Archives.  Past updates on my life and running.

6/2/02 - Updated my condition page.  Went to meet Khalid today at a special reception thrown for him by the town of Ossining, NY.  It was a good time.  Ice dolphin in the middle of one table.  Couscous-a-plenty at another table.  "Man, he is mega-polite" was the comment my wife had of Special K.  That's high praise coming from her.  I heard he paid for the party himself after he heard the town library was going to foot the bill.  Only weird thing was they read some weirdo declaration that the Westchester County Commissioners wrote up that went something like "WHEREAS Khalid ran in the 2000 London Marathon and sustained an ankle injury and HENCE WIDTH received American Citizenship.....and THUSLY endured high-altitude training in Albuquerque and Mexico," and on and on and on...So I took some pictures and put the evening together using Microsoft's free Slide Show Wizard - a bold and new direction for me.  I'm one of those geeks who's critical Microsoft, but who is, at the same time, secretly jealous of their incredible success.  It will open up in a new window.  Enjoy.

5/14/02 - Updated my piece on my brief history with James Hogue.

5/7/02 - Keith Dowling contributes another separated at birth.

5/5/02 - DNF in Pittsburgh.  See Race Results Page.

4/21/02 - Won the Niketown "Run for the Parks" 4 miler in 19:17.  See Race Results

4/17/02 – Read about my problems with emachines.

4/16/02 - My analysis of the splits of the top three American Men at The Boston Marathon.  Just so you know, I do have actual work I could be doing (so it's not as if I've got too much time on my hands), but, for some reason, I just couldn't help myself.

4/14/02 - Ran my local 5K today down at the Danbury Fair Mall.  Won it in 14:58.  Could not have asked for better weather.  Put some new pics up in the pictures section.  I'm doing this "adopt-a-runner" program with some kids in Pittsburgh prior to the marathon there.  One of the questions I've been asked is "Have you ever dreamed of making it to The Summer Olympics?"  I just don't know how to explain it to them.  I guess I'll just tell them "yes, but I didn't quite get there."

4/6/02 - Bad day at the NYRRC 8K.  See my Race Results for a discussion.

4/5/02 – Separated at Birth?  Film director Ron Howard and US Distance Runner Peter Sherry.

4/1/02 - God forbid, whatever you do, do NOT buy a computer from Emachines.  Heard many good things about them until I purchased one myself.  It arrived DOA.  That was over a month ago and I still haven't gotten my computer back after I sent it in.  They, on the other hand, got my money right away.  I have, at this point, made it a personal mission to inform everyone I know to never ever do business with Emachines.

3/24/02 - I eagerly await the release of the new Spiderman movie.  Should be good.  I already know the plot, of course, but I like the trailer, and seeing it come to life is a whole other thing.  I'm sure there will be a few surprises too.  Being 35, It's been a while since I've gotten all excited about a movie.  Normally, I think, that sort of emotion is reserved for kids and geeky young adults.  I was one of the gaggle of idiots who, when the big Todd McFarlane Spiderman number 1 came out in 1990, bought lots of copies thinking they would be worth something some day.  Of course, that was one of the biggest selling comics of all time, hence, copies aren't rare at all, hence, they're not worth anything, and they're sitting in my basement with the other boxes of comics I have collecting dust.  There I was in 1990 thinking "hmmm, stock in Oracle or Spiderman comics?  what to do?"  I do have a couple that are supposedly worth a little though:  the first 30 issues of the new Green Lantern series, and the Superman where he reveals himself to Lois Lane.  Anyone interested?  In running news, I have to bump my mileage up a little.  Have been letting it slip in the face of busy work days, lousy weather, and a tough racing schedule.  Watch for me in central park at the NYRRC 8K on April 6.  I'm bib number 25.

3/17/02 - Finished fourth in the New Bedford Half Marathon.  Discussion on my Race Results page.  Next race 8K in NYC.

3/10/02 - Won the Little Cow Harbor Race.  I'm now semi-employed and feeling lucky to be so.  Got some consulting work developing a Lotus Notes/ Palm Pilot application.  Also doing some boring (but really important) QA work for b-there.com in Westport.  Got a couple other clients too who send me work whenever they need it.  Running New Bedford 1/2 Marathon next week, followed by national 8K champs in central park on 4/6, followed by Pittsburgh Marathon on May 5.

2/16/2002 - My wife celebrates her 35th lap around the sun today, and I won the Al Gordon 15K in central park.  See my Race Results section for details.  Next race in the New Bedford 1/2 Marathon on March 17 in New Bedford, MA.

2/11/2002 - New pictures of me finishing the Naples 1/2 Marathon in my photos section.  New Brain entry.

1/28/2002 - Finished fourth in the Naples 1/2 Marathon in 1:05:46.  See Race Results for discussion.  Also, this dude wrote me about his training for some Dana-Farber thing, and asked for a link on this web site, so here it is.  Click here read all about it and maybe you want to make a contribution.

1/5/2002 - Ran 8:27 for 3000 last night at The Armory.  See my Race Results.  Next race will be Naples 1/2 Marathon, assuming no travel nightmares.  I have to rent a car for that.  Anyone got any good coupons they're not using?  I had a free day at Hertz, but it expired.

