Scott Douglas’ Terse Bloviation

That’s the beginning of almost every answer I give in this lengthy podcast with Jay Johnson. Some of the answers improve after that. Meanwhile, my voice deteriorates noticeably over the hour; that’s about as much talking as I usually do in a day.

With that promo, how can you not be tempted to listen?

Read about running’s shaman.

And Amby Burfoot likes it.

As do Running Times (shocker!), Washington Running Report and Competitor.

Maybe you will too.

Part 1 of an interview about it. Part 2.

If you’d like to buy a signed copy, write to me.

My story on Bill Squires is available online.

The last I heard, publication date is late June.

Available here, at the top of the page.

I added links to a bunch of podcasts and a few articles. Who knows why?

My profile of Ed Whitlock is now posted. It was an honor and pleasure to spend a few days with Ed and attempt to capture some of what makes him special.

So over at the Running Times site we’ve updated our blogs. For now I’m opining a few times a week on Talk Test. (Warning: Of interest only to those interested in running, and most likely to only a small subset of that subset.) Over the next few months we’ll be adding other blogs, and I’ll be the main contributor to one of those as well.

I still exist. As the David Brooks Gross Oversimplification Watch seems to have run its course, I’ll turn the focus of this site back on one of my favorite subjects, me, until I find another muse. (Parting words on Brooks: Note his new schtick of writing his columns like bad college essays, with a couple theme-setting paragraphs followed by enumerated explication, with subsequent paragraphs beginning “First..” or “Second,” etc.)

The current (January/February) issue of Running Times includes a profile I wrote of Boaz Cheboiywo. Boaz will become a U.S. citizen in June. On Jan. 17, we’ll have more info on whether that means there will suddenly be another fast American marathoner, because Boaz is running Houston on the third-time-might-be-the-charm plan. (He ran 2:21 in his debut at NYC in 2008, and dropped out of Chicago in October.)

The March issue will include a profile I wrote of age-group wunderkind Ed Whitlock. Stacey and I spent a few days with him in Milton, Ontario, Canada the weekend before Thanksgiving (American, not Canadian). If you have questions about Boaz or Ed, post them below.

Finally, for now, on the professional front: For those who wonder how I spend my time and pay the bills, I’m fortunate to be back full-time with Running Times with the title of senior editor.

On the personal front, I’m keeping the tea and merino wool industries in business, am not yet sick of root vegetables, haven’t missed a day of running in more than two years, am about to start Wolf Hall, am pleased with my progress doing Myrtl and fear that my composting worms recently suffered mass extinction.