Monday, July 27, 2009

Over the Hill(not), New Tri in the Snake Country, Do You Even Wonder? Movie Reviews

The good news about the sport of triathlon is that you are never "over the hill", to the contrary you are actually always climbing the hill. Unlike football that definitely has a hill ascent and hill descent and can be real cruel to your mind set, triathlon lasts forever and keeps you very fit along the way. Now you say, well sorry about that ole greer but as we age we slow down so that means you are "over the hill." Then I challenge back that as we progress in age we just simply age up and still compete with those that are our age. So, while I scoot along at a 10:00-12:00 minute per mile pace and ride the bicycle 19-21 miles per hour and swim like a friggin turtle or maybe catfish or maybe a piece of every loving lead I am competing with this speed with others my own age. So, when that 6:00 minute miler, 28 mile per hour biker and friggin dolphin races by me or through me it is really no big deal. He or she would simple be racing against their own and I am racing against my own. So as I progress in age I have the opportunity to continue to compete, have some fun and even take home some bacon. Sometimes I have people actually say something like, man I bet you always win your age group and I just grin. The simple fact here is that if someone beat you like a drum when you were in the 45-49 age group bracket and has been able to stay healthy and still have the mind set to race this same bird is probably still going to beat you when you are 60 or 70 or whatever. My main point I want to make here is that there is no "over the hill" for triathletes and you can look forward to competing forever. As I look back into my past sporting life I recall how much I enjoyed football and track. I can still hear the sound of getting hit in football and the sound of the crowd when I scored a touchdown(yea I was one of those running backs that had speed to burn and just out ran people when they were trying to tackle me, plus we are the guys who always got our choice of cheerleaders). In track I can still remember the sound of the gun when it went off for the start of the 100 yard dash. Funny how you spend all week working out and nearly an hour to warm for an event that lasts under 10 seconds. Then after college I embarked on a very active and aggressive sport called handball. This sport takes speed, hand to eye coordination and endurance for long matches, and was an original trash talk sport. I can now shut my eyes and feel the delivery of a back wall shot that if hit properly, will hit the front wall very fast and about an inch above the floor. It is called a kill shot for a good reason in that the ball is killed dead and all your opponent can do is stand back and say nice shot, along with some &*%+# words. I still have fantasies about these three sports(yea I know I should be having sexual fantasies, but it just seems such a waste since that is still going on and the other three are not). But, as you age you just have to understand that 50-70 year old people do not play football, or run the 100 yard dash in under 10 seconds(actually 9.7) and the kill shot is much harder to master with lack of flexibility in the arms and hands. So rather than be over the hill you just progress to something that better fits the body and lifestyle, and triathlon comes along and it is ageless. All you have to do is think of moving forward and upward and always moving up the hill, never descending. Those would be my thoughts on that subject tonight.

This past weekend I was able to compete in a new triathlon in Sweetwater, Texas. Now anyone who really is in the know will tell you that Sweetwater sits very comfortably on I-20 on the way to Dallas but still very much in West Texas and is famous for its' annual rattlesnake roundups. Why anyone would want to round up a rattle snake is beyond me, but this little town of 9,000 people has made themselves famous for it at least in Texas. Now to add to their list of things to do they have added a new triathlon and it was held last weekend. Since we had already planned on doing the Odessa Tri on Sunday we just decided to take on the rattlesnake headquarters of the state and compete in the new sprint triathlon in lake Sweetwater. Now the funny thing here is that we didn't realize they even had a lake and after some questions found that this lake had been dry for a number of years and some time a few years ago when one of the hurricanes that hit the Gulf Coast took a little trip to Lake Sweetwater and filled it up in a little over 36 hours. Now it is a very neat small lake with fishing, boating and now triathloning. The race is put on by the Bobo's soon to be of Amarillo and they did a first class job. All of the finer details of a more seasoned race were very evident and it was such a treat to compete in this event. Every detail, from the course layout to the safety of the participants, was taken care of and well planned. The course, while a sprint course, was very challenging and fun to do. With rolling hills on both the bike and the run I think most of us were really surprised at just how hard it was. Marti took a first place medal and so did this old football player. We left with a great taste in our mouth, including pizza, and drove to the West for the Odessa Tumbleweed sprint triathlon. This is a older mature race and while not very challenging was very safe with lots of intersection support from the local police. Hogie sandwiches were provided and for once the awards were presented in a timely manner, way to go Joe, we knew you could do it!! We also walked away with some first place medals, ate some Mexican food and made the 2 hour trip back to Ransom Canyon for some rest and relaxation. Thanks to these race directors for providing us a place to continue to compete and not go over the hill, with the chant, "never descent, always ascent!!" Our battle cry!!

