Running with the Dead

No, not that dead. I am talking about one of my favorite local run routes.

Lake view cemetery is a few hundred feet to the north of my Coventry Road Apt. The entrance is at the top of Mayfield hill above Little Italy in Cleveland.
I usually take this run on Wednesday because I have day hours available before my bar shift later in the evening.
This past Wed. I headed down Hampshire and made a right into burial site of some many great Clevelander's like Rockefeller, President Garfield, Inventors Garret Morgan and Charles Brush, lawman Elliot Ness, and poet/friend Dan Thompson. Dan died from Leukemia 3 years ago.

(My friend Jodi is raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society through the Janis Charity Challenge. Her fund drive is in support of her friend Steve who has been diagnosed with Lymphoma. You can sponsor her June Ironman by following this link.)

Lakeview is a Vitorian landscaped masterpiece that I imagineto be like the gardens around Sherbourn Castle(IMUK Marathon rt). This time of year really brings out its best. The Variety in trees are all changing on independent schedules. The contrast in color is brilliant. Like an impressionist painting stretched into a panorama above an amazing collection of gothic monuments dedicated to the memories of the industrial giants that built Cleveland a century ago,

The hills through out Lakeview make the run one of the toughest workouts of my week. Built against the first foothill of the Alleghenies. The climb from the wadechapel to the Garfield Memorial is one that will boost your heart rate thru the trees.

My favorite markers include: My friend Matt's new grave that is still with out a stone. I Stop to make sure the flowers atop him are standing straight.

I also make a point to stop by former Cleveland Indian Ray Chapmens site. The stone is decorated with old balls and caps along with a bat or two. It is one of the only graves to not be swept clean of its offerings every month. Chapman died after being struck by a pitch during the 1920 World Sreies run.

On the Superior end is a tree with hundreds of shoes hanging from each branch by the laces that have been tied together. I don't know the signicance of the shoe tree, but I always imagine the shoes are remembrances of young people that have died to violence in the nearby East Cleveland neighbor hoods.

The 285 Acre graveyard is divided by a ravine that has been damed to protect the city downstream. At the east end of the dam is one of the great views of the Cleveland skyline as well as, of course Lake Erie.

I have seen Deer, Coyote, and many a bird with many a feather.

The cemetery is well staffed with security and I awlays feel safe running through it.

If anyone ever wants to join me, let me know. Lakeview is a true history lesson. I know the grounds well.

Old Grey

Old Grey is a 1984 Nishiki royal 7 speed road bike. She was pulled from my friend Tommy's basement a year and half ago. Headed for the trash, I took her home, cleaned her up, gave her a tune up, and put her to work.
Tommy originally bought her in Japan while in the Navy. Rode her all over. Back then she was fast. A good racing bike. After the Navy, Tommy came back to the states and all but retired her to the basement.
The years have been good to her. she was stiff and her wheels needed straightening. The brakes needed adjusting. I gave her handle bars some new tape. And She wears new tires and tubes for her rims. Her grey steel frame is solid and comfortable and she flies down the bumpy roads of Cleveland.
Old grey immediately became my commuting bike. Equipped with a lock and lights, she is the workhorse in my stable. Most of her trips are shorter than 10 miles. She makes a lot of them. Weekly mileage often rivals that of the bike I train/race on.
The bike I train and race on is the Giant I have written about in earlier posts. While"The Little Giant" gets his(not sure how I know the gender, I just know) upgrade(which is going very smoothly I might ad), Old Grey got the call.
Training Day!
As a commuter bike her Idea of a training ride is to the pool or to meet Sheila for a run. Sometimes she will coax me into pushing her hard to or from work. But that hasn't happened much since the two of us crashed. Her front wheel was badly bent and she was given a month off while I acquired a new wheel for her. Since then we have been cautious and planned work outs are not her duty.
Today was a gorges fall day in Northeast Ohio. The air was crisp and the sky was blue with a light breeze. I wore long tights, a long sleeve technical mock turtle, a wind vest, stocking cap, running shoes(her peddles are flat....good for short trips), riding gloves, my Oakley's, and of course a helmet.
We headed first to the bank to make a deposit. Next we headed thru University Circle and out MLK to the lake. Feeling warmed up, Old Grey carried me up into Bratinal and east along Lakeshore BLVD. The waves of lake Erie and the mid autumn sky were a beautiful backdrop, and deserved a moment of slow riding to soak in the season. We headed south at 185th and climbed back into the heights thru the Euclid Creek metro park beneath the most amazing canopy of color as the leaves are in the midst of their metamorphosis. Continuing south on Belvoir to Shaker we rounded out the 26 mile ride thru Shaker Lakes and back to Coventry.
As the ride grew longer, that old bike became smoother, faster and stronger. She climbed steadily with power. She descended bravely. On the flats she cruised, ticking along as evenly as a politician distributing promises at election time.
She has no quit and part of me thinks she wants a piece of the Ironman.

