Erg Time/Dirty Dreams of a Clean Cut Kid

We did not row this morning. A tree branch was blocking the access to the water. We could have maneuvered the coach’s launch and boat around it with difficulty, but I could sense half the people did not really want to get out and the tree obstruction was a good excuse to call off the row.

Went back home and cooked up a greasy breakfast of sausage, home fries and egg. Paul brought me fresh eggs from his farm when he was up Saturday. Those yokes are so yellow and tall. I have gotten to putting Webers Chicago steak seasoning on my potatoes as they slowly cook in butter and onions. So good…..

Got to the “Y” about 10:30. I took the truck as I had some boat work to do afterwards. My MP3 player was on the front seat. Good, I would be able to listen to some music while I erged!

Warmed up and set the Concept 2 for my 5,000 meter workout. I did not do a racing start, but instead did a strong start from the “release”. Lately I have been easing into the workout. My goal is to get my time below 20 minutes. Nancy started her workout about 10 minutes after me. I did my best to keep pushing back as hard as I could with my legs to lower my split time and keep my stroke rate around 28-30 s/m.

The last 500 meters were murder. My heart rate was up in the 170 range and I was gasping for air as the sweat flew off me. Once you get into this anaerobic mode you can’t get enough oxygen from your lungs and your body turns to other sources. Poor Nancy was afraid I was going to have an attack of sorts from the noises I was making! I finished out the 5K meters in 20:36.6 minutes; my best time this season.

I just logged in and ranked my workout on the Concept 2 website. I’m 36 out of 85 for my age and weight class. Finally I’m in the top half! Only 200,000 meters to go and I’ll have my first million meters under my belt!

I was a sweaty mess when I left the “Y” to go to the boathouse. I needed to replace the plug on our boat that connects to the cox box. It should have been an easy repair. All I had to do was to cut off the old plug, strip the wires, solder the new plug assembly to the wires and then seal it all up watertight with the shrink tubing.

With no electricity to work a soldering iron the job difficulty increased greatly. The old wires on our boat were very oxidized. I lucked out in finding a piece of sandpaper to brighten them up with. The wires were fluxed and tinned using my alcohol lamp and concentrating and directing the flame using a blowpipe. It was a royal pain, but all went well. We now are able to read the stroke ratings on the cox box: something we have not been able to do in a while. “We are at a 22 now….in two I want to bump the rate up to 26 in five strokes….. that’s one, that’s two, increase the rate NOW!” Sorry I guess I’ve been coxing too much lately!

I was cleaning out and found my cassette soundtrack from “Dirty Dreams of a Clean cut Kid” I saw this show in San Francisco back on August 31, 1991. It had a profound effect upon me. Here is an interview on the history of this show.

Folded inside that cassette box was this ad.

1992 was a watershed year for me. The AIDS virus was wiping out my friends and acquaintances. I think I lost half my address book that year. It seemed as if every week there was another funeral or memorial service to attend.

One thing that helped me through this grim period was listening to the soundtrack of this musical. I made a couple copies to keep at work and in my car. I knew I’d wear out the original. There were times I’d be listening in my car and would have to pull off the road because the tears would flow and I could not see.

Using the internet I was able to track down one of the performers of the production I saw. We met back in 1991, and I never thought I would have contact with him again. It gave me a sense of closure to be able to convey to him what an inspiration the show and his performance were to me.