Books: Two from Meb Keflezighi

With the Summer Olympics right around the corner and me training for a marathon, I thought it'd be fun to look at two books written by Meb Keflezighi, perhaps America's greatest living marathoner, and co-writer Scott Douglas:

Meb for Mortals: How to Run, Think, and Eat like a Champion Marathoner

If there was ever a book that does "what it says on the tin," Meb for Mortals is it.  This is a plain English guide for intermediate and advanced runners that does indeed tell you how to run and train like Meb. It's a full spectrum look behind the scenes in a world-class athlete's life; in addition to the usual training guides and running plans, there are chapters on form drills, diet advice, cross-training, and most importantly, mindset. Yes, there are times when even an incredible athlete like Meb doesn't feel like getting out the door, and the book has some good concrete suggestions for setting goals and overcoming adversity.

26 Marathons: What I Learned About Faith, Identity, Running, and Life from My Marathon Career

Runner's memoirs are a dime a dozen, but Meb's 2021 memoir stands out for what it does not contain. It's centered almost exclusively around the 26 marathons Meb ran in his competitive career, without too much information about his childhood and college years. In some ways, that's a shame (Meb and his family immigrated as refugees from Eritrea by way of Italy in 1987, and their story is a compelling rebuke of anti-immigration rhetoric), but the focus on the 26 races does give the book structure and purpose, much like a marathon does to running in general. While Meb is famous for winning a silver Olympic medal and the 2009 New York and 2014 Boston Marathons, it turns out the other races in between taught him plenty of lessons.

Tech: Drainus

"Drainus" is a mélange of old school shoot-em-ups - the bullet-vacuum mechanics of Ikaruga, the configurable armament of Gradius, the claustrophobic levels of R-Type. Developed by Team Ladybug and WSS Playground, the game puts you into the cockpit of the Drainus, an energy-absorbing, time-travelling fighter ship:

Drainus nails the fundamentals of a good shmup - the controls are snappy and the pixelated graphics are legible (particularly non-absorbable bullets, which are highlighted in red). The configurable upgrade system also allows more flexibility than most shooters, without drowning the player in complexity. But while this is a fun game, it's a bit short and easy for shooter diehards, and the enemy and level designs don't stand out from the crowd.

Rating: 84/100

Movies: Longlegs

Longlegs, a horror thriller directed by Osgood Perkins, pits a rookie female FBI agent against an enigmatic serial killer:

Yes, the movie is a supernatural Silence of the Lambs, and it's not at all shy about referencing Jonathan Demme's all-time classic.  Like Clarice, preternaturally intuitive agent Lee Harker (played by Maika Monroe of It Follows) pieces together clues, interrogates a mysterious serial killer, and clears dark rooms with a drawn gun in a panic, except that Harker uses a SIG instead of a S&W 13.

The movie is well-crafted and well-acted (Nicholas Cage is in full flamboyant villain mode as the titular character), but disappointingly incoherent.  Longlegs gets by more on mood than logic, and its final twists rely on convenient amnesia and eyebrow-raising coincidences. The lesson? If you're going to mix horror with a police procedural, the procedural part must be up to snuff.

Rating: 6/10

Books: The Words Lincoln Lived By

The Words Lincoln Lived By is a collection of 52 principles taken from the life of Abraham Lincoln, illustrated by quotes and anecdotes from Honest Abe himself.  Written by the late Gene Griessman, a famed Lincoln scholar, the book goes way beyond the famous addresses and speeches and delves into little-known letters and lectures that provide a window into another time.

These stories were particularly fun for me since Abraham Lincoln was a successful lawyer, despite never having a formal education. How did Lincoln feel about representing "guilty" clients as a defense lawyer? What did he do to prepare for a trial? If you're at all interested in Lincoln's life, this is a great little book to pick up.

Music: Juneteenth Playlist

To celebrate Juneteenth, I put together a playlist of music from films about the American Civil War. Far and away the best of them is James Horner's epic soundtrack to Glory, based on the real-life exploits of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment.  There's also music from Steven Spielberg's Lincoln and Gary Ross's Free State of Jones (neither soundtrack is particularly memorable, regrettably).

