Between The Rain Drops

I have always enjoyed having Sunday as my off day from working out especially when I was training for a marathon. If I can help it I would like to maintain this throughout my time served. I normally do a long run on Saturdays and need Sunday to recuperate. As I reported I ran 15 miles on Saturday so I needed Sunday as a day off. An interesting thing has occurred or I have increased my running mileage since I arrived here at Sierra Conservation Center over 5 weeks ago; even though I ran 15 miles on Saturday I had no soreness whatsoever on Sunday. My feet have certain aches but this is to be expected due to the hardness of the track but my legs and knees feel great. It is good to take a day off from exercising in order for my body to recuperate. In the past I would normally take a second day off (usually Thursday) but due to my job I workout Monday through Friday. I will make either Wednesday or Thursday a light day in order for my old bones to recuperate.

Yesterday was morning yard and it was a gray overcast sky with the smell of snow in the air. It did smell like snow (at least to me) but it wasn’t cold enough with the temperatures in the 40’s. It certainly felt cold to me (I have no idea how I will make it on the East Coast because my blood has definitely thinned out but I suspect I will adapt). The only thing I had to do was make a telephone call at 10:15 am but before this I did need to take care of some administrative matters. I sent a note to my counselor inquiring about the paperwork which was supposedly sent to the county to clarify one of my charges. I wanted to ensure this was indeed sent and if so I wanted to know if there was a response. Also, I filled out yet another “store ducat” (my fourth one!) just in case my money has been transferred from the reception center so I could finally get to the store next week. I won’t know if I am approved until one week from Tuesday, this is getting very frustrating but another event completely out of my control.

As I was filling these forms out in the yard an inmate approached me. This inmate did not look familiar to me but as he approached he was very polite and said he needed to ask me a question. I said sure he could ask me anything. He proceeded to ask me about running. When he first started talking I thought he was in the Physical Training Class but as he went on it became evident he was not, he just wanted some information on running. As it turns out he has tried to keep up with me when I am running (his words not mine) and wanted some training advice. I was extremely honored he was asking me these questions and I spent a few minutes answering. His basic concern was with his breathing (while running) and how he could get faster. The first question about his breathing is a very common question I have received from many other inmates. My response is always the same and it starts with a question. I ask them how they are breathing right now and go from there. My premise is to get them to relax and not think about their breathing when running; I encourage them to breathe normally. As for the second part about getting faster I gave this inmate a training technique called speed internal running. I think I did some good with this conversation and I felt like I contributed something.

I guess because I am running a great deal (some inmates say constantly) I have been deemed the guru. I am far from that but I always try to answer any questions thrown at me. I am in a great position because I am an instructor and many inmates do seek me out for answers. The second side to this is I am always working out and in this environment nothing is a secret. I am doing what comes naturally and practically all the inmates I encounter seemed to be encouraged by my exercising habits. I would like to say I am leading by example but I am not exercising to lead, I am exercising to feel better about myself. Because this environment is so open (for lack of a better term) it seems everyone is watching me and some inmates want to emulate. How does the saying go, “imitation is the most sincere form of flattery” and I am certainly flattered. I am also humbled because it seems everyone who approaches me aspires to do better. I hope what I tell them helps because they certainly help me with their very flattering words.

This brings to mind a television movie I saw over 25 years ago. The name of the movie was “Jericho Mile” and starred Peter Straus of “Rich Man Poor Man” fame. This movie was about an inmate (Peter Straus) who was a runner. I don’t remember why he was incarcerated but I do remember something about a murder. Nevertheless, Peter Straus’s character would run on the yard everyday and as each day passed more and more inmates took notice. As it turns out he was trying to break the record for the mile and at the end of the movie he does it with all the inmates cheering him on. The last scene is of him throwing his stopwatch over the prison wall as he breaks the record. I have no idea why this movie has stuck with me all these years but it has. Please make no mistake I am not going to break any records but I do feel special when I am asked questions. Also, I don’t expect anyone to cheer me on but I have received so many “marathon man”, “go getten”, and “keep going” calls as I run which brings a smile to my face all the time.

After the conversation I made my way over to the telephones. While I was waiting I saw some familiar inmates and chatted for awhile. It is quite funny because two of these inmates have given me food in the past two weeks and were wondering when I was going to the “store”. Yes, they were looking for their “payback” because all of their food was gone. Unfortunately, I had to inform them that I was not going to the “store” this week and was hoping for next week. Apparently food from the “store” does not last long. I do find these somewhat amazing because most inmates buy in excess of 100 soups yet they are gone in two weeks. Some of these inmates use the soups as cash while others eat 3 and 4 per day. I try to limit my soup intake to 1 every other day which is why I still have some left. When I finally do go to the store I will take care of these inmates because they have been very kind to me.

I was able to make my telephone call but my wife was not at home when I called. My standby was my dear mother and she was home. I did speak with her but the time went by so fast I am not sure if we actually discussed anything. Fifteen minutes is not enough time when I only speak to my mother every few weeks so we usually fly from topic to topic. I do remember discussing Thanksgiving and telling her mine basically was terrible but there is nothing I can do about it other than just deal with it. I didn’t mean this in a negative way, it was just my reality. The holidays will suck (sorry) because I am not with my family but I won’t let this deter me from my greater good which is getting through my current situation a better person. We ended our conversation so very fast and even though I have resided 3,000 miles away from my mother for over the past 12 years I miss talking to her so much, we used to email constantly along with the telephone calls and I miss that. Yes, this is only a temporary situation and I need to keep reminding myself of this over and over again.

