Things I like (and things I don't)

Likes:

1. Running in crappy weather
2. Running in good weather
3. No longer getting injured by forefoot striking
4. Negative splitting
5. Keeping pace with my trusty Garmin 305
6. Running by feel without a watch
7. Knowing I can run after two back surgeries and 30 yrs off
8. Finding a kick at age 45 (triathlon training helped a lot)
9. Running 32s on Hayward Field for the final 200 of a Half Marathon
10. Seeing #9 on Runnerspace.com; smoke, baby
11. Negative splitting
12. Getting up early
13. Planks, lunges, plyometrics
14. Learning how to really swim for the first time in my life
15. Getting bumped up to lane 2, then 3, then occasionally 4 in the master's swim group
16. #15 translation; faster swimmers are in higher lanes
17. Running at 4am; no cars out there, just quiet
18. Laughing through my disastrous 1st marathon
19. Cutting 78 minutes off my Half Ironman time in one shot
20. Running a HM PR while on a tempo run (it was a really nice tempo)
21. Learning how to do flip turns
22. My annual visit to The Nike Employee Store (it's like Disneyland but half-price)
23. Setting a BHAG like qualifying for Boston at age 47 (BHAG = Big Hairy Audacious Goal)
24. Swimming in a 51F reservoir as a veteran among newbies
25. Running much farther at 46 than I ever did before that age
26. Blowing past people in the late stages: see #4,8-11
27. Fast friends who encourage me to run faster without saying anything
28. Getting rejected 3x by Annapolis and still getting in (and finding out that Douglas MacArthur was rejected 3x by West Point and still got in).
29. Having a buddy tell me that his brother applied to Annapolis but got rejected. "Me too," I said. "So how did you get through?" buddy asks. My reply, "I kept asking until they got tired of saying no."
30. Going from a class rank of 982/1300 to 504 by graduation
31. Picking an engineering major with 49 others and doing so with a lousy 1.89 GPA
32. Finishing as one of 18 in that major and getting my best grades in my last semester
33. Knowing that #s 28-31 are another form of negative splitting
34. Realizing I really don't need to find a harder activity than running, swimming, or nordic skiing
35. Realizing decisions made at 18 don't have to be permanent, even if many years have elapsed
36. Did I mention negative splitting?

Dislikes:
(Disclaimer: you might like some things I don't. Doesn't make either of us wrong)

1. Excessive consumption and greedy pigs
2. Black Friday: better than syrup of ipecac
3. Treadmills: I'd much rather freeze or get soaked
4. Realizing that the 8 minute pace that used to be recovery is now tempo
5. Second-guessing
6. Hills: I used to like them, and I'm again trying to, but they just suck right now
7. Staying up late; doesn't work anymore
8. Draft-dodging politicians who are quick to send others' kids to war
9. Giving up on running when I was 17 and not yet an Olympian
10. Not realizing that the best runners are 28 or so
11. In other words, lack of patience
12. Not questioning whether I could run after back surgery and letting lots of time elapse
13. Never winning a race in high school and thought I just didn't have what it took
14. Never knowing that Kenny Moore didn't win a race in HS but later ran in 2 Olympics
15. Going out too fast and dying late
16. Disengaged people
17. Doing what others wanted without really thinking about what I wanted
18. Learning that stones aren't as valuable to most as Mensa brains (See #28-33 above)
19. Cable TV: we disconnected it, and I'm spending the time better
20. Politicians who make preferential rules for themselves
21. Career politicians: it's not supposed to be a lifetime appointment
22. Politicians who make an amendment for presidential term limits but not for themselves
23. I think I'm talking about Congress: Throwing them all out = a good start
24. Incentives to agribusiness for not growing food
25. Incentives to agribusiness for ethanol when it produces less energy than gas
26. Loopholes in general, and lobbyists
27. Bonuses for lousy work: 'but we need to retain our employees.' You mean the ones that lost all the money in the first place? Nah, cut 'em loose.
28. College football coaches who are the highest paid employees in the state. Something is inherently wrong with this.
29. Cottage Cheese: