THE MIRACLE MILE

So you may have noticed the 4:59 and the countdown to the Miracle Mile on the right side bar - a brief explanation is in order. The Running Regime, as I have dubbed it whenever I decide to motivate and run consistently, originally began a few years ago when I began training for some 5k races. A successful, albeit brief, regime ensued in which I ran in local races in SF and more or less consistently placed in the top 5 in my age category, then the 20-29 group, in the 5k. The regime culminated with the Concourse Mile race in August of 2003 in which I won my age group and finished 2nd overall with a time of 5:35. If you check out the results, you'll notice I had a good duel with a 61 year-old guy, which depending on your point of view is either encouraging or discouraging. I actually had to take him down in a final sprint to the finish. Good stuff. The 5:35 was not my personal best for the mile though. That distinction was achieved back in high school, not in a track meet but in gym class running for the President's Physical Fitness test during which I ran a 5:25 mile, more or less uncontested.

Despite the 5:25 mile in high school gym class I resisted running the longer distances for the track team. I was still enamored with the glory involved in the sprints - short, sweet and fast. The 100 yard dash was everything I thought running should be about - you had the swagger and jockeying as you get set in the blocks, followed by the gun and a pure all out adrenaline rush of hitting top speed which either lead to a quick victory or a crushing defeat - it was the heavy-weight title belt of track. Of course I wouldn't have felt this way if I wasn't fast and I hadn't already tasted the before mentioned glory. This was due to the success I had running the sprints in middle school. In fact, the pinnacle of my track & field career was probably in the 8th grade. And yes I realize how pathetic that sounds, but i'm comfortable with it, so spare me your jabs. That year I ran the sprints (the 100, 200 and 4x100 relay) and did the jumps (long and high). In middle school track you ran in weight categories and so I dominated the 85 pounds and under division. The high point was the end of season district championship meet in which I finished 3rd in the 100, 2nd in the high jump and our co-ed relay team won the 4x100. At the conclusion of the season I was named team MVP for the boy's that year. Kudos to myself. (And yes I am able to recall the details of that season a little all too clearly this many years later. But like I said, when it's the highlight of your competitive athletic career you tend to file those memories away for safe keeping.) But back to the story - on the heels of this success I moved up to high school track, where there were no more weight categories, and my slight frame worked against me. I of course resisted moving up in distance, despite the fact that I had the prototypical body for a distance runner and not a sprinter. Eventually I was reluctantly inched up to the 800 (1/2 mile), but only stuck it out for 1 season before pulling the plug. Again, no glory in the distance events. Years later I would realize that in fact the mile was one of, if not the preeminent glory event. But alas I discovered that too late for my high school career. Though that revelation might explain the initial resurgence of the Running Regime back in '03.

As for this year's regime? A shot at 'what could have been' is clearly the motivation as i'm shooting for a personal best in the mile, and in doing so attempting to prove the notion that I could have been a great miler is not some self-deluded myth that i've built up in my head over the years. As to why now? Perhaps it's because I recently turned 30 this year that i've decided to take up the torch again, determined to roll back the clock and not only best my 5:25 mile in high school but go one better with a rather immodest goal of running a sub-5 minute mile. (And yes, if I do achieve a 4:59 mile it will become the new highlight of my athletic career and I can let go of the glory that was the 8th grade track season once and for all.) Is it a last-ditch shot at glory? Perhaps, or maybe i'm just hitting the prime running age and this regime will have legs, pardon the pun. On December 17th we shall find out one-way or the other. That is when I will lace up the running shoes for what will hopefully be one damn fast mile when I compete in the aptly named Miracle Mile race in Golden Gate park. (I'm realistic enough to know it will take a miracle to go sub-5 minutes.)

So i've put a countdown to the race, mainly for self-motivation purposes, as is the real reason for writing this post. I figure if I publicize the goal it will prevent me from quitting later this fall when the time and weather change and i'm forced to slog miles after work in the dark and cold. But so far so good as i've logged about 24 miles since beginning the regime in earnest at the start of July. At the moment i'm running 2x a week, but will ramp up to 3x in August - 2x during the week in the park and speed training on the weekend at Kezar Stadium, which is the old stadium for the 49ers and Raiders pictured above. The training program is all very sophisticated, hence the moniker the 'Running Regime'. So 140 days to go til race day. I'll keep everyone posted on the regime's vitals. Long live the regime!

STERN GROVE

Every Sunday during the summer Stern Grove Festival puts on a series of concerts in an outdoor amphitheater out on 19th Avenue. The site was named after Sigmund Stern, whose wife gave the land to the city back in '31. With its natural acoustics she decided it would be a great location for a park and concerts.

Free concerts.

