time plugging

Another run in the afternoon because we are beginning work in the field at 6:30. Temperature a lovely 85 or so. Although I thought for sure that I would make my 1/4-mile goal of 80 seconds, I didn’t even do as well as Tuesday. At the halfway point, I saw the digits turn to 41, so I knew I was a bit behind the pace of last time, so I pushed hard. Not enough, though. I busted my butt on the final sprint and succeeded in breaking the 1-minute mark. This may have been because I set up Roy G. Biv to finish on the iPod, and break into “What I Like About You” just as I started the final. The music is the motivation—my final time was just a bit more than 1/2 second slower than my record of 57.88. My have beaten the record if I had not been distracted by the fact that one of the ear buds came out after 20 seconds or so.

.001%; historical present

After a full day of work again.  (See 2 July 2012)  This time, though, the temp is about 85.  I ran sluggishly with little excitement.  I jogged into the High School athletic area and onto the track.  I was pushing it a bit.  I felt the eyes of a couple people because there was some kind of baseball game going on.  It was a tournament game b/c there was a IHSAA sign at the gate.  I told the ladies at the gate, in small breathy gasps, that I was just going to run around there and back out again.  They smiled and let me pass.  I wanted to look like I was really working out, which I was, to give credence to my story.  Actually, I needn’t have worried about it b/c I was inside the fence for no more than three minutes.
 I started the 1/4-mile sprint, running on my toes and picking up my knees.  Going around the first turn, I thought, “I should have a goal of 80 seconds.”  To tell the truth, this is quite a letdown, b/c when I started the 1/4-miles, my goal was 75 seconds; I thought I might be able to keep it up for four laps like my nephew.  What a joke.
 So anyway, I get to the halfway point and I look at my watch—40+ seconds.  Almost exactly on pace for 80 seconds.  (A bit less than 40 is what is needed, of course)  I can’t read the hundredths b/c I’m not wearing my glasses, and the effort needed to concentrate and read the exact fraction would slow me down.  I decide to push it a bit.  I’m running, my legs are feeling heavy.  I’m nearing the end and BEEP.  I press the button on my watch.  80.09 seconds!  I didn’t make it.  9 hundredths of a second!  If I had run, not 1% faster, not .1% faster, not .01% faster, but .001% faster, I’d have made my goal.  That’s like having 1000 pieces of paper that do not fit through the eye of a huge needle.  ONE less piece of paper, and they would all fit through the needle.
From now on, I have an attainable goal...but it won't be easy.  The psychological nature of running will now come into play.  Now I have a realistic goal, but one that I know will take some real work.  I will give the needed effort and probably succeed.  It will probably be much like my sprinting at the end of runs in Panora. At the beginning, I wasn't sure if I could make 60 seconds.  Now, I'm disappointed if I DON'T break one minute.
 You will probably notice that I achieved my WORST time on the final sprint to my house.  There is an explanation.  About 1/2-mile before the beginning of my sprint, I began to feel the damage done by the extra water and lemonade I drank before the run.  Years ago, my friend, Adrianne called this illness ‘fish bowl gut’.  Such an illness is characterized by a sloshing feeling of the contents in your stomach.  Nausea and vomiting feel certain.  I suffered from a severe case of fish bowl gut.  I stick it out and run to the start of my sprint.  I walk for 10 steps and begin. My feet feel like they are stuck in concrete.  I plod along to the finish.  I look at my watch and see that it says 2:27.32.  It's easy to lop off the 1:20 from the 1/4-mile and I quickly realize that my time is more than 7 seconds more than one minute!  Oozhasno!
 During this section, I’ve used the “historical present”.  A linguistic technique during which story tellers talk about the past as if it was the present.  Follow the link below to hear a couple of language geeks talk about its use on Slate. They explain that a Seinfeld character useed the historical present to describe taking a severed toe to the hospital on a bus.  They also play an extensive clip of the show.  Quite entertaining.

http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/lexicon_valley/2012/07/lexicon_valley_the_historical_present_in_seinfeld_and_the_novels_of_charlotte_bronte.html

a cat walk

This was a non-interesting run.  I did, however, find a new way to get from Rhonda’s house to Dewey Park where I did a couple sets of pull-ups.  That’s the great thing about running long distances—even only a 30-minute round trip; you get to see a heap of the neighborhood.  I suppose I will need this kind of acclimation when I get to Moscow.  Some years ago, someone told me that they were going out on a ‘cat walk.’  They were newly arrived in Baku, Azerbaijan and in order to become aware of their surroundings they were doing to go around the block, and then another walk in a two-block perimeter, then three-block, etc.  Seems like a great way to get to know the area.

