iCandybyWangC

Wiffy was being neighborly when [our] newest homeowners moved in. Although Wiffy hasn’t run with Growlers Group Run, she does like to talk it up with folks and she wondered if the new couple ran. Don’t you know they both do! Of the two, Andrew joined us last week.

Running is all great and everything, but building local community through running community is nonpareil. During pandemic times, being outdoors is a plus and it provided an opportunity to chat with a neighbor that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. “All good” as they say!

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), #negativesplitorpositivesplat #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Thoughts with caption and minor text editing: 2022’09’16’F]

So Paul was a high school runner in the early aughts when he started running with JRC. Early professional and family life have taken him away from the group but permit occasional visits. He still places in the upper echelons when he competes in marathons, even if he competes less than in earlier days. PDPhil is now a high school runner who gets coaching from JRC Drew. He’s knows his running shoes and has worked a bit at the store. And I didn’t start running until midlife. The language of XC runners with its unreachable 5K times, its high-level speed work, and its unfamiliar balance of speed and distance made for a lot of polite nodding as I listened to them comparing notes. But competitive running for marathons and 5Ks does have overlap, so I was able to make some sense of their conversation. I oohed and aahed when they compared impressive accomplishments (and then did quick mental math to translate 5K times to more understandable mile times, just to confirm). And I enjoyed the camaraderie.

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), #negativesplitorpositivesplat #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Thoughts with caption: 2022’09’16’F]

The unexpected theme of the evening was the influence of English teachers. Seems JRC Drew who is girls’ running coach at Cheltenham High School knows Adelaide’s English teacher from the days when she went there. Adelaide is now an English teacher because of her. As for me, I’m the erudite, loquacious scholar that I am because my English teacher lauded my alma mater so effusively that I simply had to matriculate there (University of Chicago). And going full circle back to Drew, he got into his alma mater (Penn) despite his English teacher despising him and delaying his letter of recommendation until it was almost too late.

Well, then; thank you very much.

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), #negativesplitorpositivesplat #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Thoughts with caption: 2022’09’16’F]

Over the recent weeks, GGR has pulled a variety of runners from its recent couple of years. Some have [shown] up on a schedule and others have just joined as circumstances permitted. As a result, there’s been a reliable representation of folks every run without being too many (during the Still ongoing pandemic). Someday, forever from now, that could mean a pretty nice full-sized group any given week. Sigh, what are the chances? Inevitable! Both for pandemic end and normally-sized groups.

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), #negativesplitorpositivesplat #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Thoughts with caption and minor editing: 2022’09’16’F]

As someone who’s worked with high-school-aged adolescents for a lot of years and observed college-aged adolescents in higher ed, I’ve had a lot of opportunity to think about upbringing, convictions, and behavior. Parental influences count for a lot, but it’s difficult to know when sincerely-held values will help children grow up like-minded or rebellious. Running with PDF gave me a chance to do some vetting of my own thoughts. As the thoughtful HS senior that he is, he gave me his, both from observing his friends and introspecting himself. The issues are complex and the cogitating continues. Thanks for letting me pick your brains, PDF! The variety of runners who join every W provides lots of opportunities to think about lots of different things. They’re not just runs, they’re cerebruns.

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), #negativesplitorpositivesplat #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Thoughts with caption: 2022’09’28’W]

In order to spread out the density of participants (and manage attendance expectations) a few of the regulars have committed to specific weeks of the month. Bryan and Heather joined for this past (2nd) week and we had the usual lovely time chatting and hanging out. We even did some running.

The on-the-road good bit of time came in the form of talking about one of my fave topics: information seeking and info sources. (It is my profession, after all, as a university librarian.) The focus was on paid sources that one can usually only access through institutional subscriptions and how to use them effectively in conjunction with free tools, think Google.

The in-store good bit of time came in the form of slurping a lovely brew that’s a unique product of Central PA: Yeungling Hershey’s Chocolate Porter!

Good stuff!

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), #negativesplitorpositivesplat #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Thoughts with caption: 2022’09’28’W]

What is it that inclines a certain sector of the population to push extremes? Gender? Hormones? (Read “male” and “testosterone.”) Degrees of both? Last week, one runner—who shall go unnamed—arrived uncertain of how much they would run. It seems that person had just stabbed themself at the base of the thumb before bandaging it and driving over. (“Avocado hand?” “How did you know?!”) The question of how far to run would be a function of how much jostling the throbbing injury could take. For some people, the question wouldn’t even have been of whether or not to come. The runner did less than they normally would have, then went home, sanguine: “It’s nothing unless they have to amputate.” Still, that was after the whole crew, male and female alike, negotiated a sloppy, icy Sunset 5k route in 25o weather. So, what is it that inclines a sector of the population…?

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat”

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Thoughts with caption and image: 2022’09’28’W]

Notification is a little late, but hence comes the [3rd] Annual ORC Relay which ran last year the Saturday after C19 sheltering began. This year it takes place on 4/3, Saturday, 12-4p. Celebrate the vaccine rollout! Or celebrate Jenkintown Running Company and Ridley Running Company (combined: The Original Running Company)! Check on the details in Facebook and holler with questions. Behold, the tradition!

