Why I Run and Why I "Drive Slow"

My dad and I after a Pirates game - cool dudes

People often ask me why I run marathons. It’s a fairly unique hobby that I have, and most of my friends and colleagues have never even considered participating in one. They always want to know what is appealing to me about running 26.2 miles. I answer: I run because I can.
            I don't run because I love it, lord knows that's not the reason. Many days I have to talk myself into completing each and every mile. I have to fight the urge to quit and do something I’d prefer, but I keep going. Love would not be the word I use to describe my relationship with running; it would be more like tolerate.
           I don't run because I'm good at it. If you were to look at the top finishers in the newspaper on Monday morning, I'd be somewhere at the bottom of the article with Thelma the 70 year old grandmother. It's true, I get passed by old ladies by mile 20 and while this is a great tribute to "Thelma", it's terribly humbling to Matt the 28 year old runner.
           I run because I can.
          Steve Prefontaine said "to give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift". I'm able to run long distances (somehow), so I should. Not everyone is lucky enough to experience running a marathon - or sing, or paint. But if you can, you should; gifts are to be cherished. If you have a family, you should spend time with them, and if you have something, you should not take it for granted. In life, nothing is promised.
         My dad always told us, "drive slow" before we left the house. To him, it was just sound advice for the operation of a motor vehicle. To us, it always meant more. It meant enjoy the moment you're in. Often times in the marathon of life, we zone out , miss the moment, and focus too much on the finish lines. It's important to enjoy each step of each mile because you don't know what you could be missing. Sure, sometimes you're passing the proverbial porta-potties, but often times there is something more out there to notice, and it's a shame if you don't. 

Cousin Jill with me at the finish line in Chicago

In June 2009, my dad was diagnosed with cancer, so when I ran the Chicago Marathon on October 11, 2009, I did it in his honor. We never know when running is no longer possible, and to that point, when anything is no longer possible for us. I ran that race because I could, and because he, like so many others suffering from disease, could not. Making the most of what life has given me is a lesson that I will always carry with me thanks to my father. This Sunday at the Jersey Shore Half Marathon, I will run in his memory.  Sometimes it means running a marathon, other times it means taking a chance on graduate school and learning new things. Whatever my next adventure is, I’ll be sure to “drive slow”. I’ve learned its okay that I run that way too.
Drive Slow.

Cousin Chris knows what's up

An idiotic trend that shows no signs of stopping

Watergate - ok

It seems ubiquitous at this point. You turn on the TV or pick up a newspaper and see a headline referring to the latest scandal:

"Mitt Romney's Newest Mini-Headache: 'Cookiegate'" (Link)


Give me a break. The guy made a bad joke about cookies (incidentally from a bakery in my home town - the cookies are ok, but come on)

It seems that any time there is any kind of wrong-doing, a title is attached to it, and more often than not, it's a word with "-gate" after it.

Fistbumpgate - Not ok.

This is both lazy and idiotic.

It stems from the Watergate scandal, which refers to the Nixon administration's break-in at the Watergate complex in Washington DC, to spy on the Democratic National Committee. The scandal lead to Nixon's eventual resignation in 1974. Clearly this was a major political event, but it set off a chain of lunacy that still exists today.  It had nothing to do with "water"; it was literally the name of the place where the break in occurred. This apparently has given people free-reign to apply "-gate" to anything and have it be known that it indicates some sort of transgression. The list of scandals with the suffix "-gate" from the last 40 years is too long for me to list, but lucky for you, Wikipedia did it (here).

Simply adding "-gate" to a word needs to stop. But in the mean time, at least there are some ones that are so bad, that you just have to laugh. For your consideration, "Terrorist Fist Bump Gate"

Which scandal names do you find ridiculous/amusing?

Drive Slow

An Ad that Shows Both Sides of Running

Running is a very polarizing sport. Some people really love it. We like to call those people insane. Some, myself included, have a more complex relationship with the sport - let's say that this group "tolerates" it. We know it's good for us, when we are in a groove or when we finish, we feel good about it - but it's not a "love" situation.

Nike's new Advertisement for their Nike Free shoes depicts a couple literally running to each other. The gal is coming from Los Angeles and the guy is in New York City. They are singing about their journey, the girl in pink Nikes, the guy in another running shoe. The girl is the typical "loves to run" sort of person. There is sunshine all around her, it looks effortless and the only thing missing are song birds landing on her shoulder.

The guy - I'm this guy. He starts out excited, drinks a raw egg like "Rocky" (people actually do this?) and heads out at breakneck speed. HE LOVES TO RUN! RARRRRRRRRR!

Soon though, as is oft to happen, he feels a cramp. Then he slows down. Then he feels like vomiting.

The ad is really about how running in Nike shoes help the girl run from LA to NYC, while the guy not wearing Nike shoes ends up passing out in Washington Square under the arch and ending up in a hospital, never getting out of New York.

Ok, so the message is, "wear Nike shoes, and you'll have a better run". Got it. But  I just like the fact that this ad is showing both ends of the running spectrum. Not all of us are awesome at running like this girl - but that's alright - just get out there and give it a shot. Just try to not hurt yourself!

Drive Slow

How Not to Resign

Maybe Jerry should have just left "Flipper" behind

  I would have never sent this email out (below), but I sort of love it. It's honest and to the point, but at the end of the day, you just can't burn bridges like this. I mean, it worked out for Jerry McGuire, but unless this guy has Rod Tidwell (played by Cuba Gooding Jr) waiting for him on the other side, this is a bit foolish. Hopefully the feedback is taken and both parties can move on in a meaningful way, but realistically, this person will be seen as disgruntled and written off. In a perfect world (which we don't live in) Every point of feedback should be considered, especially the negative ones - it's the only way to get better.

Just remember, if you're going to resign, maybe it's not a bad idea to leave the "goldfish" behind.

As always, Drive Slow

**********************************************

Greetings Colleagues,

Friday will be my last day with [Company] and I wanted to send out a quick note to all those that I have worked so closely with over the past 4 years.  

In the immortal words of the Gambler (Kenny Rogers)……….’You gotta know when to hold em, know when to fold em, know when to walk away………know when to run’. 

Man, I see @ [Company] the strongest and smartest men & women who've ever lived.  I see all this potential, and I see squandering.  God damn it, an entire generation consolidating net cost change analytics, calculating full absorption, enforcing SOX controls, validating CIPs, holding business partners accountable, and formulating meaningless GBU inflation splits……….slaves with white collars.  Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy sh*t we don't need.  We're the middle children of history, man.  No purpose or place.  We have no Great War.  No Great Depression. Our Great War is war on cost....... our Great Depression is the yearly business planning process.  We've all been raised within [Company] to believe that one day we'd all be high potential seniors, and finance managers, and eventually the future CFO’s. But we won't.  And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off. 

It’s been an honor and pleasure to create efficiencies and drive value in order to ensure sustainable profitable capital growth with each and every one of you.        

Thanks

Spring in Washington Square

When I have class at NYU, I take the PATH to 9th street - which is a couple of blocks away from the Stern building. It's about a ten minute walk, but there is a treat in it for me each time - Washington Square Park.

I spend about 2 hours sitting on trains leading up to my walk, and before that I sit in an office all day. Getting a chance to enjoy a park, if only for a minute, is truly refreshing.

There are some characters that greet me each time with their unique talents. I've seen a gentleman in a wedding dress dancing around in circles - just spinning around and around. That was pretty fun. I also enjoy the guy who stands under the arch playing his banjo and playing a drum with his foot. I'm convinced he only knows one song, but he owns it. In the summer you'll see the fountain at the center of the park totally filled with kids enjoying the cool water.

Piano Player under the arch

Not to be out shined, the park itself is really quite nice, especially after the renovation it underwent last year. Plenty of benches for relaxing and lots of plants and trees to help one escape the concrete jungle.

 The best part is definitely the music though. There is a guy who wheels a grand piano under the arch to perform - and you thought  your messenger bag was difficult to tote? There is a summer concert series that I get to hear during my walk back to the train where singers, jazz bands and orchestras are featured - FOR FREE! The aforementioned banjo guy is also a lot of fun, and there are countless other performers who make the walk both unique and enjoyable.

There are also some pretty great sites to check out beyond the people - I get to see the progress of the Freedom Tower each day not to mention seeing the Empire State Building every night as I walk back to the train - not bad.

All in all, take the time to walk through a park, even if it's a little out of the way. You never know what you're going to see.

Drive Slow.

Checking out the the Freedom Tower

It's Official - I'm registered.

It took me some time to pull the trigger, but I'm now officially registered for the New York City Marathon in November.

I'm not going to lie, I am a little nervous - This will be my first marathon in 3 years. I've done a couple of halves in the mean time, but a full marathon is a different beast all together. It's this beast like quality that is going to serve as the fuel for my training fire.

