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| The Grandpa Factor |
| Thursday, July 31, 2008 |
| It was the 4th and last race in the New Paltz Cross Country series. I had run well at the first three races and won the 60-69 age group in all three of them. Unfortunately, the last race wasn't going as well. For whatever reason the zip just wasn't in the legs. At a little more than half way through the race I could hear runners gaining on me and was pretty much resigned to being run down in fairly short order. As we started climbing a tough hill there was a father and two young kids along the trail picking blueberries. They watched us run by, then a few seconds later started cheering for the runners behind, "Come on grandpa, you're doing great." Or something like that. What a wake-up call! Here comes grandpa and he's gaining on me. What to do? Luckily Chris Giam was just in front of me. I surged a little at the top of the hill to catch him and enlisted his aid, "Chris, you've got to help me. Grandpa is after me and this grandpa doesn't want to get caught." We worked together over the next 1.8 miles and with Chris's help we were able to keep grandpa at bay. It's great to still have the competitive juices flowing even while being a grandpa. |
posted by Steve @ 10:54 AM  |
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| Random Encounters |
| Tuesday, July 15, 2008 |
When you put things out into cyberspace you're never sure where they end up. Such is the case with this blog. I'm never really sure who, if anyone, really reads it. Then every once in awhile someone will drop a comment. Like yesterday - I'm standing near the starting line of the cross country race at Spring Farm (Mohonk Preserve), kind of spacing out enjoying the spectacular view of the Catskill Mts. while waiting for a kids race to finish, when the person next to me says, "Steve, I really enjoy your blog." Wow, thank you very much.
Same day, now the end of the race, one of the long time veterans of the local running community is handing out place cards at the finish line. We hadn't chatted for quite awhile so after the finish line quieted down I went over to catch up. He was pretty excited about his new coach and his recent training results. I asked him if he was going to the Empire State Games this year. He said that he was going, but really the training was more about next year when he will be 70. What an amazing sport! What else would you doing in life that at 69 years of age you're eagerly anticipating the next decade.
Random encounter #3 came as an email from one of my former athletes from back in the early 90s. I had not heard from her in a few years. She wrote to tell me about her new job for Girls on the Run-Chicago as the manager for Girls on Track. She said it really brought back memories of her first season on track as a freshman in high school. She also sent along 879 (yes, 879) pictures of her recent wedding! It's always so great to hear from athletes from years ago. I figure if they still care enough to at least keep a little in touch I must have done something right. |
| posted by Steve @ 2:15 PM |
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| Erie Canal |
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| posted by Steve @ 8:14 AM |
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| Deja Vu all over again |
| Wednesday, July 9, 2008 |
| There seems to be a pattern here. Strange things happen that don't have a good impact on my running. I won't go through the litany. The latest one is my third case of Lyme Disease. If it wasn't for the rash, I would not have know I was infected. That's the good news. The bad news is three weeks of antibiotics with all the side effects, including super sun sensitivity. Not a good thing in the middle of July. I'm pretty careful about being in the sun anyway. Now it will basically be no sun for the next three weeks. That means lots of shaded runs and early in the day or late day bike rides. "Life", as John Lennon (I think it was John) once said, "is what happens when you're busy making plans." Now some of the plans have to be adjusted. |
| posted by Steve @ 5:31 PM |
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| Announcements |
MHRRC track workouts are scheduled for:
Tues. July 22
Tues. July 29
Tues. August 5
Tues. August 12
Tues. August 19
please email me at
runtuff@hotmail.com
with any questions.
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