1/1/2002 - Ran NYE 4 mile race last night/this morning.  See Race Results section in 2001 year for details.  Today is my first day in five years not having an endorsement contract, and I have to say, believe it or not, I do feel a little different.  No more Adidas.  Was a little weird to put on an old pair of Nike socks I've had lying around the house for six years now, unable to wear them.  See my new hate mail section (been saving them up).

12/19/2001 - Will be running in the Midnight Run on New Years Eve in Central Park.  Always wanted to do this one, but the lunacy of it all kept me away.  Will also run the Yancy invite 3000m in The Armory on 1/4/2002.  If I don't blow a hamstring or nothin', I'll enter the Naples Daily News 1/2 Marathon.  My relationship (i.e. endorsement contract) with Adidas ends on 12/31/2001. Got a watch from them as a going away gift.  As much as I trashed the Fitsense watch (it doesn't work), I like this Adidas watch a lot.  It's called the Adidas Response 100.  Adidas Styling with Timex Functionality.  I recommend it.  Big display, split functions work the same as the Timex Triathlon.  Easy to hit watch controls.

12/9/2001 - Completed my 35th lap around the sun on 12/5.  I know I said I'd retire, but, for whatever reason, I ran 18 miles today (11+7).  Now I just have to figure out what I'm training for.  Might do Midnight run in Central Park.  Never did these silly races before.  Was always too serious for it.  My friend from my last job, Paul, is the proud owner of his own on-line business WineThingies.com.  Take a look.  Neat little things for wine glasses.  He'll work his hardest to get your order out before Christmas.  Much like I was 10 months ago, he is about to be laid-off and could use the business.

11/5/2001 - Finished the NYC Marathon in 2:26:03.  See Race Results

11/2/2001 - Heading into The City tomorrow for the NYC Marathon.  Except for the usual feelings of impending doom I get before a marathon, I'm doing OK.  I think the only marathon I was really excited about running was my first one, which turned out to be my worst one.  After that awful experience (243 on a warm day), they've all been rather nerve-wracking ordeals - and I'm not the type to get all the nervous about races.  I guess it's because you have to invest so much time into preparation for a marathon, and if you have a bad day, it means you'll finish probably at least 10 minutes slower than you had hoped, and maybe as much as 30 or 40 minutes slower.  Training, overall, has been going well.  I haven't been training with the same intensity I used to produce as recently as two years ago, but I'm healthy, and the three hard workouts I have done have been pretty good, and that counts for something.  My focus has shifted from making to the finish line to making it to the starting line.  I have little in the way of preconceived notions about pace.  All I can say is I hope my 1/2 split will be somewhere between 64 and 70.  Whatever feels good is the pace I'll run.  I've been doing almost nothing with my time lately.  Just thinking about what's going to happen and doing some light running.  Today, I went to the supermarket and the place where you redeem your bottles was 1) totally clean 2) empty and 3) all the machines were working.  Every time I go in there, it's always a mess with half the machines occupied and the other half out of order or full.  It was a pleasant change of pace.

Last night I went to see Frank Deford, a writer of Sports Illustrated fame, give a talk about sports in the academic world.  Turns out he lives in the area.  Was a very good talk, and I recommend his book "I'm just getting started."  Among other things, he said that Pete Rose is probably guilty of everything he's ever been accused of, but that he should still be in the Hall of Fame ("It's the Baseball Hall of Fame, not the Saint's Hall of Fame").  He said that smaller schools should think about cutting football ("It's too expensive").  He said that Vince McMahon (WWF Boss) is a dreadful human being.  One woman said that her 9-year-old planned on not going to college and instead just playing baseball, and if he knew of good baseball schools where maybe he could do both.  Frank said "I have to believe that if he's nine right now, this will work itself out by the time the decision will have to be made."

10/16/2001 - I won the Pie Race at Northfield Mount Hermon School.  Countdown continues to NYC Marathon.

10/7/2001 - Bad finish at Ridgefield.  See the Races Section.

10/1/2001 - Running the Ridgefield 1/2 Marathon on Sunday Oct 7.  Visit Panicware and get popup stopper and stop those annoying ads.

9/24/2001 - Still planning on a run in The NYC Marathon.

9/18/2001 - Ran The Mount Agamenticus Challenge up in Maine where my wife grew up.  As far as I know, everyone I know personally who worked in the towers made it out in time.

9/4/2001 - I'm in a "brief chat" today on Runner's World Daily.  The worse I run, the more press I get.  The latest "Martha by Mail" catalogue arrived today.  Martha Stewart is full of wonderful ideas, but I have to say I think she missed the mark a little this time.  Everything in it is so impossibly sterile.  One room looks like a doctor's office from the 1950s.