As I watch the Mets/Cards battle for the right to play Detroit in the world series, I am in constant awe of Julio Franco still playing at 48 while contributing to a team tied 2 to 2 in the National League Championship Series. I listen to Jerry Garcia in the final few years of his life rockin harder than ever. I think of Ironman legend Bill Bell completing the IM many times into his eighties.
How old is to old?. I don't know. I never paid much attention to age. Old pants, old guitar, old race shirt. old shoes....it's funny when I get new running shoes, they are so clean and springy. I know within 3 months they are gonna be beat, worn, stinky, and grey. But like a cute puppy they all become old dogs, while always remaining the puppy in our minds. We continue to pull those shoes on run after run until they can't run anymore. We don't ever address it 'till we complain of pain, and other runners start questioning the date of our last shoe purchase.
Old Grey is not the newest of bicycles. But the grey is just paint. Beneath the paint she is made of steel. She loves to roll. She is not ready to quit. And She is going to carry me thru a good part of the journey.
After my 25/6 mile brick*, I have every confidence in my "other bike". Old Grey still has a lot of miles to give. She ain't done yet.

*Brick=bike ride followed by a run/termed derived from Pink Floyd lyric "just another brick in the wall")

Back to basics..............

As I rebuild my bike and prepare for my Ironman training, I realize that during this off season it is not just important to strip the bike of problems and replace them. This off season is a time for me to take a total inventory of all that I am, remove anything that will not help me achieve my goals and replace them with what I need to become an Ironman.
As the old components come off my bike, I realize how much garbage gets in the way of the bikes ability to function properly. I consider the same of myself and look for ways to exchange bad habits for strengths.

Nutrition: This is easy, I have no excuse for not eating well. I know how. I have good foods available to me from good sources. My daily Blueberry muffin/coffee breakfast is gone. I have replaced it with bananas, apples, oranges, yogurt, energy bars, water, and half the coffee. Variety is key.
Chicken/turkey, cheese, sauce, and bread(Subs) are not meals. Neither is pizza. Jolly ranchers and cookies may be great race food but they will not make me into an Ironman. Vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, whole grains and fish. This is now my path. Ironman does not head out for pizza before bed. If I want to be an Ironman I will stop at the co-op or market and buy good foods. Eating cheap food on Coventry is like pouring pop into my derailur. Neither the bike or I will function properly If I keep adding garbage into the works.

Swimming: I am not a fast swimmer in freestyle. I swam breast stroke on swimteam as a kid. I used it during my first season in triathlon. It is my comfort zone, but it is not energy or space efficiant for triathlon. Jen used to teach me good technique for the front crawl, but I remain slow. I feel unbalanced in my stroke mechanics and drag my body thru the water.
I want to enter the Ironman waters of Sherborn Lake with absolute confidence in my swimming. I do not want to waist energy. I want the swim to be a relaxed warm up for the bike.
I have been offered a free swim lesson by a teacher. I will most likely continue beyond the free lesson and pay for more lessons along with joining a masters group. I have been reluctant to join a group because I hated swim team as a kid. Time to get over it.

Stretching/lifting/core strength: takes 30 minutes three times a week. The gym is my apt. No excuses for not doing this session. In two weeks of steady sessions I already notice my body getting stronger and the benefits transferring to my running.

Loneliness: This one is tough, because I know I am cared about by many people in a genuine way.
I am friendly with all of the neighbors. I have Zac, Nichole, Becca, Addie, Brendon, and the rest of the AJ Roccos Crowd. Coventry treats me like royalty and continues to embrace me with love. The Cleveland Triathlon Club gives me contact with many who share my passion. Jack, Jodi, Jennifer and Cathleen are also heading into Ironman for the first time next year. Jen, Andrew, Payton, and Matt have been to the IM mountain. All have offered support along the way. My family's love and support is always present.
But triathlon is a lonely sport. It is a sport of self focus. Hours and hours for months and months as miles and meters roll by. I am on my own.
I am a single man with a goal of Ironman. I have little to offer in terms of time at this point in my life. Romance is remote and I am OK with that.
I have no regret or past resentments towards Jen for the time she spent training. I actually look back at being an IM spouse with great appreciation. Sharing her journey was an enriching part of who I am today. But I know the commitment to Ironman is huge and being the partner to an athlete trying to become an Ironman is also a huge commitment. I can't expect that from anyone.
I love to be loved and loneliness is an inherent part of the journey. But loneliness is self defeating and selfish. I have no need for loneliness. Loneliness will not make me an Ironman.

