Kenny Smith | A remarkable thing happens …

cycling / I do not know what is happening. / iPhone / photo / running — Comments Off
08
Jul 14

A quick summation

Tour de France, World Cup, laundry and work. It was a day of watching little people go very fast over flat terrain, German going fast over Brazil, things drying fast in the dryer and composing emails slowly.

I rode a bit of the time trial course today. Thought I was taking it easy, but the computer was impressed. We’ll credit the new shoes, which still require some tinkering in fixing the cleats.

I almost passed a car and I didn’t feel like I was working especially hard. The point today, for me, was just to stretch out my legs, work out the last of the stiffness from my Sunday run and get in a little run at the end. It wasn’t a brick workout — combining two elements of a triathlon, and probably so named because of what it feels like in your legs — but I wanted to do something like a mini-brick. So I got in 13 miles of easy pedaling on the bike and one mile of jogging in the neighborhood, just to get moving, to keep moving, but not overtax myself.

I do not know what is happening.

And, now, a picture from last night of The Yankee and our friends’ dog, Trixie:

There’s a fine line between patience and stubbornness in a dog. Trixie lives there. Her trainers, apparently, called her a stump, because when she doesn’t want to go, you won’t move her. So she’s easy to take pictures of, even with a phone in low light.

golf — Comments Off
07
Jul 14

Golfing with Fin

We started an hour earlier this morning than we did two weeks ago. And maybe that helped with the heat for the first two holes. The high was 90. We were riding. And I was sweating. But we had a fine time.

The ground crew kept getting ahead of us. They were mowing and treating the greens and turning on the sprinklers, which was funny:

And then annoying:

And then, finally, oh-so-pleasant.

No, no, I’ll finish this hole out with a three-putt. I don’t mind standing here for a second.

This will come as a shock to no one, but I’m terrible at golf. I enjoy the quiet atmosphere and the pleasant landscaping. And the super, super long course we were playing. I am mystified how I can use the same club on three consecutive swings and get one decent result and two abysmal efforts. I can hit a straight ball, but I can’t aim. I will two- and three-putt everything. I hit the pin twice on puts that rolled out and through today.

And I also got a nice par. I think that’s the same hole I parred last time out.

You remember things like that. But you remember the time with an old friend even more. You file the chuckles away and wonder how you’ve changed and how you haven’t over the years. You wonder why you are still terrible at golf.

You enjoy the surprises life gives you:

I do not know what is happening. / running / weekend — Comments Off
06
Jul 14

Tight in the middle

This afternoon, since it was only 90 degrees, it seemed a good time to catch up on some overdue yard work.

It was either that or ride my bike. I should have ridden my bike.

So I spent three-and-a-half hours trimming hedges, pulling weeds out of the shrubs and then raking up the annoying leaves and stalks and sticky, thorny, scratching weeds and vines.

And somewhere, on my third wind, I decided “Since I am already sweating, and my heart rate is up, this would be a good time for a run.”

Because the day was getting long, and I was ready for some exercise, and I equate sweat with exercise, this all seemed like a good idea. So I got finished with the stupid bags of trimmings and then decided to trim some trees. Now I’m covered in sweat and sawdust. I changed shoes and shorts and said “I’m going out for a quick run,” which is always a vague description. If you feel good, feel good and extend yourself, I say. And I felt pretty good.

I found and returned a miniature schnauzer to her owners. Called the number on her collar and stayed with the pup until they showed up. She is 13, they said, and know how it goes, but she was a good piece away from home. The pause gave me some more rest, so I felt good. And I kept running.

When I got to 3.1 miles I had a choice to make: continuing around the circle means a route of about eight miles, retracing my steps means I’d have a nice 10K. This felt like the best idea, until about mile four. The last two miles, to get home and to get to the 10K, or 6.2 mile mark, was something of a struggle.

I do not know what is happening.

But I picked a wildflower for my lovely bride! And I’m sure I looked a sweaty sight, shuffling down the road side with a bright yellow flower in my left hand, huffing and puffing for all I was worth.

When I got home she said that we define “quick” differently. This is true. There’s nothing quick about a six mile run for me.

I wrote all of this on Facebook. A buddy asked “How’s that spandex fitting Superman?”

Hence the title, above.

cycling / history / I do not know what is happening. / journalism / links / things to read / video / weekend — Comments Off
05
Jul 14

This car makes jumps

The world around you is one of the things a bicycle teaches you about. Things look different. Terrain is different. You come to understand that those aren’t two hills, but really one hill you approach from multiple directions.

The most important thing I have learned, so far, is that it has taught me not to judge. You never know what someone is going through, which is the personification of the “Walk a mile in my shoes” concept, which is writ large in my head every time I’m struggling to top a hill. Those people driving those cars don’t know, I tell myself.

Some of them probably do, but the point is that it can be hard.

Another important thing the bike teaches you is about more roads. Eventually you start looking for new routes, new challenges, new approaches to that same hill. I found some of those today, in part because I saw a neat road name on a map. The road is about four miles from our house and I’ve passed it dozens of times on my bike alone. But playing with cycling routes on a map led me to answering the question “What’s down there?” The answer was a private driveway.

And this:

Had a difficult with the new shoes. They, surprise, didn’t feel right for most of the ride today, but I figured it out as soon as I got home and took them off. And it was an easy fix. Hopefully that will be taken care of today.

I went through three new neighborhoods today, though, and two of them I’ll return to again. The third featured a bad stretch of road that overruled the two extra rides up that same hill mentioned above. In just over half of the distance I climbed more than I will in next weekend’s triathlon. And, with that and the time trialing I did yesterday, I will begin to taper off the workouts.

Tapering, like I have a training plan. Like I’m an athlete.

Aside from the pretending, I do not know what is happening.

Things to read … so you’ll know what is happening.

The best thing you’ll read today: A Janitor’s Ten Lessons in Leadership

Rare, Remarkable Maps Trace America’s Path to Independence

Roger Simon: America’s glorious failures

‘Flying Farmer’ recalls WWII service

Total US Ad Spending to See Largest Increase Since 2004

Guardian Australia: lessons in online-only publications

Have I mentioned I need a drone? I need a drone.

Fireworks may be the most temporal of celebrations, and you’ve already moved on, I know, but that’s just awesome.

I can’t adequately describe this video, but I’d suppose the individual reaction to it is informative.

Now go back to your three-day weekend!

adventures / Auburn / Friday / video — Comments Off
04
Jul 14

The Fourth

Shooting fireworks tonight, I became transfixed by the out-of-focus stuff.

I’m pretty sure this is what it turns into in our memory anyway: blurry, in slow motion, with muffled sounds.

And with a URL in the bottom in the bottom right corner.

Something weird happened with Auburn’s fireworks tonight, which meant two finales, and a few extra and random things that seemed entirely out of sequence. Here’s the first, and final, finale.*

(*I’ve wanted to write a sentence like that for a long time.)

Happy Fourth. Happy Independence Day. Let freedom ring.