pb spot

Marathon prep through Team In Training is now 17 weeks old. In that span I've increased my longest-ever mileage from 6 to 20. I've bonded with coaches and fellow runners, made new friends, met cancer survivors, and somehow managed to raise a nice chunk of money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

It hasn't been easy. I'm struggling with classic IT band syndrome, which basically means my knee sometimes hurts like hell during runs. And until recently, I'd felt lucky not to encounter the foot pain known as plantar fasciitis, as some of my running peeps had. But now that's cropped up too. I've been using this tapering period to rest up. There's just a final 10-miler with the team tomorrow, and then Friday we're off to San Diego. Honestly, I'm ready for the whole shebang now.

Watch for trip and marathon stories/pics.

A little pick-me-up...

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clipped from arstechnica.com The Holocene extinction rumbles on: bat edition By Jonathan M. Gitlin | Published: February 20, 2008 - 12:36PM CT Dodos, quaggas, passenger pigeons, frogs, bees, coral. You can now add bats to that list. Yes, the Holocene extinction carries on unabated, and the latest victims that may be headed for extinction reside in bat colonies in the northeastern United States, centered around New York and Vermont. The mystery disease responsible for this bat holocaust has been termed 'white nose syndrome,' after the white crust of fungus that appears on infected bats. The disease is infecting wintering bat populations and causes them to cease hibernating. Instead they fly around on a fruitless search for food, depleting their fat reserves. The result has been the loss of tens of thousands of bats, as entire colonies succumb to the condition. Credit: Al Hicks, New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation

I joined Team In Training for their Summer season, so I'm concurrently fundraising for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and prepping for the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon (June 1). This will be my first marathon. I admit that when I signed up I was a little skeptical that I could build up to a 26.2-mile run in the next few months. But every weekend, running with the local TNT group, I'm hitting a new longest-run mark -- 8 miles today -- and I feel great!  I also just hit a new one-week high of 25 miles. Running with a group is fantastically energizing. I'm right on target.

A look back at some moments from last year's travels.

I booked my ticket: September 20 to October 31. Thirty-nine days on the ground, backpacking. This'll be good.

Genre-free guitarist Bill Frisell, at the fine arts venue at Rutgers-Camden (a great space). Captivating sound... as expected, his trio ranged from languid to anthemic, bluesy to avant garde. But despite a front-row seat, Frisell was not much to watch. He faced cross-stage, toward the other players, so I never saw his guitar work.

A good show, but I slighty preferred the energy (and visual impact) of the opener, Philly bass player Jamaaladeen Tacuma, whose fusion quartet rocked hard.