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15
Aug 15

Chattahoochee Olympic Triathlon

The race was fast. I was just slow.

We rode our bikes to the race from our nearby hotel. Rode across the state line, actually. And we did that in the dark, with little blinkie lights on our bikes showing the way.

We got there in plenty of time. Nice easy setup. Met race veterans and three people who were doing their first race. It was a nice relaxed pre-race morning, as opposed to the usual stress. This race was launched in age-group waves, so The Yankee went off earlier than I did, scorching people in the water and then burning up tar on the road.

When my group went off we pushed away and swam downstream 500 meters. You climb out of the water at a boat launch, run back upstream and swim it again. So the swim is short, just 1,000 meters, but that jog counts to your swim, which means I had my best 1,500 meter swim time ever. It still wasn’t very good.

Out of the water, finally, and up to transition where I climbed on the bike and settled in deciding that I would ease into the 20-something mile ride. It was a two loop course, roads with which I am familiar, and I figured that maybe I would be better served pacing myself early and going hard on the second time around. On the first loop, though, I felt my legs lock up. And on the second loop my legs said “No. This is what it feels like when your legs lock up.”

And after that nice little ride, where I didn’t get to hammer it much of anywhere, I was back in transition and setting off for a run. THis is the second time, by the way, I’ve run across a state line. (You don’t keep track of this sort of thing?)

The course offered three miles of river views:

And then there were three miles of downtown views. And somewhere right in between everything started going wrong.

You shouldn’t get chills two hours into exercise in the August sun, but I did. It seemed wise to take everything easy after that, and so I did. When I got to the end I wanted a blanket and calories. It was an unsatisfying race for me. But the weather was nice and the people were pleasant. And this one had a great race:

I didn’t see her until a few parts of the run course. She did this thing where she beat her goal and still wasn’t satisfied with herself. (Don’t race her.)

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18
Jul 15

Chattahoochee Challenge Sprint Tri

Got to the race in plenty of time. Got to the front of the swim start line, which was the plan. Had a decent swim, for me. But this is relative. If you’ve read about my triathlons here before you know I’m lousy in the water. But I took some time off my previous best in this particular river swim.

The Yankee was very fast in the water, as usual. I didn’t see her again until the run.

My bike leg was OK. I ride this route better when I ride it easy than when I ride it at pace, which I find amusing. My ride should have been better, but I dropped my sunglasses and decided to stop for them, which seemed silly in retrospect. It took what seemed like forever to get back up to speed after that.

And then when it was time to run I couldn’t find my legs. I was tired. It was hot. The run portion of this particular race is a good one. Scenic, historic, nice and flat. But there’s no shade. And I could have really used some shade today.

So my overall time was not good. But we had fun!

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12
Jul 15

Chewacla Tri

The triathlon that we thought about just riding our bikes too.

And then we each thought “I don’t want to carry all that stuff on my bike,” and wisely decided to drive.

This was the first local triathlon, a nice easy sprint, and we were so proud to take part. Our local bike shop ran the thing. It was small, first year and all, casual and a lot of fun.

I was terrible in the lake. I’m always terrible in the swim.

Don’t get me wrong, I can swim, I’m not a threat to drown or anything, but I’m not a distance swimmer. Lately I’ve been getting advice from a very patient coach. And it probably helped for about 100 meters. It all comes down to breathing and how I tend to not do that.

You know, while riding or running, if you don’t breathe you just stop moving or remind yourself about the in-and-out nature of respiration or, at worst, black out. In the water, when the body realizes the lungs aren’t breathing correctly the lizard part of your brain tends to take over. At that point, my swim is basically over. So, I’m terrible in the swim.

Apparently, though, I was third on the bike course. (I do not know what is happening.) I’ve been riding pretty well lately, but that is a surprising result, if the times were accurate. The route was basically my home roads, though, so that’s probably part of it.

I would pass the occasional person, give them the “Good job!” and warn them of a pothole just ahead. That’s probably annoying in retrospect.

Didn’t have a very good run. I’ve only run that route once before, last weekend, and didn’t think it was too hard. Foolishly, I forgot to add in the bike and swim exertion in that one trial run. But that bad run up the mountain let me meet a guy who said he was just two weeks from knee surgery. He’s racing next weekend, too. Make sure you tell the surgeon about this, I said, impressed.

“Yeah, doc, let’s get this thing fixed. By the way, I’ve run in two sprint triathlons the last two weekends.”

