The Old War Horse

I went for a road bike ride this past Sunday. It was as if I was transported back in time.

I had thought about getting rid of my old road bike a few years back. It was getting, as they say, a little long in the tooth. I guess one could argue it still is. With the exception of the pedals, which are modern clipless types, the bike is straight out of 1986. Brake cables routed out of the top of the brake levers, down tube friction shifting, lugged steel frame, 12 speeds...the contraption really is 60's technology in 80's packaging.

I really thought I should just be done with it. Go get a new one. Join the 21st Century. But the thing of it is; the bike is me. There's just too much history. If I got rid of, I'd never find another one like it. It still works, and I know how to work it. I'm not as slim and as strong as I once was but I know when to jump up on the pedals and get it to boogey up a hill. And I know when to plan my shift change to get the maximum from both it and myself. It's really an extension of myself.

Not that this can't be obtained from a new bike. But it would be different, and not the same. I have built up several bikes for myself. Each with a separate type of riding in mind. Mountain biking, goofing, off, time trialing, etc. But the bike on which I depended on for transportation and brought me years of pleasureful sport riding could never be exactly duplicated.

So I am glad I kept it. And I hope it keeps working without major incident, because it's a good thing...and good things should be revered.

The Story!

You know I signed up for the Vermont City Marathon on a whim. I looked at it as playing Vegas, maybe I'd get lucky. And boy did I. Well, not to the extent that I need to put an addition on my trophy case (no, I don't really have a trophy case!), and there were no worries about what I'd be saying to the press (although I thought my picture might make it in the papers....it didn't). But I did have a great time running and had, and this is I what I had set out to do, a nice long run with a few friends.

Final prep started on Saturday afternoon after my darling and I had picked up our race packets. We headed over to the mall to purchase some socks for the boys and I began my hunt for a costume to wear for the run. I had been thinking of a ladies hat and some sunglasses, but fortunately my wife, patriot that she is, found a red, white, and blue shimmering tiara and a set of sunglasses with the American Flag printed on it. A white fedora was obtained from the kiosk by the food court and our grand old American iconic department store sold me the tee-shirt. I wasn't too sure about the glasses, the visibility through them in the store was pretty poor and I was nervous that it might actually be worse out in real world. As it turns out they worked out OK. I just had to be extra careful about any potholes.

Race day found us in almost perfect weather. High 50s and light drizzle at the start gave way to a steady rain for the first half of the race. I ran the first third with my daring who was very nervous about a very tender hamstring and hip. She was doing great but I could tell I was starting to tighten up and needed to stretch my lags a bit more and so we said our farewells and I started off on my own.

Miles 10 to 20 were very nice. The rain stopped, the sun started to poke it's head out of the clouds. The crowds were enthusiastic. The wardrobe was paying off, I got plenty of great comments and high fives along the way. Who doesn't love America? Well, although we may not love America all the time, we can all muster up a little enthusiasm some of the time...right? At any rate, it kept me going.

By mile 21 the sun was out in full blaze. I was getting hot but had figured the end to be tough and didn't mind if I needed to walk a bit. My only real training for this thing was a few solid weeks of running with a bunch of 9 milers mixed in with 4 and 6 mile runs for recovery. Trick was that I had to be smart about where to walk. No one wants to see Mister Patriotic walking. It could infer that America isn't doing so well. So I judiciously chose area where there were little or no spectators. And all the water stops.

So the last bit came and I tried to get the crowd into the Memorial Weekend Spirit by claiming personal victory of the run and pointed and nodded and clapped my hands...whoo-hooo!! little did I know that my new shirt had rubbed my nipples raw and I had two large blood stains on either side of the Eagle on my shirt! Just as well... Perhaps there's an argument for me being nicked by the double edged sword of justice? After all, everyone knows you're not supposed to wear anything new on race day.

My better half had a good rest of her run. She finished in 5:21, with a bit of jogging/walking in the second half. I think we both were in disbelief we actually finished the thing. Vegas man, sometimes you get lucky! Recovering well now, back at home. I'm taking an extra couple days off to let my lower back and hips catch up with me. They've been sore as hell since the run.

