It doesn't matter if it's 3 miles or 10 miles. Any distance longer than what you've been doing is a killer.
This morning I did 6 miles and I haven't run that far since we lived in MI, meaning at least 12 years ago.
It was a killer.
I got it done and didn't have to walk any of it, but I'm pretty wasted now. Lactic acid. Next Saturday will be 7 miles, with a bump up each week until I'm ready for the 1/2 marathon the end of October. Which is to say my Saturday afternoon's are going to be unpleasant for the next two months, a price I'm willing to pay to achieve this goal.
After a shower we headed into town to help friends Gustavo and Karen move a small chicken coop to a new location in their yard. They'd invited a group of people over and we timed it perfectly; they were moving it into position when we arrived.
From there to Lowe's and Home Depot to look for the chest freezer we'll need to receive Itzhak's "remains." Both places are having a Labor Day appliance sale and the slightly better deal was at H.D. It won't fit in the back of the Kia so I've rented a U-Haul van for this Tuesday and will get a few other things at the same time. I need 4x4's, some bags of cement, and some corrugated galvanized roofing sheets, so we'll make use of the van to get all of that at the same time.
The freezer is the last item needed before butchering. We're ready. Or better, I'm ready. Pam is not, which is why I won't do this until she's gone to AZ to visit the family next month.
Eugene is the third largest city in Oregon and home to the U of O, but it's still a fairly small city at 167,000. Grand Rapids has 200,000 and Phoenix comes in at 1.6 million. (Each of those represents the cit limits, with the metro area, especially around Phoenix, pushing that number higher.)
I find the differences interesting and sometimes frustrating. Phoenix metro is the sixth largest in the country and that shows up in the quality of the media. Local TV news anchors are very good because by the time they've worked up to that market they've paid their dues and distinguished themselves.
Grand Rapids has, in my opinion, TV anchors almost as good. I think that might be because they get good people who then stay there for decades because it's the kind of place you want to put down roots and raise your family.
Eugene...not so much. Most of the anchors are young and new to the business. It shows.
I had a local anchor in our church in Salinas, a nice guy I enjoyed getting to know. He had recently arrived from a smaller market, visited our church, and we did lunch. He told me that the first thing a news person does when they get to a new market is send out audition tapes (back in the day) to the next tier of stations. I guess they keep doing that until the Peter Principle kicks in.
I don't mean to diss the local anchors (especially the slightly older lady on the NBC affiliate who has either topped out or got into the game late). It's just that they're not the smoothest in the business and it shows. Some of them seem nervous and often fumble their script.
How often does someone with talent and skill fail to progress because they don't have the "look."
Newspapers and news sites is another place where I note a difference. In Phoenix the local paper and the network affiliates had very good sites with good coverage of both city and suburb stories.
Note: paywalls drive me crazy! Hate 'em and wonder if the income they bring in outweighs the ill will they generate.
Again, Grand Rapids stands out. I visit the NBC affiliate site to catch local news and am surprised at how thorough the coverage is.
Eugene...the newspaper has a firewall that allows me to visit (I think) four sites a month before they lock me out. Grrr. And they do almost nothing with rural news.
I've settled on the local CBS affiliate as the best option and again, almost nothing with surrounding rural areas.
Just interesting, that's all. And it makes me realize how good Grand Rapids is for the size of the market. If weak news coverage is the price we pay for #ThisRuralLife I'm more than willing.
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