More Paul Pics

Paul McCartney

So last night Wingman and I drove to Citi Field to see the opening show for Paul McCartney at the "new Shea Stadium". As usual Sir Paul did not disappoint. I've seen him live 3 times now and I am crossing my fingers to try for a 4th show this summer!
*small bit of trivia, this blog is named for a song written by Lennon/McCartney

He had some opening band that I didn't really pay attention to. I mean, really, I was there to see Paul and only Paul.

Finally around 9pm Paul came on stage. Sorry the pictures aren't so good, I wasn't close enough to get some good shots.







His set list contained the usual Beatles/Wings/McCartney mix. He pulled out a song from the original Shea Stadium show "I'm Down". He even pulled out "I've Got a Feeling" from "Let It Be". The place came alive when he played "Back In the U.S.S.R". Gotta say I was surprised to hear him play "A Day In the Life". My only gripe, and I am sure I was in the minority last night, was "Let It Be" and "Hey jude". If I never hear him play those songs again, I would be OK with it. They are overplayed and he has such a library of Beatles songs to pull from like "Two of Us", "Getting Better", or "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da". I think you get my point.

Here are some pics from "Live and Let Die"







At some point early in the show, it started to rain, but no one seemed to mind. I brought my hooded raincoat and stayed relatively dry throughout the show. The rain started around "Let Me Roll It" and I think finally stopped around "I'm Down".

Here's the complete set list:

Drive My Car
Jet
Only Mama Knows
Flaming Pie
Got To Get You Into My Life
Let Me Roll It/Foxey Lady
Highway
The Long and Winding Road
My Love
Blackbird
Here Today
Dance Tonight
Calico Skies
Mrs. Vanderbilt
Eleanor Rigby
Sing the Changes
Band on the Run
Back in the U.S.S.R.
I’m Down
Something
I’ve Got a Feeling
Paperback Writer
A Day in the Life/Give Peace a Chance
Let It Be
Live and Let Die
Hey Jude

ENCORE I
Day Tripper
Lady Madonna
I Saw Her Standing There (with Billy Joel)

ENCORE II
Yesterday
Helter Skelter
Get Back
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band/The End

Building back my Karma points

I am in the process of getting back some karma points after my recent rash of bad luck and flat tires. I might have turned the corner today.

I was out for a long run and was making my way down a busy street. I am always on the lookout for small animals to avoid an incident. So up the road I see two small four legged creatures making their way across the road but it looks odd for two small dogs to be out near this road. As I make my way closer, I see that it's two small Jack Russell dogs. They crossed the road away from the homes towards open fields. Now they want to come back. They attempted to come out into the road, but there are cars zipping by and swerving around. Normally I am a full believer in Darwinism (survival of the fittest), but I have a soft spot for dogs. At this point I stop running and walk out into traffic to stop the cars. This gives "the moron twins" a chance to cross back. They trotted back across and made their way back into the neighborhood and I got out of the road.

The rest of the run was uneventful, but I hope that the flat tire gods are going to be kind to me tomorrow as I have a 3 hr ride planned.

Swearing like a sailor......part II

The other day I wrote about my string of flat tires. I still have not shaken my bad karma. I went out for a ride today and at the halfway point I hear this 'ticking' sound and then that sound I have become all too familiar with. So I pull over and it goes a little something like this:



Not only did I get a flat in my tube, I punctured the tire itself. I found the puncture and started yelling at the tire:



It was a nice argument but as always, I was on the losing end of it. I had a spare tube, but I don't carry a spare tire. So like the NY Lottery says "all you need is a dollar and a dream". I took a dollar bill, folded it up and put it between my new tube and the puncture mark in the tire. I filled up tube and was on my way home. No more swearing for me. Now I have to go get another tire so I can get my dollar back.

So for those keeping score it's: Flats 4, Susan 0

Happy 4th of July

In celebration of the 4th, here's some fireworks for you to enjoy!!

John Lennon was right

"Instant karma's gonna get you"

Wednesday afternoon when Wingman got home we got the bikes out and went for a ride. We were about 9 miles in and cruising along (with an awesome tailwind) when I noticed a rock in my path. I got the front wheel out of the way but the back wheel went over the rock. Next thing I hear is that god-awful hissing sound. Yep, another flat. I got off the bike and started swearing like a sailor. This is my 3rd flat this season. I am getting to be quite good at changing flats. I was prepared to do it blindfolded. I pulled my spare tube out and took one look and started swearing again. The valve stem was too short!! I was riding my deeper rim wheel (60mm) and the spare tube I had on me was a 60mm stem. I needed an 80mm. Crap!! At this point Wingman rode home to get the car and come back to get me. I had to kill time at the side of the road. I knew it would take him 30 minutes to get home and another 10 to drive back.