Thanks to mom and sis for sitting on the kids, for cheering us on, and snapping a few pictures for us. And thanks to dad for watching number one son and emailing the files to me. We couldn't have done it without you all!

Vermont City Marathon

...well, I'm waiting for a photo to post along with the real story...

But for now I can share that I finished, and had a really OK run.

I ran a 4:35, which was just fine with me...I even ran a negative split!

(second half was faster than the first half)

Recovering nicely...

more to come.

Busy Spring

In no particular order; Baseball, music, running, writing, garden, yard, SAABs, bicycles, junk pile(s), laundry, food, housework, kids, wife, animals, memories, hopes, dreams, sleep, fears, shopping, friends, playtime, paperwork, miscellaneous tasks, picture talking...

A nice nine mile run yesterday. Getting a little nervous for the marathon, now only 3 1/2 weeks away. But a solid nine mile run sure put my head at ease. "Take any distance you can run comfortably, and you can cover three times that distance uncomfortably. But you can cover it!" So says I. I wouldn't say that I traveled the nine comfortably, but it was pretty darned close. And the course I ran is very challenging, so my mind is a little more at ease at least.

Time to make some noise with the grinder and the welder in the driveway! I'd like to finish one of my cars while they still sell gasoline...

Boston!

We finally made it back to Ashland to watch the Marathon go by! Sad to say that we totally missed the wheelchairs, the Hoyt's, and the elite women...and only made it just in time to see the elite men go by. But we did see our friend Mike and a cast of characters go by. One day I hope to be there in the mix.

Belated Race Report

Anytime there's a gap in a runner's posting it usually means they are injured and are not really in the mood to talk (write) about it. Much better to just sit on the couch and wallow in their own sorrow. (Done it myself on more than one occasion) Don't worry, this has not been the case for me! I'm not injured; Just a little lazy and a little too self conscious to sit in front of the computer while the workers were here last week putting up our new chimney. (The old one cracked this past winter and so needed to be replaced.)

The Marathon Unplugged: Very, very cool, breezy morning, with lots of sun. The wind was at our backs for the majority of the run, so it was actually very nice conditions once we got going. Shorts and a long sleeved shirt type stuff. Unfortunately, my lovely wife wasn't feeling too lovely inside her belly, and as the miles wore on her right hip and I.T. band became more fatigued than the rest of her and so it was a bit of a suffrage for her. I had my calf give a shout out at about mile two (!), but was able to manage it for the entire run and I actually had a pretty good time, physically and mentally.

The actual finishing time wasn't so good. But from the event we came up with a new catch-phrase. We've all heard of the "PR"; the "Personal Record". Well for this event the newly invented "PW"; or "Personal Worst" was born. And we each set one! Yoo-freaking-hooey!

Not even worth going into the final times and breakdown of places and paces...so I won't do it.

But, feeling so good during and even after the event (despite the calf acting up and the crummy time recorded), I decided to roll the dice one more time and do something toatlly impetuous and signed up for the marathon...now just five (5!) weeks away. It will probably turn into a debacle...but it'll be something to talk about anyway. I know, I know...I said I'd never do another one...and I shouldn't...but I can't help it.

Anyway, I won't have to be a spectator!! ...to start, anyway.

Old Gold and New Ideas

Thanks to Dad and Jude for continuing to hook me up with tools and supplies for getting me towards my ultimate goal of machining. I've got a few basics to cover first before I'll be able to think of chucking up a piece of stock (like plugging in the lathe, for one!). But until then I keep seeing my bench drawers fill with fine items I know will be useful when the real work begins.

The dial indicators above are the after cleaning pictures (believe it!). I'm still not smart enough to take a picture of something before I start working on it...so trust me when I tell you the numbers are sooo much easier to read now. And they work more smoothly as well. Spit and polish...and just a little Sturmey Archer Oil. Years of life left in them, yet.

That's the old gold; and the new idea is how to get yourself out of being a spectator at a half marathon when the weather forecast is less than favorable:

Sign up to run it as well! A little overambitious on my part, but I'll get some exercise and I won't have to stand around in the rain watching strangers go by. Well, hopefully. Race report to follow.