Oh no! Scheherezade! Take care of that noggin. Hope this week goes better.
(Fun fact: i never realized until way too late, like last year, that Super Mario Bros. Is literally all about plumbing. Like, the pipes everywhere, leading to underground and underwater worlds, and the mushrooms...).
I let the mood sweep me away last week, and as many of you know, I went to DC after hearing about the tear gas and rubber bullets to join the protests there. It was nutz y'all. i made a lot of FB posts about my experience. Not sure I want to write everything out again, but I'll copy one of my long tirades at the end of this post.
Regarding training, shit got a bit thrown off last week, but I was quite active. I had my Garmin on during the protesting and clocked a bunch of miles walking back and forth, and I'm getting things done inother ways. This week, I'm quarantine-ishing because of my trip, and generally hoping that I settle into a more workable routine for the summer. For training, I have a bit of a recovery week.
M: longish ride (I switched my long ride day so it fits the hub's schedule and now we do them together!)
T: Longish run plus leg strength
W: Bike vo2max (blech)
Th: Bike plus run
F: Run hill reps plus leg strength
Sa: REST!
Su: Swim strength and recovery bike
Here's my tirade:
As many of you know. I felt moved to travel to Washington, DC, for a few days in response to Trump's and Barr's decision to terrorize peaceful protesters in Lafayette Square with rubber bullets and tear gas on Monday. It was a trip rich with experiences and inspiration, and I don't think I'm going to get all my thoughts out at once. Here are a few big ones, but then I want to turn my attentions to my own beloved city city of Binghamton, because even though I undertook a road trip amid a pandemic to participate in the resistance, the most pressing work is here.
Washington, DC is swarming with military right now. It's absolutely insane how many military vehicles and people with huge assault rifles and riot gear are filling the streets. Some have identification, and some do not. Even before we read news about ominous, unidentified law enforcement (who are PRISON RIOT POLICE), my friends and I were thrown off guard (yeah, even now I pun) by the unidentified officers. We thought they might be right-wing self-appointed militia. Understand how much confusion this could cause in a difficult situation. The military is patrolling areas far from the protests, like the Lincoln Memorial (really? Lincoln?!). There was also like a whole platoon or something, some giant group of soldiers from Tennessee with lightning bolt insignias in our hotel, so we ran into them (sometimes literally) on our way in and out of our accommodations. It got weird multiple times--we were constantly asked why we were in the building--but we also spent a lot of (socially distanced) time talking to miitary folks about how this was their first time in DC, how to get around the hotel with various parts of it blocked off, etc. etc. etc.
The protests were calm and focused. Everyone was intent on putting in the work, and they were clearly in for the long haul. It was an amazingly well-organized, well executed protest. Everyone was looking out for each other, and BLM and Freedom Fighters DC were supplying ample water, snacks, masks, hand sanny, etc. Breaking the law seems antithetical to the goals of the people I saw, who want to keep doing this for as long as possible. Police were affirming us all day long. I have included a video to show you the literal dance party that we were celebrating in the evening.
Here's the thing. The military is made up of young American people, just as much as the protests are. 40% are People of Color. On the streets, and especially in my hotel, we saw young people in the military, many of them of color. I cannot imagine that they joined thinking that they would be deployed to DC by an insane tyrant to hurt people working to make this country better.I cannot imagine what would happen if these young people were ordered to commit violence against the protesters.
Overnight, I couldn't sleep and I didn't want to wake my roommates, and I couldn't go outside because of the curfew, so I went down to the hotel's lobby. Around 4 am, the military came back, with all their riot gear and their giant guns. They looked tired and bored. I snapped a surreptitous photo, so that you can see these kids who are being given so many tools of war to stand, pointlessly-but-ominously, between protesters and our law-breaking, tyrannical president and his sycophants.
If you are looking for ways to support this movement and cannot join the lines, consider donating to BLM or Freedom Fighters DC. Here is a URL of my video. This is literally what we did most of the day:
https://www.facebook.com/...s/10163650636600181/
Formerly GiantNewb, but not such a newb anymore.
