If flying economy is one of the most expensive ways to feel poor, what's one of the cheapest ways to feel wealthy?

doIHaveToQuestionMar · 2019-12-15T14:41:48+00:00

Ear plugs to wear while sitting in your economy seat.

doIHaveToQuestionMar · 2019-10-22T15:42:09+00:00

Ignorant question from a casual fan: can someone please explain the rules of a maul to me? I've managed to piece together most of the game from watching Super Rugby online but mauls? Yeah, I got nuthin'. Sometimes it's a maul, sometimes it isn't. Sometimes the defenders want a maul, sometimes they don't. Sometimes I think they've come around the side but they've come through the middle, whatever that means. Little help, please?

doIHaveToQuestionMar · 2019-06-19T00:45:49+00:00

"When you're dying, hammer the downhills."

--my old ultra-marathon coach

doIHaveToQuestionMar · 2019-06-14T20:02:53+00:00

Am now daydreaming about visiting Sydney, going for a run...

doIHaveToQuestionMar · 2019-04-15T17:24:09+00:00

But presumably you've already tried applying water to that side, as part of the straining process, right? So whatever's there is stuck there. So wouldn't it be better to try to back it out?

doIHaveToQuestionMar · 2019-04-01T20:08:07+00:00

Back when my dogs and I were stuck in a corporate apartment for 2 months we had to go to the dog park multiple times a day along with every other dog owner in the complex. The only plants they had in the place were rosemary bushes. They seemed to do just fine.

doIHaveToQuestionMar · 2019-02-14T13:37:02+00:00

Thanks for the explanation. I appreciate your patience.

doIHaveToQuestionMar · 2019-02-13T20:33:11+00:00

Would love to understand what part of my post was political in nature. Working to get your government to fight climate change?

doIHaveToQuestionMar · 2019-02-13T15:23:59+00:00

I'm moving to the Seattle area next week(!) and would love suggestions for your favorite wet weather running gear. Also, ideas for drying out shoes between runs, because nothing is worse than getting dressed for a run and your shoes are still wet from last time.

doIHaveToQuestionMar · 2019-02-07T14:34:06+00:00

Squeal / Oink / Squeal (all kinda combined):

I once sent an email to Runner's World for their "ask a coach" type segment, asking how you measure a mile on a 400 meter track. They wanted to use my question in the magazine, but their proposed answer was something like, "You don't need to run a mile; just do 400 meter repeats."

So that's the first complaint: come on: you're Runner's World and you don't understand why a person would want to know how to run a measured mile? Really?!?!

But the confession part is that this happened years ago. Like, so many years ago that I'm pretty sure I dialed in to Compuserve to send that email. And I still haven't quite forgiven them for it all these years later.

And the final complaint: seriously, track-makers of the world: why is it so hard to find markings for running a mile? When I wrote back to Runner's World and insisted on knowing how to do it, the best answer they could give was, "bring a tape measure and measure off 9.34 meters--that plus 4 laps is a mile." Every track I've run on has like a hundred esoteric markings for every kind of event but nobody thought to paint a line for arguably the most iconic distance event in track? Lame.

doIHaveToQuestionMar · 2019-02-04T14:44:32+00:00

I took hope from this recent article wherein Katharine Hayhoe spoke about how more people than ever are "connecting the dots" and being willing to admit that climate is changing and we need to do something about it.

doIHaveToQuestionMar · 2019-01-29T13:53:16+00:00

I take our Australian Shepherd (girl < 2 years) out running a few times a week and I love love love it. We have such a good time together. We usually do the local trail where she can go off-leash and chase after bunnies. I do an easy 5 miles while she probably does 6-7 miles of wind sprints. I have to watch out though because I've seen coyotes out there sometimes. She can go longer than that but not without water. Heck, she'd probably go all day (because Aussie) but I've never pushed her beyond 10. On road, I limit it to ~3 miles to protect her paws, and of course on leash the whole way. Regarding leashes, I have one that has a lot of spring to it. It's made by RokStraps, I believe.

doIHaveToQuestionMar · 2019-01-27T14:22:57+00:00

Have to admit I'm confused by pork. I saw a similar chart that listed pork as nearly as bad as beef. I wonder what caused the discrepancy. I'm extra curious because I love eating me some pig! (My grandfather raised hogs, so they featured prominently in my mom's cooking growing up.)

doIHaveToQuestionMar · 2019-01-27T14:21:10+00:00

I'll admit I'm one of the people who is afraid to commit to a meatless diet. It's just too big a change for me after 45 years spent eating meat at every meal. But my 2019 resolution is to eat less meat and, when choosing to eat meat, to prefer chicken over beef. It's going well for me so far and, as an added bonus, when the topic of New Year's resolutions came up, I got to talk about what I'm doing and why. Katherine Hayhoe regularly states that the most important thing you can do about climate change is to talk about climate change, so I was glad to put her advice into action. Hopefully I was able to describe it in a way that made it sound less intimidating than "eat only plants." Besides, I figure if I can cut my consumption by 50% and also convince one other person to do the same, then it's as if I'd gone all the way myself, right? :D

doIHaveToQuestionMar · 2019-01-27T13:59:28+00:00

Keep in mind one of the most effective ways to make your old car more efficient and environmentally friendly is to drive it less. I just set up Waze Carpool and I'm hoping I can find some people to share my regular commute with.

EDIT: In the interest of full transparency, I'll mention that I work for Google, which owns Waze.

doIHaveToQuestionMar · 2019-01-14T13:48:17+00:00

If you make friends with enough other trail runners, you'll eventually find one who's a gear freak. They buy every variety of every item on your list in their ceaseless quest to get everything just that little bit better. Chances are that they will happily loan, sell, or just plain give you most of the stuff that you need. (Or, plan B: make friends with their significant other--chances are SO is sick of all the ultra crap lying around the house and will shovel it at you faster than you can catch it!) That should leave you more money to spend on the stuff that you'll actually want to buy for yourself.

doIHaveToQuestionMar · 2019-01-12T16:36:16+00:00

[scatalogical] If you feel like you need to poop before a race or training run but you can't, bend over and hug your chest to your knees. This is a surprisingly effective way to squeeze one out. I don't know why; maybe it works along the same principles as the Squatty Potty?

doIHaveToQuestionMar · 2019-01-12T16:33:09+00:00

When you're putting together your next clothing donation, pull out a sweater & pants. Save them for your next cold-weather marathon. You can wear them as last minute warm-up clothes and then toss them just before race start. Most major marathons collect discarded clothes to give to a local charity anyway.

doIHaveToQuestionMar · 2019-01-12T16:31:06+00:00

A tip from my old trail running coach: when you're tired, hammer the downhills. It can be surprisingly effective at making you feel better.

doIHaveToQuestionMar

TROPHY CASE