This story has almost nothing to do with running, but I just found it in some files I was browsing through and thought it was funny and should be shared. It is all true and happened in Myrtle Beach a few years ago. Mayor Bob lived a few trailers down from my father-in-law and was a friend of his.
We came back from the hospital to Dad's double-wide trailer around 6 pm ready to run, then eat dinner. Unfortunately we discovered the hot water tank supply line had burst, yet again. This time the bathroom was flooded as well as the master bath carpet, and a moat had formed around the trailer outside as water was spewing forth. Christ! Is this really what we need with Dad in the hospital?
I went over to ask Mayor Bob for help, since he did a lot of maintenance around the park. Mayor Bob's wife gave me the number of a 24 hour emergency plumber who I promptly called. It's Saturday night and he doesn't want to come! This is an emergency plumber? He wants to come on Sunday. Let's see, rooms in the trailer are flooded, there is no water supply at all, since the last repair person installed the h2o tank and supply lines improperly, sending all water to the heater first somehow, and the yard is flooded, including under the trailer. I would call this an emergency, but apparently plumbers are different in SC.
Mayor Bob, an eighty-one year old man with 3 brown teeth in separate spots in his mouth, six feet two, 220 lbs, using a walking stick, comes to check out the problem himself. Mayor Bob sits in the bathroom while I turn the water supply back on. In a split second a geyser shoots up inside the trailer and he and J.R. (my brother-in-law) are screaming, "turn it off, turn it off!" Well, a bit too late as the Mayor is soaked. He takes his unexpected shower in stride and begins to completely understand our problem.
J.R. is pissed the last repair we made didn't hold. He storms off to buy more parts, just as mad about the plumbing as the fact I won't go ride with him to Home Depot again. J.R. buys a wetvac in addition to some plumbing parts. Jan, Andrea (daughter) and Bethanie (niece) begin soaking up water using towels.
Mayor Bob sits in the dining room, dripping wet. He tells me the girls can use his bathroom, but J.R. and I can't. "After all, we are men and can pee anywhere, it's not so easy for females". Then the Mayor tells me, "if you have to shit, just pull out some paper towels, shit in them, roll it up and throw it away". Mayor Bob says, "you know, I had this camp out in the woods in the Adirondacks. One weekend years ago I was up there all by myself. The temperature had been averaging minus 20 for days. I couldn't go outside for fear of freezing and I had to shit so bad. No way could I hold it any longer. So I took some ashes out of my wood stove and poured them in a cardboard box. After squatting down and doing my business I put the box outside to freeze the shit so it wouldn't stink. I just couldn't go out and pull down my drawers, he said, my ass would have literally froze. Who wants frostbite on their ass?"
The Mayor leaves us to fix and clean up the mess, and is sorry about all our problems. J.R. and I let the plumbing joints seal for 2 hours, then after everyone cleans up for bedtime, he turns the water off for the night. We didn't need any repeat disasters!
The Erie Canal, Running Paradise
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Weekend of Races
Dick W. and Frank Q participated in the Spring Classic Duathlon at Mendon Ponds on Saturday. Frank won his age group and Dick finished second in the Formula 1 distance, 2m run/10m bike/1m run/10m bike/2 mile run. They were led around the bike course by an excellent lead driver (me).
Saturday was also the Aurora House 5 mile race in Spencerport. Mike W and Al V. finished way up in the standings with 46 runners in the race. It was a tight race between the two training buddies until MW stopped for a Barton's Hot Dog at the 3 mile point. MW still came close to catching Al but had some indigestion from the extra hot sauce he lathered on his dog.
Sunday was the third race in the RROY series, the Lilac 10k. New Roger (Roger O'Dell) won his age division with Pete in second place. Jen K. picked up a few points and finished in the top 10% of her age group, 6th place. Jan finished 9th in her group and got 2 points. I finished the race. So glad I didn't work as much as usual at the Duathlon on Saturday so I could run 4 minutes slower than expected. I was able to continue my streak of non-scoring in this year's RROY series with my 12th place age group finish.
I think the heat (70+ degrees at the start) and high humidity effected many runners. Going up Elmwood Avenue felt like running inside an oven, no shade, little breeze, hot roads. I thought it would never end.
