Quality of Life Improvements

In recent months, I have implemented two additions to my routine, and I feel that they have made significant positive impacts to my quality of life.

The first new addition -- and this one affects my daily regimen -- has been the use of "couzies" when I consume a beverage from an aluminum can. I have prior experience with couzies, but their use was limited mostly to fishing trips. Now, I rarely drink a cold beverage without one, and it has been a really nice change. No cold fingers from holding a soda or beer, no search for a coaster every time I want to set my beverage down... this has been a very positive development in my life.

The other new addition -- and this one is still in the early implementation stages -- is my new food processor. I say "new" because I only knew we had it for the last two months. I have been informed, however, that it has been part of the household gear pack for much longer. So far, all I know how to make in it is butternut squash/sweet potato soup. And boy is it good. One note about the processor from a QOL perspective: I don't love washing it. But when autumn hits in the Northeast, it sure is nice to settle into your chair with a big bowl of piping hot soup.

Festival 8

Hands down, it was one of the 8 best Phish festivals of all time. Pictures say 1000 words, so I will take advantage of images in this post, since I there's no way I could possibly write it all. (Note: click on any photo to enlarge.)
Once we got the kitten out of the suitcase and our stuff packed, we flew to Las Vegas where Lisa Aiken -- equipped with camping equipment, food, and drinks for 3 people over 5 days -- picked us up and brought us to the concert site in Indio, California. We arrived at 4am. Of the three of us, Alison grabbed the most shut-eye -- about two hours. That first day, therefore, was a real marathon, but the evening's two sets of music were fabulous.

The next day was Halloween. The band upheld its Oct. 31st tradition of donning a "musical costume" which, this time, was the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street -- complete with a horn section and backup singers. The musical highlight of the whole weekend for me was "Lovin' Cup," which Phish has covered thousands of times so that its place is solidly established in the band's canon. But "Lovin' Cup" is also on Exile, so it came up during the Halloween set -- and the place, the band, and, most especially, the guest performers, just went crazy. Out of this world. Also out of this world were 30,000 costume-wearing Phishheads. I camped with a 1920s flapper and a hockey-playing pirate. I also met Jim Morrison, the entire gang from Scooby-Doo, the 1969 championship-winning Boston Celtics, Eve (from Adam and Eve), and about 15 Jon Fishmans. What a night!














In terms of the Festival, Phish took care of everything. Foremost, holding it in southern California enabled the band to provide a rain-free weekend -- very nearly a Phish first. Festival 8 also included a traffic-free entry, soft grass to camp on, clean Porta-Potties, clean and spacious showers (that's right -- Phishheads showered!), and a certified organic Farmer's Market (we enjoyed fresh strawberries and mandarins, and we made breakfast burritos from fresh eggs and peppers). Keeping with another festival tradition started at 2003's IT festival, Alison and I began each morning by running around the campgrounds. And in addition to the Halloween set, there was another Phish first: Sunday's noon-time Acoustic Set complete with free coffee and "8-shaped" donuts. Unfortunately, the line for the morning snacks was too long. Fortunately, the line where they were giving out free Phish Food Ben & Jerry's scoops was not long, so we went there instead.










I'm not going to lie. There were times leading up to the weekend that I wondered if I'm getting a little old to be taking off across the country to follow my favorite jamband. Well, I have to tell you: I had a great time. Since 1991 they have been my favorite for a reason. They put on the best show of any band out there... and they took care of every person who made the trip. Everything was perfect. Trey, Mike, Page, and Fish: thanks. Lisa, great driving and packing. Heather, thanks for looking after our house and animals while we were away. And in answer to the original question: I'd do it again in a second.



See you at "Festival 9"!

Music Update

The sign below was sighted this week at the Lutheran Church in Indio, California near the site of next week's Festival 8 -- the most recent Phish festival. In case anyone was wondering about the band's status with "the higher ups." Meanwhile, the residents of Indio, who have grown accustomed to the "Phish people" already in town readying the site of 8 for the legions of phans who will be arriving this week, have taken to referring to the site as "Little Vermont." I'm sure everyone will be talking about 8 for years to come...

Poll

I have had the same email address on AOL since Al Gore first invented the Internet. And there are advantages to never having changed your address: for example, people all know your address. There are also disadvantages, like my Inbox is full of spam. Also, if you are an AOL user, you know that, unless you are diligent about saving messages, you lose them after a few weeks. Also, AOL's address book is really not user-friendly.

So I'm looking to change my address. But here's the other disadvantage: all the cool new email names are taken! Like, markaiken@gmail.com is long-gone. I am looking for a new address that is simple and that people will remember.

So I'm taking a poll. Please leave your new email name suggestion in the "Comments" section of this post. If I use your suggestion, you will be recognized in a soon-to-be-posted segment of "AikenAction"!!! There's incentive if I've ever seen it. Now, get thinking!

