Snow on Trees

What to do with the fact snow is falling outside, and the roads are not safe to travel on, so what to do?

The snow that is falling is also bring frigid temperatures with it, so no running outside until the temperatures get warmer. I know that you can run outside in the cold, but what is the point? You aren't logging quality miles, and a week of running inside isn't the end of the world.

I can remember years ago when I worried that quality miles only came from running outside, but I now I know better, and find other ways to keep fit. I might not be running when the weather is frigid, but I am still finding ways to stay active.

I say let it snow, and maybe next week I will get outside for a run, but until then, well, I am going to enjoy the weather from inside the house.

Procrastination My Old Friend I Come to Talk to You Again.

The sun almost gives you the illusion it is warm outside, but it is Mother Nature's joke. It is winter in the Midwest, or should I say almost winter in Wisconsin. The outside temperature is 22 degrees, but with the wind it feel like 12 degrees.

I used to run in the cold, and I might run in the cold again, but right now I am sipping my warm coffee and thinking about running. My thoughts are on running because my new Runner's World came in the mail today.

I might need to run tomorrow, but today I am going to stay in the house and think about running.

With the new year almost here, I can't help but think that my running goals weren't met, and do I want to set any goals for next year? I will say there is the hope that I might run two half-marathons, but that depends on a lot of factors that I know will change in the next couple months.

Oh, the thought of running does warm the bones, but today I am going to enjoy my coffee and my new Runner's World.

What Numbers Really Tell You

I found this story after it was mentioned on the radio station that I listen to, and it sparked my interest, because I think this group of hunters make a good point.
http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=11446929

It is hard to count deer, and the DNR tries to give a conservative number when it comes to the size of the deer herd. I think the reason that hunters don't see anything probably has more to do with the evolution of the deer herd and the amount of hunters in the woods.

Deer seem to get smarter every year, and I don't see a lot of deer on public land, but see a lot of deer on land where hunters can't go and there is no real pressure for the deer to move from these spots.

Wisconsin's gun hunting season is after the peak of the rut for whitetail deer, so deer don't move around like they do during the peak of rut.

It Smells Like Pork to Me

Here is where some of the stimulus money spent.

$300,000 for a GPS-equipped helicopter to hunt for radioactive rabbit droppings at the Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington state.
- $30 million for a spring training baseball complex for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies.
- $11 million for Microsoft to build a bridge connecting its two headquarter campuses in Redmond, Wash., which are separated by a highway.
- $800,000 for the John Murtha Airport in Johnstown, Pa., serving about 20 passengers per day, to build a backup runway.
- $219,000 for Syracuse University to study the sex lives of freshmen women.
- $2.3 million for the U.S. Forest Service to rear large numbers of arthropods, including the Asian longhorned beetle, the nun moth and the woolly adelgid.
- $3.4 million for a 13-foot tunnel for turtles and other wildlife attempting to cross U.S. 27 in Lake Jackson, Fla.
- $1.15 million to install a guardrail for a persistently dry lake bed in Guymon, Okla.
- $9.38 million to renovate a century-old train depot in Lancaster County, Pa., that has not been used for three decades.
- $2.5 million in stimulus checks sent to the deceased.
- $6 million for a snow-making facility in Duluth, Minn.
- $173,834 to weatherize eight pickup trucks in Madison County, Ill.
- $20,000 for a fish sperm freezer at the Gavins Point National Fish Hatchery in South Dakota.
- $380,000 to spay and neuter pets in Wichita, Kan.
- $300 apiece for thousands of signs at road construction sites across the country announcing that the projects are funded by stimulus money.
- $1.5 million for a fence to block would-be jumpers from leaping off the All-AmericanBridge in Akron, Ohio.
- $1 million to study the health effects of environmentally friendly public housing on 300 people in Chicago.
- $356,000 for Indiana University to study childhood comprehension of foreign accents compared with native speech.
- $983,952 for street beautification in Ann Arbor, Mich., including decorative lighting, trees, benches and bike paths.
- $148,438 for Washington State University to analyze the use of marijuana in conjunction with medications like morphine.
- $462,000 to purchase 22 concrete toilets for use in the Mark Twain National Forest in Missouri
- $3.1 million to transform a canal barge into a floating museum that will travel the Erie Canal in New York state.
- $1.3 million on government arts jobs in Maine, including $30,000 for basket makers, $20,000 for storytelling and $12,500 for a music festival.
- $71,000 for a hybrid car to be used by student drivers in Colchester, Vt., as well as a plug-in hybrid for town workers decked out with a sign touting the vehicle's energy efficiency.
- $1 million for Portland, Ore., to replace 100 aging bike lockers and build a garage that would house 250 bicycles.

I just see a lot of pork--You have to love the change in Washington.

When does running become too expensive? What does the economy have to do with running?
I really don't know, but I do know that there is one aspect of the economy that isn't getting better, and that is employement isn't getting better.

