300th tri(not), JD's, Movie reviews

Well Sunday was to be the big day, complete that 300th triathlon for the ole greerman, imprint it in my brain, pound my chest, brag a little, take my shower, collect my award, ride the Hog to JD's and really celebrate with a burger and a(some) beers, and then move on to the next subject at hand. After all I have been working on accomplishing this little known goal of mine for over 20 years and if I hadn't been writing them down in my day timers I wouldn't know myself the exact number. While I know the rest of the world really doesn't care, but it was my little badge of courage that I have displayed, meaning quantity rather than quality. I say that simply because I have never considered myself a triathlete(and my times over the years have substantiated that statement) but simply an athlete that does triathlons. There is a big difference between the two and I say this so the naysayers who claim slow moving triathletes are that way because they don't train hard enough. One time I got into a debate with a runner who consistently ran 5:30 minute miles while racing and he stated I should be running the same times. I explained that I would love to but it just didn't work with my body and cardio makeup, not to mention that I was blessed with lots of fasttwitch fibers(yep faster than a speeding bullet for 100 yards, but a real egg layer after that). He then said I was full of it and just didn't train hard enough. My next question to him was simply, well you run 5:30 minute miles consistently why don't you run 4:00 minutes miles the same way? He looked surprised that I would ask such a stupid question and said, "well I can't run that fast." Duh, my point for all of us not being created the same to compete at the same level. So, over the years I have accepted that fact and have gone out to do as well as I can, enjoy the scenery, enjoy collecting whatever hardware I can and feeling like I have done the best I can do with what I have to work with. Now back to my original subject, titled 300th tri(not). Sunday morning was great, around 65 degrees, no wind, somewhat cloudy skies, no wind, and the time to rumble looked like it would make for a great day of racing. I felt great, had the legs shaved, had the new Speedo skin suite, my body felt great, my mind was in order, my bike looked very fast and it was going to be a great day for an athlete to complete his 300th triathlon. This event is put on by the Texas Tech Rec center and all of the race is on the campus, with the swim(400 meters) in the beautiful Aquatic Center, and the bike staying on the campus with 5 laps totaling 12 miles and the run of 3 miles concluding around the Rec Center. All of this sounds peaches and cream and up to this point it was; however, little did we know that it would turn to disaster due to poor planning and poor execution by the race director. The first thing that got her was the fact that she had more people than ever(160) and it seemed to put her in a bad mood(and all of the past 18 years as a race director I thought that is what we hope to accomplish), then she changed the course to improve the safety issues but made it more un-safe than ever before. The next boo boo was the confusion in the transition area, and you say, "how can you screw up a transition area with only 160 people?" Trust me it can be done and sure as Hitler was an Austrian, it was screwed up. If Coach Knight was in charge of this or even competing in it he would have been having a stroke for lack of proper preparation and would have been kicking butt big time. The next screw up on the food chain of buffoons was the fact that they ran out of water and support on the run course, plus the fact the counters for the bike laps lost count of many of the inexperienced athletes. My experience over the years, remember 299 tri's finished to date, told me to count my own laps and make sure the counters got me each time I went around, or I would be totally frustrated with the results. Speaking of results, they of course screwed those up for most everyone. They completely missed the timing aspect of putting on races. Even though I had my time, simply because I always time myself knowing that timing can be screwed up as it was today. Now the crowning blows comes when, after waiting for over an hour the race director comes storming out with the results(this is after they have taken over an hour to give away stuff like water bottles, like we don't have plenty of these), reads the Overall Winner at 33 minutes. He goes and says, "no way could that be right, that was my bike time only." Now the setting is set for the race director to explain that they had way more entries than normal, and that many of us didn't know how to count the laps on the bike and to top it off the results would not be ready until Wednesday and do not call, write, send smoke signals, go to the web site, or have any type of contact with her. She would work on getting them finished whenever she could get to it. Now, I guess you think she took the time to thank all of us for being there and hoped we returned for next year, not no, but HELL no she didn't say that. We had inconvenienced her by signing up, showing up, racing hard and then we get left with no left overs, since there weren't any to start with. Now maybe you see my point, I will travel to anywhere USA to do my 300th and I will not count this poor excuse for a race, even though I finished and may have even won my age group, by swimming, biking and running with a finish time of 1:16:52. In conclusion, there is no excuse for such mediocracy. This race director has put on many races and they have never been this bad, but the fact that there was more of a challenge with more numbers there was just no allowance made for this, nor was there any care. My advice for the future is to completely ignore the Texas Tech Rec Center Triathlon and just stay home and do some serious training.

After the abortion of a triathlon we donned the leathers, climbed on the Hog and went to the canyons and ended up at JD's Bar and Grill for a burger and some cold beer. When we entered there were a few tables of Hog riders, smoking, drinking cold beer and probably telling some lies. I noticed that the bar was actually empty of patrons and JD was not there. Usually he is there sitting in the middle of the bar with his cigarette and handy drink in hand holding JD's Bar and Grill court. But, not today so it just didn't seem the same. After a while I took note of some of the surroundings and noticed that the front window had a gun shot hole in it, guess business had been busy and I hope JD was not the proud receiver of the gun shot. After two beers and the arrival of the hamburger I looked up and JD entered the bar. He had a quart of Crown Royale, a cigarette hanging out his mouth, long hair down to his shoulders, full beard, black cowboy hat, jeans, and black boots. He took his place in the middle of the bar, got a glass of ice, poured it to 3/4 full of Crown, then filled it with something healthy like diet Coke or something. By now the bar was filling up and he was telling the tales that everyone expected and if they didn't like it then take another drink and it will make more sense. Now my hamburger had been consumed and the third cold beer was making history in my digestive track and I was ready to hit the road. As I left, JD said, "thanks and come back soon." Now that is real customer service and maybe the race director for the Tech Rec will venture into JD's sometime in the future. I hope it isn't while I am there though!!

Movie Review: "3:10 to Yuma" *****, great Western presented in a different way and well written. Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Peter Fonda and Ben Foster give great performances. Crowe plays the real bad, bad villain. A ruthless thief, murderer, and head of a ruthless gang of guys who do the same. He is then captured, accidentally, and the good guy volunteers to help escort him to the next train out of Yuma leaving at, guess what time, yep you got it, 3:10. Bale plays the good guy, Crowe the real real bad guy, Fonda the nearly bad guy, and Foster the real bad guy. Lots of shooting, killing blood, no sex that I remember, no nudity that I remember, just some good ole western action. Rated R for violence(I guess killing people is somewhat violent), and some language.

Movie Review: "Mr. Woodcock", ****, Very funny movie with Billy Bob Thornton at his best(maybe, but at least one of his best). If you like Billy Bob you will love this, if you don't like him then don't go see it. He plays a life long junior high gym teacher who takes sadistic glee in tormenting and humiliating the young teens assigned to his gym class. Seann William Scott plays one of his former students, who is a very successful author, that comes back home to receive a very prestigious award for his accomplishments. When he arrives he finds that his widowed mother is dating Mr. Woodcock(wait till you relate his name to his most noteworthy activity) and the fun begins from there. Very funny movie with a good story line and a message, believe it or not. PG-13 for crude and sexual content, thematic material, language and a mild drug reference.

greerman