Saturday, February 16, 2008

Getting impatient with old man winter...

I'm getting impatient. Winter's not done, but I feel as if though I am. I hate using treadmills. It's nice knowing that other gym equipment is available nearby for cross-training, but I hate being confined. Who wants to run to get nowhere?



Today, I took three different routes that I ordinarily run, and combined them into one. It was 26 degrees outside. Typical of the weather I would not go running outside in, but I am getting tired of being cooped up.

The three routes I combined were the Forest Hills Gardens, the Forest Park, and the Kew Hills Park runs. All told, 13 miles in 2 hours. I ran with my tech-t, my Izumi fleece, and my Asics windbreaker for good measure. Gloves and hat too. And whereas, running with 3 layers was too much for me on race day in the Bronx, I never totally warmed up today.

My run was supposed to have been 12 miles, but I actually extended it by running up Continental Avenue, among other extensions, to see if Radio Shack sold that jog meter thingy that Nike+ sells for the iPod. Of course, they did not....And the person who worked there was barely through finishing his sandwich. He also looked like he barely came out of his diapers as well.

As I came back from Forest Hills Gardens, with it's vacant West Side Tennis Stadium, and it's lavish bavarian splendor, I realized that I was the only jackass running outside today. Wow. What a surprise.

I forgot whether I saw this on Exeter or Dartmouth in Forest Hills Gardens, but somebody had this huge golden bear statue out on their front lawn. And if that wasn't enough of an eye-catcher, imagine to my surprise as I ran by it, when I saw the bear holding a sign. It said "Ran"!

I made my way into Forest Park, for what was to be the second stage of my run. I was surprised to have only found 2 other runners. One of them was in a t-shirt and shorts only.
Pneumonia, anyone?

Most people in the park today were walking their dogs. 'So that's why I don't see any poop on the streets', I thought to myself.

With the exception of the informal scrimmages of soccer going on in the center, even the oval track was bereft of running legs. Where was everybody? Home, you ass!

Stage three, the final chapter was taking Metropolitan to Woodhaven. Ahh, finally. Humanity.
Insanity. Running was now taking the more familiar art form of weaving instead. Bobbing around cars, and weaving around people. The fact that OJ (murderer) and I share the same birthday is not the only thing I am ashamed to admit that we have in common. For I full well know that I would have done a much better job at bobbing & weaving through those airport terminals in those Hertz commercials back in the seventies, than OJ ever could. However, when it comes to cutting and slashing, OJ is still the predominant favorite.

The run up Woodhaven Boulevard, is just that. A run up. As you make your way north on that route, it's all primarily uphill. St. John's cemetery on my left seemed to be forever. I decided that if I just kept my head down and ran straight, it would be gone soon. Soon took a long time. It took an eternity to get from Cooper Avenue to Furmanville Avenue. I'm such a fucking slowpoke.


All in all, the run past St. John's Cemetery is about 3/4s of a mile (see pic above), all uphill, which also boasted a bitchin', biting headwind as well.

Then, I came up upon a familiar area. The area where I had once lived (or rather died) at for a few months before getting kicked out into the street. I won't mention any last names, but Dorothy's house was in the distance. Out of morbid curiosity, I made another extension to my run, and hooked a right onto her street. I still saw her maroon-colored station wagon, so I figured that the wicked orange-haired woman still was alive. I also noticed all the work that I had done on the exterior of the house,(while enslaved as their Mexican migrant worker wannabe) had still held up all these years. Years. Now that's a nice ring to it. Anything that distances me from that horrific period of my life is a welcome sight. Yet, here I am like a moth to a flame. Why?

I always wondered what would I do, if I had seen her on her patio, and she had seen me.....Would I have said "hello"? Would I have waved my middle finger up in the air at her? I definitely know what I would have done if I had seen her son-in-law;

"Hey Gerry, where are my New York City Marathon medals? You low-life piece of trash!!!"

That got my blood pumping again. Good. It was a much needed shot of adrenaline to get the 'umph' I needed to help me finish the last 3 miles or so of my long run for today.

Call it stoic or stupid, but I chose not to drink anything throughout the entire run. Oh yeah, I had my moments of weakness, especially during the final leg on Queens Boulevard. Dozens of places willing to peddle some Gatorade or other "energy" junk. But I resisted. I did this to see how far I could resist, and build resistance in the process. By the time I was passing the funeral home near 75th & Queens Blvd., just after Sam Ash Music, I felt like actually checking into my own casket. But I never wavered, and barrelled through the last mile or so.

When I got back home, I stopped by Fiesta first to get me an Arizona RX Energy drink and a Gatorade Blue Freeze as well. I then went upstairs to weigh in. 158.4. Amazing how the body shrinks in the absence of fluid. I then took a long hot bath (delicious) while I drank my Gatorade (even more delicious). When I came out, my foot cramping was at an all time high. My left foot was sending shots of pain all up my leg. Ouch, ouch, and more ouch!

I finally relaxed, and watched another movie. Here you go:

Gone Baby Gone (2007)
Casey Affleck, Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman

The movie starts off with 1 billion uses of the word "Fuck" and other salacious expletives. Within 20 minutes I was already questioning why on earth I even rented this movie and why anyone would say this should be a contender for best film of the year. But then, the movie began to change, and it got great! I won't say much to ruin it, but it's about a white trash mother living in the poorest parts of Boston, and her 3 year old daughter, who apparently was abducted by her druggy friends, is now missing. Sounds low-brow right? Well that's where you'd be very wrong. As the movie starts to develop, you start to see a lot of plot twists, and the action just builds from there. The ending is a utter blockbuster, which left my mouth just hanging open. You must see this movie. Despite the obligatory "white-trash" dialogue which is on the heavy side as the movie kicks-off, the interest you earn for staying with this movie till its end, pays huge dividends. Casey Affleck is a better actor then Ben. And Ben, whose this film is his directorial debut, was actually excellently done. Ben, stick to directing, you made a gem on this wonderfully original, and suspenseful film, in 'Gone Baby Gone'.

Rating: 8 out of 10 Gonzos

I finally finished creating a "compendum" of sorts that highlights all of my races.
Gathering the information from all different sources, even looking at the backs of race numbers from way back in 1984, I have finally completed the most comprehensive racing statistics about myself ever. It took me the better part of a week! I sent
out a "press-release" type of email to some of my family and friends to get their input. Of course, I got one from my father. He reminds me of where I got the name Blogrunner from. Very funny, Dad. I suppose you want a royalty in case I ever make it out of the bush leagues too, ehh?


One last note, and not to taint my blog. Today would have been my 22nd wedding anniversary to my first wife, Lorraine. Ugh. Talk about being young and STUPID.

2 comments:

DGA said...

Royalty is my price. Cough it up. Well, not now, but when you inherit your estranged (or strange?) mother, who lives in a sumptuous mansion in the NY Hamptons, or not?

As far as Gerry is concerned, what can you expect from a low-life petty thief? He stole all your Twilight Zone DVDs, for which I contributed monetarily. But the money is no the issue. It is the fact that there are many thieves strolling the streets who will neve be caught. I LOVE NY.

DGA said...

Sorry, I forgot!...HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!