Miscellany: A somber Christmas

I'm in Texas right now for my grandfather's funeral, so posting will be light. It's sad that Grandpa passed so close to the holidays, but it does bring back memories of Christmases with him and the rest of the family. Wherever you are, dear Reader, I hope you are together with family this holiday season.

Music: Frosty the Snowman

Christmas is coming up fast this year, and I haven't had much time to get into the holiday spirit, given the singular focus on the marathon and a family emergency cropping up.

I did like this track from former Nightwish singer Tarja Turunen, which combines epic orchestration with a rather silly holiday standard. The video plays it so absolutely straight that you'll probably chuckle at the opening bars:

Miscellany: Mulliga Runs a Marathon, Part 6 - The Finale

The day of the marathon met me with strong winds and cold, driving rain. I shivered in the starting corral, anxious to get moving. Soon enough, the starting bell sounded, and the 2024 Garden of Life Palm Beaches Marathon was on:

The first 20 miles went well enough; I began running at a leisurely 10 minute-per-mile pace, and whittled a few seconds off each mile as the race wore on. I even purposely dialed back the speed around miles 10 through 20 to save something for the end, with my mile splits hovering in the 9'30" to 9'45" range.

However, I made a critical mistake at mile 20. I thought I felt good enough to at least attempt my goal pace (9 minutes per mile), but that surge sucked all the energy out of me and made the last 5 miles a hellish slog. My splits rose to the 10-minute mark and my perceived effort skyrocketed, especially with the back half of the course blanketing me in a 20-mph headwind.

It wasn't pretty, and I ended up walking a couple minutes just because I was out of juice, but I eventually finished. If you haven't run a marathon, it's hard to comprehend how far the distance is, and how long you are on your feet. Even just finishing the race really is an achievement, and anyone who has completed one has my respect.

Movies: Interstellar (10th anniversary 2024 IMAX re-release)

I'm a fan of Christopher Nolan's 2014 space adventure Interstellar, but I never got to see it in theatres. That's why I made the trek down to Fort Lauderdale to catch the 10th anniversary re-release - in IMAX:

Unlike some movies that are "converted" into IMAX after the fact, much of Interstellar was shot in true 70 mm IMAX. Seeing the film in this format makes a huge difference, because most of the story takes place on desolate alien planets; an IMAX screen gives you impressive vistas stretching as far as your eyes can see. Also important is the IMAX audio system, which thrusts the blistering organ crescendos of Hans Zimmer's score right into your eardrums.

Downsides? Well, the experience ain't cheap ($20 a ticket), and even the best sights and sounds can't paper over the sometimes ham-handed dialogue and clumsy plotting of the movie. Still, if you want to see some gravitational time dilation and McConaughey tears, this is the only game in town.

Rating: 8/10

Miscellany: Mulliga Runs a Marathon, Part 5 - The Taper

My marathon is in less than 2 weeks, so I am in the midst of what runners call "the taper" - a period where you reduce your training volume in preparation for the big race:

Everybody reacts differently, and no one can tell you precisely how long or how much you should taper, but most plans recommend cutting out anywhere from 25% to 50% of your miles (as compared to your seasonal peak) in the weeks before the marathon. For me, that means only running a total of about 27 miles this week. It's a cakewalk compared to the 40+ mile weeks, when most of my free time was spent running.

More difficult is cutting out caffeine and alcohol, and increasing sleep, to recover the body as much as possible before the trauma of 26.2 miles. Hopefully it all goes well come race day...