Countdown to Triathlon - 222 Days, 31.71 weeks to Race Day (See Installment 36 of "The Journey", 220 mile bike ride, below)

The Empire State Building at sunset.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -

An optimist is someone who falls off the Empire State Building, and after 50 floors says, 'So far so good!'

       
The training and dieting are going well.  I just have to remember that 31.71 weeks will be here before I know it and to not falter in my training.

The Journey - Installment Thirty-Six


             
         We decided to do the tourist thing and go up to the top of the Empire State Building.  We bought tickets then were directed to an elevator.  We had been told that we would get off the elevator at a certain floor then had to stand in line to get on another elevator.  When we got off the first elevator, there was a long line snaking around that floor of the building.  I remember thinking that I really didn’t want to stand in line.  A guard directed us directly onto the elevator which took us right to the top of the building.  I remember asking him if Meg Ryan was at the top (Sleepless in Seattle) but he didn’t get it.  We were incredulous as to why we hadn’t had to stand in line.  I thought that maybe the guard mistakenly thought we were some VIP group, which of course we weren't.  I just remember all those people in line glaring at us and wondering why we got right on the elevator and didn't have to wait.   It is only now at this writing that I may have the answer.  Cindy wore her medal around her neck all day and I wonder if that was why we were ushered directly to the elevator without waiting.  It is the only explanation I can come up with. 

    
           After arriving at the top of the building, we were amazed at how strong the wind was.  There was a fence all around the building.  You can see in the below photo of Cindy and I just how strong.  It felt as if we could have been blown off the building if there had been no fence.  Check out some the photos we took from the top overlooking the New York City skyline.  Sorry, I can't tell you which part of the city we're looking at in the photos.

I wonder what ever happened to that jacket of mine (shown in the picture of me on the right.)
 I always enjoyed wearing it and haven't seen it in years.

        In the picture below, we were really on top of the Empire State Building.  The background was a drop-down screen.  I wonder why they didn't use the Empire State Building rather than the Statue of Liberty.


Me (Barb) on left, Patti, middle, Cindy on the right
WOW!  Nine years sure makes a difference in appearance, at least in my case.



Countdown to Triathlon - 223Days, 31.85 weeks to Race Day (See Installment 35 of "The Journey", 220 mile bike ride, below)

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -

Wall Street is the only place that people ride to in a Rolls Royce to get advice from those who take the subway. Warren Buffett

The Journey - Installment Thirty-Five

Cindy, Patti and I found our way to Wall and Broad Streets.  The air was full of ash and smoke, still after almost eight weeks since September eleventh.  We turned the corner and  were walking along the perimeter of the fence which surrounded Trinity Church Wall Street.  It was first built in 1798. In the church yard are buried many famous people: Alexander Hamilton, William Bradford and Robert Fulton to name a few.  It is the only active cemetery remaining in the borough of Manhattan. There was ash still all over the grave sites and the fence and yard.  We went inside and were told that volunteers had cleaned up the ash several times, but it was still falling.  Inside, all the pews were covered and there were workmen painting the inside of the church.  Just as we stood, taking it all in, someone from the church walked up near where we were standing and put a stack of cards in the card holder. Since we were first to be there, we each grabbed one.  Below is the front with the church yard photos and the next  picture is from the back of the card.



All the gray is ash.



  

Trinity Church in better days



         We turned a corner, after leaving the church, still amazed at the amount of ash on the church and its grounds and the ash in the air which we were breathing without taking precautions to cover our noses and mouths.  On the next street we came upon a chain link fence surrounding the area where the World Trade Center buildings had been.  The surrounding buildings which were still standing had material that looked like fine netting hanging down the sides of the building covering the windows.  They were fluttering in the breeze and we weren’t sure what they for if not to keep debris out of the remaining buildings.  As we stood looking at the chain link fence, it was covered with flowers, teddy bears and letters expressing sorrow and love.  I remember that as we got to the end of the fence, there was a pile of old flowers, teddy bears, etc. which had been cleared off.  It looked like each day someone pulled everything from the fence to make room for the new items.  But at the time, I thought it was a disgrace that someone did not take the things away, but just left the items discarded in a heap at the end of the fence. It was as if all the love that was being expressed by people leaving these messages, flowers and other items were somehow treated as having no value and worthless.  The picture below was part of what we saw, although it doesn't do justice to all the flowers and items on the fence.  I can't find that we took a very good picture of this area.

