These musings are solely the personal and private opinion of the author, Dana Lee Ling. 67 second load at 28.8.
Last edited: 25 May 2000
25 May 2000: The Olympic Torch came to Pohnpei on 24 May 2000:
On 09 May 2000 Marlin Nena Lee Ling joined the world. He weighed in at 6 pounds 11 ounces and has been growing rapidly ever since. Sharisey, his older sister, has taken to dancing to classical music and writing novels.
19 April 2000: Crossing Nett River last night on my trot home I was
treated to the wondrous sight of the orb of the full moon rising behind the the palm trees
on Dolokei Mountain. Behind me the sun had touched the Western sea surface, lighting the
high clouds in a brilliant magenta red. Lower clouds were a majestic purple. Streaking up
from the sun were golden orange rays, a dozen of them, shot across the arc of the magenta
high clouds. Between was blue sky - unusual for Pohnnpei. Below the river was dark and
rising as the moon pulled the tide ever closer to the island.
With as much rain as we get, such glorious sunsets are rare and unusual. The Easter full
moon was rising fast and my last mile became a race against the moon as I headed East
toward Dolokei mountain. If I ran too slow, the moon climbed on me, if pushed my pace I
could just hold the moon in the palm trees.
I came sailing into home still racing the moon, still in a dead heat tie for the lead. I
trotted around the yard to cool down, excited from the magic of the evening.
Saint Croix had near on daily beauty beyond description sunsets, but none struck me as
beautiful as that of yester evening. Awe occurs only in the contrasts, we do not see it in
the everyday.
04 April 2000: A friend recently loaned us the DVD Mimic. Mimic involves New York being invaded by giant cockroaches. I know - that has already happened.
We have an over abundance of cockroaches in the house. Shrue wants to spray, but I won't let her. I have an abhorrence of pesticides. The Florence Yearly in me is certain that we will one day link the rising rates of cancer in the twentieth century to pesticide use. Cockroaches are basically clean and carry no human diseases of which I am aware.
We have the giant asian flying cockroaches. They get big enough to put a leash onto them and take them for a walk. I call them all "Joe" in honor of that great "love your cockroaches" movie with Joe and the little cockroaches.
Although we did not let her watch Mimic, Sharisey has mastered making a sound identical to the little sound cockroaches make in the night. Neither Shrue nor I can figure out how she is making the sound - her teeth are closed and it involves some sort of tongue contortion behind the closed teeth. When we ask her how she makes the sound she says, "Only I can make it." Shades of Kafka - my daughter the cockroach.
02 April 2000:
Distance
13.1 miles / 21.1 kilometers
Time
2 hours 5 seconds
Pace numbers
5 minutes 42 seconds per kilometer
9 minutes 10 seconds per mile
10.5 kilometers per hour
6.5 miles per hour
Conditions: Rainy, misty, cloudy, generally cool. One heavy rain shower in
the first twenty minutes.
Food consumed en route: One quarter of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Water consumer en route: Roughly 44 ounces.
Chat support en route: Ellie Seats
Number of solo runners who ran the half marathon distance: Three
Dana's finishing position among solo runners: Two
Dana's prize for finishing second: A ten pound sack of rice.
First place Elias Rodriguez's time: 1:23:44
31 March 2000: First Year Anniversary of the death of Mayerico Salvador Komadipw.
29 March 2000: I was invited to give a speech to Peace Corps volunteers at a Close Of Service conference here, but the COS conference conflicted with my teaching schedule. Besides, my speech was going to be short, "You about to leave Peace Corps and return to the United States. While I commend you on completing your Peace Corps experience, in regards returning home I would only suggest one thing. Don't."
I'm still running. Last night I ran the back road home - tackling the three hills of Metik, Nett, between 14.5 and 16 kilometers. Those three small hills hurt more than the crossing of Mount Dolon's shoulder at the 3.3 km. I reached home at the 17.3 km mark feeling rather perky. Must be the new shoes. The ASICS 2050s I ordered last month came in late last week.
I knew it was 500 m down to the main road - Dolokei-Lewetik junction. I also knew 500 m was 0.3 miles and that I had 10.7 miles under my feet at that point. So I decided to make it a even 11.
I actually trotted past the junction and down to the market across from where a colleague of mine, Chris Neill, lives; a sakau en Pohnpei market where the boys of summer usually enjoy their evening sakau. Chris and Phil Lyons, accustomed to seeing me headed Eastbound and not Westbound, informed me I was running in the wrong direction.
At their suggestion I turned tail and trotted home, logging 18.5 km (11.5 miles) in 1:49:28 or 5 minutes 55 seconds per kilometer. That would be about 10 kph on a treadmill or a 2:22 lap of a 400 meter track.
Shrue drives me to work every day. Shrue is the operational core of this family here. She runs the budget, handles the household chores, works on retirement plans, drives children hither and yon, abitrates between arguing dependents, disciplines mishaving dependents. Me, I'm pretty much useless. A model husband - a non-working model.
25 March 2000: Well I joggled my way to a 25:55 in the 5k.
17 March 2000: So why is that my lab runs fine for 24 months but on the day of the faculty/staff development workshop, with the eyes of the College on the lab, the circuits overload randomly and different banks of computers switch off suddenly at different times.
I did a three hour workshop this morning, I give a different one this afternoon. I'm the only member of the faculty/staff/administration scheduled to present all day. I'm inferring that I have risen above any need for development, thus confirming in my feeble mind that I'm perfect. As they say, some people think they are perfect while others of us know we are.
The American ambassador spoke at the opening session and used a quote pair that I know is from somewhere else. She said, "Hitch your wagon to a star... and then get out and push like hell." I'm fairly certain the first part is a famous quote or an old song, and I've betting the second part is also a famous quote. Know any online resources for looking up quotes? Just curious.
03 March 2000: The run home was eventful last night. Carol Wilson-Duffy and I have been joined by Elley Seats, our instructor for our trial counselor program.
In the twisties, the winding road along the Nahnpohnmal cliffs and fall line, we heard dogs barking ahead. A car whipped past us, rounded the next bend, and then we heard a thump and a whelping of a dog. When we rounded the corner we saw that a young dog was laying in the road.
The car slowed and stopped ahead, but when they saw the dog was not moving they took off. Here if you kill a dog you have to pay the owner.
Carol and Elley thought it might be dead, but I crossed over to the opposite lane to check. It was alive, it had apparently taken a hit on its left hind thigh, which appears to have then knocked it out of the path of the car: it had no sign of being run over.
So I picked it up and hauled it down the nearby driveway, two other dogs barking at me for invading their turf. There was a Filipina staying at the house, the owner of the dog. I left the dog in her care and rejoined Elley and Carol.
A mile and half later, as I rounded the corner at Annes Lebehn store, Elias Rodriguez was coming down from the track. Elias is training to run in the marathon in Sydney in the Olympics. Our timing was such that we converged at Centerpoint. I accelerated as I swung the corner to match his pace. It was good number of clicks above my training pace. He said he was headed for the airport after his track session. I kept up with him as far as the turn off into Dainy Street - a whole 50 meters, if that. Now I know I can keep pace with him for 50 m, but I think that would be about it.
As Carol has noted, how many of us get to share the road with an Olympic athlete? Or run alongside them if even for only 50m? Even I get excited at that.
©2000 Dana Lee Ling
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