[3rd] Annual ORC Relay: 4/3, Saturday, 12-4p

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat”

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Thoughts with caption and minor edits: 2022’09’28’W]

I’ve anchored the Growlers Group Run for a few years now, but the JRC’s group run has been around since the store opened 40 years ago. I’m sure it’ll be around long after I move on, too. Sure I persisted through periods when I was the sole runner, but I also wasn’t the only person who’s done that. Still, the amazing folks who make it a group are the folks to celebrate. Thanks ya’ll for not necessitating a rename to the Growler Solo Run and making GGR the joy and celebration that group runs are.

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat”

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Thoughts with caption: 2022’09’28’W]

I, CtCloser, had to miss last week’s run for a business trip, but by all counts it seemed to be a hit! Bryan Dave reports that there were a couple of introductions between runners who hadn’t run together yet and then much catching up or getting to know about each other in the best tradition of group runs. Plans are firmly in the works for formal races (Adelaide and Dave) and informal workouts (Bryan and Gio). With the C19 vaccination process rolling out like gangbusters, optimism is high. Oh, please, please, please, let running and vaccination plans make spectacular progress!

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat”

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Thoughts with caption: 2022’10’07’F]

JRC Mike reported that a customer came in looking for a group to run with but ‘ey were worried about running too slowly. He offered to run with ‘em, but that only works if business is slow at the store. He does get paid to work, after all. With or without Mike, we shoot for welcoming all faces and paces. So if you’re a prospective runner (or jogger), come! To quote Lilo and Stitch: “Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.” Give us a try so you can see for yourself. Especially if you’re accustomed to running solo, you’ll appreciate running ohana.

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat”

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Thoughts with caption: 2022’10’07’F]

Closing in on the last month of marathon training (DE {Running Festival} Marathon, 4/25), I still needed the Wednesday night GGR, even if the weather wasn’t amenable. Not surprisingly, no other group members felt pressured to attend. Despite the warmth of the store (what with all the customers), I left but still ended up succumbing to the pressure to do the 8 miles I needed. Fortunately, the rain cooperated by letting up significantly. Into every life a little run must fall.

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Thoughts with caption: 2022’10’07’F]

I’m so accustomed to anchoring the Wednesday night Growlers Group Runs, that I never check the forecast. It actually has to be pouring rain for me not to run, though, even if most normal people get deterred. Last week when I planned to join Black Men Run for their Wednesday-night run, that was the forecast: pouring rain. Well, I got deterred. Partially. I ended up taking off some time from work and running in the morning. I was willing to do BMR for a few extra miles in the evening, but then I started feeling under the weather (so to speak). Weeks of marathon training could have been taking their toll. It all came together and I ended up getting deterred, fully, from my evening effort with the men. Maybe I’m actually more normal than I realize. What a bizarre thought.

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Thoughts with caption: 2022’10’07’F]

(This marks the 100th Thought your illustrious anchor has published, with #1 dropping on 9/26/2018. Next week will bring a newer, fresher, nerdier name to this segment of the weekly run announcement.)

Newbie Eileen is a perfect example of what makes group runs so appealing. She apologetically introduced herself last week with the explanation that she’s known of the weekly Growlers Group Run for ages, but finally mustered up the nerve to join one. Though a runner in years past, even a marathoner, she’d dropped off the bandwagon and done “only” one 3-mile run in January, 3 months ago. She had no idea how much she’d be able to bust out, but once we got going, just launched into the exuberant, distracted conversation a group run can generate.

We all paced together except for Phil and newbie Joe who lapped us for 6. Before any of the rest of us knew it, we’d knocked out 1 mile, another mile, and then the entire 5K route. Ah, what you can accomplish when you’re not thinking too hard about it.*

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

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Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶*Likeness used with permission. ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Thoughts with caption and image: 2022’10’07’F]

(With entry #101, this segment of the JRC GGR weekly invitation adopts a new moniker. Consider “Cerebrun[s]” to be a new name for the same familiar product: a combination of running focus, levity, and erudition.)

Warmer weather and warmer attendance at the running store bring back the potential for living up to the name of the group, i.e., in the form of beer consumption. And what goes better with beer than pizza? Not that running isn’t its own reward, but some extra incentivizing never hurts. As long as we have folks who are inclined to consume we can start planning accordingly. I’m glad for the opportunity. CtCloser sitting in the corner of the store drinking alone is much harder to explain to the customers.

