How Do You Decide Where to Live?

This has been a recurring topic in the Frenette household in recent months. Our moves have really challenged our perceptions of what location means to us, and what criteria we value in making choices.

What's Important to You?

How would you rank (1,2,3...) the following factors?
__ Career/Job Market
__ Housing Market
__ Proximity to Where You Grew Up (close or far)
__ Weather
__ City Size & Type (urban, suburban, rural)
__ Culture
__ Schools
__ Proximity to Family
__ Crime Rate
__ Other:

So, with the comments form waiting in breathless anticipation, tell me: how you make this important decision?

Photos courtesy kangotraveler, pingnews.com and Michael in San Diego on Flickr.

6 Miler, Powered by Hot Dogs™

I love hot dogs. I can't help it—I was raised in Chicago, by two Chicagoans. That's what we do.

Being in Chicago this week, I had to make a stop at Portillo's, my favorite weenie vendor. I ate at this place 3 times a week during high school, as scary as that is. But it's delicious stuff. A chili dog, half an italian beef and a large fry and I was set.

Too bad I had to run 6 miles today. Greasy fast food isn't exactly the best way to fill up your glycogen stores, but whatchagonna do.

The Chicago lake shore was my chosen running route; Chicago sits on Lake Michigan, and a great running and bike path stretches from the far south side to well into the north. Plenty of space to stretch the legs and get some relatively fresh air.

Getting to the lake shore from our hotel—and getting back—was the only tricky part of the run. On the way back you can see the dip in my pace, where I had to wait for traffic lights and huff up a couple flights of stairs. All in all, though, it was a great run on a beautiful, moody-midwestern-weather day.

These recent trips have been a "Best Of" tour of the places I've lived. I haven't been back to Chicago in quite some time, but this is my "home" city, and the city I grew up. I had forgotten how amazing this city really is. Amazing architecture, interesting people, lots to see and do.

The trip to San Diego was interesting, too, because the move from San Diego to San Francisco is much more recent, and I still feel some ties. But San Francisco is much more like Chicago, and I have to admit: I'd almost prefer living in Chicago to SF. Granted, the weather's been nice here, and that's a major issue with Chicago. But outside of that, I really don't see why San Francisco would be so much more preferable to Chicago. Chicago's great, and at half the price, it's twice as nice.

Good to be back.

We were able to catch a show at The Metro—one of my old haunts. The band was Ha Ha Tonka, which is sort of an indie rock band with an inbred twist. They were good; 4 part harmonies, technically solid and proficient drumming, interesting song arrangements.

A good first day in Chicago.

Images courtesy midiman and pingnews.com on Flickr.

A Group, Meaning Two

There are billions of running clubs and group runs available in San Francisco. This city is head-over-heels in love with running, bless their filthy hearts. There are so many to choose from that I have one meet on Wednesday nights as close as 3 blocks from my house.

Sweet.

Metrosport in the Marina (no, I don't live in the Marina—stop asking that) was the group run of choice, and I ambled down at 6:00 to meet the group.

As it turns out, the group was me and one other guy. Apparently they just started doing the group, and have major Wednesday night competition from the Nike folk, who are gearing up for their October 19th Women's Marathon. Metrosport feels like things'll pick up for them once the Nike event is over. I hope so, because it sure is convenient for me.

Greg, the other guy, and I headed out for what he said would be a half-hour run. I was supposed to run 5 miles today, but I figured what the hell. I anticipated a faster pace than I'm used to for the group run, and even though it was just the two of us, Greg seemed pretty accomplished. Sacrificing a little bit of distance for a little bit of speed probably won't hurt me in the long run.

Looking at the Nike+ widget, it sure looks like we kept one hell of an even pace during this run. As predicted, we went sorta slightly a little fast. A little. Sorta. Maybe we just held my "faster" pace more consistently.

It ended up being nearly an hour long, 4 mile slog. Greg is a cool guy and was nice enough to hang back and wait for me. He did drive the pace the whole time, keeping things a wee bit faster than I would have. Good stuff. As is my specialty, I crapped out on the home stretch and walked. All in all, however, I feel like I did pretty well.

Looking forward to future, more "group-y" group runs. I can see how running with folks that are better than you are can elevate your game.

Oh, and I totally blew off my weightlifting. Damn. I had to come home to pick up my gym stuff (read: towel), and by the time I got back home, chatted with @LosBee and got ready to turn around and head back out, I was feeling sort of splinty. Like shin splinty. Which I don't like feeling.

Must be my attempts at higher speeds from Sunday, yesterday and today that are irritating my tibial connective tissue and musculature.

