What I'm Reading Now - Hate List by Jennifer Brown

Hate List is a YA novel by Jennifer Brown with some acclaim, on a very, very tough subject. I'm already halfway through it actually. Pretty good so far. Reminds me a bit of Thirteen Reasons Why, which I thought was a powerful, horrible read, for obvious reasons.

And I'm Done Update:

Good read. Tough read. I hate that guns are such a prevalent thing in our culture, but there's no escaping it at the moment. And while a multiple shooting in a high school might seem like an overly provocative subject for a YA book, it's sadly becoming less and less bizarre and noteworthy. Anyway, Hate List can be pretty painful at times, but does a good job looking at the big questions. We all have bad thoughts about ourselves, and others, at times. Even terrible thoughts once in a while. What happens if those thoughts come true? Do we hold any responsibility? Should we?

There's no easy way to write about bullying, suicide, school shootings and murder. And I would never suggest any kind of outside or self-censorship on these kinds of topics. Still...still, I'm troubled by publicity of these kinds of actions. It's been shown that the number of suicides, in particular, can rise when another suicide is publicized - something called the Werther effect. And of course, there have been plenty of considerations to the publicity given to mass murderers. There's no easy answer. In the end, I think these things need to be discussed - it's out there, it's happening - and there's probably no place better to discuss it than in a novel, where you can actually get some nuance and insight.

What I'm Reading Now - Joyland by Stephen King

The sad truth is I sometimes pick out books to read by size. No, really.

It's like this. I don't read at home all that much. I read while I'm walking to the bus (yes, I read while I'm walking, it's not that hard), I read when I'm on the bus, I read when I'm on the stationary bike at Dixon, and that's about it really. I'm a pretty fast reader and that gives me about an hour or so per day - that's enough.

Now the issue. All of those places I read are not great places to read a 500 page hard cover book. They're just not. Plus, they're all either on the way to work, at work, or on the way home, which means at some point the book will end up in by backpack. I do not like 20 lb hard cover books in my backpack.

All of this blather leads me to Joyland by Stephen King. Yes, it's a paperback. I was actually pretty excited to read Doctor Sleep by Stephen King, but it is, in fact, a 20 lb hard cover book that I don't want to lug around daily.

As an aside, I checked Doctor Sleep out from the library a couple months ago, but couldn't finish it before it was seriously overdue (you know, the whole "can't lug it to work" thing), then I received a copy of it for Christmas, so I do have it and will read it soon. But probably at home.

So there you have it.

And I'm Done Update:

Classic Stephen King. Although much less horror and supernatural happenings than usual, which makes sense as its a Hard Case Crime novel. Some good carny atmosphere and an authentic small-time amusement park feeling here, which I know well from hitting a few low rent parks in my day. Nothing extremely memorable, but a fun, quick read.

Running Shoe Companies Love the Minimalist Shoe Movement Because It Makes Them More Money

Yes, the cynical R's that you know and love is back with a new post.

So a couple days ago, as I purchased a spanking new pair of Mizuno Wave Riders, I pondered the fact that they kept getting lighter and lighter with every new iteration. For years, the general group-think has been that lighter shoes are better. Less weight to carry around with every step means less energy expended, faster times, fewer injuries, etc. Makes sense as far as it goes. And of course, with the minimalist running trend (can I just call it a "fad"?) making people insane about lighter and lighter shoes with no drop and little support, that idea that a light shoe is a good shoe has been amplified to 11. Never mind that studies about such things are few and far between and vague on conclusions.

To see why the big running shoe companies, such as Nike, Asics, Mizuno, etc, LOVE the minimalist movement and pander to minimalist thinking, let's estimate some numbers:

-First, all of these numbers were found with about 5 seconds of Google searching, so don't take them as gospel.
-Nike sells around 120 million shoes a year, with almost 90% of them running shoes. I'll be tight with the number and say Nike sells 100 million pairs of running shoes a year. Personally, I think they're trying to make them all lighter, but we'll say of those 100 million, Nike is actively trying to make 80% of their running shoes lighter on a regular basis. So that's 80 million pairs of shoes a year, just with Nike.

Now let's look at the weight of an average running shoe. We're going to look at the Mizuno Wave Rider because that's what I wear and I have all the weight numbers.

-Wave Rider 15 / 11.1 oz / $ 115
-Wave Rider 16 / 10 oz / $115
-Wave Rider 17 / 8.6 oz / $115

Now let's really half-ass this experiment and mix the Nike and Mizuno numbers up. If we assume Nike is making their shoes lighter much like Mizuno, and they are, then over three years, we've dropped the equivalent of 240 million oz. or about 15 million pounds.

Think about that. They're using 15 million pounds less of material. Every year. And that's only Nike. The other shoe companies are using far less material as well.

