Running, driving, and jerks
ORN: 12 miles, 1 degree on the dreadmill, just under 109 minutes. I was wanting to take it easy, because (1) it's a longish run, and (2) I'm apparently fighting off some random cold or flu or sinus infection or something, and it's got me a little wheezy. This pace was actually faster than I was planning on going, but I got caught up in the moment.
See, all of the new dreadmills at the Y were reserved for the Indoor Triathalon. Now, obviously, it's not a marathon-length run they they do, or even a half-marathon. Instead, people do 15 minutes of swimming, 15 minutes biking, and a 15-minute run. You can even do teams if you want to - I suspect that the main bit is bragging rights and raising money for a charity. I'd do it next year, except for one thing - without a team, I'd have a problem. Not with the biking or the running - I'd do passably well with those.
No, my problem is with the swimming. Some people are natural swimmers, and can be compared to dolphins or fish, slicing through the water with grace and ease. I am unfavorably compared to a wounded seal, flailing about in its death throes. It's not all a problem with form - it's that I have the same bouyancy characteristics of a rock. I stop moving, and I sink. On a very good day, with my lungs full of air, half of my head will remain above the water. On a day day, when I exhale, I come to rest with about a foot of water over my head. I can't quite lie down on the floor of the pool, but it's pretty close.
Anyway, the run felt pretty good overall. I did have to take some short walking breaks, but nothing more than a minute. Most of it had to do with my quest to find a pre-race food which is friendly to my digestive system, but some of it was also due to the temperature. There were a lot of people running in there.
And some of them were fast. I know, they're only running for 15 minutes, and some of them were on a team, so they aren't even biking or swimming. I'm sure that, in a 15 minute run, I might get close to 2 miles. (The dreadmills don't go above 12 mph, so the max for this event is going to be 3 miles in that time limit - and that ignores the time you lose as the hamster pad gets up to speed. 2.97 or 2.98 is going to be a more realistic maximum.) Anyway, sure, I'm running along for almost two hours, eight times the length that they are, and more than twice the time of their entire event, but it as still a little disheartening to watch someone get on a good dreadmill near me, and zip out at better than a 7:00 pace.
And, the driving + jerk is related. On our way back from lunch, I'm going down the highway. Some jerk has decided that the pace he had been going is no longer sufficient, and guns it, getting right on my bumper. He refuses to back off, and starts getting upset when I'm tapping the brakes slightly, and gesturing to the back seat (where, for an added bonus, my son is screaming at the top of his lungs). I finally get the chance to change lanes out of his way, and he's gunning it before I am even clear. Pity that I didn't have the cell and get his license plate. That would have been one worth calling in - someone driving erratically and dangerously, at speeds well in excess of 20 over the limit (by the time he passed me) - and, as an added bonus, out of state plates. Try talking your way out of that one, punk.
His wife or girlfriend was in the passenger seat. I think she saw that I had an infant in the car, and was trying to convey that. Or, she's just as much a dick as he is. I'll err on the side of benevolence on her part. But for him, I'm wishing an early transmission failure - say, 4:45 pm on the Tri-State.
See, all of the new dreadmills at the Y were reserved for the Indoor Triathalon. Now, obviously, it's not a marathon-length run they they do, or even a half-marathon. Instead, people do 15 minutes of swimming, 15 minutes biking, and a 15-minute run. You can even do teams if you want to - I suspect that the main bit is bragging rights and raising money for a charity. I'd do it next year, except for one thing - without a team, I'd have a problem. Not with the biking or the running - I'd do passably well with those.
No, my problem is with the swimming. Some people are natural swimmers, and can be compared to dolphins or fish, slicing through the water with grace and ease. I am unfavorably compared to a wounded seal, flailing about in its death throes. It's not all a problem with form - it's that I have the same bouyancy characteristics of a rock. I stop moving, and I sink. On a very good day, with my lungs full of air, half of my head will remain above the water. On a day day, when I exhale, I come to rest with about a foot of water over my head. I can't quite lie down on the floor of the pool, but it's pretty close.
Anyway, the run felt pretty good overall. I did have to take some short walking breaks, but nothing more than a minute. Most of it had to do with my quest to find a pre-race food which is friendly to my digestive system, but some of it was also due to the temperature. There were a lot of people running in there.
And some of them were fast. I know, they're only running for 15 minutes, and some of them were on a team, so they aren't even biking or swimming. I'm sure that, in a 15 minute run, I might get close to 2 miles. (The dreadmills don't go above 12 mph, so the max for this event is going to be 3 miles in that time limit - and that ignores the time you lose as the hamster pad gets up to speed. 2.97 or 2.98 is going to be a more realistic maximum.) Anyway, sure, I'm running along for almost two hours, eight times the length that they are, and more than twice the time of their entire event, but it as still a little disheartening to watch someone get on a good dreadmill near me, and zip out at better than a 7:00 pace.
And, the driving + jerk is related. On our way back from lunch, I'm going down the highway. Some jerk has decided that the pace he had been going is no longer sufficient, and guns it, getting right on my bumper. He refuses to back off, and starts getting upset when I'm tapping the brakes slightly, and gesturing to the back seat (where, for an added bonus, my son is screaming at the top of his lungs). I finally get the chance to change lanes out of his way, and he's gunning it before I am even clear. Pity that I didn't have the cell and get his license plate. That would have been one worth calling in - someone driving erratically and dangerously, at speeds well in excess of 20 over the limit (by the time he passed me) - and, as an added bonus, out of state plates. Try talking your way out of that one, punk.
His wife or girlfriend was in the passenger seat. I think she saw that I had an infant in the car, and was trying to convey that. Or, she's just as much a dick as he is. I'll err on the side of benevolence on her part. But for him, I'm wishing an early transmission failure - say, 4:45 pm on the Tri-State.
posted by Garou at 2:49 PM
1 Comments:
Some people are just huge jerks!
Great job running along on the dreadmill. I bet it was fun watching the indoor tri!
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