For Wingman it was a brutal ride back because he had a headwind. So I took out my blackberry and surfed the web and sent some text messages. I was near the old Grumman facility so there is nothing around to do. So I picked up some rocks and threw them at a sign on the fence. My aim was improving so I don't think I lost much of my throwing arm over the years ;-)

I did notice one thing, of all the cars that passed by, only two stopped to see if I was OK. I didn't really care because I wasn't trying to flag them down. But the one that disturbed me the most was the Riverhead Police car that drove right by. You could clearly see that my bike was in two pieces (bike and wheel) on the shoulder of the road and I am standing around. So from now on, if Riverhead Police send any fundraising PAL stuff to the house, right into the shredder it goes. I could understand the cop not stopping if his lights were flashing or if he was driving really fast to give the illusion of going somewhere important. Nope, none of the above.

Wingman finally arrived and we loaded up the bike into the back. We drove straight to the bike shop to pick up a spare tube. When I got home I took care of the wheel.

I must have done something in a previous life to warrant this barrage of flat tires. Yep, "instant karma's gonna get you, gonna knock you right in the head.........."

But the good news is, the Tour de France starts today. We've become addicted to watching cycling on TV.

Runday 5K

So Saturday morning found me at the starting line of the Runday 5k in Hicksville. I registered onsite and the best thing was you didn't have to use a porta john. You could go inside the building and use their bathroom (which I did).

Anyway, I was sporting my black short sleeve Livestrong shirt since I am going to dedicate this racing season to my cousin and her son (check out the tally so far, $1400 raised). I knew this race would be flat and I could use all the help I could get because the weather has been creating havoc for me and my running. I have never had a problem in the past with pollen, but for some reason this year has been rough. I don't have sinus troubles, but my breathing has been a bit more labored when I run outside.

There were about 330 people at the start. I assumed my position in the middle of the pack and when the gun went off I started out nice and easy. I had a goal to finish under a certain time and knew if I paced myself I could do it. The race started on South Oyster Bay Road and at some point we turned off. I don't know Nassau County that well so I can't tell you most of the streets we were on. I do remember getting to the 1st water station thinking "Great, I can pour some cool water over my head." So I cruise towards the volunteer and grab a cup and pour it on the back of my neck - except the fact that I MISSED THE BACK OF MY NECK!! I wound up pouring it behind me instead. Jackass. So I keep on moving. I pass the 1 mile marker and see the clock giving the splits. I am a little ahead of where I want to be for the 1st mile. I knew that I would pay it back over the next 2 miles.

We were winding our way through the residential areas and then approached Stewart Ave near Bethpage High School. There was a car wash on the left and suddenly the air temperature seemed like it shot up 20 degrees. The sun was beating down and the wind was blocked and I guess with all the car emissions from the car wash provided the feeling of running through hell. But I just thought to myself, this isn't that bad. I never had to go through rounds of chemo and radiation so I had no reason to complain. Just keep the feet moving. Now I made my way onto Stewart Ave and knew I'd be heading back towards the finish. I moved to the left side of the road (this is a 4 lane road that the police blocked off for the race) since I knew I'd have to make a left soon. The cruel joke here is that as I made my way up the road, the next water stop was on the right!! No way was I going to waste steps and time to get a cup of water that I was probably going to mess up pouring over myself again.

I look ahead and could see the light at the end of the tunnel - it's the left turn to get back onto S. OB Road. I remembered the address of the facility so I looked for the first house number to see how far I had to go. I was at 800 S. OB Road and needed to get to 950 S. OB Road. My legs were getting heavy but I had to hang on. I had my iPod on and I got a huge lift from Springsteen singing "Born to Run". It carried my through to the finish. I picked it up because I did not want anyone to pass me. When I made the last turn into the parking lot just before the finish, I almost had a near collision with a stroller. Seriously, what is it with these damn kids and getting in my way! This woman was pushing her stroller in the same direction I was running and she didn't hear the volunteer tell her to stop and not cross where I would be running. There was no way I was going to alter my course so I just called out "hey! hey! hey!" and she stopped. It would have made for a great story if I collided with a stroller (to go along with the story about how I ran two kids over with my bicycle in another race). But there is no story to tell here. I finished 31 seconds under my projected finish time and I have to be happy with that. The last few weeks of school took it's toll on my and my fitness. It was hard to get all of my workouts in. Plus hurting my back did not help either.

