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Wednesday May 6, 2009 #
Note
A few notes from California --
1. I had good feelings from the orienteering. One reason had to do with something I try to do but too often forget, namely to connect in some way with someone new at every orienteering meet I go to.
In this case there were a couple new connections. The first was with Nikolay Nachev. He is originally from Bulgaria, was on their junior team and then senior team, but never got to go to WOC because they never had the money to send more than a couple of runners and he was third or fourth. He is about to get his citizenship in this country, and there was an issue as to whether he could compete in the Trials. My opinion had been that he shouldn't have because there was no way of knowing when he might actually get his citizenship and so the team composition might be in limbo for quite a while, but I have no say these days (probably just as good) and the other team members seemed happy to have more competition, so he ran. And that seems like it was the right decision.
Anyway, on Sunday, the long course, I was the first starter and I expected to see a few of the young ones cruise past me, which they did, and one of them was Nikolay. Though at the time he was passing me, I don't think the word "cruise" ever entered my mind. We came together on the steep climb up to #8, I was maybe 10 meters ahead of him with about 5 or 6 lines still to climb. I was climbing at a rather slow pace; I wasn't actually breathing hard, didn't feel like my heart was working that hard, but the legs were just dead and it seemed like the best I could do. Nikolay, on the other hand, sounded like he was in the last mad dash of a short race, tremendous noise breathing in and out, really a quite terrible racket, alternatively he was about to have a massive heart attack. It was very impressive, or scary, I mean, we were only half way around the course, how could he possible be working so hard?
And as I staggered up the hillside, and the racket kept up, and I'd look over my shoulder to marvel at it all. And note that I was looking behind me, because for all his youth and his strength and his effort and his just frightful noises, it suddenly occurred to me that he wasn't going any faster than I was! By the time we got to the control I was still in front. To #9 it was uphill quite a bit more. Things returned to normal and he quickly passed and was soon long gone, while I was spending too much time laughing about the trip up to 8.
Later I had a chance to chat with him, a real nice fellow. And next year maybe he is in better shape and makes the team.
The second connection was with a fellow I had seen around a bunch but not talked too, but had heard lots of good things said about earlier in the weekend, namely Greg Lennon from Quantico. The lots of good things were with regard to the work he did, really the driving force, to make the hiring of an Executive Director for USOF a reality.
He'd been at the BAOCs meeting the evening before about JWOC, and so we talked a bit about when USOF had organized WOC-93 and how that had been. Interesting conversation, also on my part brought back lots of memories, mostly good ones.
2. Spent Sunday night in San Francisco, took a very nice late afternoon drive around the city when the traffic was very light, then happened upon a really good Thai restaurant to finish off the day on a fine note.
3. Then to San Diego Monday morning to visit Gail's step-father, the reknowned (at least to bridge players and/or applied mathematicians) Ivar Stakgold, who at age 83 relocated out here from the East Coast, unloaded one girl friend and picked up another. A very pleasant day and a half visit before heading home Wednesday morning, including trips to the zoo and the museum of contemporary art, several excellent meals, and a chance to see Gail's half-sister who drove down from LA. And weather that was as perfect as it was miserable in Cobb. A very good trip.
1. I had good feelings from the orienteering. One reason had to do with something I try to do but too often forget, namely to connect in some way with someone new at every orienteering meet I go to.
In this case there were a couple new connections. The first was with Nikolay Nachev. He is originally from Bulgaria, was on their junior team and then senior team, but never got to go to WOC because they never had the money to send more than a couple of runners and he was third or fourth. He is about to get his citizenship in this country, and there was an issue as to whether he could compete in the Trials. My opinion had been that he shouldn't have because there was no way of knowing when he might actually get his citizenship and so the team composition might be in limbo for quite a while, but I have no say these days (probably just as good) and the other team members seemed happy to have more competition, so he ran. And that seems like it was the right decision.
Anyway, on Sunday, the long course, I was the first starter and I expected to see a few of the young ones cruise past me, which they did, and one of them was Nikolay. Though at the time he was passing me, I don't think the word "cruise" ever entered my mind. We came together on the steep climb up to #8, I was maybe 10 meters ahead of him with about 5 or 6 lines still to climb. I was climbing at a rather slow pace; I wasn't actually breathing hard, didn't feel like my heart was working that hard, but the legs were just dead and it seemed like the best I could do. Nikolay, on the other hand, sounded like he was in the last mad dash of a short race, tremendous noise breathing in and out, really a quite terrible racket, alternatively he was about to have a massive heart attack. It was very impressive, or scary, I mean, we were only half way around the course, how could he possible be working so hard?
And as I staggered up the hillside, and the racket kept up, and I'd look over my shoulder to marvel at it all. And note that I was looking behind me, because for all his youth and his strength and his effort and his just frightful noises, it suddenly occurred to me that he wasn't going any faster than I was! By the time we got to the control I was still in front. To #9 it was uphill quite a bit more. Things returned to normal and he quickly passed and was soon long gone, while I was spending too much time laughing about the trip up to 8.
Later I had a chance to chat with him, a real nice fellow. And next year maybe he is in better shape and makes the team.
The second connection was with a fellow I had seen around a bunch but not talked too, but had heard lots of good things said about earlier in the weekend, namely Greg Lennon from Quantico. The lots of good things were with regard to the work he did, really the driving force, to make the hiring of an Executive Director for USOF a reality.
He'd been at the BAOCs meeting the evening before about JWOC, and so we talked a bit about when USOF had organized WOC-93 and how that had been. Interesting conversation, also on my part brought back lots of memories, mostly good ones.
2. Spent Sunday night in San Francisco, took a very nice late afternoon drive around the city when the traffic was very light, then happened upon a really good Thai restaurant to finish off the day on a fine note.
3. Then to San Diego Monday morning to visit Gail's step-father, the reknowned (at least to bridge players and/or applied mathematicians) Ivar Stakgold, who at age 83 relocated out here from the East Coast, unloaded one girl friend and picked up another. A very pleasant day and a half visit before heading home Wednesday morning, including trips to the zoo and the museum of contemporary art, several excellent meals, and a chance to see Gail's half-sister who drove down from LA. And weather that was as perfect as it was miserable in Cobb. A very good trip.
Note
A few shots from the San Diego zoo, which make it pretty clear that a day there is pretty much just like a day in Sunderland --
Yoga class....
Nap time....
Some serious thinking....
Good vegetarian food (with plenty of fiber)....
And sometimes another nap....
Because you have have to rest up for the visit to the art museum, where art can turn out to be most anything (there are actually two significant pieces on display here)....
Yoga class....
Nap time....
Some serious thinking....
Good vegetarian food (with plenty of fiber)....
And sometimes another nap....
Because you have have to rest up for the visit to the art museum, where art can turn out to be most anything (there are actually two significant pieces on display here)....