Many running experts and shoe companies recommend replacing your running shoes after, say, 400 miles, but that is for shoes with support and cushioning that degrade over time. For runners like myself who prefer to run in glorified socks in order to mimic barefoot running — which has been proven to cause less impact than running in cushioned shoes — shoes can be replaced less often as there is no cushioning or support to break down to begin with. Continue reading »

Today is January 5th, or the day after the expiration date of General Motors’ offer to dealers of $7,000 for every new Pontiac or Saturn that is moved to rental-vehicle or service-vehicle fleets. What does this mean? It signifies that now there should be no more Pontiacs or Saturns for sale that aren’t classified as “used” — even if the dealers end up reselling undriven vehicles from those fleets — as the dealers would technically be the first owners.

In other words, Pontiac and Saturn are essentially dead. Kaput. Gone. No más. Continue reading »

When we talked about going skiing in southern Wyoming, Ryan and I agreed that sliding down the green runs would be the order of the day. This would be our first time downhill skiing this season, and the last time I did a blue run I ended up with a bloody lip.

But after successfully skiing down the green Roundup run twice at Snowy Range, we threw out that plan. Continue reading »

I have to admit that I initially thought Kenny’s plan for the Tortoise & Hare races was brilliant. A few months ago he told me how he had been “sitting on his butt” all summer so that he would be slower for the initial T&H races, yielding slacker predicted times and a higher probability of racking up bigger points in future races. But today in the Rolland Moore four-kilometer race, it seemed like someone or something was trying to foil his plan.

“Please note on your blog,” he told me, “that [Kenny’s wife] Amy was faster in the last race, and yet she’s still starting before me. Totally unfair!” Continue reading »

From passion parties to roller skating to karaoke to tango, it seemed like gal-pals Ryan and Tanya and I had figured out all sorts of ways to have fun at night over the last year. It may be a surprise, then, that we’ve never gone bar hopping before, defined as “going to more than one bar in a given night.” Happily, then, today we had some good excuses to do so: (1) it was a new year and decade, and (2) it was our buddy Jon’s birthday. Continue reading »

Considering the way a couple dogs were barking at us like we were masked robbers, I cannot claim that los perros in Mexico are mute like the ones in Panama. However, I also can’t say the dogs were doing a good job of being frightening since their ruckus only prompted me to walk back towards them and take their picture — something Sarah, Widhar and Ojudju would tease me about as we ambled toward Teotitlan del Valle. Continue reading »