Philladelphia

15 years ago my grandmother died. I never had a chance to get to know her very well. She lived in North Carolina and we would see her during vacations in Pennsylvania. My best memory of her was sitting on the porch as she gave me a red batters helmet with a "P" logo. She made me promise to always be a fan and root for that team.
I agreed.
After she died(in January 1993) I looked to the heavens and said, "The Philly's will win the pennet for you this year. They did.
true to her order, I am a Philly fan to this day. Sports are great in this regard. You don't have to have a good reason to root for your team. You cheer because they are your team. I always imagined the personal disdain my Grandmother would have had for John Kruk, Lenny Dykstra, and Mitch Williams. These guys were the bad news bears all grown up. Ripped uniforms covered in chewing tobacco and a guy nicknamed "wild thing" did not epitomize the traits that my dads mother admired in people.
This current run by Charlie Manuals 2008 Phills brings my thoughts back to the late matriarch of the Mosbrook family. I am sure she would have been charmed by the managers southern folksy humor.
Absolute beliefs are OK when it's pennet time. Immature childish behavior is perfectly acceptable toward rival fans. We are all guilty of leaving voicemails of the crowd roaring from the late Jake as Victor Martinez launches a HR into Alberts Alley for Some happless Red Sox fan in Iowa as she drops her tofu pup on the carpet....It is for this reason that I am hoping for the sox to comeback.

This was the only absolute allegiance she asked of me. That is a good thing, because during the other major contest this fall, I want to stick with the candidate that epitomizes the human traits that she admired. I want to support the candidate that has held his head up high and presented his plan for America and how it will work. I want to support the presidential hopeful that has focused on his campaign rather than to unleash rumors that stir hatred and fear.

I can't be sure that my Grandmother would vote for the same candidate as I. She was a southern women that shared comments from time to time that most people in Cleveland Heights find offensive.
My guess is she would identify with the other candidate more.
I don't write this to condemn her, or to point out flaws in my family. Her comments were shocking to us mostly because of the beliefs her own son had raised us with. He was always objective. He was a civil rights era news reporter in Cleveland, Ohio. He has had the opportunity to sit and discuss issues with MLK, Carl and Louis Stokes, and Desmond Tutu. He had a chance get a better understanding of who these men were. I never had the feeling that he ever had to look beyond race. I always felt he was far beyond race. His opinions were formed through thorough open minded investigation.

My Grandmother always expected us to stand with dignity. I can overlook a lack of dignity in Mr Dyksta. He was a Philly. His job was centerfield. The man that becomes president however will not be given the same blind eye. Implied bigotry is not a campaign. It is one thing to see people in the Dawg Pound, the old Vet, or Fenway act like a bunch of hateful idiots, but when I see it on a presidential campaign, it is a real turn off.

(I removed the Strongsville video from this post)

Brierman Race Report

The Brierman 50lite triathlon is a .85/40/9.5 mile race in Boonsboro state park near Hagerstown, Maryland. This race features a cold swim on a flat lake, a two loop bike course with a climb up the side of a Mountain, and a run course up and down a very long steep hill. The park is an amazing race venue.

AJ and I arrived Sat. at 2:30. We signed up for the race, listened to the course talk and drove the bike course. The bike course had us both intimidated. The climbs were long and steep. It was obvious we were going to spend much of the day below 10mph. After that we went to the hotel to watch the race in Kona and got a "good" meal.

Sunday we woke up at 5am and got ready to race. We headed to the race site, readied our transition, stood in line for the 2 toilets offered, pulled on the wet suits and headed for the shore.

The swim was two laps on a very calm lake. The water was cold, so I wore two caps. We all started together for a "mass start"(maybe 100 racers). The horn blew and we were off. The swim was really nice. I just swam nice long even strokes and enjoyed watching the sun rise over the surrounding mountains. I was bummed when the swim ended. This was a perfect swim for me. I think it was my best of the year.

