The Month That Was - October 2013: The deck furniture is put away. The grill is covered. The sprinklers have been winterized. I'm wearing long pants and long sleeves for running. And the Dairy Queen has closed for the season. That'll do it for another summer.
This month brought a three-day weekend down in Washington DC. I was doing the 10K associated with the Marine Corps Marathon -- the MCM10K. It was not a pleasant experience. It was an hour wait in line to get my bib number. And another hour to get my shirt. As I lay in bed the night before the race my calves were already in spasm. The race itself was fine, lots of support from Marines along the route, which ran from The Mall to the Marine Corps Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. But there are so many people that at the end of the race, it's an easy quarter mile before you get to the post-race activities. Even after the finish line they just keep shoveling everyone forward to get them out of the way. There was no hope of finding anyone if you had scheduled a ride. I had to hop the metro back to my hotel, as did everyone else -- there was another 20 minute wait. Never again. I believe there were as many as 25,000 people racing in all the races. I will avoid big races from now on.
Coming soon: a new book. If all goes well I will post about it next month.
[Travel] Rocky Mountain High, High in Alberta
[Science] If the Plane Flies, You're and Idiot
[Rant] For Better or Worse
[Books] Harukiism
[Good Links] Too Stupid not to Laugh
