Cambridge is a pretty funky town.

That's what I've decided recently. It has street performers, it has hecklers like those from the third world - except selling bank accounts, and it has a vibrant air to it that draws from more cultures than I expected. It also has a lot of runners. Most of them seem to be recreational, although I probably haven't yet found the spots where the Harvard XC team work out. Today, the rain broke for the first time in 4 days. I awoke to a sunshine filling my room reminiscent of California. On my short little run today, I passed over 50 other runners enjoying the cloudless blue sky. While it lacked the humidity of MD - enough so for the sky to be blue - you couldn't quite feel the wind rippling across your body, cooling as it spirals around your legs and arms. I think that's something I won't ever quite get here. But for now, today was pretty nice.

8/24/2010 - 4.5 miles (time unknown) in the heavy rain. Ran south along JFK to the river, across to the Harvard athletic facilities. Ran by the large and industrial looking stadium and around some deserted and water logged fields before returning. Stopped at a small park on the N side, but it's too small for workouts. Reminded me of miserable east coast winter runs where I zone out and dream about being fast the whole time. CCB orientation was today. I think I'm the only person going to work in the physics department with funding from chemistry in my year. A little awkward, until my host G2 (Chem Ph.D. student in the Walsworth group[physics]) explained to me that it wasn't so bad at all and that it's win win for both sides.

8/25/2010 - Forced Day off. GSAS orientation today, in the pouring rain. Felt rather collegiate and scholarly. Went to the HMC and found journals from 1979 with my Dad's name all over it. Kinda neat.

8/26/2010 - First blue sky sighting since I left Pasadena. Nice 40 or so minute run along the Charles heading towards MIT. Was pushing a bit too much. Didn't quite make it to MIT but turning around at a nice vista of the river. The grass there isn't that bad, even the use trail is arroyo quality. It lacks, however, mountains, dry western air, coyotes, and techers.

I can run barefoot laps on grass 30 seconds from my front door.

Moving into grad school is nothing like moving into college. For one thing, the 8 moves I did at Caltech have really streamlined the process, even when you have to buy new stuff. More so, most of the things that were really tough about going to college, like finding friends - and yourself- are already sorta taken care of. Cambridge, despite a somewhat foreboding drive in, has, in a few hours, turned out to be much nicer than expected, despite the constant rain for the last two days. What struck me most, was the 400-500m perimeter grass field right next to Conant hall, my dorm, and the 1000m perimeter grass field of cambridge commons a 1/2 mile away. Things don't look so bad after all...

8/22/2010 - Long drive to Boston. 12 hours, made worse by the constant rain and continual accidents. No run.

8/23/2010 - Obligatory run around campus after spending an hour effortlessly moving in. Ran with Vadim for some nice, familiar company. First we ran through Harvard yard, then through the law school, then a lap around the beautiful cambridge commons - home of many future tempo runs -, and then through harvard square. Dinner and drinking with 4 techers afterwards. I'm actually really looking forward to this place, so long as I can say radical, tubular, far out, or gnarly once a day without forcing it. 25 minutes.

A new chapter in my running career.

The first realizations really set in on a 19 hour bus ride from the Malaysian border to Bangkok. No more structured seasons that don't line up with injuries, no more races I don't want to run, and no more workouts I don't want to do await me. On the other hand, no more endless stretches of green grass, no more tan and green mountains, no more consistent blues skies, no more erin and andres, and no more team - no more kids. I think it's pretty unremarkable to have a lot of mixed feelings about a major change in my life, but nothing makes me happier than knowing that I can always use running as a stalwart vehicle of progress and enjoyment in my life. Sure, the humidity, the cold, the wind, and the concrete will make things a bit tougher than the idyllic, almost utopian promised land of the southern California. But to dream once more of being fast not only gives me an optimism I haven't felt in almost two years, but gives me a way of adjusting to a new life. Thoughts of nighttime runs through the snow with boots and a scarf, sunny summertime runs through green forest trails, and thoughts of shattering my PR during a road 5k in the driving spring rain keep alive that little space in my soul created when I first set foot in the Brown Gym. Without further ado, a new chapter in my running career.


8/18/2010 - 24 minutes easy with Chief, barefoot on the south field and then an Arden loop. Saw Kim at the desk, "Aren't you done with this place yet?," and regaled Chief with stories of SE Asia from monkey attacks to crazy beach parties. First run in 2 months.

8/19/2010 - 30 minutes with Stephanie and Ryan Keeley. Around campus, then to Lacey and back. Quite slow. Stephanie and Ryan are in good shape and I forsee good seasons ahead for the two.

8/20/2010 - Off. A very sad trip home to D.C. My last memory of Pasadena is flying over it listening to the first song I listened when I touched down in August of 2006 - Aeroplane by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The smell of eucalyptus trees, Lloyd house, and the morning summer air in Pasadena still all rush to mind when I hear that song. Very sore in calves and groin (I hope that injury isnt still there). Achilles a bit sad, but I think it will pass with careful training.

8/21/2010 - Back home and great to see my friends. 26 minutes, 3 miles easy with Shof around my house and a lap around the circle drive park. Not as miserably muggy as I was expecting. Also, memory of high school acquaintances not as good as I was expecting. Used gmap-pedometer for the first time in what must have been 7 months - it has been too long away from that good friend. www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3980152 . Alas, I remember when the route numbers were in the low 2 millions. What a sentimental old man I am.

More to come, regardless of injury, work, or failure, this blog will continue to be updated for as long as I can.