Chicago Turkey Trot and Poi Dog Pondering

My sister Sue and neice Sarah invited us to Chicago for the Thanksiving holiday. I always loved the windy city. I lived there for two years when I was younger. The only drawback to spending the holiday outside of Cleveland was knowing that I would miss the Turkey trot. I have raced a TT in Warren Oh. so I guessed Chicago might have a Thanksgiving race of their own. I googled it and found a race in Lincoln Park on Thursday called Turkey Trot.

Race morning I woke and headed from Evenston down Lake Shore Drive with Susie and Sarah to the Lincoln Park Zoo hoping to get my packet amongs 6500 runners. The race organization was Capri, who handles Steelhead and the Chicago Triathlon. Large numbers don't seem to be a problem for Capri, so packet and chip pick up went smoothly.

We had 45 minutes to kill prior to the race so we meanered around the sponser booths including a dog obedience school that entertained my 9 year old niece prior to the race with some friendly canines.

The weather was a crisp 39 degrees with no wind and sunny skies. I stripped down to a long sleeve CTC shirt and my tights. I wore an ACE ankle brace to protect my recent sprain. I lined up at 10 till 9 amongst the 6000+ runners and waited and waited and waited.

At 9:20 the race began a bit late,but it began. We walked to the start and started running slowly with the crowd. The 8K course followed park paths and was very narrow. I wasn't sure where my fitness was, having rested my injury all month, but I seemed to move well through the crowd. I knew no one so I just stuck to my running sans one quick conversation with another Ironman vet.

Aside from the density of the field and narrow course, I really enjoyed the scenery of the Chicago sky line and Lake Michigan. The crowd was so thick that I was never able to move at race pace. I crossed the finish line in 47:06. Best of all my ankle felt fine and I was in the top half of the field.

Following the race I found my sister and Sarah and we headed to the car so we could get back to Evenston to get dinner ready. Unfortonatly The parking lot was jammed for an hour as we sat and waited to leave. We literally did not move for 50 minutes. Sarah was not happy about this situation. Eventually we did get out and back north for a dinner of thanksgiving and togetherness. My brother, folks, sister and niece ate a bird. I had tofurkey. It was good.

Also while in Chicago, we had cocktails atop the Hancock building. I also went to see one of my favorite bands Poi Dog Pondering on Friday. My friend Mickey joined me for the concert as we danced up a storm. It was the first time we had a chance to hang out since she was married 2 months back. Poi Dog was great, but the crowd was much more subdued then I recall in years past. I realized most of the audience was my age and not as active as I remember from the last time I saw the band in '96. Mickey is in her mid 20's and I am kinda young and fit for a 40 year old, so we were the only folks really dancing.

It was lot of fun. I am so happy I stay fit. It really feels good to stay young. So many of my friends are active, so I forget that age slows down so many in my age group. Seeing the aging effect of my peers reaffirms the need and commitment to fitness.

“Thanksgiving for Every Wrong Move” is a Poi Dog song. Thanksgiving for my will to move is my thanks this holiday.

Keep on moving!

Looking back

I have been done with my 2008 season since Brierman. A few days before the election, I sprained my ankle and more or less shut down my training for the year. I have jumped on the trainer, one run and done a little lifting. I did the tri swimming workout this past week, but nothing else. I have decided to give my self a serious break. However I am becoming restless and know I have to get it going again.
The first step is to wrap up this past season. I intend to do that right here.

Having achieved such a long term goal in 2007 by completing an Ironman, 2008 was a motivational challenge for me. Coming off that race, I signed up for IM Louisville having not really spent the time considering what I had just done and what I had given up to achieve it. My off season seemed to be without seam. The motivation was not as natural. I rarely skipped workouts, but I was not always enthusiastic.

The spring included several road races, but the high light was training with Nichole for her first 26.2 and seeing her to that goal.

My tri schedule started with Deer Creek. It was a fun race. Camping was the highlight.
Morgantown was an awful race for me. I was ready to quit and I had stomach issues on the run. My attitude that day was a wakeup call. I had to do a serious gut check after this race. It did push me in a positive direction as I went into Steelhead. I was disappointed by the canceled swim, but I ended up having my best effort in long course racing. The positives from Steelhead carried me into Ironman confident and excited.
Ironman was a tough race for me. I had a mechanical breakdown which could have been avoided. I had a nutitional breakdown due to the heat. I made it through and overcame alot of adversity that day. I think a lot of folks might have dropped out under the same situation. I did not. I finished the race before being taken to medical. I am proud of my effort.
The Brierman was tough. I maintained my conditioning leading into this race, so I was fit. The course was as demanding as I have ever raced. It was also as beautiful as I have raced.

The best part of my '08 season was the camaraderie. I traveled to races with Tracie, Zac, Nichole, Bbop, Jack, AJ, Brendon and a couple other folks. Shared hotels and road trips make up most of the time spent racing, and I had a blast through all of it.
Overall I think I grew a lot this year. I developed some good friendships, stayed fit, and I had fun.
Goal achieved.

