14 May 2010 (pm)

Keith Olbermann slams Sarah Palin

Richard Dawkins: notes that modern things could affect human evolution

Hitchens on talking to modern religious believers

Part I

Part II

Education
Female teacher beats up a male student. (ok, this is an “alternative school for troubled kids)

Credibility tip: avoid elementary mistakes in your first paragraph

Really:

As one of the first American journalists to arrive in Berlin after the end of the Second World War, John Dos Passos was embarrassed by the devastation the American B29s had inflicted.

Hmmm:

1. The B-29 was used in the Pacific, not Europe.
2. The RAF was also heavily involved in the bombing of Germany, not just the USAAF.

Markin Center to Bradley Park Cornstalk Course (and a hill repeat course)

Photo set for these courses can be found here.

Notes for the course: this is a good spring, summer and fall course. This is NOT a good snow course as the city tends to pile the road snow onto the sidewalks. Also, the park sections can be a bit slick (but runnable) after a rainstorm.

Markin Center (Bradley University) to Bradley Park. 4.62 miles.

The course: (USATF courses) 4.62 miles; 190 feet of climb spread out over 3 hills.

Start: Markin Center rear entrance on Maplewood.

Turn right on Bradley Ave.

Turn right on Cooper Street (first stop sign).

Turn right on Main street (brief bit of sidewalk).

At the first stop light (with a pedestrian light), turn left. The Parking Garage will be on your right.
You are on Maplewood again.

Go through this neighborhood.

Turn right on Columbia Terrace.

Turn left on Glenwood.

Follow Glenwood as it changes into Parkside. Bradley Park will be on your right.

Back on Main, turn right onto the sidewalk then right again past the small circle into Bradley Park.

Follow the walk into the parking lot and park road. Go downhill.

At the base of the hill, turn left, follow the park road. Picnic area, tennis courts, and later the Bradley softball field will be to your left. There are some bathrooms there.

Just as you are about to exit the park, turn right on the side walk. The creek is on your right.

Take another quick right back into the park.

Now when the road forks, turn hard left uphill.

Go up this hill…climb until you crest near Cornstalk theater.

Go right and descend a bit.

Go straight; you rise a bit then head down.

Toward the bottom of the hill, you see the bridge(s). Cross one of them (or the one that is still standing).

Go uphill past the dog park..then go downhill.

As you exit this hill watch for traffic.

Then you are almost where you entered the lower part of the park.

Go back uphill and retrace your path back down.

Turn left on main, left on Parkside.

Parkside: turn on Glenwood

Turn right on Columbia Terrace

The very near by, turn left on Maplewood.

Cross Main at the light, turn right on Main.

Turn left on Cooper.

Follow Cooper to Bradley Ave. Turn left.

Turn left onto Maplewood and back to the Markin rear entrance.

Bradley Hill Repeat Course. 2.39 round trip (about 1.2 miles each way) 274 feet of climbing spread out over 5 hills per out and back repetition.

(USATF site)

Start at the top of Bradley Park (parking lot)

Go down the hill but then turn RIGHT at the bottom.

Go up the hill; the dog park will be to your right.

Go down, cross the bridge.

Turn right, go up Cornstalk hill.

Go back down, then turn around and repeat in the other direction.

14 May 2010 (noonish)

Workout notes 4.2 very easy walking miles; took photos. Then I did my usual ab set and a “shoulder friendly” weight set: rotator cuff, rows (3 sets of 10 x 135 on the Smith Machine), pullups (4 sets of 10, 1 set of 6 one of 4; some chin up style), dumbbell military presses (10 x 45, 8 x 50, 10 x 45), pull downs (3 sets of 10 x 140), incline press (2 x 10 x 135, 9 x 135), ab routine, 5 minute head stand.

I talked to a father of a graduating senior. He was quite strong. Oh yeah, he is a rotator cuff survivor too.

Injury notes My right shoulder ached last night; the 4000 yard pull set (yesterday) was stupid.

Blog humor: here is how someone on my blog roll describes my blog:

BlueOllie: Triathlon, Love of Butts & Politics

I take exception to that: I’ve only done one triathlon and I really, really, really suck on the bike!!!! But, depending on what happens with my knee (my next appointment to go over my MRI is this Tuesday), I’ll have to clean it up and start riding. So, if I can’t do the Quad Cities Marathon this September, I’ll aim for the “No Baloney” Century ride the day prior. No, I am not going to do both. I think.

I did this once: in 2006.

Quad Cities:
Photos here and here
Race reports here and here. And yes, I had an embarrassing DNF and a half marathon report too.

Yes, I’ve finished it a couple times as a runner as well (1998: 3:55, 1999 3:45) and had a couple of “pre-blog walking finishes (5:12 in 2004, 4:44 in 2002); I did the two person relay in 2000 (1:40 for my half) and the half in 2001 (1:49).

Off to work; I hope to make some progress on my two mathematical projects today.
I am planning on posting my “route” photos this evening.

Celtics Beat Cavaliers in 6: win 94-85

Well it was closer this time around; 51-49 at the half and then 76-67 at the end of 3.
But for some reason, the Cavaliers didn’t seem to believe that they could win; in fact when Boston was up by 9 with 1 minute to go, they didn’t even bother to foul. It wasn’t as if the Celtics were making all of their free throws.

Garnett had an excellent game (22 points, 12 rebounds); Rondo had 21 points, 12 assists. Pierce hit 13 points and dogged James all night long; of course he had lots of help. Off the bench: Wallace (13 points) and T. Allen (10 points) provided spark; Allen in the second quarter when Pierce was down with 3 fouls.

You’ll hear about LeBron James and about how “poorly” he played. Well, he had Paul Pierce inside his shirt with other Celtics helping out and still had 27 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists. He also kept Paul Pierce in check offensively; but defending the Celtics when everyone is healthy is like playing “whack-a-mole”; you stop or limit one, another one fires up.

Check out the Celtic scoring for the series:

player	game 1	game 2	game 3	game 4	game 5	game 6
Garnett	18	18	19	18	18	22
Pierce	13	14	11	9	21	13
Rondo	27	13	18	29	16	21
R. Allen	14	22	7	18	25	8
Perkins	9	10	5	0	10	6
Key Sub		Wallace 17	T. Allen 10	T. Allen 15	Davis 15	Wallace 13
Key Sub			Robinson 11			T. Allen 10

Garnett was extremely consistent (and Rondo’s complete game was consistent) but it seems as every night, someone different stepped up on offense.
(photos from yahoo)