Back at it this morning! 4 easy recovery miles jogging along the W&OD Trail and the Four Mile Run trail. A few robins and cardinals flitted about, the emerging leaves filled the woods with brilliant green, and the stream burbled along. The tulips and grape hyacinth are in full bloom, along with the pansies, and some unidentified flowering trees (UFTs). Our pink dogwood is just starting to pop. The scary immigrant guys still congregated under the bridge as always, smoking pot, but didn't bother me much on such a beautiful day. I thought about the old days when a four mile outing would have had me sore and resting for four days, but today it just seemed like a normal pretty day enjoying the trail.
Admittedly, I spent most of yesterday on the couch in front of the TV with the laptop, but it was an excellent day for it!
First I watched Catherine Ndereba's inspiring come-from-behind victory in the Boston Marathon, while checking the online splits for several folks I know online from various email lists. Bravo, OLN, for excellent TV coverage of the women's race! From the weather reports it sounded like one of those bright days that is delightful for spectators, but after you've run a dozen miles in it, the sun feels blistering hot and the winds feel like a relentless blast furnace in your face. John Kerry's daughter Vanessa ran an impressive 3:31. One by one they finally came in: Lee Crumbaugh, April Peerless, Bob Mina, David Jones, Barbara Grandberg ... but I waited and waited for results for Eric Bruce and IRONM4N Shelley, to no avail - I think they must have had a rather miserable day. Later I heard Eric made it in about 5:50 with a painful foot. :( No report either from that wacky Dave Decker, who had planned to run from the finish to get to the start, and then turn around and do it again. Go figure. There's always an interesting story from every runner on a marathon course!
Then I watched the telecast of Lance Armstrong's announcement of his retirement at the end of the Tour de France next July 24, "win or lose" - after a full hour of the "Lance Chronicles" padding that OLN used to kill time. Actually I would have rather heard some of the interviews with the riders in the Tour de Georgia, like Bobby Julich, who was seen taking interview questions looking a little scruffy (somebody give that boy an electric razor!), but none of it could be heard.
Then the sad news arrived that Olympic gold medalist Tyler Hamilton has been handed a 2-year suspension. There are still a lot of unanswered questions floating around in this first-ever USADA sanction for blood doping, and I still like Tyler. The dissenting opinion (at the end of the ruling) is well worth reading in this case. If he's guilty, he can sure fake sincerity and bewilderment better than anyone I've ever seen.
I sure wish Lance and Tyler would take up triathlon (again). Wouldn't THAT be a hoot, going out on the same course as those two!? That's one thing that's fun about going out in road races and triathlons - I'm actually competing with the elites! Now, granted, I have always lost hugely so far and I'm out on the course usually more than twice as long, but there's always that possibility at the next race....
And as I write this the news arrived that there is a new Pope in the world. Interesting times we live in.
Over two days and still no official timing results whatsoever from the CAN Triathlon. Definitely NOT a good thing.
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