And by "people", of course, I mean socially questionable dudes wearing hoodies, hats and sunglasses while sitting in a casino at 4pm in the afternoon.

While I much prefer to get outside and actually do something, I too can be counted as a spectator from time to time. I'll probably have one eye on the big game this weekend, with the other eye on a cold beer or two. Truth be told, despite having grown up with the NFL, I find myself preferring another kind of football these days.

Did you catch the date?

Forget the Pats-Giants, I loves me some FC Barcelona on Valentine's Day! I plan to have a much more expansive post on the wonderful world of Champions League Football, El Classico matches between Barca and evil Real Madrid, and why I think the British need to eat a big bowl of STFU when it comes to the beautiful game. Stay tuned for that. And in advance, I would like to offer apologies to all my Brit friends. But you know I'm right.

Getting back to Super Bowl weekend and the kind of football where there isn't much foot hitting the ball...we all seem to recognize the game is almost a distraction. Its food, beverages, and those wacky television commercials, right? Well, the beverages I'm interested in anyway. Recently I've been coveting the delicious Peruvian beer Cusqueña.

Real tasty stuff. Highly recommended. Will go great with Carne Asada tacos while you watch a bunch of fat guys bump into each other. Oh, and Pats by 3.

Cheers!