Day Seventy Seven-"Double Dipping"

What the superior man seeks is in himself; what the small man seeks is in others.
Confucius

As I made my way back to the office yesterday afternoon, I receive a call from Sarah. She had been at the North Fulton Library and when she was leaving, the car would not start.

Apparently, the key would not turn in the ignition. I made a u-turn and headed over to the library where she had left the car. Fortunately, Sarah was able to catch a ride home with Wren and had phoned me from the house.

I tried to turn the key in the ignition but it would not budge. I jerked the wheel and tried every little trick I could think of to dislodge the key but to no avail.

After dinner, I headed back up with Sarah before she was going to a “Cookie Exchange Party” to try again. I was armed with GT85 lubricant and powdered graphite to see if could loosen the ignition pins to move the key. It ended up being a futile attempt. The key did not budge and we were in a time crunch for Sarah to make her party. We abandoned the car in Alpharetta for the night with the intention of giving it one more shot in the morning prior to calling a tow truck.

This morning I had planned a double session of running and swimming. I needed to get in my last run prior to Saturday’s 5K but I also wanted to swim. I have been spoiled with Master’s and swimming with the group. Swimming solo is a tough prospect to go back to when you are surrounded by other swimmers who are constantly pushing you.

In order for the run/swim to happen, I needed to get up in the middle of the night. The alarm was set for 4:00AM, but I ended up getting out of bed at 3:55AM. Figured at this unruly time of the night what is 5 minutes going to get me?

The run was on the dreadmill. 1-mile warm up at 8:34, 3-miles EZ at 7:40 and 1-mile cool down at 8:47. I hovered near the TV’s to keep my mind off the fact that the gym was sparse at 4:30AM. I focused on my stride and foot placement during the run to increase efficiency and lower my energy output. I finished the run with ease and headed down to the locker room to change for swim.

A crowd of regulars was forming by the bench as Ann Marie made her way in. We are collecting funds for a Christmas gift for someone who will remain anonymous (may be reading the blog…). We were pitching in a 5 spot for this person as she took my contribution to the cause.

The workout was a very doable set this morning:

400M EZ
200M non-Free
150M Drills
5 X 200M on the 3:40’s
3 X 400M on the 7’s
100M: Paddle/Fins, 100M Fins, 100M Free, 100M Hard
50M Stroke Count
5 X 50M reducing the stroke counts on each 50M by 2.
150M Drills
Repeat 50M set above

The lane was full with Melissa, Jeff, Ian and me. Ian moved into the majors from the B lane by Mike’s request. Let us just say he needs a little work on timing and sets in the future. He will get there, but needs a little help along the way.

After the swim was some hot tub action with a few of the swimmers. Small talk got tossed around as we all headed for the showers about 10 minutes later. I told Jeff about the van and that I was headed over there to attempt one more trick before calling the truck to tow it to a garage.

I headed back to the North Fulton Library around 7:40AM. The van had a blanket of frost draped over the entire body of the car. It felt cold outside but not until I saw the van I did not realize how cold it was. As I approached the van, I armed myself with two items, GT-85 lubricant and a rubber mallet. I sprayed the key with the GT-85 and the key lock on the steering column. I let it soak in and then inserted the key. I cranked the wheel as hard as I could to the left and hit the tip of the key with the rubber mallet 3 times. Nothing… The second attempt I used a little more force (not hard) and the key moved. The radio went on, but the steering wheel did not move. I let go of the wheel and landed 2 more strikes and on the 3rd strike I heard a “click”. I put the mallet down and turned the key towards the dash and vroom! The car kicked into life as the key slid easily to ignite the engine.

I thought to myself that the sound of a Chrysler T & C minivan starting up in a library parking lot on a Thursday morning is a beautiful thing. I hopped out, leaving the car on and gathered a few things from the Jeep. With the frost on the windows, I needed a pair of gloves to scrape the ice off to drive the car home. I used an old BJ Gas Card to remove the ice and away I went down Jones Bridge under my own power, well the power of the car, but with me at the wheel and not having to rely on another mode of transport.

There is still the issue of the key ignition needing to a replacement, but that will be a project during Christmas break.

On a side note, I placed the Chicago Marathon on the race list. Bob and Jay are toying with a PR at this race. Flat and fast just how the Wonder Twins like their races. With the tri season an unknown for 2010, I think after Boston the Chicago 26.2 maybe something up my alley. NYC is still there just for the heck of it because of the Q I got, but there is always 2011. We will discuss the 2010 training season and maybe on this race we can get Jeff to run his first stand-alone marathon. Jeff will need to dig deep within himself for this but he is a superior man, but it will not hurt to have the support of his buds to guide him.