Fitting in the mileage

At one point, I'm going to keep track of how many miles I've run so far this year. Suffice it to say, the past month has been ultra busy and I'm pretty lucky to have been able to fit in running.

Of course, that's silly since I must run. Must. I was just sitting at my computer almost two hours ago mulling the choices between crashing on the couch or going for a short run. 45 minutes later, the better part of my won out and now I'm unwinding with a 3 miler in me.

So far this week, I've run four out of five days, but put in a pretty low 15 miles. Man, in my training peak, I put in a 15 miler on a Wednesday. I guess that's for the summer months.

So ahead, I plan to hit a 13 miler, maybe even a 15 miler, on Sunday. Tomorrow, a light 5 or 6 miles. And if all that goes well, then I'll have hit my target for once. Marathon training begins in two weeks.

Bringing the quality back

So a little warmer temperatures meant I could shed a few layers for my run this evening. Had only room for 30 minutes so instead of doing a run of the mill run, I upped the intensity just a little.


Started the 3+ miler with a 5:04K pace and by the end, was doing 4:08 ish kilometres. Clearly I'm not where I should be when it comes to fitness.. man those first steps can be awfully hard.

Winter running, a video

Saw this great video by Christopher Shulgan in Toronto. He's running in much the same trails that I do every day so you can get an idea of how awesome it is they've cleared it this winter of snow.

And back to business

Runners are a hearty sort, I like think. Too hot a day, and we'll toss off the layers , go out well before dawn to tackle the roads. Too cold, like today, and we'll pile on clothes and head out into the streets with the belief that just a little extra movement will turn our bodies into heat factories, keeping frostbite and the winter's chill at bay.

I love running in these winter days, especially the ones that are like today: A sunny, blue sky but bitterly cold. It really is breathtaking to run beside the lake and stop, in the middle of the run, and admire the ice that's bobbing in the water, or frozen over concrete. It's nice to have the lonely road interrupted by a fellow runner -- some with full ski masks or others who clearly were intent on warming themselves with effort.

Running feels a lot harder at this time of year. The clothes are a weight, the facemask makes breathing -- well, challenging.

But we run on -- some for fitness, some to escape to wide open spaces, others for future races that will be run on a much warmer days.

Me, I run for all of the above. 10K in 56 minutes

The day after the inauguration

Washington, D.C. -- Last night, just hours after Barack Obama walked up Pennsylvania Ave., and as he took his first dance while galas and balls were under way, things were quieting down in the district's Penn Quarter.



I visited a few restaurants for drinks. Nearly empty. Other establishments that were previously advertising 3 a.m. closings were dark by 10:30 p.m. The temporary inauguration superstore had more goods than they could even give away because there was no one left in the area. The mass exodus, it seems, began early.




This morning, even the National Mall, where hundreds of thousands gathered just 24 hours before, was empty, the evidence that there was a big event was the crews tearing down the portable sidelines and the trampled grass.




But it still was buzzing. At the White House, protesters were back to remind us about Guantanamo Bay, school trip lines were making their way to the back of the White House for pictures and in my back alley, where the Ford Theatre's back exit, also known as the escape route that John Wilkes Booth took, filled with school kids taking pictures.





Nothing has changed but everything has in a way. I went into a convenience store to snap up newspapers -- USA Today, New York Times and $2 collectable Washington Posts -- and they were being snapped up in big quantities. Local residents had Obama gear on and tourists were making their way out of the city.




My favourite moment was, while walking away from the front of the White House, a mother and her child were walking away. The little girl was saying the names, "Bush, Obama." One hand, she was holding her mom's, in the others, she clutched an action figure of the new President.

Catching up with running

Haven't really stopped running but the miles have been a little lax.

I ran four miles today in the Mall and stopped by the White House. The cleanup is well under way. Skipped running yesterday in favour of standing for 10 hours outside the FBI building where I saw Barack Obama! On Monday, ran 5 miles and did the same on Saturday and Friday.

So that's 19 miles since last Friday. Not a lot of mileage but I should be able to get a few more in tomorrow night after I'm back in Toronto.

I see it's frigid in Toronto over the weekend so I better get used to the cold weahter running. I'd like to try a 13 milers on either Saturday or Sunday.

Obama's inauguration: Presenting, the President and First Lady, in photos!

Washington, D.C. -- Well, he's the new President of the United States, and after standing for 10 hours on Pennsylvania Ave. I got a great view and quite a nice collections of Barack Obama and Michelle Obama from the inaugural parade..

Live blogging the Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama

This is cross posted at nationalpost.com.

Join us on Jan. 20 as we live blog of the Presidential Inauguration of Barack Obama, from the streets of Washington.



We've done a lot of live blogs in the past, this time we're doing it differently. Most of our participants will be mobile, on the streets of D.C., along the parade route on Pennsylvania or in the National Mall. We're bringing you live messages, pictures, observations, links.


Joining us are:


Kenny Yum, National Post's Managing Editor, digital news. Kenny, a frequent visitor to D.C., is there as a citizen/tourist.
We are using his Twitter account feed which goes by yumke.


