Let Them Knock

Hola. Just chillin' on a Thursday night after watching the Leafs thoroughly stomp the Islanders, 8-1, only two nights after having the same thing done to them by Carolina. Congrats to Mats Sundin, who scored to simultaneously break Darryl Sittler's records for most goals (now 390) and most points (now 917). Sittler was my favorite player growing up, but if anyone had to break his records, I'm glad it was Sundin. I'd love to see Sundin win a Cup in Toronto, but I just don't see it happening any time soon.

A little more than two days to my marathon. This has been a light week for running, as you can imagine. I did five miles worth of speedwork on Tuesday and was going to run a final three-miler today, but I had too much work to do. I'll get out tomorrow at lunch. The forecast for Sunday right now is calling for clear skies and temps in the 40s at the start, with a high of 60. I'll take it.

An itemized list:

• The fallout from the Chicago Marathon fiasco continues, with city officials worrying about the impact on the city's bid to host the Olympics. In addition, some wonder if the race has gotten too big and others say the marathon should adopt minimum qualifying requirements like Boston does (although Boston allows charity runners to race without meeting the qualifying times. How do you think I was able to do it twice?). They added 5,000 more entrants this year to bring the total to 45,000, although 10,000 never even showed up because of the weather. All I know is last year, it was a great race and well-organized, but that was under ideal conditions. They need to cut the number of entrants by 5,000-10,000 and get the thing to a manageable size. And maybe get some more water.
• Radiohead has made quite a splash by releasing their new album, In Rainbows, digitally and allowing fans to pay however little or much they wish for it. I ordered it and gave them 5 pounds (or about $11) for it, and I'm happy with it; it's an excellent album. But some folks are whining because the MP3s are lower-quality than expected. They're 160 kbps, which is higher than iTunes' standard 128 kbps, but not as high as people would like. The highest-possible compression rate is 320 kbps, which is not quite CD-quality. But the way I see it, 160 kbps is fine, especially since you could have downloaded the tracks essentially for free if you wanted (the minimum would be the transaction fee, which is about 92 cents). For listening on an iPod or even through computer speakers or in my car, I have no problems with it. The album will be out on CD in December if people want a better sonic experience. I'm happy I was able to get the new album early. Nuff said.

One Thought Too Much

Ah, Columbus Day. I don't know about you, but around here we spend the day in quiet reflection, musing about the fine body of work amassed by movie director Chris Columbus. Okay, maybe not.

What a difference a year makes. Last year, I ran the Chicago Marathon and it was a spectacular experience with perfect marathon weather: cloudy with temps in the low 40s. This year's Chicago Marathon was an unmitigated disaster, with temps approaching 90 and race organizers apparently unprepared to handle the increased need for water and aid. One runner, a 35-year-old cop from Michigan, died and more than 300 others were taken to the hospital for heat-related illnesses. The race was actually cancelled at 11:30, about three and a half hours after the start gun, when it became apparent that runners were having serious problems. Of the nearly 36,000 runners who started the race (about 10,000 never even bothered to start because it was so hot), only 25,000 finished. In the aftermath, many runners have complained that there was no water available at aid stations by the time they got there.

It's a tough situation for the organizers, who certainly did an excellent job last year. But I have to wonder if the race has just grown too big to handle. They opened the marathon up to another 5,000 entries this year, bringing it to a total of 45,000 runners; the race was sold out by early May. I decided not to do it this year because of the expense of flying out and getting a hotel room; turns out it was an excellent decision.

I've certainly run my fair share of overheated marathons, the most recent of which was last year's Vermont City Marathon on Memorial Day Weekend. Temps reached 85 and I was thoroughly hurting by the end. The two New York Marathons I've done were both marked by unseasonably warm (mid-70s in early November) and humid temperatures that I struggled through. Last year's Chicago Marathon was held two weeks later than normal on October 22 because a large trade show was in town earlier in the month and there weren't enough hotel rooms for everybody. Maybe they should move to a later date to hopefully avoid such warm weather.

Of course, they could take a lesson from the Boston Marathon, which has dealt with similar temps (85 in 2004) without the terrible results. And that was when Boston started at noon, forcing runners to head out with the sun bearing directly down on them. I had a tough enough time in 2003, when it was in the mid-70s and I got so dehydrated I was suffering with involuntary muscle spasms in my legs for the last six miles.

Had I been running in Chicago yesterday, I probably would have soldiered on at a slower pace and finished if at all possible. But I'm sure glad I wasn't there.

Congrats to my friends Jon and Kerry, who flew out to Minnesota this weekend and contended with similar heat problems while running the Twin Cities Marathon. They ended up taking it easy and finishing together in 3:26 (a time that I'll probably never come close to); last year, Jon did Chicago in 2:56 or something like that, so you know he wasn't running his fastest yesterday.

As for me, Baystate is next Sunday and the forecast right now looks perfect: "Sunny to partly cloudy with a brisk breeze at times. Highs in the middle to upper 50s," according to the WBZ-TV site. Let's hope it stays that way.