Yet the cost of the shoes never goes down.

And as someone who worked in purchasing for a manufacturing company, believe me when I say the material costs are a huge driver to the bottom line.

The sad thing is losing a pound of weight off your body would make a much bigger difference than losing an ounce of your running shoes, but we still love to focus on the shoes.

Obviously, I'm no scientist and I have no idea how good all these numbers are, but here's what I think: when you're shopping for your next pair of running shoes, keep in mind that not every change a shoe manufacturer makes is to improve the performance of your shoes. Be a smart shopper out there.

TL;DR
Even if minimalist shoes are fading back away, don't expect the big shoe manufacturers to give up on the "less is more theory." It makes them money.

Bored with the Same Old Running Race? Try the X-Rated Run!

Or not. Please choose "not."

Here's a short article from Sports Illustrated.

And here is the actual X-Rated Run site. Lord help us.

I will never complain about "normal" mud/obstacle runs again.

What I'm Reading Now - Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz

Yes, we've talked before about my penchant for reading, and loving, Young Adult novels. So it's not too much of a surprise that my latest read is a highly regarded YA novel with the wordy title "Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe," by Benjamin Alire Saenz. Like every other section of the library, the YA section has a few good books, a bunch of mediocre books and a few really horrid books that make you wonder how they ever were published to begin with. Knowing that, I try not to grab too many from the shelf without researching them a bit on the interwebs. When it comes to YA, even more so than adult books, the award-winners and top-reviewed books are almost always well written, fun and memorable. I find the top reviewed adult books to be more hit or miss on the fun and memorable scale.

Not to mention, the Wikipedia entry for ADDSU taught me a new word: Bidungsroman! Can't wait to use that one in everyday conversation.

And I'm Done Update:

This is a wonderful story of a budding relationship between two teen boys in 1987 El Paso. Saenz is unlike most YA storytellers, in that he paces the tale in a calm voice and lets his characters take center stage. Saenz watches them grow slowly throughout the story, never rushing it. While there is action, the driving force behind ADDSU is the main character Ari's struggles to understand the world around him. And then to understand the world inside him. There were more than a couple times when Ari's confusion with the world and his coping strategy of retreating into his own noisy thoughts reminded me of a teen boy I knew back in the 80's.

It's a powerful story. Nicely told.

Running and Workout Totals for 2013!

First, let's take a quick look back at where we ended 2012. I ended 2012 with exactly 1500 miles on the roads (and treadmills). That was after a 1000 mile effort in 2011. Since I finished 2012 with a bad ankle injury, I figured I'd probably be able to hit around 2000 miles in 2013. Didn't happen...

However! I did improve...slightly. The running mileage for 2013 was 1519.45 miles. Hey, we're improving! But here's the sad part. From January through August in 2013, I ran 1243.40 miles, an average of 155.425 miles per month. If I would have kept on that pace, I would have hit around 1850 miles for the year. Unfortunately, I had a bad rib injury on October 20th and the rest of the year was basically a wash. I'm just now starting to feel like myself again...only I'm about 15 pounds heavier than I was in the summer.

So let's move forward. For 2014, I have no big marathon plans, but I'm looking to set PR's in the Half and the 10k, so let's get on it.

First race up: the Corvallis Half Marathon in April.

What I'm Reading Now - The Kill Room by Jeffery Deaver

Yes, I read lowbrow, best-selling, by the numbers junk once in a while. I'm not afraid to admit it. And while he's not Dan Brown or James Patterson-style bad, Deaver can be a bit formulaic in his writing. That's all right. Sometimes you don't need to think too much about it - just enjoy it.

Although there is a proviso: if I'm reading a Jeffery Deaver book, it must be a Lincoln Rhyme novel. I've tried reading some of his other recurring characters and couldn't even finish the book, but I sort of like Rhyme; he's got a bit of Perry Mason to him. A bit mean, a bit uncaring and, obviously, in a wheelchair, Rhyme is pretty unconventional as a mystery novel hero, so there's that. Deaver does have issues with making everyone in his novels, heroes and villains alike, just WAY too smart and perfect, but hey, it's still fun.

And as a writer, it's informative to look at how Deaver crafts a novel. He's notorious for throwing in false leads and numerous surprise endings and seeing how he sets the reader up to buy into the premise (or not, at times) is very useful.

If you're looking to start with Jeffery Deaver, The Bone Collector is by far the most well-know Lincoln Rhyme novel, although I'd recommend The Coffin Dancer or The Empty Chair instead.


By the way, if you're curious what I thought of the last book, head back to that post - I'll add on a short review of each book when I'm done reading.

And I'm Done Update:

So the absolute worst thing that can be said about a thriller/mystery novel is that the novel was, well, a bit boring. And so it was with The Kill Room.

