Well, THAT Didn't Last Long

December 1, 2011

Dear Member:

Bally Total Fitness® has made the decision to focus our portfolio of fitness centers in certain key markets. As a result, we will be transitioning ownership of a number of our clubs, including your home club, to Fitness International, LLC, an affiliate of LA Fitness International, LLC ("LA Fitness").

LA Fitness will take over the clubs it is acquiring and assume your membership agreement effective December 1, 2011. As a result your payments will be collected by LA Fitness going forward using the same account as did BallySM. You can find more details on our website and at www.lafitness.com.

It has been our pleasure to serve you, and we thank you for your loyalty to Bally Total Fitness through the years. We wish you continued success in pursuing and achieving your fitness goals.

Yours in Health,

Bally Total Fitness

***

Granted, all of my running and cycling is done en plien air, until just a month ago when I renewed my long-lapsed Bally membership at the low-low price of $99 a year.

When a friend of mine told me about the buyout of Bally locations by LA Fitness, I got on the phone to my "home" club and was reassured that my Bally membership would be grandfathered in to a LA membership and only the signs on the club would change

Unfortnately THIS is my "home" club:
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Gym-Closure-Leaves-Members-Workers-Out-in-the-Cold--134943983.html

Now, I'll get my $99 back from my company's Fitness Reimbursement and I'll be out nothing, but if I have to upgrade to an LA Fitness ... I have to wait one calendar year to re-submit

All I wanted was access to the pool, so D'Kid & I could swim on Sundays

Oh well ... outside is very nice, can be quite challenging, AND it's free

It's a shame, because I had some really great times at Bally's ... Lots of good stories

"Trackside"

"Not in the Plan"

"How to Count from A to Z"

"Spring Training"

"Jump Little Bunny"

Return of the Gym Rat?

D’Wife and I agreed that it was time to renew my Bally’s membership. Training alone outside is all good from a Zen standpoint, but sometimes you need to get out [in?] where the people are, for a change of scenery [or lack thereof]. Plus, there’s always that chance you might get into a little friendly competition out of the blue, just for fun..

And to be honest; I sorta missed chasing the Ponytails.

Since I’d get comp’d back for it from work, it was just a matter of having some extra cash on hand to put on the table. With a sudden surplus thanks to some Birthday Money from The Moms, I just happened to have an extra Hundred I didn’t know what to do with.

The plan was for me to hang out at home to meet up with one of D’Wife’s friends from the Bank, who we hadn’t seen in ages, then skip on over to Voorhees to re-up.

I had my gear all packed up for a run, a ride, a swim, whatever might present itself, but I was REALLY looking forward to getting into the pool. Sometimes, a dude just needs some chlorinated weightlessness to recharge the surfy-ness; know what I mean? Probably not, sorry.

The pool was already hopping when I completed my renewal. Two people to a lane, all dudes, too. Not the way I’d planned on making my “comeback” To tell the truth, I was a little bit uncomfortable about this. I can swim fine when I’m out in the waves and only have to stroke-stroke-stroke while kicking to catch a wave, then glide in. The idea of continuing for 25 yards at a time always brought a bit of anxiety with it.

To kill some time, to give the fish some time to thin out, I started out like I usually did: on the track.

“We all lost one helluva guy in Joe two years ago. I had the idea of doing a 40 mile bike ride on what would’ve been his 40th birthday on Nov 4th. While we all knew him from running, I wasn’t gonna run 40 miles lol. So however you see fit to honor our friend so be it. You wanna run 4.0 miles, a 40k, ride 40 miles or swim 40 laps, I think he would be proud in whatever we choose individually. It also doesn’t have to be on that Friday if it’s not convenient for you, it could be over that weekend. Whatever works for you. VTFU!”

Oh No … I HAD forgotten. I would do 40 laps on the 12 lap/mile Track at Bally's in honor of Joe "Voodoo" Truini's 40th Birthday.

Kept my pace nice and even at 42 seconds per lap [8:24 pace] until some kid came by - understand this, the place was practically empty so having company was both welcome and sort of an annoyance. I mean, he certainly could have run on his own, once I was on the other side of the track. But, no. He ran with me for a lap & a half or so, then he gave me this look ... not once, but twice ... and took off. I countered and followed him, right on his shoulder. I couldn't believe it, but the little punk pulled me through 3 laps at 37sec per [7:24] before he blew himself up. I eased back, stopped checking my splits and completed my 40 circuits for Voo'sDay.

Mostly out of habit, once my run was done I hopped on the Bike. The Bally's LifeCycle bikes limit you to 30 minutes at a time. And, no matter how fast or slow you pedal, after ½ and hour, it's always the same distance. The calories and wattage change depending on your cadence and resistance, but the mileage never does. Odd.

UFO Expert: I've been coming to this circle for about five years, and measuring it. The diameter and the circumference are constantly changing, but the radius stays the same. Which brings me to the number 5. There are five letters in the word Blaine. Now, if you mix up the letters in the word Blaine, mix 'em around, eventually, you'll come up with Nebali. Nebali. The name of a planet in a galaxy way, way, way... way far away. And another thing. Once you go into that circle, the weather never changes. It is always 67 degrees with a 40% chance of rain.

I turned my iPod on and cruised for 10 miles [there's some weird km/minute x some factor math going on in there, if I remember correctly].

