an insane and incongruous five things rant

1. I haven't written much about running or working out for a reason....there's nothing to write about. And that stinks. The only thing to really say about the topic is that I am still trying to adjust to my new shoes and new way of running. Today I have a massive and painful muscle knot in my left calf. I ran 4 miles on Wednesday night (yes, in spite of the marauding burglars on the loose) and did 4 little burst-ish quarters, one each mile, going from a sluggy yet comfy pace of 9:30-10/mile to a brisker yet still comfy-ish pace of 8-8:30/mile. I think the semi-speed work is the culprit because at the end of the 4th quarter thingy, my lower left leg literally stopped working. It didn't hurt and there was nothing to precede this, the leg just stopped working. Such a weird feeling.

2. I've been really struggling lately. Chronic pain is a snarly, rabid bitch that should be put out of her misery. Even though my hip is doing much better, I'm having some weird inflammation issues. I believe my migraines and chilblains are a result of this. I am about to embark on a radical path in an attempt to sort this crap out. And the inflammation issue extends past simply body comfort and on into attitude...meaning that my psyche also feels 'inflamed'. More than a weird feeling, this piece of my life just sucks right now...plain and simple. More on the 'radical path' as I begin it.

3. Seems like I've seen the term "no excuses" a lot lately. Maybe I'm imagining this because I am in a compromised condition...again... and starting to feel like I'm making excuses and so feel guilty or some such crap about that. But is "I really HURT" a valid 'excuse'? Or how about "I really want to hang out with my family"? I guess I just wish people were more sensitive about how they toss around terms like that. Or maybe I just need to turn a deaf ear. Probably the latter.

4. The Olympics. I think because it is a summer Olympics year and the hype has begun, I've been thinking about how different things are now as compared to when I was younger. I miss the amateur angle of The Games. Sure, the Easter Bloc countries used to have athlete 'factories' and some countries subsidized their athletes as a way of trying to gain a stranglehold on the medals. And guess what? Non-subsidized and non-factory-farmed athletes still won. Maybe not as much, but they still did medal and sometimes win. Four-time Olympic gold medalist in the discus, Al Oerter, was one of these amateurs... enthralled with the joy of competing and the journey...

After visiting an Olympic training facility in the 1990s, Oerter rendered his judgment of the professionalism that has subverted the amateurism of his day. According to the New York Times, he lamented, "I saw these athletes in their 30s training full time....That's their life. What happened to the rest of it? I'm happy that I had a normal life, with a career and family. That makes a person whole."

source

Al Oerter, 1971

This is not to say that I am down on professional athletes and professional sports...I just wish the Olympics had been kept 'pure'. Furthermore, I do think there is a difference in subsidizing athletes' living expenses by creating programs like OJOP (which I don't see as an egregious violation of amateurism) as compared to allowing NBA players and track stars with multimillion-dollar endorsement contracts and race winnings in excess of five or six figures to compete (clearly not a shred of amateurism in that). Additionally, I think the doping issues would have been nearly non-existent had there been no massive monetary gain. The Olympics seem now more about money and fame than anything else, and that is sad to me.

5. This descent into crackpot-ness has nothing to do with the burglars. I'm pretty much over that...mostly because nothing near and dear to my heart was harmed or taken. I learned a solid lesson that I am taking with me as I move on. As long as my little people are safe, I'm basically good. 

Even if I am a crackpot. Which I won't be for long. It's a phase. I think.