Even before I actually ran the Bluenose, I started working on the idea of running the Valley Harvest marathon in Kentville in October. Given the awful conditions for race day for the Bluenose, I figured I owed it to myself to try running a marathon in what would almost be guaranteed to be better conditions (knock on wood).
Once I had actually completed the race, I made up my mind that I was definitely going to go for the Valley Harvest. My original plan was to take a week off from training altogether and then jump right into a 30-mile-a-week maintenace program (5-5-5-5-10) until July or August and then start working on a full marathon plan. Alas, life had other plans for me.
Instead of taking a week to recover from the race, it took closer to two weeks. On top of that, Olivia was only about 6 weeks old and still quite a handful, needing to be fed every 2 or 3 hours. Add in the fact that I started back to work on May 31st and you can see how it was rather difficult to find the time to get a run in.
On June 8th, 2.5 weeks after the marathon, Andrea could see that I was getting frustrated and told me to go for a run. Now, I figured that after such a short time period (2.5 weeks of rest really doesn't seem like much when compared with the 20 weeks of training that I had just finished) that I'd be able to rip off 5 miles with little to no trouble at all. Boy, was I ever surprised. It was all I could do to finish 3 miles.
Ok, so I couldn't pull off 5 miles my first day out. I figured I'd run 3 miles a day for a few days to shake out the rust and then I'd be able to return to my normal 5-mile days. But I couldn't. I was so sore after those first 3 miles that I had to take a couple of days off. I couldn't believe how much my body atrophied in just 2.5 weeks!
At this point, I've managed to get in a couple of 5-mile days since getting back into the saddle, but I've been pretty sore - sorer than I normally would be after a 5-mile run. I'm hoping that if I take a little more time to ease back into my routine that I'll be fine and still have time to get back up to 30 miles a week before the end of July.
- Mike
My brain is in a constant state of noise. I never seem to think about one thing at a time, and the subject matter is extremely diverse. I plan to use this as a dumping ground for whatever happens to be passing through my head.
Sunday, June 12, 2005
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Revenge of the Sith
Despite Lucas' reputation for bringing out wooden performances and producing atrocious dialogue, I enjoyed The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. They certainly don't compare to the original trilogy, but they were entertaining nonetheless. As such, I expected to be entertained by Revenge of the Sith as well.
Going into the movie, there were three main things that I was interested in seeing:
And, I must say, I was quite pleased with how the whole thing played out.
Even with my initial lowered expectations, I must admit to being surprised by the relatively awful first 30-or-so minutes. I went into the movie expecting to see a dramatic sci-fi movie, not some hokey, badly-made comedy film. I just couldn't believe it. Thank god that the story settled down into the proper genre shortly after.
The love scenes between Anakin and Padme were, predictably, mediocre. There weren't many of them, which made me happy.
I was a little confused about why Anakin wasn't dressed up like a padawan anymore (longish hair, without the rat-tail), and the reason was never highlighted during the movie. Luckily, I've since watched the animated Clone Wars series, which explained everything.
Samuel L Jackson made it clear in the past the that he didn't want Mace Windu to go out as a punk, and I must say I was happy to see how the whole thing went down. I'm a little surprised that he was actually able to defeat Palpatine, especially when you consider that Yoda and Palpatine fought to a stalement later on in the Senate chamber. It was at this point that Anakin finally took his first step down the path to the Dark Side, delivering a "sucker punch" to Windu and allowing Palpatine to dispense with him.
Overall, I felt that Anakin's turn to the Dark Side happened much too quickly. We are given a definite time frame in the movie - probably about 8 months from when Padme tells Anakin that she's pregnant at the beginning of the movie until the twins are born at the end - and I find it hard to believe that Anakin was able to be turned from the Light Side, which he studied for more than 10 years, to the Dark Side that quickly. That would suggest that he was predisposed to the Dark Side, which surely the Jedi Council would have detected. At one point, Windu says that perhaps they have interpreted the prophecy incorrectly, which could help explain the rapid downfall.
I rather enjoyed the irony around the fact that Anakin eventually makes the leap from Light to Dark in order to learn the skills necessary to keep Padme from dying, only to find out that it was his turn to the Dark Side that leads to her death. And by his own hand at that! It's never explained in the movie, but I get the feeling that Palpatine was feeding the visions of Padme's death to Anakin in order to push him over the edge.
