Dispatches from the middle

Can writing about your blog and the practice of blogging on your blog be referred to as metablogging? Is that just dumb? Obvious? It certainly seems like a common enough activity. I added categories today – something which constitutes a new and exciting discovery in my technical-skills books. They didn’t turn out exactly as I’d envisioned, but I like the concept, and it shall evolve in practice. Categories guide my thoughts. Or, in the case of “Musing & Faffing,” provide me with an outlet for the dispersal of random thoughts, blow-on-a-dandelion-style. Which is something I appreciate.

In performing a book-cull today, I stumbled across Pearls in Vinegar by Heather Mallick (I am keeping it). It’s a collection of witty, weird, and whimsical lists and observations à la the Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon; Sei Shonagon having been a court lady in 10th century Japan. Her book is still in print today, with the most recent translation published in 2006. I’ve always been a fan of collections of random whimsy, and I’m a shameless list-freak (apparently hyphenation holds a certain fascination too), so I’ve decided to bolster my “Musing & Faffing” category with just that for the next 30 days – 30 entries detailing the tiny wonders as I see them, probably more often than not in the form of annotated lists. First installment to follow, but first, the race!

On August 14th, my last full day in Honolulu, I ran the Norman Tamanaha 15km. It was the first event in the “Marathon Readiness Series” (spelled “serries” on the t-shirt…somebody’s gettin’ in trouble for that…) leading up to the Honolulu Marathon in December. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to make it to any of the subsequent races, but I figured it would be fun to do at least one, and a good run is always a fantastic way to wrap up a holiday and to cement a connection to a new place.

I decided to run down to the start – six or seven kilometers from my apartment – so, given that the race started at 6:00 am (apparently the concept of “island time,” in all its fun-ness and chill-ness, does not apply to road races), that meant a departure time of 5:00 am and an excruciating wake-up time of 4:30 am. While I may, on occasion, stay up that late, I do not get up that early. However, arriving just in time to see the sun rise over the Diamond Head Crater made it all worthwhile. Wandering a ways away from the throng of runners collecting their timing chips, stretching in groups, and trying to squeeze in (seems the wrong preposition) a last-minute pee, I stood in the middle of the park and watched the sky change colour, framed by palm trees and the edges of the crater. Absolutely gorgeous.

When they called us to the start line, I reluctantly wandered over to join the rest of the group. Pre-race crowds are excellent places to people watch; I wonder what each individual’s story is, why they’re running, what their goals are, and so on. It’s fascinating to me to observe the different rituals – hopping up and down, chatting with friends, pacing back and forth, the nervous quad stretches that likely do nothing whatsoever, except perhaps ease some anxiety. It’s also interesting to see large groups of people dressed more or less exactly alike, because this always inspires creative bids for individuality. Unfortunately, there were no chicken suits this time around, but there were kilts, neon socks, goofy hair-dos, and so on. Also, having at least one tattoo (preferably more) seems to be a requirement for residence in Honolulu. Some of them were quite amazing; it almost got me wanting to get another done. Almost.

Despite my earlier jaunt, it took me a good three miles of actually racing to wake up. Consequently, the race wasn’t fast. In fact, my time of 81 minutes is slightly slower than what I’d expect for a 10 mile run, nearly 1km longer than this one. I guess I took it upon myself to take a stand for “island time.” I’m not sure whether it was the heat or the humidity, but I found it difficult to run fast in Honolulu. I ran a lot, but never fast.

And really, why rush it? The course was beautiful. We started and finished at Kapiolani Park, running along the water, past Diamond Head, through a lovely residential area, and then circling back to where we began. The whole adventure was finished by 7:30 am. The guy in the hat thanked me for pulling him up that last hill (he’d pulled me in to the finish though, so we were even), I grabbed a water, stretched a bit, and waddled over to the bus stop. There was a lovely elderly couple waiting for the same bus at the same time. They were runners too – had been for decades – and wanted to know how the race went, where else I’d run, and what I thought of their island. I just love the way a shared passion – so often one sport or another – can create an instant connection between people. We chatted until they got off the bus. When I got home, I went straight back to bed.

And now for the about-face back to metablogging and whimsical lists – my entry for Day 1.

Two tidbits of cultural difference that I particularly enjoy:

1. In Germany, when you’re wishing someone luck or expressing your hope that something goes well for them, you do not cross your fingers, but rather you fold your thumbs into your palms, wrap the rest of your fingers around them, and squeeze. “Ich drücke dir die Daumen” – I press/squeeze my thumbs for you. I wish you luck. Awesome.

2. In China, zombies don’t stagger around, bouncing off walls and tripping over things. They hop. “Jiang shi” are reanimated corpses – zombies, vampires, etc. – that move around by hopping with outstretched arms. Love it (thanks, KR!).