Citizen Houser

Cleveland has lost some great people this year. Fannie Lewis, Stefanie Tubbs Jones, Paul Newman and Herb Score.
For me the greatest loss is my friend Ed Houser. He died Friday. His level of activism was unmatched. If you ever visit Whiskey Island, know that Ed Houser made your visit possible. He single handedly fought the port authority and kept them from selling the land off for private use. He believed the lakefront should belong to all of us. He devoted ALL of his time and energy to this mission.
So long Ed.
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/11/ed_hauser_47_environmental_act.html

If you were paying attention.

Back in May I mentioned a sports story I thought worth paying attention to.
http://charliestrifolk.blogspot.com/2008/05/consistency.html

Congrats on another Cy Young for the Tribes starters.

I am a patriot.

I was born in 1968. MLK and RFK were both murdered that year. The city of Cleveland still smoldered from the Hough riots. Our nation in my early life was marred by the Kent State shootings, Vietnam, Watergate, the Iranian hostage crisis.
By the time I had become aware enough to start understanding politics, Reagon was being inaugerated and Jimmy Carter was sent to Germany to welcome the hostages back. The timing of the hostage release has never sat well with me. I have always suspected that GHW Bush played a dishonest roll in that negotiation. The Iran/Contra scandel futher fed this concern. Our nations intervention in Nicaugua and El Salvador while ignoring South Africa and the issues surrounding the Palestinian people left me to question our sincerety in promoting freedom. The invassion of Panama intentions also seemed a bit suspect, as the control of the canal was to return back to Panama within 11 years.
The Clinton years were good for me. However the deaths of Ron Brown and Steven Foster never sat well. The foolishness of Bill Clinton's perjury, behavior and the Ken Starr witch hunt left me still distrustful of our leadership.
I had been concerned with GW Bush since '92. His "election" left me feeling completely helpless. Any hope in democracy working on a federal level was vanishing. I do think he handled 911 with poise and confidence. I had hoped for a compassionate reaction, but I was realistic and understood the attacks on Afganastan. As the Bush adminastration began using our emotions to gain support for an attack on Iraq, my optimism weakened. The unbelievable failure during Katrina futhur cemented my absolute distrust in the intentions of the White House leadership.

The point I am tyrying to make in my look back on American history over the past 40 years is that I have never had the pride in America that I was taught I should have. I have never felt that we were living up to the promise. We were living on past success and our nation was no longer a model for liberty. We were relying on past glory. The will of America was tired and weak. We had been beaten down not by our enemies, but by our own leadership. Our elections had become nothing more then ceremonial. Democracy on a federal level seemed lost. Though I loved my country and all that we believed in, I lacked faith that we had actually maintained the vision that so many had fought for.

When the primaries began, I could have gotten behind Hillary Clinton or John McCain. Both candidates seemed capable and logical in the never ending succession of "Business as Usual" politics that we have lived with since my birth. Hillary did represent something more, but.....not much.
A year ago I lent my music to the Kucinich campaign. I felt Dennis would introduce discussion that I felt important. I had no expectation that his run would last long, but he shared my views and I wanted them to be heard.
As the Ohio primary neared, I struggled between Mrs Clinton and the young senator from Illinois. As I entered the booth I took a deep breath and made a choice.. I wondered if I had just voted for a candidate that had no chance.........I was however willing to go out on a limb to vote for not who I thought could win, but who I thought would bring real change to our nation.

Tuesday so did the majority of our nation.

I have never experienced pride in our nation like I have this week. I have never seen America live up to its past glory and promise of the American dream. I know there is still a long way to go. I know it is going to take time and at times it will be uncomfortable. But like anything worth doing, the toughest part is making the decision to do it. The tough part is believing that we are ready and able to acomplish the things we believe in.

This week we have made a decision to continue the true dream of America. This week I finally understand what it is to be proud to be an American.

Fear No More!

I haven't written much lately. I haven't been training and I am nursing an ankle sprain. I think my lack of posting though has much more to do with the changes we are experiencing. It all seems so much bigger then anything I have to say about it.

The past eight years have brought us three major events. 911, Katrina, and President elect Barack Obama.
The first event was fear. Fear has compromised our constitution and sense of humanity. It has taken us to war. It had promised no end.

Katrina was the slap in the face many of us needed. The responce was unacceptable. We had left our most vulnerable citizens behind. The recklessness of our leaders became obvious.

What has happened this week is hope.

Barack Obama's election has transcended race. Tuesday was not just special for black America, Tuesday was special for all of America. Tuesday we looked beyond fear and into a future of hope and unlimited possibility. We were able to rely on the strength of our constitution. Freedom would not be manipulated by fear. We stood in the face of every limitation and fear we had been taught and defied 20th century beliefs.

I am very happy that Barack Obama has won because I believe in his platform. I am happy that the "Glass ceiling" has been broken. I am happy that all Americans can believe in the same opportunities. I am happy that the perception of America will change within our country and globally.

Mostly I am happy because WE have changed. We have rejected fear and embraced hope.
This is the America I believe in.

Everything

I have been thinking about everything lately.
I have come to one conclusion:

Everything is really time consuming.

Anything is possible