Discussion: Authors

William Gibson, Neil Gaimon (he does some awesome short stories), Neal Stephenson, Terry Pratchett. I think you'd really like Gibson.

How long (in hours, I suppose) is the 12th wheel of time book? Given how much you run, I get the feeling it should last you for a while... =)

Also, you should ice your ankle if its still swollen. Just what other people tell me, its not like I would ever do anything THAT intelligent.

The 12th Wheel of Time book is about 33 hours long. I suppose some of this frustration is inevitable given the format; visually reading a book is much faster than listening to it. For activities prohibitive of reading (like running), I think it an acceptable trade off, though I probably could read the book in twelve hours if I earnestly applied myself.

I bet reading while running would be good for o'... 12 hours seems like a stretch, but I might just be a slower reader than you.

Don't you want the book to be nice and long? Then you get LOTS of training hours out of it :-).

I find that for listening to stuff while running I prefer books that aren't too complicated even from a fiction standpoint because from time to time I miss little bits (trucks driving by, someone talking to me at a stop light, my attention is grabbed by something else, etc.), and it is really hard to try to go back and listen to what I missed.

Rewind ftw. Besides, WoT is like 20% plot, 20% character development, 60% idiotic drama from the n00b characters.

For a second I thought Lori lamented the loss of important information such as trucks going by.

Prior to that, I thought I had clicked on Alex's log and was totally confused by the reference to Rudin.

Also, why can't you make the team this year? You're only competing with, like, 10 people, and half of them will either get injured or just be too lazy to present insurmountable competition. You can at least be in the thick of things, ready to pounce on Wyatt when he makes a mistake.

While I admire your optimism, realistically, I will not be sufficiently skilled and consistent to make the team in six months. Consider that my highest ranked race was an 82.89; to have even a remote chance at making the team, my top three scores (of the four - ranking, SML) should exceed 90 points.

Also, I don't want to go to WOC to suck; making the team is a necessary but insufficient condition to warrant attending WOC. I am not yet good enough to represent the US.

Well, fair enough, but not wanting to suck at WOC has nothing to do with making the team.

Were team trials tomorrow and by some bizarre chance, I made the team, I would not accept precisely because I am not yet good enough.

In all candor, given my lack of proficiency, even contemplating making the team is very presumptuous. I have a very long way yet to go.

Dude, there's a difference between making the US team and making the WOC team. Why not shoot for the US team?

For some reason, every time I see "SML" written out, I think someone is referring to the Bermans, probably because their email starts with SML.

The Team Trials selects the WOC team; the standing team is selected by the ESC. I have negligible control over the latter apart from my general aspirations to do well at all the A-meets I go to and stay active in the O-community.

I'm not restraining my ambition or tempering my goals; I just think it highly unlikely I will make the WOC team. This is not a bad thing. My target is the Team Trials in 2011.

I'm cheap so I have, in the past, mostly confined my non-musical consumption while training to audiobooks available on CD from the DC Public Library that I could make MP3s of. Within those limitations, I thought Alex Ross' "The Rest is Noise" and Tom Vanderbilt's "Traffic" enjoyable. No idea whether they'd be of particular interest to you.

Since, given the poverty of the DCPL collection, that's a very limiting method of acquisition, I've recently been downloading radio podcasts from the CBC.

I have heard good things about the audiobook versions of several of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels over the years but have never listened to one. In the event that you aren't already familiar with the series, corrective action should, of course, be treated as a matter of the utmost urgency.

I haven't tried listening to audio books while running, but I've had success listening to Teaching Company series while erging. I've enjoyed Popes and the Papacy, Famous Greeks, something on rhetoric, etc. I am listening to an intellectual history of the West currently, but have not attempted to integrate that with workouts. It is enjoyable enough for driving.

I highly recommend Jon Krakauer's books on tape, in particular "Into Thin Air". Perfect for listening to. And I think it would be awesome to have Brendan on the standing team in 2010 (how is it that you only have 2 A-meet days this year???) and both Brendan and Ian in 2011.

Because there is this soccer thing.

Taking Quals April 9, setting courses for A-meet 2 weeks later -> no A-meet days in the spring. Too much soccer -> 2 A-meet days in the fall. Need to pucker up and rejoin USOF -> standing team status questionable at present.

I still struggle with being in USOF.

I'm putting in bids for Neal Stephenson books, I'm reading Anathem right now it's great. I like humor in my stories, so I also put in votes for David Sedaris books. I liked the audio book version of Ender's Game. I also recommend the young adult section of the library. Alex Rider mysteries are fun to hear and easy to consume.