Category: John Beck
Athlete. Artist. Agnostic. Humanist. Skeptic. Unfinished.
Art All Night 2015
It’s time again for Art All Night, this weekend, June 20th/21st; Art All Night-Trenton is a 24-hour long arts extravaganza occurring annually on the 3rd weekend in June. AAN encourages any artist of any age, medium or skill level to submit one piece of art of their own creation for display in a gallery-like setting. It is free to submit art and free to attend. At Art All Night-Trenton 2014 over 1,000 artists of all ages, skill levels and mediums submitted work and more than 20,000 people attended! Enjoy live music on indoor and outdoor stages, interactive art, our brand new film festival, lectures about using art to revitalize cities, meaningful kids art activities, interesting food, and plenty of artful surprises!
Inspiration
Over the weekend I ran a 24 hour ultramarathon. I’ve received many comments on Facebook and just had to share this one:
I’m so proud of you. I told my son what you’ve been doing. He asked if you’re a hero just practicing. I said practicing for what? He said heroes practice just to practice because heroes make us want to be better like them.
That was so touching to read and really kept me going during the race. It made me think of the 2nd time that I did the Spartan Race World Championship in Killington and my friend sent me this message later:
Impressive! And you still had the spirit to smile at us as we passed over you on the gondola as you were decending from that hellish summit. *my son* said “John is my best friend” several times this weekend.
It feels so good to be an inspiration to these kids. Motivating them to go outdoors and be active and enjoy nature makes me feel so great. Our planet is beautiful, I wish that I had spent more time enjoying it as a child, but I feel even better inspiring other kids to do just that. Go outside!
Bucks County 10 Miler 2015
I’ve mentioned this before but I’ve been working on this project on Pinterest. It’s a little photo project of the different beers that I drink. You can see the difference in the earlier pins. Wish I had started the idea sooner.
Top 50 albums of 2014
My favorite albums of 2014 in order from most favorite.
1. Future Islands – Singles
2. Ariel Pink – pom pom
3. Run the Jewels – Run the Jewels 2
4. A Winged Victory for the Sullen – Atomos
5. Planningtorock – All Love’s Legal
6. Ex Hex – Rips
7. Owen Pallett – In Conflict
8. Dum Dum Girls – Too True
9. Peaking Lights – Cosmic Logic
10. D’Angelo and The Vanguard – Black Messiah
11. FKA twigs – LP1
12. Caribou – Our Love
13. Flying Lotus – You’re Dead
14. Beck – Morning Phase
15. jj – V
16. Timber Timbre – Hot Dreams
17. The War on Drugs – Lost in the Dream
18. Swans – To Be Kind
19. Broken Bells – After the Disco
20. Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra – Hang On to Each Other
21. Metronomy – Love Letters
22. St. Vincent – St. Vincent
23. Grouper – Ruins
24. The Knife – Shaken-Up Versions
25. Laetitia Sadier – Something Shines
26. Goat – Commune
27. Bombay Bicycle Club – So Long, See You Tomorrow
28. Mark McGuire – Along the Way
29. Arca – Xen
30. Hundred Waters – The Moon Rang Like a Bell
31. The KVB – Out of Body
32. Actress– Ghettoville
33. Warpaint – Warpaint
34. The Bug – Angels & Devils
35. The New Pornographers – Brill Bruisers
36. Dirty Beaches – Stateless
37. Andy Stott – Faith in Strangers
38. Ben Frost – A U R O R A
39. How to Dress Well – What is This Heart?
40. Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra – Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light on Everything
41. Millie & Andrea – Drop the Vowels
42. Alt-J – This Is All Yours
43. Mogwai – Rave Tapes
44. Wu-Tang Clan – A Better Tomorrow
45. Fennesz – Bécs
46. Sunn O))) – Terrestrials
47. Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks – Enter the Slasher House
48. Amen Dunes – Love
49. Current 93 – I Am the Last of All the Field That Fell
50. Austra – Habitat
2014, a kick ass year of kicking ass
I started 2014 off with a PR (personal record) at the annual Hamilton Hangover 5 Mile race on New Year’s Day. Then race after race, I collected PR after PR. In May alone, I ran a 10 miler in 76 minutes, finishing 25th out of 246 racers; a 5k, coming in 9th out of 116 and top of my age group; and another 5k, finishing 42nd out of 1123. They were all a PR! It was great start to the year!
But my record year was derailed at the end of May, when I sustained a serious knee injury playing Ultimate Frisbee. I was on defense when my legs tangled with the receiver. My knee bent outward and sideways and it hurt a lot. My knee swelled and I was immediately out of commission. I could barely walk. I never got it checked out. I feared a torn MCL, or at least a very bad sprain. So I sat. And sat. Icing. Resting. Depression began to sink in. It was the most beautiful time of the year and I could barely walk. I missed a bunch of races that I was looking forward to, and all I could do was show up and cheer on my teammates. It was heart breaking.
After resting and taking it easy for nearly 2 months, I started to get moving again. I ran my first Spartan Race of the year in June. The knee hurt and it began to swell again, so I didn’t push hard. After that I ran my first ultra-marathon; a 12 hour race up and down the mountains of Vernon, NJ. Still in pain, but slowly getting better.
In August, I tried again to run a bit more competitively. My times were still way off, but my first competitive race back I finished 2nd in my age group and won a prize.
Though I still took it easy, I continued to get better, completing two more Spartan Races, while earning my 2nd Spartan Tri-Fecta at the Spartan World Championship in Killington, VT. The 2014 World Championship course was arguably more challenging and more grueling than its 2013 predecessor, and was in much harsher conditions. Despite that, and despite re-injuring my knee early in the race, I finished nearly an hour faster than last year.
I recovered quickly and ran another PR at a local 5k, finishing top of my age group and 10th overall. This time I even won some cash! A week after that I ran my first ever marathon! Not knowing what to expect, I took the marathon on the cautious side and, in retrospect, I wish I ran much harder. I’m confident that I could have taken a half hour off of my time.
I finished with my 23rd and 24th race of the year, a 5k and a 6k in freezing conditions in December. Finishing 7th and 5th respectively, and earning two 1st place medals for best team and tops in my age group.
I can only hope that I have no setbacks from my knee injury in 2015. It’s not great, but it’s a lot better than it has been. Although I’m afraid that the pain will linger for the rest of my life, I will continue to push myself. I will not always win my age group, or even finish well, but I will always try my hardest.
Erin
My Wish List
With Christmas quickly approaching I’d like to direct everyone to my Amazon wish list:
http://smile.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/27PH5G82GZRW
This year I’m even more low on funds than previous years so if anyone is feeling extra generous maybe you’d like to get me a new pair of running shoes or something. Thanks!
Parx Octoberfest 5k 2014
Did the Parx Octoberfest 5k this morning at the Parx Casino and Racing in Bensalem, PA. It was a great day. Air temperature was around 52 with a steady rain. The last mile of the course was originally to be on the mud track but was moved to the infield turf due to it being too muddy. I ran a PR at 21:21. I finished 10th overall and 1st in my age group. I won myself a little trophy and a $50 cash voucher. It was a great day!