I had to cheat a little by including songs from Ken Burns's The Civil War documentary; perhaps because the subject matter is so tragic, there actually aren't all that many movies about the Civil War itself. Most films are content to use the conflict as a backdrop, which seems to do a disservice to the lives lost and the millions of enslaved persons over whom the war was fought (yes, it was mostly about slavery).

Miscellany: Mercedes-Benz 2013 C300 4Matic review - The Black Mirror

I've had my BMW 328i (F30) for years now and it's proven to be a fine car, except for the stupidly high repair costs (I'm sure I've put my mechanics' kids through college by now). It was one of those multi-day repairs that made me rent the subject of today's review, a 2013 Mercedes C300 4Matic.

It was the same model year as my 328i, but while this example had about 50,000 fewer miles on it than my car, it had not been maintained half as well.  The decals on the interior switches were eroded down to nothing, the aftermarket steering wheel cover made it feel like a baseball bat, and the worn-out suspension bounced the car around like a carnival ride. Let's move away from this particular example, though, and speak more generally about the C-Class, the traditional rival of the BMW 3-series.

The 2013 C300 was the last year of the third generation (W204 model code).  Unlike the 3-series, the boys from Stuttgart that year opted for a naturally aspirated, direct-injected 3.5-liter V6 (Mercedes would switch to a turbo four in the next generation). I found that the old V6 was less noisy and a little smoother than my F30's engine, but it got noticeably worse gas mileage and was slightly slower off the line.  The C300's sluggish 7-speed transmission didn't help matters, nor did the all-wheel drive system, which added a couple hundred pounds to the curb weight.

The interior of the 2013 C-Class was fairly well laid out, but there were some antiquated controls, like a numeric keypad and air conditioning dials that looked like they came from Grandpa's basement. The infotainment system had wireless Bluetooth, but the interface was pretty stark and ugly, even compared to my car.

The seats were comparable to the 3-series of the time - comfy, but not terribly supportive during hard cornering.  Both Mercedes and BMW use seats with a lot more bolstering nowadays, since today's luxury sedan buyer is looking for more sportiness than an SUV.  And everything felt a little cramped by modern standards.  Comparing like for like, the W204 was a smaller car overall than the F30, and it shows. Even the trunk was a bit smaller:

The C300 was an interesting ride, a different sort of take on the compact luxury segment from 10 years ago. If I had bought it back then, I don't think I'd necessarily be unhappy.  In the end, though, I was glad to get my car back.

Movies: A Salute to Roger Corman, King of the B-Movie

Last week, we lost a true giant of independent film, Roger Corman:

While Corman directed and produced hundreds of flicks, he is probably best know for giving some of Hollywood's biggest names, including legends like Martin Scorsese and James Cameron, their starts in the movie business. The guerrilla filmmaking techniques you saw in Taxi Driver and The Terminator were products of the "Roger Corman film school," delivering memorable scenes on a shoestring budget (Corman famously shot all of Boris Karloff's scenes in The Terror in two days, using leftover sets and crew from another movie).

As a lifelong MST3K fan, I probably have a different perspective on Roger Corman than most, in that I have actually seen and suffered through many of Corman's B-movies.  The giant cucumber from It Conquered the World, the lovely Beverly Garland from The Gunslinger - they're not great movies, but memorable nonetheless (apparently Corman was not a fan of the show, which isn't surprising).

Miscellany: Luna Sandals Venado 2.0 review

Like many runners, I enjoyed reading Born to Run, Christopher McDougall's book about the amazing Rarámuri tribe of the Copper Canyons of Mexico.  The Rarámuri are famous for covering huge distances of unforgiving wilderness, and for doing so in traditional huarache sandals rather than modern athletic shoes.  They're not just plodding along, either; the fastest of the Rarámuri can go toe-to-toe with world class trail runners.

