Six(ty-six) Degrees

Six Degrees of Separation is one of my favorite games.

For a while, I did a thing on Facebook that involved putting out a couple actors and having all my friends try to connect them. I would determine a system of bonus points that often made it more beneficial to add more movies. For example, you might get five extra points for using Christopher Walken, so it might be worth taking a little detour to Pulp Fiction in order to bring him in, and yes, he's in that movie with everyone else.

My slight obsession with this game leads me to watch movies a little differently than most people. There is a definite aspect of "Oh, he's in this. Got to remember that later," that is always involved for me. Just today, I happened upon Spy Hard, a Leslie Nielsen spoof from 1996, and I was quite amazed at the number of people who just showed up throughout the movie, and my inability to separate my game preparation from my enjoyment of a film. I always feel the need to be ready should a competition come up again.

In much the same way, I can't split the concept of training away from the idea of going fast.

I've read many articles recently about the requirement for rest. In many of these, there are quotes from the elite runners of the world who say that they need to force themselves to take days of rest. Among them is Ryan Hall, arguably THE marathoner of the United States, who says that he is only now learning the value of taking a day off.

Maybe, I'm crazy, but I love my days off. I look forward to them like little tiny Christmases.

But that's where my love of rest stops. I don't like running slowly, even when it is necessary for, you know, survival. Yesterday, I ran an incredibly long distance at an incredibly fast speed, so the only reasonable thing for me to do was to take it nice and easy today. Did I? No.

In my defense, this was not intentional. The other thing I've been reading a lot about is running by effort and not by pace. This is often brought up in reference to performing in high heat, something I haven't had to do for the last couple days, so the same effort has produced better results. Now, the key to my success (as the forecast reaches back into the triple digits this weekend) is to maintain that level of effort and not worry that my pace might be a little slower. The only time the pace matters is on race day.

Much like the only time I will think about Spy Hard is when playing Six Degrees of Separation.

Special Bonus Six Degrees Competition, Running Movie Edition:
Jared Leto to Tom Hanks

Point Breakdown:
1 Movie (+5), 2 Movies (+4), etc.
Bonus 5 points for using Spy Hard

Tuesday's Run:
66 Degrees, Glorious
5.05 Miles
34 Minutes, 15 Seconds