Marriage

I feel compelled by recent events to state my thoughts on the current gay marriage debate.  And since my thoughts are longer than what comfortably fits on a status update, I'm writing a blog post about it.

First off, it is troubling to me that right now, I feel very hesitant to post anything on facebook that could even be taken as obliquely pro-traditional marriage, or that questions in any way the merits of legalizing gay marriage.  People should not feel ashamed to state their views, as long as they are respectful about it.  While I understand that stating this will likely invite the response of "bigots should feel ashamed of their views, that's a good thing", my views have nothing to do with being against equal rights for gays.  I am pro-family.  Shouldn't I be allowed to state my views without fear of being "shouted at" on facebook?

What do I mean by "pro-family"?  Here is what that means:

1. Marriage has traditionally meant a man and a woman hitching up and having kids.  There have been plenty of exceptions to this at many times and places throughout history (hey, polygamist mormons!), but this seems to be the 'standard model'.  I would also add that marriage has, for the majority of it's history in Western civilization, been a very religious-oriented ceremony, with little to no involvement of the government.
2. From point #1, the purpose of marriage is to create and healthily raise the next generation of humans.  It also provides people with companionship.  But the difference between any relationship and marriage is the commitment of matrimony--hence making for a more stable environment for children.  Anyone who argues against kids having a stable environment to grow up in is stupid.  Hence, marriage's primary reason for existence is to protect and foster kids.  (Admittedly, there are a few groups, such as old people and infertile couples, for whom this logic does not work so well.)
3. Gay people today want to have equal rights when it comes to marriage, hence all the equal signs on facebook, in all their many versions.
4. The number of gay people who want to marry for the purpose of adult companionship is much larger than the number who wish to have kids.  I take this data from the most recent Canadian census, which states:  'More opposite-sex couples had children at home than did same-sex couples, 47.2% and 9.4%, respectively.' Read more here.  Granted, that's Canada, not the US, but I don't think it's much of a stretch to say that the numbers would be much different in the US.
5. Hence, gay marriage is, generally, about gays and lesbians wanting to have adult companionship, and furthermore, to enjoy the same government given rights that straight marries couples enjoy.  There is also a smaller group of gay folks who want to raise kids as well.  I fully support gay couples enjoying equal rights that straight couples enjoy.
6. Worth stating: straight couples are doing a pretty poor job of being great representatives of the traditional values and purpose of marriage, i.e. raising healthy kids.  
7. So, traditional marriage: emphasis on stability and raising kids (kind of fading today, though, unfortunately).  Gay marriage: emphasis on adult companionship, with a small subset also raising kids and I'm sure are doing a fine job (and five times as many lesbian couples as dudes, sorry Cameron and Mitchell!).  
8. Which brings me to my big question: what is so vehemently wrong about civil unions which give gays the exact same legal, government-given rights as straight couples currently enjoy?  The purpose for the distinction being that marriage does in fact need some help and protection.  Even though everyone makes fun of people who say that "families are threatened by gay marriage" (obviously, Cameron and Mitchell are not going to come over and poof, all your kids will become gay), I think there is some merit to the argument.  If the emphasis of marriage on the creation and fostering of healthy children is replaced by adult companionship, then I do think that we are rolling a very hefty set of dice with a lot of kid's futures.  Hence, if gays can be given their rights with civil unions, while marriage gets to keep the emphasis on kids, not companionship, why can't we all be friends?  
9. Point #8 brings up another good point, which is that if government was not as intimately tied in to marriage as it currently is, this would seemingly be a much smaller problem.
10. I'll admit that the hole in this argument is that there are a lot of straight folks who get married and never have kids, either because they get divorced (not good), can't have them (sad), or decide not to (bummer).  So, it's kind of giving a free pass to those folks, in that those who purposefully don't have kids are using marriage for companionship and not kids.  Admittedly, it's an imperfect solution.
11. So, friends, if you've read this far, tell me: am I way off?  What's wrong with civil unions?  Am I completely insensitive and off base? Or maybe 75% off base?  Whatever I may be to you, don't metaphorically shout at me.  And don't tell me that I "hate" (or "h8") anyone.  I just want to have a conversation where everyone can be respectful of everybody else's point of view.  

Thanks for reading. 

Uncertainty Sucks

It's a Sunday evening and things have reached that critical mass of sufficient open time + weighty things on my mind that I just need to write.

This is in Bend, we are going back this year!

I would sum things up by saying: uncertainty sucks.  I was doing my normal long Sunday morning run and my mind just felt pressed full on up with dwelling on the unanswered questions in my life right now.  The run certainly helped put things in perspective, but to my utter surprise, I had not returned at the end of the run with all the answers to all the questions, haha.