Born to Run kicked off the minimalist running craze, which is based on the hypothesis that modern running shoes actually cause more injuries than they prevent (by blocking the feet from feeling the ground and permitting an unnatural gait). The book also featured the founder of Luna Sandals, "Barefoot Ted" McDonald and the brand's namesake, Manuel Luna:

I tried out a pair of Luna Sandals, the "Venado 2.0." The sandals have the nickname given to champion ultrarunner Scott Jurek (Spanish for "deer"), and are the thinnest and lightest in the Luna lineup. With a flexible 9mm Vibram sole and a total weigh of 4.4 ounces per sandal, wearing the Venado 2.0 is about as close as you can get to being barefoot:

It probably takes some getting used to for most people. You really feel the ground, especially when you are walking on rough surfaces like gravel. There is also minimal protection for the bottom of your foot, so you have to be careful about urban hazards like broken glass or nails. 

If you can live with those limitations, the Venado 2.0 makes for a good everyday sandal and a great travel sandal; the flat form factor and light weight are ideal for packing. While I'm not sure about running a marathon in these things, they'd be great to use as casual backup vacation footwear, or to save your primary shoes from streams and muddy areas.

Music: Mariachi Entertainment System

Mariachi Entertainment System is a San Antonio-based band that produces unique mariachi covers of classic video game music. It's a wild fusion that could've been a gimmicky mess in lesser hands, but band music director David Ortiz and his merry crew have always made sure the focus is on musicianship...with a little tequila, of course.

The band regularly plays gaming conventions and has created several albums, but my favorite is their compilation of Zelda covers, "Hecho En Hyrule." Original composer Koji Kondo famously wanted to use Ravel's Spanish-influenced Boléro as the theme music for The Legend of Zelda, so a mariachi arrangement really comes full circle:

Guns: My First GLOCK Sport Shooting Foundation Match

The GSSF is GLOCK's inhouse shooting sports organization, and if you own a GLOCK or are thinking of buying one, it's well worth joining.  Members get one coupon a year that allows purchase of almost any GLOCK pistol at discounted pricing (often saving a hundred bucks or so), and members can shoot at GSSF matches nationwide.  These matches are a fun way to test your skills with the "Drastic Plastic," with the chance to win some cool prizes (up to and including free GLOCK pistols).

I attended my first GSSF match recently, and all in all, it was a good experience, though there are some problems and issues which I'll discuss below.

Match Format

GSSF matches have the same three stages every time - "Five to GLOCK," "GLOCK 'M," and "Plate Rack." You get three runs through each stage, and the total of your times, along with penalties for misses, are added up for your score.  Competitors are separated into divisions based on whether they are amateur or professional, what kind of gun they have, etc.

The stages themselves involve zero movement, zero reloads, and zero tactics, so they are quite accessible for beginners, people with physical challenges, etc. Each stage is a pure test of accuracy and speed:

• Five to GLOCK - Two shots each on five paper targets, which are placed at increasing distances.
• GLOCK 'M - Two shots each on four paper targets, and a single shot on a steel target in the middle.
• Plate Rack - Shoot six steel plates; the plates must fall in order to clear the stage.

There will be an RO to keep things safe, time your runs, and score your targets. There's a big emphasis on range safety and safe gunhandling at these matches, which I appreciated.

The paper targets themselves are actually really good for defensive training - just cardboard sheets with thin, almost invisible scoring zones. Like in a real gunfight, you sometimes won't be able to see where you are hitting, and so must rely on your sights to tell you where the shots are going.

My (Lack of) Equipment

I shot two guns - my brand new G44 and my old G26 Gen 4 carry gun (reviews for both forthcoming - eventually). Aside from a set of Trijicon night sights on the G26, both guns were bone stock. Plenty of people were running pistols with red dots, compensators, and other stuff, but be careful - depending on the division, the rules can limit what mods are permissible on your gun.

One upside of the limited nature of the GSSF stages is that you don't have to bring much stuff to shoot - there's no need for holsters, mag pouches, or other paraphernalia. Heck, I only brought one magazine for each gun, which is okay if you can load mags fast.

Issues and Final Thoughts

Because of the low cost and low barrier to entry, most GSSF matches are crowded. Theoretically, you could shoot the three stages in 20 minutes; realistically, though, you will be at the range for many hours waiting to shoot. Bring a good book, a folding chair and umbrella, and be prepared to sit awhile.

While I had a good experience (and managed to win a couple guns), the stages themselves weren't terribly exciting, and I could see getting tired of them after awhile. That said, the GSSF must be doing its job, since other gunmakers like SIG have copied the format.