Training Log Archive: PG

A short ride before heading off to Lina and Angelo's for lunch. Took a long time to stop sweating when I was done.

Pretty warm, lower 90s and humid, breeze out of the south. Figured it was best to not get too ambitious. Up the river a little ways, working harder into the breeze coming back. Just right.

Lake Wyola - Shutesbury loop. Hot and humid again. Trying to pace myself properly, though HR was in the upper 160's at the top of the climb -- actually surprised me, felt like I still had a reasonable amount in reserve. Wish I knew whether that (ie. the HR) is a good thing or a bad thing.

Put the seat up about a quarter to a half inch. Better, I think, though what is really needed is a new seat. Has to be something a little more comfortable.

Hot and humid. Mostly in the flats, still easy to work up a sweat,

Lots of rain so a few minutes on the treadmill. Left butt is complaining a lot. Though really fortunate that it only seems a problem for running and uphill hiking, and, so far at least, not for biking, or walking, or sitting, or sleeping. Trying to get going on a program to address it.

Easy ride in the flats south of town. Legs still tired, for sure. And the heart seemed to find not reason to get too excited -- I'm not sure if what seemed to be a very low HR is good or bad, or what it might signify. Never really understood all that stuff. Mostly I just wear the gizmo for entertainment.

Seems like a couple more easy days are called for.

I've been dealing with all sorts of loose ends as part of the process of settling my mom's affairs, and there was one recently that was quite something.

I'd noticed over the past few years that once a year a letter would arrive for her from Princeton University. It was from the part of the University that dealt with scholarships. My grandfather (her father) had gone to Princeton at some point in the teens (ie. roughly 100 years ago). He was killed in WW1 in France in 1918, and in 1919 his father donated money for a scholarship in my grandfather's name.

So for many, many years there had been a letter each year to my mom saying who that year's recipient was. And some years also at some point a personal letter from the recipient. I read a couple of them, very impressive. I thought it would be fascinating to connect with them, just for a chance to see a view of life through their eyes, but there is always the gap between thinking and doing, and it never happened.

In going through things recently I noticed that the most recent letter, back in November, still had my mom's address on it. I'd changed almost all of her mail to my address, but apparently not for Princeton. I figured I'd better do it or the connection might just disappear.

So I called them up. Got an assistant first, her boss was busy at the moment, gave her the new address, told her the circumstances. And then, just because I was curious, I asked about the details of the scholarship. She'd have to look them up, and she'd get back to me.

About 10 minutes later the phone rang, and this time it was her boss. She was also very friendly, and had looked up the history. A donation in 1919 from my great-grandfather of $10,000. It was invested, with the income each year used for a scholarship for a single student. The current value was just over $1 million and the scholarship amount this year was about $44K. Wow, I thought.

Princeton is not cheap, and 44K doesn't cover a year's cost, but it covers a good chunk of it. All I could think was, what a cool thing for great-grandpa to have done, that each year it is put to such good use.

I also asked if there were any restrictions on the use of the scholarship. "You mean like only for left-handed pitchers from Vermont?" Said with a tone that implied they had a lot of restrictions to deal with. Including one substantial bequest a long time ago that put a cap of $600 on the amount of aid to any one student, and now there were some 800-900 students getting aid from that scholarship each year. No, she said regarding this scholarship and sounding very pleased, no restrictions at all.

And just now, curious again, I looked up what 10K in 1919 would be worth in today's dollars? Less than I would have guessed, 143K. Princeton has done a good job investing over the years.

And hopefully, next time I get a letter from them about the latest recipient, I'll follow up. Never know what I might learn.

C • Good deeds good consequences 18

On the outer loop at North Sugarloaf, hike up the south side, jog most of the way down the north side. Can tell I've not been doing much of this stuff, feeling fragile.