8/26/2001 - It has not been a good day.  First, I didn't win Powerball.  Second, I had a really rough time at the NYRRC 18 mile Tune Up (see races section).  Third, my car was broken into on 92nd street between Park and Madison.  No signs of forced entry.  I think they slipped something through the window.  They made off with three pair Adidas Sunglasses, my golf clubs (I have a 30 handicap.  I just can't picture some dude running around the upper east side carrying a full set of clubs.  They're heavy!  Can you say "suspicious?") minus the pitching wedge which I had removed from the bag earlier to practice, the golf bag, and all my CDs.  The only CD left behind was "Debbie Gibson's Greatest Hits" which was in the player.  Yup; Britney, Guns N Roses, Beethoven, AC/DC, Poison, Jerry Seinfeld, all gone.  Luckily, my Sony Xplod CD player is still there.  It has a detachable face plate, which I detached and hid under the driver's seat.  Guess they didn't check there.  They also took the remote that goes with the CD player, which I never use (why would you need a remote in your car?  I guess if you were to park it and play it at a party or something like that.)  A first read of my homeowner's policy indicates they'll cover everything except the CDs.  Oddly enough, they left behind a women's dress watch on my front seat.  Must have fallen out of their pockets when they were rifling through my car.  Brand name is "Latch."  Any women out there want a free watch?  I'll take a picture.

Other issues:  it has come to my attention that the JavaScript menus on the left do not work on a MAC.  I don't know why.  I'll add some conventional HTML links.  BTW, I'm still unemployed, but I had a nice consulting job last week at www.lamdesign.com.

8/22/2001 - It's official.  I'll be on The Today Show on NBC this Sunday morning, a little after 7 AM.  It will be live.  It's my sister's birthday.  Didn't know I had a sister, did you?  She lives in a suburb of Philadelphia.  Happy Birthday, Valerie.

8/20/2001 - I'm running the 18 mile tune-up run this weekend in Central Park, per request of the NYRRC.  Supposedly  I'm going to be on The Today Show on NBC, but I don't know.  These things have a way of falling through.  If I do get interviewed for Today, I'll be sure and try to fit a Howard Stern reference in there.  For sure I'll be running the tune up, though.  Be there.  7:30 AM, 102nd street in Central Park (finish about 2 hrs later.  I ain't racin' this thing.)

8/11/2001 - Back still a problem.  See my condition page.  Still unemployed too.  One interesting thing:  I applied to The Fila Discovery camp in California - you may have heard of it.  It's run by Dr. Rosa and his minions and they try and develop American Marathoners.  Anyway, they rejected me because I run for Adidas.  I understand their position, but I was lead to believe, in articles in Runner's World and Running Times, that it didn't matter what your shoe company was.  Oh, well.

7/17/2001 - Ellen will be running the Vermont 100 this weekend.  My back is somehow on the skids again.

7/10/2001 - will be at a meeting of the Mid-Hudson Road Runners club Thursday night 7/12, 7:30 PM, to talk about stuff (ostensibly about how your training plan changes as you age, but the more I study this subject, the more I realize I don't know anything).  The address is 2 East Main Street, Wappingers Falls, NY (the K of C hall).

7/6/2001 - Ran Peachtree Road Race.  See Race Report section.  New picture up in photos section.

6/26/2001 - Ran a 10K for fun up in Fairbanks, Alaska.  See Race Report section.  Next race is Peachtree in Atlanta on July 4.  Yes, I'm surprised too to be running in a race of such high caliber when I'm no longer running sub 29, but they invited me down, and I didn't want to pass up the chance.  I was going to run this race in 1993 when I got a calf cramp the week before that wouldn't go away.  Back then, I almost never got injured, so it was a bummer of a July 4 weekend for me.  Had to stay home and do nothing.  Looks like Mark Coogan decided to put a web site up.  Overall, it's a good web site, and, unlike this one, free of ads (I might move this web site again to get rid of the ads, but I'm afraid too many people might have it bookmarked on tripod.  get in the habit of using www.joelemay.com in case I do move it).  It's professionally designed, has his schedule up there, and he says he's going to post his training logs up until the Chicago Marathon.  Looks like he trains harder than me right now.  Hopefully, I'll be able to change that in the next couple of months as I point towards the New York Marathon.  One thing it does suffer from is a little third-personitis.  For example, "Mark reveals the arduous training that he undertakes while getting ready for a marathon" and "Mark Coogan is one of the most versatile distance runners in the U.S."  This all implies it was written by some sort of agent or publicist and not him, so you get the idea he's too busy to do it himself.  I find it a little off-putting.

6/14/2001 - Here's a product review on my watch from fitsense.com.  I bought one of these things in December 2000 and immediately got injured and couldn't run for a number of months with it.  Now that things are somewhat back to normal, and I've had the watch upgraded so the battery doesn't die every 5 minutes, I've been making more use of it.  This product is supposed to accurately (within 2%) measure the distance you've run, and, on the whole, it works.

