The Great Solar Eclipse of 2017 crossed the continent, from Oregon to South Carolina, and gave millions of people the chance to witness one of the most awe-inspiring events in the natural world.

But you had to be within the "path of totality", a narrow band across the earth's surface several thousand miles long but only about 70 miles wide. Outside that band you would only see a partial eclipse, not a total eclipse.

And there is no such thing as a "partial total eclipse", despite the impression blogs and the news media might give. I honestly think that's why so many people misunderstand the utter beauty of the spectacle; they may have seen a partial eclipse in the past that was total somewhere else, and even though they weren't in the path the news kept gushing about it being a total eclipse, so they assume they must have seen a total eclipse and just didn't find it all that impressive.


Posted by Dan 08/29/2017, revised 09/06/2017

With the end of September comes the annual San Jose Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon. I've been excited for this race both as a coach and as an athlete.

Out of town friends Meg and Jack were coming up for the race, and it would be Meg's first half marathon. I had been working with Meg on her run training for the past 5 months, and we had seen her long runs go from 2 miles to 11 miles, a thrilling transformation! This would be the culmination of half a year's work, and I looked forward to watching her cross the finish line.

Additionally, I was excited for my own run, since this is a guaranteed PR course. The weather is typically mild, the race well supported, and the route is pancake flat, save for two underpasses. I ran 1:28 at Santa Cruz just a few weeks back, surely I was destined for a 1:25 on this course that featured zero miles of sand running and a significantly shorter pre-race bike ride.

I guess this PR fantasy was rooted in the expectation that I would peak for Santa Cruz ... and then just stay there forever. But this belief undermines the concept of a Fitness Peak. A "peak," meaning you come back down the other side at some point (in my case -- about 30 minutes after completing my "A" Race).

Apparently, the universe determined (quite accurately) that I don't know when the party's over. The off season -- like a good night's sleep -- is healthy and necessary, but left to my own devices I was going to keep adding just one more! one more! one more! race to my schedule

So I got injured.

It happened just after my Santa Cruz finish. I pushed hard at that race, and certainly had a collection of noteworthy aches and pains afterwards. Curiously, the knees were not included in that list. Nor have they ever been during racing or training. However, I sustained a fresh new knee injury while being interviewed for a post-race massage. The therapist asked me to straighten my leg, which I fearlessly complied with, and BAM! Instant knee injury.

What makes this all even more mysterious is that since the traumatic massage interview, I have discovered that I can still bike, climb stairs, jump, barbell squat, dart side-to-side in a game of puppy keep-away, and in fact I can actually jog and run. I can straighten my legs, and I was even interviewed for another massage without incident. There is just one specific movement that my knee refuses to allow:

Running fast.

Unfortunately, this was the single activity I had planned to engage in for Rock 'n' Roll.


Posted by Kimberly 10/04/2015

Chiang Mai:
Chiang Mai was fun. We stayed for four days. It is much better than Bangkok.

Pai:
We travelled to Pai on the recommendation of fellow travellers, hearing only good things from people who we had reason to trust. We were not disappointed. Pai is a small town nestled in the northern hills of Thailand, very close to the borders of Burma and Laos.

The hills around Pai

Posted by nik 10/31/2008, revised 11/05/2008

It's RAINING! And by 'raining,' I mean a waterfall on my head. This makes Oregon's rain look like spit.

But I rode to the uni in shorts, sandals, and a tank-top. Haha. It's deliciously warm, except when you get soaked all the way through, and then have to enter an air-conditioned lecture hall. Ugh. I'm so glad I shaved my head, though! This much rain would not be nearly as fun if I had a mop on my head to worry about.

Oh yeah, and remember those little walk-ways through the trees that I mentioned? Not as nice when it's dumping water. I've been entirely against unbrellas my whole time living in Oregon - only Californians and ninnies use umbrellas in oregon - but here, it's just a smart choice. I'm going to have to use an umbrella for the first time in 4 years!
Posted by Whitney 02/25/2008