Obama's inauguration: The setup

It's now 20 days until the Presidential Inauguration and over the next month, I'm going to be posting -- every day or every few days depending on subject matter -- on the event. As many of you know, I'm an online journalist, specifically I'm the managing editor, digital news, for the National Post, one of Canada's national newspapers. I'll be cross posting some of my work here on the Post's news blog, Posted and also smaller updates on my Twitter account www.twitter.com/yumke. While some of my work will be done for the Post, I'm doing this as a civilian. I've seen all the major world events in my career through the lens of an editor. Now, I wanna experience it as a citizen.

I'm a frequent visitor to DC the past two years, been down here on average once every three weeks since R. lives down here. She lives right in Penn Quarter, which means her building is one block away from Pennsylvania Avenue, which Barack Obama will walk up after giving his inaugural address.

Anyways, enough of a set up of what I'm about to do, lets start with today's subject, the setup:

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The streets of Washington, DC, are showing signs of being prepped for a big party. I went for a run around the capital this morning (see route) -- by far the best way to see a city that's wide, short and expansive.

I started from where my girlfriend lives in Penn Quarter, near the FBI building. I ran down Pennsylvania toward Capitol Hill, in the opposite direction where Obama and family will travel up on Jan. 20. Here are a few glimpses.

Pennsylvania Ave. looking toward the Capitol, with a newspaper box (Politico) in the foreground. They also have The Onion newspaper boxes which is a nice touch.



Next, I stopped at the Newseum, which is at Pennsylvania and 6th. You can see the daily headlines that they print out every morning and post in fron t of the building.



Then off to the Capitol, where preparations are well underway. You really can't approach the building but this picture provides a good glimpse of construction



Then off to the other side of the Mall, destination the Lincoln Memorial. It's two miles from the Capitol to the Memorial (3.2 kilometres). On inauguration day, they're expecting 3 million at last estimate. Many will be crammed into this space.



Then off to the Lincoln Memorial (we'll show pictures of Lincoln in a later post) where Martin Luther King Jr. famously gave his "I have a dream" speech. (Also sadly also famous for the Forrest Gump scene where he waded into the water).) You can see the Capitol in tucked behind the Monument.



Next off to the White House, where things are busy as usual. Girl with 'Peace' sign keeping it real in a very windy day.



Finally, back to Pennsylvania where they've already set up a good 10 sets of bleechers, big and small. You'll need tickets to get this type of seating.



You can feel the vibe. It's like the calm before the storm but the preparations are being made. On Inauguration day, I'll be among the millions trying to catch a glimpse of history.

Ran 5 miles in 58:58 with tonnes of picture stops. A fun way to run.

The year is finished, long live 2008

Short and sweet. It was a fantastic year. I boosted my mileage by more than 400 miles than last year. I ran a lot of road races and plunged into marathoning. I had my successes and failures but in the end, I now love running even more. It's part of my life, not necessarily all consuming, but it's part of my being. That said, here's a year in review.

Last mileage update: 2212

Runs since:
Dec. 24 - 3.1 miles
Dec. 25 - 3.35 miles
Dec. 28 - 5.3 miles (5K race plus warmup)
Dec. 29 - 5 miles
Dec. 30 - 4 miles
Dec. 31 - 5 miles (A run around DC)

Year's total mileage: 2238 miles
Year's total kilometres: 3602 kilometres

-Races: Ran 14, including three marathons, which is pretty crazy for me.

-Favourite races: Around the Bay was such a blast and a perfect racing distance. Flying Pig was great for a strategy and well run race. Scotia was great for the first 37 kilometres! I grew to love the 5K distance and enjoyed the three I did

-PRs: Set them in six distances! Notables were going sub 20 minutes three times, hammering a strong 30K time of 2:13:24, the marathon going sub 3:20 twice.

-Cities in which I've run this year: In no particular order: Toronto, Washington DC (and Virginia), Cincinnati and Kentucky, Miami, New York, San Francisco

-Favourite moments: The finish line at all my races. Those weekday 14 milers in the middle of summer. Feeling exhausted and exhilarated after those 20+ milers. Running in the snow. Running in general.

-Bad moments: The last few kilometres of Scotiabank marathon

-Favourite picture








-Least favourite (only cause of how I was feeling)



Oh yeah, and i'm on Twitter now (been doing it for work for a while but it's time for my own). Follow me at twitter.com/yumke

Happy Blogiversary and 800th post!

Three years ago today, in December 2005, I was at work on a slow day and started this blog. A computer meltdown resulted in me losing mileage i'd been tracking on my computer and so I thought that doing a running blog would be a great way to track my mileage.

Back then (funny how I can say that) there was a strong fledgling community of running bloggers. The RBF was well established and I was quickly hooked. Two friends of mine who were all running the Chicago Marathon that year started blogs later in 2006. We found other bloggers -- from Wisconsin, from Illinois and from all over who were also training for Chicago. As a solo runner, I've really appreciated having a community in which I could read about shared experiences, learn from and also converse with.