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption and minor edit: 2022’10’07’F]

We finished our run last week and sat down to pizza and beer. We went on for a good while talking about stuff like running movies that we thought the store could show on endless repeat: Prefontaine, Chariots of Fire, McFarland USA, Brittany Runs a Marathon. With the time getting late and the store needing to close, we packed up and headed out. Except after the GGR runners left it was still 5 minutes to closing at 8:00 p.m. We’d run only once around the 5K route which gave us 30-plus more minutes to hang. Why exactly do we run so much when there’s so much other productive stuff to do with the time? We could ditch the Run part of the name and have loads of fun as the Growlers Group. And take up store space every week. And lose fitness. And pick up health-related problems. And miss out on new challenges. And…

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption: 2022’10’07’F]

I love anchoring the Growlers Group Run. It doesn’t always gibe with my training plans, but I figure out how to make it work. Sometimes it’s harder, especially if distance is on the schedule. Twice around is good for 6 miles. To-and-from adds 2 more for 8 total. But for more distance, I might need to duck out quickly for another lap before heading home. That doesn’t work when there are buds around to help split brews. Then it helps to be able to change plans. That might mean accepting less distance for a given Wednesday and making it up on another day, especially to accommodate a post-run happy hour. Maybe other beer runners make this bud wiser.

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption: 2022’10’07’F]

A fact of life is the changing body. Maybe you don’t know that alcohol’s depressive effect can start to rebound on people; a sad fact for people who like drinking beer after a run, especially a high alcohol-by-volume (ABV) beer like The Alchemist’s Heady Topper that ex-Vermonter Jas-Yaz brought last week. A solid, hazy IPA with breadth and depth, at 8.0% it’s just enough ethanol to upset a delicate physiology, even one belonging to a hardy cerebrunner who gets 8½-9½ hours of sleep a night (really!).

Yes, alcohol can help you fall asleep because it’s a neurochemical depressant, but a stimulant rebound can start inducing insomnia. Okay, so last Wednesday that was a whole 4 ounces on top of 3 of Troeg’s seasonal Joyous (6.5% ABV, courtesy of Smeileen’). Reminder to self: take a melatonin after the next night of heavy drinking:P Insomnia sucks, though it did encourage the early completion of this Cerebrun entry (4 a.m. Thursday).

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption: 2022’10’07’F]

The lasses for last week’s group run were the equal of the lads…literally! The group hasn’t seen the like since the beginning of 2020 (1/8, to be exact) when 3 lasses were actually the better of me and Gio.

It pleases the female side of me who has long felt a certain level of comfort with the gals over the guys. To speak to generalities, males can sometimes get too wrapped in competition and accomplishment at the expense of community and relationship. (To speak to the latter, BTW, it was Adelaide who’s been recruiting actively from among her buds. She brought Sarita who walked in and looked agog at Growler regular Heather Dave. Completely serendipitously and with no other connection between work and running, they’d been in a meeting together that morning! Talk about community.)

Well come on you girls! Don’t let up! I’m tired of bragging about my training with the boys. (Well, maybe that’s a little bit of an exaggeration.)

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption: 2022’10’07’F]

For the guys who show up to JRC GGR, there’s a fairly typical pose for photographs: legs planted shoulder distance apart. Weight evenly distributed between both. The body is often square to the camera. Hands may be on hips or in pockets. Alternately, arms may down by sides or crossed. Read into it what you will, that pose just seems to be pretty predictable. Last week everyone adopted a version of that pose (by my design!) just to illustrate. Does it make the gals look a little weird?

For the gals, there’s also a fairly typical pose: legs either shoulder distance apart or close together. The body weight is never evenly on both legs and one leg is almost always slightly forward. The torso is often relaxed and bent or maybe turned. My plan is for everyone to adopt a version of that typical gal pose this week. We’ll see! One of the guys scorned the idea of having to work so hard to be in a picture. (He was probably kidding.) Speculate about the accuracy of my observations or any possible reasons for the behaviors. After these 2 weeks, maybe no one will ever adopt their conventional poses again. If so, my job of calling out any possible gender stereotypes will have been done. You’re welcome.

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption and image: 2022’10’11’T]

Today we highlight the GGR gals by striking the traditional gal pose: torso turned, weight placed more on one leg and the other a little forward. Very relaxed and natural, at least for a gal. If you’re a guy, unnatural. Surely not exaggerated, just to make a statement.

This is all me making observations about the group. Basically, though, the 2 genders tend to do their thing, distinctly. So, why do they tend to be so predictable? Developmentally, you can argue nature vs. nurture, with nature being a genetic tendency and nurture being the role modelling of other representatives of the same gender. Here, I argue, it’s all nurture. Males subconsciously notice how other males behave and adopt similar mannerisms. Females do the same of other females. Naturally, there are always exceptions. Generalizations are only true generally, not in totality. I challenge you to pay attention to yourself and people around you to confirm or deny.

To close, I segue into fashion and gender. For myself I can say, I defy convention. Wait till you see the color of my latest Hoka Carbon X’s. There’s a serious advantage to having feet that size small and in the typical women’s range.

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption and image: 2022’10’11’T]

My Sunday, 6/13 marathon (DE Running Festival) is 7 weeks later than originally scheduled. Weather at the end of April has a certain predictability: mild and possibly rainy with an outlying chance of being warm or cool. Weather in the middle of June has a certain predictability: warm with an outlying chance of hot or mild. After training for months in cold and cool weather, the question of how to prep for the possibility of hot has been daunting.

