11 Days Later.....

Since I last blogged...

*I finished up the first two one-week sessions of the summer elementary enrichment program (SEEP). My session is entitled Math in Sports where we try to intertwine math and sports for kids in grades 4-7. We do things like keep track of fantasy baseball scores, calculate stats (BA, OBP, SLUG, OPS, ERA, WHIP), look at patterns and formations (like in football), and several other things depending on the weather and the available facilities. I definitely think that working with elementary kids is not my strongest suit, but it's not too bad for four days at a time.

*I went to a Pirate game with one of the other track coaches last Thursday and had a heck of a time. We had great seats and were entertained to a walk-off single by rookie phenom Andrew McCutchen. We also narrowly avoided some crazy thunderstorms that didn't show up downtown until I was just about back to the car. Here's a few photos of the game:

This second photo was neat because Andrew McCutchen was up with a 3-2 count and two outs and the bases were loaded--meaning everybody is in motion as the pitch was coming to the plate. McCutchen ended up walking to tie the game.

*Upon returning home Thursday night around 11pm, it turns out that Beth's computer wouldn't turn on and her front race wheel wouldn't hold air. Not good when we were leaving for Philly in 10 hours. We get up Friday morning and devise a plan where I took the laptop to a licensed warranty repair place on the Parkway west (weird experience in itself based on the person who helped out), then swing down to West Mifflin to Big Bang Bikes for the tire and then meet Beth and Roxy in Greensburg to then go to Philly. The result: Laptop's battery just had a hiccup and it only took 10 minutes to fix, the great folks at Big Bang were able to replace the valve stem seal on the tire and it worked out fine. So, we left for Philly only about 1 or 2 hours later than we planned. Not bad considering the potential catastrophe of Beth losing all of her business data on her computer and not having a race wheel for Philly!!


*We get to Philly and eat dinner and go over to the packet pickup where we found Roxy's long lost parent/sibling/cousin??? You decide:


I didn't realize until we left that the dog moved its head while I was taking the picture, so it ended up a little fuzzy--just adds to the mystery. I didn't want to bother the owner for a second picture--they probably thought I was weird enough already. But, it was an exact replica of Roxy down to the white on the legs and tail. Maybe the only difference was that this dog was a little heavier. Other than that, it could have been exactly Roxy!

*Oh yeah, there were races in Philly, too. Maija competed in and won her age group in the Philly sprint on Saturday. On Sunday, Beth ended up 2nd overall after a tough duel with Bri (3rd) down the stretch in the run. Some person from Maryland won overall, so Beth earned her Best of the US spot for the 2nd year in a row. That will be out in California at the end of September.

Beth & Maija after Maija's race Saturday

The start of Beth's swim wave heading down the Schuylkill. I had a neat angle from atop a bridge that I crossed to get back to the transition area from the swim start.

About 200m from the finish, Bri is just ahead of Beth. Beth snuck past Bri near the finish line.

Now we're getting ready for a big 4th of July weekend of....relaxing and spending time with family. Also, happy Canada Day to our friends north of the border yesterday. I always remember back to our one year about 10-15 years ago when my family took a vacation to Canada and we saw a Toronto Blue Jays game on Canada Day. It was neat to see the team wear red. Here's their uniforms from this year: