Training Log Archive: PG

It's usually interesting to look back at the end of a year and think about what was done, and what was not done. And also, what one might hope to do in the coming year.

I look back on 2014 with a sense of pleasure. With regard to orienteering, the year was perhaps unusual in that really only one event mattered, from the point of view of having hopes, and even that was felt to be a very faint hope. The event being the O'Ringen, the hope being to win a day.

It's nothing that I had reason to expect, but very much in my mind was that it was now or never. I was in my first year in M70, that matters. Though probably more important was where the event was, in southern Sweden. Different forests than what the rest of Sweden offers, both in the lack of low vegetation and the relatively firm running surface. Both suit me. For once I felt that I could almost keep up.

And if I'd had to pick a day, it would have been the day in the sand dunes, because I can do that stuff. But the odds were still, what, 1 in 10? 1 in 50? Or worse?

And then it all works out, you have a good run and you get very lucky too, others miss. Unreal.

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Goals are funny things. I've found that while it's very good to have them, it's usually the effort that matters more than the result. One of my fondest memories is a serious attempt at breaking 5 minutes for the mile when I was 45, best until then was about 5:15. Got down to 5:02, and then 5:01, and that was it. But rather than being bummed, it was immensely satisfying because I had made a serious effort.

Of course it's nice to reach the goals too, though sometimes it happens in unexpected ways. Over almost 20 years I made an effort to break three hours for a marathon, had a 3:02 and a 3:01, figured it was not to be, then ran Boston at age 50 in 2:57. Where did that come from? Life is full of surprises.

And then this year at O'Ringen. Second the first couple of days, but a couple of minutes behind. I figured, again, it was not to be. But then, well, you never know.

Enjoy it while you can.

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Otherwise a good year in many ways:

-- Cataract surgery on both eyes, the result is just wonderful. At this point in life you expect all parts of your body (and your mind) to just keep getting worse, so for something to get significantly better is, well, unreal. I used to notice every single day how bad my eyesight was getting. Now I notice every single day how much better it is.

-- The journey taking care of my mom continues. I made a significant change in her care in September, got Lina to quit her job and, along with her family, take over 24-hour care. I laid off all the contract aides, not pleasant but I tried to do it the right way (severance pay, unemployment available, good references, don't burn any bridges). Mom is clearly happier and doing better.

-- I retired from the tax world as of, well, today. I spent a couple of hours at the office yesterday, organizing files, cleaning up loose ends, and all the vibes were that I was making the right decision. Time to move on (though to what, I'm not sure). I will miss the ladies there, always took wonderful care of me, but then I think I have the best of the bargain, can always stop by and chat without having to do any work.

-- My orienteering was certainly good this year, though I competed mostly in M70 so it's hard to know for sure. Right now I'm in a down period, not training, trying to let things heal, so I'm not sure what lies ahead. At some point orienteering will fade away. It has threatened to do that a few times in the past. Perhaps this time it will be for real? Or perhaps not. i certainly hope it's the latter.

-- I feel less of an obligation to do things, like organizing O' events. A long time ago, early 80s, I was meet director for an A meet at Silvermine, it was a fundraiser for the senior team. I think we made about $2,000. My thoughts afterwards were that it would have been so much easier to earn the money elsewhere and just write a check.

That feeling certainly exists now, especially as I see more and more of the bitching that goes on. I love AP, but these days it is mainly for the space it gives me to keep what is in effect a diary (not just a training log). The other discussions are too often dominated by unpleasant people and I just stay away.

But writing a check is still a good thing to do -- you can't take it with you -- so it's a matter of figuring out what is worth supporting. My general theory these days is to find young people doing good things, give them some help, and then enjoy seeing what they can do. Seems like the best investment I can make.

-- I played a fair bit of golf late in the year. I'm enjoying it more and more. I'm sure it helps psychologically that, unlike my running/orienteering, I am playing as well as ever. That will not last, of course, but while it does, there is great pleasure in, as the saying goes, just hitting the ball and going to find it. And with my new eyes, the latter has gotten a lot easier.

