After intense emotional therapy, I can now share the following story with you. 

Training for a marathon has its share of obstacles and I encountered a unique situation a couple of months ago.

I was finishing up my workout and heard the manager say through the locker room entrance that he was locking up soon.  I looked at my watch and it read 8:59 pm. OK, the gym closes at 9 pm and I am almost done.  I finished packing my clothes.  As I exited the locker-room to walk up the stairs to leave the gym, an alarm bell started ringing very LOUDLY!

What's happening?  I am trying to leave the gym NOT break into it.  I looked around and didn't see anyone.  The lights were out.  I went to the front door and saw that it was locked.  Did the manager forget about me?  The alarm continued to ring as I unlocked the front door to LEAVE the gym.  I saw a doorman in the building next door and asked him if he saw anyone leave. He replied no as the alarm continued to ring.  We tried to figure out what to do and I asked him to watch my gym bag as I went back inside and checked both locker rooms.  Being a gentleman, I of course knocked on the Ladies Room door and asked if anyone was there.  No one answered and then I checked back upstairs and there was no one there.  I didn't know what to do as I wanted to go to watch KAL, a Roma (Gypsy) band, at 9:30 pm and wanted to grab something to eat.  I conferred with the doorman and asked him to watch the building as I went over to Ray's Pizza to grab something to eat.  (He didn't want anything to eat.).  I went back to the gym and the doorman didn't see anyone.  I tipped him a few bucks and asked him to watch the building until the gym opened in the morning.  The show must go on and I was running late to Joe's Pub right around the corner.

The concert was good and I enjoyed the rest of the evening.

When I went to the gym the next weekend (as I normally workout at the downtown gym during the week), the manager was very apologetic as my motion from leaving the locker-room activated the alarm.  After the alarm went off, he was alerted on his beeper.  He called his colleague who lived nearby and turned off the alarm around 9:40 pm.  He apologized again and gave me some complimentary vitamin waters as endorsed by Mets star third baseman David Wright.  I won't name the vitamin water until they advertise with us. 

Posted by The Tank in NY.

MLB | Running

Tuesday, November 28, 2006 11:47:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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When the Tank suggested I go see the TriNations rugby final, since I was going to be in Sydney that day, it seemed like a good idea, although I was somewhat surprised that I was still able to get a ticket less than a week before the game - although I was later told by several people that Rugby League (which is a different game than rugby union, which is what Americans generally think of as rugby) isn't that popular in Sydney, and the stadium wasn't full to capacity (although attendance was over 27,000 people), apparently there has been some discussion of moving the Tri Nations games from Sydney to another part of Australia where the game is more popular, so I may have seen one of the last Tri Nations games in Sydney

- there were tons of Kiwis and Aussies in the crowd, seemed to be almost 50-50, but the vibe was more of a friendly rivalry (i.e. Mets-Yankees) than a real hatred between the sides -

Kiwi Daniel had explained that rugby league is a cross between American football and traditional rugby - Daniel also recommended that I root for the Kiwis, which didn't strike me as such a good idea, given that it was Aussie turf - I was planning on taking Peter's recommendation that I "root for the ref," but it seemed like the one thing that both the Aussie and the Kiwi fans could agree on was hating the ref, so I decided that total neutrality was probably the route to go (especially since I was surrounded by vocal fans of both teams) - the fans really had gone all out, there was even one set of Kiwi fans a few rows over from me that had gone all out with afro wigs and black face and body paint (which didn't seem to bother anyone, can't quite imagine anyone doing that in the states somehow . . . although the overall impression was more of a member of Kiss than anything else . . .

. ) -

on the way to the bus to the match, Aussie Dan gave me a quick rundown on the main rules of the game - each side gets six "tackles" (the same thing as downs in American football, but with the action not stopping between tackles) before the ball changes possession (unless intercepted), although, like in American football, no team actually gets to the sixth tackle, they "do something stupid" before that point (I mentioned Hail Mary passes, and Dan agreed that was the general idea) - Dan also told me that the defending team would try to hold down the player as long as possible so that the defensive players had as much time as possible to get into position before the ball started moving again (which helped explain why the player who had been tackled struggled so hard to get back to his feet as quickly as possible) -

the first sign when I arrived at the stadium that I was no longer in New York was the truck taking bets on the game just outside of the stadium (I considered it, but decided that I didn't know enough about which team was favored to tell if the odds were good or not) - I made my way into the stadium and to my seat, which ended up being three rows off the field, pretty amazing to be able to see the players up close, they really are amazing athletes, quite strong but also very fast - and the game moves amazingly quickly, quite different from American football with the constant starts and stops -

