4:45 x 2, Mowing the muck, Getting off on the right foot, muscle up madness, 9-11

So Ali was supposed to do her long run Saturday morning with Michelle.  I told her I would go with although I planned to run 7 miles instead of 14, I figured I would keep myself busy until Ali finished up.  Well after the alarm went off Ali looked at her phone and saw a message from Michelle.  Her kids had her up most of the night because they were sick so she wanted to put off the run until Sunday.

Ali was happy to go back to sleep but I told her since I was up I was going to just go run.  I knew I wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep.  I got to the group running location a few minutes late so the majority were already out on the road.  I did a quick stretch and was on my way.

I hadn’t done the Saturday morning group run in ages.  I have just had other stuff going on or been sick and not feeling up to it.  In addition, ever since the run in Central Park, compounded by the run in Ireland, my right knee has been bothering me with some swelling that doesn’t want to go away fully.

I ran a good portion of the first half of the run with Tom, a fellow board member whom I like.  Eventually I did manage to track down a few people although my pace was far from stellar.  (9:45 average)  My body was not loving running the 7 mile route but I endured.  I need to keep at it since the Tough Mudder in December wedges in a 12 mile run WITH 20+ physical obstacles.

When I got home Ali and I went out on a bike ride.  Ali actually agreed to go out on Immokalee Road with me, her first REAL road biking since her crash.  Originally I told her there was a turn around at the 5.5 mile mark that we could do instead of going the full 17.25 mile distance.

I let Ali lead the entire ride so she could set the pace and so I could create a barrier behind her for cars to swing wide around.  She did quite well, on the long straightaway on the way out she was actually going 19+ mph.  The 5.5 mile turnaround came and went, I didn’t point it out to Ali because she seemed like she was doing just fine.  We wound up doing the full distance in something like 1:08.  I believe that may be the fastest Ali has ever done that ride.  I am hoping the ride serves as a springboard for her riding confidence so she puts in more time on the road.

I wanted to give mowing the grass a shot and asked Ali if she could do some of the inside chores before she went to her Phi Mu luncheon.  The standing water had receded in many places although damp, spongy ground was everywhere.

Mowing was a challenge.  The really mucky spots required some strategy to mow.  I would make sure I had forward momentum and hit the soft patch straight on so I could power through the mud without getting stuck.  A few times I slowed down into a tire spinning, mud throwing mess that coated both the tractor and my body.  I managed to mow almost everything that normally gets mowed.

After eating lunch to take a break I went back outside with my boots and weed whacker.  By this time of day it was oppressively warm and humid.  I decided I wanted to knock down the 2-3 foot tall grass that was poking out of the water filled drainage ditches out front, hence the boots.  Unfortunately once I stepped into the 9-10 inch high water I realized that my water proof boots were no longer water proof.  My left foot immediately was soaked.  A later inspection revealed the sole of that boot was cracked, causing the leak.

I didn’t let the wet foot slow me down, I methodically marched up and down the ditch, mercilessly chopping off the heads of the high grass.  I did a full whacking of the property since it had not been done for at least 3 weeks.  By the time I was done I was really wiped out.  Spending all that time out in the sun on the back of my early morning run was a formula for exhaustion.

So Sunday morning the alarm again goes off at 4:45 am.  This time my role was exclusively in run support, I planned to shadow the girls on my bike carrying food/water for their 14 mile run.  I elected to put my Dawes back into service for this duty since it already has the aero bars for varied body position.  I also reattached the rear rack to carry even more water beyond the 4 water bottles I had mounted to the bike/strapped to my back.

We started a little after 6 am and finished up a little after 9.  The ride was not very comfortable for me, made worse by my time on the bike the day before.  My feet, shoulders, back, hands, neck and ass all took turns in aggravating me during the 3 hours on the bike.   Of course dealing with the discomfort was a lot better than dealing with running 14 miles which both Ali and Michelle did a nice job of pulling off.

Next week while Ali is up north I volunteered to be Michelle’s run support once again, this time for a much longer 20 miles+ run.  I am going to make a few changes to the Dawes like throwing regular pedals on it and swapping out the seat for a more comfortable version.

Originally we had loose plans to swim at the water park after Ali’s run but we decided to scrub it and just head home.  Ali was pooped and was eager to nap and I didn’t feel like farting around for an hour waiting for the water park to open up.