Trained as an engineer, this is one engineering problem that has always fascinated me (right up there with the wheelchair that climbs stairs and the human powered helicopter).  In the past, most attempts to solve this problem involved mechanical devices that count steps.  You measure your steps, multiply, and get a distance measurement.  The results were never as good as your own guesswork.  I've always concluded that the only way to truly and accurately measure distance run would be to have a GPS receiver sample your position at some discrete time interval (every 10 seconds would be enough, if you run mostly in a straight line, then every 10 minutes might be enough).  The GPS readings would have to be very accurate as is available with military grade readings, but good software could overcome inaccuracies by throwing out what appear to be bad data, as long as you have enough good data to get a distance.  Anyway the good people at fitsense did not go for the GPS solution, and, for that matter, no one has yet, so maybe I should look into inventing one.  They instead used what appears to be a kind of more accurate step counting method.  They give you a foot pod with an accelerometer embedded in it, and have you calibrate it by running 400 meters at your normal training pace.  You end up with a number (called a calibration value or "calval") between 1 and 200.  If you do your whole run at the same pace you calibrated at, you get an accurate reading.  Fitsense has a javascript web page where you can enter your readings and tweak your calval until you get the right calval for you.  I'm unfamiliar with the exact algorithm used for obtaining distance:  whether or not they're throwing out your longest and shortest steps, using some sort of averaging method, just plain counting all the steps, etc...  Since this information is probably a corporate secret, I guess I'll never know.

This usually works well, but I don't always run the same pace.  For example, I did some fartlek the other day, and got my 9.3 mile loop to read 8.75.  Usually it shows a value between 9.28 and 9.35 for that same loop, so it does produce consistent results.   That being said, it's still a good way of tracking your mileage and roughly measuring unknown runs.  If you have an affinity for gadgets, and want an automated training log, then this is for you.  If you just want to measure a couple of your daily training loops, then borrow a bicycle with an odometer.  Nike has a competing product.  I'm not sure if it's any good.

6/10/2001 - Ran Litchfield.

5/28/2001 - Won The Ridgewood Run 10K.    New Englanders - visit the Mount Agamenticus Challenge web site and sign up (I did the web site).

5/21/2001 - Visit your news stand now!!  On the cover of Running Times July/Aug issue.  Let me apologize for being on the cover and running so lame lately.  It's so embarrassing.  Know how after a bad performance, no matter what kind of sport or event we're talking about, you just want to crawl into a hole and die?  I guess I'll take the cover however I can get it.  I was on the November 1996 cover, but I was cool with it then since I was kicking some ass at the time.  I suppose they're just following up 5 years later. 

5/19/2001 - Raced yesterday.  See Race Report section.

5/17/2001 - Help us out.  Every now and then, my wife gets what are called "stringer" assignments from Glamour Magazine.  They are opinion surveys they use for publication and cover a wide variety of topics.  For example, once we were asked for stories about paranormal activity people may have witnessed, but usually it's questions about dating, fashinon, etc...  Usually they want the opinions of women ages 18-34, but it's handy to have men's answers too.  If you are willing to answer a few questions every couple of weeks and email them in, let me know by sending me an email.  When I send the questions, just answer them quickly and honestly, forward them to friends.  No joke answers please.  If you'd rather not be bothered, just delete.  Takes 1-10 minutes, and it can be fun.  I think what few female friends I have left are tired of answering them.

5/17/2001 - Did my first track workout since September yesterday (first speed workout of any kind since Feb I think).  Nothing killer; 5 x 1000m in 255-300 with 400m jog recovery.  I was happy with it.  Given that I can do this, I plan on running my home town road race "The Ridgewood Run" 10K.  10K instead of 5K because I won't have to run so fast.  I'm not shooting to really be competitive, but I'm thinking 30:30 to 31:00 would be good training.

5/9/2001 - Have been running anywhere from 9-14 miles per day.  It hurts though.  Back problem on left and hamstring problem on right down near knee.  It's looking like I'm pretty close to retirement, although some might argue I've been retired for almost a year now anyway.  Went to St. John's in the Caribbean last week for a wedding.  Last time I went down there, it was to Jamaica, and I swore I would never return if I could help it.  After this most recent visit, my feelings haven't changed.  Not a good place for runner types.  No place to run.  Very hot and hilly.  There resort where I was staying had a 2.5 mile running tour scheduled for the morning we arrived and it was cancelled (I'm guessing because of lack of interest).  Everything was priced about double what you'd pay in Manhattan.  I really don't know what to compare it to.  Downtown Tokyo maybe?  (I've never been there, so I don't know).  Prices at the deli at our resort:  $4 for a medium bag of potato chips.  $9 for a turkey sub.  $3 for a Sobe drink.  This is the cheapest place.  Breakfast at the restaurant is $20.  Bottled water in your room is $4.  Any time you want to do anything or go anywhere, you have to get out the wallet for tips.  Good points:  the water was really clear, clean, and warm.  It was never cold.  You never had to even think about bringing a jacket to wherever you were going.  I got a complimentary sailing lesson, which I enjoyed.  Can't wait to test out what I learned.

Also went to the AC/DC concert in Madison Square Garden last night.  It was the fourth concert I've ever been to (Hall & Oates, Van Halen, Smokey Robinson were the others).  Sat way up there in the 400 section which is fine for me since I'm pretty lame when it comes standing up and screaming at a concert.  It didn't help that I was sober.  Anyway, AC/DC is very good live.  They played a two hour set.  I think this was their last stop on their North American Tour.

Yes, I'm still unemployed.  The closest I've been to a job was with Reader's Digest.  They said they wanted to hire me, but that they went with someone who used to work there instead.  It was a matter of a known vs. an unknown entity.  For all I know, that's what they tell all the candidates who don't get the job, but I think they were sincere about it.  Have an interview in Stamford tomorrow with GenRe.  Bad commute for me, and I'd have to wear a suit, but I'm guessing they probably pay well.

