Where were you at 3:30 this afternoon?

Hey baby. Hey hey. Uhhh. Guess who? I am awake. I am laying in bed and I hear you fooling around out in the living room and I hear the rain coming down. Are you listening? Oh come on, come on, just for this minute put the puzzle down. Because I have something I want to say to you. I am laying back there on my bed and for some reason or another I cannot explain, you know baby, have you ever had these things that suddenly appear to you in your mind, just a picture of some crazy disjointed thing that never had anything to do with what you’re doing? It just suddenly appeared, you know? Well I’m laying in bed there just a couple of minutes ago and I can hear you with the radio on. Judge and those damn Yankees are en route to sweeping the Crew in the opening series of the ball season and the rain is coming down and I hear some guy swearing in the street outside and suddenly for some reason or another this crazy picture came to mind.

Last week I’m in the Robin Room. You remember when I came home about three hours late? Well I’m in the Robin and I’m sitting there with Ed. It’s about 5:30 and I’m sitting there at one of these itsy bitsy tables, the kind of table that reminds you of a monopoly board. A guy comes along and he brings a screwdriver for me and Ed. We’re sitting there and we’re talking it over. And Ed could not concentrate. With all the people around. There were dozens of them, all sitting around there in the Robin and they’re having drinks, all kinds of chicks and all kinds of guys. And I suddenly realize that most of the guys look at least twice as old as the chicks. All the chicks had a certain high-cheek boned look. A kind of 5:30-Robin look, you know what I mean? They’re all sitting there and these guys were kind of graying at the temples. It was a fascinating thing. And it suddenly occurred to me that I am right in the middle of Disceptionsville. I mean I’m right in the middle of Disceptionsville. Who are these people? And why are they that way? I mean what brought this chick to sit with this guy who is at least old enough to be her father? I mean this guy who’s sitting there looks like he has a year-round sun tan and what brought him to sit with this chick? Here they are, both of them sitting there drinking martinis. And they are walking along the edge of a great gulf of danger. Both of them know it. This chick knows she’s playing with fire. And this guy knows that this chick is explosive.

You know baby, I’m going to tell you something. I’m a man, you see, and I can tell you something about being a man, if you’re interested, if you want to listen. Are you aware that some chicks, when they walk down the street spell D-A-N-G-E-R? I mean they just exude danger. Okay, now I am not talking specifically about you. What made me think I was discussing you? There are certain bells, there are certain danger-signals, certain overload relays that go off when you walk into a room. Let’s face it. I’m going to tell you something. I go into a room with you, I don’t care if there are a thousand guys, within five minutes, 24 guys think that at any minute now something is going to happen between you and them. How do you think that makes me feel? Right. For the first time you have laid it out there. Yes, okay, but now here’s the point. This is the thing that I would like to say. Where were you at 3:30 this afternoon? I’m sitting there and I am just starting to realize that half of these chicks that are there are supposed to be somewhere else. And at least 75% of these guys are supposed to be somewhere else. And someone believes that they are somewhere else. You hear what I’m saying? Look, I know you were at the Triangle Market at 5:30 getting some celery. Or was it lettuce? Or olives. Now I know you were getting a pack of cigarettes. I will accept that. I guess what I’m saying is that nobody really wants to know. You see what Sunday afternoon does? It’s a rotten time baby.

How many letters? Six letters? A six letter word meaning what? Oh, come on! Hahahaha I just thought of one. And the New York Times wouldn’t dare print it on Sunday! Hahahahaha. It’s my rotten mind. Yeah, I suppose. Look baby, you got your cross to carry, I got mine. Everybody’s got his cross to carry.

Hey, may I ask one thing that might sound like a leading question? Okay I won’t. Oh no, no, I’m not putting you on, I won’t ask you the question. 

No, I’m going to ask you a question that you should have asked me. Where was I at 5:30 on Thursday? Hahaha. It doesn’t matter. I mean it’s just part of the game, you know? I think that all of us want to walk a tight-rope. All of us. Baby, how would you like to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel? A balsa wood barrel.

You know, in spite of it being right in the middle of the afternoon, I’m going to go into the kitchen. I’m going to get some ice cubes. I’m going to get some other things. If you would care to join me in some ice cubes that would be fine. And some other things. I am going to look out at the gray sky for a moment. And I’m going to think of that six letter word. Did you say “23 across” baby? Okay. I will be back in five minutes with the ice cubes. Maybe even the six letter word.

Sun, Mar 23-Sat, Mar 29

Sun Mar 23: AM. A 45 min run on the Capital City Trail and over trails in Olin Park. The knee was sore initially, but got better. It was cloudy and 37°.

