Takes a Licking....

Readers who have been paying abnormal attention to my long-distance race reports in the past know that my pace always fades at the end. Sadly, I am the master of the positive split. With the Katy Fit training season officially under way, I've decided explore the possibility that a run/walk training path might actually lead me to a better pace.

After arriving later than intended and scrambling for a parking space at Terry Hershey Park, I jumped in with a small Red sub-group led by Coach Doug on a two miler using rough 10:1 intervals. Today this worked out to yield one walk break in the middle. This was followed by stretching and the workout finished with some plank holds. After mere seconds the planks had me wincing as my core was licked; I definitely have room for improvement there!

My door prize karma decided to show up today as my number was drawn for a CoolMax fabric Timex cap. The "keeps on ticking" slogan on the back could become a new mantra for me as the season moves forward.

Additional Notes:

• One of the post-workout speakers was there to spread the word about an anti-slavery 5K being hosted by Kingsland Baptist Church -- the Just Run for a Just Cause.
• Due to Marathon Sunday coming to Houston a couple weeks later than usual in 2011 and because of the uncertainty of the Chevron/Aramco lottery, Katy Fit will be keeping registration open well into August.
  
• After coming home I checked on my beer-bottle marigolds this morning and was pleased to see that one stem has sprouted root hairs in just plain tap water. There will be a transition to potting mix in its near future.
  

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Last night I took advantage of an opportunity to get into a preview screening of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. I went into the theater as a Gen-Xer unfamiliar with the graphic novels that serve as the movie's source material and in this post I'll share some observations as a non-fan of the series that might be useful for those trying to decide whether to go see it when it goes into wide release in mid-August.

Michael Cera plays the title character; Scott Pilgrim is a 22-year-old Toronto slacker who gets riddled with grief from his roommate, sister, and bandmates when he starts dating high school student Knives (Ellen Wong). Pilgrim's interest in Knives is barely lukewarm, though, and at first sight during a party he begins pursuing the aloof Ramona (Mary Elizabeth Winstead).

At its core, this is a boy-getting-the-girl flick for Generation Y, with comic book and "augmented reality" gaming visuals splattered all over the frame. I found it all a little tiresome, though, and I was already trying to glance at my watch before the first hour was up. Despite the fast-paced activity seen in the first part of the movie, I still felt as if the plot wasn't appreciably moving forward fast enough. The plot itself is something that could have been lifted from a video game: To win Ramona, Pilgrim must defeat a series of her ex-lovers in fantasy encounters that are conducted as live-action video game duels. And in true video game fashion, there is hardly any backstory shown to explain why the "League of Exes" finds itself so united and motivated in defeating Pilgrim. I can only presume these are items much better explained in the books. Michael Cera does a bang-up job of being, well, Michael Cera -- which left me never completely sold on why we should be rooting for his Pilgrim to reach his desired destination of being with Ramona.

Kieran Culkin delivers many of the funniest moments in the film as the gay roommate who tries to get Pilgrim on the road away from going-nowhereness and eventually towards literally "getting a life." As I watched Wong's portrayal as Knives, I breathed a sigh of relief as she wasn't steered into any embarrassing movie Asian stereotypes. I wouldn't be surprised if Pilgrim turns out to be a film that pulls in lackluster numbers at the box office, but grows legs in the DVD market and eventually picks up a cult following. It's not an in-theater must-see in my eyes, but if your movie house also dabbles in adult beverages, I'd endorse the idea of marinating a viewing of Scott Pilgrim with an adult beverage of your choice as the show begins. It would likely enhance the appreciation of this off-the-wall graphic presentation. By the end, however I couldn't help but draw comparisons to an earlier Cera-getting-the-girl comedy -- Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist -- that I found more enchanting.

My verdict is "wait-for-rental" on this one. It will lose nothing when transferred to the small screen. In fact, the film would probably feel even more at home played on someone's living room XBOX.

Can I propagate marigolds from cuttings?

The renovations in April threw a kink into my plans for the patio this past spring. The stress from being moved around and stuck indoors killed off all of the flowerbox plants except for one gold marigold. After being put back out in the sun, it flourished for a while, but now appears to be succumbing to some sort of disease.

I've had very limited success in sprouting replacement from seed -- as in exactly one plant from a whole envelope of seeds. So I'm going to take a shot at propagating new plants from cuttings. From this healthy parent plant, I snipped off three stems, nipped their buds, and immersed the cut ends into brown beer bottles filled with water. I used wadded paper napkins around the stems as stoppers to discourage evaporation and any chance of mosquitoes using the containers to breed.

Will I get roots in just plain tap water without the aid of fertilizer? Will the brown glass of the Abita bottles be enough to keep light from interfering? We'll find out in a few weeks.

Groupthink

As of this morning, I'm pretty sure that I'll be joining the lottery sometime in the coming weeks in the hopes of landing a spot in January's Aramco Half. The estimated odds are 4-to-1 in favor of an entrant to get picked, although as I've said before, it wouldn't be crushing if I'm not. There's lots of other events to run.

In the never-ending search for motivation and variety, I've signed up with the Katy Fit training program for the coming season. Mostly, I've been working out on my own over the past several years, and the "group thing" will be something new and fresh for me as I look for half marathon finish number ten.

After checking in, I took in my first orientation this morning. Then we set out for a "pacefinder run" to help separate us into groups. (As demonstrated for me numerous times during pre-race lineups, there are lots of people who really have no clue about what pace they run.) So after a mile-and-a-half, I grabbed a cupcake from one of the sponsors and gathered with my cohorts in the "red" group. It was like the sorting ceremony scenes from the Harry Potter books, except with less CGI and more heavy breathing.

See y'all in the fall!

(We do have autumn weather coming -- right!?)

Freedom 5K

After a one-year hiatus to get a taste of the Run Wild 5K, I returned to starting my Independence Day in Sugar Land with the run at Lost Creek Park. During my sunrise drive to the race, I was listening to a radio broadcast of "Appalachian Spring" by all-American composer Aaron Copland and thinking that any sub-35 time would be just fine in the extreme humidity. I have no complaint with my result:

Mile 1 -- 9:50
Mile 2 -- 10:53
Mile 3 -- 11:10
5K elapsed time -- 33:04
(per Garmin Forerunner 205)

After crossing the finish line, I went back on the course to join the cheer squad until the lovely Laurie came in, and then we sought a shady spot to view the awards presentation. It was great to see Fort Bend resident and septuagenarian record-holder Ino Cantu appear to claim a win in his age-group. A couple of years ago, I had looked up his Athlinks profile and noticed a long gap of several months since his last race result, and my mind had jumped to the worst conclusions.

We dodged the hardest punches of Hurricane Alex, but his outer rain bands had been giving us wet, sloppy kisses for days. The wet weather had prompted race organizers to alter the course; instead of finishing on the Oyster Creek trail, the final mile was a U-turn on Lexington Boulevard back to the main park entrance. To their credit, at least they didn't settle for the half-mile hatchet job they took to the course in 2007.

Happy Fourth of July to all from my tiny corner of the blogosphere! Thankfully the skies cleared up before the race and I hope they'll stay clear for area fireworks celebrations tonight. Last night, right before bed, I listened to NPR's reading of the Declaration penned by Thomas Jefferson. Even in 2010, it stands out to me as a message of humility delivered in powerful language.