4/5/2001 - haven't been running hardly at all due to left hip/back problem.  Despite all this, it looks like I'm going to be on the cover of a Running Times due out this summer.  Ironic, years ago I would look at the cover of RT and Runner's World and think "what's he/she doing on the cover?  Why don't they put someone good - someone like me on there."  Now that I'm down and out as far as running goes, they put me up there.  I'm receiving the impression that it's not going to be all that flattering - painting me as a whiny malcontent who's all bitter about his failures, which is not too far from the truth.  No matter, Adidas will like that I'm on the cover, and people have short memories about that kind of thing.  Besides, I'm just a distance runner; it's not as if the whole world will be out there pointing at me like I was Andre Agassi when I go to buy groceries.

2/18/01 - Rowed 7:17.5 for 2000m in the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.  We bought an indoor rowing machine for the home.  I'm hoping this will help my running by helping a little with the upper body and back strength.  As of this point, I've maybe rowed on these things maybe a dozen times and so far I like it.  If I notice any big changes in my condition as a runner over the next six months, I'll be sure to recommend it as a training aid, or just something different for those of you who want to try a new aerobic activity.  Of course, you never see the Kenyans using these things, so I'm a little skeptical as to whether or not it will help, but I try to be open-minded with my training.  You can check out my purchase at The Concept2 Web Site.  

For those of you interested in my job search, I've had two interviews with near-by companies so far, and I thought they were both good matches, but I haven't heard back yet from either one.  They both say they'll have a better idea by 2/23.  Both jobs involve Lotus Notes/Domino development.  Job hunting in the IT industry can be a strange experience.  I'd say the barriers to entry in this industry are higher than in most industries.  I can't think of another business where the old "no experience no job" Catch-22 applies quite as much.  Sure there are plenty of hoops you have to jump through in other professions as well to get started, but at least there's usually some sort of career path you can follow.  Not so in my line of work.  Say you want to be a UNIX Admin.  I've got enough experience to install and configure just about any flavor of UNIX out there, create accounts, get NFS going, get a web server running, whatever is needed, but I'm no guru.  If I were hired as a UNIX admin, I'd probably be able to do whatever was required at first, and become very proficient within six months of hire, but no, the powers that be would rather let that job go unfilled for six months until they find "the right person."  Meanwhile, the peg-in-a-hole person they hire may or may not be any good.  Every company does this, including the one I just left, and I really liked a lot of things about the company I just left.  I used to read internal job postings, and it seemed the only job I was qualified for was the job I already had.  "Must be 19 years old and have 20 years experience" they'd read.  Once I came across an ad saying you need 2+ years experience with Domino R5.  Well, that software was released March 1999 and it was January 2001, so you do the math on the odds of finding someone with that qualification.  If I sound bitter, I'm not.  My skills are up-to-date, and I think I'm good at what I do, so I'll find something good one of these days.  Meanwhile the folks where I used to work still call with questions sometimes (thus far I've been accommodating since I'm not one to burn bridges and they're my friends) and my wife wants me to take a break from working, and just hang at home for a while.  We'll see.

2/13/01 - My wife has encouraged me to row.  As such, I'm entering the St. Valentine's Day Massacre this Saturday.

2/7/2001 - Japan trip to run Ohme-Ochi race is out.  The BAA, who sends top american runners to this race every year (as chronicled in Bill Rogers' book "Marathoning"), felt it was important that they send competitive athletes and not just tourists.  Just as well.  I can't run, and it would have been embarrassing.  Updated my brain.

1/23/2001 - I'm in trouble.  Three weeks until I go to Japan for the Ohme-Ochi race and my right hamstring is just not cooperating.  I'm guessing I'm a couple of months from actually running normally.  Kids, if you're in such a situation - don't compete.  Naturally I won't be taking my own advice.  This will probably be my only chance to go to Japan ever, so I'm going.  The tickets have already been bought.

1/11/2001 - Just got laid off.  If I wasn't so injured, I'd say this was an opportunity to train, but I'm not sure how much good it will do me.  As of 1/31, I'm out of work.  No big deal.  The job market is good in my field (resume)  We had known my company (NETZ) was struggling for a while.  It's sad that it ended this way.  We used to be called MECA, makers of Managing Your Money (MYM); the first personal financial management software out there.  MECA was even given an award by the Smithsonian for our pioneering role in the software industry.  MECA got killed out of that market by Quicken, and has survived these past few years by writing custom banking and web-banking software.  Some of you out there no doubt still use MYM.  If you have an account with NationsBank, PNC Bank, or Bank of America, you still can get it for probably only $4.95 S&H.  The last time were were called MECA was May of 1999.  We were then purchased by Concentrex who was purchased by John Harland who sold us to Netzee.  Netzee then closed the MECA site in CT after financial struggles of it's own resulting primarily from the dot-com fallout (lack of patience for a company that's not making any money).  Netzee has a 50-50 shot at surviving or being a nice acquisition for another company one day.