Mon Mar 24 - DNR - Resting knee.

Tues Mar 25: AM. A 30 min run on the Capital City Trail. Achy right knee. Mostly clear skies, temp in the mid 20s.

Wed Mar 26 - DNR - Resting knee.

Thurs Mar 27: PM. In Deerfield, A 20 min joggle on the Glacial Drumlin Trail. Knee was a little achy. Cloudy skies with a temp around 60°.

Fri Mar 28 - DNR - Resting knee.

Sat Mar 29: AM. A 30 min run on the Capital City Trail and over residential streets. The knee was acting up a bit. It was cloudy and around 60°.

I took it very easy again this week, running every other day, but my right knee has continued to bother me. I’m not actually sure if it’s getting any better.

Worse things happen at sea

I stayed up way too late last night reading The Answer Man by Stephen King. Like most of King’s work, it was the kind of enthralling story that I couldn’t put down until I’d finished it. While reading a good story, I often like to put myself in the shoes of the protagonist. This was the case with The Answer Man. I turned right into Phil Parker. I won’t give out any actual spoilers—there is much more to the captivating story than the blip I’ll share—but this small part of the story sort of resonated with me. Phil is a man who runs into some troubles in life and becomes depressed. Then, in the midst of his depression, he meets a woman who has it far worse than himself. Phil comes to realize that his life isn’t so bad after all and hangs a picture of the woman on his wall, along with six words he wrote in capital letters: ALWAYS REMEMBER OTHERS HAVE IT WORSE. This is something I try to remind myself of in my own life. That others have it worse. I am injured and can’t run. So what. There are people I see everyday at my job who have it much worse off than me. People born with cerebral palsy who are wheelchair bound. Infants who were shaken or mistreated by their abusive parents and, as a result, are cognitively impaired for life. People who jump off high ledges in suicide attempts, but end up surviving. And being paralyzed from the neck down. Or the neck up. There are so many people who are alive in the physical sense—they are breathing and their hearts are beating—but they are not really living. Spending all your waking hours in a bed with a feeding tube connected to your abdomen is no way to live. For so many people, the concept of running is as foreign to them as it is for Mr. Bass or Mr. Pike. They never even get the chance to experience the euphoric feeling that running provides. Always remember others have it worse. I can still read. I still have my imagination and can use it to escape into made-up stories. My life isn’t so bad after all. I certainly have a lot to be thankful for. I am alive and I am living. Really living. But still— When you’re born to run, it’s so hard to just slow down, as Winwood put it. So don’t be surprised to see me back in the bright part of town. Yes, I am going to try to remain optimistic.

Sun, Mar 16-Sat, Mar 22

Sun Mar 16: AM. A 30 min run on the Capital City Trail. Knee was ok. It was cloudy and 28°.

Mon Mar 17 - DNR - Resting the knee.

Tues Mar 18: AM. A 20 min run on the Capital City Trail. The knee was a little achy. It was dark and 38°.

Wed Mar 19 - DNR - Resting the knee.

Thurs Mar 20: PM. In Deerfield, A 30 min run on the Glacial Drumlin Trail. Knee felt ok. It was sunny and 39°.

Fri Mar 21 - DNR - Resting the knee.

Sat Mar 22: AM. A 30 min run on the Capital City Trail. The knee was achy but tolerable. It was sunny and in the upper 20s.

I ran every other day this week. My right knee has held up, but it has still been a nuisance at times and it is usually sore after running. I’m afraid that if I run any more, my knee will get worse. I just hope the little bit of leisure jogging that I have been doing hasn’t been making it worse than it already is. It’s been almost 4 months since the crash (Nov 25, 2024). I really thought that by now, that whole disaster would’ve been a distant memory. Please heal up soon knee. Please. Because I cannot wait to get back into action. Get back to training. Really training. Back to pouring on the miles and not having to worry about my darned knee holding me back. I miss it. God do I miss it.

Sun, Mar 9-Sat, Mar 15

Sun Mar 9: PM. Ran 10 mins on the Capital City Trail. Really nice out—mostly sunny and 50s—but felt terrible. Lightheaded, dizzy, and very congested. No problems with the knee at least.

Mon Mar 10: PM. In Deerfield, A 20 min run on the Glacial Drumlin Trail. Very slow. Breathing was painful. Beautiful out tho- sunny and 60°.

Tues Mar 11: PM. In Deerfield, A 30 min run on the Glacial Drumlin Trail. Feeling better, but still coughing and hacking up a lot of sputum. The right knee was slightly noticeable but didn’t seem to get any worse. It was sunny and around 50°.