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As far any goals relating to sports for this coming year, or forever, I can't really think of any related to O'. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

The one sports goal that is out there, and I'm pretty sure it is out of reach, is to shoot my age on a proper course, tees in the 6,000-6,400 range (the back tees make it just too hard). This year the gap was 8, I think that's as low as it's ever been. Getting as close as 5 should be doable, anything closer than that would take all the stars being aligned right, plus a lot of luck, plus probably steadier nerves than I have, especially on the last hole or two if I knew there was a chance.

Regardless, it is the effort that counts. Though who knows how long the body will be willing and able.

C • Silvermine 6

C • Cataracts 3

Back to the course, this time with Gail and my brother, this time also with the goal of procuring a Xmas present for my niece, who plays golf rarely but vigorously. By the time we were done we had a little gift basket for her, 15 balls, should last her a round or two. She was delighted.

Christmas Day, seemed like a good time to take a walk at the local golf course as it was closed for the day. More precisely, it was also free for the day, quite a few were out anyway. A very pleasant stroll, chatting up quite a few souls, and everyone friendly and in the Christmas spirit.

Should have taken my clubs....

In Austin to visit my brother and his family. Still no running. A couple of walks by Town Lake and a couple at Lions. Very enjoyable visit, glad we went.

An excellent visit to the eye doctor today. Everything looks OK, pressure is fine. I asked about the left retina, should we be thinking about doing something to it. He said right now the risk/reward ratio wasn't good. He'll keep an eye on things, have a look and a laser scan every 6 months. If it stays as is, no sense in doing anything.

And the vision in the right eye is excellent.

Which really changes a few things, like when I'm driving, or watching TV, or playing golf. Which, the golf, I've been doing a bit of this last week, even if it is not really the season. Last time out it was about 33F and a steady wind out of the NW, but I was moving quickly (2:20 for the round) and had four layers on top, and pretty comfortable. And my game is better, it seems, which is fun, and I can certainly see where the ball goes, which makes it a lot more fun.

Back to the eye doc, his first comment was, "That's an interesting blog you've got." I'd sent him a little stuff, plus a couple of photos (the recent one from Quantico, and Cyclops from a few years ago). He said he was really glad I hadn't come in the day after Quantico, not sure how he would have dealt with that. Anyway, we had a lively and amusing discussion, with him saying at some point, "You're right, you're not my usual geriatric." :-)

And I'm convinced, whether it's actually true or not, that I get much better care as a result of all this.

C • I get much better care as a result of all this 2

At Earl's Trails. Very nice conditions (a little bit of snow, more bare ground, and the footing was fine) and weather (40F and sunny). Would have been a very pleasant run, except the right Achilles is still acting up. So maybe more down time?

Sent in my donation to OUSA. Now need to renew AttackPoint. Both good things to do, but one is vital. :-)

Another chance to see who's good at customer service…. :-)

I woke up about 5, needed to pee, the bathroom light's not working, hmm, power must be out. And it's a little chilly, so probably out for a while. I thought about calling the power company, but figured I'd wait until it was light so I could find the phone number, too lazy to go find a flashlight.

Called them about 7, had to use my cell phone, landline (yup, still have one) wasn't working, not even the one extension that works even when the power is off. Pleasant woman took the info, said there were no other reports of outages in the area, so she'd request a service truck, might be half an hour to an hour.

So I have some breakfast, and in about 30 or 45 minutes the power goes on. Excellent.

But then I see the internet isn't working. Do my usual unplugging and replugging, but no luck. Check the two TVs, they're not getting any signal from the cable either.

Call up Comcast, my experience with them in the past has been very good. Same this time. I do the various unplugging and plugging that he suggests, he sends new signals or whatever it is he's doing, but nothing works. He says they'll need to send out a technician, and first appointment is tomorrow afternoon. In this day and age, that seems like forever to wait.

So I keep him on the line to see if there's anything else that we can try. He's talking about some amplifier box that should be checked, but I can't find one. So I head outside to check where the cable comes into the house, nothing there. He's still happily on the phone.