    Sick of my help desk job at IBM, I interviewed at MECA in 1996.  I knew I wanted to work there when my boss-to-be told me he was excited about the company changing locations because it meant that he would be able to ride his bicycle to work.  Anyone who rides a bicycle to work must be cool.  It wasn't a stress-free environment, but I stayed until the end because of the casual atmosphere, the talented people, and the fact that it worked out for my training.  I could leave at 4 PM each day in the winter and go running before the sun set.  Of course, I still had to come back and finish an 8 hour day, but people usually were very accommodating to me and my training schedule.  I had enough vacation time to go to races, and once my boss' boss let it slide when I had taken two too many for the year.  My only complaint would be the commute, which, at 40 minutes, was not awful, but still that's 80 minutes a day sitting in your car.  I don't expect to have such a good work situation again any time soon.

1/4/2001 - FWIW, updated training page.  Recovery from this one is very slow, but I'll be there in a couple of months.  Meanwhile, I have to make a decision soon because I am planning on doing the Ohme-Ochi 30K in Japan in Feb.  You may recall I thought I might have had a "sportsman's" hernia back in August, and the doctor said I didn't have it.  Well, now for sure, I've been diagnosed with an umbilical hernia.  It's a small knot just to the left of my navel.  At first, I thought it was a stubborn zit, but evidently it isn't.  Doc wants me to keep an eye on it.  Probably won't require surgery.  Regular hernias almost always do require surgery.

11/28/2000 - No defense of my Cal International Title for me.  Still haven't been able to run a step since 11/18 so I went to a doctor (MD).  He said I had pulled my hamstring where it attaches to the tendon on the inside of my knee.  Prescription - physical therapy (ultrasound, heat, stretching, etc...).  I guess I'll go since I'm not occupied with much of anything else these days, but those of you who know me know I can't stand physical therapists.  I expect the usual lecture about stretching (yes, I stretch all the time, pretty much constantly, but I still got this injury, so there) accompanied by remarks about how tight my right hamstring is and why can't I get it past vertical on the stretch-o-meter?  Oh, gee, you mean I got this injury because my hamstring is tight?  Hmmm, that never occurred to me.  With an attitude like mine, how could any amount of PT be effective?  The only thing possibly worse is a dental hygenist.  Let me just say I saw this coming, stretched all the time, held back in my training, got massages on that spot regularly, and here I am anyway, on the doorstep of my 34th birthday limping around.  2000 has sucked much for me.  It's times like this that make me want to borrow Queen Elizabeth's "Annus Horriblus" speech.  One more year of effort.  If 2001 is anything like 2000, I will borrow a line from Joe McVeigh and say "I'm not good enough to retire.  I quit."

11/23/2000 - Had a great workout this past Saturday, then I took a nap, then after my second run, I could barely straighten my right knee.  Haven't run since Saturday (it's Thursday now).  This is bad.  It's getting a little better every day, but I'll have to make a decision about running in California this weekend.  Usually when I get hurt like this, it's bad for a couple of days, then I wake up and I'm fine again.  This time, it's little-by-little better, but still not fine.  Couldn't run the Southport, CT race I usually do on Thanksgiving day.  Taking naproxin-sodium twice a day.  Using Arnica.

11/6/2000 - Disappointing result for me at Tarzan Brown.  Continuing with plans to run California International Marathon on 12/3.  Skunky made Pet of the Day on Nov 1.

11/1/2000 - Running in the Tarzan Brown 5.5 mile race this Sunday.  Will be quoted in the Friday, 11/3 Wall Street Journal on the odd eating habits of marathoners.

10/16/2000 - Skunky the Pig says Happy Halloween.

10/4/2000 - I'm training again.  Hoping to defend my California International Marathon title.  People have asked my take on the Olympic Marathon results, so here it is.  The marathon is difficult to predict. It's a crapshoot almost. Usually the favorite finishes somewhere in the top 5 or 10, but rarely wins. I thought Rod DeHaven would finish top 20 or 30, but not crack the top 10. As happens to many marathoners from time to time, Rod had a bad day. Even Bill Rogers once dropped out of the Boston Marathon. It's very difficult to plan months in advance to guarantee a good performance on a single day. It's not like basketball, where you're playing twice a week and have plenty of chances to redeem yourself. This is why we should always try to fill the team as best we can. If we, the US, had sent three runners in the men's marathon to The Olympics, then one or two of us could have a bad day, and the third person might have come through with a good performance. Khalid might have even gotten a medal (since Khalid did not participate in the US Marathon Trials, he was ineligible for The Olympic Team, however, that's just a USATF rule.  If USATF could have gotten off of its high horse for a day, they could have added Khalid to The Team along with me and Dave Morris). This is exactly the case I made to USATF in January. It was like talking to a wall.  USATF is a very "top-down" autocratic organization if ever there was one.  As for the women's 1500m, that's an interesting story about her being on anti-inflammatories, and how they dehydrated her to the point where she blacked out.  I've been relying on Advil as I get older, so I'll keep that in mind.  Seems like six Aleve is a lot though.  I can't see myself ever taking that much.  Well, those are all the distance races I was able to see, so that's all I'll say.

