The beauty of a good run

Saturday’s long run of 18 miles was one of those once in a yearish sort of runs. I want to say “everything” or “so in the zone” or “perfect” but those are all cliche, aren’t they? So I’ll go with: it was a great run. And by that I mean that I didn’t feel tired and my energy level was balanced and I listened to some good stuff, the ol’ stuff (“Wait, wait…Don’t Tell me,” “This American Life,” and some good tunes). A nice run like that gives you confidence, once again, that you can run a marathon and probably won’t fall apart.

Things that contributed to the nice run: good running weather (low 50s), Cliff Power Shots (Mocha…yumm and has caffeine, too!) and fog (I then wasn’t distracted by how far I had to go because you know that CR 32 is one long stretch of pavement).

Prior Review or Review a priori

I’ve been following the local case of a school newspaper staff being reminded of the rules of prior review by the principal. The high school is Woodlan Jr/Sr High School (outside Ft. Wayne, IN) and the adviser is Amy Sorrell–a teacher with 7 years experience and also teaches AP English Language and Composition.

The story’s conflict begins (or, at least heats up) when a student writes an editorial about homosexuality and is trying to reason with her audience (and perhaps herself) of being a bit more tolerant of one another. Sorrell, who usually runs “controversial” stories past her principal, Ed Yoder, but she thought this particular editorial wasn’t that controversial. Yoder instructs for stronger prior review and student newspaper staff contacts the SPLC.

(Here is a copy of the initial news report with the editorial in question).

The student newspaper decides to not publish anymore after a delay in prior review in early March. And that’s where I thought the story would stop.

But today, the local news (along with being sent via AP wire) states that Sorrell has been put on “paid leave.”

This will–most likely–open the debate of the provisions of the Hazelwood decision and the allowance of prior review by school officials and what exactly that means.

Permacloud has lifted; welcome Mr. Sunshine!

And for the 14-miler this morning, I over-dressed and had to take off the hat and gloves by Mile 9 and eventually had to do that thing we used to do in elementary school: tie the coat around the waist. I felt a tad school-aged, but it was getting a bit warm (+45f) and bright running back into town.

The run itself was a bit rough with more walking than I usually like, but it did mark my first run out on CR32 (also known as the “hilly” way–as if Indiana is known for it’s topography). The inclines were a nice change and the “crying hill” (Mile 6) went off with few tears. Listened to “Wait, wait…don’t tell me” and Tony Snow was the guest for “Not My Job” and then listened to Bruce Hornsby’s compilation Intersections (very cool, still). The “Fortune Son–Comfortably Numb” combo is incredible and I usually find myself doing a repeat on the iPod shuffle.

Finishing up on the writing gig thing and should get the final out tomorrow night. No sure on what my rights are on posting the piece, but when I can, I tell you more about it.