An Open Letter to Yahoo!

Dear Yahoo!,

I have had a Yahoo! email account for a very long time. Yahoo! was my first, and I am still using it. Other email addresses have come and gone (alegra@meowmail, alegra@mail.utexas, abartzat@mail.sdsu, alegra@sdecocenter). And even though I actually prefer the other addresses because they are my name, just my name, and nothing but my name, I have stuck with Yahoo! because I like consistency.

I like knowing that pretty much anyone from my past, from high school, college, graduate school, or any job, could contact me at any moment. It is easy to reach me, because my email address hasn't changed. Once in a while I still recieve an email from a long lost friend. And this is nice.

I also don't want to burden others with keeping up with incessently changing email addresses. When I get those "This is my new email address" emails, I rarely update my address book, becuase the sender usually sends them from the old email saying "Don't use this email address anymore." I understand; it's easier because that is where your addresses are saved. Yahoo!, you could save us all from the dilemmma by allowing us to to set up an additional Yahoo! Mail accounts for each Yahoo! profile.

I know that my address book, even my electronic address books, have a great number of expired email addresses. This is sad, especially when you think of someone and write to them to tell them you have thought of them, and the email bounces back. Most especially when you don't have their new address in there along with the old. Again, multiple email accounts within a single profile, and which would be checked at the same login would prevent this kind of problem; the old would be checked along with the new.

With the new advent of google email, or gmail, I feel pressure to change or update my email address. I already use google for their calendar. I also use blogger. I don't want google to be my end-all be-all. I don't like how google is taking over the internet. Neither does Silicon Valley.

I still use Yahoo! Yellow Pages to look up stores and restaurants. But I will admit, google maps is my go-to for mapping, beating out both Yahoo! and MapQuest. It's hard to resist google's powerful pull. Yahoo!, you can help us resist if you would suddenly offer such a useful service, which google hasn't yet thought of and offered.

I want to support Yahoo!, and other internet giants. I also enjoy having a long history of emails at my disposal, able to search out emails from my past on a whim, or for a purpose. So, Yahoo!, I urge you: Allow me to to set up an additional Yahoo! Mail accounts for my Yahoo! profile. Allow me to have both a new Yahoo! Mail account, and my old Yahoo! Mail account.

I understand this is a demanding request; I understand it will require larger servers and more providing power. But, if you spin it just right, and beat google to it, this could keep you in the running as internet's most important player.

The Biology of Running

Running is a great sport. I have been, at various times in my life, very into running, or not into running at all. I love that it takes no special equipment, and that you can do it anywhere. It is also a fairly amazing biological feat of coordination between many muscles, and between body and mind.

The major msucles involved in running include the quads, calves, and hamstrings, as well as the core muscles and hips.

Running is defined as having three phases, which repeat with each stride. The support phase is the time the foot is in contact with the earth. One foot touches the ground as the knee joint begins to flex. This is basically catching your body before you hit the ground. The body's center of gravity is typically above the point where the foot touches the ground. The primary muscles involved are the quadriceps.

The drive phase is the time the leg (that was previously supporting the body) extends behind the runner. This pushes the runner forward and somewhat upwards. In this way, the leg continues to support the body from falling to the ground, but also propels the runner. The primary muscles involved are the quadriceps and various calf muscles.

During the recovery phase the foot loses touch with the ground and returns to the front of the body, where it will re-enter the support phase. In this way, each leg and foot is in a constant cycle between these phases while a person is running. The primary muscles involved are the hip flexors; this is the least intensive portion of the cycle.

Though running is typically considered a lower body sport, significant upper body movement is required, and competitive runners naturally develop strong upper bodies. This is especially notable in sprinters, as the faster you run, the harder your upper body works to keep balance. Your arms move in opposition to your legs, moving backwards as the oppostie legs drive the body forward. This helps runners keep their balance and is a natural occurance.

Running also releases your bodies natural endorphins. With running (or any strenuous aerobic endurace excercise) your pituatary glands release these natural "feel good" hormones. While it may take a while for your body to adjust to the intense exercise that is running, I highly recommend it for a complete workout that will make your body and mind feel good!

Some Marathon Thoughts

A recent NY Times article addresses the change in attitude toward marathons in the past few years. While marathons were long thought to be unattainable for the average person, they are often now considered "the everyman's Everest."

I see that reflected in the world around me. I can name at least three friends, right off the top of my head, who have run a marathon. And now a fourth has come to mind, just as I write this. Maybe it's beacuse I have health-minded friends. Maybe it's because I live in health-minded California. But I think it is also becuase it's something people like to do nowadays. I have always said I wanted to run a marathon before I die. With the inspiration of friends and strangers all around me running marathons, many of them less athletically inclined than I (and I'm not so particularly athletic, compared to many others), I feel that I, too, can complete a marathon. I don't have to be the fastest. I just have to finish. That is very exciting.

I was disappointed to read in the mentioned article that many attribute the rise in female marthoners to Oprah's completion of a marathon a few years back. I'm happy for Oprah, but I'm not an Oprah follower, and I innately resist anything that might suggest I'm becoming one, such as reading from her book club list or running marathon after she did. Still, it has been on my list since I made that list in high school, and I don't remember most of the other stuff I put on that list.

But here is a question. Why do we all have to fundraise to run marathons? I didn't even sign up for a marathon that required fundraising, but I am still doing it. I'm tacking on a cause I care about and asking people to give money.

For me, it helps my level of accountability. It would be easy to quit training out of laziness or inconvenience. (It takes a LONG TIME to run so many miles each week!) But if you've sent out an email to 300 of your closest friends who are going to ask you about the run come time, well, it makes that much harder to face quitting. And if they've given $5, $10, $26, or more, again it becomes even harder.

I guess, also, it takes a lot of effort to run 26.2 miles....might as well put it to a good cause.