The telephone call ended and I made my way back to the dormitory for the unlock. All I wanted to do was relax and take it easy. I did this yesterday and I also joined the “fellas” in the television area for the San Diego Chargers against the Oakland Raiders football game. Normally I try to stay away from Sunday football and stay on my bunk but I was more interested in watching my dorm mate’s reaction during this game. There are Charger fans and there are Raiders fans in the dorm. It is a 60/40 split with the Charger fans having the advantage. Amazingly enough the game was close but more amazing were the reactions from both teams fans. Everyone was very respectful and nothing got out of control. I even found myself discussing a particular call by the referees during the game. The call was very controversial and I was trying to add my very objective opinion but as soon as I opened my mouth I realized my point fell on deaf ears. This was fine and I went back to watching the game and my dorm mates. The Chargers did pull off a close victory and most of the dorm was happy. It was a very interesting way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

The dinner last night was cheeseburgers. This meal does me no good in two areas. My vegetarian meal precludes the hamburger and my non-dairy diet prohibits cheese. However; I am at the mercy of the kitchen supervisor who gave me four slices of American cheese in lieu of the hamburger. I have been told I need to speak regarding my actual diet restrictions but I don’t want to make waves so I took the tray and moved on. I did give away the four slices of cheese and made a lettuce sandwich. It seems with meals where there is no rice or beans I seem to be left hungry. This only happens twice a week so I will grin and bear it and not make a scene. The C/O and the kitchen staff have been very nice to me and I don’t want to push it. I did make one of my soups with carrots so I was full when I went to sleep.

I woke up a little after 5:00am and peered outside to see if the rain which started last night had stopped. The rain had indeed stopped but the sky was very foreboding. I so wanted to get back into my routine and was hoping the rain would hold off. The unlock for early breakfast never came even though the far left and far right dorms received this unlock but we did not. The regular unlock came and it started to pour down rain. On my way to the dining hall I passed the “Coach” (who had returned from vacation) and the two lead instructors. I asked them if we were going to have class today and the “Coach” responded “if it stops raining”. The rain had not stopped while I was eating breakfast and continued as I walked back to the dormitory. It finally stopped raining around 9:00 am and I had my doubts we would have class because today was test day for the students and the conditions weren’t very good.

However, at a little past 10:15 am the C/O came to the dorm and asked for all the PFT participants and gave us an unlock. We were going to have class today and I was very excited to get back into the routine. I did peer into the sky which was mixed with dark and light clouds. I was hoping we could get the entire test in between the rain drops. We were able to do that before the rain started again. This being test day the instructors participation was very limited because it is the “Coach’s” decision as to who passes and fails solely. It works out so much better this way. I did participate in the four mile power walk and my pace has gotten considerably better from last week. By the way the tests consists of the following, 4 mile power walk in 52 minutes – each participant must walk at this pace or they fail, 5 minutes on each leg on the Harvard wall, one minute hang on the pull-up bar, 35 burpees, 35 push-ups, 35 crunches, 150 mountain climbers and 9 minute mile run – all of these exercises are performed in that order – it really is an easy test because the training is so much harder. After the power walk I mostly observed only to call out one round of the mountain climbers. By this time it was time for the PFT Plus class in the afternoon. One of the lead instructors took me and another instructor to lead this class. The Monday class of PFT Plus is relatively easy and I barely broke a sweat. This class only takes 25 minutes and was done before the regular PFT class was complete. As it turns out 6 people failed the PFT class which means they will have to retake the class when it starts again on Thursday. The PFT class started with 50 participants two weeks ago and 40 passed. The other four withdrew during the previous week due to medical reasons.

As the test was going on I was observing the “Coach”. I have mentioned this before that the “Coach” has a bad reputation with some of the inmates because he truly cares about his job. He will not pass any inmates who cannot handle his training class because he fears for their well being when they are fighting a forest fire. Today the “Coach” was more intense then I have seen him at any other time. He observed each inmate on the class very intently as they performed their exercise. It is obvious he truly cares about his job and it is unfortunate some of the inmates don’t understand this. Fighting fires is no joke and should not be taken lightly and the “Coach” tries to instill this. Sometimes these fire fighters go on 25 to 50 miles hikes with 30 pound backpacks while fighting forest fires so the inmates must be in shape. The “Coaches” job is to ensure all the candidates he passes on to the next phase are in shape and if they are not they stay behind. I do admire the “Coach’s” intensity and passion. I am very glad the rain held off long enough to finish the test.

When everything was finished I started in on my exercise routine. I did an hour and 15 minutes of the Harvard Wall. As I was doing this it started to rain but having this horrible obsessive compulsive disorder I did not want to stop. I trudged on as all the other inmates on the yard scrambled for shelter from the rain. The rain picked up but I saw a break in the clouds and knew it was going to stop. (I may have been rationalizing a little!) Fortunately I was correct and the rain did stop. As I continued on one of the lead instructors (the one who is equally obsessed with exercising as I am) came over to me and very playfully called me a “freak”. (By the way he was working out on the pull-up bars during the rain so he is equally a “freak”.) Yes, I am a “freak” when it comes to exercise but believe it or not it is returning my sanity especially in a place like this.