It might be tempting to shun the few hot days we’ve had, but it actually makes more sense not to. How much acclimating does one have to do prep for the possibly humid scorcher the day could be? It turns out, not much: “Heat acclimation is a relatively rapid process that begins on the first day of exposure. In fact, 75–80% of the adaptations occur in the first 4–7 days.”* So getting out in the heat and humidity does make sense; and then hoping for the best. Forecast in Wilmington: low of 59o, high of 79o, dry, partly sunny. About as best as it can get! The acclimating will only help! Training, don’t fail me now!

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

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*Periard, J. D., and Sebastien Racinais, Michael N. Sawka. “Adaptations and Mechanisms of Human Heat Acclimation: Applications for Competitive Athletes and Sports.” Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, vol. 25, no. S1, 2015, pp. 20-38. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/sms.12408 ¶Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption: 2022’10’11’T]

Congratulations to Adelaide and Train Dave for doing their first full marathon (1/2 Sauer 1/2 Kraut, 6/12) and Bryan Dave for doing his first Spartan Sprint as an elite competitor!

My own Sunday marathon (6/13) was postponed by 7 weeks from April. And then it got cancelled with 4-days’ notice as I learned when I returned home from last week’s run! It turns out that plans for police support can go south in ways that spoil a marathon but no other race in a running festival (kids fun run, 5K, and half and individual half marathons). So I could either ditch the marathon that I trained so many weeks for or figure out how run it virtually. I ended up starting 2 hours before the 7 a.m. half marathon started and then doing the official half for an informal full. Informal though it may have been, it was a real 3:39:34 marathon in my book; a 4-minute personal record with an obligatory negative split (second half faster than the first)!

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), #negativesplitorpositivesplat #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption: 2022’10’11’T]

Last week I made my triumphant return from the thitherways of Alaska to the hitherways of Jenkintown. Thither I trod miles of macadam and consumed bowls of game. Hither I found my faithful lieutenant had superintended the amassing of a horde and launched multiple training forays all about this honorable borough. Okay, enough already. I make a pathetic English bard.

My running is just a little less pathetic. During my service trip to AK, I managed to do a few runs and engaged my own mini-horde of 2 recruits to ply the highways of the south-central woodlands. It’s less than I would have done here, but then I am now off-training (having done my DE marathon 6/13). It was enough to grant me an honorable win at the 10K portion of the Copper Basin Fun Run in Glennallen. No, not too pathetic at all.

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption: 2022’10’11’T]

I’m not in the group picture because I didn’t make it last week. It turns out I had a deadline that popped up. Running’s important, but sometimes not important enough. Happily, I made the deadline. Happily, my proposal just got accepted. Happily, this means at least one week of my spring marathon training plan will take place in London, England next year. Happily, I’m giving y’all plenty of notice that I won’t be around to anchor the Wednesday night run in 2022 on March 16th. Mark it on your calendar that I won’t be in the group picture that week either.

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption: 2022’10’11’T]

I really try not to be too creepy with the ways I socialize but it can be hard to help myself. One morning this past week, I saw a gal runner doing an amazing pace coming from Jenkintown via Walnut Street into Abington where I live. I was walking the dog and couldn’t say hi (which could really have seemed creepy). Not long after that, I was the passenger to my driver wife when I saw Gal returning, still doing that amazing pace. I pointed her out to Wife, who (for some reason) just didn’t [us] see chasing after her in the car. [Lo] and behold, we hit the light on Walnut Street, this time entering Jenkintown, just as she approached, too. I had to invite her to GGR. I rolled down the window and called out. She popped out her earbuds but had a cautious expression when I told her I was a runner, too. She lit up, though, when I mentioned JRC and the Wednesday night run. “I bought my shoes there! I just moved to the area.” “Join us if you can!” Just maybe, having Wife next to me softened the creep factor. Whatever helps.

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption and minor edits: 2022’10’11’T]

Sure the Sunset 5K route is nice, but for car-free and care-free, Fairmount Park is great. That’s true for more than one of us at JRC GGR. And, of course, you don’t have to run at all to enjoy it. This past Saturday, I was doing my usual long run on Forbidden Drive there. Wouldn’t you know JRC GGR’s Smeileen’ and Brigid were taking a few in, too. We waved as we ran past each other, them coming and me going.

And the Saturday before, I got to see GGR Aaron committing to something other than running. As I was finishing up my effort, I happened by a photo shoot overlooking scenic Wissahickon Creek. Last Wednesday just following that shoot, I was talking with him about a place to do long runs. Well, of course he knew of Forbidden Drive. It seems he and his bae were the subjects of the photo shoot that I passed as they celebrated their engagement. Loving running or just loving, we do have our destinations.

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption: 2022’10’11’T]

I’d like to tease Cait with this Cerebrun because she’s kind of weird. I mean, her comfort temperature runs 10o colder than Jas-Yaz and so she always requires more heat. I’d like to tease her for being weird except that I discovered I’m weirder. Weird enough to turn on my electric blanket to sleep comfortably, even in the summer (that is, if I’m not doubling up the bed spread from Wife’s side). Weird enough to elicit incredulity from every other Growler last week when they learned of my heating needs. Weird enough for Cait to say, I can’t wait to tell Jas! Personally, I still think she’s weird.