This has been going on since 1938, so almost 70 years of free shows in the city, which is pretty amazing. Seeing as this was the first time I actually made it out to a show since i've lived in SF, that's almost 8 years of missed free shows. Between my friend Andrea, who I went to the show with and who was also making her first trip to Stern Grove in her 8+ years in the city, we figured collectively we had missed roughly 175 worth of free shows since living in SF. As we walked into the theater, which is situated down in a natural bowl framed with large giant eucalyptus, redwood, and fir trees, on a beautifully sunny Sunday our lament was more or less summed up as we marveled at the hidden gem of the location and Andrea commented that more than anything it was just down right embarrassing that we hadn't been to Stern Grove before now. Seeing as Stern Grove is at most a 10-minute, straight-shot bus ride from our neighborhood, it was embarrassing indeed. Well, we can hold our heads up now.

It took the lure of seeing one of my favorite new artists, Jackie Greene, to get me out there. Given the especially warm weather, which I cringe to say was almost too hot given that it's often cold and foggy in these parts during the summer, the theater was brimming with picnics spread out on wall to wall blankets - you can bring in your own food & drink which is another nice perk - but fortunately we were able to squeeze in on the lower bowl with a great view of the stage. Jackie Greene, who was actually just the opening act for Mavis Staples who we did not stick around for, played for about an hour - jumping between the electric and acoustic guitar, the piano and organ, as well as the harmonica for good measure - all of which sounded even better live than on his discs. If you're not familiar with Jackie Greene his sound is a mix of blues, folk and rock. The only disappointment was that he didn't play longer and that he didn't play my favorite song of his, 'Gone Wandering' - which currently sits at #2 on my top 25 songs played (by play count) on my iTunes, which means I like/play the song a lot, and that Kristin is probably really sick of it by now. But otherwise he was great, as was the venue. We're hoping to get a full dose of Jackie Greene as the headliner when he returns to SF in November to play the Warfield. So if you're a fan, or want to become one, you should check him out.

And if you live in SF and haven't yet been to Stern Grove you should be, well, embarrassed.

NEW ILLOS

A couple of new illustrations that I recently completed but haven't yet added to my website. Click on the image to see all 3. Enjoy.

BURN ME, FEED ME, READ ME

So if you're saying to yourself, "Self, I'd really like to read this blog, but let's face it I just don't think i'll remember to check it," or if you had enough trouble navigating your way here (maybe b/c I changed the web address, sorry:) and don't think you can find your way back...drum roll please, you can now either sign up to get new posts sent to you via email, or you can get the feed to your yahoo, aol, or google home page or your news reader of choice. So if you want, enter your address in the box to the right to get new posts via email or click on the link below it to get the feed. And of course, you're always welcome back here. Just be sure to note the new address: mattstringer.com/stringdom

RUSSIAN RIVER

So after another failed attempt to get out of town backpacking this weekend, our 2nd in the last couple of weeks, we were determined to at least get out of the city and escape the fog in the inner sunset. So on Saturday Kristin and I hit the road and headed about 1.5 hours north of SF to the Russian River to take in the sun, float around in the water and sip on some frosty beverages. All of which hit the spot quite nicely. We're hoping to rally some people back up for a day of inner tubing down the river later this summer.

And in case you're wondering, like I was, there is no American River in Russia, however there is a Usa River in Russia. Though it is actually pronounced Oosah. Thanks Wikipedia.

HEAR YE! HEAR YE!

Official ribbon cutting ceremony welcoming all to The Stringdom. Take a look around. Kick the tires. Just don't look under the hood quite yet (still working out some kinks with the set up, but you get the basic gist for the time being). Eventually will get a few more bells and whistles up here, maybe, and then you'll really be able to hit the open road. 5c tour - to the north we have our header/map of The Stringdom, with the points of interest being Golden Gate park and Stow Lake, which Kristin and I have circled many a evening on our walks. And then the beloved MUNI line with a special shout out to the N-Judah train, which is both my lifeline to and from work and the bane of my existence when MUNI is acting like, well, MUNI. The rest is pretty much all water and the summertime fog, which I chose not to depict. Doing my best flight attendant inspired two finger two hand pointing gesture, below the map, to the east on the site we've got our side nav bar, where you can keep tabs on the recent posts you may have missed, once I write some posts that is, and some links, er well, just one link at this point (one of the things I will hopefully be expanding during the tune-up). Speaking of the lone link, if you haven't yet visited my site, please feel free to check out my illustrations. For those who have been there and done that already there are a few new poems to cruise as well if you're interested. Again with the two finger point, turning to the south is where the meat of the site will be, aka the posts and photos, which I hope will be a running narrative with a few visuals to keep everyone up to date on our doings out here in SF, assuming you're interested in our doings and assuming we actually do anything of interest. Pressure is on Kristin. If I'm in the mood I may mix in the occasional random thought or a rant or two, though I'm admittedly not really the ranting type, except perhaps when it comes to sports. So maybe some sports related rants to look forward to. The rest of the lay of the land is still to be surveyed. So welcome, kick off your shoes, grab a seat on the couch and stay a while. Just be sure to square up if it gets too crowded. Stay tuned for more posts.