Sometime During the Fall of 1970

Tags

1970, cross country, Running, Southern Connecticut

Southern Connecticut State College, C.W Post University and Patterson State College compete in a tri-meet at Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx, NY.

In my Onitsuka Tiger racing flats sporting the fashionable no sock look.  We trained in Adidas Romas.  I ran for Southern Connecticut.  We are closest to the camera and I am the closest of us all. Alas, there were no women’s teams back then.  I do love to run.  How lucky can one guy be?

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The Tardy Lightning Bugs

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lightning bugs

Well, no sooner had I posted about the late arrival of this year’s lightning bugs that they arrived in full force and are in the midst of a lightning bug-a -palooza.  My front lawn is lit up every evening like an insect version of Las Vegas.

My neighbor thinks that the delayed arrival of the lightning bugs was due to a cool and rainy spring.  I’ll take her word for it though  I don’t really know the reason for the bugs late June appearance.  

All I know is that they’re back like the Swallows at Capistrano or the Mets mid summer swoon on the way to the NL East cellar.  It’s nice to have things that you count on, people too.

The seasons know exactly when to change, calendar pages be damned.  We can’t fool Mother nature or Father time now- can we?

 

Feels So Good

Tags

feeling good, Running

With apologies to the late Andy Rooney.. Did ya ever…?

Feel so good during a run that the road felt like a downhill all the way even when you were going uphill?

Feel so good that your shoes felt like slippers and the road felt like you were running on carpet?

Feel so good that the air you breathed in was sweet and tasted like honeysuckle?

Feel so relaxed that you were able to inhale and exhale through your nose and mouth at the same time?

Feel so good and loose that you could get your knees and hips out over your feet and you drove through each stride with a tremendous push from your glutes?

Feel so good that when you got home that you just enjoyed the sweat that covered your body?

Feel so good that an hour after you finished your run you felt strong enough to go do another 5 miles?

Feel so good that after a run like I just described that you were thankful and felt blessed that you could run and that you loved running as much as you do?

Feel so good that you felt better when you got home than when you started your run?

Feel so good that you wished everyone could feel like you do now?

Feel so good that you just had to share it with the world?

 

 

 

 

 

July

Tags

Fourth of July, races, Running

June has just about completed it’s work getting us ready for a straight run down the July summer highway.  I’m partial to July as my birthday is July 7,  – 7/7.  One year I celebrated 7/7/77.

July features our best American holiday, The  Fourth, Bastille Day ( Thanks France for the statue), Ringo’s birthday ( also 7/7) and The All Star game which is by far and away the best exhibition game to be found anywhere in professional sports.  Pro Bowl – almost cancelled due to lack of fan and player interest.  NBA slam dunk competition – so what?  NHL – Not really a fan.

The definitive Fourth of July story was written by Jean Shepherd.  A loose collection of his short stories and tales were spun into the movie ” A Christmas Story.”  The story of” Ludlow Kissel and the Dago Bomb that struck back” is required reading at least once a year.

Next Friday I’ll be running the umpteenth annual Ephrata Fireracker Five for the umpteenth time.  It’s pronounced F – Ratah and it’s about 8 miles up Rt, 272 from here.  One year Uncle Sam ran in a waistcoat, striped top hat and long blue pants.  Other participants have included Betsey Ross sewing as she ran and a 6 pack of Bud Lite as 6 guys ran linked together.  

The race has great community support with lots of happy fans who turn out to turn on their garden hoses providing hose down relief for the runners.  The run also features my friend Greg who despite being well into his seventh decade still runs the race carrying an American flag.  It’s always an honor to run with him.

 Congress should pass a resolution making July 45 days long.  Just extend the year by 15 days,  No one will notice.

Phil’s Tips For Runnin’ and Racin’ in the Heat

Tags

heat, Running, summer

For all those who are complaining about the temperature these days I have two words for you ” Polar Vortex.”  Just remember how cold it was last winter and how if and when you ran you were so bundled up you looked like a Yeti riding a musk ox.  It was so cold my shadow froze to the ground.  Yes, it was that cold.

It’s June, it’s supposed to be warm, after all it’s summer.  Here’s how to run through the season:

Wear white as much possible. Old man sun loves dark colors.  Wear a visor that has a dark color on the underside of the brim.  There is a reason baseball hats are grey or green under the brim – it’s to keep the glare from bouncing up into your eyes.  Wear wrap around sunglasses.  They keep out dust and bugs and keep you from squinting.  Scrunching up your face and eyes takes energy.

For racing – Ditch the i pod, the phone and your other music gadgets.  Running is mostly a solitary endeavor anyway.  We don’t always get a chance to interact with a couple of hundred other like minded people all going in the same direction.  We seldom get a chance to run on protected course where we can turn off our unleashed barking dog, car approaching radar. Talk, make friends, make jokes.  You aren’t going to win anyway.  Those XC hotshots from the local D-1 program are already on the way home by the time you approach 4 miles.  Yes, I know you used to be fast but you aren’t anymore and there is no sense in trying to PR on a 90 degree day.  Steve Prefontaine you’re not.