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption: 2022’10’11’T]

Sure I ran with the running club last week; as long as we’re talking about Village Runner, Manhattan Beach, CA!

Until I started running with JRC, I had no idea store-based running groups was a thing. As a matter of fact, I had no idea that group running was a thing. Since starting 10 years ago, I’ve learned how important one can be.

When marathon training started coinciding with visits to Brother in SoCal, I needed a group to help me figure out the best places to traipse. One visit, I needed 3 groups! So Village Runner Redondo Beach (Tuesday), VR Manhattan Beach (Thursday), and Palos Verdes Runners (Saturday), it was. There were a few people I ran with who were the same in all 3 clubs. It wouldn’t be so different if someone were to join JRC GGR on Wednesday, Elkins Park Beer Runners on Thursday, and Pennypack Trail Runners on Saturday. That is, if they were visiting scenic SE Montco instead of SoCal. Why not?

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption: 2022’10’11’T]

The Growlers these days hosts a troubling percentage of marathon runners. (For better or for worse, I have actually been one of them.) I’m talking, like, half of all the Growlers have run the requisite 26.2 miles and are actively training to do another. I ran my last on 6/13. I’m still recovering from it. I sure haven’t been ready to start training for anything else. Well, then they started talking about Philadelphia Marathon. In 3 months! Argh, I say! Every time I think about it, I hear Aaron’s voice in my head saying, “Come on, Calvin, you can do it!” There’s a standard parental refrain when anyone says that: So, if your friend jumped off the cliff you’d jump too? There’s the logical response and then there’s the likely response.

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption: 2022’10’11’T]

We love newbies! And 2021 has brought its fair share with 62.5% of last week’s runners (right, 5 out of the total 8). Sure there are folks who have been a part of the running group who don’t join every week. And there have been a few who’ve stopped running with us for various reasons, but the number of newbies who’ve started attending regularly has been impressive. And that’s the point. Every person who runs regularly was a newbie once.

Ida, however, is not someone we’re welcoming. She’s bringing a 100% chance of rain, according to the forecast. And she has not been nice as she made her trek up our way from the Gulf of Mexico. (Sympathies to all the people whose lives have been really messed with in her wake.) Still, it’s never been too much of a stretch to call the Growlers a drinking group (It’s in the name!) with a running problem, so it’s not extreme to thank Ida for removing one obstacle from us reaching our primary objective. I will be at the store taking advantage of that.

And if conditions aren’t too severe, I may even run a little with her.

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption: 2022’10’11’T]

I really didn’t think Ida had it in her to mess up our weekly run. But it seems a lot of people underestimated her.

I ate my dinner through tornado and flash flood warnings. I texted with Train Dave. I changed into my running gear and jogged down the road with an umbrella in hand. While the tornado warnings passed, one flash flood warning was right on. I could have just waded through the river at the bottom of my street. I could have sat in the running store drinking beer with soggy shoes. I could have dared a jog with the old girl. Buuut, I didn’t. And neither did Adelaide and Dave. Nor anyone else.

It would have made a great story in the going. It still made a pretty great story in the staying.

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption: 2022’10’11’T]

While the GGR last Wednesday was great, it was the postponed Jenkintown Sunset 5K race (the next day, 9/9) that was really superlative. Yes, it was postponed from the usual 1st Tuesday in June to September. And yes, it was smaller than usual (176 vs. 526 in 2019) during the 18th month of COVID-19. Still, it was amazing for the folks who did show.

GGR was well represented by Brigid, Chad (legacy), Joe (newbie from spring), Nora (newbie from spring), Smeileen, Tania (occasional), Tom (newbie from summer), Train Dave, and yours truly. Those who run Elkins Park Beer Runners on Thursdays would see other amazing local runners. Many were age-group winners, placers, and showers.

Train Dave did us proud by taking 3rd place overall. Brigid took 2nd for her age. Chad took 5th (2nd for his age). Joe took 3rd for his age. Tania took 2nd for her age. Tom took 7th (1st for his age). And I took 3rd for my age behind Tom. Maybe the months of weekly runs that traversed the same course helped. Maybe it was the size of the field that helped. Or maybe it’s just that GGR features so many admirable runners.

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption and minor edit: 2022’10’29’S]

It’s that time of the year when days are getting really short and runs are getting really dark. And we’re only just hitting fall, the equinox, when the days and nights are relatively the same length. (You know equinox means “equal night,” right?) The nights are only getting longer until the winter solstice in December when celestial winter begins. Those of you who are prone to seasonal affective disorder should start prepping. Those days are coming.

If getting out and exercising helps you at all, know that the Growlers Group Runs will keep going through that dark period. Start prepping the reflective gear and lamps to illuminate the way. And bring optimism. Once we min out the daylight and max out the nighttime, longer days will return.

