It don't think that I am going out on a limb to say that we, as a club, have reached a critical juncture. Yes, I'm talking about the Snorkel conundrum...

Whether he knows it or not, Snorkel and his many physical ailments have increasingly become the central topic of conversation, controversy, and uncertainty in OK's future. The bottom line is that while we rely on Snorkel for many things (not the least of which is as our lead-off runner at the relays), hardly a month goes by between major Snorkel injuries. That has meant that Snorkel is not meeting his potential as an orienteer and OKer... far from it!

Personally, I believe that lurking somewhere inside of Snorkel is the '85 Snorkel! I really don't think that Snorkel's best days are behind him.

If I may regress for a moment... I believe Eric Chenowith had a bit of a down year last season. Most would like to see his "numbers" get better each year, yet both his points/game and rebounds dropped significantly from his Sophomore to Junior year. According to Eric, noone was as disappointed by this fact as he was. I believe that noone has suffered in anguish over the Snorkel situation as Snorkel himself. I don't think for one moment that Snorkel is "lazy". I just think that for one reason or another, he has gotten off track and hit with one injury after another. One injury can lead to another injury and so on...

What can Snorkel do to get back to where he needs to be (and wants to be)?

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), November 15, 2000

Answers

After discussing this situation with Spike, we came up with a few ideas that may solve the problem. (Spike should know because he has some experience with his own comebacks from injuries and lapses in conditioning).

Snorkel needs to start off thinking about the "little things". His job forces him to do a lot of travelling (and while a new job for Snorkel has been a hot rumor for some time now, we'll stick with the situation Snorkel faces currently). He works a lot of time on weekdays, much of it out of town, and apparently has little time or place to train. That means that he has picked up what Spike describes as a "weekend warrior" mentality. Snorkel ends up doing "big things", relatively infrequently.

Spike says "Perhaps Snorkel needs to go on some sort of 12-step program to better O'". I don't know of a 12-step program, but here are some things Snorkel should consider:

• Snorkel should work on flexibility. Many injuries are caused directly or indirectly by being inflexible. With a few minutes each day, Snorkel could work on becoming more flexible. Snorkel has had ankle injuries. Snorkel has had back injuries. Both of these problems could be caused by stiff muscles.
• Snorkel should work on muscle balance. Running and orienteering don't really work all muscles evenly and it would be helpful for Snorkel to strengthen those he doesn't use as much in his running training. Stomach muscles, for instance, can be used to balance the muscles in Snorkel's back. Snorkel could do sit-ups.
• Snorkel should work on his coordination and comfort level running in the woods. To some extent this can be accomplished by long, slow runs in the terrain. If Snorkel did more of this, he should become used to adjusting to a wide variety of ground conditions. He will be more comfortable looking away from ground and at his map. Many turned ankles could be avoided by running more frequently in terrain (Mook could work on this too, by the way).
• Snorkel once said that the thing he learned most from Spike was that as much weight as he might gain, he could still be a relatively good orienteer. It might be the case that Spike didn't drop out of sight as his weight ballooned, but neither was he really satisfied (as far as I can tell).... So, I might as well come right out and say it now... I think that Snorkel needs to lose some weight! That surely isn't something that's going to happen overnight. It will take many changes... First of all, Snorkel must eat less. Snorkel must eat "healthy" foods. Snorkel must exercise for weight managment. Snorkel might look into strengthening his arms -- more muscle mass burns more calories. Snorkel should buy a scale if he doesn't already have one and set reasonable weight-loss goals.

I know that open discussion of Snorkel isn't necessarily the kind of thing that is going to make Snorkel happy. I hope that Snorkel will take any comments as "constructive" ones. We are, after all, OKers.

Does anyone have more Snorkel thoughts to share?

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), November 15, 2000.

Those are mighty big thoughts coming from someone who has never dropped down to red to run a course. What's the matter? Afraid of the real competion?

-- Snorkel (danielmeenehan@aol.com), November 19, 2000.