Also – in the racing department:  On the course cut the tangents just like the pros do.  If you recall your high school geometry and I should since I repeated it three times the tangent is the shortest straight line through a curve.  Don’t run deep into a corner and then make the turn.  Set yourself up a little wider going into the 90 and then glide right through it.

Drafting – just like in NASCAR.  Don’t lead the pack.  Tuck in behind someone, preferably behind a guy who is somewhat larger than you and let him break the wind.  Stop snickering.  If you are running with a sidewind get on the off side of the guy and let him shield you from the breeze.  Drafting works.

Run in the shade even if it’s during the first half mile of the race and you feel good.  Your body temperature will thank you later at mile 4 when the early morning temperature has already climbed to 87 degrees.  Run in the shade even if you have to cross the street and run a little farther distance.  Shade is your friend.

Wear sunblock – I always am sure to smear a bit under my eyes like a football players’ eye black.  You can pretend that you are Tom Brady playing the Jets or Joe Namath on the field against the Raidahs baby.  I’m still an AFL guy at heart.

Do wear your watch because nothing looks cooler than when your’e not wearing it and you can proudly display your watch tan.  Same goes for socks, I always run in the low cut variety for that sexy ankle tan look.

Finally, get yourself some kind of Road ID that lists your name age, contact info, allergies and blood type and wear it every time you run.  I can’t imagine what goes through an EMT’s mind when they find an inert body on the course and they have to start from square one in diagnosing you and your issues.  Give them a good head start on your first aid.

Take a couple of Bikram yoga classes where the temperature inside is 104 and the humidity is at 40%.  That will acclimate your body to working efficiently in the heat and besides the stretching is good for you.

Remember, we waited a long time for the chance to run in just a t shirt and shorts.  These miles in the heat pay off next October and November when you hit mile 17 or mile 19 and you swear that the marathon course has been laid out incorrectly and that you should already be at mile 24.  

This is our time to shine and sweat.  Run Happy !

How Time Is Sometimes Measured

She said, ” Since you appear to be fearless in sharing stories I have one to tell you and it’s one that’s I have never told anyone before.”

He sat silently knowing that she needed to and wanted to talk.

” In the years before I got married I used to keep a journal which is a fancy and more hip emotional way to say I had a diary.  I took it everywhere and it was in many ways my best friend.  After I got married and we settled in I stopped writing for a couple of reasons.  One because I thought that my spouse would be the same kind of sounding board that my journal had become and two it seemed that I would be keeping secrets from him if I was writing things that I didn’t share.”

He was still silent and glad that he had learned to keep his mouth shut.

” As  the marriage went south I found that I had no one to talk with and without the journal I really had no one to talk with.  Anyway, when it all went to hell I was really hurt, devastated you know.  I started writing again and that’s what saved me and keep up my faith in the human race.”  

“Now I can’t remember if I wrote this or I saw this quote somewhere but it went like this : Time is measured in terms of pain not felt.  The point being pretty obvious that the pain lessened as time passed and that was my measuring stick to get through the day.  I almost felt guilty when I started to feel happy again.  How weird is that? “

“I thought that was an interesting way to look at things because, as I’m sure know, sometimes the pain is all you have and to let go of it is to admit that the relationship is really over and it ain’t comin’ back.  Then at some point you say it’s time to suck it up and move on which I did and which leads me to being here with you right now spilling my guts over a cold cup of coffee.  There, I’m done.”

Leaning back in his chair he tried to take it all in and said, ” Moving on is a big step and so is letting go of the past especially when you think that the only thing you have going for you is the past.  What happened happened and what didn’t happen…”

She said ” I gotta go” sensing that she had opened up far too much to someone she had just met.  But in taking a chance she also realized that the old hurts and disappointments were finally being cut loose.  No longer were they going to be a part of who she was or what she relied on to define herself.  

As they were leaving she asked, ” Do you want to drive? After all you paid for the gas.”

 

 

 

 

 

You’re A Runner Aren’t You?

Tags

5 miles, Blood pressure, pulse, Running

Yesterday afternoon being warm, sunny, bright and the first full day of summer I took myself on an easy and I mean easy 5 miler through the neighborhood.  It was mostly a scenery run and a run to clear my head from all the noise and stress that has accumulated lately.

Once I fell into my pace it was just an effortless glide on a Pleasant Valley Sunday with a nod to the late Gerry Goffin who wrote that song along with his wife Carole King.

I saw several people mowing their lawns with gas powered mowers (why?) and a guy power washing his driveway, again why?  My lawnmower is of the ” reel” variety which means all the horsepower comes from me and not fossil fuels but that’s a rant for another day.

