Back from Xmas travels

I'm finally back in Bensalem after a week of traveling for Christmas. It was a good time. I drove down to Baltimore on Christmas Eve and did some hiking down at Patapsco. I met some family members at the pavilion there, and we got a fire going and cooked some hot dogs and marshmallows. Perfect WX - overcast and chilly but no rain. The hike back to the car was a little muddy, but that was just a minor blemish on an otherwise great outing. Christmas Day was spent visiting with the family, first a turkey dinner on my mom's side, then Chinese food with my dad's. I drove up to my brother's place on the 26th and stayed there until yesterday, which is also when my parents headed back home to Iowa. It was a very nice vacation. Got in some visiting, running, eating (a lot of that), and relaxing. And I'm still on vacation, so I look forward to catching up on some work that needs to be done around the apartment.

Year in review: reading

As an avid reader, I thought it would be interesting to look back on some of the books I read this year. I ended up reading a total of 11 novels in 2008, averaging less than one a month. Some of those were old favorites that I'd already read a few times, but there were also some new ones that were good. Here's a list of my top 5 novels that I read for the first time this year:

5. White Fang by Jack London - I've always been fascinated by Alaska, and since I got to travel up there this year, it was an appropriate time for me to read this book. It focuses on the life of a wolf, starting out in the wild but eventually being tamed by Native Americans and passed from owner to owner.

4. The Client by John Grisham - This thriller is about a young boy who accidentally stumbles upon a lawyer in the process of committing suicide. Before killing himself, he tells the boy where one of his clients, a man accused of murder, hid the body. Soon the boy receives death threats and becomes very cautious about what he reveals in court when called to the stand. The Client was also made into a movie, which I watched after reading the book.

3. QB VII by Leon Uris - The tale of a 1960s trial about one man suing another for writing a book that includes a sentence naming him as a surgeon who committed war crimes in a Nazi concentration camp. Although it is a libel trial, it soon feels like the accuser is the accused as many camp survivors take the stand against him and put forth some horrifying revelations. It becomes a moral battle and a question of what is and isn't right to do in extreme circumstances during wartime. A fascinating read.

2. Shogun by James Clavell - Taking place around 1600, this is the story of a European man named Blackthorne who is stranded in Japan. He quickly learns the Japanese way of life and even falls in love with a Japanese woman, although she is already married. Blackthorne is imprisoned more than once and must decide whom to support when different Japanese factions go to war. His ultimate goal is to return to his ship and sail back to Europe, but the Japanese won't let him go.

1. North and South by John Jakes - The saga of a couple of families, the Mains and the Hazards, in the years leading up to the American Civil War. The Mains are southern; the Hazards are from the north. As the relations between the North and the South deteriorate, the two families try their best to remain friends. This is the first novel of a trilogy, and I definitely plan to read the other two books.

Year in review: running

2008 was definitely not one of my greatest years running-wise. I started up very slowly in January and February before hurting my Achilles, which compelled me to take off a couple of months. The pain never really went away, but I started running again in May. Concerned about both my Achilles and my knee, I increased my mileage very slowly. By June it had gotten hot enough that I decided to run in the morning, before work, when it was a bit cooler. Consequently, I was unable to put in any long runs during the week since I had to be home in time to shower, eat, get dressed, and go to work. I supposed I could have just gotten up earlier, but at the time I was also unsure I could handle long runs due to the Achilles pain. So, it was a low mileage summer.

When September rolled around, I was still running in the morning, but on the weekends I'd try to do a long run of about 10 miles. This continued for only about two weeks before my Achilles flared up again and caused me pain just to walk on it. I took off another week, after which I resumed training but only had a couple of weeks before the Baltimore half-marathon. It was pretty much a disaster. I ran close to 8-minute pace for the first 4 miles, but after that I just felt completely dead. It was so bad I had to walk near the end. When it was over, I felt glad that I'd decided not to run the JFK this year.

I took a week off after the race and then started up again, this time with no particular race as a goal. I had wanted to run some of the JFK with my brother, so I tried to step up my mileage. I had a couple of weeks of over 30 miles, but I think I pushed myself too much, resulting in me getting sick. For a period of about a week I felt congested and a little weak, and I'm sure I exacerbated the problem by continuing to run. I ended up not running any of the JFK at all, so I took off a week after that to recoup.

Now it's December, and this is shaping up to be my best month of the year. No health problems, and steady mileage. I hope this is a good omen for 2009. As of today, my total mileage for 2008 is 683.2. Don't know whether that's good or bad, but I had sure hoped to have more.