9/19/00 - I visited Dr. Andrew Boyarsky at UMDNJ in New Brunswick, NJ last week, and he determined I did not have what's called a "sportsman's hernia."  Too bad.  A hernia is easy to treat and recovery is quick.  He couldn't determine the cause of my problem, which is this sort of knot in my groin area that makes it hard to lift my left leg.  Checking out last year's training log, I'm going back to an all-distance no speedwork program.  It worked pretty well then.

Also, I couldn't help but notice that the winner of the Australian Men's Marathon Trials is someone named Rod De Highden.  The winner of the US Marathon Trials is Rod DeHaven.  Coincidence?  I'm not so sure.  As I watch these Olympics, I can't help but feel that I put far more into this running "career" than I got out of it, or ever will get out of it.  I know I'm beating a dead horse, but hey, it's my web site, and I'll drone on about it if I want to.  I think of the guys who changed the rules at the last minute that kept me off of The Olympic Team.  Then I think of the South Park episode where Eric Cartman goes on a tear across the country trying to reverse the outcome of the civil war.  He writes letters back home detailing his battles.  "Know this.." he would say; "I hate you guys....I, I hate you guys so much..." 

8/25/00 - I'm still running, just not training at a very high level right now.  This is unlike 1996 when, left of the 10,000 meter team from the Atlanta Olympics, I was actually in great shape, and probably would have done well at The Games.  Some of you may have noticed that one of everyone's all time favorite runners, Suzy Favor Hamilton, has her own web site now.  Everyone has attempted a web site, but few have compared with this one.  Libbie Hickman's and Lynn Jennings' were both big flops IMHO.  This calls for a comparison with SuzyFavorHamilton.com.

Suzy wins 6-5 using this table, but It's more like 10-5 if you factor in extra points for the photo page.  Then again, I've got the pig.  Me and Eric Cartman have the coolest pets.

8/14/00 - Edit that again.  Can't run in Falmouth.  Probably won't be racing for a while.  My latest theory on my injuries is that I have a hard-to-diagnose condition known as Sportman's hernia (downloads a PDF file).  Winner of suggestions contest below is guy who told me to dress up like Gumby, since most people I talked to liked it.  Although I did appreciate the cell phone rant at the end (sounds like something I might write myself), it seemed too bitter.

8/3/00 - Edit that.  Can't run tonight in Hartford.  Problems with left ham/adductor have been getting worse.

8/1/00 - Running the Medspan 5K this Thursday 8/3/00 in Hartford.  Planning a run at the Falmouth Road Race.

7/31/2000 - Got plenty of suggestions on how to make myself more better for the print media (poetic license).  Now I have to pick a winner.  Here's a sampling.  I'll pick a winner soon.  BTW, Scott went home, so contest is closed.

1) Be an at home nudist.  2) Only play opera on your stereo really loud, all the time.  3) Start breeding pot belly pigs.  4) Discuss your plans for running around the world to raise money for a charity of your choice.  5) Tell them how you plan on being cryogenically preserved after death until a cure for your predicament is discovered. So you can be revived and live forever.

Yea...MOVE somewhere else.  Away from family and friends.  Like to the mountains.  Quit your job and all that security.  Start over in a new city.

Greet him at the door dressed like Gumby, Elvis, Captain Hook, etc. and invite him out for a run. Tell him that your only interest right now is doing costumed themed races, that you're goals are to be the "fastest Elvis, etc, and that you must wear these clothes always to " simulate race conditions" a tactic suggested in the book he co-wrote with Pete Pfitzinger.  ED - This was the winner.

When finished with the run, get a cigarette and light it (your choice whether to inhale or not) and say "You know I think Roger Bannister was right about those 25 mile weeks." Then show him the week in your log where you only did 14 miles.( everybody needs a break now and again)

When he mentions the Olympic Trials fiasco cry uncontrolably and scream "No, No, Now I'll never get to meet Stacy Dragila."

When he asks you about your training ask him " So, what do you think Stacey Dragila is doing right now?"( She's probably making another commercial)

Dress your pig up in a T-shirt and pin a race number on him and then proudly tell Mister Douglas " He may look big, but you should see his sprint speed. You wanna race him across the yard?"

How "interesting" do you want to be? If the chicks won't fly, I know a guy (a lawyer and 24:30ish 5M guy) who used to run with a mesh tank top with a huge zipper pocket in the back. He would put in these runs scouring the ground for cigarette wrappers to send in for free stuff. By the end of a 20 miler he'd look like the hunch back of Notre Dame (sp?).....He tells the story much better.....I thought it was hysterical.  Tell him you are very afraid of West Nile Virus and run in netting.  ED - this might have won had it been told by the lawyer guy who tells it better.

I suggest you dress as an indian swami with a turban and talk of some far-out philosophy that says your lates running is not failure but a metaphysical route to enlightenment. Heavy stuff.  Speaking of enlightenment.....Polish chicks.....should be illegal to have bodies like that and move them so sensuously in front of any married men.

How about getting them to do a feature article on you at http://www.failuremag.com?  By the way, you're not a loser.  ED - not a bad idea.

