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This morning, we got up (much too) early, grabbed a quick bite to eat and some caffeine, and did a 5K charity walk for breast cancer, "The Race for the Cure." Lots of very pleasant people, very well-mannered dogs (although they were only supposed to be on the 1-mile course, not the 5K), and delightful weather for walking -- clear blue skies, nice crisp autumn air, and great company 8-).
At the starting point, there were lots of sponsors with booths set up. One of these in particular made me wish I had a camera....
There was a pharmaceutical company there that had set up a pink punching bag -- one of the heavy floor-mounted ones like you see in a fair number of martial arts schools these days. For those not familiar with them, you have a large cylindrical punching bag, mounted on a thick column, which in turn is fastend to a platform on the ground. The company had promised that if they reached 5,000 hits that day, they would donate an extra $5,000 for breast cancer research.
We got there just as they were getting this thing set up. Rhi saw it at about the same time as I did, and we were both of the opinion that it was a moral imperative for me to stop there. They finished setting it up, and the fellow running it explained how it was done, etc. I nodded, asked him if it was speed-based or power-based, and he said no, just however many hits. He also warned me that the bag was pretty hard, so I should be careful of my hands.
When I took off my jacket, he gave me this disparaging "oh, yeah, right" look, and made some comment to the effect of, "Uh-oh, the big man's gonna take off his *jacket* to hit the bag," apparently thinking I was a testosterone-poisoning victim , or something similar. I threw a few light jabs at the bag, to see just how hard it was, how it moved when struck, etc. I'm not entirely sure, but I think I heard the guy snort softly, sort of a "for this he took off his jacket?" type of thing.
Then I started actually *hitting* it -- several short combinations, anywhere from 2-5 hits each, and followed up with a barrage of 20 rapid strikes.
When I turned back around, the fellow had the most *interesting* expression on his face, and he asked, "What are you, a boxer?" and "Didn't that hurt your hands?" I took my jacket back from Rhi, which just happened to be the one from my old kung fu school, and I showed him the logo. He stepped back and *bowed*, which I returned (you could tell he wasn't actually trained, but it was sincere, so I responded in kind) and that was when I noticed that the platform the bag was mounted on wasn't quite where it had been when I started... ::G:: But I would have loved a picture of the expression on his face -- too funny!
We checked on them after we'd finished the walk, and they had in fact gotten their 5,000 hits -- 40 of which had been mine. 8-)
All in all, it was a very good morning. It started way too early ::G::, but we completed the 5K course in just under an hour, and that was while walking in *heavy* crowds the entire time. It was very nice to come up over this one hill, on a six-lane road, and see a solid mass of walkers from curb to curb, both before and behind. The pre-race estimates were for 15,000 people, but I'll be interested to see what the final, official count was, because I think it was higher.
At the starting point, there were lots of sponsors with booths set up. One of these in particular made me wish I had a camera....
There was a pharmaceutical company there that had set up a pink punching bag -- one of the heavy floor-mounted ones like you see in a fair number of martial arts schools these days. For those not familiar with them, you have a large cylindrical punching bag, mounted on a thick column, which in turn is fastend to a platform on the ground. The company had promised that if they reached 5,000 hits that day, they would donate an extra $5,000 for breast cancer research.
We got there just as they were getting this thing set up. Rhi saw it at about the same time as I did, and we were both of the opinion that it was a moral imperative for me to stop there. They finished setting it up, and the fellow running it explained how it was done, etc. I nodded, asked him if it was speed-based or power-based, and he said no, just however many hits. He also warned me that the bag was pretty hard, so I should be careful of my hands.
When I took off my jacket, he gave me this disparaging "oh, yeah, right" look, and made some comment to the effect of, "Uh-oh, the big man's gonna take off his *jacket* to hit the bag," apparently thinking I was a testosterone-poisoning victim , or something similar. I threw a few light jabs at the bag, to see just how hard it was, how it moved when struck, etc. I'm not entirely sure, but I think I heard the guy snort softly, sort of a "for this he took off his jacket?" type of thing.
Then I started actually *hitting* it -- several short combinations, anywhere from 2-5 hits each, and followed up with a barrage of 20 rapid strikes.
When I turned back around, the fellow had the most *interesting* expression on his face, and he asked, "What are you, a boxer?" and "Didn't that hurt your hands?" I took my jacket back from Rhi, which just happened to be the one from my old kung fu school, and I showed him the logo. He stepped back and *bowed*, which I returned (you could tell he wasn't actually trained, but it was sincere, so I responded in kind) and that was when I noticed that the platform the bag was mounted on wasn't quite where it had been when I started... ::G:: But I would have loved a picture of the expression on his face -- too funny!
We checked on them after we'd finished the walk, and they had in fact gotten their 5,000 hits -- 40 of which had been mine. 8-)
All in all, it was a very good morning. It started way too early ::G::, but we completed the 5K course in just under an hour, and that was while walking in *heavy* crowds the entire time. It was very nice to come up over this one hill, on a six-lane road, and see a solid mass of walkers from curb to curb, both before and behind. The pre-race estimates were for 15,000 people, but I'll be interested to see what the final, official count was, because I think it was higher.