So I crossed the finish line with no incident. I grabbed a cup of water and walked over to the food line. They had pudding, bagels, bananas, apples, and muffins. I took the fruit and a bagel. Skipped the soda and stuck with water.

My sister did the 2 mile "noncompetitive" walk. I call bullcrap on that one. If there is a starting line, then there is no such thing as a "noncompetitive" event. She is developing that killer instinct of trample the weak, hurdle the dead. She set her Tony in her sites and gutted it out. She said she wants to start doing more of the 5k's this summer so looks like I might do some more races this year than in years past.

Sites along the way in Raleigh, NC

Went riding today through some nice neighborhoods. Of course there is always that one house that makes you stop and stare (this house was not in the nice neighborhood).

The signs of a good sherpa/wingman:

Sherpa: "Do you want to pack some riding gloves for the trip?"

Me: "Nah.  It's going to be warm. I won't need them."

Fast forward 48 hours:

Me: "oh man, it's so cold. I'm stupid. I should have packed my gloves."

Sherpa: "You mean these? I packed them for you just in case."

Our trip in Raleigh was not complete without a trip to an NHL game. The Carolina Hurricanes were hosting the NY Islanders. Anyone that knows me knows my two favorite teams are the Rangers and anyone playing the Islanders. Needless to say it was a great game. It was the worst defeat in Islanders history. They lost 9-0. The fans were going nuts, chanting "We want 10. We want 10."

The one goal I have is to see a game in every NHL city. So far I have knocked 9 cities off the list. Only 21 more to go...........

From there we headed to the Outer Banks for a few days. We stayed in the Kill Devil Hills area. The temps were great for riding. But before we went riding, we walked over to the Wright Brothers field. I was totally thinking it would be just a plain airstrip/open field, but turns out it was a nice museum and pavillion.  The pic below is the takeoff point for each of the 1st four flights. The smaller stones in the background are the different landing points.

And this is my Wingman trying to re-create the flight ;-)

Our ride in the Outer Banks was great. It's flat as a pancake and not too much traffic right now. Since it is still the offseason, the traffic wasn't too bad. We stayed off the main strip so I could get a little lazy and drop my head every once in a while. And since I had to do an all out 30 min TT for Jen, this was the place to do it. I put the hammer down and let 'er rip!! 

Oh, and beware of flying cows ;-)

Sadly, we had to come home to not so warm weather and rain. And I have a research exam on Wednesday when I get back to school. I will be spending Easter sunday studying (not like I celebrate Easter anyway). I will go running in the morning and then spend the rest of the day down in the basement :-(

Trail running

On Wednesday's I get out at 10:30a and usually head to work, but this week I have an exam in Clinical Medicine and Pharmacology (covers ALS, stroke, Guillian Barre, HIV/AIDS, Parkinson's and Charcot Marie Tooth Disease) so I needed the extra study time. But I did take an hour out to go trail running with a cousin. 

We went to Rocky Point and went out on one of the trails. I think we ran for ~1:15 but I lost track of time. It was ~3 miles out and back so we covered 6 miles. She did most of the talking as I was not capable of that. Most of my answers were "yep" or "absolutely" or "uh huh". Kept it short and sweet. I needed every bit of oxygen that I could take in. The course was far from hilly, but it was not flat. It was in great shape too. Except one or two patches of mud. 

It was cold when we first went out, but by 15 minutes in, I was roasting. Of course I paid for it later when I got home. I had the heat blasting in the car to hold off the shivering. I did not have a change of shirt at her house so I had to drive home sweaty. And as soon as I got home I was shivering. But it's nothing that a hot shower can't cure ;-)

Trail running is harder than running on the roads, but it is so much more fun. You can actually hear your feet coming down on the pine needles and the wind blowing through the trees. There are no cars to bother you or to look out for. Worst thing is some deer passing through, and that is no problem for me. Every time I get out on the trail, I know I am becoming a stronger runner and it will make be better on the roads. Before you know it, May 9th will be upon us my trail race will be here.