Get a white sheet, cut a hole in the middle, and wear it like a tunic. And no shoes. Find a 5 gallon plastic bucket, and beat it like a drum. Then start talking about listening to trees, the wind, the grass, the dirt, etc.  Then explain how that helps you run faster.  Hey, it works for that Stanford kid...  ED - yes, he falls into the "weird for the sake of being weird" category.  I much prefer people who are genuinely weird.

Joe: Here is a suggestion to impress the folks from Running Times...just do as the rest of the "important people" do.  have your cell phone at your ear consistently, then as you have appeared to have ended one call, set the ringer to go off as to appear that you are well connected and have answers to info tech problems, the solutions to the stupidity at USATF, etc ...or whatever else you can imagine.  I am sure you have observed the scenario at the grocery store... in a movie theatre...at a restaurant...parents on the phone at their kid's soccer game...the soccer mom blabbing in the minivan not paying attention as she wheels out into traffic.  In fact the other day I was running at a state park on some trails, and a mother with her two young boys with whom it appeared she was taking a nature walk with to the fishing pond, had the cell phone to her head, not paying one bit of attention to what her little guys were doing, and yakking away... My observation after reviewing this type of behavior was wow...maybe they have the answer to the Y2K glitch, or have immediately found the cure for cancer. ..Maybe by presenting yourself in this fashion, perhaps the media will think that us runner types are as connected, arrogant and obnoxious as the football and hockey heads they admire.

7/27/2000 - Scott Douglas of "Scott Speaks" fame will be visiting for the next couple of days.  Seems he's writing an article for Running Times.  Don't know why they're interested.  At this point, I'm only fit to be put on the cover of "Loser Monthly."  That's actually a magazine concept of mine - something that covers blunders and people who were recently doing well who just crashed.  Not just runners and athletes, but politicians, businesspeople, etc...  Anyway, does anyone have any ideas for how I could make myself more interesting and newsworthy?  Last time this happened, someone suggested having lots of hot chicks drop by.  I've been married since, so that wouldn't fly this time.  Best suggestion gets sent some article of Adidas clothing (jacket or long sleeve or something like that).

Press Release on Nipguards endorsement

5/10/2000 - Port mortem journal in Runner's World Daily

5/3/2000 - Third journal published on Runner's World Daily along with interview.

4/26/2000 - Second journal published on Runner's World Daily.

4/19/2000 - First Olympic Trials Marathon Journal published on Runner's World Daily

7/5/200 - Just finished a pair of 5000 meter races on the track, 14:34 and 14:32.  I won't be competing in the US Olympic Trials for 10,000 meters.  My application for the event was rejected with no qualifying time, and they didn't go for the "plausible event" rule, saying the marathon doesn't count.  Just as well.  I haven't been doing the work to run a good 10,000 so I may as well stay home.  Next up I'm going to assist my wife run the Vermont 100 miler.  

6/6/2000 - was mentioned in Track & Field News as being most unlucky guy in the letters section.  It's quite an honor.  The letters section is always one of the first parts I read.  Here's what they said.  Also, spent the weekend cutting a tree out of my driveway.  We had a mini-tornado here in CT and we lost power for 40 hours.  Funny thing - when you're in a disaster, you can't watch any coverage of it on TV.

5/18/2000 - From what I can tell based on the email I get, readership of this web page is mostly male, but, on the off-chance that you're a woman, please take the time to help my wife with a quick 11 question survey.  Results to be published in Glamour Magazine.  Readers of Glamour will recognize the survey as vintage Glamour Style, so forgive us for that (i.e. we didn't write it).  Just click here, copy the text, and paste it into an email with your answers to joe@joelemay.com.  Shouldn't take more than 5 mintues.  Answers will be kept confidential.  It's due by Monday 5/22 so if you can get it in by Sunday, that would be great.

3/23/2000 - "We do not have three qualifiers, only two, one of which is only 5 seconds under the standard run on a down hill course." - Dan Grimes, USATF chairman of Men's Long Distance Running Committee.

Hey, excuse me for making the effort.  I thought running under the 2:14:00 Olympic Games A Standard would be a good thing regardless.  I'm pretty much tired about talking about the "protect the champion" rule.  Everything I've written on the subject has been archived to my brain section.

As long as we're on the topic, I must say I'm not a big fan of down hill courses.  Almost invariably a net down hill course will have quite a bit of uphill in it.  Although the California International Marathon is a net drop, it rolls quite a bit in the first ten miles.  I ran that particular race largely because of the convenient date.  Some summer injuries had thrown my schedule off such that I couldn't run Chicago.  Cal or Philadelphia were the only options out there.  Also, I had run the race before so I knew the course, and the weather is usually OK.   Most of you know The Boston Marathon is a big down hill event, but anyone who's run that course would hesitate to call it "aided."  The hills you have to run up from 16 to 21 are really tough, and it's the down side of Heartbreak Hill that's the really tough part.  My quads were going "ouch ouch ouch" with each step down that thing.  All the fastest times in the world these days are being run on flat courses:  Rotterdam, Berlin, Chicago.

In the spirit of winter, some borrowed snowmen humor from Bill Watterson

Got married on September 11.  You're invited to take a look at my wedding photos, just one click from the wedding page.