Saturday, July 24, 2004
Saving a life |2:47 PM| Note: I think I already posted this story once, but I just re-typed it for a forum, and in case I haven't, here it is. Yes, I'm still working on the vegas post below it, grabbing images and videos.
This is back in 1997 when I was on the Cross Country team. Cross Country is a difficult sport to describe, especially the training. Let me see if I can sum it up for you:
RunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRun
*Pant* "FUCK"
RunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRun
Done.
Now training for Cross Country meant we would run between 4-10 miles a day as practice. Since we didn't have enough room on campus, we had to run willy-nilly all the way out to hell and back to get the proper amount of foot abuse. One of the rookies had expressed interest in seeing a train go by up close, on the set of tracks we crossed during our Country Crossing. If you haven't ever gotten close to a set of train tracks when a big fast train passes at full speed, I suggest doing it once. It's an incredible feeling of mortality. The train seems to leap from Waaaay over there to RIGHT HERE, there's a blast of air and noise and for a second you're truly afraid you've made a mistake and that you're one dead dumb bastard. All of a sudden, you realize that you aren't dead, and life seems brighter.
I had experienced this before, and I knew there'd be at least two chances to see a passing train. We did the usual cross country practice:
RunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRun
But heard the train go by before we could get close. (The tracks were surrounded by forest). On the return trip, when we were a lot more tired, the train had not come by yet. We reached the tracks and stopped running, waiting to see it. Doofus gets up on the tracks and looks down one way.
He proceeds to say a phrase which should be etched upon the same stone as "Hey, what about a land war in Asia?" for all time most idiotic and dangerous statements.
"I can hear the train, but I can't see it!"
I, being the more intelligent runner (and not on the tracks like Captain Natural Selection) look the other way. At this point my brain can only process this one tiny thought:
train
Without hesitation but with a few mouth noises that sounded like Curly from the Three Stooges I grabbed Mr. "I'm almost paste" and yanked him off the tracks. It wasn't exactly last second but a few seconds later the train blasts its way through where he'd been standing.
Okay, so maybe it would have been better for the species if I had let him become so much pink mist, but how the hell do I explain that to the coach?
Saving a life |2:47 PM| Note: I think I already posted this story once, but I just re-typed it for a forum, and in case I haven't, here it is. Yes, I'm still working on the vegas post below it, grabbing images and videos.
This is back in 1997 when I was on the Cross Country team. Cross Country is a difficult sport to describe, especially the training. Let me see if I can sum it up for you:
RunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRun
*Pant* "FUCK"
RunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRun
Done.
Now training for Cross Country meant we would run between 4-10 miles a day as practice. Since we didn't have enough room on campus, we had to run willy-nilly all the way out to hell and back to get the proper amount of foot abuse. One of the rookies had expressed interest in seeing a train go by up close, on the set of tracks we crossed during our Country Crossing. If you haven't ever gotten close to a set of train tracks when a big fast train passes at full speed, I suggest doing it once. It's an incredible feeling of mortality. The train seems to leap from Waaaay over there to RIGHT HERE, there's a blast of air and noise and for a second you're truly afraid you've made a mistake and that you're one dead dumb bastard. All of a sudden, you realize that you aren't dead, and life seems brighter.
I had experienced this before, and I knew there'd be at least two chances to see a passing train. We did the usual cross country practice:
RunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRunRun
But heard the train go by before we could get close. (The tracks were surrounded by forest). On the return trip, when we were a lot more tired, the train had not come by yet. We reached the tracks and stopped running, waiting to see it. Doofus gets up on the tracks and looks down one way.
He proceeds to say a phrase which should be etched upon the same stone as "Hey, what about a land war in Asia?" for all time most idiotic and dangerous statements.
"I can hear the train, but I can't see it!"
I, being the more intelligent runner (and not on the tracks like Captain Natural Selection) look the other way. At this point my brain can only process this one tiny thought:
train
Without hesitation but with a few mouth noises that sounded like Curly from the Three Stooges I grabbed Mr. "I'm almost paste" and yanked him off the tracks. It wasn't exactly last second but a few seconds later the train blasts its way through where he'd been standing.
Okay, so maybe it would have been better for the species if I had let him become so much pink mist, but how the hell do I explain that to the coach?
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