For me, having a race in the books is the motivation I need to get my ass in gear. Is there any way I run 10 miles on Sunday if I didn't have a half marathon in a few weeks? No way. The beer in my fridge was far too cold and the sun far too hot. The motivation to do well in a competition was enough for me to get moving though.

I was following the Boston Marathon yesterday, and the opportunity to participate in another iconic event got me really excited. Not sure I'll be high up on the leader board, but it should be a good time.

Put something in the calendar, set a goal, make it known. You have to set a goal to be able to achieve it.

Drive slow

Longest Run Weekend

I did my longest run leading up to the Jersey Shore half marathon yesterday, and while it wasn't easy - I completed the distance. I did pretty much everything wrong leading up to the run, walking around for 10 hours the day before at an outlet mall and not getting enough water and nutrition that day being the biggest mistakes. Tip #1 - don't do that.

I felt like this yesterday

When doing your longest runs, there are a few other things to keep in mind:

1. LSD - If you're not doing Long Slow Distance, you're tripping. It's important to focus on getting the miles in, more so than going for speed. You need to train your legs to go a certain distance, speed comes from mid week training.
2. Dehydration - It got warm yesterday, faster than I would have hoped. I unfortunately began to feel a little dehydrated about 4 or so miles into my run. The bad news - I was doing a down and back so I was 4 miles away from home. It's critical to know the signs. If you're feeling lightheaded or thirsty, take it easy. I slowed down, took some walks and worked on getting water into me as best as I could. 
3. Sore Legs - It'll happen. As noted, I was walking literally all day on Saturday, so my legs were pretty worn out before I even started. oops. As I've stated in the past, it's important to listen to your body. Sore is different from pain - you can run through sore. I simply slowed to a reasonable pace until I felt warmed up.
4. Heat/Sun - Make sure to use sunscreen and a hat (I of course didn't and am now paying the price). This was not smart - always protect yourself from the sun!

All of the challenges that you face on your longest runs are experiences to take with you on race day. I can promise something will not go as planned, but if you've done a good job in preparing, and have contingency plans, you'll be in good shape to finish.

*Special shout out to Gretchen Burkhard who is participating in the Boston Marathon today with Team in Training. Her fundraising page can be found Here

Drive slow

As Drama Would Say, You'd Better Hydrate

Johnny Drama: Vince, You know my policy. Except for work, I only go to the Valley November through March. And even then, only to Sushi Row.
Vince: C'mon Johnny, go for me.
Drama: I'd better hydrate

I am getting into some longer runs now, and when the distance and time starts to go above 45mins to an hour, you'll want to focus more and more on hydration. Water is great, and it's good practice to drink it during the day. I find I feel 100x better working out and in general when I'm well hydrated. As it begins to get warmer, hydration becomes even more important and something you shouldn't overlook.

For longer and more intense workouts, water isn't enough though.

There are a ton of sports drinks out there today, and there is no one magic formula that will guarantee success. Everyone is different and it's critical to test out any new drink (any new anything for that matter) well before race day. I've tried a number of them and haven't quite found the "one" for me. A good thing to do is to see what is being offered at your race and try it out on a training run first. If it doesn't agree with your stomach, make sure not to grab it on race day. Some drinks like Accelerade have protein in them that can cause problems if you're sensitive to it. Your body is going to need nourishment, and it may seem counter-intuitive, but you'll want to take in some calories as you're running to maintain peak performance. 

I've used a lot of Gatorade in my day, and there is nothing wrong with it, but I can't help but think maybe there is something better for me out there? What drinks do you use during a run? Any recommendations?

Drive slow

Proper Parking Lot Etiquette

Maybe I'm on the wrong side of this one, but I don't think so. People need to stop acting like animals in parking lots. If it's not abandoning shopping carts, it's people waiting in the middle of a row with their turn signal on. Let's just all agree to make some easy reforms. Feel free to agree or disagree in the comments section.

Had this person not backed in...

Backing into parking spaces
This practice drives me a little bit crazy, but more than that it's confusing to me. Why drive past a spot, then back into it? It only serves to get me excited for 3 seconds until I see your backup lights flash on. Rarely does this person get in the space smoothly and really, it's a parking lot - don't tell me it's safer to leave a spot when you're already facing out.