I think Deaver fell into what I like to call the CSI: Sheboygan trap. Shows like CSI and Law and Order and NCIS like to "borrow" plot lines from time to time from real world headlines. They take a notorious actual case and turn it into a notorious fictional TV case. That's all well and good (if lazy), but the problem is: we already know the story. We've already read about it on the internet. We've seen it on the news. How can we be enthralled with it when it's the third or fourth time we've gone through the story?

And that's The Kill Room in a nutshell. In broad terms, it's about an American government agency killing possibly innocent citizens in other countries using drones. Well, you either care about that issue or you don't, but either way, it's sure not the first time you've heard about it. I got the feeling Deaver sort of mailed this one in.

Onward and upward.

What I'm Reading Now - Countdown City by Ben Winters

Wow, just found this at the library and I'm so excited! So Countdown City is a sequel to The Last Policeman. If you haven't read The Last Policeman, get on that immediately!

If you're curious, here's the super-condensed version of the plot of The Last Policeman. Hank Palace is a young cop in New Hampshire. He's investigating a murder that many of his peers think is just another suicide - one of the millions in the past few months. Why so many people killing themselves? Oh, there's a giant asteroid headed toward Earth. It's been determined that it will indeed strike the Earth in a few months and pretty much end life for everyone on the planet. So...yeah.

What an amazing premise for a novel! And what a thought provoking premise. What would you do? Would you go about your job, like Hank, or would you head down to a sunny beach to await the end? Would you renew your values to your wife and family or would you take the opportunity to break morals and laws now that the punishments really don't matter? Would you fight to find a solution right up to the last minute or take the easy way out and commit suicide at some point?

I mean...wow. Ben Winters does a very nice writing job in The Last Policeman. There are end of the world details that show Winters was really pondering the psychology of such a situation. I'm hoping Countdown City is as well written. It sounds like it will be the second novel in what will eventually be a trilogy.

I'll let you know what I think once I've finished reading.

And I'm Done Update:

Good read, although I didn't think the plot moved as well as the first book, The Last Policeman. Trilogies are interesting things, especially when the author announces it immediately upon publication of the first book. Too often, I think, you get a great first book, a second book that just treads water, then an explosive third book (often much longer) that tries to wrap everything up. For examples, see The Passage and The Twelve by Justin Cronin (third book still to come) or the Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins. While I enjoyed Countdown City, Catching Fire and The Twelve (certain parts of The Twelve very much), I felt all three of them suffered a bit from holding back for the third book in the series.

That said, Countdown City was enjoyable, although I found the main crime to be solved by Hank Palace in this one to be a bit banal in the end. Of course, maybe that's the point. Even with the world coming to an very destructive and brutal end, humans can't help but be humans...a bit small-minded, selfish and banal, right to the very end.

Northwest Running and Triathlon Calendar - 2014 and Beyond

As you may have heard, since I said it in the last post, I am not continuing to write up the Northwest Running and Triathlon Calendar for The Two R's. It took a metric boatload of time every week to write it and I'm just taking a break from it. Maybe it will come back at some point and maybe it won't. I'm not sure.

I started to compile the calendar on The Two R's because there just isn't a good, comprehensive, Northwest calendar out there. As you'll see...

If you need to find a race, try one of these:

-RaceCenter NW
Good mix of races from Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana.

-Northwest Runner
Almost exclusively Washington State races

-Willamette Valley Road Runners Calendar
Mostly Oregon, obviously, but also some Washington, California and Hawaii

-Eclectic Edge Racing Calendar
Races put on by EER, mainly in Oregon

-3 Rivers Road Runners Calendar
Mainly Washington races in the Tri-Cities area

-Running in the USA
Choose races by any state in the USA

The problem with all of these, and pretty much any race calendar, is they're mostly by submissions from race directors, or they're just for races put on by one particular group. I've yet to find a good compiler site. There isn't a truly comprehensive site for Northwest racing. That's what I was trying to accomplish with my calendar.

Good luck out there.

No, The Two R's is Not Dead

It's still kicking. Barely.

So here's a comment I just posted onto the last post, in case you missed it:

Yeah, it's been a while. I keep meaning to write up some kind of explanation, even though I don't have much of one. Yes, I'm not going to be updating the blog as much, though I will post at times. Yes, I'm trying to work on other (more worthwhile?) writing. Yes, my rib injury really lingered and took me away from running for weeks and sort of got me depressed, but I'm getting back to running now and getting excited about trying to get back into decent running shape. So...

I definitely will continue posting interesting, to me, thoughts and articles on my own writing and running as well as others writing and running. I am for sure taking a break from trying to compile the Northwest Running and Tri calendar. I hope some people were using it and finding it helpful, but it took a ton of time to complete every week and I'm hoping to use that time differently.

Talk to you soon. Get out there and run.