Interval Running Before Sunrise: Dedication Or Insanity?

Yes. The answer is yes. You have to be a little bit crazy and a lot bit dedicated to lace up your running shoes before the sun is even up past the horizon. Hello there! My name is Ben and I have a lot of affection for triathlons. Am I insane yet? I don’t know. Triathlons, of course, are races that include three disciplines: Swimming (splash, splash), Cycling (vroom, vroom), and Running (boing, boing).

Triathlons, just like any sport, require dedication (or insanity?). Some might call it an addiction and my personal definition of that word came about many years ago when I lived in a four-season state. Winter was bearing down on the city and even in single digit temperatures, a few co-workers still went outside to smoke. This is when I realized that if you go outside in freezing weather to do something, you’re an addict. And it’s not a wholly bad thing. Your addiction could be shooting hoops, shopping, walking the dogs, or any other thing you’d do even in sub-freezing temperatures (or if you’re in Florida, 139° weather).

Here’s an example of insane (or dedicated?) athletes: Waking up when it’s still dark outside from the night before to meet other crazies at a local track to run intervals! I’ll admit I’ve done this twice but…. I can quit whenever I want….

I don’t need an intervention… yet. I’m pretty addicted to triathlons and because of that, I do things I don’t want to do. One of those things was getting out of a perfectly comfortable bed to try this interval running for the second time. As I moseyed around getting my stuff ready, I was secretly thinking of ways I could back out.

No one even knows I’m going so they won’t know if I don’t go.

This isn’t even a race, it’s just practice.

I can run later in the day on my own.

I was already up and there’s some accountability with the triathlon group I’m in (because they have such an inspiring amount of dedication (or is it that they’re all insane?)) so I went to the track and I’m glad I did. Performance aside, I was so encouraged by the leaders and runners and that’s a lesson in itself. By placing yourself in the presence of like-minded people who are pursuing goals within the sport, some of their passion, skills, and insight rubs off on you. Or maybe some of your excitement and knowledge rubs off on them.

There are two benefits of doing things we don’t like. One, health and wellness. We get a good day’s workout in. But there are the races, too. Competing with peers and/or getting demolished by people half or twice our age is part of the whole amazing experience and a race is the way to celebrate all the training. Like a gallery showing for a painter. A World Series game for a baseball player. Dinner for a passionate chef.

And just like a beautiful painting, a baseball game, a dinner… there will be another triathlon race where you can challenge yourself again to find out how you’ve improved as a swimmer (less splash, splash), cyclist (stronger vroom, vroom), and runner (quicker boing, boing).

-Out of the Wilderness

The Best Bitter Breakup Ballads – June 2024

If you love love, then chances are you’ve experienced a break-up or two and if you haven’t, try to keep that streak alive. That song from the 1960s is a song for a reason… breaking up is hard to do. Sometimes it’s not just hard, it’s hardening. As in, it hardens your heart a little and might even make you cynical about relationships altogether! I remember a relationship “my friend” was in and when it ended, one person said to the other:

“Let me know when you’re less bipolar.”

Not the best choice of words and obviously the (self-diagnosed) bipolar person laughed. Then hit the other with a baseball bat. 🥴

The inspiration for this list of bitter breakup ballads (they’re not all ballads but who could resist such a chance for alliteration!?) is a song that is sure to be one of the all-time greats of this genre. It’s by a songwriter named Jensen McRae and the song is called “God Has A Hitman.” If you haven’t heard it yet and you’re one of those people who’ve been through a hard breakup (and you’re bipolarness is behaving today (sorry, I need forgiveness for that comment too, huh?)), “God Has A Hitman” might definitely stab you right in the heart in a good way. But dood, be cool. Don’t let your crazy side make you do crazy things to get back at an ex after listening to this compilation of great bitter breakup songs. Mmk? Comment below with songs you’d add…

“God Has A Hitman” Jensen McRae

“Jar of Hearts” Christina Perri

“Guiding Light” Muse

“Gives You Hell” The All-American Rejects

“She Hates Me” Puddle Of Mudd

“We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” Taylor Swift

“Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong” Spin Doctors

“The Comedians” Roy Orbison (Not exactly bitter but the main character WILL be bitter after what the woman does to him, plus it’s Roy Orbison, I gotta include him!)