On the way down the mountain I ran into a guy who was here just to measure himself for an upcoming Olympic distance race he’s going to do. Don’t think he was too pleased, so I spent the last quarter mile of our run trying to convince him that this will scale up well.

Now this one, she had a great race. She’s clearly in mid-season form, having finished just outside the podium:

Later, trying on my sweet new tri shirt:

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14
Apr 15

Notes from the third floor

The work on the campus cafeteria continues. The short version is they are renovating. And part of that renovation has involved gutting the center of the large room. So they had to erect an interior room, keeping the dust in and the food out. They built a dirty room, basically. They put in plexiglass windows so you can peer in and check out their work. I’m not sure if I’ve seen a lot of students doing that, but it is interesting to see what is happening inside on a weekly basis or so. On the outside, murals and other sanctioned graffiti are going up. Here’s some Seuss:

I didn’t know there was such a thing as a drywall truck, but it makes sense if you think about it. Problem is, I never have. Nevertheless, here you go:

Work, work, work. But it never seems enough, or finished. Hopefully it is good, at least.

I got in a fast 2,000 yards at the pool. Fast for me, that is. I was very pleased with myself because it took much less time in the aggregate. Let’s call that progress.

Pizza for dinner, a nice story involving a police officer around midday:

“I immediately started ripping apart the sink and the pipes. If you can only imagine losing your wedding ring – you can do anything with the adrenalin going through your body.”

The next thing she knew, other restaurant patrons joined her in the restroom. At one point, at least six people were in the bathroom trying to find the ring – in addition to those who just had to answer nature’s call.

They not only drew a crowd, they caught the attention of Hendrix who works an extra job at Al’s. Someone asked the kitchen staff for a long utensil, and Hendrix got curious. “The cop was like, ‘What the heck is going on?” Shannon said.

[…]

Hendrix may have sent Shannon on her way, but he certainly didn’t give up. He, along with the restaurant manager, called someone they thought could help. It was a small miracle, Hendrix said, when the trio heard the ring jingling somewhere deep down in the pipes.

But the officer’s work had only just begun. He didn’t know Shannon’s name, or the names of her friends. That’s when the detective work started.

One last thing, the man was an Alabama-native and a legend, and I thought he might live forever (mostly because, in my mind, he’s been about 70 for 25 years). But Percy Sledge’s passing should prompt you to check out at least a few of his live performances. The man was an incredible performer:

I saw him at a festival years ago, mostly because I remember a high school teacher of mine told me about the time she saw him in a blues bar in Mobile. He was singing that signature song, she said, and he did the chorus, “When a man loves a woman” 56 times. Always wanted to see something like that.

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2
Apr 15

Here’s a read that’s getting attention

Our editor-in-chief, Sydney Cromwell, wrote a great editorial about the conditions that her staff had to deal with in covering the former first lady last week. It has been noticed by the publisher of the Anniston Star, the Student Press Law Center, Alabama Media Pros and the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors and the Alabama Media Group (which reprinted the editorial):

So, what did the reporters of the Crimson, Samford News Network, AL.com, the Homewood Star and others get within those precious few minutes? Generic statements about Bush’s enjoyment of Samford and an update on the Bush family. Oh, and #SamNotStan.

If they wanted to report any of her statements on life in the White House, 9/11 or education – the actual reason for her visit – they had to rely on their memory alone and hope they could remember everything they needed.

That, in itself, is galling. Laura Bush is a public figure and invited to speak as part of a lecture series to students and the public. After living in the White House, I’d think she would be familiar enough with the media that a few pencils scratching away at paper wouldn’t ruin her time on stage.

It’s also just ridiculous. If you’re there to speak on education, why not let reporters use your actual statements on education? That’s a chance to extend her words beyond the Wright Center, and she wasted it.

And Sydney says she can’t write opinion pieces.

Also, there’s a new Crimson photo feature on Instagram: Humans of Samford.

One of the first things I saw this morning: The Price is Right aired a great gag yesterday, guaranteed to make you smile:

Two class preps tonight. Two-thousand yards in the pool. Not bad since I felt rough and the swim felt fairly rough. Not sure why I’m sore, but there I was all day, wondering if this will be another motion that hurts. The true feeling-out process. And, in the final analysis, most everything hurts. No idea why.

But Bob Barker makes everything better, right?

The man is 91, and we should all be so lucky.

There are a lot of gameshow bloopers online.