Next stop is the phone pole halfway from the road up to the house (the wires are airborne up to it, then underground to the house). There's a little black box there, but it seems like it's the power lines going through it, not the cable. And while I'm trying to figure that out, I glance down towards the street (which you can't see from the house), and there's one of those utility trucks with a cherry picker and a flashing yellow light. Hmm.

So I head down there, my Comcast guy still with me. And now I see that there are actually three utility trucks, and a police car, and a bunch of orange traffic cones, and a variety of wires all over the place.

One guy is up working at the top of the pole. I chat up two other guys waiting for him to do what he's doing, also chat up the cop. Seems that someone nailed the phone pole about 2 am, either drunk or asleep, you can see the tracks in the snow, no skidding, no turning, the road makes a very slight bend and the tracks just went straight. Took out the pole, took out several of my neighbor's shrubs, the car ended up in his driveway not quite reaching the house.

One of the guys asks if I heard a big bang. I've got good earplugs, never heard a thing.

So, customer service? The power company (Western Mass Electric, part of NortheastUtilities) was out there by about 2:30 am, had to replace the pole, do a whole bunch of work, the road was closed for quite a while. All just what you'd expect and hope for. Except the woman in the call center had no clue. And they have a pretty good system, both when you call in with an outage, and if you want to call back and see what the estimated time is for getting power back. But not this time.

The Comcast guy? Excellent, tried everything he could think of, probably spent 30 minutes on the phone with me, and my experience with Comcast has always been good.

And the guys actually doing the work? The Comcast guy up in the cherry picker, yelled down to me to say what he was doing and how long it might be, and then when he was done, he stopped at the house to make sure it was working. Excellent, again.

Verizon is still working on the phone line. We'll see….

This stuff matters, in business of course, but also in things like orienteering. And since it's always worth remembering the good ones, just have to go back to the Quantico long weekend a month ago for an example of how to really do it right.

C • diagnosis 5

At the Holyoke reservoirs, where the XC races take place in the warmer months. Good footing, just a little bit of crunchy ice.

Roads around town. Pretty dreary day. A little sunshine would be nice.

Stopped in the bank in Litchfield to make a deposit. There were two tellers in sight and both were busy, so I waited where the sign told me to wait. Looked around, I saw one of those old-fashioned silver bells that you ring in places like motels to summon someone to the desk to take care of you.

Except in this case there was a little sign by the bell that said, "Ring the bell if you get excellent service."

Just finished reading that when another teller appeared and called me over. He took care of my needs in a quick, efficient, and friendly way. And so as I headed out, I thought, "Why not…." and rang the bell.

It made a little bit louder noise than I expected, clearly audible to anyone in the rather large room. I glanced over towards the tellers, and they were all smiling, as were a couple of customer service reps sitting a little farther away.

And, of course, I was smiling too. Because I had received excellent service, and now here was this way to share my pleasure.

I don't know how often the bell is rung. I don't know what the employees think of it. But in this one instance, it seemed to put everyone in a good mood. And that is not a bad thing.

Good customer service matters. And I think it also matters that, when you are on the receiving end, that you acknowledge it.

C • Bank. 2

It's been a while since I made one of these, but my brother's 73rd is coming up in a few weeks and, given the accuracy with which we celebrate birthdays, that seemed close enough.

Gail dug out the old recipe -- it's made from scratch, here we are part way along -- and then sat by rather nervously in fear of what bad things I might do to the cake, the kitchen, or both. I had things mostly under control though there were certainly at least a couple of times she kept me from doing something I would have regretted.

The usual problems that I recalled from the distant past were (1) the cake sticking to the pan, (2) big air pockets, and (3) frosting that just didn't behave itself. Managed to avoid #s 1 and 2 this time. The frosting is always a challenge. The looks, that is, the taste is superb. What else would expect when the ingredients are chocolate, butter, cream, sugar, and vanilla?

I did take one shortcut that I probably shouldn't -- skipped sifting the confectioner's sugar for the frosting -- so there were a few tiny lumps of sugar to be seen if you knew to look for them. But that's not so bad.

Between my brother, Lina, and me, we polished off a third of the cake. Another third went off to Texas this morning, and the last third came back to Sunderland. Another challenge to the never-ending diet….