Roy G. Biv

Another run at my old course.  Music is truly amazing.  I plodded along listening to NPR stories about the Yemeni protestors, the Egyptian troubles, and a tunnel in the Afghan mountains that sound remarkably similar to a crumbling artery through a mountain to a ferry terminal in Albania.  Then, at the 16-minute mark, I stopped to put on some music.  I flipped to the playlists on my iPod and chose a running group of songs.  I spun the wheel a bit to choose one at random (no glasses so I can’t read the titles).  The song was ROY G BIV by They Might Be Giants.  The energy flowing through my muscles was dramatic.  I felt like I was hoping from stone to stone with the lightest of touches.

R is for Red
O is for Orange,
Y is for Yellow, and
G is for Green
B is for Blue,
I for Indigo, and
V is for Violet…and that spells Roy G. Biv
Roy G. Biv is a colorful man, and he proudly stands at the rainbow’s end
Roy G. Biv is a colorful man, and his name spells out the whole color spectrum

You’ll never see a unicorn,
But you’ll see a rainbow.
And inside every rainbow,
is the spectrum of light.

You’ll never see Roy G. Biv,
But he’s inside the rainbow.
Cause inside every rainbow,
Is the spectrum of light.

After TMBG, came Rubberband Man by the Spinners from 1976.  As I started the sprint came Should’ve Been a Cowboy by Toby Keith.  As much as I like the song, it’s not so great for inspirational running.  I guess I’ll have to take that one out of the running playlist.  The next one, though, Suburbia by the Pet Shop Boys would have been great for a sprint (I think).
I finished straining and popping, arms and legs screaming in agony only to finish in 58.11—nearly three seconds slower than my fastest.  But ain’t it great to be disappointed at 58 seconds when a few months ago, I wasn’t even sure that I could do it in under a minute.

Independence Day

This morning at 6:30, I ran the usual route to the high school and track.  It was a fun run—the boys were still asleep so I didn’t fiddle around.  Straight to the play structure at the elem school where I did pull-ups.  75 degrees, shirt filled with sweat, socks also wet and stinky.  I enjoyed listening to Marketplace Money and a story about teaching kids economics.

Ran at about 8:15 pm after a full day of work and a visit to Roger’s garden and to the kitties.  I was surprised that the 1/4 was so slow.  I ran the same distance as usual—to the school track and back with pull-ups at the elementary school.  This time, though, I was with the boys.  They were riding their bikes.  I ran the course in about 25 minutes because I didn’t fiddle around with the pull-ups, or with the sprint—I didn’t think pause to consider anything.  I was thinking about the boys all the time.  They kept me occupied.  I have been trying to get them accustomed to stopping, looking, riding straight, on the right side, etc…
I was still in my work clothes:  shorts with ground is dirt and fresh dirt, terribly brown socks, a black layer of dirt that had turned to mud on my legs…the usual.  I didn’t catch anyone’s eye so I’m not sure what they might have thought when they would see a dirty dude jogging with a couple kids on bikes.
Today’s results tell me that working a day does, in fact, wear a person out.  I was certainly not expecting to achieve such a poor result. The main thing is that I got a good work out.  Very tired, very sweaty…and a great time with the boys.  We got back to the house, I took a shower, they cleaned up their legos, they took showers, the usual stuff…but it was fun.

Raccoon River Valley Trail

With the boys on the trail…vey early—6:30 am.  We met their mother while she was running to Yale and back—12 miles or so.