I was thinking that if being a runner never provided a single dose of anything to improve my health I don’t really care.  Running has been a way for me to become a better me.

One time during a visit to my Doc’s office the person taking my blood pressure and pulse said ” You’re a runner, aren’t you?” based I suppose on my BP and heart rate.   Is that not the greatest compliment a runner can receive?  I sure think so.

I have achieved what coaches call a good base for my running in that when I finish a workout and return home I have to remind myself that I’ve just completed a run because I don’t feel tired or fatigued.  I feel good and it’s apparent that I am in pretty good shape. In fact, I feel better after I run.

So lace ’em up kids, the road is calling, your head and heart need some nourishment and you need to get out there.  You know you do because you’re a runner – aren’t you?

 

The Height of Absurdity

Tags

absurdities, stagehand, tents

Captain Yossarian would be proud.

As a stagehand my work is not always rock and roll and roses.  Sometimes you take a gig simply because it pays and that’s the case with the story I’m about to tell.

I worked a small project earlier in the week which involved hanging some lights, running cable and assembling a small stage in a tent.

The tent was about 20 x 20 with a roof that peaked at 15 feet or so and our stage was placed inside against what would have been the back wall had there been a back wall.  In fact, if there had been any walls it would have been news. Picture a tent with a reasonably high roof and absolutely no walls.  Clear through and through.  I could have thrown a baseball right through and not hit anything or anyone.  Get the picture?

However, due to Fire Department regulations, and I am not making this up, there had to be a lighted EXIT sign posted inside the tent.  That’s right, once inside the tent where you could see for hundreds of yards in all directions, an unobstructed view to all points of the compass  there HAD to be a lighted EXIT sign per Enforcement code blah, blah, blah, paragraph ha- ha, subsection – are you kidding me.  As I left the gig after my job was done the lonely yet proud EXIT sign stood silent as a sentinel pointing one and all the safe way out of the tent ( which had no walls!)

Joseph Heller would be proud.  What would Jean-Paul Sarte say?

One Time Crossing The Street in New York City

“Lunch” she said, I think I’d rather just have another cup of coffee and stay here if you don’t mind.”

“That’s fine with me.”

” So what do you have against Starbucks?”

He replied, ” First of all it’s overpriced and I don’t go for all that Venti, blah, blah, blah, mumbo jumbo.  I understand why people like it.  It’s a familiar, it’s warm and friendly.  It’s all done in earth tones.  I get all that but it seems contrived.  The genius of it is that you can walk into a Starbucks in New York, LA or Mars and it would look pretty much exactly the same.”

” And that’s a problem?”

” Apparently only me but I won’t say that I would never ever go into one”

She said, “I, I mean me, and a million other people like Starbucks for the same reasons you just mentioned.  So don’t annoy me because if you recall I drove you here and it’s a healthy walk back to your car – No, I’m just kidding.  Let’s move on – ok?

” I have to tell you this and it may sound strange but here goes.  One time when I was crossing a crowded street in New York City there were people coming from both directions and as  the crowds merged I saw a woman off to my right and her eyes locked directly into mine but we just kept walking in opposite directions.  The odd thing is that as we were approaching each other it seemed as though time had stopped, the air got warm and we were the only two people on the planet.  It was really was a time out of space experience.  I couldn’t explain it then and i’m still puzzled by it now. By the way, we were both with other people.  I had a date but I have no idea who she was with.  As far as I know no one saw us or realized what had occurred and but it was real.  What do you think that meant?”

“Well, I do believe in cosmic connections, that’s for sure but although you two were meant to see each other there at that moment you weren’t meant to meet. Maybe the woman was me although I can’t recall ever having such an encounter.”

He laughed, ” It would be funny if it were you and after all these years here you are and here I am. I have never told anyone that story before.”

” I’m flattered and I have a story for you too.  I ran into an old friend whose daughter had just gotten married.  She said that the wedding and the entire day were just perfect and so she had resolved to remember the day forever, because, as she said, life is mostly hard times and disappointments so when you get a day like that you need to cherish it and hold onto it tight.  Now, I don’t necessarily agree with her take on life as she described it but I do buy into the hold onto the good times mentality. Are you ready to go?”

He wanted to say no but knew better than to press his luck and stay too long at the fair. ” Yeah, I have things to do and I have to work tonight but I would like to continue our conversation sometime in the very near future.”

” Me too.”

 

 

 

The Lightning Bugs Are Late

Usually, and I mean like clockwork I could always count on the first of June as being opening day for scads of lightning bugs to appear here in south central Pennsylvania.  So far this June I have seen maybe half a dozen.

Is this another manifestation of of what might be happening to the climate and our planet?

In years past and even last summer I would see loads of lightning bugs flashing and flying close to the ground looking for dates and mates.  I assume that’s what they were doing.  This year looks like they threw a dance but nobody came.

Any bug lovers out there who can enlighten me?