C • Cake! 1

Stopped at Forest Park in Springfield on the way home from Litchfield as it was on the way and seemed like it might be less open to the wind than some other options. Which in fact was the case.

Did most of the XC course, but skipping the section along the little creek as I figured that would be at least partly under water. So 4.5 hills instead of 5.

Moderate rain and about 35F. But I was dressed about right and no wind, so rather pleasant. Except for all the heavy breathing needed every time it went uphill. Starting back after a layoff is never easy.

Short venture out from home. Anything uphill was difficult….

At Charlie's. Seemed maybe OK.

Event: Dover Raid 2014
 

Still a bunch of crusty snow on the ground here, and so looking very much like winter. And a little residual soreness in my Achilles, so still no running.

But an hour and a half south and a bit east the sun was out, it was in the low 60s, there was lots of green grass, and it felt like spring. And just right for a round on the links…. :-)

I joined up with three other guys. I'm usually curious to know a little something about my playing companions, and the standard first question is usually to ask whether they're still working or retired. And if they're still working, what they do that gets them out on the golf course on a Monday afternoon.

So one guy was Bob, still working, was a table dealer at the Mohegan Sun casino just a couple of miles down the road, currently working the 9-5 shift, that's 9 pm to 5 am. Does business tail off after midnight? Nope, busy the whole time. And he said he'd probably stop after 10 holes when the course came by the parking lot, he needed to get some sleep.

And Bob hit the ball pretty good, handicap about 10.

And then there was Richard. Retired for about 8 years, used to work at Electric Boat in Groton, made models, though I failed to find out models of what, or for what. Happily retired, played lots of golf, not real good but not real bad, but he didn't care much for the casino. The jobs it offered were all crap jobs, most of them held by Asians who lived ten to a house….

(You run into this a lot when you ask open-ended questions and just let someone go on a bit without any challenge -- "this" being the racism that is such a part of our culture, and probably all cultures. Here it often seems tied to when your ethnic group came to this country, anyone after you really shouldn't be here. Sometimes I challenge, most times I just let it slide.)

And the third one was Mike, big black guy, only one riding in a cart, so there was less chance to chat him up.

It was quite a fine course, good condition for late fall, and lots of topography, never a level lie, no flats spots on the greens. It seemed to be giving us more than our share of problems, and by the fourth or fifth hole the group behind was clearly waiting on us.

So I tried to encourage faster play. Helped a little, but at the 6th when it was Richard's turn to hit, he was just chatting away with Bob. Seems Richard was having chest pains -- you think orienteers are an older demographic, think about weekday golfers -- so after a bit of discussion Mike was dispatched to give Richard a ride back to the clubhouse. Mike was back in a few minutes and, down to three, we started moving better.

My game, however, was going nowhere. I believe I was heard to say more than once that this course didn't like me. :-)

Finished the front nine, on to the back, the 10th was Bob's last and we both hit quality shots. He made his birdie from 10 feet, I had a kick-in, and he departed for slumberland with a smile on his face.

Now it's down to me and Mike. And Mike is truly awful. Truly truly awful. Though he says that yesterday he was playing much better, today is just one of those days. Maybe he gets the ball airborne half the time? His game today is like the opposite of the Superman splits on AP, if you took the worst splits and put them all together.

But he was pretty cheerful, much more so than I would have been. I was rooting for him more and more, just hit one good shot, just make one putt, but he was consistent. But despite his high shot count we were moving pretty fast. And to make up for my shots on the front nine that had seemed to bounce in all the wrong directions, on the back nine they were bouncing the right way. 46-37.

We finished up. Time for the questions I had so far failed to ask. He was still working, structural engineer for the Navy in New London. Getting close to retirement but he had a daughter in college so he'd probably work a few more years. Where's she go? Eastern Connecticut, just up the road, runs track there, likes it so far. What class she in? Freshman. And I tell him about Evelyn B, also a freshman there, also a runner. Small world. His is named Savannah, goes by Sav….

We mosey over to the cars, chatting away, a very pleasant end to the outing. And another lesson in the variety of humanity.