The Canadian Embassy's connect2canada Twitter feed will be updated by the staff of the Public Affairs section from the login connect2canada


Students from Worcester Academy in Massachusetts. We wrote about this group of 11 students and their teachers in the past. They'll be writing blog posts, uploading videos and audio. We'll be using their Twitter feed called wainauguration.


Briana Saunders, a student from Kansas City (who went to boarding school in Vancouver Island), has agreed to let us use her Twitter feed. She goes by briana9.


And four students from DePaul University in Chicago, who have also let us use their Twitter feed. They'll be known as dannythedemon


Finally, we'll have an editor in Toronto who will be liveblogging the events as they see it on television and get your comments or questions over to Kenny.


To watch this goodness, click on the button above.

Obama's inauguration: More pictures from D.C.

Washington, D.C. -- As the city gears up for inauguration day, here are some pictures I just snapped from around the Mall and the White House.




Capitol Hill in the late morning





The TV guys are getting ready





Guys selling Obama T-shirts





The media gears up





The monument





Visiting Lincoln





Military men





George Washington





And Barack Obama



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Inaugural stands





Protesters



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*Posts at his personal blog/twitter are views of Kenny Yum, not that of the National Post.

Part 2

Kenny Yum is the National Post's managing editor, digital news, who
frequently visits Washington, D.C. He's in the city for
Barack Obama's inauguration as a visitor/citizen, but check back here at
Posted for blog posts or subscribe to the tag 'inauguration', which are from his personal *blog/twitter.  

Washington, D.C. -- I've got quite a few pictures from the concert today. Here are a bunch of them. I've separated this into three posts so they load a bit faster.

*Posts at his personal blog/twitter are views of Kenny Yum, not that of the National Post.

Part 3

Kenny Yum is the National Post's managing editor, digital news, who
frequently visits Washington, D.C. He's in the city for
Barack Obama's inauguration as a visitor/citizen, but check back here at
Posted for blog posts or subscribe to the tag 'inauguration', which are from his personal *blog/twitter.  

Washington, D.C. -- I've got quite a few pictures from the concert today. Here are a bunch of them. I've separated this into three posts so they load a bit faster.

*Posts at his personal blog/twitter are views of Kenny Yum, not that of the National Post.

Obama's inauguration: The weight of history

Washington, D.C. -- He's a human, not the messiah, we were warned by the Reverend Gene Robinson Sunday, who fought to be heard among the 500,000 who gathered at the Lincoln Memorial Sunday.

The sight was one to behold and difficult to capture in pictures. From my vantage point, from the south side of the reflecting pool and just 250  metres out from the steps that lead to Abraham Lincoln's seat, the sights and sounds (and often silence) of the thousands was breathtaking. People, from the stage of the performer stretched to the Monument, more than a mile away.

It's a little odd feeling that was left from Sunday as we head into Martin Luther King Jr. Day today. Yesterday, we saw how formidable and how popular Obama has become. Yesterday, as hundreds of thousands of us gathered to see him and the celebrity that has also embraced him, we realized that yes, he is Obama, but yes, he is also a man. Maybe you can sense it in the silence in the crowd, a well behaved and orderly half million.

Oh, they were excited. "Oh, ba, ma," the chants raised from the many small gatherings that formed the mass -- of college kids and elder African Americans, of families, young and old, of old Democrats and young voters.

What does a man do when he draws so much admiration, yet faces so much in terms of challenges?

It was odd the feeling at the concert, which mixed music with historical interludes. On one hand, we're being reminded of some greats from America's past -- JFK, MLK and FDR. Just as this city has built monuments to honour some of them, here stands another, ready to begin his time. Where does he place himself in history?

We arrived early at the concert venue, and as the Mall filled up, we couldn't believe our eyes when we saw how many people had come up. People we spoke to talked about optimism and engagement in politics, even when more daunting challenges loom.

At the end of a rollicking musical set, Obama's speech set the tone to what we're likely to hear again on inauguration day. It's about tempering mass expectations with his own high aspirations.

"It'll take more than a month, or a year, it'll likely take many," Obama said of the country's economic challenges. "Along the way there will be false starts... Despite the enormity of the task that lies ahead I stand here today as hopeful as ever that the United States of American will endure.

It must have been quite the scene that lay in front of him, as was noted time adn time again, the same steps where MLK stood, the steps in front of the great emcapator, that he saw a massive crowd gathered to 'witness history.' History, as he aptly noted, is etched in stone around this city, and although he has already set some, he must have been humbled by what he saw in front of him.

"Yet as I stand here today is not the stone [of the memorials in the Mall]," Obama said. "It's what fills the places in between. It is you."

Yes, he is only one man, and I guess what makes this weekend powerful is in the hundreds of thousands today, millions tomorrow, who will make the pilgrimage to see what one man can inspire in a nation.
See the video I took from the event.
---

*Posts at his personal blog/twitter are views of Kenny Yum, not that of the National Post.

Obama's inauguration: Day in pictures at the Lincoln Memorial concert, part 3 #inaug09

Washington, D.C. -- I've got quite a few pictures from the concert today. Here are a bunch of them. I've separated this into three posts so they load a bit faster.