On Floyd-Watching, Floyd-Reading, Philly Observing, and Trail Running...


First up a photo - this one from last month's Smith's Challenge 10k - that 6.2 mile romp in the woods, where I finished 38th out of 148th. The "official photo" is blurry, so I've tweaked it in Photoshop. However, I did not straighten my number. Half of the race number was ripped off when climbing a fallen tree and I ran the rest of the race with it basically tucked into my race belt.

Anywho, while we're on running, June ended well - 130 miles, my best month by 30 miles. There were long runs, interval workouts and I ended the month healthy. All good things, since my marathon program begins in four short weeks. Yesterday also saw a 12 mile run, 8 of them on trails, and the whole thing was very relaxed and easy, yet at almost the same pace as my half marathon just 8 months ago. So all in all, everything is good. I've got a 5 mile race on Wed., and hoping to run a much smarter, faster time than what I went through at the Red Rose.

In other news, Floyd Landis came home to Lancaster. I went to the book signing, got the book but wimped out on the looooong line. I didn't need his autograph and -judging by the crowd- he didn't need my moral support, which was great to see.

As far as the book itself, here are my observations:

1.) It's a great read. Even if there were no doping mess, this would've made an awesome memoir. Funny and insightful. Really great stuff.

2.) I'm guilty of being a naive person. Even so, after reading this book, I am shocked at how bad the USADA is... It's a crime really and while I always *felt* Floyd was innocent, this book sealed it for me.

3.) Floyd wasn't flawless in his post-Tour handling of the situation and in most of the book he admits his gaffes. One he didn't admit, though, was the mistake in hiring Will Geoghegan as his business manager. While the book does a great job of explaining how close Will and Floyd are, the fact is that Will was hired as "business manager" only after the doping crisis began and - judging by what we learn about him in the book - he wasn't really qualified for the gig. I came out of this understanding why Floyd would definitely want Will as a friend, but utterly befuddled why he hired him for this sensitive position at a very sensitive time.

4.) Axel Merckx is my new favorite domestique. If you really study the cycling parts of the book, you realize how professional and talented Axel is. He's kind of like the guy in the movie with only three scenes that performs flawlessly in all of them.

5.) A couple great quotes about training -- the difference between over-training and under-resting. They brought to mind last year's great article in Outside.

Now then, I'm no reporter but my friend John Finger is. Check out his interview and full coverage on Floyd's visit to Lancaster.

Which bring us to baseball, because that's something else John covers. We learn that - two weeks before the All-Star break - the Phillies are closing in on another record besides their much-reported 10,000th loss. If they use just two more pitchers this year, they'll set a new club record for number of hurlers in a season. Like the 10,oooth loss, this isn't a good sign.

And finally, because this blog entry is already all over the place, Alberto Salazar was hospitalized with a serious heart event. Here's hoping he pulls through.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The gun in my basement.

Image
In my basement, I have a safe. And in that safe, under expired passports and birth certificates, there's a gun. It's unloaded. Hasn't been loaded in probably twenty years, and yet every time I take it out, I check to make sure. If you're a gun nerd, it's a 9 shot .22 revolver. On this website , it says that "it is true that many people have been killed by a .22 LR in the course of history," but the writer concludes that this weapon is a bad choice for self defense. I didn't buy it for self defense. I didn't even buy it. It was my father's and after he died, my mother gave it me, along with an Elgin watch he'd worn for years. The watch was weathered and worn and I took it to be restored. The jeweler refused, saying it was worthless. Two decades later, the watch is still in my jewelry box. There's no need for it to be locked up. I have no idea if this gun is in my possession legally. No idea if my father had a permit for it, or w...
Read more

Happy D-Blog Day, Uh, I Guess...

So according to diabetics blog-wide, today is D-Blog Day, the day when those of us affected by diabetes are supposed to blog about it. Or draw awareness to diabetes... Or something like that. I'm really a bad poster child for the disease. Not because I'm not in great control (actually, I am), but because I've just never been bothered by the disease so much. Red sums it up well in Shawshank Redemption: "Get busy living, or get busy dying." So if living means three blood sugar tests a day, so be it. If living means being hooked up to an insulin pump, go to it. That being said, I feel for anyone with diabetic kids... I'm a tough guy about the disease. I wouldn't be if my kids had it. If either of my kids had diabetes, I'd be screaming about the politicians who are spending money on wars instead of research, and I'd be yelling about the schools that make it difficult to be a diabetic in the classroom. But my kids don't have diabetes, so instead I ...
Read more

The Bright Side

“ And if you ever get scared, look on the bright side: You’ve got a new life.” – Amos Lee Last month, I was diagnosed with Lyme disease. Since then, I’ve tried to write this essay a few times. The first attempt followed a narrative arc rife with suspense, with a few years of frustrating doctors’ visits, mysterious symptoms that came and went and the all-around sentiment that the batteries that powered my body were no longer able to sustain a charge or be fully refueled at the end of the day. But if you Google Lyme disease, you realize there’s nothing unique about that story. In fact, the reality that my own diagnosis came only two years after all of this started makes this a much shorter story than it is for many. The theme of the second version was more pitiful, tinged with regret about what this had taken from me over the past two years and what it might take in the future. But honestly, that one didn’t get far at all. If there’s a good time for something like ...
Read more