Bruno

It's a story that must be told. The humiliation may be salved if the confession is made in full.

A man, let's call him IckyMike, finished his swim at the SUNY Bport school and went into the locker room for the usual shower and getting dressed. Another man who happens to be a friend of IckyMike, let's call him Icky2, goes into the same locker facility about 15 minutes later. Seems simple enough. However, Icky2 noticed a mid-twenties guy, who had been in the locker room half-naked before IckyMike and Icky2 went swimming, was wandering around the shower facility.

We will call this man, Bruno. Bruno, who had his choice of 3 shower areas, each with 10 showers, choose to come into the same area as Icky2. Bruno also chose to shower right next to Icky2. This disturbed Icky2 a bit, who refused to speak or make eye contact, though it was obvious Bruno, who was turned directly facing him, was making lots of eye contact. Icky2 felt his personal space was being violated, and uncomfortable all the time he was showering. Finishing much quicker than normal, Icky2 sped to his locker, got dressed and left.

During the next morning's run, when recounting this strange occurrence, IckyMike said something that made the experience worse.... Bruno had done the same thing to him!

Let me make this clear. Bruno, who evidently had been sitting in the locker room for awhile, came into the same shower area as IckyMike, "showered" right next to him, came out, sat back down, then 15 minutes later came in the same shower area, right next to Icky2 and "showered".

I know IckyMike and I, uh Icky2, are pretty buff for balding, 50+ year old guys, but we feel cheapened somehow. This must be how women feel when men stare at them?

Frozen Feet

When the snow has crystallized, Jack Frost has been designing Gothic art on the windows, and the whishhh, whishhh sound of gently trodding across the tundra is replaced by hard Kkkrunch, well, that is when it is cold. Arctic, Siberian cold.

In other words, perfect for snowshoeing? I think not. Nearly a hundred people showed up to race at the Lake Effect Snowshoe Festival though, from sprints to a half-marathon. Hardy souls. Good for them.

Many thanks to Lou "starter" K, Jan, Eileen and Mike who put up with a grumpy, cold old man who became overly stressed over minor details. We received many positive comments regarding the 100m-1500m races. Now many more people are qualified for what may be the last winter Empire State Games.

Lake Effect Snowshoe Festival

Sunday, January 25, is your last chance to qualify locally for the Empire State Games snowshoe races. The Lake Effect Snowshoe Festival, held in Webster, NY, and sponsored by YellowJacket Racing and Fleet Feet Sports has events for all abilities.

Newbies can try a 2 mile trail race. The four mile and 13.1 mile races will qualify you for the ESG 5k race at Lake Placid. Sprints begin at 8:30am, with the 1500m, follwed by the 100m, 200m, and 400m.

Food, a warm lodge, and a great atmosphere will help make this an excellent experience. Plus, many members of Sal's will be on hand timing the sprints!

Empire State Games

Seemingly the last chance for what has been a great tradition in NY, the Empire State Games, will come to an end in 2009. Many newspaper articles has the reason being budget cuts proposed by the Governor, but in reality it seems the true reason is the office of NY State Parks and Recreation unwillingness to oversee the games. Officials in that department would prefer an outside vendor take over the games, which is why, if they continue, the cost will be prohibitive to many participants and exclude masters and veteran athletes.

A good question to ask a legislator is "where exactly are the record dollars received from the lottery games going?" That money paid for a great deal of the ESG, not our tax dollars.

Snowshoe racing, one of the largest participatory sports during the winter games in the Lake Placid area, will continue to grow and survive. Talk is already under way about having a NY Championship race, location to be announced. There is also an excellent chance the USSSA National Championship will be in New York for 2010.

Winterfest Snowshoe

A day made for snowshoe racing greeted us at Mendon Ponds park on Sunday, January 18. Mike, Jan, Eileen and I opted to run the Citizens 5k instead of the USSSA 10k qualifying race. The course was hilly, as expected for Mendon, but fair. 32 snowshoers participated in the 5k. I finished 4/32 in 30:39, Mike ran a 32:47, Eileen a 39:52 and Jan 41:25.

In the difficult 10k Frank Q was 2nd in his age group in 59:08. Fifty-six runners participated in the longer event.

Pineway Ponds Snowshoe Results

A brisk 24 degree day greeted the three mathematically and directionally challenged snowshoe track designers on Saturday. With the anticipation of hundreds, no, thousands, of snowshoers coming to qualify for the Empire State Games, the pressure was almost insurmountable. Fortunately the three collective 50+ year old brains pulled their act together, began thinking like 14 year olds, instead of kindergarten kids, and completed the track in time.

Organizers and participants were blessed with a well-groomed track, thanks to a mysterious snowmobile rider, who came out of the woods, uncorked and swallowed a huge slug of Ugly Mug whiskey, before zipping a dozen times around and silently disappearing back whence he came.

Ten people ran the 1500m, 100m, 200m and 400m events, some of them twice. Track records were set in each event. It was a splendid day for all. Eileen Yeti ran the fastest female times in each event to win the most honorable sprinter award.

Snowshoe Sprints

Saturday, January 10th, will be the first annual(?) Pineway Ponds Empire State Games sprint qualifying races. We have a 300meter track set up on the snow covered fields. The races will begin at 1:00pm. No cost, no shirt, no food, just an accurate course and timing.

The order of events are; 1500m, 100m, 200m, and 400m. People who want to qualify for ESG need to have run two of each race. So, you can either run the races twice this Saturday, or run again at the Lake Effect Snowshoe Festival, sponsored by Fleet Feet sports and Yellowjacket racing on January 25 in Webster.

Frozen Assets

Five went, five registered, five completed the 5k Frozen Assets Snowshoe Race at Hollister State Park, in the beautiful hills surrounding Honeoye Lake on Saturday, January 3.
Lou and Mike finished the race in 32:10 (were they holding hands the entire race?), good enough for 69/156 place. Eileen ran a 39:37, JanMcIlovetofallinthesnow (7 times)39:08 and me, 29:58 49/156.
The 25 degree weather was perfect for snowshoeing and the course was in good condition, though we actually could have used 3-4" more in the woods.
Once we send in our registration forms, we will all be eligible to travel to Lake Placid and compete in the Empire State Winter Games at the end of February.

Pulled a Lou

The first new catchphrase for 2009 is "I pulled a Lou", as in, "while riding my bike on the indoor trainer, the bike came unhitched and I fell over, trapped with my shoes in the pedals".

Lou cried out for his wife, but she said, "if you want to talk to me, stop yelling and come over to the room I'm in". An understandable and reasonable request on her part. Unfortunately Lou was unable to honor the request as he was trapped by the bike. After a fierce struggle involving moaning and whining, Lou managed to get untangled from the mess, recover, and begin cycling again with only his ego damaged.

This morning, to begin the new year, I "pulled a Lou", as somehow my bike let loose from my trainer and I toppled over. Luckily for me I don't have pedals with my feet locked in and was able to pull my foot out of the straps, thereby saving a disasterous complete fall into Mytriathletewife's bike.

As 2009 continues many of us will undoubtedly have bad luck befall us. For this year, just tell anyone you "Pulled a Lou". I'm sure the phrase will catch on and in a few months will sweep the world, or at least Spencerport.