        After walking a block and turning another corner which would take us around to the other side of the Trade Center excavation, there was a strip of dirt a block long between the sidewalk and the street. The street was blocked off but we could walk on the sidewalk. There was a huge number of stakes pounded into the ground on the dirt strip with messages which read, “Please respect our loss; do not take pictures.”  We rounded the corner and we could see directly into the area where they were taking down the remaining part of the buildings.  There were dump trucks lined up to carry away the debris.  Many people stood in the middle of the street facing the destroyed building and all of them were taking picture.  I told Patti to go ahead and take some pictures since she had the best zoom lens on her camera and that way all three of us wouldn’t be taking photos.  We couldn’t see how we were disrespecting the lost by taking photos of the disaster, especially since everyone else was doing it. We felt we had to take the picture as a reminder of that terrible day in September.  It was a very sobering moment to see all the dump trucks lined up coming and going with the debris.

Neither picture is very clear but I can assure you that it was a sickening feeling to look at the debris being carried away by dump trucks, all lined up waiting their turn to receive a load.

 (Patti's recollections)

 The church was Trinity Church and it had just reopened that day.  I remember the ash still piled up on the concrete wall, in between the iron posts around the cemetery.  Ash was also still piled on the headstones.  What I remember that was so eerie was the smell of smoke in the air, the smouldering pile of debris, and the papers still floating in the wind, most likely from businesses in the trade center.  I kept some for souvenirs.  Also, as we walked to Ground Zero, I remember the hustle and bustle of business owners reopening their businesses for the first time  since 9/11.  Supplies were being delivered and unloaded, signs were posted in some windows that they were once again, open for business.  (Barb commenting now - "See it's good to have more than one witness because I don't remember about all the supplies being delivered or the shops reopening.")

 As for the picture taking, I remember feeling that I should heed the signs, but that it felt disrespectful NOT to take pictures.  That it was necessary to show people what really happened and what the site looked like.



 

Countdown to Triathlon - 226Days, 32.25 weeks to Race Day (See Installment 34 of "The Journey", 220 mile bike ride, below)

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - 

 ad·ven·ture  (d-vnchr)

n.

1.

     a. An undertaking or enterprise of a hazardous nature.

     b. An undertaking of a questionable nature.

2. An unusual or exciting experience.

3. Participation in hazardous or exciting experiences      

Don't ask me why because I have no idea why - but I get into more crazy situations and adventures than anyone has a right to. 

The Journey - Installment Thirty-Four

         A funny thing happened after getting off of the subway.  To this day I cannot explain it.  All three of us, Cindy, Patti and I bought tickets for the subway at the same time for the same amount.  When we got off the train, Patti and Cindy went through the turnstile and started toward the stairs to the street above.  I was lagging behind, probably because other riders were more nimble than me and most likely other people got in my way.  I didn’t actually see my sisters go through the turnstile.  The nearest one was as a full-height turnstile, a larger version of the waist high ones.  It is commonly 7-foot high and similar in operation to a revolving door, which eliminates the possibility of anyone jumping over a turnstile.  It is also known as an “iron maiden”, after the torture device of the same name.  It is used in many unstaffed exits in Chicago and New York stations.  By the time I entered the turnstile, Patti and Cindy were at a distance and there was absolutely no one else in the station.  It was empty.  I tried to push through with my shopping bags and purse and got stuck causing me to have to back out quickly before the thing turned far enough so that I would be trapped. 

I did not see a place to put my ticket  like this picture shows.  I just walked into it and started to push the bars around so that I would come out the other side.

 Here I am after escaping the “iron maiden”. One of my sisters took this picture while I was trapped, alone, on the wrong side of the bars.  See, it is fairly dark in the subway station behind me.

Cindy and Patti came back after I yelled at them.  I removed myself from the “torture chamber” and was directed to the waist high turnstiles by my sisters, which is the way they had exited.  I put my ticket in and it spit it back at me saying, (literally as it was voice activated) that the ticket had already been used.  I couldn’t figure that out since we had all been together and used similar tickets for the same number of entry and exit points.  Had I been more agile, I would have climbed under the turnstile or like in the movies when someone is being chased in the subway, leaped over the turnstile.  Patti simply reached as far as she could reach over to where I was standing and inserted her ticket in the turnstile which allowed me to exit, legally.  It was very eerie down there as it was fairly dark with only a few lights and absolutely no one around but the three of us.  The New Yorkers don’t mess around when they get off the subway – they get off and get up to the street level.  I can’t imagine why I was so slow.  Perhaps I had stopped, after getting off the train, to tie my ugly shoes.