and then I made a big mistake - I was running a bit late, so I went right to my seat, which was dead center in the middle of a row of 25 and I didn't realize that there are no beer vendors (Steve would have been out of a job) like at American stadiums, so I would have to make all those people get up again to get a beer - in the interest of international relations, I decided to hold off on the beer run for a while - anyway, the game was about to start, the players came out to fireworks at the goal lines, both national anthems were sung and then the Kiwis did the haka - game on -

the Aussies score a goal (kicked in) for the first two points, then they score the first try (touchdown, worth 4 points) and convert the try (extra point, or in this case two points) - the Kiwis also kick in a goal for two points, then they score a try and convert it while I'm on a beer run (I finally couldn't hold out any longer, especially after the tip from the guy sitting next to me to walk over a few aisles for shorter beer lines) - there were separate beer and food "queues" (lines), huge queues at all the beer vendors and no one at all at the food vendors, guess some stereotypes are accurate - at the half, Aussies 10, Kiwis 6 -

the second half started, and the Kiwis scored another try, unfortunately they missed the conversion, so the score was tied at 10 - then the Aussies scored a goal on a penalty to go up by two, but the Kiwis also scored a goal on a penalty, score tied at 12-12 - in the very last seconds of regular time, the Aussies had a great run, and it looks like they may have scored a try, but on review of the video replay (which is a great idea, in case any MLB officials are reading this . . . . ), its ruled a knock forward, no try, and we're into a 5 minute first OT - at the end of 5 minutes, no score, so the announcer says that the clock will now run until either side scores (I guess it isn't very common to need more than one overtime, since the fans next to me had been wondering what would happen after the first overtime) -

but the second OT doesn't last long, the Aussies have a breakaway run and score a try about a minute and a half into it, game over, Aussies win, the crowd goes wild (well, half the crowd anyway . . . . ) - I decide to try to get ahead of the crowd and skip the awarding of the trophy, but as I walk away from the stadium I hear the strains of "we are the champions" (some things seem to be relatively universal in sports . . .

) - overall an amazing experience and one that was a good talking point in the wineries in the Hunter Valley on Sunday and Monday –

Posted by Linda, Live! From the TriNations Rugby Final in Sydney.

Live! | Rugby

Monday, November 27, 2006 7:56:26 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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The above paragraph will probably drive the Tank into Bellevue because Division I-A Football doesn't have a playoff like every other sport on the planet, collegiate or professional. The Tank needs closure. A means to help my fragile mental state is a playoff of the top four teams, i.e. #1 versus #4 and #2 versus #3 in the first round and then the winners of those two games meet for the B(C)S Championship.

College Football

Friday, November 24, 2006 11:47:58 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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This is part III of a three part interview with mountain climber Garry Porter. Part I is here and Part II is here.

S&TT: HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU CLIMBED MT. RAINIER?  I think I’ve climbed Rainier on a variety of routes 18 or 20 times and have summated 13 or 14 times. It is a gorgeous mountain but not one to be taken lightly. When conditions are right, it’s a straightforward ascent and descent. But the Northwest weather can move in quickly and things get messy in a hurry, even to experienced climbers. Rainier has more active glaciers than any mountain the continental U.S. and can thus be very treacherous. On a normal summit day, you are going to be crossing numerous open crevasses either by snow bridges or jumping. Jumping over gaping crevasses at 13,000 is not easy because trying to run up to the crevasse, time your leap and land on the other side with plastic boots and crampons and a pack on is not easy. Ask Steve and his buddy Kevin what they think. So I tell people that climbing Rainier should be taken very very seriously and you need to come physically prepared and trained in self arresting on ice and moving as a team roped together.

S&TT: WE CLIMBED RAINER AGAIN ALONG WITH KEVIN (FROM EVEREST BASE CAMP.) WILL YOU CLIMB MT. RAINIER WITH STEVE AGAIN?

Would I climb with Steve again? Sure, as long as he gets his shit together and quits whining. No, that’s a joke. I don’t know what Steve has told everybody about our summit of Rainier but it was a great experience for me. I knew Steve would be physically fit for the climb and he was. Yes, he whines a little, but I consider that one of his “charming” traits and one that I can easily ignore. I think I only had to tell him once that just because he talks louder and faster than me, it doesn’t mean that he knows more. And yes, we had some equipment difficulties early on summit morning because Steve had not check fitted his crampons to his boots ahead of time and I guess I got a little pissie at that point because I’m pretty driven once I am on the mountain. But the delay afforded us an experience that I have never seen on all my trips to Rainier. The Northern Lights were out and gave us a dazzling display around 1:00 am. I would never have seen if it wasn’t for our delay in climbing. So, it all worked out great.

