Weatherman, SVP, Was Right — It is HOT

Weatherman, SVP, Was Right — It is HOT

QIC: Burlap

Date: 08 July 2019

PAX: Van Pelt aka SVP, Bueller (WB), RedEye, LawnBoy, JuiceBox, Burlap (WB & QIC)

Temp:  72 degrees

Humidity:  YES

The route was around and through the gentle hills of old Sherwood Forest.  The first mile was mostly downhill and down Archer from the Fire Station to Kirklees.  The second mile was up and down — namely up Lichfield and down Chester.  The third was mostly a gradual uphill with some swales on Quarterstaff and Huntington.

YHC’s distance was 3.21, a number of some significance — more later.

Then we did three rounds of tabata (20 seconds on, 10 seconds off, no rest between sets) roughly matching the songs on YHC’s free Spotify app from a collection of about 40 songs that YHC has deemed suitable for workouts:

• mountain climbers and Freddie Mercuries — “It’s Been Awhile” by Staind
• merkins and alternating lunges — “Jungle Boogie” by Kool and the Gang
• WWII sit-ups and, well, WWII sit-ups — “Wherever I May Roam” by Metallica

COT – No announcements, but requests to remember Peacemaker and his M in prayer and unspoken requests.  YHC took us out.

NMM

• The Q put the location within one-half mile of his home, yet still drove.
• Pax noticed and were pleased by the fact that other runners were just finishing their 0430 run at 0520.  There were also bikers gathered at Messiah Moravian at 0530, an exercise mecca.
• Because YHC did not arrive on site until 0526, I was unsure as to whether Mutton had posted until returning at the end of run and not seeing him there.
• SVP and RedEye got out to an early lead and blazed comfortably down Archer.  JB and Bueller eased along together chatting peacefully, while Lawnboy hung with YHC (the 6) until we turned up Lichfield when he caught up to Bueller and JB.  The latter was kind enough to circle back for me near the 4-way stop at Kirklees and Quarterstaff and reported that Lawnboy and Bueller kinda took off.  The rest of pax picked me (the 6) up the final hill on Huntington for the last few hundred yards.
• We ran by the house where Parkay is doing yardwork for a neighbor even as YHC types this BB.  We also ran by my house — I suggested last night to my M that about half dozen guys would be running by the house about 5:50 a.m., but she declined to make an appearance nor to provide any refreshment.
• YHC posted a roughly 8 and 1/2 minute first mile which is reasonable given that I was running with fast guys and mostly downhill.  My second mile was under 9 minutes which was pretty good for me given that it was a bit of climb and largely out of sight of the pax.  The third mile was a struggle for YHC, even with JB’s welcome company, as I was sweating so much and somewhat dehydrated (apparently).  I was struggling at the end.
• A Volvo station wagon pulled into the lot by our cars about the time I returned on the run, and for a moment YHC thought maybe Resistor was dropping by for the GUN portion.  But it was a Messiah employee starting work in the playground garden while it was still relatively cool.   When I was leaving, I realized it was Barbara Shore, the director of Messiah’s pre-school and long-time friend.  If you know her husband, Jim, put an EH on him.
• The title of this BB is a reference to SVP’s video posts on Twitter regarding the dangerous weather conditions.
• On a serious note, I mentioned the mileage on my MMR at 3.21 being significant to me.  I will try to explain here.  March 21 (3/21) is Down syndrome day.  Folks chose that day because for individuals with Down syndrome, their 21st “pair” of chromosomes is actually a triplet — that is, they have 3 chromosomes instead of two.  This trisomy 21 is commonly called Down syndrome.  You will see 5ks that raise money and awareness for DS often be 3.21 miles in order to make the connection with the three chromosomes in the 21st pair.  This is significant to YHC as my daughter, Elizabeth, has Down syndrome.  She is planning to attend UNC-Greensboro this fall in a special program called Beyond Academics.  She plans to live on campus with typically developing students.  She just received a partial scholarship from Ruby’s Rainbow, an organization that grants scholarships for college bound students with Down syndrome.  The scholarship that Elizabeth received is in the memory of a young woman, Laura, who attended George Mason University about ten years ago and was a pioneer in collegiate programs like the one at UNCG.  Laura died unexpectedly three years ago.  Elizabeth, Dawn, and I were able to meet her parents.  It is also interesting to me that the Ruby’s Rainbow organization was founded by a family who had a daughter with DS but well before the daughter even qualified for college.  In fact, the Ruby for whom the non-profit is named has another 10 years before she can attend college.  Her parents had the foresight and inspiration to raise funds to help other kids with DS attend college well before their daughter even started grade school.  My M and I are very grateful for these families and especially for Elizabeth and for the life that she leads and the potential she is realizing with each new day.  I just wanted to share a little of her story.

Thank you for the opportunity of leading and sharing.

Burlap