During this time, I must draw from my spirituality to overcome loneliness. I know I am never alone. I know I have alot of people that will be there with me thru out the journey, finish or fail, I am never alone.


I am the most important and irreplaceable piece of equipment I have. Just as I take care of my bike and gear I must care for my body, mind and spirit. Anything I do during my training is coming with me to the UK. It is up to me to make the right choices. I must rebuild my foundation to support an Ironman. Right now I must get back to basics....

Bound to cover just a little more ground...

Friday night I made the decision not to run in the Towpath Marathon or 1/2 marathon.
I made the choice not to spend my money on a finisher medal. I chose a day of solitude in exchange for the time spent with all of my friends yesterday and friday.

I love the towpath. The course is beautiful. The Cuyahoga Valley fall display of change is amazing. One last long race for the year.
The reasons to run this race are countless. I had tapered and maintained a pre race diet all week just in case I wanted to race. Prepared for spontaneity, I sat this one out.

In my little apartment I have a pegboard that hangs above my bike. From the board hangs a collection of finisher medals and the two age group awards I won years back. Beneath my hanging trophies are my bike tools. Like bookends on both sides of my bike are small shelves with bike components, shoes, paddles, goggles, rags, lube for both my bike and myself, sunglasses, tubes, sunscreen, and so on.

The choice not to run a marathon today was a choice to add to the lower half of my pegboard. Had I run I would have spent $65 on entry. The medal would hang beside the others. Instead I spent my money on tools.

I am rebuilding my bike. I have a Giant OCR from 2001. The frame is lite and compact. The components reliable but old and heavy. I have decided to stick with the bike for Ironman.
However it's time for a make over. Time to lighten the load and prep my ride. So currently the bike is completely dismantled except for the bottom bracket. I borrowed a BB tool from Cain Park Cycles, but it didn't quite fit. So off to Bike Nashbar I go for a BBT and a chainwhip.

Anyhow, Sunday arrives and I am itching for a long run. So following a waisted 3-1/2 hours with the Browns, I fill my fuelbelt with some sports drink sample from Cliff, grab some Jelly Belly Sport Beans(time to experiment with new race food). Load an '85 Dead show my friend Jason just gave me onto a minidisc. Strap on my heart rate monitor. Pull on some shorts,socks, shoes, and a tshirt and wrap sunglasses around my face.
I headed over to my old playground at shaker lakes and doan brook for a 2hr run

The Grateful Dead shows make good training partners. My introduction to endurance sports was dancing allnight and playing hackysack at amphitheatres across the country.

The show for this run opened with "Dancing in the Streets", as my shoes hit the pavement on Lancashire.

Later in the run I found myself laughing outloud amongst a crowded trail as the audience chants "let Phil sing" for the bass player. The band gives in and Phil Lesh sings an awkward "Tom Thumb Blues" by Dylan. As I head off road late in the run, the drummers create a tribal beat taking me deeper into the woods off northpark.
When I emerge from the woods I am starting to feel the distance in my legs and the drummers have cleared out for an atonal non-rhythmic space jam. I am feeling tired and weary. The chill of sunset is moving in. Floating thru space and chaos I just want to be done with this run.... I eat the remainder of my Jelly Beans, Jerry plays a firmiliar theme and the band follows into a song called "The Wheel".

"Wheel is turning and you can't slow down
You can't let go and you can't hold on
You can't go back and you can't stand still
If the thunder don't get you then the lightning will

Won't you try just a little bit harder?
Couldn't you try just a little bit more?
Won't you try just a little bit harder?
Couldn't you try just a little bit more?

Round round run around
Gotta get back where you belong
Little bit harder, just a little bit more
Little bit farther than you than you've gone before

Small wheel turn by the fire and rod
Big wheel turn by the grace of God
Everytime that wheel turn round
bound to cover just a little more ground"

-Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter

My legs and resolve come together. My heart rate monitor begins screaming as the band launches into "Truckin".

The last mile my heart rate was pounding 25 BPM faster than it had for the previous 110 minutes. I fell a few minutes short of the 2hrs planned.

Was it the the jelly beans, the dead or both?.

I didn't run a marathon this weekend. I ran a dead show. Long Slow Distance. What a trip.

My marathon is 11 months from now..."Bound to cover just a little more ground".