One other thing Steve. Next time climbing Rainier, it will be easier for you, I guarantee it. You now know the level of effort required to ascend AND descend the mountain. You can now appreciate the level of agony that it takes to summit and get down and most important, you mentally know that you can do it. It’s kind of like running your second marathon. You’ve done it before and you know what to expect. It takes the mental uncertainty out of the equation so that you can joy enjoy the experience. Steve, let me know when you are ready.

S&TT: IF YOU REMEMBER WE ONLY SAW THE NORTHERN LIGHTS BECAUSE WE WERE LATE COMING OUT OF THE CAMP, SO YOU OWE ME. ALSO I INSISTED THEY WERE THE AURORA AND YOU SAID AT FIRST "NO NO THAT IS SEATTLE CITY LIGHTS!" :) AND YES I AM READY. ANYWAY,  DOES YOUR WIFE WORRY WHEN YOU ARE AWAY CLIMBING A MOUNTAIN? Nadine, my wife of 40 plus years is the greatest person ever. I do not know how she handles the stress of my mountain climbing but she does. It’s one of those things we don’t talk about. She is my strongest supporter for my climbing. . In fact, it was my wife who suggested I attempt Everest after I had turned down an earlier offer to go. Her rationale was straightforward; I clearly had the necessary prerequisite climbing experience, a group was forming with people who I knew and who knew me and as she said, “there’s a reason men older that you don’t climb Everest, so if you are ever going to do it, now would be a good time”. I think that was her gentle way of saying that I’m an old fart and not getting any younger. Two days later, I committed to the climb. Her only requirement is that I enjoy what I am doing and that I am selective in who I climb with. I know she worries but I have shown her in the past that I will turn back when conditions are not right, and this adds to her confidence in my decision making when “summit fever” is at its peak. I honestly don’t know how she deals with the stress. I guess she trusts me to know when to say when, she knows I go prepared physically and mentally for the climbing challenge and the rest is up to the gods. I love her dearly.

S&TT: HOW DO YOU TRAIN FOR MOUNTAIN CLIMBING? I’m an engineer by education and training and so my physical training preparation to get ready is very structured. Some would say I over train, some would say that I’m just anal retentive about my training, but I know it works for me. So my physical preparation means that my progress has to be quantitative and measurable. When I start plotting performance curves, then I know I have gone too far. That means that in weigh training, what I did this Monday compared to what I did last Monday has to show an improvement either in reps or weight. And so it goes. I routinely work out at a gym three days a week and mountain bike or snow shoe or run long races on the weekend so that I stay in range of any climbing opportunity. So depending on the planned climb, I start 3-6 months in advance and start cranking it up. I shift from running to more time spent with a pack on my back. My gym time consists of an hour plus on a treadmill or stair master with a 60 pound pack and 5 pound ankle weights. I don’t start there but gradually add weight until I’m carrying the load comfortably. I then do an hour of upper body weight training as well. I use to work up to 110 pounds in my pack plus ankle weights but it was pointed out to me that other than bragging rights, it was not good training for Everest. The old adage of making your training routine match what you are training for was never truer and I would not normally carry 110 pounds on a mountain. What was more important was to get a load slightly higher than I would normally carry but crank the intensity up to simulate what I will be doing on the mountain. So it’s a 60 pound pack but get the cardio heart rate to 85-90% of max heart rate and hold it there for an hour because that’s what you will need to perform at on the mountain. So I do this 4 times a week and then go do something long on the weekend to exercise a different set of muscles. Since Mt. Rainier is in my backyard, I’ll do a day hike from Paradise Lodge at 5,000 feet to camp Muir at 10,000 feet with a 60 pound pack and keep pushing the time required. I usually fill gallon water jugs to carry up and then either dump them at camp Muir or give the water to other climbers. (Thought about carrying beer up and selling it but I guess that’s against park rules but I could see a budding market for it at camp Muir.) Anyway, I try to come down light so that I can put snow shoes on and partially run down. Before I left for Everest, I did back to back half marathons and then my best 10K the Sunday before I got on the airplane. Mentally, I have to be able to tell myself that I have prepared as hard as I physically can and the summit success is now up to conditions that I have no control over. It’s a mental thing for me.