Anyway, I said "screw it", ripped off the sweaty togs and wrapped my lower legs in ice and Ace bandages. Good times. Hopefully everything will be good to go tomorrow.

"Speed" Work Tuesday

Today I was slated for six 800 meter repeats, followed by squats, lunges and other weightlifting chicanery.

It was going to be tough to get down to the track to get a clearly marked 800 meter course, so I decided to bust a freestyle and run three 1 mile repeats instead. I'm not going for speed here—I'm really just training so I can finish the San Jose Rock & Roll Half Marathon. I'm not looking to break records. My PB will be finishing a halfie, you know?

I went down to the Marina, since it's a route that I'm familiar with and the out-and-back plops me right in front of the gym. Doing intervals proved to be difficult to do with the Nike+, so I mostly ended up winging it and basically hustling as hard as I could keep up for 1 mile increments, mixed with about 2 minutes of slower trotting in between.

It went okay, not great. As you can see, I wasn't exactly flying. But I cooked along above my normal plodding pace. I ended up gassing (again) before my third mile interval was complete, and walked the rest of the way.

The clock was ticking, though; I ambitiously thought I could make it down to the route, run, do my lifting workout, get back home, shower and get down to Bimbo's 365 to pick up tickets for one of my all-time favorite bands, Trans Am. After my run I realized this was stupid, so I stretched out, packed it up and headed home.

But hey, I got a run in and Trans Am was awesome. Fantastic. Kick anus. You gotta love a band that does the majority of their vocals through a vocoder/synthesizer. Inexplicably, halfway through the last song the bassist/keyboard player peeled (with one hand) and ate a banana while playing. Like it couldn't wait. Hysterical and highly entertaining.

Photos courtesy of jpctalbot and the Trans Am web site, respectively.

Obesity in America: A Theory

The rising rate of obesity in America is a much talked about topic in recent years. All sorts of folks—medical professionals, endocrinology specialists, fitness experts and so on—have a lot to say on the subject, suggesting everything from an increased sedentary lifestyle to processed foods as the cause.

I have another, possibly half-assed theory to propose.

We have all heard—and likely accept—that we have evolved from ancestry that employed hunter-gatherer subsistence methods for millions of years. As a result, we will feast when food is plentiful in preparation for when food is scarce. A critical survival strategy when there was no domestication or consistent food sources, our body stores these reserves as fat for later use.

How does that equate to a sudden upward trend in obesity, specifically local to America?

Anthropology takes the long view, seeing things over thousands and millions of years. I suggest a much shorter time frame.

The Great Depression was a large-scale incidence of scarcity in recent history, resulting in food lines, rationing and starvation. While those that lived through it processed their fat stores, they appropriately developed a deep and lasting aversion to wastefulness. When food was once again available, they were loathe to waste anything that made it to the table. The Clean Plate Club was established, and children of Depression-era parents developed an ingrained compulsion to eat everything they were given.

In the meantime, America becomes the land of plenty once more, progressively bringing food access to new levels of ease. Diners, fast food, drive-ins, drive-thrus, tv dinners, microwave ovens and prepared foods become more than commonplace. Food is readily and cheaply available at virtually any time, almost anywhere. Dining out gains popularity as a social event, and chefs (Julia Child, Emeril Lagasse, Mario Batali) rise to the status of celebrity.

A generation (or possibly two) passes, and the confluence of these two factors—Depression-influenced practice of never squandering food and omnipresent dining options—begin to show on American waistlines.

Anecdotal Experience
You likely don't have to look too far back in your American family history to find someone affected by the Depression. Possibly a parent or grandparent of yours was a teen or child, experiencing food shortages, rationing, maybe they even stood in a food line to wait their turn for milk or bread. I'd be willing to bet that same relative is famous within the family for making their loved ones a big breakfast, or hosting a plentiful Thanksgiving dinner. They're the first person to ask a guest if they want anything to eat, and the last person to let you go home hungry.

Why is America growing ever fatter? Because we historically (in the long view) are mammals that descended from hunter-gatherers, and (in the short view) have experienced a scarcity event that has frightened us en masse to eat while we can in preparation for the next one.

Are we more sedentary? Sure. Do processed foods supply less nutrients in a higher caloric payload? Probably. The experts are likely right: we are biologically unprepared for modern living, and these are all probably contributing factors to obesity.

I can't help but think, however, that an event as large as the Depression has had a lasting impact on subsequent generations' eating behaviors. It will take generations to winnow out the Clean Plate Club mentality, but I propose in time obesity levels will settle back down.

Just a thought. I warned you in the beginning that it was a half-assed theory.

Photo courtesy Dorothea Lange/NARA.