No Shirking by Schrank
It’s my 73rd birthday and I’ve just returned from LA Fitness in Murrieta, California where today I did 20 minutes of indoor bike riding, and 40 minutes of treadmill power walking up hill.
A little bit about my background. I was born in Chicago and my parents were more or less “middle class” folks having descended form German immigrants on my mom’s side, and farmers on my dad’s side. My last name in Schrank. In German that means “water closet” and I have no idea what a “water closet” is.
I grew “post depression” and my parents taught me to be frugal, something I have carried forward in my life. My father worked in a nitroglycerin plant in the early 1940’s so he was exempt from serving in the military. Apparently those plants blew up a lot and he wanted to fly so he joined the Army Air Corps and began training in the B-17 bomber used in the war against Germany. Fortunately, the war ended and he never had to go abroad. I think I was kinda a “war baby”. Like many couples during that time, they wanted to have a baby since my dad was going off to war.
Well, I just Googled “water closet” and as I feared, it’s a room with a toilet!
My mom was an athlete during high school. I remember her Letterman’s Jacket with a big “R” on it for Roosevelt High School in Chicago. Mom was on a synchronized swim team and also played tennis. This was way before Title Nine which among other things, mandates “ Equity in Sports”. So, there was NO girls swim team like today, but my mom loved to swim and other outdoorsey activities. We always went to lakes and beaches like Lake Michigan, and did a lot of camping. It was real camping, as in a tent, No RV’s to plug into for power and/or water. My mom was a waitress on an Indian Reservation on a lake in Northern Wisconsin during the summers. She was dark-skinned and people thought she was a Native American.
I was an active child so my mom channeled me into sports (ie: swimming). I was on the swim team in high school and did just OK, but the experience was positive so I have had an appreciation of being “fit” throughout my life.
As a young married adult, I had three children in four years. I was busy with child raising activities for a while. As the kids got older, I became a soccer coach and referee, both for girls and boys teams. That was my 20’s more or less.
In my early 30’s, a Navy friend of mine who lived up in Santa Cruz, took me on a nice trail run in the forest near his home. I quickly became hooked on running. I participated in lots of races from the 5K (3.1 miles) to the full marathon (26.2 miles). I only entered one marathon around Mission Bay in San Diego, closer to home. My feet got wet and I got blood blisters that broke while I was running, but I finished. No more of that! I was actually best at the 10K and half marathon.
Around my mid-30’s, Les, a friend at work who was ten years my junior, suggested that I do a Triathlon. He knew that I was already good at swimming and running. Triathlons were a fairly new sport back then, so I did the Bud Lite Triathlon in San Diego Bay. I thought it was funny that it was a beer company that sponsored such events.
Well, I married again in my early 40’s, to a work associate I might add, something you probably can’t do now, but that was the 80’s. With this new life change and the fact that my knees and hips were killing me, I didn’t want to be on a walker at age 60, so I ended up placing my Triathlon career on hold. I did take up cycling extensively and entered many 50-100 miles bike events with my then brother-in-law Stan. We had a blast and it was fairly safe to ride roads around So Cal thirty years ago. Not so much today. Everyone has some sort of a camera attached to their bike and injuries and deaths are quite common.
In my 50’s, I continued cycling and began to test out my legs again with some easy jogging. Things went well so I didn’t foresee needing to use a walker at age 60 after all. LOL! By my mid-50’s for some reason (I don’t even remember), I had thoughts on doing Triathlons again. We were then living in Canyon Lake, California which was a great venue for this activity. I started some easy triathlon specific training and sort of decided that I would do this after I retired, as in "my hobby." During this time frame, I always went to my local gym LA Fitness, on a regular basis. I did weight training as well as cardio and enjoyed both activities.
As age 60 rolled around, it was time to “put up or shut up” on the triathlon thing, so I needed some goals to inspire me. I decided that at age 62 when I was retiring, that I would do a Half Ironman: 1.2 miles swimming, 56 miles cycling, followed by a nice 13.1 mile run. The Triathlon I signed up for was in October of that year, in Phoenix Arizona. (Yes, they have a fake lake there.) Sometime in late May, I stepped off a curb and managed to have an "avulsion fracture" in my right ankle. I was in a boot, so I thought "There goes my Half Ironman!" An avulsion fracture is where you rip the tendons off your bone occasionally taking bone chips with it. My doctor said I would have chronic pain in my ankle from the embedded bone fragments. Essentially, I would forever have a sore ankle. No fun indeed! To make the story short, the bone chips were reabsorbed by my body. Still, the doctor said it would take a year or so for all the tendons and ligaments to heal. Eventually he cleared me to swim, cycle and walk. I did the Half Ironman in October and although not in a great time, I finished!!
Over the past dozen years I have completed in over 100 triathlons (swim/bike/run), aquathons (swim/run) and running and swimming races nationally and internationally.
More to follow soon. I need a nap now...
Note from editor: I had the opportunity to work for Lee as his assistant back in the 80's and was a spectator at one of his first triathlons. I have been amazed with his fitness commitment over the years and asked him to tell his story. There was minimal editing done on this article since I wanted to ensure that this was shared in his own voice. Way to work it Schrank!
Well, I married again in my early 40’s, to a work associate I might add, something you probably can’t do now, but that was the 80’s. With this new life change and the fact that my knees and hips were killing me, I didn’t want to be on a walker at age 60, so I ended up placing my Triathlon career on hold. I did take up cycling extensively and entered many 50-100 miles bike events with my then brother-in-law Stan. We had a blast and it was fairly safe to ride roads around So Cal thirty years ago. Not so much today. Everyone has some sort of a camera attached to their bike and injuries and deaths are quite common.
In my 50’s, I continued cycling and began to test out my legs again with some easy jogging. Things went well so I didn’t foresee needing to use a walker at age 60 after all. LOL! By my mid-50’s for some reason (I don’t even remember), I had thoughts on doing Triathlons again. We were then living in Canyon Lake, California which was a great venue for this activity. I started some easy triathlon specific training and sort of decided that I would do this after I retired, as in "my hobby." During this time frame, I always went to my local gym LA Fitness, on a regular basis. I did weight training as well as cardio and enjoyed both activities.
As age 60 rolled around, it was time to “put up or shut up” on the triathlon thing, so I needed some goals to inspire me. I decided that at age 62 when I was retiring, that I would do a Half Ironman: 1.2 miles swimming, 56 miles cycling, followed by a nice 13.1 mile run. The Triathlon I signed up for was in October of that year, in Phoenix Arizona. (Yes, they have a fake lake there.) Sometime in late May, I stepped off a curb and managed to have an "avulsion fracture" in my right ankle. I was in a boot, so I thought "There goes my Half Ironman!" An avulsion fracture is where you rip the tendons off your bone occasionally taking bone chips with it. My doctor said I would have chronic pain in my ankle from the embedded bone fragments. Essentially, I would forever have a sore ankle. No fun indeed! To make the story short, the bone chips were reabsorbed by my body. Still, the doctor said it would take a year or so for all the tendons and ligaments to heal. Eventually he cleared me to swim, cycle and walk. I did the Half Ironman in October and although not in a great time, I finished!!
Over the past dozen years I have completed in over 100 triathlons (swim/bike/run), aquathons (swim/run) and running and swimming races nationally and internationally.
More to follow soon. I need a nap now...
Note from editor: I had the opportunity to work for Lee as his assistant back in the 80's and was a spectator at one of his first triathlons. I have been amazed with his fitness commitment over the years and asked him to tell his story. There was minimal editing done on this article since I wanted to ensure that this was shared in his own voice. Way to work it Schrank!
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