Welcome Home, Part 2

This week's episode is the last and final chapter of my recap from my most recent trip home to Philadelphia. Surprisingly, there was not much of a reaction to my blog post regarding my "observations" about Delaware County. Perhaps more people agree then disagree. I find that Delco people fall into one of four camps (with a strong percentage of the population falling into bucket #1)

1. I love Delco and it's the epicenter of the universe. Go Eagles. Dallas Sucks. 
2. I hate Delco and I can't wait to leave
3. I hate Delco but I will never leave 
4. I love Delco but I am out, yo. 

if you want to get a really good glimpse relative to how others feel about the crown jewel of Southeast PA, check out this page on Facebook. But enough about my love-hate-love-hate-love relationship with Delco.

 

What else did I discover upon my return home? Truth be told, I missed my family. I missed my friends. I missed hanging out races. Nothing quite Earth shattering or unexpected. In retrospect, I should have stayed longer. I tried to cram alot in 2.5 days.

I'll be back in June to drop the kids off to moms, who's gonna have those two little knuckleheads all summer. I'll be sticking around for ten days, but nothing says "welcome home" like 95 degrees and 100% ass-sticking-to-the-pleather-seats-in-the-rental-car relative humidity.

 

2016 Race Calendar

This is what I have on the calendar for 2016. Everything is no more than an hour from where I live, which is in keeping with my rules of racing (rule #27, to be exact).

April 9th, Golden Bears Duathlon
5 mile run/ 18.6 mile ride/ 2.2 mile run

May 21, Santa Theresa MTB Race (tentative; the promoter is still trying to get his permit)

June 18, DU-TOES
3.6 mile run, 22 mile bike, 1.8 mile run

I also found a website that has a nice MTB schedule listed, but they haven't released their 2016 schedule as of yet. Ten races, starting in February.  Wouldnt mind jumping into a few... just to get my ass handed to me. It's humbling.

Resolutions

Everyone has their own resolutions around this time of year; it might be weight loss; it might the desire to run a 5k. The gyms get crowded and Weight Watchers gets the inevitable New Year's uptake in membership. I am human, just like everyone else, and I guess I need a resolution as well.

One of the biggest differences in terms of my lifestyle that I have had to face with the move from East to West is the abundance of free time that I have on weekends, with the absence of having a viable "race timing" career. I haven't had this much free time on weekends in years.

I also need a goal, something to motivate. To get up in the morning just for the sake of getting up to workout isn't motivating. I need a race. I remember back in the day, when I was training, I'd get up and get to the gym, and I'd be angry. I'd walk into the spinning class and I'd have this chip on my shoulder - I needed to walk out of there after 60 minutes knowing that I was the baddest mother fucker in the room. Sounds silly -it's only a spinning class- but it's what motivated me (Fun Frank fact: I have been known to have some latent "anger" issues). I am very competitive person. My former CEO used to ask this question - do you love to win, or hate to lose? It's one of those questions that doesn't have a "right" answer; rather, it's supposed to illustrate some level of thinking by the manner in which the questions is answered. I hate to lose. I do not necessarily need to be the "winner" every time, but when I look around the room, and take stock of the competition, I'll identify those who I KNOW I can beat, and losing those people stings more than losing the race. I'll go into this in another blog entry. 

I used to bitch and complain when I was timing that I wish I had more free time to run, or ride, or train. Now that I have that free time available to me, I need to do something with it.

So I took stock of my situation this week past. I had alot of time to think while I was home in Philly. I asked myself a couple of questions:

1. What am I good at?
2. What do I enjoy?

It's probably easier for me to answer those questions in terms of what I DON'T enjoy versus what I do enjoy. The truth is, I really do not like running. I've blogged about my love-hate relationship with running in the past (which, truth be told, is more hate than love).

The fact of the matter is that I really do not like to run. Strike that. I really do not like to only run. I enjoy other things as well- mountain biking, etc.

 So, the first conclusion we can draw is that I do not want to just run anymore.

So the next question - what am I good at - is easy. I am good at riding my bike. I am good at running. Not great, just good. But I am really good at doing both of those things back to back to back.

So, I've decided for 2016 to jump back into the world of multisport, specifically, duathlon. Years ago, and two age groups in the past, I was a pretty decent duathlete. I could hold my own in my age group.

I've ruled out triathlon for a variety of reasons. Most notably, I am not a good swimmer. Actually, I am an awful swimmer. I have no business being in the water. Period. Case closed, end of story. Secondly, I do not have access to a pool. Thirdly, training for two events is much easier than training for three events.

So I've started persusing some websites for local races out here in the Bay Area and I have my sites on an event in April. I need to drum up a training plan.

That's it for now. I'll tell you mom you said hi.

Welcome Home - The Recap, Part I

I got the chance to take a trip back to Delco this weekend past and surprisingly, there were some things that I've come to realize now that I have had the chance to put a significant chunk of time into the Bay Area.

Warning: some of what I am to say will probably be offensive, perhaps even incendiary, especially to the Delco natives, which I imagine is where most if not all of the five people who actual read this reside.

Delco is a dump. Well, some of it.

There, I said it. Don't read to much into, because there are some qualifiers. I don't hate Delco. So hear me out.

It's a dump relative to where I currently live in Northern California. You can argue the point to your heart's content, but let's be absolutely clear on this one thing before we go any further: Northern California is beautiful. It is one of the most beautiful places in North America. Not the most beautiful, but definitely, hands down, a much more scenic place to live than Delaware County and not a by a slim margin - a very WIDE margin. Case closed, end of story. On this point, there is no debate.

Getting back on subject, let's get granular-  there are many faces of Delco. There's East Delco (Darby, UD, Folcroft, etc), there's West Delco (Glen Mills, etc) and there's the Main Line.

So I guess my comments are really in reference to East Delco. It's a dump. There are some nice parts. But overall, it's still a dump. Keep your comments to yourself. I present this to you, the reader, as an observation, not as invitation to debate why Delco is the crown jewel of the Tri-State area. A) I don't care - I've already formed my opinion and quite frankly, this is my blog and B) you know that I am right. Spend more than a week of your life trying to navigate McDade Blvd - that five mile wasteland of "Cash For Gold" storefronts and dollar stores - or Baltimore Pike, and you'll realize that I speak the truth, unless an endless stream of used car dealerships, shitty diners and multiple Targets is what you define as high-luxury living. If that's the case, do yourselves the favor and do not ever leave Delco, because you will never be happy where ever you decide to live.

So perhaps in a couple of years from now when if I decide to move back, one of my Delco acquaintances will say "yo remember dat blog entry where yous were makin' fun of Delco n' shit? What you got to say now homo?? E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!!!" and I will acknowledge the observation with a curt smile and a nod. Perhaps my grammar challenged acquaintance is right. Home is home. And I don't hate Delco - again, let's be clear on this. Being a dump is what gives it it's charm. I pride myself on the fact that I wasn't raised on the Main Line, that I was not given everything on a silver platter as a kid. Being from Delco has made me who I am and I wouldn't trade that set of experiences for the world. And we have Wawa. There is nothing like Wawa on the West Coast. And trust me when I tell you that there have been more times than I can count where I have had a hankering for a mediocre* hoagie only to be let down, because 7-11 doesn't make sandwiches.

So let's summarize:

• Delco is a Dump
• Wawa = good
• Your mom says hello.

* Quick sidebar: Yes, Wawa Hoagies are just mediocre. Great in a pinch, but not our region's best work when it comes to sandwiches. If you think that Wawa is the yardstick by which all sandwiches should be measured against, move to Alaska, because clearly you're an idiot.