Come Back Monday morning for our next adventure in New York City - Ground Zero!

Countdown to Triathlon - 227Days, 32.42 weeks to Race Day (See Installment 32 of "The Journey", 220 mile bike ride, below)

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -

"If I had to select one quality, one personal characteristic that I regard as being most highly correlated with success, whatever the field, I would pick the trait of persistence.  Determination.  The will to endure to the end to get knocked down seventy times and get up off the floor saying "Here comes number seventy-one!"

Richard DeVos

This is so true!  When I was training for the bike ride and I really, really, really wanted to quit, I remembered that the Lord told me to do the ride in the first place and I couldn't let Him down nor the people who were encouraging me and had contributed to my efforts.  I just couldn't quit!  It doesn't matter what the reason is that a person perseveres, but that he/she just does it.


The Journey - Installment Thirty-Three

Cindy, coming into our hotel room after the race showing her medal.

      

Cindy (left), Barb, Patti (right) leaving the hotel to do some sightseeing,



         We did go do some more sightseeing.  Remember, while Patti and I went to Trump Towers and  Rockefeller Plaza on Saturday,  where we saw the beautiful chrysanthemums, Cindy was getting ready for the race and didn't go with us that day.  We told her how beautiful the flowers were and we were wanting her to see them too.  When we arrive at Rockefeller Plaza, every last one of them was gone.  They had ripped up the entire area to get ready for the Rockefeller Plaza Christmas Tree.  Patti and I were so happy we had gotten to see the fall displays and Cindy had to be content looking at the photos we took.

        Sitting on a box on the sidewalk at the entrance to the plaza was a little man dressed as an elf.  His job was to direct people downstairs to the gift shop.  We stood and talked to him for quite a while and talked with him about how different New York City seemed to us in contrast to our Pre-conceived notions.  We then went to the gift shop and purchased some items.  I bought some Christmas ornaments that had been painted before September 11th.  They were hand painted with the skyline of New York City, showing the Twin Towers with Santa and his sleigh flying above through the sky.  I took one home for each of my children and for myself.

                                                      Nearby was Radio City Music Hall.

        A block or so away we saw St. Patrick's Cathedral where there were lines of firemen and policemen.  They were holding funeral for some of their lost buddies.

     After that sobering moment, we boarded the subway and went to Macys.  Below, you get a second chance to see the ugly shoes.  You can just barely see them if you look closely.  They really look great with a skirt, don't they?

Countdown to Triathlon - 228Days, 32.55 weeks to Race Day (See Installment 32 of "The Journey", 220 mile bike ride, below)

THIS WILL BE ME!!!

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -

The only exercise some people get is jumping to conclusions,
running down their friends, side-stepping responsibility,
and pushing their luck!  ~Author Unknown

The Journey - Installment Thirty-Two

Waiting there for some time in Central Park, I think it was about an hour and a half, I saw my sister Cindy again and two other runners from her group pass by.

I then headed back to the hotel where Prevention Magazine was holding a cocktail party for the runners on my sister’s team.  Since none of the runners had returned to the hotel yet and I was the first one there, I was able to chat with an editor of Prevention Magazine.  I described my training and up-coming ride and mentioned that I need a bicycle of my own but didn’t know what kind of bike to buy.  She told me she had a friend who was the former editor of Bicycling Magazine and asked for my email address in order to have him contact me.  The runners gradually dribbled in and told us all about their journey. After the celebration party, we went to our room.

Here I am with Cindy's aluminum blanket wrapped around me.  They gave those to the runners at the finish line - I presume it was to keep them warm.

 I am sure that “bed” was quite welcomed that night.   Sandy and the boys left for home in Virginia that night and I think we all slept soundly because we were so exhausted. 

Countdown to Triathlon - 229Days, 32.75 weeks to Race Day (See Installment 31 of "The Journey", 220 mile bike ride, below)

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -

Good resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank

where they have no account.  ~Oscar Wilde

Boy I hope that's not true Oscar!



As I go out to exercise, I'll think of PEA who has been up to her
ears in snow. I guess I won't complain about 47 degrees.

The Journey - Installment Thirty-One

Take a look at Central Park.  I have absolutley no idea

where the Plaza Hotel is or where I was when I started walking

back to the hotel after seeing Cindy on the street and getting

lost from Patti.  Look how big the park is.  Amazing! 

It doesn't look that compact and neat when you're on foot, though.

