The 40-year-old (marathon) Virgin

When my old college roommate, Doug, threw down the gauntlet to run the Chicago marathon with him, there was no time for hesitation.

Once you complete a marathon, the next thing you have to do is tell (i.e., brag to) everyone about it, right? I mean, what else is it really good for?

The good news is that I finished in front of about 13,000 runners. The bad news is that I finished BEHIND about 20,000 runners. Which means I finished about like I did in law school: somewhere below average!

Ah, but my self-important blog, where I am never average.  Maybe marathoners and bloggers have a lot in common when you think about it . . .  Ergo, ego. Or ego, ergo.

When I returned to my office after the race, I was wearing my marathon medal hidden underneath my suit jacket.  I announced to my staff something like this:  "Now some may say that running a marathon is a pointless, narcissistic exercise in shameless, attention-seeking behavior for the sole purpose of self-promotion.  But I disagree . . . "  [whereupon I open my jacket slightly, enough to reveal the medal hanging around my neck]  "The fact that I completed a 26.2 mile marathon has not changed me in the slightest . . .  That said, however, each of you shall henceforth address me as 'Marathon Man.'"

A Dog and his Blog

I think my wife is trying to tell me something. She posted this cartoon from the New Yorker on our refrigerator door . . .

It reads: "I had my own blog for a while, but I decided to go back to just pointless, incessant barking."

Touche.