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption and minor edit: 2022’10’29’S]

With dusk falling earlier and earlier, it’s time to start doing some transitioning.

We have 2 routes that we’ve been doing, one going east from the store (Alverthorpe Park) and one going west (Sunset 5K route). Both combine variations of about 3 miles, but AP is that distance over to and back. Add 2x around for about another 3. S5R is right outside the store’s door. AP is protected from traffic once inside and has a bathroom on the premises. S5R has a low amount of traffic after you cross Old York Rd to reach the start. As far as a bathroom, well, you’re really never terribly far from the store. But Alverthorpe Park has no lighting, so it gets pretty dark running around inside and returning back to JRC: Eventually, it won’t even be open past 5p. The Sunset 5K route always has street lamps. AP provides variety from the norm. S5R provides familiarity.

Well, fall equinox has now past: Hello, Sunset, my old friend.

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption and minor edit: 2022’10’29’S]

A funny thing happened this past Saturday on my waffling way to running the Philadelphia Marathon (11/21, Sunday). Just to make it very clear, except to hang out with all the JRC GGR running friends who are actively training for it, I have very little motivation to run it, much less to train. It’s only 7 weeks away and my mileage is still barely 30 miles per week. As a point of comparison, I’d want to see anyone planning to run reaching and topping 45 miles by now. But because I run 14 miles nearly every Saturday in the Wissahickon and Manayunk, the long runs are only a little low.

On Saturday, I decide to shoot for 16 miles. But this Saturday a buddy (yes, who is actively training for Philly) already had 21-22 miles in their plan. They’d already done 2 by the time my usual group run began at 7:30a just below the horse stables on Northwestern Avenue in Chestnut Hill, so the plan was to do 19 more. I thought, ‘If we’re not going too fast, I could possibly add 3 miles without too much pain.’ So that’s what I offered to do. Wouldn’t you know that I misjudged the distance and that 19 turned into an accidental 20. Buddy was happy for the company for what otherwise would have been lonely extra miles. But previous marathon-training experience says that 4 extra miles should have been Really slow and should have hurt a lot. The funny thing is that it wasn’t that slow and hardly hurt at all. Maybe I’m already more conditioned to run a marathon than I thought. Or maybe I’m on the verge of a serious injury from ramping up too much too quickly. Either way, expect to hear about it here.

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption: 2022’10’29’S]

Yes, with 38 days to go for the Philly Marathon, I registered. And for the first time, after 19 previous races, I’ll run a marathon as a fun run. I’m still training (I did decent speed work on Monday), but I’m not trying to break my personal record. This is a big moment of maturity for me because Wife has been wanting me to run more sensible distances and efforts since the first one. Chalk up this decision to still being in recovery from my June PR. Also chalk it up to feeling like I’m close enough to my running goal (qualifying for the Boston Marathon) to want to save energy for the next serious effort in spring 2022 (Delaware Marathon). Then, chalk it up to feeling like it’ll be cool to see what this finely tuned running machine can do with just a little bit (not a lot) of prompting. And finally, chalk it up to wanting to enjoy a marathon just a little bit more by socializing wantonly with everyone else who just wants to survive the race. I gotta do me, times 4.

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption: 2022’10’29’S]

There’s been a lot of turmoil in the world lately—extreme climate events, political extremism, COVID-19 and the Delta variant, anti-Black racism, anti-Asian violence—and it’s not getting better very quickly.

More than once, lately, I’ve heard people saying that finding the solution isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon. Let’s think about that. What 5K runners love about 3.1 miles is that you open up the throttle and run. I realize that’s a huge oversimplification. So is the idea that a marathon is merely running longer. Sure, it is about persistence and endurance, but there is strategy and execution. There’s training and conditioning. Saying an effort is a marathon doesn’t quite do the running reality justice. Fine, you can use the metaphor if you think it’s really apt. I’ll focus on acting.

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption and minor edit: 2022’10’29’S]

Every group has its pace setters, those who set the pattern for what the others will do. There are the running pace setters—a few doing about 9 min/mile, others doing about 10, and others about 11—then there are the style pace setters. Take Adelaide (Please?) who sets the pace for the week’s photo (Kidding!). The pose pretty much has to be a double thumbs up off to one side. Preferably with a cheesy grin. But no one ever seems to follow suit. Until last week when doing the Adelaide was the rage. It might have helped that I ordered everyone! Still, they did!

Sometimes pace setters naturally generate attention and imitation. Sometimes it happens more artificially. Either way, the pace followers gain the benefit of the role modeling. Look how much more fun we’re all having because of it!

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with image, caption, and minor edit: 2022’10’29’S]

Among other things I spend a lot of time thinking about are gender differences, roles, and stereotypes. In the context of the Growlers, gender differences, in particular, have caught my attention relative to picture poses. And last week I was all about the Adelaide.

While the actual pose is a club distinctive of the eponymous runner (2 thumbs up, cheesy grin), the way people did it last week distinguished the gals and the guys. Check out the 10/27 message with the previous week’s photo to see that the former tend to pose with their whole body relaxed. The latter tend to pose straight up and down: more tense, if you will. Maybe that’s just my generalization.