I would categorize the uncertainties along a time basis--short term, medium term, and long term.

Short term, we are unsure of when our house will sell, how much it will sell for, and where we will end up living afterwards.  This by itself is not so huge but I certainly would like to know where we'll end up.  We've narrowed it down to the east-of-I-5 and north/south-of-I-90-+/-a-few-miles zone of Seattle or Bellevue, Redmond, or Kirkland, which is to say, not vert much.

Medium term is more about what direction my work with the Mustache Dache will go.  Things are exciting and developing rapidly, but I wish I had a crystal ball to see the life expectancy of mustache popularity.  I have some notions of what to do to develop an 'insurance policy' of projects that will have more longevity, but that doesn't keep me from wondering about MD and its trajectory.  I have noticed with a mixture of chagrin and satisfaction the healthy crop of mustache-themed race events all over the country.  My conclusion is that to succeed, we need not necessarily be the most prodigious series, but we need to be the most professional and highest quality to beat everyone else out there.  Taking on a project like this sometimes makes me want to retreat to a menial job where the stakes feel smaller, but I tell myself that the career path of anyone like me should have taking on responsibilities that stretch and to a degree intimidate the individual.

Long term, I just wish that I knew more about what my career will be and where it will take me.  Lacking that, I would settle for having a clearer desired path, so at least I knew where I wanted to end up.  What I have realized is what I value:

• Control over my immediate situation
• Flexibility in schedule and work content
• Crystal clear expectations and limits of scope of work

My current job provides all these things in abundance and I'm grateful for that.  I have a difficult time believing that I could find a job within a larger company and retain those things.  The job with a larger company is attractive nevertheless for the benefits; life insurance, 401(k), security, and a more structured job environment.

As much as I'd enjoy travelling back in time to 17 year old me and chatting things up, I would want even more to go forward in time (or meet him halfway) to 40 year old me to see what he's doing and what he could teach me.  I suspect I have more in common with 17 year old me than 40 year old me, mostly because I still feel 17, most of the time.  Heavens knows I could kick his ass in probably any physical feat.  I digress. I predict that 40 year old me is going to be a part of something truly awesome, and I savor the thought that I will be the one that gets him to that point.

Running over South America

I thought I would post some of the files from some of the many runs I did in South America.  I have a few observations from my experiences.

A. Running as a component of culture is not very prevalent in South America.  This shouldn't come as a surprise to you.  Why would someone who works hard all day want to go run in the heat and on crappy shoulders?  That said, I didn't really get that many dirty/surprised looks.

B. Heat makes suuuuch a huge difference.  I picked up nearly 1 min/mile as soon as I got home.  Nice.  I would come back from runs during the trip dripping with sweat and it would take 30-45 minutes to finally cool off.

C. Running is a great way to explore a city!  The runner's view is amplified by virtue of covering more ground. Frequently I would spy some cool spot on a run and then we could go back with more leisure to check it out.

Imbassai, Bahia

Chapada Diamantina, Bahia

The tiny community of Boipeba. Probably my favorite place of the whole trip.

At Giuseppe's House in Lauro de Freitas, Bahia

We spent Christmas in the relative backwater of Sobral, Ceara. Very, very hot!

Finally, the relative coolness of Curitiba. The roads were quite empty!

The Miami of South America, Punta del Este.

Can you say track workout? In Buenos Aires!

A long run in a place a very long ways away from most things: Ushuaia.

A very, very, very windy run.

Pucon! Warm, rich, sporty.

Le Moustache Dache

It was much, much earlier this year, when Kami and I were in Florida to visit the Dahls, that the idea for the Mustache Dache was had.  The trip's timing, in and of itself, was interesting.  We had gotten engaged about a month prior and so were planning the wedding, I had just gone to So Cal to put on a small race a week prior, and I had finished an incredibly frenzied project to convert an unfinished laundry room into a bathroom, so that I could then clean up the house, move out, and get my tenants in.  So you might say that the trip was needed.  Below are some photos from the finised product.  I'm very proud.

the washer and dryer remind me of HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey

this is a toilet.

I stayed up to 2am to finish this shower and never got to use it.

I'm pretty sure that it was the evening that we hung out at AJ and Justin's house, enjoying some shark and conversation, that Kami had the idea for a mustache-themed race.  AJ was right on it, quipping about "mustachio dashio" and the like.  I was maybe a 5/10 on the interested scale, and when we got back to WA, I was back in the thick of preparing for the spring races.

However, by the email record, it looks like I got to work in early February.  A few months later, I started on website mockups.  Here is what I gave the artist:

And check out the finished product.  Pretty impressive!  The artist is Tony DeBoom, of Endurance Conspiracy, and the backend guy is Luke of Jukes, who has also done a fantastic job.