The whole point of GOING to Bally's and renewing the Membership was to get in the Pool, right??? Well, it was kinda crowded when I got there so I killed some time on the Track and doing the Bike. But I REALLY wanted to get in [and come home with that chlorine smell in my hair] so after a quick change I flip-flopped over. Timidly, asked the only dude who had a lane to himself, if I could share. He was very welcoming and once he had pushed off from the wall, I dropped in. I made some adjustments to the goggles that have been sitting in the bottom of my back pack since forever, hoping to get a good seal. As it so happened, the foamy gaskets around the lenses were pretty beat and there was no way to get a good watertight seal on them. Things being what they were, though, I tried my best. Let me just say, I STILL swim like a brick. I did 8 trips down and back JUST in time for the Pool Attendant to say “9:30 sir, pool is closing now”

Thank goodness. 400 yards in 18 minutes; just about the same time as my first EVER triathlon!!! If I'm gonna keep this up, gotta get new goggles. And practice. A lot. I even thought “Swim Coach” for a minute there, but there’s no way I’d find one that would let me get away with the crap I’d pull on my running coaches.

Add it all up, and I did a Reverse Indoor Sprint Triathlon, in about an hour and a half. Darn that Fatty for putting the idea in my head!!!



With a 10K on Sunday, that may or may NOT have been the best judgment. But we’ll see.

Third Quarter YTD 2011 Results

Running: 454 Miles – A little bit behind pace for 620M = 1000Km. As it stands right now, I need to Average 56 miles or so for October, November and December to make it; figuring that as 4 miles every other day, I can see success within reach. I just missed 50 miles per month in each month of Q3 – one more run on that last day would have gotten it. I just need to stay focused and not get too gappy.

My "easy" training pace continues to drop. I’ve been living in the 8:30 neighborhood, and occasionally go sub-8:20 without much effort [must just be a matter of catching the stoplights at the right time]

Cycling: 269 Miles – 191 of that in Q3; with nearly 72 in July alone. Of course, we dropped 46½ on one day with Bike MS

2011 Bike MS City to Shore

We left Hammonton at 10:15 with a goal time to arrive in Ocean City by 3:30 and total cycling time [discounting rest-stop time] of 4 hours. We crossed the second bridge at 3:24PM and stopped the clock at 3:58 of pedaling

Through no fault of anyone’s, just total busy-ness and odd schedules, we didn’t get out Team Evesham jerseys in time for the ride. D’Wife didn’t want to wear her Lockheed one, but felt kind of funny wearing a Team Tania one, since that team is no more. I was OK with my Dogfish one, but it was decided we’d honor the Red & Black together.

The highlight of the day came as we were pedaling down Leipzig Ave in Egg Harbor towards the AC Expressway Bridge. We’d been trading places back & forth with an older dude from Stacey’s new team, Team Force Majeure. While we were chatting about Team Tania and not paying too much attention, I suddenly realized that D’Wife had a 50-75 yard gap on me. The dude tapped my shoulder and said: “Every now and then, she just lights it up, doesn’t she?”

Yes. Yes, she does.

Runners and "Secret" Spots

[not THOSE “secret spots” ya perv!!!]

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. Maybe it's just a surfy thing, and I apologize for that.

YouTube Killed the Secret Spot

Now that we appear to be in the middle of another Running Boom, we can see more people enjoying this sport than ever before; or at least since the 70s or so.

People we'd never seen before are running around our neighborhoods, parks, bike paths, etc. Granted, these public places belong to everyone, and certainly should be shared. That's what they're for. Plus, it's good sportsmanship and camaraderie, to trot along and perhaps strike up a conversation with a stranger with whom you know you have at least one thing in common.

More and more, though, D'Kid or I will see someone running and say "Hey! They're running on MY Road!!!" Which brings me [as a surfer] back around to the concept of "The Secret Spot" ... do you have a place which is - as far as you know - JUST YOURS???

Is there a hill that you claim as just your own? A climb that you do battle with, one on one, on a regular basis? Maybe, to your knowledge, you were the first to runner conquer it?

Perhaps there's a stretch of road that passes by a secluded pond, far away from the busy-ness of the developments, which offers a tiny place of Zen, where you can escape the troubles of the day?

I mean, all surfers know the story of Jeff Clark, who surfed Maverick's alone for 15 years ... not because he was the only one who knew it was there, but because no one else thought it could be done.

I read an article in Runner's World or something years ago, about some dude who had a mountain in his backyard in VT or NH or ME or someplace, and he'd run up & back down every morning, for years.

But, I guess that's different from the "Secret Spot" thing I'm thinking about.

“I think it's silly to think that you have a space that somehow only you are entitled to. I will absolutely share any run or hike that I think others might appreciate. I roll my eyes a little bit whenever anyone mentions keeping a place a secret so that other people can't enjoy it, whether it concerns running, surfing or anything else.” – Cool Foot Luke

Yes, Localism blows in any form; that's what keeps me off some pretty decent trails down here in Wharton State Forest, because I never know when some drunk and/or high dirt-bikers or quads are gonna flex their Piney muscles and run me down.

The expression "Dad! Someone's running on your road!!!" is more a reaction to seeing another runner outside of the developments. The race results said there's maybe a half a dozen runners in my town who did Broad Street this year, but I'm always surprised to see anyone else training down here in Farm Country. Doing anything outdoors that doesn't involve alcohol, gasoline or gunpowder [or any combination thereof] is not well regarded. Self-propelled recreation [running or cycling], for its own sake or for the betterment of one's self ... Well, that's certainly suspect.

I've done my best to recruit those joggers I've met [their term, not mine] through school, church or on my cool-down walks through the neighborhood. I've always invited them along and shared my routes, "Go over 30, past the cemetery, make a right to go around and back; that's about three miles"

Never seen anyone else out there ...