Terry Francona to Write a Book

Kids, this is going to get juicy.  Terry Francona has struck a deal to write a memoir of his time with the Red Sox. 

As far as I can tell, Francona has never said a bad word about a single member of the organization - not even when he was escorted to the door.  But what has ESPN's newest analyst been holding back, and what are the chances that he will go all Joe Torre on his former team?

All we need now is for Houghton Mifflin to release this as an audiobook so we can listen to it while running!  It will be a blogging trifecta!

Related posts:
Where Have You Gone, Tito?

1Q84: Bad Sex Award

This year, 1Q84 was shortlisted for a dubious honor: The Literary Review's Bad Sex Award. 

Now, there's plenty of sex in 1Q84, but it was one particular scene that got the Review's attention.  To avoid spoilers, I won't say which characters it involved, but it included such lines as:

A freshly made ear and a freshly made vagina look very much alike, [he] thought. Both appeared to be turned outward, trying to listen closely to something – something like a distant bell.

Of course, the overall weirdness of this scene was certainly intentional.  But it does come across as rather unfortunate when taken out of context.  (And I'm sure the same might be said for the other nominees as well.)

In any case, Murakami need not worry about picking up the trophy.  The ultimate winner was David Guterson, for Ed King and its re-telling of the ultimate bad sex experience, Oedipus Rex.

from 5k to ultramarathon?

after having taken an extended break from running to heal some injuries, fix some health issues and pursue some other interests, i start back just before 2010 turned into 2011.  i had been off for over a year and to say i was out of shape would have been putting it mildly.  case-in-point i signed up for a 5k (Ras na hEireann) with Todd, trained a bit but ultimately got injured (pulled hamstring) and had to pull out of the race.  a pulled hamstring training for a 3.1 mile race.

and now i've set my sights on two big races for 2012, the first is the Vermont City Marathon, a good 'ol 26.2 miler and the second is the New River Trail 50k, which would be my first ultramarathon.

am i nuts?  debatable; but is this possible?  YES!!!  absolutely.

firstly, think of Joel.  the first race he EVER ran was the 2011 edition of the New River Trail 50k.  and, not surprisingly, he recovered enough to start training for the 2012 Vermont City Marathon as well.

secondly, while the longest race i did in 2011 was 4.2 miles (beyond that it were just a handful of 5ks), i USED to race much longer races (albeit triathlons).  my body has certainly endured hours of punishment at the hest of sport.

the real question is, can it handle hours of punishment from running alone?  that's what i'll find out over the course of less than a year.

after taking a break for the latter part of summer and the early part of fall, i've now started a training program that i think is going to get me from 5k fitness to ultramarathon fitness.  i'm not planning to run a crazy, mountainous 100-miler (though i won't rule it out for the future :), just a relatively flat, 31.1 miler in October of next year.

as for how i'm gearing my initial training for this, i'm focusing so much less on going faster, not even so much on going farther and so much more on going longer.  it's a new kind of running for me and a very enjoyable switch.  i set out without considering pace at all and simply try to run for a longer period of time.  your typical Long Slow Distance runs without set goals other than to continue to increase my weekly mileage by a reasonable level each week (10%).

i plan to update this blog with my progress along the way and use it as a way to keep myself honest.  i know if i write it here, at least Todd and Joel will hold me to it!!

Related Posts:
Race Report: New River Trail 50k
It's On!
why i run races i know i won't win
Post Ultramarathon Recovery

Our Next Closer?

Word comes from the winter meetings that the Sox are interested in A’s closer Andrew Bailey. Combine this with a rumor I read elsewhere (can't remember where) that Bard would prefer to be a starter than a closer and I think the Sox may try converting Bard and hope to piece together an acceptable bullpen with different pieces. Of course, they'll probably have to give up some pieces in order to get Bailey, so the scene continues to shift.

Not sure how I feel about this yet. As i've said before, my opinion with Bard is that while we do need another starter, why mess with a good thing - he's probably the best setup man in the game.

Pedro Martinez

Presented without comment:

"I still feel the little itch to go and compete. Actually seeing the Red Sox this winter, before they were disqualified, I saw so many holes that I could probably fill while watching those games. It makes me want to go, but the other part of me says, 'No.'"

                  --Pedro Martinez, December 4, 2011

Gilded Covers

In a front page article, the New York Times describes how publishers have been putting more and more effort into the design of a hardcover books, to help them compete with e-books.

Unfortunately, the article doesn't dive into the economics, and I'm not sure if this approach makes sense for publishers.  In general, the same publisher will hold both the hardcover rights and the electronic rights to a new release. Once production costs are taken into account, it may well be more profitable for publishers to push readers toward the e-book format.

In any case, the efforts to keep printed book alive are working, for now.  According to the article, the English translation of Murakami's 1Q84 has sold 95,000 copies in hardcover, compared to 28,000 in e-book.  Other recent books featured in the article include:

• 11/22/63 (Stephen King)
• Decoded (Jay-Z)
• The Sense of An Ending (Julian Barnes)

Although the article doesn't mention it, I suspect that many hardcover books are given as gifts.  While many people buy e-books for their own consumption, they are unlikely to give e-books as gifts.  And of course, a beautiful book makes a better gift.

Are there books that you are planning to give -- or that you want -- this holiday season?

Related posts:
1Q84: Hardcover

November Summary

It's been a while since we've done one of these, but now that Eric's running again and my cobloggers and I start upping our mileage for the Burlington Marathon, I figured it's worth throwing out our numbers.

My December was:

• 15 runs
• 81 miles; average length = 5.4 miles
• 7 hours, 20 minutes; Average run = 48 minutes
• Average pace: ~8:10 per mile. (Cant easily figure this out on Nike+ for the month and am too lazy to do the math.)

How'd you do for November 2011?

Related Posts:
September Summary