        When I couldn’t find Patti, I asked a man at the corner where I would find the Plaza Hotel  because going back to the hotel was the only thing I could think to do. The man told me to stand up tall and look in the direction he was pointing and I would see the trees of Central Park. All I had to do, he told me, was to cross central park to the hotel and ask for directions when I got to the park.  I would guess I walked about ten blocks before I came to Central Park.  There was a bride and groom in all their finery and the wedding party walking along a path so I stopped and waited for them to go by.  I walked a short distance and came to barricades with runners going by.  I hadn’t realized that they would be going through that location to Village on the Green, the ending point of the race.  The point at which I was standing was two miles to the finish line.

        As I stood and watched, many of the runners had on crazy costumes.  Many had their faces painted with the Stars and Stripes.  Some of the runners who had completed the race were walking toward me with thin aluminum sheets for a blanket wrapped around them which they had been given as they completed their run.  There were people who had come over 24 miles that were sitting in wheel chairs with the backs of the chairs facing forward as they propelled themselves solely by pushing the wheel chair with their feet.  Many were limping, some receiving help from a friend.  A blind man walked past with a friend on each side of him, substituting as his eyes. When I saw the condition of some of the runners who were about to complete the 26.2 miles of the arduous and grueling course, or what appeared to me as pure torture, I realized that those of us without physical handicaps should never complain about how tough life is.  Never! Not for the rest of our lives. I was totally amazed to see how much encouragement people gave to the runners.  By this point in the race, with only two miles to go, some people were absolutely looking as if they were ready to quit.  Most wore makeshift signs or masking tape on their jerseys indicating their names.  As they passed, the crowd would shout, “Come on Susan!  You’re almost there – only two more miles to go.  You can do it!”  “Come on Roger.  Wow!  You’ve almost made it.  Think of what you’ve accomplished!”  It was visibly noticeable that after such encouragement, these runners literally perked up, stood upright and increased their speed. Never before had I seen how much encouragement from others affected someone who was fading and about to quit. It reminded me of a flower that had not been watered and was drooping.  When water was applied, the flower stood upright on its stalk. I would experience firsthand this same type of encouragement on the bike ride the following June and feel how that encouragement does literally pick you up.  

Countdown to Triathlon - 230 Days, 32.85 weeks to Race Day (See Installment 30 of "The Journey", 220 mile bike ride, below)

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -

Many people look forward to the new year for a new start on old habits.  ~Author Unknown

           I hope that all of you who read this blog had a very wonderful Christmas and New Year's Eve and Day.  We had Christmas with my Mother, our daughter Laurel and son-in-law Danny, my sister Patti and her family (from Minnesota).  Then, after Christmas, we drove down to southern California to spend a few days with our son and daughter and their families.  It was great to see everyone and spend time with them, but the driving to southern California was not fun.  The traffic was horrendous the entire journey going and coming back.  Too bad we don't have a private jet.  
    







              For once, I am looking forward to getting back to my exercise routine and back on my diet. Losing weight will definitely help me exercise.   Today,  January 2nd, I  made up a schedule for myself so that I can increase slightly each week in all areas of training for the triathlon in August.  I know I have to increase gradually or I will hurt myself and have to wait for healing so I plan to do this in a sensible way (not the way I usually do things - all or nothing!)  I really need all of you so that I can be held accountable.  Otherwise, I'll never complete this training in time for the triathlon.  I'll keep you all posted on how I'm doing.

 The Journey - Installment Thirty

     Since before Christmas, we've left Cindy jogging in place in the streets of New York, she must be really tired by now and discouraged that she hasn't moved an inch in two weeks.  When she sends me her story, I'll post it.  

       In the meantime, after Patti and I saw Cindy, we were busy taking photos while she passed. 

There she is in the blue shorts waving at us.

People were lined up five or six deep on the sidewalk to watch the runners.  The next thing I knew, I couldn’t find Patti.  I called her name and quickly hurried up and down the street as far as the corner but I could not find her.  I couldn’t call her on her cell phone because I didn’t have her number.  Cell phones weren’t as fancy ten years ago as they are now.  I had to eventually call my Mother in Sacramento to get Patti’s phone number, but I still couldn’t reach Patti.  At the time, there had been a logical explanation as to why I didn’t have Patti’s cell phone number.  She was with me and I didn’t need to call her.  Can you say, “Small town girl in the big city with her big girl panties on?”  Or is it “Country Bumpkin goes to the big city?”  It became quite evident that we were ridiculously unprepared for the city.  (Patti says that she had my phone number but I didn’t answer my phone – the battery was probably dead or I had turned it off inadvertently.