Now take last week’s photo. This was actually after me explaining what an Adelaide was and how to do it. Eric and Aaron: What I see more as the traditional guy version (though you KNOW Dave has the cheesy grin down behind the mask.) Relaxed? Not compared to Alex who is rocking it with the nice, relaxed posture. I’m less sure about the grin. Then there’s Adelaide from the week before. What’s not both relaxed and cheesy grinny about that?

The question is if I’m seeing a pattern where there is none. Check out the 6/2/2021 and 5/26 posts for what it looks like when one gender adopts the manner of the other which might help you decide. If I’m actually right about the qualitative difference, why does it exist? There’s some research there to do, but I don’t have the keywords yet to do it. Then if it exists, does it exist for other behaviors? And finally, is it important? Stay tuned

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption, image, and text revisions: 2022’11’16’W]

I’ve been writing about how we Growlers pose for our weekly pictures and pointing gleefully at Adelaide who has her own quintessential and animated style of delivering 2 thumbs up and a cheesy grin. It’s unique and we’ve had a few pictures featuring our own individual takes on it.

There are gendered ways that gals and guys often pose for pictures. We GGR boys and girls aren’t immune to doing it ourselves. The technical term is literally “gender posing” that you can search online yourself. Here’s the top article that came back when I did it: The Gender Politics of Posing. Wouldn’t you know, the Adelaide doesn’t fit neatly into the description of what is feminine. It seems she’s someone who refuses to be stereotyped.

If you look back at other pictures of us as a group, there is someone else who has a characteristic pose that also doesn’t fit gender conventions. I leave it to you to see if you can identify the individual as you scan through the Run Reports in Facebook. I’ll tell you who it is and you’ll get to see the pose when you see next week’s Cerebrun.

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption, minor edit, and image: 2022’11’16’W]

The Gender Politics of Posing article that I mentioned last week describes men’s poses from an advertisement this way: Men are posed like, well, superheroes, but the women twist, fiddle, and turn their backs. That’s what impresses me about the Adelaide. The pose isn’t about stereotypical femininity. It’s unique to the personality of the namesake.

There’s another person whose pose is also distinctly individual. This week I present to you: The Pete. With hands on knees and body hunched down, it’s a pose that defers to the other people in the picture. It doesn’t otherwise obstruct or command attention.

Gender posing is about social influences and expectations of conformity to conventions that people can choose to embrace or reject.

For my part, I try not to do either; I just take notice. Okay, at my worst, I just judge in my own mind. No, at my very worst, I actually point out stereotypical behavior and mock it up and down. But not Adelaide and Pete. I am Not mocking them. Nope. Wow, it’s a wonder that anyone ever comes back to run with the group. Except for the fact that I take as much as I dish out. If nothing else, we are a unique bunch of runners.

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption and image: 2022’11’16’W]

Aaron, Brigid, Smeileen, and I might have been the ones who did the running at Sunday’s Philly AACR Marathon, but we weren’t alone there on the course among the Growlers. (For the record, 3 of us ran admirably, but Aaron set a new PR by 20 seconds! I also managed to do my obligatory negative splits!) Adelaide, Cait, Jas-Yaz, K-Dave, and Train Dave were all there cheering us on! And that’s not to exclude legacy members, Gerard, Jill, and Fast Dave. A, K, and T did it twice by hanging out on Main Street Manayunk during that out and back. Cait did it twice by seeing us at the Zoo and grabbing Jas-Yaz to find us on Kelly Drive. I saw Gerard and Jill in very nearly the same places and Fast Dave working out on the Kelly Drive trail. I’ll tell you what; the crowds for a large marathon (even at 1/3 the normal participation) are great, but a crowd of Growlers screaming your name?! PRICELESS! Final thought: There’s a research experiment that will determine the offset of the energy gained from the cheering of friends relative to the energy spent looking for them and yelling back!

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), #negativesplitorpositivesplat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption and minor edit: 2022’11’16’W]

Weekly columnists manage to come up with something to address every week. I’m sure sometimes they struggle. Maybe sometimes they go to their list of prompts. Maybe their editor gives them ideas. The news of the day undoubtedly generates plenty of prompts. Maybe they even just skip a day. I don’t know; I’m not in the newspaper business.

I’m just little (True!), old (True-ish!) me doing my thing every time I send out a message to the group. That started sporadically 5/16/2018. The first Cerebrun (then entitled Thought) came out on 9/26 that year. The messages became regular (as did the thoughts) on 4/10/2019. Over 2 and a half years, I’ve published 127, including today.

As far as today, I don’t have much to say. Of course, I could talk about the pose from the picture. I’ve been doing that for a few weeks. I could write about the run, which I’ve been doing with Erica for the last 3 weeks to help us get up the back hill on Wyncote Road and Highland Ave. I could talk about our 2 shelves in the running store which feature our awards and our beer glasses. Or I could just go easy and babble for a while. Because I have a cold from Thanksgiving this past week and weekend and the cerebrum isn’t really cerebrunning.

