tragedy is relative
last night before track fisch was unusually talkative, first inveighing against a nameless seasoned runner who told another she was running too many miles (50/week) for marathon-training, when in reality recovery (lack thereof) was the issue. he also displayed the cover of the latest Running Times which shows 5K-specialist Meseret Defar in mid-stride. - never mind the fact that she weighs about 35 pounds. this is perfect form. you want to look just like this.
then he paused and with great gravity intoned - i have some bad news to share with you all. oh no - i thought - coach has cancer. or one of his kids was at virginia tech. instead, he told us that two members of his outdoor track team were apprehended stealing bikes in lancaster this weekend, that the act was obviously premeditated because they were using forged documents, and they might end up in jail because they're no longer minors.
- i just wanted you to hear it from me, if you haven't already - fisch said. i've thought about it a lot. i've done my grieving. here i cracked a smile. i thought fisch was making light of the fact that he's upset over a couple kids stealing bikes when there's so much bad shit in the world. but he wasn't joking. he's really cut up about this and when i talked to him after the workout, i realised that in fisch's mind the dumb-ass actions of these two kids reflect on him personally, on his squad, and UD's track program in general.
it's so convenient to believe you live in a vacuum and that whatever shitty decisions you make punish only yourself. i like to think i'm the only one responsible for myself, and therefore i and only i shoulder any burdens that precipitate from the stupid stuff i do; but that's Fantasy World. maybe fisch is at fault too for assuming so much responsibility for his runners' actions, and maybe he's taking all this a little personally, but the fact remains that these kids caused The Kindest Man on the Planet a load of pain & suffering. i wonder if they understand this.
-they're just skinny kids, too - he mourned - they will NOT do well in jail.
- well, they'll be even better runners when they come out - i said. faster. quicker. he grinned wryly. he can still find humor in the situation, so all's not lost.
fantastic workout, btw. 800m-1200m-1200-800-1200-1200-800, with 800s @ 5K pace and 1200s @ 10K, with half the interval distance as recovery. i love running.
5 comments:
do you understand what all those clicks and numbers mean now, Speedy Jr?
yes, it's a giant let-down, since these are 2 of coach's best kids, in both attitude & ability, and neither of them come from an environment where theft is necessary or cool.
funny how we can do something totally out of character without even flinching, if conditions are right, at any time in our lives.
my AppleCare Protection Plan kit arrived this morning. little teaser -- laptop due 5/1.
i miss kerrygold butter AND barca.
I've been reading magazines and all sorts. Speed J? ahahaha, oh yer 'avin' a laff.
I told the paramour about your Lapple and he got a funny gleam in his eye. I call that gleam murderous envy.
Mmmm Kerrygold butter on mashed potatoes with grav--------------y.
Righ ho, dinner.
do you get Running Times there? the cover shot IS inspiring tho we will never look like that since for one we're not black, are we.
murderous envy? i thought i was merely catching up, and you were the only one left behind.
here, i offer this as placation.
Snarf, he jus green 'coz y'all wint an' got yoself a Lapple. Lapple's be the shit, he sayed.
I read Irish Running yesterday. The lead photo was a dude as white as alabaster. But it was all good. I'm learning.
Tonight me and TLGK-who is also doin' the Flora but with the skool- went for a five mile poodle, slow run, LOTS of her yaking. My gluts are aching form yesterday and I can't raise my arms above my head from my intense work out, so much so I couldnt't plug my ears and I was sans an ipod, natch, that would be hella rude.
Now I know all sorts of stuff about a Lenny and some fight with a bitch named Carla who is totally out of, like, line and omigod a total fringe cutter called Sammy.
I blame you.
finn i checked the mag website and it's got some white guy lumbering along so that was a disappointment.
as for the lads - we do daft things as kids, i remember too well some of my little pranks, then my grandson beating the hell out of a - guess what - security camera, got expelled from school ... now i watch all the bad news from that not-so-posh area of Sydney with trepidation, what will the dope do next, watched some of his stuff on youtube, good god did i want to know that ... i guess this is called LIFE.
better to care too much than not at all i think. but support him and look after him.
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