Wed Mar 12: PM. In Deerfield, A 40 min run on the Glacial Drumlin Trail. Knee was slightly achy. It was sunny and 54°.

Thurs Mar 13 - DNR - Tried running but had to stop after a few steps. The knee has gotten worse.

Fri Mar 14: PM. In Deerfield, A 20 min run on the Glacial Drumlin Trail. Knee was ok. It was mostly cloudy and 75°.

Sat Mar 15 - DNR - Resting knee.

Happy Pi Day

I don’t know how often this occurs to you. I presume it occurs to you occasionally. It certainly occurs to me occasionally. Not more than occasionally, I’ll admit. But has it ever really hit you in the middle of just an ordinary moment, have you ever thought about dividing your life into pie slices? You know, the kind of pie diagrams they have in textbooks or in the business pages of the newspaper. It might say, “Where Your Tax Dollar Goes”. There is a picture of a pie and it says: “For Defense - 67.5%”. There’s a big pie slice out of there. Then it says: “For Governmental Operation Expenses - 32.5%”. And there’s another slice. Then: “Miscellaneous” and so forth. Well, have you ever thought of dividing your life out like that? Can you imagine what your life would look like? It would say: “Your Life”. There it is, it’s a pie you see, and it shows how you spend your day. There’s a big slice that would say: “3 1⁄2 hours sleeping”. That’s taken out, you see, that’s a slice out of your day. Then there’s a gigantic slice, a very big one that says: “fooling around”. Then there’s another slice out, say, 7.5% that goes to “frittering”. Then another 16% for “phonying it up” (trying to pretend that you’re doing something great). Then there’s a little itsy bitsy slit that says: “doing something”. That’s a very tiny thin one. This one is subject to change without notice and sometimes disappears from one week to the next. Then there’s another slice that just says: “scut”. That’s doing all the stuff like shaving or brushing your teeth. Have you ever noticed that the guys in the TV commercials are all deliriously happy doing scut? A typical TV commercial will show a guy shaving, “Oh, I just love to shave!” he seems to be saying. Of course, another commercial is the one that shows the almost unbelievably happy manic look on the face of these chicks who are doing the washing. These commercials make me scratch my head. I used to have a fairly decent sized slice taken out of my own pie for something called “running”. That slice has turned into a very thin sliver and has often vanished completely over the past few months. Since that slice of my life left, I think each of the other slices has gotten a little bigger. I have been spending more time these days fooling around, frittering, phonying it up, and doing scutwork. Sigh. All this thought about pie is making me hungry. I think I’m going to bake myself a cherry pie. Yes. Then I’m going to eat a slice. A big slice.

Sun, Mar 2-Sat, Mar 8 - Just another week on the shelf

Sun Mar 2: AM. Ran for about 30 seconds before knee became too painful :(

Mon Mar 3 - DNR - Injured

Tues Mar 4 - DNR - Injured

Wed Mar 5 - DNR - Injured

Thurs Mar 6: AM. Ran 1 min, walked 1 min x10. Knee felt okay.

Fri Mar 7 - DNR - Sick. I think the blasted pneumonia is back. Can’t seem to buy a break :(

Sat Mar 8 - DNR - Sick. Feeling maybe a little better today, but not good enough to attempt a run.

Sun, Feb 23-Sat, Mar 1

Sun Feb 23: DNR - Sick. Went to the hospital and got diagnosed with pneumonia, RSV, and strep throat.

Mon Feb 24: DNR - Sick. Feeling a little better. I think the antibiotics I was prescribed have been helping.

Tues Feb 25: PM. A 60 min run on the Mendota Lakeshore Path to Picnic Pt. Super nice out—sunny and upper 40s—but felt very weak and nearly coughed up a lung.

Wed Feb 26: AM. A 45 min run on the Capital City Trail and around Monona Bay. It was 40° and raining.

Thurs Feb 27: AM. A 30 min run on the Capital City Trail. Felt lousy, no energy. Quads are also very sore. It was partly cloudy and 37°.

Fri Feb 28: AM. Ran 20 mins on the Capital City Trail. Felt beat. I think I’m still a little sick. Quads weren’t as bad, but right knee was achy.

Sat Mar 1: PM. In Stevens Point, ran the Point Bock Run 5 mile in a submaximal 32:17. Probably a mistake. Right knee was achy and generally felt miserable. Not sure I could’ve cracked 30 had I tried. Weather was nice at least- sunny and in the low 20s.