The Voyager spacecraft been out there for 12,000 days now.  That’s nearly 33 years of continuous operation, and it’s now traveled 14 billion miles.

Maybe General Motors should hire some of the guys who built it.

Ever since I suffered through a serious inferiority complex driving my dad’s ’80 (if I recall correctly) Pontiac Catalina Safari wagon in high school, I’ve dreamed of having a totally tricked-out station wagon I could use to blow the smug muscle car dudes away.

Along those lines, here’s a great Wired bit on their top 12 wagons of all time.  For the record, the Chevy Nomad (I prefer the ’56) has always been on my list too.  (The ’57 is a beaut, too — and I love the house their picture shows!  Anyone recognize it?)

Really, though, I think it’s incumbent on my gearhead brother Rich to find a Catalina Safari like Dad’s and totally muscle it up for me.

Rich also owes me a tastefully rebuilt early ’70s Toyota FJ-40 Landcruiser too, so he’s gonna be a busy fella.

Not only did I cover 20 miles on Sunday, but as a result, I’ll be losing the requisite toenail.

It’s on the “piggy that stayed home” on my right foot.  I’m not sure why, because it never hurt while I was running, but when I finished it was completely bloody underneath.  Now it’s pretty tender.

I guess I’m almost a real marathoner now.

How frickin’ cool is this?

I’m into the big miles of marathon training now.

A week ago Friday, I’d planned to run 18 miles down there in Destin — but I knew the weather might not cooperate.  You see, I’m totally not a hot-weather guy.  I was therefore encouraged when we had rain and fairly cool temperatures most of the week.

But the day of my big run dawned clear and hot — and still beastly humid.  And I was still suffering from a summer cold (which I’m just finally getting over).  It all added up to a Stygian day of slowness and suffering — lots of walking and just generally getting roasted under that hellish sun.  I managed to cover 16 miles, though it took me a full 3 hours.

Today was a 20 miler.  It wasn’t a Floridian day here in the upper Midwest — but it wasn’t a nice crisp summer day either.  Warm and humid to start turned into hot and humid by the end.  But I managed to run nearly the whole distance over a very hilly course — and finished it in just about the same time it took me to do 16 miles down South.

I’ve got five weeks and just one more really long run a couple weeks out.  I’m feeling pretty good about it all.  (It’s funny how what used to be long runs to me before I started all this marathon madness are now quick little intensity training sessions.)

The old — the MC5 does one of the most widely covered songs ever:

The MC5 were considered the founders of punk.  Sadly, two of the original members — singer Rob Tyner and guitarist Fred “Sonic” Smith, died of heart attacks in their mid-40s.

And then there’s the new — a new song from Year Long Disaster, “Show Me Your Teeth,” from their second album, Black Magic:  All Secrets Revealed.

Of course, Year Long Disaster is fronted by Dan Davies, son of Dave Davies (guitar) and nephew of Ray Davies (vocals), both of The Kinks.  So back to the old — here they are with their classic, “All Day and All of the Night.”

Happy Friday!

I was vacationing on the beach in Florida last week, with a quick side trip to Memphis last weekend before returning home.

The beach at Destin was great — no oil except for a few stray streaks on skin and suits, thank goodness.  We did battle the elements a bit thanks to the distant hurricane — lots of rain and high surf — but this proved to be a blessing in disguise.  Once we did get a glorious sunny day (our final day there), it proved to be so hot and exhausting we knew we would’ve been toasted by mid-week if the rain hadn’t kept things cooler and moderated our activities a bit.

The real bummer was the cold I came down with on day 1, which I’m still battling.  As a result, I spent a good string of days completely off running, and when I finally did get back and tried to get my long run in (shooting for 18 miles last Friday), it was on the very day the sun returned.  It was positively brutal, and while I managed to cover 16 miles on foot, I walked more than half of it.  I did complete a couple of shorter runs during our travels, but this week saw more off time as I tried to shake this beast.  Still sniffling, but back to working out now — shooting for 20 on Sunday!

Anyway, the boys had a ball in the sand, and the break was a good one regardless.

It is Friday, right?

This is the stuff.

Today was another running distance record, plus a first for me in the sport.

First the first:  today was the first time I ever carried water or “fuel” running.  I knew I’d be out there for around two hours today, so there was no way I could do that (well, not and be smart) without hydration.  Lacking any fancy rig, I just hand-carried a small bike water bottle and had a gel pack in my little shorts interior pocket.

It all worked… well, okay.  I still got fairly dehydrated (it was low 80s and muggy here this morning), but I didn’t really feel it until the last couple miles.  I turned average 8:45 miles on a seriously hilly course.

For 14.1 miles.

I feel okay now — all stretched, cooled down and showered.  I can actually imagine running a lot longer — but I’ll need more water and fuel for that.  Off to the sports store for a better set-up…