Do you ever ask yourself the question of why something is like it is and it doesn't make sense, for example: You walk up to two doors going into a place of business and only one of these doors is unlocked, and of course you pick the door that is locked. Why don't they unlock both doors? You walk up to a door and it says, "push" but you "pull" on it. I see people do this all the time and so do I. You walk into a retail store that has 20 cash registers all lined up, but only one is manned with at least 10 people waiting in line. Why not just buy two registers, use one and keep the other for a back up? You walk into a convenience store and the person in front of you is buying a $100 money order, 5 lotto tickets, 10 super lucky tickets, and a pack of Camel's with a can of Skoal just for good kicks. Of course you are buying a pack of gum or a coke and have the correct change but you must wait until the above person is taken care of. Have you ever wondered why you hit all of the signal lights red when you have to go to the bathroom and you know you will never make it to the rest room, and then when you get to the service station with the rest room the door is locked or it is out of order. Today I bought groceries at my favorite market and they have done a real training jobs on the local high school kids that work for them. They send them through some kind of training school to teach them how to carry on a conversation with their customers as they push your cart out of the store. Some times the subjects they bring up are real weird, one day one ask me if I had been saved. I said, "saved from what?" While he didn't think that was very funny he started preaching to me about redemption, salvation and all that Baptist stuff. He also ask me if I went to church on Sunday. My guy today ask me if I was going to do any more today? I said, "no!" even though it was only about 6 p.m. when I was there. I thought that was a strange question and really none of his business. What did he expect, something like, "yea, I have a lot to do today like write on my blog site, eat some sushi, possibly give the dogs a bath, or maybe just read my book from George Carlin called "Napalm and Silly Putty" or maybe just have some good ole raw sex!! Who knows but what a question to ask. I think they need to re-think these little schools they are having for these kids. One day the checker was having some kind of interaction with the sacker and I thought I was going to experience some kind of action more than interaction. All the while she said to me, "how is your day going?" Well actually I thought, "it was going great until I had to watch this stupid interaction between you two and all I came in here to do was buy some groceries, not make new best friends!!" See you next time you little cutie and your best dude friend!

Movie Reviews: "Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince", *(only because the popcorn was good), These Harry Potter things are so boring I wait until I have insomnia before I go to the newest one. Sure enough it only took about 15 minutes to put me to sleep. And to think that J.K. Rowling has become a billionaire writing this stuff is beyond me. Now I know if you are a big fan of this rubbish you are very disgusted with my review, but the good news is that you know the whole story and will go back for more. If you are like me and you don't know the whole story or don't want to, then you will appreciate my review. I am saving my money and J.K. won't even get the bargain basement ticket purchase from me. Rated PG for scary images, some violence, language and mild sensuality(must have been while I was asleep).

"The Ugly Truth", ***, This is a good entertaining movie. Abby Richter, played by Katherine Heigl, is a romantically challenged, TV morning show producer whose search for Mr. Perfect has left her hopelessly single. She is in for a rude awakening when her boss teams her with Mike Chadway, played by Gerard Butler. Chadway is a hardcore television personality who promises to spill the ugly truth about what makes men and women tick. Some of the dialogue is both surprising and somewhat shocking. This is not a family movie or for the faint of heart. Rated R for sexual content and language(at times an understatement).

greerman

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