S&TT: HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO CLIMB EVEREST? HOW DO YOU RAISE MONEY? DOES YOUR WIFE THINK YOU ARE CRAZY? How much does it cost….too much. An insane AMOUNT. Throw the logic out the window AMOUNT. Do not attempt to rationalize the cost AMOUNT. Forget that Mercedes convertible that you have always dreamt about AMOUNT. Realistically, there is not an easy way for me to raise funds. I wrote to AARP and the major pharmaceutical companies that sell “geriatric” drugs but got no response. Let’s face it; I’m an old man with no major disabilities and thus no sex appeal for sponsors. But I am always open to any ideas from the readers on raising funds for the next trip.

My cost was $60,000 plus a lot of borrowed gear from good friends and Everest base camp trekkers and some modest contributions from a few fellow climbers. But then it’s an experience of a life time and you can’t put a price on that. When my wife suggested that I climb Everest, one of my instant concerns was how we were going to pay for it. Her only answer was, “you’ll figure a way, you always do”. When I retired, I spent a lot of time calculating and recalculating our financial situation to feel comfortable that we would have enough money to last. A $60,000 trip up Everest was not in the calculations. So I refinanced our house. Sorry kids. You will someday inherit a house with a mortgage on it but you will always be able to say, “Oh that was Dad’s Everest trip”.

S&TT: WHAT IS YOUR OPINION OF THE DAVID SHARP STORY? It’s obviously a tragedy that happened on a mountain that is prone to tragedies. But, I believe it has to be put into perspective. People die tragic deaths every second of the day. Some at work, some on their way to work, some at home in the comfort of their family. Some people stop to help at accidents, some look and keep moving because they have other more important commitments. This is not to trivialize what happened on the mountain, and I hate to see it happen, but it tragedies happen, mountain or no mountain. The David Sharp accident got a lot of publicity because it was Everest and because maybe it showed some of the worst sides of what we have become as a society. If there is a positive side, David Sharp died doing what he loved to do, which is more that what most people will get. From what I have read, this was his third trip to Everest so he was not a novice and clearly knew what risks Everest entailed. Knowing that, he chose to climb without oxygen, without a radio and without a climbing partner, all of which raised his risk level. Could other climbers have done more for him, certainly. Could they have saved him, I don’t know and second string arm chair quarterbacking by the press certainly doesn’t help the situation either.

I’ll offer a long story, short version of a similar experience of mine. A Denali guide friend told me that they had a group of climbers on Denali, who on summit day got caught in a tremendous blizzard and were trapped somewhere on the mountain and out of contact. After 24 hours, they had to call the spouses/significant other of all the climbers and inform them that they had lost contact with the group and things didn’t look to good for them. He says, to a person, the spouse’s first question was whether they had summated or not. It was as if that fact would make their death acceptable. They all survived the storm but the story has always stuck in my mind of the significance of dieing doing what we love to do. David Sharp summated Everest on his third try. You decide.

S&TT: DO YOU AGREE WITH SIR EDMUND HILLARY AND KRAKAUER THAT THE SHARP TRAGEDY IS THE RESULT OF COMMERCIALIZATION OF EVEREST? I don’t think so in David Sharp’s case. I do, however, think that is the case in a lot of other accidents on Everest. I believe there are way too many people on Everest who do not belong there because they have not earned the right to be there. This will probably piss some of the readers off, but I don’t care. Because someone can fork over the $60,000 or higher to complete their personal resumes of their exciting life, does not in my mind entitle them to attempt climbing Mt.Everest. With no climbing experience, no significant training but just with big bucks they endanger themselves but also a lot of other good climbers when they get in trouble. You combine that with climbing outfits who are also relatively inexperienced about Everest and you have a sure fire recipe for disaster. Even for the Boston marathon, you have to qualify against a standard. Why would we expect nothing less to climb Everest?

S&TT: ANY ADVICE FOR YOUNG FOLKS READING THIS WHO MAY WANT TO CLIMB ONE DAY? If you want to do it, DO IT, but go prepared. Train seriously and get the prerequisite climbing in before you head for a big mountain. That means get experience on lesser mountains to know what you are getting into. Research your guides like your life depended on it. Pick good fellow climbers that you enjoy being with and who you can stand for long extended periods of time in adverse conditions and who you can share in the thrill of the summit or the agony of defeat. Oh yes, get good life insurance before the insurance companies find out that you climb. Enjoy life and the experience.

S&TT: GREAT INTERVIEW GARRY, THANKS FOR YOUR TIME! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Interviews | Mountain Climbing

Wednesday, November 22, 2006 9:13:34 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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