Preface:

This is going to be one of my longer blog posts of the season and it will give you a real, no holds barred look at the life of a long hauler.  This may not be for people who lack testicular fortitude.  Or who can't read, because then it would be harder then normal to figure out what I am saying.

So a little while back I found out that Nike had decided to make a short internal video about being a long haul truck driver.  As it turns out they chose to use me as the protagonist of this piece.  Why did they choose me?  Maybe because I was so hard working.  Maybe because I was so good looking.  Or maybe because I had a 1 in 3 chance and I just happened to live 1 city block away from the documentor.  The world may never know.

All decision making aside the film starts like most of my days start.  With me walking out of my apartment and down the street to the bus station.  Zach, the film maker, and myself then got on a bus to take up to Ridgewood NJ and my alter home, the truck.  We get off the bus about an hour after we got on and then proceed to walk about a mile to my friends house, where my precious is parked waiting for me.  Zach and I get in, and then wait like 15 minutes for the engine to warm up and my GPS to figure out how to get to Norwich CT.  Once both of those have been accomplished we hit the road.  

Now a few weeks before this I emailed my friend, and coach of Griswold High, Mike Flynn about doing a visit with his team.  He thought it was a good idea, but he also thought it would be a better idea for us to gather some local teams and do an even bigger visit with a bunch of teams.  He had me at "Yo, Wiz.  Lets add some other teams."  I was in love with the idea.

Coach Flynn and got in touch with the Norwich Free Academy and Plainsfield High teams and our baby was born.  Kevin Clendennin, the NFA coach, reserved the auditorium and when I showed up I had over 150 kids seated and waiting with baited breath to here me talk.  After my talk and some Q&A we headed out for our run.  Now normally a run with the NFA girls team would be great.  On this day it was exceptionally wonderful.  Not only did we get to talk about the team and the upcoming championship season, but we got to do it all while Zach had to sprint forward and backwards carrying a 20 or so pound camera.  It must have a been a great fartlik/weight session.  We asked how hard it was, expecting him to say brutal.  Instead he informed us that when he was filming his movie Born to Run: a Tale of Endurance, about the 2008 Olympic Trials marathon he filmed a run with Jason Hatman and Ritz where he had to do the same thing, only at about 2 minutes faster a mile.  Needless to say, it was impressive.

Our run was over and we headed out to the truck for some trivia and DVD watching.  ll of this kids were great, and the whole setting had a great vibe.  

Aside:  Part of what makes NXN so great is that it gives all of the different kids from all over the country the opportunity to meet and hang out with each other.  Isn't that a big part of what XC is all about?  I mean, when I used to play soccer my coach basically told us to hate the other teams, and you know what?  We did.  Thats not xc, though.  You can hate your race, the course, the weather or whatever.  But most of the time even if you don't love your opponents you will respect them because they are out there everyday doing the same thing you are.

Anyways, getting a couple of different teams together was great, thanks for initiating this one  Coach Flynn and I would like to try and do this more in the future.

After Zach and I packed up our respective equipment we hit the road for our next destination.  Belmont Plateau in the Iladelph Pa and the Briarwood Invite.  When we get there the next morning we drive up over the curb and under a huge tree next to some food/awards tents and a local RSG tent to set up.  We get the music blasting, the DVD's playing and the shoes, well, sitting there for kids to look at and pick up.

The meet was great, with the highlight coming when two runners, Joe Rossa and Phil Wood broke the course record handily in the same race.  Another personal highlight was seeing how many schools from different camps this summer remembered the truck and wanted me to come and visit their schools.  It is always cool to work meets where kids remember you and tell their friends "Hey, thats the guy who was at camp!  Maybe he still has some half shirts we can get!"

Note:  Sorry, but I am officially 100% out of half shirts.  It has been a good run, to quote the timeless Nelly Furtado, featuring Chris Martin and Danja while being produced by Timberland, "Flames to dust, lovers to friends.  Why do all good things come to an end.  Flames to dust.  Lovers to friends.  Why do all good things come to an end, come to an end, come to an, Why do all good things come to an end, come to an end, come to an, Why do all good things com to an end?"

Speaking of ends, at the end of the meet we picked up, went for a run around the course (Which is really tough, thus making Rossa's winning time of 15:33 all the more impressive.) and hit the road back to Ridgewood and a eventually the upper west side.

Being videotaped while I worked was really cool, and I hope made me raise my game to a whole new level.  You know what else will be a great experience, though?  Road trip to Florida!  I have one more school visit and one more meet, with another friend of mine Jon Phillips of NYU fame, and then I hit the road for Hotlanta, Jacksonville and Orlando, before heading back up to Virginia, Providence and who knows where else!

Epilogue:  Thanks for reading all that, it was an abridged version of a typical few days in my life, except with out details about driving for about 16 hours in 2 days and sleeping at my girlfriends parents house and eating way too much fast food.  By the way, it was the longest blog entry I have ever written at 1156 words.