Training Log Archive: cedarcreek

First run in a long time. One-hill route with a loop of the rec center. Felt slow and out-of-shape for the first 3km or so. Then, the song M&Ms by Blink 182 popped up (in shuffle mode), and I just wanted to *run fast now*. So I took off, and discovered that the first 20 seconds or so is manic, and then it slows down and leaves you hanging. I couldn't keep up the pace, so I finished the run with 3 random-length intervals where I'd run really fast, then walk, hit the back button, and then go all out for as long as I could. "All out" is probably hyperbole---It was maybe 6min/mile, maybe a little faster. I'm paying for it with the feeling of ripped muscle fibers, but I felt that before I hit the cool song.

I've had a pretty good weekend considering. Considering I got rear-ended on the interstate on Friday, and my used Jetta, which I've had about 2 months, is most likely totalled. It had to be towed away because it wasn't driveable. I got hit from behind, and the impact pushed me into the car in front of me (there was a backup due to an earlier wreck), so my car got it from both ends. Of three cars and four occupants, there were no apparent injuries, although I've been really sore for two days.



I'm actually looking for another Jetta (assuming this one gets totalled). I felt this one took really good care of me in the accident. (If you click through that photo, there are more photos.)

I've seen at least 8 movies since my last entry, but I'll only mention one right now:

Sicko (1): I was one of the people who vowed to never pay to see Fahrenheit 911. It really pained me to do that because I'm such a big Michael Moore fan. I loved loved loved "Roger and Me". I loved "Bowling for Columbine", except for his blindsiding of Charlton Heston. That one is a little tough to explain, because I think a lot of points he tried to make in BFC are just completely vacuous. An example is the way he tries to draw a moral connection between the bombing of Bosnia (?) by the US and the act of the two killers at Columbine.

Anyway, back to Sicko. I loved it. I agree with more than I disagree with. But in the days since I saw it, I just kept thinking about all the arguments we heard at the begining of the Clinton presidency. I'm not sure Sicko addresses any of the serious issues that need to be answered to make big changes to US Healthcare possible. Michael Moore admitted as much. He said this is his movie, and he put in it what he wants to put on the screen. I respect that. He leaves a lot out, and tries to slip in some apples-to-oranges comparisons.

My personal view of politics and elections in the US is that it acts like a pendulum. It swings back and forth, and specifically never approaches a median point. This means it rarely produces true compromises, or anything like an optimum compromise. It tends to lock in a lean to the left or right, and tends to changes in big swings rather than little tweaks.

This movie really impacted my thinking. I've started to research other countries' systems, and proposals to improve ours. Right after I saw Sicko, I heard and read mostly attacks against Sicko. But as I've been searching out more, I've been finding a lot of very good discussions about health care, including a lot of the details that Moore left out.

Going back to my pendulum analogy, unless the Republicans pull out a miracle in 2008, the pendulum is going to swing to the far left, and there is going to be not only a mandate to change health care, but the votes to get it done. I think we as Americans should be learning what we can and paying attention for when the health care debates start again.

I agree with Moore that it reflects badly on America that we essentially deny poor people even basic health care. We are better than that. I'll go one up on Sicko and say that I think our lack of a social net is hurting our economy.