Thursday, March 20, 2008

Hemingway and Holly

Trisaratops will be the one to blame. The Ironmom, who has a very popular blog zipped a comment my way. She suggested I shoot for a 1:50 in the Cleveland Half Marathon in mid May. Thats what she is pointing towards, and the more I think about it, the 1:50 will be the perfect Intermediate Goal for me. Thats about 8:30 per mile. With the St. Malachi race in the books, I have made a new, short term goal. 8:10pace for a 5k race, sometime in April. Know of any good races????? Shoot me an email, por favor. Thanks TriSaratops for giving me the Motivation. I also posted my (things could change, but lets get this down) Schedule for 08.


I have to say, Sara's blog was one of the first ones that I read when I ventured into the endurance blogosphere. Very entertaining stuff. Charlie'sTrifolk, I first checked out and Jodi's and DaisyDucs as well. All Cleveland area triathletes. All their links are in the margin to the right. I first starting reading blogs last summer. It was in early October, when I fired up this bad boy. Since then, I've come to read lots of great blogs from near and far.!!!

DO IT THE HEMINGWAY


Ernest Hemingway has inspired many writers all over the world. In a way, we bloggers of the endurance kind are doing things the Hemingway. The bearded wonder always believed that a writer could treat a subject honestly only if the writer had participated or observed the subject closely. HELLO!!! Thats what we endurance bloggers do. We sweat, we grind, we suffer the agonies of the quest to expand our horizons. All the while, we peck at our keyboards and reach others with our accounts of the experience. Hemingway figured the work would be flawed because those reading would sense the lack of expertise. He ran with the Bulls, or went deep sea fishing and many other things and those experiences would find the printed page.


Hemingway wrote sparingly. He made every word count. How would he describe racing in a triathlon????? Heres my version of Old Man and the Sea. (or Triguyjt in a wetsuit.)


OLD MAN AND HIS WETSUIT

He gazed at the water. It invited his form. He dove in. The liquid taunted him. He stroked assuredly. The distance, 2.4 miles was covered in 1 hour and 20 minutes. He was tired and swallowed much seawater.

He left the sea and ran to his bike.

"How far will you bike?", asked the woman

"Not far"

"Really?"

"Yes, really"

"Good luck. Will I see you again?"

"Yes, but first I have many hills to climb".

"Godspeed".

"I would like a banana", he said. "The banana will sustain me".

"Would you like a ripened one, or should I climb that tree?".

"Climb the tree, and fetch me a Gatorade"

He conquered the hills and was very speedy on the bike. After 6 hours, he was back to put away his bike. He still had a marathon to run. He was sweating alot, and noticed the woman was gone. Where did she go?? Damn those women!!


(and so on, and so forth. Thats the essence of Hemingway....I think)

HERES TO HOLLY

Thanks to the Cleveland Plain Dealer for an nice article today on wheelchair racer Holly Koestner. Holly has raced all over America and is bearing down on her goal of racing marathons in all 50 states. She is an inspiring example of dedication and determination. I poked around the web for more stuff on her. This piece written in 2005 was about her incredibly gutsy finish to the Marathon in the South Dakota Black Hills which began at Mt. Rushmore and finished at Crazy Horse Monument. South Dakota was where the Bride and I first lived in 76-77 as newlyweds when I worked at KEVN TV. I loved the Black Hills. However, the hills can be brutal and to push up those inclines in a wheelchair at the end of a marathon takes an amazing person. She belongs in the J.T. Motivation Nation Hall of Fame.

22 comments:

Lily on the Road said...

When the student is ready, the teacher appears...thank you JT for teaching me so many things and introducing me to the stories of these amazing Athletes ... the human spirit is just unbelievable!

I look forward to reading more and more of these inspirational adventures about hero's such as Holly.

Viv said...

Holly, sure is inspiring!

LMAO at the Hemingway short story you wrote. That is great classic Hemigway!

I look forward to hearing you hitting your goal at the Cleveland 1/2.

Thanks for the tips on my blog on dealing with this sick stuff an training :-)

Charlie said...

Your life as an athlete certainly makes you one of the best sports writers in town. During your broadcast it is always obvious how much genuine respect you have for the athletes you cover.
Keep it up JT Hemingway

Mnowac said...

Too funny! JOg into Spring 5K in Independence is okay. I've done it before. It just runs through a neighborhood, but it's pretty flat. It was my first 5K, so I have fond memories! I believe the Old Oak Run is good also.

Rainmaker said...

Nice Hemingway minisetion...everything in the world ends with 'the womens!'. :)

Kim said...

Hey I know Holly! She is a member of the John Towle Cleveland Chapter of the 82nd Airborne Association-we've met up at a few holiday parties! I may have to rustle up a paper!

rocketpants said...

and so on ....and so forth...and ON AND ON AND ON...ok so I wasn't a fan of Old man and the sea, but that was a good tribute all the same :-)

Thanks for another great athlete to inspire us!

Jodi said...

I think you should be able to go sub-8's EASY in a 5k. My 1/2 mary PR is 1:52 and my 5k PR is 21:50 (granted, they were a year apart). Let me know which one you find... I just might join you!

:-)

Jodi

Brian said...

The tribute to old man and the sea is a classic. It ranks up there with your ironman rap song. It might even top it.

For cleveland if you're running a 1:50 half I'll be chasing you. If I pass you you're not making your goal. I'll be there for your first half at least.

A classic from old man and the sea.

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed your version of Old Man and the Sea! Hemingway would be proud :)

Good luck with your 2008 schedule and goals. 8:30 miles for a half marathon will be awesome!!

Steve Stenzel said...

That's a great take on Hemingway!!

Eric said...

Nice way to modify your goals as you check your progress into the season. Who knows, come race day for the half marathon you may feel quicker than expected.

April 5k....I've always been partial to the Old Oak Run.... http://www.hermescleveland.com/roadracing/events/oldoak.asp

Fairly flat and fast. Daisy won her age group at that race last year.

Marci said...

Reading about Hollys' finish is amazing! I guess its' true...
Anything is Possible

Wes said...

I did a 8:06 average pace at my last 5K. I think you can go sub-8 too :-) Nice effort at the Hemingway rendition. I've never been a big fan of his, mostly cause his topics never really interested me.

Another inspirational athlete. Thanks for the the links!!

TRI TO BE FUNNY said...

Hell, I think Hemingway would be very brief if he wrote an essay on triathletes. One word: crazy.

Glad I get to train and blog about it :-) Great goal setting for the Half-Marathon!

Iron Pol said...

Love the posts on the individuals who could have taken the "easy" way and given in to their physical challenges.

Thanks for the comments on my blog. I finally got off my butt and updated my Tri Blog Community page to include your site. And it now seems my two year old has gotten out of bed.

JenC said...

Great post! Go for the gold in May! You can do it!

Trisaratops said...

Glad to toe the line with you on May 18th! :)

What a wonderful story! Thanks for sharing.

Love your version of Hemingway!

KC Stine said...

Hi Triguy, Lily on the road recommeded your blog to me. I love the way you tie in Hemingway with the blogging and endurance.

I'm looking to try my first tri in June, so any tips from an experienced athlete would really help. I just started all this endurance stuff after I turned 50, so your perspective would be valued.

Patricio said...

WOW.... that was really nice!
Thanks for sharing that.
PC

SingletrackJenny (formerly known as IronJenny) said...

I think you will do sub 1:50. I will predict 1:48:48.
Love the Hemingway!

Unknown said...

I like your version of the Hemingway story.

And love reading about the inspirational folks you've been including in your posts.

Happy Easter!