Okay, then; that’s a wrap:p

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption: 2022’11’16’W]

This Growler’s intentions were as good as usual to be present and running last week. Instead it was the 8 featured in Chuck’s picture without this schlub. Chuck happened to be in the store from Elkins Park Beer Runners’ usual last-Thursday-night-of-the-month (though not dressed to run). I, who was out sick from work the day before then working virtually the day of, just wasn’t fully recovered enough when it came time to deliver. I walked the dog on the Sunset 5K route in time to see those 8 delivering without me. I almost thought they’d decided to bail when I didn’t see them coming from the forward direction. I nearly missed my own photographic opportunity when their voices abruptly materialized from the other direction. Bail? Not this crew.

Btw, that sick I had wasn’t the cold virus that I suspected. Because my boss is more conscientious than I am, I got tested for COVID-19. That test came back positive! And I’m fully vaccinated; though I was 3 weeks past the earliest eligible date for a booster when I probably got exposed to some vaccinated and asymptomatic work folk during a Friday event before Thanksgiving. Two days after that I ran Philadelphia Marathon. That suppressed my immune system enough to give the virus a chance to incubate to the point of a full-blown case a week later (the Sunday after Thanksgiving).* That’s my working hypothesis. We’ll never really know.

Aside from COVID, and for probably obvious reasons, we runners sure are a healthy bunch.

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
*Ekblom, B. et al. “Infectious Episodes Before and After a Marathon Race .” Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, vol. 16, no. 4, 2006: pp. 287-93. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0838.2005.00490.x

¶Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption and revision: 2022’11’16’W]

I think I might have been taking this whole COVID-19 infection less seriously than everyone else might have wanted. Last week I ran with the group after getting a positive COVID test result. According to CDC, since it was 10 days after onset of my first symptom (11/28), since I had no fever, and since my symptoms were improving, fine.* That plus the fact that I was vaccinated, running among vaccinated runners, outside, means that the risks all around were low for transmitting the virus last week.^

But I forget that COVID is scary. And it’s hard for people not to get a little stressed out that I did have it, period. You don’t need to be tested unless you experience symptoms. And if you’re vaccinated your risk of symptomatic (much less serious) illness is really low. If you all are among those who got stressed, I’m sorry. GGR shouldn’t be the cause of stress; it should be relief. I’ll do my share to keep it that way.

Maybe switch from beer to liquor, too?

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
*“Ending Isolation and Precautions for People with COVID-19: Interim Guidance.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 14 Sept. 2021. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/duration-isolation.html
^Note consistent mention of risk “indoors.” “The Possibility of COVID-19 after Vaccination: Breakthrough Infections.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 11 Nov. 2021. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/effectiveness/why-measure-effectiveness/breakthrough-cases.html

¶Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption and minor edit: 2022’11’16’W]

With the end of the year nigh, family holiday traditions are very present.

One person can start a regular personal practice, but a group’s traditions only become established when the members regularly embrace practices of significance. As GGR’s anchor, I’ve introduced the group photo and the Sunset 5K as the route of choice. I can’t even yet say that the run report is a tradition, because I’m pretty much the only person who writes it. No, a tradition of one doesn’t make it a group tradition. The members, plural, have to regularly embrace the practice.

To speak to the changing group, I mentioned in the run report that the gals outnumbered the guys last week for the second time in 2 years. Checking the details, I see that I am the only person who was present both times. With the group of (gal and guy) stalwarts who have joined since then, that’s sure to change. And with the stable number of runners, other practices are sure to develop. Thanks to all of you who have been a part of GGR over the years past and present. Let’s use the recent momentum to establish the traditions of the group’s future, during the holidays and outside them.

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption: 2022’11’17’R]

I’ve been writing about my thoughts in this space for a few years now; 130 times, to be precise, over 3 years. And I’ve been publishing them on platforms that support people commenting: email and Facebook. It’s made me wonder why I get so few actual comments. I’ve likened it to journalistic writing and letters to the editor. Letters make it clear that people are paying attention, kind of important for journalism, whether they like the writing or not.

But as a platform, Facebook is really for people who want their comments to be public, at least to the writer’s network of followers. Not many people are really into that kind of attention. So what about responding via email? In fact, very few people offer any comments that way either. Those 2 means of commenting overlook a last one: verbal feedback. I don’t suppose journalists often get feedback from more than a close-knit group of associates. I have the benefit of writing for people I run with. And as a matter of fact, I do get feedback from you. Not everyone, but many more than send email feedback (writing takes work!) and even more than comment in Facebook (so public!).

Well, I’m happy to know that people are reading what I have to share. There really seems to be a lot to share about.

-CtCloser (Calvinthe), “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue

FINE PRINT
Text and photos (unless otherwise stated): Calvin Wang, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 ¶Cross-posted: Facebook JRC Growlers Group Run/GGR email list

[Original version in Facebook. Republished Cerebruns with caption and image: 2022’11’17’R]