All is forgiven, Lute

I had an earlier rant against Lute Olson for suddenly retiring from his coaching position at Arizona. Today I found out that Olson had suffered a stroke . It just seemed like there was something else going on with Olson, but he didn't want to share. But the story linked to above gives more details about his condition. I hope he recovers well.


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My last semester at UofA, I was riding my bike home from campus in the early evening twilight. I then noticed this fancy Lexus drive past me. Its a bit unusual to see such a fancy car around campus, but then windows were rolled down and looked inside. It was none other the Coach Olson. He looked like a million bucks with this sunglasses and what looked like to be some serious bling-bling on this fingers. As he drove away I thought to myself, what a life. Coach of a major Div I basketball program, living in a bright sunny city, and driving around in a fancy car. Olson brought so much to the University and the city. I just feel bad for him, his family, and his players that he had to retire so abruptly. I remember my freshman year after they won the NCAA tournament they had a victory rally at the football stadium. He and his teams were greeted as conquering heroes. I hope that the University can have another similiar event when things settle down.

Eat. Sleep. Run.

Over this past year I think I've run at least 150 miles, mostly 5k training runs for the sprint tris I did this year. A friend of mine is training for a marathon, and while I did join him for some initial training runs, I've retreated to swimming indoors in 80 degree water as the weather has gotten colder.

Anyways, back to marathoning. This weekend is the NYC Marathon. The Times is running some cool stories about some of the 39,000 people running the race. One of them is about chef Joe Bastianich's trading in his decadent eating habits for less decadent eating habits as he trains for Sunday's race. He has lost over 45 pounds, but eating a steak after training is a bit much for me. I usually chow down on bananas and gatorade. But then again, I'm not an elite chef.

There's a new sheriff in town

Over the past few years I've become a fan of Westerns, as Hollywood has somewhat revived the genre. Some ones I like are Open Range (Robert Duvall kicks some serious ass in that movie) and 3:10 To Yuma. Today, I went to go see the new film Appaloosa , with Viggo Mortensen and Ed Harris. The two play hired lawmen to bring order to a town that has been taken over by a rogue cattle rancher. The film is gritty at times, but the plot dragged at some points. Renee Zwellweger plays a part of a woman who gets in the way of Mortensen and Harris' characters in the movie. The best part of the film is the last five minutes (I won't ruin the plot if you decide to go see it) But Mortensen lays down the law and rides off into the sunset.

Overall, I would give the movie 3 out of 5 stars. Both Harris and Mortensen do a great job, but Renee Zwellweger kind ruined the whole movie for me. There are some funny moments in the movie, but there could have been some more action in the movie.

Way to go Lute!

I'm not a very happy Arizona Basketball fan right now. Lute Olson abruptly retired on Thursday, after last week stating he was looking forward to the season. Last season he took an indefinite leave of absence, and came back in the spring. But not before firing his heir apparent Kevin Oneill. Way to pull the rug out underneath your team two years in a row. I bet Jerryd Bayless is happy was one and done. The same can't be said for Chase Budinger, Jordan Hill, and Nic Wise. And what's worse, the interim coach for UA basketball is the former ASU basketball radio analyst and former assistant under Rob Evans. No offense to Evans, he's a nice guy and everything, but got mediocre results at ASU.


Jim Livengood, your job might be next if you don't clean up this mess with Arizona Athletics,

The real America isn't like this ....

This is the exactly what Colin Powell was talking about when he endorsed Barack Obama .

My lame attempt at a Phelpsian workout

Friday late afternoons are usually reserved for happy hour, but today I did a swim workout inspired by this Phelps workout . My shortened version was something like this:

400 warm up
5x100 on 1:45 (1:24, 1:25, 1:25, 1:26, 1:25)
4x100 kick with 10seconds rest between
5x100 freestyle-im on 2:00 (1:40, 1:42;1:44, 1:40, 1:40)
3x300s on 5:15 (4:45, 4:50, 4:50)
12x50s evens freestyle on 1:00 odds stroke on 1:15 (free :40, stroke on 1:00 - back and breast)
100 cool down

total 3400 yards (just under 2 miles)

I was too much of a wuss to do the 10x400s and the intervals are nowhere close, but it was a fun set!
I have to say though, it was more fun than drinking beer. But that's just the kind of serial exerciser I've become.

Stephanie Rice, another reason to like swimming

A nice picture of Aussie swimmer Stephanie Rice , 3-time gold medalist from the Beijing Games and world record holder in the 200 and 400IM.
(Picture via SCAQ Blog - where I get all my swimming news!)

Order to my day

Days when I do swimming workouts are always better. Some might find swimming up and down a 25 yard pool staring at a black line not their idea of fun, but not me. I was re-reading this from NYTimes PLAY magazine . This passage seems to articulate best of what I feel after doing a tough workout:

Endurance sports brought order to my days. In an ever-confusing and chaotic world in which truth seems elusive, a serious training session or race made it inescapable. Truth, often ugly and disappointing but honest, was impossible to deny.

The pace clock doesn't lie. The burning in your arms doesn't like. The heaviness in your legs doesn't like. Training and racing is a very pure experience. The most relaxed I feel is when I'm physically exhausted after a workout.

Phelpsian Workouts

From SCAQ Blog , I found a link of some workouts of Michael Phelps from 2000 and 2001. Even when he was 15 and 16 years old, he was a physical freak of nature based on the distances and the splits of his sets. I consider anything above 2,500 a pretty decent workout. The workouts above are ~9,000 yards.

Eat. Sleep. Swim. What it takes to be like Mike.

Is Fall my new favorite season?

Growing up in the desert I really didn't experience all four seasons. It would be hot well into September and early October. When winter did come, the coldest it would get would be in the low 40s to high 30s. If I were to pick a favorite season, it would spring, when the wildflowers would be in bloom.

I've lived in several parts of the country now. And when I talk to people many tell me their favorite season in Fall. They don't understand when I tell them I don't like Fall. It just means Winter is coming. I still feel this way, but I am starting the like a Fall just a little bit better. Why? Mostly because of my road bike. I've gone on some great rides this week (pretty short - maybe 30 minutes on my lunch break) But the area around here the leaves are just changing color and its not too cold to be riding. Its nearly perfect riding weather. And the colors are beautiful.

But I still love March in the desert the best.