Blogging also became more than just logging a daily run, our outlining a training program's particular challenges. Along the way, I got hooked into actually writing about life in general. A blog was my way back into writing -- I'm a journalist by trade and now I'm on the managing/editing side so this blog was a great way to get back into what I've always loved to do, to write.

But lets get back on stride, shall we? It's a running blog, after all. I have logged more than 5500 miles worth of running in this blog. I've documented more than 30 road races, 5 marathons and a tonne of personal milestones. Like my running, this blog ebbs and flows with the seasons: Spring and Summer are all up tempo and lactate thresholds with trackwork on the side. Winter's a slow time but a time to reflect, enjoy running and embracing the cold. Fall's the time to lay it out on the line.

Today's post, started on an airport bus and finished as I wait to board the plane for DC, is the 800th one. I've written so many milestone posts that I'm getting pretty tired of that, but like reaching your goal mileage or hitting your splits, it's nice to see beautiful round numbers.

What's next in my online life? I now spend most of my time online -- it's my livelihood and my hobby. This blog won't die by a long shot, it'll just get a little more focused. Will I post as much during marathon training? Maybe not as much as I used to. I'm going to be playing around on the blogosphere a bit more over the next while, starting a new neighbourhood blog on the side. More on that later but for now, I'm gratified that three years ago I took the plunge. It's as gratifying to share a running experience sometimes as much as it is to run itself. And having a community to run alongside is also nice too. I'm a better runner for it.

Race report: Resolution Run 5K

I think I'm going to call this the annual Resolution Run 4.86K run because every single year, it measures the same on my GPS. To the folks looking up your results, the course is not a 5K distance so any PRs are, well, unearned. This is in my opinion.

Anyways, I have not raced in, um exactly two months since the Marine Corps Marathon. The last two months i've gone into extreme maintenance mode.

The mileage has dropped dramatically in the last two months but this is not unlike the last two years when I also ran fall marathons. Running has been sparse the past two weeks partly as a result of a busy schedule but also because I've been feeling really run down lately and then I got sick on Boxing Day.

I'm on the up now and feeling about 80% physically, which is pretty darned good.

Had dinner with R and her family last night and then she flew out early this morning so I was up early. I checked the weather at first and it felt warm. Then I saw the weather alerts and then changed my gear three times. With about 5 to 9C with 70km gusts, I decided on tights, a skullcap, a T-shirt with a fleece polypro on top that I cold roll up the sleeves.

Out at 9 and I ran to the race site, a 3K warm up. The course is familiar. A lot of turns with two hair pins. We took off and I felt pretty good so I stepped it up for the first 100 metres to get up in the pack.

1K: 4:11. Saw my splits and felt ok. The breathing was not to laboured which was a good sign, but I felt still weak so I ended up pacing off a few people. This kilometre included a hairpin turn

2K: 4:24. It's a funny feeling holding back but this speed is a little slower than my lactate threshold speed, which in theory I can run a 10 miler to half marathon in. I coasted and kept on checking my breathing to see if I had the lung capacity and aerobic fitness.

3K: 4:22. I was running in the top 35 or so, kinda lost count. Not a very competitive crowd and I spotted a few runners that I felt I could catch up to. Another hairpin turn and the cloudy windy sky turned into bright blue windy sky. Beautiful, cold, chilly, and gusty.

4K 4:18: Passed a few runners and was passed by one. Was just using this run to pace and to push myself a little more than I have in the past two months. A nice feeling. Felt I could have pushed it more.

5K 3:31 (4:05 pace): The last .86 kilometres were good. I just maintained pace then kicked i up a gear in the final stretch. So did the other runners. I think if I was more competitive I would have kicked it even higher and overpassed a runner or two but I was just happy to run it strong. As you can see, the freaking split from the 4K mark to the finish was 3:30 which is impossible for me for a kilometre given the amount of effort I was given. I ran it at 4:05 pace which makes a lot of sense.

Final time: 20:47

This year, I was about 45 seconds slower than last year but more than a minute faster than two years ago. Given I was running it two days after being sick and generally haven't been training hard, I'm very happy. My underlying fitness has not fled my body, after all. As 5Ks go, I've run 3 other races this year on courses that are actually 5K or close and I've gone sub 20 minutes on all three, two on very hot and humid days.

The race is special for me because it has always launched my winter training season. So as I was walking home, I was making plans to eat better, to research my winter races and figure out a training plan. First goal is to get the mileage back up to 35 miles a week by the first week of January. Then it's training time all over again. Nothing like a race to get your competitive spirit up again.

Interesting race conditions...

This as I'm about to head out for that 5K.

"THIS FRONT WILL BE FOLLOWED BY VERY STRONG AND GUSTY WEST TO SOUTHWEST WINDS. THE COLD FRONT WENT THROUGH WINDSOR AT 5 AM AND THE AIRPORT REPORTED SUSTAINED WINDS OF 61 KM/H AND A WIND GUST TO 104 KM/H. SIMILAR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED FOR ALL OF SOUTHERN ONTARIO AS THE COLD FRONT MAKES ITS WAY EAST"

Um, kay, some clothing changes will be needed.