-Out of the Wilderness

Tesla Cybertruck vs. Honda Ridgeline

Just yesterday it dawned on me where I’ve seen the Tesla Cybertruck before. In the last few weeks the Cybertruck has been popping up around town. They’re a spacey gray color except for that one black truck I saw at an intersection… and yes, black is better, even if my picture of it is terrible.

But these recent sightings finally connected to something in my brain. Long lost memories of… drumroll please…. 🥁…… the Honda Ridgeline from 2005! Remember that hideous thing? But I guess, as the saying goes, the Ridgeline walked so the Cybertruck could run.

I never really liked the shape of the Ridgeline so I guess I have to admit I don’t really like the shape of the Cybertruck, nor the probability that it’ll never be a real truck, capable of hauling things, towing things, and being the reason a woman loves a man.

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-Out of the Wilderness

The Meta Quest Crib Puzzle Commercial – The Music, the Actor, and More!

Mixed reality has never looked so meta. Well, Meta Quest, that is. In this installment of virtual reality, a husband is tasked with putting a crib together and instead of continuing with the instructions (because instructions are for losers!), he mounts the Meta Quest headset on his head and proceeds to dominate. Take a look then scroll down for more info…

This is less like MTV Cribs and more like a show on TLC because it’s an actual crib. For a baby. But as soon as the dad finishes the build, the villain appears with more obstacles. Oh oops, that was his wife with more baby furniture to assemble. A humorous end to the commercial where our protagonist did something well enough, he was asked to do it again. What’s that work phrase… be careful, if you do something too well they’re going to ask you to keep doing it… something like that. Meta Quest is actually ruining this guy’s life. He should admit he’s a failure and hire a handyman for this gig. After all, there are people out there who love puzzles. They might love songs about puzzles too, which this ad takes advantage of in reality reality. The song is called “The Puzzle Song” and it’s by Shirley Ellis from 1965.

The part of overtasked husband is played by actor Samuel Theophylus. Sam does a great job showing different types of emotions (which is very relatable for anyone who’s ever tried to put anything together…. like that time I installed a storm door). And we’ve all heard horror stories about assembling IKEA furniture!

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-Out of the Wilderness

For Nothing Is Impossible With Hollywood

I think it’s in the Hollywood Handbook somewhere…. checking…. it’s either Clooney 3:16 or Charlize 5:24…. found it! Charlize 5:24 says, “Your character may have flaws and hardships, but rest assured that nothing is impossible with Hollywood.”

If you haven’t seen a movie starring J-Lo, have you really seen a movie? She’s like the Nicholas Cage of actors! She’s in a new movie on Netflix called Atlas. I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of humor from a sci-fi action movie (thank you Smith! (if you know, you know)). Something else stood out and I think it’s critical to have this particular quality if a movie is going to connect with the audience. It’s the element of adversity. Who wants to see a protagonist that never faces an insurmountable obstacle? Yes, I’m looking at you Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1! The audience needs to see that there’s something nearly impossible to overcome. We need… and want… to root for the person who’s trying to beat the odds.

The main character faces these obstacles and eventually gets to one that appears to be the end. My film instructor many years ago pointed out that this is called the low point of the movie. You think all is lost. It’s over. The bad guys win. But when all hope has disappeared something happens and the good guy overcomes. They get out of the situation they would’ve rather not been in. The cream rises to the top.

This storyline happens in Atlas and I was reminded of a movie I pretty much mostly hated. Yes, it’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1. It ticks me off so much when everything is possible. Not once in the Tom Cruise movie did it appear that Ethan Hunt was outmatched or even close to facing anything he and his team weren’t prepared for. I mean, he even jumped a motorbike off a cliff, proceeded to skydive down to a train, and I still got no satisfaction of the hero overcoming something that is impossible in real life. In other words, they had an answer for everything and it left me feeling bored and unmoved. Not once did I catch myself cheering for the underdog because, to be totally honest, the bad guys were the underdogs. Maybe I should’ve been rooting for them to overcome their obstacles?

When the plot of the movie doesn’t bring the protagonist down to their knees, crushing their hopes and dreams leaving only a sliver of light, then what are we even watching? I need the underdog story. I need someone who’s been beat down to rise up and become the hero we want. When every solution is already at their fingertips, there’s no growth. There’s no character arc that will satisfy the audience.

Can you name a few movies that do this well? How about films that totally miss the mark, like Mission: Impossible? Share your thoughts in the comments…

-Out of the Wilderness