Saturday was also the Aurora House 5 mile race in Spencerport. Mike W and Al V. finished way up in the standings with 46 runners in the race. It was a tight race between the two training buddies until MW stopped for a Barton's Hot Dog at the 3 mile point. MW still came close to catching Al but had some indigestion from the extra hot sauce he lathered on his dog.
Sunday was the third race in the RROY series, the Lilac 10k. New Roger (Roger O'Dell) won his age division with Pete in second place. Jen K. picked up a few points and finished in the top 10% of her age group, 6th place. Jan finished 9th in her group and got 2 points. I finished the race. So glad I didn't work as much as usual at the Duathlon on Saturday so I could run 4 minutes slower than expected. I was able to continue my streak of non-scoring in this year's RROY series with my 12th place age group finish.
I think the heat (70+ degrees at the start) and high humidity effected many runners. Going up Elmwood Avenue felt like running inside an oven, no shade, little breeze, hot roads. I thought it would never end.
Survey Says
I'm right.
Hey, it's my blog.
Four people agreed the treadmill was a more difficult workout, 3 said the track, and 2 sane people said don't do either.
Hey, it's my blog.
Four people agreed the treadmill was a more difficult workout, 3 said the track, and 2 sane people said don't do either.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Solo Pool Swimming
An advantage to the semester ending at SUNY Brockport is that the pool is less crowded. Last week I was the only swimmer for about fifteen minutes until 5 or so people straggled in. Having my own lane is nice and a luxury you don't get in most open swim time pools.
A new "season" began yesterday (Monday) so I arrived at the college early to get our swim passes for the summer (May 17-August 27). Jan was still at work, so I was flying solo. At $35 per person (alumnus rate) I think this is a bargain. The lifeguard was in the office and said she would see me at the pool in a few minutes.
It turned out I was the only swimmer, and I use that term loosely. Yes, two years ago I couldn't swim a lap without stopping and 200 yards was a long night for me. Now my longest swim is 2400 yards (still miniscule for real swimmers working out). But, like running, the effort for me to swim a mile is probably the same as a talented swimmer going at least two miles.
The poor lifeguard dutifully sat there watching me slog back and forth, legs dragging behind/below me for 35 minutes while I swam. I apologized a number of times and can only imagine how she felt watching some old, balding, skinny man struggle across the pool. I tried to use imagery and think of myself as Michael Phelps, but it didn't help. After 800 yards I used the pull buoy, which sped me up to being able to do 50 yards in the time a swimmer can do 100. Of course I don't do flip turns, which speeds up laps for some people, but would only cause me to begin drowning.
After 1500 yards I crawled out of the pool, the lifeguard handed me my pass, and I profusely thanked her for letting me swim. I think she mumbled something about needing to go out and have a drink and get the mental image of my hairy, lanky body out of her mind, but I could be mistaken.
I remember my grandfather leaving me in the boat while he swam for awhile in the middle of Canandaigua Lake, or at least at 8 years old it seemed like the middle. He glided effortlessly along while I watched. No life vest, pull buoy, wetsuit, just swim trunks, I'm not even sure if he wore goggles. Grandpa swam in lakes and the Y until his late 70's. It's an example I would like to follow. Maybe someday I won't swim like an upside down V.
A new "season" began yesterday (Monday) so I arrived at the college early to get our swim passes for the summer (May 17-August 27). Jan was still at work, so I was flying solo. At $35 per person (alumnus rate) I think this is a bargain. The lifeguard was in the office and said she would see me at the pool in a few minutes.
It turned out I was the only swimmer, and I use that term loosely. Yes, two years ago I couldn't swim a lap without stopping and 200 yards was a long night for me. Now my longest swim is 2400 yards (still miniscule for real swimmers working out). But, like running, the effort for me to swim a mile is probably the same as a talented swimmer going at least two miles.
The poor lifeguard dutifully sat there watching me slog back and forth, legs dragging behind/below me for 35 minutes while I swam. I apologized a number of times and can only imagine how she felt watching some old, balding, skinny man struggle across the pool. I tried to use imagery and think of myself as Michael Phelps, but it didn't help. After 800 yards I used the pull buoy, which sped me up to being able to do 50 yards in the time a swimmer can do 100. Of course I don't do flip turns, which speeds up laps for some people, but would only cause me to begin drowning.
