End of a running era...Lorentz's leaving for college.

Friday, August 12, 2011

Once again I found myself driving Savannah’s Jeep and meeting with complications. It has been sucking down oil…I suppose not too surprising for a vehicle with 182,000 miles on it, but it was making some God-awful sounds under the hood, as well. I made it home and threw my bike in the back so I could go and visit Dan. I suspected I’d be riding home…which was okay but would keep me from doing the Survival Workout with Kim. I had wanted to take her through the paces so she could see what I’d been doing with my summer and teach her some tricks she could incorporate into her workouts in Florida as she began graduate school.

I arrived at Dan’s and lifted the hood…though we could hear the offending noise quite nicely with it latched. He took a quick look and said, “air conditioning pump.” He made a call and presented me with my options. “I could get a new pump for $400 or eliminate it for $60,” he said. It didn’t take me long to answer. “Summer’s almost over and she knows how to operate the windows for air flow. Let’s do the $60 fix.” I unloaded the bike and told him he could have the Jeep for the weekend and when I returned, I’d be riding his reconditioned bike so that he wouldn’t have any more excuses for not riding with me.

I had about two hours of daylight and planned on riding every minute of them. Since I couldn’t take Kim through the Survival Workout, I figured I could at least swing by her place and say goodbye to her and Marie…Marie was leaving for Purdue in the morning where she’d be studying Mechanical Engineering and running for the Boilermakers. I hadn’t seen Marie all summer so when I rode into their driveway and she came out of the house, she seemed surprised to see it was me. “You look so fit, Mr. Rolf. I almost didn’t recognize you.” Well…that felt good coming from a high school kid. I’ve probably lost 15 pounds since she saw me last and done a boat load of Survival Workouts, giving me and entirely new…and fitter…look. That…and I was wearing my form-fitting cycling jersey…which really makes me look like Lance.

After a 30-minute visit, I finished the short ride home but had managed a 30-mile ride. I’m going to miss those two girls. Between them, I’ve been coaching and cheering their efforts for over 7 years during which time them have run some amazing times and races. This will be the first fall in many years that I don’t have a Cross Country athlete with whom I’m working…Jack has declined the opportunity to run. It is one of the things I really enjoy and will miss it. Hopefully, some athlete looking to get more from their running talent will come knocking on my door sometime soon.

Bike workout: One hour and 40 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1,400.