Victoria Running Report

In the words of Perry White, editor of the Daily Planet, a good photographer eats, drinks, and sleeps with his camera. They are never separated! Which, folks, is why I am not a good photographer, and it is why I have no real race-day photographs of October 11's Royal Victoria Marathon. I just never remember the camera! (The photo, incidentally, is of Ali and me at the ferry dock near Vancouver on our way to the marathon. We're so bad, we didn't even take any shots on the ferry!)

The marathon was the culmination of a summer of training. I can't speak for Ali, but it was the most focused marathon training I have ever done. I have always thought it would be nice to qualify for Boston even though I didn't really think it was a particularly realistic goal. But in my last marathon, I missed the qualifying time by 2 minutes. So I thought about what I could do to cut 2 minutes off my time. The answer: focus on pace. I trained just 3 days per week this summer: a long day, a tempo day, and a speed day. Alison ran with me every time, and, I'll say that without her, I definitely would have blown off some of the speed days at the Burlington High School track when it was 85 degrees. Also, she always ran with Oscar on the tempo days when I needed to run at a consistent pace. In short, I just couldn't have done it without her.

Ali also set the Boston qualifying time as her goal -- pretty ambitious, since it meant cutting 8 minutes off her personal best time. In the end, she just missed, but she ran her fastest marathon ever (her 5th PR in a row) by over 5 minutes -- nearly 40 minutes faster than her first marathon 7 years ago. I have a fast wife!

Victoria was billed as a flat course. I' wouldn't call it "hilly," but it was way more rolling than I expected. The course was beautiful -- 12 or so miles went along the Pacific with views of Washington's Mount Baker and the Olympic Mountains -- but it was crowded. A half-marathon and all marathoners who planned to run in over 5 hours went ahead of the rest of the marathoners. I found I had to constantly weave through people. Alison had trouble negotiating the water stops. Otherwise, it was a beautiful day. My race day strategy was to go out fast to build a cushion. I did this and, with 7 miles to go, realized that all I had to do to qualify was run 8-minute miles the rest of the way. Which I did, and I came in 3 minutes under my goal. I'm a little annoyed with myself now for not continuing at the fast pace I started with; but try to explain that to someone at mile 19 when the goal he set for the day is in reach by coasting. Oh well. I'll try for 3:10 next time.

John Gallagher was our host and trip planner -- and he also ran a great marathon, finishing in 3:45. He did a fabulous job choosing restaurants over the next five days in Victoria and Vancouver; despite running 26.2 miles, I gained 7 pounds on my vacation. Also present was Chris Gallagher, who didn't run because of a sore leg. But he provided plenty of moral support; in fact, he was the first one to join me at the bar after the race to watch the Patriots game.

We had a fabulous trip, and we really accomplished something while we were at it. It feels good to work at something all summer and to see results at the end. Now that we're home, we can officially call summer a wrap. It's time to tape up the hockey sticks and get out the ski equipment!

Friendship on Hold

All is fair in love and football.

For three hours this Sunday, Mark Aiken will be forced to put on hold any friendships he has with fans of the Denver Broncos. Between the hours of 4pm and approximately 7pm, and wearing throwback uniforms from the Sixties (the Broncos duds are seriously ugly), the Broncos will play host to the New England Patriots.

Aiken's friendships aren't the only ones being placed on timeout Sunday. Denver head coach Josh McDaniel is a protege of Patriots coaching legend Bill Belichick, but don't expect to see Coach B getting all choked up when the Patriot defense stifles McDaniels' new offense. Sure, McDaniels learned alot from Bill -- who wouldn't? -- but let's not forget who's the master around here.

As soon as the game ends, all friends can return to amicability... depending on the outcome of the game. If Denver wins, I may not be able to be friends again until I feel better.

Go New England!

(And may the best team win.)

Death Racers Tackle Aiken Woodpile

The Death Race, an extremely unappealing event (unless you find crawling under razor wire, digging up tree stumps, and running while carrying a bike frame appealing), is held in Pittsfield, Vermont in June. It's not an event I'm interested in; they don't even tell you what the events are until you arrive at the start. How would you even know how to train?

Two Death Racers, Neil and Andy, have answers to these training questions. And they involve wood-splitting, one of the events from last year's Death Race. When Neil and Andy heard I had a woodpile to split, they arrived pronto (see picture above, courtesy of Ruth Penfield). They tested various axes, mauls, wedges, and splitting tools, timed each other, and generally chopped and chopped and chopped and chopped. (Please don't anyone remind them they they don't even know if wood-splitting will even be one of the events this year...). On the other hand, it might not matter; at one point, Andy looked at their progress.

"It's incredibly satisfying," he said.

He thinks it's satisfying? He should try standing there watching two Death Racers chop their way through your woodpile. Now that's satisfaction.

The only problem with the experience was that, once I had splitters, I wound up doing all the stacking. As my dad will attest (and he would know; I stacked wood for him for like 12 years!), I have never liked stacking. I much prefer to split. Still, the Death Racers saved my back and lots of time. And if there's anyone else looking for "training" opportunities, please give me a call. I have the tools you need to train for your next Death Race.

(Photo below: getting there...)