Interview with an Animal, Part 2

....but first, yesterday was a 7 mile run. Nice weather and since the Tigers lost, a good way to not dwell on a terrible beginning. Let's just say that yesterdays run was windy, but being shorter than the 20 miler, i was still going to try to pick up the pace a little. i finished about 55:45 for about an 7:55 pace.

The wind took a bit out of me at the end and the beginning was a little tighter than expected. Overall it was a good work out. I dare say, i may threaten to break 1:20 for a 10 miler this year.

Anyway on to the next interview question(s):

What's a book (or an author) that had a huge impact on your life?

How do i narrow this down to one? Authors, geesh...Hemingway, Eliot, Byron, Blake, Thomas, Shakespeare, Sagan, Rice, King....

Books....why settle there? What about short stories, and poetry?

What about the ancient plays of Greece "Sing in me, oh muse, and through me tell the story"

A more recent read with a huge impact was "A Million Little Pieces" by James Frey. Not so much for the book itself, although the style is interesting, but more for the way James was treated by Oprah. Fun Guv and i were in the studio audience at the taping of her show about this book.

James explained throughout the 2+ hr taping for the show and the Oxygen Network additional 1/2 hr segment that the book was a fictional account based upon characters he had met. Things were extended and embellished for the sake of drama in writing the book.

Yes, he had a drug problem and yes, he was an alcoholic. The book was based upon notes he had taken in rehab and the characters were based upon people he had met but the book was a memoir and not an auto-biographic account of his stay in rehab.

Of course after watching the show, none of that footage made the cut for the 40+ minutes of actual show. After watching the Oprah episode, mostly just to see if we were caught on camara, i was amazed by how the book was portrayed. It was completely different, and all should praise Oprah for showing us the book.

Poor James Frey...after the smoking gun got hold of the facts, and Oprah had Frey on for a live interview he was destroyed for misrepresenting the book.

Nothing was ever said about how the editing of the original show truly misrepresented the book.

Mr. Frey took the heat, and never threw the Oprah show under the bus, but only a few hundred people, if that many, from the original taping remember the way he portrayed the book honestly on that day.

....next question Dr.

Is it harder to run a shorter distance and really push yourself, or a longer distance at a comfortable pace?

It's totally way harder to run a short distance and push. These are the runs i reflect on my Garmin more. These runs have goals greater than just finishing. These runs force me to push harder and shorter. There is no time for walk breaks, or seeing the sights. These are work.

The work, though, allows me to really enjoy the long runs. It's a Yin/Yang relationship. The long runs are fun, filled with water and breaks, some food on the run. It's a much more enjoyable training run, but the enjoyment is due to the hard work done in the shorter faster runs.

Therefore, i find enjoyment during the faster runs as they allow for more enjoyment during the longer ones.

Emotionally, i can find great reward in a short fast run. These are the runs that establish training PR's. These runs can be euphoric with speed. Nothing is better then running 7 miles under an 8 minute pace and then hitting the last mile under 7:30.

Two more questions to go

Thanks for reading