*Tomorrow's the last day of the summer program I've been doing for the last four weeks. It's been fun, but I am reminded why I DON'T work with elementary kids. They are way too squirrelly for me. Working with them for a week on fun stuff like "Math in Sports" isn't bad. I couldn't imagine going 5 days/week for a whole school year with them.
*Beth and I have been having some rear-mounted water bottle cage issues over the last few weeks. Hers is really loose and wobbly after I stripped the one bolt and mine tend to pop out on our rides (causing the faster of us to get a tiny bit impatient while I go and retrieve it). However, after some research, trial and error, and online purchases, I think we've got the issue resolved. For Beth she got a beaker concepts mount with 'gorilla grip' cages. We're hoping this new design is more stable and holds bottles better. From my amateur engineering perspective (my background before becoming a math teacher), I feel this new design and how it's mounted to the seat rails will make it much less prone to wiggling. For me, I found a good one at Big Bang Bike Shop. They always have exactly what we need! Below is a picture of Beth's setup:
*The All-Star game was pretty fun. I made it to the 8th inning before I fell asleep. This was actually one of the shorter ones, only 2 hours and 31 minutes (the shortest since 1988). The problem was that it didn't start until almost 9pm here in the east.
Part of the pre-game festivities was the first pitch by President Obama. Politically, I'm not a big fan of some of his policies and ideas but I don't mind his fresh approach to the administration. However, this is not a political blog. What I want to critique was his appearance on the mound for the pitch. I thought it was neat that he stayed true to his favorite team, the Chicago White Sox (much to Jen Harrison's and Cubs fans' chagrin) by wearing a Sox jacket on the mound. However, his pitch left a lot to be desired. He lolli-popped it in there and didn't even make it to the place. Albert Pujols had to scooch up a few feet to catch it before it hit the ground.
If you want to see a President throw a REAL first pitch, how about President Bush in Yankee Stadium the weekend after the September 11th attacks. He went out there and fired a strike. I vaguely remembered the actual pitch, so I looked it up on YouTube and he sure did fire a strike nice and fast. THAT's how you show you're the leader of the free world!
In President Obama's defense, there have been MUCH worse. Here's a video from ESPN on worst first pitches:
*Speaking of the All-Star game, neither Freddy Sanchez or Zach Duke made it in to the game. I can't really criticize that, though. It was a one-run game and you need to keep some people back. Sanchez makes sense because he could play 2nd or 3rd base. Duke was an injury replacement, so he should have been one of the last people in. Regardless, the current Pirates may be in for a long 2nd half.
*So, I continue to look to the future. My dad and I are going up to Altoona Thursday to see another Curve game. I'm excited to see Pedro Alvarez in person. I want to see if he's as terrible as advertised defensively and if the ball really does jump off his bat. We shall see...
Next weekend, my dad and I are going down to Frederick, MD to meet up with my sister and catch a couple of baseball games. Here's the schedule for the weekend:
Friday night: Frederick (Baltimore A) vs Lynchburg (Pirates A)
Saturday night: Bowie (Baltimore AA) vs Reading (Phillies AA)
Sunday afternoon: Harrisburg (Washington AA) vs Trenton (Yankees AA)
I can't wait and I'm hoping for the weather to cooperate.
*Speaking of weather, it finally got hot for a day! Beth and I did a road tempo workout. It sure was rough with the humidity! I'm getting in the swing of things with my official marathon training. The big day for the Philly Marathon is not until November 21, but it's good to start the 'official' training. I got in 12 miles Friday, 40 mile brick Saturday, 13 miles Sunday, off Monday, swim Tuesday, and crazy humid run today. I think I should be okay for week one of the plan. Most of my plan will be catered around the boys' xc team at school because that seemed to be pretty successful for me the last two falls. We shall see!
4 comments:
Oh dear, was it that obvious that I was getting annoyed at stopping for all your bottle launches?? :) Hopefully all our bottle woes are behind us thanks to you, my awesome equipment manager!!
I loved the first pitch videos! Hey a friend of mine is trying to talk me into the Philly marathon. I'm actually thinking about it...if I can ever get my Dr to let me run again. (I wish I could say I was going INTO training as fit as you are!) How many weeks is your training program and when does it start?
Every year I think about doing the philly marathon.
I gave up long ago on the carbon cages. They never work! You'll have to let me know how the gorilla ones work out. I also have the beaker concepts thingy, and it works great!
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