Waiting for a parking space with the turn signal on
I fully endorse the "Costanza" (reserving a spot with your turn signal), but if you have been waiting for said spot for more than 5 seconds, please move along. Perhaps walking an extra 20 feet wouldn't be such a bad thing given the state of our country's fitness level. I can make an exception for malls around the holidays - but even then I may grumble a bit.

Not putting shopping carts in the corral

Is there anything worse?

 If there is one thing that puts me over the edge, it's pulling into a parking space and finding a cart sitting in the spot. Not only is this lazy, but it is potentially dangerous! A few weeks ago I had just finished watching "Unstoppable" (the Denzel Washington movie about a runaway train) and while walking from my car to the front of the grocery store, saw a shopping cart rolling down the aisle unattended. Thinking to myself, WWDD? What would Denzel do?  I sprung into action and took off after said cart, catching it just before it struck a Toyota Corolla. I felt like a folk hero, but unfortunately no one was cheering for me, and my wife was left standing in the row totally confused as to why I had just sprinted in the opposite direction of the supermarket.

What parking lot situations drive you crazy? Or am I just the crazy one here?

Drive Slow

Dollar Shave Club Review

The membership pack

 I, like many of you out there, was impressed with the start up video that the Dollar Shave Club produced. So impressed, that I signed up to join the club, choosing the midpoint razor which priced out at $6 for a 4 blade plan (4 cartridges/month). I knew the base model would leave my face looking I just got in a fight, but wasn't ready to pony up $9 on the basis of a funny video.

My kit arrived about 2 weeks ago and I've had a couple of shaves to properly assess the 4x option aka "The Lover's Blade". In my envelope was a pack of blades, a handle and a membership card. On the card, it noted that I was entitled to a free beer at any bar with my membership, but lower on the card, that they were just kidding. Rats. Funny addition though, way to keep it interesting.

The handle itself has a nice weight to it, heavier than my Gillette handle which is a good thing. There is no caddy with the guy like my Fusion, but it lives in my toothbrush holder just fine for now.

Now to the important part, the shave.

My selection, not bad

I lost roughly the same amount of blood as I do with my Gillette razor. So that's a push. I am cursed with sensitive skin, and despite years of trying to toughen it up, I've embraced my gentle face and prep with pre shave face wash and "Art of Shaving" shaving cream. Pretty nice stuff, but it ain't cheap.

As far as quality of shave, it was good. I missed my little detail blade on the Fusion as it makes leveling out the ol' side burns a bit easier, but this isn't a huge deal. I'd say I got about 90% of the quality with this razor as I do with my Fusion in terms of having to go back over areas and comfort. This leaves me at a bit of a crossroads. 

While I'm happy with the product overall, I'm not wowed by it. The cost benefit is pretty close - it's substantially cheaper (and funnier) than Gillette, but the shave I get is not quite as good. I'm upgrading to the "Executive" which has 6 blades for $9/month to see how it stacks up, as this is still cheaper. I may not "shave" as much money as I had originally hoped, but it's still the most fun I've ever had buying razors.

Has any one else tried them out?

Drive Slow

Local Credibility vs Global Relatability? It's a New Era, Indeed

Just came across a new commercial for New Era, the hat manufacturer. This one poses two fans, one a Cubs fan, and one a White Sox fan. Traditionally, Cubs fans come from the North Side and Sox fans hail from the South Side and generally don't like each other.

The commercial plays this up and has two fans exchanging barbs about the other's team and associated communities.

The thing that strikes me as really interesting is how local or "insider" it seems to be.

I've never lived in Chicago, but I've had the pleasure of spending a great deal of time there over the years - so between that and having family that calls Chicago home, I have a pretty good grasp of all of the references and attitudes on display. What I'm curious about is, does everyone "get it" and find it funny, or is to too localized?

My thinking is that this would be a hit in the Chicagoland area, but maybe lost on a national market. Is this even a bad thing though? It could be much more meaningful to local consumers to have a focused ad that truly grabs their collective attention rather than some generic campaign. It certainly would cost more to have a different baseball cap ad in every Major League market, but perhaps the ROI would make it money well spent.


Analysis aside, my favorite line in the commercial is "Even our handsomely quaffed ex-governor wouldn't try to sell a White Sox seat"

Free Blago.

Drive Slow

Love Thy Neighbor

Totally rude.

 One of my favorite quotes is, "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." - Plato

Granted, it's probably too much to ask for people to be friendly to everyone - I'm a realist and know that's just not going to happen.

What isn't too much to ask, is to take it down a notch and simply be considerate of others. This shot was taken around 9:30pm on a fairly full PATH train coming from New York City. The guy on the right is clearly too important to be inconvenienced with a seat neighbor as he is probably in the middle of a rousing game of Angry Birds or some other pressing National Security issue. The woman on the right, has such a nice green purse, that it couldn't possibly sit on her lap, rather the half of the seat that the gentleman on the right is not boxing-out seems an appropriate place to put it.

This bugs me to no end.

How hard it is to simply be mindful of the fact that there are people standing on the train, and maybe you could stand sitting next to one of them for 12 minutes.

Don't be too busy to be polite. You don't have to be everyone's best friend, but don't be a jag off.

Drive slow

No One Said the Long Run Would Be Easy

On Sunday, I did what most people training for a marathon do on the weekends; I did a long run.

Long runs are supposed to be your opportunity to stretch out to the distance you're shooting for, and can be a decent barometer as to where your training is. One thing it is not is a time trial for your race! As a general rule you should be going a bit slower than race pace during these runs and focusing on "Long Slow Distance". The time to work on speed is during the week with interval training and whatnot.

The one thing that a long run can really help you with in terms of race day simulation is how to deal with adversity.

Spoiler Alert! You will face challenges during a marathon.

Some of these (hopefully) are easy to overcome and some could knock you out of a race if you suffer an injury. The important thing is to know what to do when an obstacle comes along.

On Sunday, I set out to do an 8 mile run along the canal path near my home. The first mile or so, I felt ok, and was just warming up (it was about 50 degrees).

Some of the trees I stretched against on Sunday

Then, my shins tightened WAY up. If you've every experienced this, it is not a whole lot of fun. I spent the next 3 or so miles running/walking/stretching. It was pretty much the opposite of "hitting a stride". The other bad/good thing about my long runs is I typically do "down and backs" which is running out half of the distance I plan on running, then coming back. It's bad because, well, I was 4 miles away from my car and wasn't feeling awesome. It's good because, well, I'm doing those last 4 miles in some way shape or form, or sleeping under a bridge.

I turned around and wouldn't you know it - at that point my legs loosened up! I was able to run, still taking it easy, but slowly was able to get my pace back up to where I wanted it to be. I, being a competitive male, then got a little aggressive and started running a bit faster; but as you can probably guess, this wasn't a great idea (tired myself out a bit too fast).

I never really got into a groove, so my run was a bit disjointed, but the key is I did the distance. Long runs can be a great learning experience - teaching you that sometimes you just need to keep putting one foot in front of the other and eventually you'll get back on track. You have to be smart when running though - if you have sharp pains - stop. Even for me on Sunday, it was just muscle tightness, but I slowed down to a walk and made sure to stretch when I was feeling it. I was rewarded with a pleasant last 4 miles, and an injection of motivation. As one of my favorite professors, Scott Galloway, at NYU is oft to say during class (and did last night again) "Things are never as good as they seem, but they are also never as bad".

Remember, you're stronger than you think.

Drive Slow.

Where else do you crave Lingonberry juice?

I truly look forward to trips to Ikea, but is it irrational? Let's examine!

- It's not convenient for me to get to. I pretty much live in the Bermuda Triangle of Ikeas - being roughly an hour away from 4 of them.

- I find myself getting a sudden urge to drink Lingonberry juice, having no idea what it is.

- How many home stores do you have the opportunity to take a "fika" break? (this is apparently Swedish for coffee  and I used the phrase all afternoon).

- The store is set up in such a way that you have to walk through every section. Even though there are short cuts, it feels like cheating. Must. Walk. With. Arrows.

- Ever yearn for shelving? If you answered "no", you've probably never been to an Ikea.

- The Mac N Cheese is pretty awesome too FYI.

- I end up buying mostly nonsense that I have no real need for (but it seems like such a great idea at the time). You haven't truly lived until you impulse-buy a bag of rocks to put in a vase.

- The all important question of, "Will it fit in the car" comes up every time, and every time it all manages to squeeze in. Those Swedes are sneaky.

- The inevitable construction trials and tribulations is a common theme when talking about Ikea, but God forbid a part is messed up in some way - then you just bought yourself another trip to Ikea, which I did on Saturday.  (No Flicka break this time though)

- Final verdict, Mac N Cheese cures all ills. I'll be back for more shelving soon.

Drive Slow.