The White House is trying to find a way to increase jobs, and there is a good article in the Washington Post talking about it:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/03/AR2009110303553.html

I think it is important to remember that the president promised to create jobs, and last week the White House weakly claimed that the stimulus package is working, and that jobs weren't lost because of the money from the stimulus package was used to save jobs. No real jobs were created, not yet. Just look at the employment section of your local newspaper.

I would argue that job lost is a trend that isn't going to get better with government policies that are only band aid type policies. These policies show a Clinton type crush with polls. The policies lack any real thought towards long term job creation.

The Cash-for-Clunker came and went, it helped in the short term, but what about something that will be help auto sales stay at a healthy level.

Maybe, yesterday's election was a wake-up call for the White House.

What Smells?

Who is going to pay for the new drywall? Should the insurance company pay? Should the contractor pay? Should the homeowner pay? Should the manufacture pay?

Have you heard about the latest product out of China costing Americans more money, and some people losing their homeowner's insurance?
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Insurance/InsureYourHome/toxic-drywall-goodbye-insurance.aspx?gt1=33004

The article talks about how people are filing claims with their insurance company over the toxic drywall in their new homes--toxic drywall from China--and finding out that their insurance company won't pay to have it replaced.

I do see the point that insurance companies are businesses and that their number one job is trying to make as much money as they can, and it does look like the insurance companies aren't breaking any laws, because they are not required to pay for such damages.

So, who pays for the bad drywall? My guess is the homeowner or the government. Contractors aren't going to pay, and manufactures in China aren't going to pay, so that really only leaves the homeowner and government. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Running

I wonder what is a waste of a major? I have a degree in creative writing, but most of the time I prefer to draw and paint, so writing takes a backseat to my visual endeavors. Did I waste my money and get a degree that serves no purpose in my life right now? I wonder about this, because I see people that have degrees that they are using right now. Sure, I could get a teaching certificate, but would I really be using my degree?

Writing is something I enjoy, and I picked the major because I like sharing my opinions in the form of editorials. I was a member of the the college newspaper, and took a non-fiction class that really made me sure that I was making the right choice by picking the major.

In the past, I probably said that I picked my major out of spite, and as an immature means of keeping someone out of my life. Well, that plan didn't work, and I am glad to say that it is for the best that the plan didn't work.

But, what does all of this have to do with running? This blog is suppose to be running, but I really can't say that my running right now is too exciting. For the most part I am running about ten miles a week on a treadmill and about five to eight miles a week outside. These numbers are sure to change as the weather gets worse. I hope to stay around fifteen miles a week through the winter and pick up from there, so that is the plan right now.

I should mention that I did a nine miler the other weekend. It was cold outside and snow was falling lightly, but it felt good on the face.

So, we will see what I write about in the next couple months.

Say No to Walgreen's

This isn't related to running, or I guess maybe it is, because it is sad when a large corporation like Walgreen's buys a small business and tears it down. I am sick of seeing Walgreen's cluttering city corners like they are Starbucks.

West Bend, WI is a medium size town, but it had one of the better Italian restaurants in the area, and it is now being replaced by a Walgreen's. The owners of Dick's maybe wanted to get out and Walgreen's offered them a lot of money, but at some point we need to stop pandering to
these corporations that don't pay their employees a decent wage and like to clutter the cityscape.

Tank Is Full

I ran on the treadmill today, and this time I put a fan right behind me and I turned that fan on high, because I get way too hot on the treadmill.

I am like Brett Favre in a lot of ways. I really can't decide how I feel about the treadmill. I used to love the treadmill so much that I bought my parents a better one, but after running outside a lot, well, my love for the treadmill has wavered.

Right now, the treadmill is a great way for me to log my miles and do the speed work I don't normally do on the road. I also love to change my speed on the treadmill, because that way I don't feel like a gerbil going nowhere. I do my tempo runs on a treadmill, and I also do fartlek on the treadmill.

The treadmill is a lot easier on the joints, but it also makes my hamstrings tighter, so I have to stretch afterwards. I also run at a 1% incline, because the machine doesn't allow me to do 1.5%, but it still is good enough for me. The treadmill may not track as well when it comes to mileage, but I usually run for a specific time that I know is close to the mileage I want, so that is also something I watch while on a treadmill.

This post is just me still not making my mind up on if I love the treadmill enough to make it part of my permanent training routine. I guess I am wondering what you think, so let me know what your opinion is on running on a treadmill.

I just went to the new gym where I will be doing my winter running. It is located in the basement of my wife's office building. The equipment is kind of old, but they have enough machines and treadmills to keep me active through the winter.

I still plan on running outside, but due to the time it takes me to get to the other side of town, and the gas I was wasting by drive back and forth from my daughter's school, well, my wife suggested that I use the gym at her office. I know that most runners dislike the treadmill, and I am not a large fan of running on a treadmill, but I figure this is a good way to keep my mileage up and still lift some weights.

The gym has a rowing machine and some stationary bikes. I most excited for the squat rack, but I am not sure how I will do dead lifts, but I am sure I will figure something out.

I also haven't used gym equipment since high school, so we will see what kind of shape I stay in this winter.