I felt that Hayden Christensen's acting was the worst of everyone in AotC (no fault of his, really), but I was very surprised by his performance at times in RotS. I actually felt his hatred for the Jedi and Obi-Wan near the end of the movie.
I loved how all of the loose ends were tied up. We got to see how the droids would not know anything of the past in ANH. We got to see how the twins were separeted. We got to see how Yoda and Obi-Wan ended up as they did. I loved how Grand Moff Tarkin was introduced at the very end. The one thing that didn't make sense is how far along the Death Star was at the end. There are 18 years between RotS and ANH and, if I remember correctly, the station becomes fully operational shortly before the beginning of ANH. What took so long and how did they manage to hide its existence for so long? There are only a few years between the destruction of the Death Star in ANH and the creation of the new one in RotJ. Why the difference? I suppose they could have started the second one shortly after the first, but I think this was a slight timing oversight.
In the end, it wasn't the best movie I've ever seen, but it was definitely the better of the prequel movies and one that I am anxious to watch again.
- Mike
Going into the movie, there were three main things that I was interested in seeing:
- exactly how Anakin became Darth Vader
- how the gaps between the prequels and original trilogy would be wrapped up
- how a story that really has no happy aspect to it whatsoever would be handled
And, I must say, I was quite pleased with how the whole thing played out.
Even with my initial lowered expectations, I must admit to being surprised by the relatively awful first 30-or-so minutes. I went into the movie expecting to see a dramatic sci-fi movie, not some hokey, badly-made comedy film. I just couldn't believe it. Thank god that the story settled down into the proper genre shortly after.
The love scenes between Anakin and Padme were, predictably, mediocre. There weren't many of them, which made me happy.
I was a little confused about why Anakin wasn't dressed up like a padawan anymore (longish hair, without the rat-tail), and the reason was never highlighted during the movie. Luckily, I've since watched the animated Clone Wars series, which explained everything.
Samuel L Jackson made it clear in the past the that he didn't want Mace Windu to go out as a punk, and I must say I was happy to see how the whole thing went down. I'm a little surprised that he was actually able to defeat Palpatine, especially when you consider that Yoda and Palpatine fought to a stalement later on in the Senate chamber. It was at this point that Anakin finally took his first step down the path to the Dark Side, delivering a "sucker punch" to Windu and allowing Palpatine to dispense with him.
Overall, I felt that Anakin's turn to the Dark Side happened much too quickly. We are given a definite time frame in the movie - probably about 8 months from when Padme tells Anakin that she's pregnant at the beginning of the movie until the twins are born at the end - and I find it hard to believe that Anakin was able to be turned from the Light Side, which he studied for more than 10 years, to the Dark Side that quickly. That would suggest that he was predisposed to the Dark Side, which surely the Jedi Council would have detected. At one point, Windu says that perhaps they have interpreted the prophecy incorrectly, which could help explain the rapid downfall.
I rather enjoyed the irony around the fact that Anakin eventually makes the leap from Light to Dark in order to learn the skills necessary to keep Padme from dying, only to find out that it was his turn to the Dark Side that leads to her death. And by his own hand at that! It's never explained in the movie, but I get the feeling that Palpatine was feeding the visions of Padme's death to Anakin in order to push him over the edge.
I felt that Hayden Christensen's acting was the worst of everyone in AotC (no fault of his, really), but I was very surprised by his performance at times in RotS. I actually felt his hatred for the Jedi and Obi-Wan near the end of the movie.
I loved how all of the loose ends were tied up. We got to see how the droids would not know anything of the past in ANH. We got to see how the twins were separeted. We got to see how Yoda and Obi-Wan ended up as they did. I loved how Grand Moff Tarkin was introduced at the very end. The one thing that didn't make sense is how far along the Death Star was at the end. There are 18 years between RotS and ANH and, if I remember correctly, the station becomes fully operational shortly before the beginning of ANH. What took so long and how did they manage to hide its existence for so long? There are only a few years between the destruction of the Death Star in ANH and the creation of the new one in RotJ. Why the difference? I suppose they could have started the second one shortly after the first, but I think this was a slight timing oversight.
In the end, it wasn't the best movie I've ever seen, but it was definitely the better of the prequel movies and one that I am anxious to watch again.
- Mike
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