Thursday, July 24, 2014

Low quality blogging

So I've done some stuff that warranted blogging recently but failed on crafting an opus worthy of your consideration. So, here goes a lower quality rendering of recent events.

Firstly, my daughter and I rode in the Huntington Bicycle Club's Gold coast ride. They had a variety of distances but I figured that even without any training knocking off the 25 mile route should not be an issue. I was wrong.

I've only done the very short 12 mile route with my daughter when she was about 8 years old but have ridden many of the roads that the 55, 75 and 100 mile routes cover. I forgot that someone once described this ride's route as "come to a crossroad, pick whichever seems to go up the most, repeat."We started the ride, realized I was in over my head, and crafted a "short cut" back to the car. Even so, 19 miles was better than sitting on the couch. I have yet to look at the power data as I don't want to cry about how out of shape I am.

Secondly, we had to swing up to Augusta, Maine for a few days to visit my other daughter at camp. Augusta has a great rail trail along the Kennebec river so we were able to get our for a run/walk. I don't have a picture of it but we saw a collection of water bottles for the runner on the side of the trail. While I do this sometimes with my water sometimes with concern, the Maine slant was that their car keys were left there too! I guess if you don't like your car, just pick some keys from the pile to try another. Another reminder that Maine ain't New York.

That's all I got for now. Stay tuned.



Saturday, July 12, 2014

Almost an event - the Color Run

Last weekend my daughter, out of the blue, said she wanted to do a color run and there just happened to be one in Brooklyn on Sunday. She wanted my wife and I to join her as she said she always wanted to do a color run. I had no desire to do a color run, haven't been training at all (and that includes running) so I thought about it for about 2 seconds before saying I was in.

Mostly I haven't been running because I have a lot of pain in my ankles. Dr.Google led me to self diagnose Achilles tendinitis but even with reduced activity, the pain has become impacting on my lazy ass day to day even walking. Before this concept of a 5k color run I actually went to a real person doctor who said that it is probably due to scar tissue from my previous running escapades. He prescribed anti-inflammation drugs and stretching. It helped but I still gimp around. I felt I couldn't hurt myself anymore so we gave it a shot.

Highlights of the day:
  • The race was about an hour away and started relatively late (9am) so we didn't have to get up at stupid o'clock.
  • We ate some bagels before heading out. They always taste better before an event.
  • I realized I didn't have a strategy except survival. I told my daughter and wife we would see what happens but to plan on walking most of it.
  • I had never done a color run before. I needed a mostly white outfit that would basically be a throw away. A tee shirt from "Jacque C Penne" for 10 bucks and a $3 hat from Michael's were perfect.
  • There was a lot of traffic. These events are popular!
  • No matter how many portal-potty exist, there never is enough. An they always set a record for the vilest. I forgot the hold your breath method until it was too late.
  • The lines were long for preregistration but went quickly. They were organized.
  • We headed over to the corral and started relatively quickly.
  • Very few people were running, most were walking so we fell right in.
  • The color they throw is like a powder. There were 4 color stations along the course and some people were getting very colorful.
  • My daughter ran up to me and said she was doing snow angels in the purple. She wasn't alone.
  • There was a big party afterwards that we stay for a little while.
  • The race itself wasn't timed. There was no medals or podiums.
  • I think I won. I did get a race shirt that I wore afterwards.
  • It took 3 days before all the color was off me. With a lot of scrubbing.
I expect we'll sign up again next year because this event, while expensive, was fun and got us a little active. Everyone seem happy at the race they dub "the happiest 5k."

PS: The bonus was that I didn't make my aches and pains any worse. Sort of a sign to get more active.

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Is a graduation a beginning or an end?

My older daughter Amanda graduated from high school last Sunday. There were many festivities leading up to the graduation including a graduation party we had the week before (yes, I'm aware of this being like opening your Christmas presents on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas day), my younger daughter Courtney going off to summer camp in Maine, and, of course, the gala known as the prom.

Full disclosure, I am not a fan of graduation ceremonies but I am a huge fan of accomplishments. I didn't enjoy my high school graduation ceremony. My mother went back to college while I was in college and I didn't go to her graduation ceremony. She threatened that if I didn't go to my college graduation, I wouldn't have a place to live afterwards so I did. There was no way in hell I was going to my grad school graduation and I have never regretted that decision.

My daughter, though, seemed very happy through all the weekend's events from the pre-pre-prom picture session to the post graduation parties.

While listening to the many speeches given during the ceremony itself, I first felt there was not enough celebrating the milestone. Many speeches focused on the future. There seemed to be a canned phrase of "going to college, entering the workforce, or joining the military" as the next steps for the graduates. The advice on how to be successful in the "real world" seemed to me as comical in it's naivety - these are 17 and 18 year olds that have never seen the real world. Many adults, including yours truly, don't know how to be successful in the real world. It is hard.

But graduating high school is an accomplishment. I'm proud of my daughter for this accomplishment. I'm prouder for what I think she is going to accomplish in the future. That journey is just beginning, not ending with this ceremony. I view the ceremony as the starting line for the next phase in her life. My advice to her and her classmates, enjoy the ride.

PS: Monday I  paid my first college tuition bill. There might have been a tear in my eye then.