Friday, April 20, 2012

Best of the Week #56

Let me start this Best of the Week by saying that I love Boston in the springtime, and major congratulations to all who ran that horrifically overheated race!


My most popular post this week was Hip Flexor and Piriformis Stretching and Strengthening (and in running news, I ran 7 miles on Tuesday night! And then pooled the rest of the week.). 

Speaking of Boston, I loved Cris’s post, “Why'd they do it? (brain droppings on Boston).”
  • And every once in a while, you exceed even those dreams, and stun yourself with the time on the finish clock.  And that rare moment is addictive -- as soon as it's over, you're chasing the next hit. 
Graph of the Day: Tweets in Translation.



By now I’m pretty sure everyone on the interwebs has seen “The 21 Absolute Worst Things in the World.”  This is a nice follow-up from the New Yorker:
  • I contend that “The 21 Absolute Worst Things in the World” is an ingenious specimen of thisness, and it also partakes in another quality of great literature: it points out that lonely experiences of aggravation (dunking a big cookie in a glass that turns out to be too small, fitted sheets that slip off a mattress) are actually universally shared. 
I love this TED talk on "The power of introverts." Definitely worth watching/listening to the whole thing!



Is this person me? Possibly… “Warnings for my future husband
  • I talk to my mom every day. We talk about everything. This will never change.
  • I don’t play well with others in the kitchen. I will try to boss you around, even if you are making your great-grandmother’s recipe that you’ve made 200 times.
  • I don’t like carrying things. Especially when going out. I will probably ask you to hold any of the following items in your pockets: my phone, cash, ID, keys, lipgloss. Unless my dress has pockets, in which case, I will make a HUGE deal out of the fact that my dress has pockets and I don’t need to ask to use your pocket space. Because, have you seen this? It’s a dress with pockets!


For some reason watching the making of this insane cheese ball is mesmerizing. 



This very long but interesting Sports Illustrated article: “To Run In Kenya, To Run In The World - 
  • The result of this concentration of prize money in the marathon has been a dominance unparalleled in modern international sports. Though a power in distance running since the 1960s, Kenyan men have made the marathon their own since Wanjiru's bold example in Beijing. It's the kind of supremacy that usually exists when just one country truly values a sport: Japan in sumo, Canada in curling. Between April and November 2011, Kenyan men broke course records in the five most prominent marathons—Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London and New York City—by a collective sum of six minutes and 22 seconds. It's hard to come up with any measure sufficient to characterize the strength of the Kenyan marathon army, but try this: Sixteen American men in history have run faster than 2:10 (a 4:58 per mile pace); 38 Kenyan men did it in October.
  • In the Chinese capital, Wanjiru changed the marathon forever. Runners could once coast the first 20 miles of major marathons, but since Wanjiru's bold example, the race has started when the race actually starts. Thirteen of the 17 sub-2:05 finishes in history have come since Wanjiru's epic performance at the Olympics. Expect Kenyans at the London Games to try to break the rest of the world from the gun. That will be Wanjiru's legacy.

I’m not especially afraid of heights, but I get a little dizzy just looking at this picture of a super-high suspension bridge in China. Note (from LLC): Keep in mind that Chinese structures have a habit of falling down…and that they are terribly dangerous drivers…


Thanks to East Coast Calling I just discovered and enjoy parts of this tumblr: "As You Like it, Notes on the complexities of like liking someone."
  • When a tall chick sees a short chick dating tall dude, they have the same reaction that a black chick has when she sees a white chick dating a black dude. It's like "bitch get your own! We only have so many good ones!" 
  • Internet dating is like shopping at a thrift store.  There are a few gems here and there, but mostly its just pit stained T-shirts and old underwear. 
  • Guys. Wear Suits. You think Clint Eastwood was like “nah, I think that dude is her boyfriend” NO. Suit.

The Chork, for the chopstick impaired. Brilliant or ridiculous? I think both!


  • However, Banda’s, or any other good leaders’ skills are insipid if they are used to lead a nation of bad citizens. Citizenship, not leadership, is the concept that we more urgently need to examine. Good leaders can be in charge of bad citizens namely and as a result achieve little long-term solutions, but good citizens can”t elect, accept or rejoice bad leaders.


If you’re in DC and want an event this Saturday, I plan on attending this in Dupont: Dance in the Circle



Happy Weekend!