Sixers win with a late surge

I missed most of the Sixers game last night, only tuning in when there were a few seconds left in the 4th quarter. But I caught the post-game show to get the gist of it. The Sixers trailed for most of the game until the final quarter, when they outscored the Bucks 26-15 and ended up winning the game. The bad news is that somewhere along the line, Elton Brand dislocated his shoulder. It sounded like a pretty gruesome injury, and I read later that he'll be out for a month because of it, so that's not good. At least the Sixers came away with the win. Next up is Washington tomorrow night.

Eagles top the Browns

Apparently a Philadelphia sports team can beat Cleveland -- it's just not the Sixers. In the Monday night game last night, the Eagles took on the Browns at home and posted a solid 30-10 victory. I heard a little bit of the game on the radio but, as usual, fell asleep well before the end. The Eagles now have a record of 8-5-1 with two games remaining. Not too bad. They can put themselves in playoff contention by winning those games, so it will definitely be interesting to see what happens.

A favorite running loop, part III

On Wednesday evening I was looking to put in about 5 miles of running, so I went with a favorite loop of mine that's about 5.1 miles. The bulk of this run is in residential areas, which is why I like it so much. Not a lot of traffic. I start out by heading into the neighborhood right behind my apartment complex and taking that out to Street Rd. At that point I encounter a light, which usually makes me stop for a minute or so, but then I'm on my way. On the other side, I'm back in residential territory. I turn at Virginia Ave and run parallel to Street Rd for as long as I can before turning right on Bowman Ave. I take that to the end and loop back on the parallel Ogden Ave (which always makes me think of Ogden Nash... I wonder why?). Heading home, I retrace my footsteps along Virginia Ave, recross Street Rd, and come home the short way by staying on Brookwood to Hulmeville. This adds a little variety. I also run this loop backwards quite often, usually when I've just recently run it forwards. It's a good loop for this time of the year, because the dark does not present any particular problems. There are lights along the residential streets, and it's very easy to see and hear approaching cars. I'm sure I'll traverse this course quite a few more times before spring.

Cavs drop Sixers

The Sixers had yet another loss last night, this time at the hands of the Cavaliers. The Cavs have an awesome team, so I'm not going to complain about it. Unfortunately, the Sixers are now well below 500 with a 9-13 record. And it doesn't help that their next game tomorrow is also against Cleveland. But after that, they're scheduled to face Washington a couple of times and also Milwaukee. These are games that the Sixers should definitely win, so I look forward to seeing if they can actually do that and inch a little closer to the 500 mark.

Eagles upset Giants

I didn't watch the Eagles game yesterday, so I can't really comment on it extensively, but I thought it was definitely noteworthy that they upset the first place Giants. The Eagles came into the game with a mediocre 6-5 record (and one tie) while the Giants were flying high at 11-1. But the Eagles managed to outscore them 10-7 in the first half and do the same thing in the second, winning the game 20-14. I should probably start to get interested in football since the playoffs are coming up soon, but right now I'm apathetic. I'm sure that will change once the season is over.

A win in Detroit, a loss to the Nets

More Sixers action these past couple of days. They beat the Pistons in Detroit Friday night after trailing through the first half. I was listening to the game and fell asleep during halftime (or maybe before?), thinking that it was a nice try, but the Sixers couldn't win. The next morning I found out they'd played an excellent second half and ended up with the victory. Then last night they took on the Nets at home and lost. So they are now 9-12, and on Wednesday they face Cleveland, which will be quite a challenge to say the least.

Lakers continue their winning ways

The Sixers finally chalked up a win Tuesday night in Chicago. I listened to some of the game on the radio, and they seemed to have a comfortable lead when I fell asleep. The next morning I discovered that the game had gone into overtime, but the Sixers still ended up winning by a score of 103-95. It was a win they needed badly, especially since the Lakers came to town last night. With a record of 14-2, they had just come off an upset loss to the Pacers the night before. I was skeptical about the Sixers chances of winning, but I still held out hope. Unfortunately, it was not to be. They put up a good fight, but Kobe Bryant stole the show and led the Lakers to a 114-102 victory. I am not disappointed since this was an expected loss. But the Sixers need to start winning against mediocre teams. Next up is Detroit, a team that is better than mediocre, but there's still an opportunity for the Sixers to notch up another win. We'll find out Friday night.

Sixers lose third in a row

I returned from Thanksgiving vacation to discover that the Sixers had dropped a couple of games while I was gone. So, with a record of 7-9, they took on the Bulls last night at home. It was a 5pm game, so I listened to some of it on the radio. The Sixers had a small lead at halftime, but in the 3rd quarter they were outscored 31-11 by the Bulls. Not sure why they completely fell apart, but after that the Bulls cruised to a 103-92 victory. So the Sixers now have a record of 7-10. Their next game is against the Bulls again, but in Chicago Tuesday night. I hope they can put a stop to this three-game skid.