Adventures in Onionism

These go in the trash every time.

GF and The Bit were in town this weekend, so we did some Philly things. 1. Bartram's Garden was a bomb. Their website is way better than the actual garden. Can we leave already? 2. John Heinz Wildlife Refug e was much nicer than expected. Feels pretty large, has trails that are far from the interstate, there's a nice breeze along the water on hot days, and George found a snapping turtle and got all muddy. 3. The Mütter Museum was weird and disturbing. What I assume was the rotating exhibit, on medicine in the Civil War, was lame. The permanent exhibit's collection of fetuses, brains, and other body parts in jars of formaldehyde, was quite disturbing, which I think is the point.

Sometimes I think class action lawsuits are ridiculous, sometimes they result in me getting a check in the mail, and sometimes both. Vibram will be paying out for those who bought Five Fingers . Also, Chris McDougall never meant to start a barefoot running fad .

I ran the Miwok 100k for the first time this past Saturday. I've run something like 10 ultras in the same set of parks before, but never this course, especially since the course seems to have changed in recent years. I swear I went and spectated at it a few years ago, and the course ended at Rodeo Beach. Our course started and ended at Stinson Beach. We started with an out-and-nearly-back to the north along Bolinas Ridge that I had never seen before, and loved. The redwoods were gigantic. I don't mind admitting I cried a little. I did hate that the course started and literally immediately went onto narrow single track and stayed there for seven miles, meaning that you couldn't run, and couldn't even walk any pace other than what the people in front of and behind you were walking. I finally passed my first person after 30 minutes, but after an hour I was still stuck behind 30 people. How oblivious did that guy in the yellow shirt with the mohawk have to be to not rea...

Feels like home. I'm in Berkeley today to run the Miwok 100k tomorrow. Fun to be around the old department and talk to my advisers. Doesn't hurt that the weather is gorgeous, as usual. George is at his home away from home with Rookie. I could eat you, but I won't.

Anyone who's hiked the PCT, CDT, or even the International Appalachian Trail knows about the slash, but if not, here's a pretty cool video explaining it. (h/t Radiolab blog ) Interestingly, This American Life also covered the US/Canada border a while back. And you can see it behind me at the monument. Those were the days.

Some people may misuse Strava and end up getting people killed, but when used appropriately, it makes for some cool maps . How many people know about my "super secret single track"? Not many. I like to think some of that is me.