nigelstewart.org

I consider today's race my first since I didn't finish one I entered in Boulder, Colorado at age 20 when I got lapped very quickly and therefore disqualified.

Got up at 4:30 am this morning in order to arrive in Dominguez Hills for a USA Cycling criterium. A criterium is a closed circuit course that you ride around for a set time or a certain amount of laps.

In my case I was registered as a Category 5 rider which is the low rung on the ladder of bike racing. Glad I pre-registered since the 50 slots filled up before race day. I bought a one day license. signed a waiver, and before I knew it I was doing warm up laps with some other cat 5 riders. 4 right turns over 1.5 kms with a slight uphill finish. Pretty fun and speedy. I got up to the second row to start and at 7 am we got some info from a race official about how to race. I was only one of two to raise their hand when the official asked if there were any first timers.

The pace was fast from the start. 45 km/hr (28 mph) in the two flat sections. I took the corners on the outside and though I stayed in the middle for a lap or two I soon found myself just hanging onto the back for the most time. Saw a couple near crashes on the corners but we all stayed upright. I lost my back wheel once in a corner on the last lap but my tire grabbed the pavement when it came back down. It's always been a fear of crashing that has kept me from racing but having just had a birthday I felt like I wanted to try it out so I'd have no regrets.

I'm so happy to have done it. I think we did 12 - 15 laps. I finished the half hour long race near the back. At least I didn't get dropped or disqualified unlike a half a dozen guys who burned out. I am definitely going to race again.

I actually finished this on time for the Solstice on Dec. 21 but haven't been able to publish until today. Sorry it's late but better than never.

There are 18 mp3's @ 192kbps. Enjoy! Go to http://nigelstewart.org/music/Solstice/ where you'll be able to find this season's mix whose filename is "NWSM_2011.zip" Download via your fave browser, unzip, throw into your media player and tune out. Cheers and Happy New Year.

H/t Piknik, iPhone 3GS, Hipstamatic, Drive, and Cay for editing. Link to .zip file named NAE2011Mix is here: nigelstewart.org/music/Equinox/ 16 MP3s @192kpbs Enjoy!

It's up! Grab the zip file from here. Enjoy the 18 mp3s @ 192bps.

Artwork photo thanks to Sam Nichol via Flickr.

After promising myself and Cay that I would never run another marathon after completing LA's in 2006 I will find myself breaking that promise this coming Sunday, March 20, 2011. I made the promise after injuring my left achilles tendon while training in '06 and I thought I would never be able to run long distances again.

Last year the LA Marathon announced a course that would take runners from Downtown LA to Santa Monica. The finish line is just over a mile away from my front door. I began training for last year's race after mulling over the psychological advantage I would have with the idea of "Running Home." I got to eight or nine miles on my training runs before my old achilles injury re-emerged and I was forced to give up.

This past August I had friends (JJ & JW) at work ask me about training and I became excited about trying again. I would have to change something about my technique to avoid injury and I chose to participate in the barefoot running movement in Vibram Five Finger shoes.

Running in vibrams I was feeling no pain but my training runs of 12 miles or more would prove too damaging to the skin of my toes and forefeet. I've heard from the running community that the Nike Free running shoes are a nice compromise between barefooting it and using full-heeled running shoes. I took a chance and bought a pair from Zappos in December. I also starting using Danny Dreyer's Chi Running (Thanks, NP) as a guide during these trying months. Since then I have been able to complete long training runs and I am signed up to go 26.2 miles as racer #11,361.

With this past Friday's devastating earthquake hitting Japan I feel compelled to run for a cause that may alleviate some suffering. I'm sure you've all seen photos and videos that will haunt us forever.

My Crowdrise fundraising page for the American Red Cross for Japan relief fund is here: http://shar.es/3OFxe

No donation would be too small. Please help the Japanese people. Cay and I visited their country in the summer of 2005 and we found it to be the most interesting, advanced, and unique culture we've ever been fortunate enough to experience.

As far as race day goes, you can follow my progress via Twitter, text messaging, or Facebook by signing in to http://www.lamarathon.com/runner-info/race-day-tracking/

I'm very much looking forward to the marathon. A couple of weeks ago Cay and I went up to the Baldwin Hills Overlook in Culver City and from there I could visualize the race from Dodger Stadium to the Santa Monica Pier. I hope to have a peak experience and I look forward to sharing my results and info about fundraising soon after the race.

My new iPhone toy @ work. Toonpaint is awesome. H/t Leo Laporte.

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Click above and from the directory download the Nigel's_Winter_Soltstice_2010 .zip file. Add to iTunes and enjoy.

Thanks to Brian Gossett (since78.briangossett.com/) and lpcoverart.com for the artwork. The music I'm sharing is DRM free 192 kbps mp3 and purchased legally for my friends.

Merry Winter Solstice Everybody!