Saturdays with Mikey

On most Saturdays I find myself doing 5k loops through Eisenhower Park.  I've gotten in the habit of dropping James off for his 7 AM swim practice at Chaminade and heading to the park, a short 10 minute drive away.   I like going back to Chaminade, having spent 4 years in winter and spring track running around its 5 lap to a mile loop.  I can't help but notice the similarity between his sport, swimming and my old track days.  Unlike other sports where you at least get to play when you practice, competitive swimming and running require you to basically push your body to the brink of exhaustion, until you're ready to collapse, puke or on those most memorable occasions, both.  The harder you push, the faster you get.  Rarely is practice fun, but you do it for the thrill of racing and to see just how fast you can get.  Meets were ALWAYS fun...

What makes these practices bearable are the people around you.  James has his friends to commiserate with in the pool.  I was lucky enough to share the track with some of my best friends at Chaminade.  We'd run mile after mile, interval after interval, ladders, sprints, you name it.  As distance guys we would stare longly at the sprinters doing 100 yard strides while we were in the middle of a half dozen 3/4 mile repeats.  One of those guys who would languish alongside me - actually, usually a step of two ahead of me - was Mike Cahill.  He was, like most of us back then, a carefree, happy go-lucky guy.  He was the type of kid who made track practice fun, and delivered a great balance to the insane workouts. In addition to our individual races, we usually ended up together on the 4x880 relay, where we were all business.  Unfortunately Mike found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time on 9/11.

At about the halfway mark of the Eisenhower 5k loop is a memorial to Nassau County residents who perished that day.  I always make a point of running by to stop and say "hello".

I hadn't seen or heard from him in years, but I'm glad I'm able to find a way to keep him involved in my running.  Besides, I like routine.

On Saturday, I ran 3 loops, good for 9+ miles.  It was right after Friday's snow, so the paths were still pretty messy.  And the bathrooms?  Well, they were downright freezing.  Next time I head to the warm, familiar confines of the pool building. 

Spent Sunday in the poolside bleachers at the University of Maryland, watching James qualify for JOs in the 500 free.  Like I said, racing and meets are fun, especially when the hard work pays off...

35 miles down, 465 to go...