The race has been, with no exaggeration, the biggest project I have ever taken on in my life.  Probably also the riskiest, as I've invested more $$ and time into it than anything else, with the return on that investment being quite speculative.  He who risks nothing gains nothing!

Now, a bit about the cause and the financials.  10% of the proceeds from the race goes towards Movember,which then benefits the Livestrong Foundation and the Prostate Cancer Foundation here in the USA.  I realize that there are many races out there that are run by non-profits and donate more of their money to causes; I definitely considered putting the race on as a non-profit, but there simply wasn't enough to pull together a non-profit on top of the race and post-race party.  Furthermore, I feel very secure in my decision to donate 10%; the guys at Movember confirmed that 10% is a good industry standard for events like this one.  I feel like I need to defend that number a bit; I'm taking all the risk for the event and fronting all the cash and the vast majority of the event.  I would love, however, to give more money to Movember in the future as the race grows.

The uncertainty is the toughest thing; the race could, even with 1,000 in attendance, be a net loss for me, or it could explode and open a lot of doors for me.  The uncertainty also makes for some tremendous excitement, there was a string of 3 days this week that I felt so electric with small victories that I couldn't sleep.  That excitement has been reigned back in by a desire for rest, but still, every time someone signs up, I feel a small thrill.

That's about it.  Come on out to the Mustache Dache, and ride a mechanical bull!

America do Sul, Part 1

I thought it high time to talk about the upcoming trip to South America.  We are both pretty pumped for this trip, and thankful that our professions (Thanks, BTO Multisports and Food Lifeline!) are letting us take 10 weeks off.  I got a credit card when I was 17 and have never cashed in any miles, so we're flying there and back on frequent flyer miles.  Boo ya for flying to South American and back for $20.  And 12 years of credit card usage.

Part Um: We fly into Sao Paulo, where we stay with some friend of Kami's from a previous life or something.  My mission is near Sao Paulo, so we're going to hit that up for some reunions with some peeps from way back then and party like it's 2005.

We'll then go to Paraty (yours truly in below photo, in Paraty, circa 2005) where we'll stay on a boat for a few days and probably climb some coconut trees and enjoy some colonial Brazilian architecture.  Paraty was the port where they loaded all the gold mined up north.  The road they hauled it down, the Camino Real, is the oldest road in the Western Hemisphere.  Originally, I wanted to bike up it, but the fact that it's the wettest and hottest time of the year, combined with a dirt road, sounded not too feasible.  Some of the streets in Paraty flood at high tide!

Thence onward to Rio, land of a thousand American tourist dreams and a thousand crushing realities of Brazilian poverty, corruption and crime.  There's a very famous song from Rio, called "Tristeza", it talks about the dreams of the poor and how they escape that during Carnival (translation by yours truly):

The happiness of the poor person seems to be the great illusion of Carnival;
We work the whole year, for a moment of dreams,
to take on the identity of a king, or a pirate or a gardener (? bad translator)
and everything is all done by Wednesday

Brazilians in Rio love to dress up, like kings, pirates, or the opposite gender.  If you've never seen any of the costumes, they're incredible.

Okay well enough rhapsodizing.  We'll fly from Rio to Salvador, another colonial spot and thence inland to the Chapada Diamantina National Park.  I am SUPER excited for this part.  We are going to go camping for 5 days!  The park is big! And like our Grand Canyon (not quite so big) but green and lush.  Full of caves, pools, and waterfalls.  yes yes yes.

Monte Tabor

Then back to Salvador, and on for a tour of the Northeast.  We're not too sure of the details, but we know we'll end up in Recife and hit up Porto de Galinhas (Port Chicken), which is supposedly the best beach in the world.  

Then it's a short hop over to Fortaleza, to do a stay in a sweet beach bungalow from airbnb.com, then to visit my MAN Joao Paulo Matos de Nascimento, and finish up in Jericoacoara de Jijoca (SAY IT OUT LOUD I DARE YOU), a semi-fantastical hamlet that has no roads leading to it; you have to drive on the beach.  Lots of dunes and amazing sunsets.  Well known for being tranquil.  Here is a cow near Jeri that I snapped on the drive there.

Next week: Part Dois!

IM Canada Race Report

About a month ago, I did Ironman Canada.  Here is what I remember:

Race day:
Most people at this point go through a very detailed description of their race.  Let's go with bullet points:

Swim:
-bit of thumping at the beginning
-positioned myself right in the middle (hence the above point)
-towards the end, I found myself swimming just a few feet from a kayak, who followed along for some time...after some time I concluded she was there to stop me from going further left and off-course, into the spectator boats!

Bike:
-I was expecting 5:20, biked 5:23, that's good
-felt pretty great the whole time, lots of smiles
-peed twice, once on the bike and once off the bike (sneaky sneaky to avoid a penalty)
-did my best to be conservative, averaged 215 watts
-rode behind a dude with a really big toosh for maybe an hour, wowzers

zoomity-zoomity-get me off this flippin' bike

Run:
-walked the transition area, that was new and felt pretty good/out of place
-started out with 8 min/miles, that only lasted 3 miles, the rest of the run was pretty bleah, lots of cramping--after thorough scientific investigation, I'm pretty sure it was lack of salt (same thing happened to me at roughly the same time at the LW Memorial RAMROD ride)
-I also saw Teresa Nelson on the run course, she yelled out "I'm proud of you Porter", that felt pretty awesome.
-Mike Pritchard, Steve Quinn, and Sean Harwin helped me out a lot on the course.  Steve and Mike ran with me and Sean threatened to take off his clothes if I didn't run faster.
-Got 'er done!

thinking about mustaches

They wanted me to go to the med tent (but I said no, no, no).  When I got to the finish line, I was emotionally as tired as I was physically--did my best to hold it together until I could find Kami.

Analysis:
Swim was pretty much on par with other races--faster than Florida, slower than Brazil, but all were within 1 minute of each other.  In Florida, I was much farther down--11th fastest swim vs. 3rd fastest swim in Canada AG.  Overall swim ranking also improved:  111/66/51 for FL/BRA/CAN.  That's great, and interesting, as my swims are also within one minute of each other.  Good stuff!

Bike: time was pretty much right on with what I expected--5:20 vs 5:23.  avg 215 watts. 8th in my age group.  215 watts felt conservative but in the context of the run, I went too hard.  And not enough stopping at salt licks.

Overall, my biking has improved quite a bit, time was 5:23, I'm pleased with that (time in Brazil on bike in 2009 was 5:19 on a course with about 2500' of climbing, vs. 7000' of climbing in Canada, on a hotter day.  I also felt a lot more tired in Brazil at the end of the bike.)  That's pretty great.

Run, I was 14th in AG.  So, for Can, that's 3/8/14 for s/b/r, vs Florida was 11/10/13.  Interesting that in FL I ran a 3:36, in CAN I ran a 4:12, but only 1 spot different in AG rankings.  1 hour difference in time, almost exactly!

Running, I have definitely lost a bit.  I want to work on running this winter and come back speedy.

Emotionally, the run was super tough.  I definitely was on the verge of just collapsing.  When I finally finished, I was all emotional.  I wanted to hug Kami a lot.

In retrospect,  I know that I probably didn't give as much as I could have in training, particularly on the bike.  But, I know that this race was just getting to the start line and having a good day out there.  I was definitely smiling for most of the bike and (a little bit) of the run.

Going forward on training, I feel good about maintaining my current swimming speed.  I could work really hard and take off a few minutes, but I know that that time is better invested in larger reductions in bike and even larger reductions in run time.

Ironman Canada was all about making it to the start line healthy and having a good day.  I achieved both those things.  2012 has been a great year for me.  But, next year I will definitely be looking to improve my speed and bust up the oligarchies of the 30-34 age group.  I know that I'm capable of some decent speed, and I want to explore that potential before Willard Porter Bratten the 4th shows up and throws off my training schedule :-)

Lessons from Triathlon

Some good things that I have learned from triathlon over the years:

1. It's long enough that you can cover any ground lost to a mistake--Chrissie Wellington, even with a  flat tire, won by 15 minutes in Kona a few years ago.
2. There is much, much preparation—all for one day of execution.  The ratio of preparation to execution is pretty highly skewed towards preparation (and then, retrospection!)
3. Equipment matters, but ultimately it’s the person that makes the race.
4. Coach—someone experienced, who lays out a plan for you.  A good coach is invaluable.
5. Nutrition: garbage in, garbage out.
6. No drafting!-you’ve got to do the work yourself (on the bike), but you can receive help especially on the run
7. Lots of emotional highs and lows in a race—you’ve got to get from one to the next
8. On the run, sometimes everything is really hard. You’ve got to draw a box around what you can control and what you can’t.  Observe but do not judge (be aware but do not judge).  Focus on just getting to the next aid station.
9. Be grateful—many people could not even be doing this (outside, running, or riding an expensive bicycle). Nobody forced me into this.
10. I am here by choice—so I should not be angry or upset.  I chose this.
11. It’s okay to take a walking break on the run—just don’t let it last longer than planned.
12. In the end, just crossing the finish line is a total and complete victory—not many people can do an Ironman.  But don't let rationalizations hold you back from your potential, from pushing yourself to see what you are capable of.