Guy stuff.
During a week that's seen NJ Gov. Chris Christie step up the to plate and impress a lot of people who've had few reasons to say anything nice about him in the past, myself included, Bloomberg manages to follow up a shining moment of his own—a nuanced and rational endorsement of Obama—with a bone-headed decision to put business interests ahead of the well-being and safety of his constituents.
My second Tough Mudder couldn't have been more different from the first time back in April, with a handful of new obstacles, a very different course layout, a smaller team, and almost perfect weather. Whereas the Poconos course was dominated by trails and nature (including ridiculously cold weather) with obstacles interspersed throughout, Tri-State took great advantage of its Raceway Park setting to deliver an arguably more challenging course that took its toll on our calves more than anything else, thanks to what seemed like 12 full miles of mud, mud, and more mud!
Interestingly, Spiegelman nails the underlying problem with poetry in general, though he seems to imply it's a flaw related more to a poet's level of experience with form rather than an inherent flaw in poetry in general, but especially that written for the page. While formal poetry has never been my cup of tea, the vast majority of poetry -- formal and free verse, written and oral -- actually bores me to tears for the exact reasons Spiegelman notes.
At just over 5k—my official time and pace: 42:43.30; 11:33/M; #894 overall for men, equaled 3.75 miles—the course was closer to what I imagine a good trail run is like, with a lot of hills, mud and water, and a bunch of moderately challenging obstacles peppered throughout.
If you're eyeballing New Orleans, do so with the big picture in mind and think about the future. Their school system is a tangled mess of ill-conceived "reforms," and since I suspect you're going to love it there and some of you will end up living there and having kids, start paying attention now and look for ways to have a positive impact.
Hands down, Tough Mudder is the most physically and mentally challenging thing I've ever done, and I loved every minute of it! The temperature was still below 40 degrees when we started just past 9:40am, but the adrenaline was flowing and for the first half of the 12-mile course, it was surprisingly smooth sailing.
Having our own kids growing up around a relatively diverse group of kids was an important factor for us when we left the Bronx nearly four years ago, and while we technically found what we were looking for, what we didn't account for was the overwhelmingly white staff that would be teaching them.