Gearheads

Last weekend I ran seven miles with my trusty running partner Tuggerdog. I felt great, my knee pain was only a three on the ten scale so I was pretty stoked. It had rained before my run, but the sky parted and the sun was shining on the dog and me as we splashed through the puddles and mud. We were running behind the lake on the trails through the woods which are the absolute world-wide best trails to run, honest. It just doesn't get any better than running behind the lake. Tuggerdog and I had a perfect run. It was glorious and for a brief time, I felt I had achieved oneness with the universe.

I was completely in touch with my less logical side at that moment and I thought that since I had become one with the universe, I should offer up an act of personal self-sacrifice. You had to be there, it made sense at the time. So, I decided that just this once, instead of making the dog follow me on the run, I would let my livestock running companion choose the route. He is a partner, not an indentured servant, right? Shouldn't the dog get to choose once in a while? Who am I to deny him his alpha dog status?

I stopped and stared at the dog, waiting for him to choose which direction to go. He stared back for a bit, scratched something, then he took off into the woods, jumping over the logs and weeds and rocks. I followed. From what I could make out, he thought he heard or saw or smelled a squirrel, then he was trying his best to catch it and eat it. I am not so sure there ever was a squirrel, but I wanted to support him in his quest, so I ended up running around and around the base of a tree with the dog chasing a non-existent squirrel. I got dizzy, then the dog lost interest and sat to scratch something. I scratched my personals. No longer one with the universe, I left him to fend for himself and ran home to eat some ice cream. Stupid dog. As far as I know, he's still out there trying snag a couple of squirrels for a snack.

I do the same thing the dog does when I train. I see a squirrel and I chase it. A friend says that if I run one mile repeats, I will get faster. So I do that. Then another friend says I should run long, slow distance, so I do that. Another friend says I need to run at least five days a week, so I do that. It's like the dog and the squirrel. I chase it, even if it's not there. I think the best training advice I ever heard was 'train with a purpose'. It makes sense. Don't just flog away at some B.S. workout regime that you heard about in the locker room. Decide on a plan and stick to it.

I received a Krupps coffee maker twenty nine years ago as a wedding gift. Some cheap relative bought it for me on closeout at the discount store. How do I know they bought it on closeout? Because I tried to take it back for cash to pay my gambling debt and the gal at the store said she couldn't take returns for discontinued items with a “absolutely no returns” sticker on the box I still remember that. Anyway, since I didn't have a re-gift opportunity on the horizon, I kept it.

When it was new I guess it worked OK, except that it has always leaked a bit of coffee on the counter when you poured into the cup, but no big deal, I was willing to put up with that. Then about five or ten years ago, the heating element started running at fifty percent power, so it didn't make hot coffee, it made room temp coffee. I was willing to put up with that. I just put the coffee cup with the tepid coffee, in the microwave and felt good about myself because I was being frugal. Then the lid broke. I don't need a lid. 

But about a month ago the plastic cover next to the on/off switch turned brown, then black, then melted through so you could see the wires inside that were frayed. My coffee smelled like a house fire. When I turned the thing on, 110 volts of pain shot through the switch into my arm. Enough is enough. I bought a new coffee maker last weekend and while I was looking at all the “absolutely no returns” stickers on the boxes at the discount store, it made me think that triathletes prioritize things oddly. Twenty nine years of crappy coffee maker is not a big deal, but if there is a upgrade for my bike, I am all over it. 

I put new matching green water bottle cages on my bike last year. The cages they replaced were gray. The new ones were green. See? I had to get the new cages. Do I care what they cost? No, I do not. It's my bike and I needed the upgrade. Triathletes are all gearheads.

A friend bought a new bike with electro-gizmo shifting. My bike shifts great, but the electro-gizmo thing seems like it should soon find it's way into my stable of tri-bikes. I am one with the universe and I am thinking that anybody who is one with the universe should have an electro-gizmo shifting bike.