Gay Sex and Advanced Calculus: November 2005

Autumm Leaves Fall

Mot ngay song ben anh se muon doi
Giau cho mua roi, da mon thang nam
Lay Troi duoc yeu mai nhau nguoi oi
Dung mang trai ngang chia lia lua doi
The gian oi, sao nhieu cay dang?
Tinh van dam say nguoi cung xa ta roi
Ngoi om vet thuong long don dau
Nghe tinh ren rit trong tim sau
Mua thu la bay anh da di roi
Vo tang oi bao giac mong lua doi
Gio danh lia xa the nhan sau dau
Hen anh kiep sau ta nhin thay nhau

Charmed

Hubbell: Two hamburger, two cheese burgers and four cokes.

Katie: Onion?

Hubbell: Yeah, in the cokes.

5th Marathon in the Bag

It was a beautiful day for a marathon. 55 degrees. Sunny. Little wind. Since I didn't train for this race, my goal was modest: 5 hours, and can walk home afterward.
I lined up at the 10 minute / mile pace, next to a bearded man in a red: long dress, boa, handbag, and shoes. The slow pace was easy on my body as I had little problem climbing up the infamous hill at mile 9. I stayed on pace at half way, clocking in around 2 hours and 10 minutes. The fatigue slowly creeped in around mile 15 as I headed out on Kelly Drive. That was when elite runners were coming in.
Once I reached Main St, Manuyunk, my thighs cramped up. I was in pain, but I kept moving. 10 steps running, 10 steps walking. I sucked on a 4th gel package, and grabbed water. Suddenly the pain went away and I resumed my 10 minute mile pace. A few miles later, the cramps came back. The pain wasn't as intense, but it did slow me down. I probably ran 11 minute mile pace for the last 4 miles, and sprinted the last 200 feet to reach the finish line.
My time was 4 hours and 26 minutes. That's 11 minutes slower than my best, but 33 minutes faster than my Philly time last year.
It took me about 20 minutes to find my parents. I couldn't believe that they drove in to the city just to see me finish a marathon. It was good to see them. We took some photos and made plans for Thanksgiving.

7 Days Until Philadelphia Marathon

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Originally uploaded by reflexblue.

After a nice run to Camden, NJ this morning, I feel a little better about my chance of completing the Philly Marathon next week. The 5-mile run was the longest I've done since the Mount Desert Marathon four weeks ago. Now I can focus on picking the right outfit for my 4th marathon this year.

November 2005

What's going on ...
SEPTA strike: ended after seven days (that's a good thing)
Elections Day: I waited 15 minutes before the polls were open, all by myself.
Paris is burning: I mistakenly linked this French civil unrest to Bush's appearance in Argentina.
Philadelphia Marathon: 10 days away and I can't believe I still think I can pull it off
Triangle Reunion on the streets of Philadelphia: I ran into Jonathan Poet, Patty O'Brien, and two other newspaper staffers within the past two months.

Sleepless Night

Heard of any good stories lately? Here's one.

A housewife desperately searches for her missing husband. She can't sleep. She paces around her house holding on to her phone. She feels helpless. She feels angry. Sad. Disappointed. Worried. She braces herself for bad news. She cleans her house hoping that if the house looks nicer, maybe her husband will sooner return.

What kind of urban legend is this? There is no begin, middle, and death! Do you have a better story? Distract me for a few minutes.

Septa Strike, Week 1

Travel Alert (Thursday 11/3/2005)

Delays of up to two hours are possible on all regional rail lines due to wire problems near 30th Street Station. In addition buses, subways, and trolleys are not operating due to a service interruption by Union employees.

http://www.kyw1060.com/transit/septa.htm

Well, it's been a tough week to get around, in and out of the city. At first I didn't think I would be affected, but the sole reliance on the regional rail lines is putting a lot of riders on the edge.

Philadelphia Marathon

The Phily Marathon is 18 days away. I haven't put myself together yet since the MDI Marathon, so I'm just going to show up and hope that my body will carry me 26.1 miles to the finish line. It's not going to be pretty.

I'm more excited about a pasta dinner I'm organizing for gay runners and friends the night before the marathon. Carb loading, anyone?