Sport Today

I was considering not reporting this race to this newsgroup since it was only a
minor race that was decided on a whim several days ago. But there was one part
that was, well downright eerie...

Several days ago, I decided to do this race because one of the people from my
club was the RD for this race. Since this weekend was open, I decided, why not?
It fit my training schedule pretty well.

The temperature was a cool 45F and a cloudy day, with a mild breeze. The course
was a small loop though the town of Denville, NJ. I quickly get my number, and
warmed up for 2 miles before toeing the line.

About 10 minutes before the start of the race, I hear the sound of bagpipes all
of a sudden, playing a very familiar song...I think all of you IMC veterans
know about this...the feelings just ran over me like a freight train.

The gun went off, and as I started running, the 2 guys with kilts started
playing again. I immediately turned my attention toward the run. My strategy
was to go all out and hang on at the end. My first mile was about a 5:39. I
started to slow a little getting to the halfway point. The slight hills that
were on this course were getting to me a little. My second mile...5:50. The
last mile was a real struggle. All I wanted to do was finish. My third mile -
6:01. As I stretched on toward the finish, what do I hear again...those
bagpipes...playing that same song! With a little extra to go I came in with a
total time of 18:09. Not a bad time, but I was reminded why I hated these short
races. I never got comfortable with my stride during this race. Give me a
longer distance race so I can get comfortable, not these 5k's.

Anyway, with another thread saying what, 21 weeks to IMC? And those bagpipes,
could it be an omen? I will need to analyze this the next couple of days.

Any psychics around? I need an interpretation... ;-)

"Iron Pete" Priolo        +--------+
                          |26      |
IMC'96: 10:36:37          |   Fe   |   '98 IMC, GCT, BSLT
IMC'97: 10:42:53          |        |
                          +--------+
                 "THE BEST ELEMENT OF RACING"

Seriously though, one day I'll run a 5:39min mile and I'll be happy.
I wonder if there is a market for tapes of bagpipes closing in on you
as a training aid?

have fun whatever,

dave.

Iain Sim.
Ayrodynamics, Scotland.

I'll back up Iain - my fastest half-marathon was in Glasgow - with a Piper
at every mile marker. Normally I can't stand the sound, but there is
something about them thats quite motivational. After all, they were
classified as a weapon at one point.

Joel

--
Joel Sylvester

Me: www.roe.ac.uk/jswww/
Edinburgh Triathletes: www.roe.ac.uk/jswww/edin_tri

        I'm just bitter, a well played bagpipe is a quite inspiring.
However, when I was a stupid ***ager I spent a summer having my brain
mangled by the army cadets. Can you imagine 6 weeks living next to a
company of kids, all of whom are learning how to play the pipes? A trully
horrible experience. But my father, bless his heart, has forced me to
listen to his bagpipe albums and I do conclude... I like well played
bagpipes. In moderation please. :)

David Barclay

IMC 1997: 11:55:59
Triathlon: "Swim, Bike, Crawl"

Ouch. Listening to pipe practice is excruciating.

As a colleague of mine here is fond of saying (and he is an ex-piper, having
piped in competition whilst doing his national service), a gentleman is
someone who can play the bagpipes, but doesn't.

Ruth Kazez

Don't get me wrong, I find bagpipes as stirring as anyone. But not massed
pipers. And not pipers practising (usually badly) the same phrase over and
over. But the best thing about the pipes is that the're not massed Scottish
fiddle orchestra, with accordian accompliment

--
Joel Sylvester

(English by birth, so may be pipes are not in my genes, lived in Edinburgh
for 11 years, which some people would not classify as Scotland anyway, voted
Yes,Yes in the referendum)

Me: www.roe.ac.uk/jswww/
Edinburgh Triathletes: www.roe.ac.uk/jswww/edin_tri

There is no music more inspiring.

And no food more..., more..., ummm...., well..., more than haggis.

Mike "TriBop" Tennent

http://SportToday.org/~wbrunner/
WebRunner Running
My Model Railroad
'98 Ironman Canada Iron***s Site

        I still maintain that I like well played pipes. I have a ***
feeling I'm just baiting you, Ruth. :)

David Barclay

IMC 1997: 11:55:59
Triathlon: "Swim, Bike, Crawl"

Please record this thread as one of the candidates for the Havi Awards
for calendar 1998.

Thank you,

David Schoonmaker

Joel, who is English to the core even though he lives in sort-of
Scotland, and who is not always right but this time is spot on, writes

Truly, Ruth, anyone who can love the sound of bagpipes can love the
sound of anything, or, at the very least has suffered serious damage
to the auditory nerve, which seems unlikely in your case, given the
general illustriousness of musicians to whom you are attached. As an
aficianado of fundamental tones profoundly projected, I can only
shudder as my flesh crawls and hair stands on end when the thin,
reedy, nasal, and tuneless sounds of pipes pierce through preferred
silence to rattle the fillings of unsuspecting innocents up to a half
a mile away. Please, God, allow me to listen to the screech of
banshees at close range, or, even better, allow me to cut off the top
of my head with a bandsaw, rather than listen to the sound of multiple
pipers in direct and unvictorious competition for one single pitch on
which they can all agree.

Rick Denney
Take what you want and leave the rest.

It's funny to see where this thread turned. I have nothing against bagpipes.
Maybe it's because I have only heard them a couple of times. But I can
understand how annoying they could be if heard constantly.

Since I only heard them live only a few times, and the fact that my senses were
heightened that morning in the transition area as I nervously awaited the race
to begin, the bagpipes turned out to be a very suggestive force in that 5k race
last week. It was like I was nervous all over again.

I think psycologists have a term for that, but I forgot what the exact name
was. All I know is that that sensation was real, and I was reeling from  it..,
Especially the fact that the bagpipes were playing the same song as the ones in
the IMC transition area.

"Iron Pete" Priolo        +--------+
                          |26      |
IMC'96: 10:36:37          |   Fe   |   '98 IMC, GCT, BSLT
IMC'97: 10:42:53          |        |
                          +--------+
                 "THE BEST ELEMENT OF RACING"

I've heard WWII veterans describe incoming Kamikaze. They break out in
a sweat at the sound of any passing propellor plane. They are afraid
because they know such sounds are accompanied by death, pain, and
misery.

Bagpipes also cause me great personal fear. And a thread on bagpipes
in RST can only lead to a discussion of which tunes haunt us as we
train (after all, it's been nearly a year since its last appearance).
The two ideas combined can only lead to The Bridge on the River Kwai,
in which case the record will have to show that I simply slit my
throat.