While Ali napped I decided to head outside to do some work on my freshly mowed bar park.  First up I made my 2nd attempt at this month’s Bar-barian Challenge.  I thought for something different I would do it on the 11 foot high bar.  I pulled down a 63 second effort, a couple seconds better than my first attempt.  To be honest I was kind of surprised I did better on the high bar since the thicker pipe makes grip tougher.

Next up I dipped my foot into some back lever practice.  Anyone familiar with what a real back lever is will laugh out loud at my effort.  My first try was just insanely bad, with my back being almost perpendicular to the ground instead of parallel. The two subsequent attempts weren’t much better.  I have a long way to go with those.

Finally I spent the most time doing muscle up training.  I really want to work on these, my goal is to be able to do one at Tompkins Square Park when we return in December.  I did a bunch of assisted muscle ups on my parallel bars.  At the end I tried a non assisted muscle up and got very close as you can see in the picture.  My technique, or lack there of is what is stopping me at this point.  Unfortunately my unassisted attempt had to be my last attempt after I ripped open two blisters on my left hand and one on the right.  You can see the session here.

So I fired up my Directv receiver and was happy to see it was working correctly.  I woke up Ali just as the game was getting ready to start.  I was unaware that the Rams were forecast as potential division winners this year, I had assumed the game would be less challenging for the Birds.

Well the way the game started things were looking pretty bad.  First after a very unimpressive opening possession by the Eagles the defense responded by letting Stephen Jackson gallop 50 yards on the first play for a touchdown.  I was like WHAT THE F??!!!  I was not a happy camper.

Well luckily as the game went on the Eagles slowly turned the momentum around and by the end they uncharacteristically closed the door instead of allowing the Rams back into the game with a soft prevent defense. Mike Vick was pretty hit and miss with his arm, missing some easy throws but he made up for it with his legs, running for 100 yards.

The Eagles defense was pretty soft on the run but held the Rams to minimal passing yardage.  They still exhibited that Andy Reid team tendency to give up crucial penalties on 3rd downs where they otherwise would get off the field, pulling the fopaw three times.

On the positive side, DeSean Jackson had a nice game, grabbing big yards including a TD.  LeSean McCoy also ran the hell out of the ball.  He really can make me almost forget about Brian Westbrook.  The new kicker did a decent job despite his incredibly scrawny physique.

Desean also makes the negative list.  He dropped several balls he absolutely should have caught for big yardage. Unlike the kicker, the new punter was more bad than good, launching several wounded ducks.  Asante Samuel pissed me off when he carelessly dropped an incredibly easy interception and then laughed about it.  We don’t pay you millions to shit the bed on easy plays, don’t laugh about it.

The Rams got smashed with injuries during the game, losing something like 6 players including Jackson and Stafford.  Talk about a bad way to start your year, ouch.  I felt bad for them, almost.

I checked in on some other NFL games throughout the afternoon.  I felt embarrassed for Donovan.  Not only was his first pass as a Viking picked off, his numbers for the day were DREADFUL, 7-15 for something like 39 YARDS.  Wow I guess we Eagle fans that were critical of McNabb were not just blowing smoke.  It makes you realize the good job the coaching staff did working around his flaws. Evidently other coaches in the league are not up to that task. It was nice to see the Giants and Cowboys go down in flames as well.

My fantasy team fared well, despite bad numbers by my QB Matt Ryan.  I am sitting up by 30 points with my opponent having one player left to play, Darren McFadden.  Unless he has the best day by far of his career tonight my victory should be pretty assured.

Of course I didn’t forget that yesterday was 9/11.  Not only was it 9/11, it was the 10 year anniversary of the tragic event that has morphed our country ever since. I didn’t spend much time watching the various shows documenting/commemorating the event other than the pregame activities during football.  Personally I don’t need to watch the planes fly into the buildings one more time nor be reminded of just how devastating that days events were. I remember.

In the big picture 9/11 was the launching point for a decade of bad times for our country.  It was the impetus for the two wars that have leeched money by the ton every single day since they began without accomplishing any meaningful/helpful change for the US, besides killing Bin Laden recently.  It also marked the beginning of an economic downturn that we never really have escaped.

When you look at the state of our deeply divided, what can you do for me, f everyone else country it really makes me sad, especially when you recall the unity this country experienced shortly after the attack.  How that mutated into our current state of existence is a lingering tragedy that has no signs of abating anytime soon.

On our trip to NYC we will definitely be visiting Ground Zero. It will be a solemn, powerful and emotional moment.