T1. I entered on the wrong side of the rack. This slowed me a bit. I put on a long sleeve jersey, my helmet, glasses and headed up the first steep climb out of the park.
"clack,clack....."
Many riders were unable to stay up. I started in an easy gear and had little problem. The ride was a mix of fast descents (48mph top speeed) Long steep climbs, and sharp turns. It was far tougher then any I have ever ridden. The highlight was the amazing fall colors and veiws from the side of the mountain.

The course also was littered with McCain/Palin signs. My malicious side had plans made up for the signs, but they were never realized as I feared some folk may not be able to distinguish aero bars from antlers. The ride was mostly very lonley on the second loop. Once the sprint group left the course we were so spread out on winding mountain roads, that I never really saw other riders. I wondered how far back I was. feared I was dead last until I passed one rider and spotted another that rode 500' behind me.
As I returned to the park down the steep hill we had previously ascended I was excited to start running.
T2. I entered and had to push my way through two people from the sprint race chatting in front of my rack space. I got my run stuff together and headed out for a nice run.

So I figured we would start with a short climb and out and back run around the lake, along park roads. What actually happened was a long climb up a steep hill followed by a long steep descent before turning around and running it in reverse. Half way down to the turn around I was caught by the athlete who had been riding 500' feet behind me on the bike course. I began to match his pace, and we ran the rest of the course together. His name was Scott. We paced and managed the long climb well before opening up our pace as we ran the final fast mile back to the finish. We crossed at the same time. We were glad to be done.

I checked on AJ to see how he did. He said, "I won."
We had been told we couldn't have a race shirt due to our late entry, so I asked if they found an extra shirt for the winner of their inaugural race.
He replied "No".
This happened in front of a Newspaper reporter who was interviewing AJ.Hee hee hee.

I am happy with my performance. Had I planned on doing this race, I would have spent more time doing hill work over the last 3 weeks.
The race management really kind of sucked and the cost for entry was to high. They had made promises to us via email and danced around the issue when we arrived at the race site. AJ had been told he would be given a discount and I would be charged the online fee since the site closed earlier than indicated online. When AJ asked for the discount, the RD took a shot at him saying, "I will cut you a check when you get the 1st place medal."
After he won, the RD continued to dance around the issue. We are waiting to see if he actually honors his promise and sarcasm.
I loved the course both for the challenge and beauty. I will return if Piranha Sports keeps it's word. The venue is awesome. They have a good race. I just thought the management provided very little for an expensive race. If I do return I will register far in advance.

Season Finale

AJ and I are headed to Boonsboro, Maryland for the Brierwood half lite 50 triathlon. I am really excited because the race will be in the middle of the mountains. I am hoping to catch fall at its peak. I have to admit, I am most likely treating this one as a tour rather than a race. But then I do feel good.

Also, here are my predictions for Kona.

1 Craig Alexander
2.Andy Potts
3 Ferris Al-Sutan

1 Chrissie Wellington
2 Sam McGlone
3 Bella Comerford

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Gig this Saturday

For anyone interested, I will be playing my music at the Phoenix Cafe in south Euclid this coming Saturday at 8pm.
The Phoenix is at the corner of Mayfield and S. Green.

Hope to see some of you there.
Charlie

My Kona dream is selfish

With one last triathlon this season, I consider not where I have been, but where I would like to go. I am realy trying to figure out what I look to gain from the sport and what kind of goals I should try to work toward.
It would be obvious. I would like to win Kona. I am realistic however and I know that for this to happen , a great disaster would would have to befall all of humanity. Since I can not wish suffering on others, my Kona dream is selfish. I worry also that my hopes for world peace could be the result of much suffering before the world could go on in peace.
In my on going attempt to reduce the harmful impact of my life here on earth, I have created some simple goals for next season.

Goals
1. Have lots of fun!
2. Reach out to those who are new to the sport.
3. Continue to search for peace within my self. Be the peace I hope to see.
4. DREAM BIG dream small. Dream , always dream.