After 1500 yards I crawled out of the pool, the lifeguard handed me my pass, and I profusely thanked her for letting me swim. I think she mumbled something about needing to go out and have a drink and get the mental image of my hairy, lanky body out of her mind, but I could be mistaken.
I remember my grandfather leaving me in the boat while he swam for awhile in the middle of Canandaigua Lake, or at least at 8 years old it seemed like the middle. He glided effortlessly along while I watched. No life vest, pull buoy, wetsuit, just swim trunks, I'm not even sure if he wore goggles. Grandpa swam in lakes and the Y until his late 70's. It's an example I would like to follow. Maybe someday I won't swim like an upside down V.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
New Poll
Yesterday afternoon I ran my workout indoors on our treadmill. One mile warmup followed by 10/.5 mile @ 10k goal pace with 1 minute jog at 10min/mile pace (though I did get off the treadmill for an extra minute after the 5th interval to adjust the fan and catch my breath a bit more).
I used the treadmill because I wanted a true measure of the distance. The high school track was unavailable, dump road isn't marked accurately right now and I didn't want to keep checking my Garmin if out on the roads or canal path. Also allergies, a big problem this time of year for me, don't affect my breathing indoors.
About the 6th or 7th interval I began to wonder if I really was doing myself as much good as if I had ventured outside? The treadmill is constant, it's not going to slow down or speed up unless you press a button, there is no relaxation during part of the interval and then picking it up at the end to try and hit your goal time. But, there is no wind, except for the little breeze from my fan. I did not do any elevation change either (but a track wouldn't have this).
On the track or road there is a tendency to slow down too much, maybe even walk more than you should or stop for fluids. There was none of this on the treadmill, I drank while running.
Please take a minute and answer the poll on the right, or comment on this post about your feelings on this. Thanks.
I used the treadmill because I wanted a true measure of the distance. The high school track was unavailable, dump road isn't marked accurately right now and I didn't want to keep checking my Garmin if out on the roads or canal path. Also allergies, a big problem this time of year for me, don't affect my breathing indoors.
About the 6th or 7th interval I began to wonder if I really was doing myself as much good as if I had ventured outside? The treadmill is constant, it's not going to slow down or speed up unless you press a button, there is no relaxation during part of the interval and then picking it up at the end to try and hit your goal time. But, there is no wind, except for the little breeze from my fan. I did not do any elevation change either (but a track wouldn't have this).
On the track or road there is a tendency to slow down too much, maybe even walk more than you should or stop for fluids. There was none of this on the treadmill, I drank while running.
Please take a minute and answer the poll on the right, or comment on this post about your feelings on this. Thanks.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Deena Kastor
Deena Kastor completed the 2010 London Marathon, a race she won in 2006, in a disappointing (for her) 2:36. She had many issues, including travel problems due to the Iceland volcano and allergic reactions during the race for unknown reasons. But, she continued on, vowing not to drop out. Deena dropped out of the 2008 Olympic race, but I guess if you break a bone in your foot during the race that is an okay race to call it a day! She didn't want another dnf.
The following quote is one reason Deena is an all time favorite racer of mine.
"Although disappointed, Kastor chose to take a philosophical approach to today's setback. The marathon, she agreed, is a monster which can never be fully tamed.
"I think that's why we come back to the marathon over, and over, and over again because we feel like just tweak something in our training, or change our race strategy that we can get there a little more brilliantly the next time. It keeps us coming back."
The following quote is one reason Deena is an all time favorite racer of mine.
"Although disappointed, Kastor chose to take a philosophical approach to today's setback. The marathon, she agreed, is a monster which can never be fully tamed.
"I think that's why we come back to the marathon over, and over, and over again because we feel like just tweak something in our training, or change our race strategy that we can get there a little more brilliantly the next time. It keeps us coming back."
Pittsburgh Marathon
Our Sal's boys had diverse results at the Pittsburgh Marathon. Pete "The Ageless Wonder", qualified for Boston and finished 6th in his age group! Mike W. was on BQ pace for over 15 miles before fading due to the warm, humid, wet conditions. Lou was up most of the night with stomach issues, which continued through the race as he strategically raced from one port-a-john to another. Let's just say Lou left his mark on the Pittsburgh course and intelligently ran the 13.1 mile race instead of the full marathon.
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