Will OK finish out of the medals at the 4pt relay champs this year? This "nightmare scenario" hasn't played itself out since 1997 and some people are getting worried!

Take the much-publicized knee injury sustained by Spike, for instance. Relay team members had been led to believe, by Spike himself, that he'd be on the green course in time for the recent BAOC A-meet. Didn't happen! Now there is a "10%" chance the knee will have to be "scoped" and we're not getting many updates nowadays. Optimistic? It's getting harder all of the time. There is much impatience and people are demanding some answers!

Snorkel, well-known for his on-again off-again "loyalty" to OK, said recently that in light of the knee situation he expected to spend not one, but two days at Disneyland. He indicated that he would probably not even bother to show up at the meetsite. Furthermore it isn't even clear if Snorkel is eligible to compete for OK!

Mook, whose training schedule undergoes tremendous scrutiny any time of the year, has brushed aside the obvious fact that compared to this time last year (which didn't even closely precede any relays), he has been as much a couch potato as an orienteer in training. It was Spike though, who upon hearing of Mook's predicament of having only 4 trick-or-treaters visit the night before and with some twenty candy bars left to consume, advised Mook to eat them all at one sitting. What kind of advice was that to give here in the month leading up to the relays? (For the record Mook didn't eat them all in one sitting but did manage to put away 8 or 10 that evening and looks to repeat that performance soon. He is also reported to be looking "morbidly obese".)

As for Peggy, we haven't heard hide or tail from Peggy in a very long time. What's up with that?

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), November 02, 2001

Answers

Now there is a "10%" chance the knee will have to be "scoped" and we're not getting many updates nowadays

Allright, here is an update...

The knee is doing much better, but it still is not good. I can't straighten the knee and I can't bend it as far as it should bend. Both "flexion" and "extension" are, however, much better than they were just a couple of weeks ago. I've lost a lot of muscle strength and muscle mass in my left leg (quad, hamstring, calf, and all the small muscles). The left leg is smaller than the right leg and simple things, like standing steady on the left leg, are difficult.

The knee is still a bit swollen. But, the swelling in the rest of the leg is almost gone. There is just a bit of swelling in the calf and achilles area. Last week, the swelling got worse again. I think it was from using the Nordic Track for about ten minutes.

It has been 8 weeks since the injury. The bone should be healed.

I can walk pretty well. I can walk up stairs (I'm doing ten flights twice a day at work to try to build up the muscles). I can ride an excercise bike. I think I'll be able to use the NT within another week or two. I can't yet jog. To be accurate, I could probably jog a few steps (like to get out of the way of a car that is running a red light), but I can't yet jog for excercise. A guess -- and this is just a guess -- is that my progression and improvement will continue on about the same pace and I'll be able to do a little bit of jogging on Thanksgiving Day.

My state of mind is pretty good. I got a bit discouraged and frustrated a few weeks ago. But, I'm doing better now. I feel like I'm doing all I can to get back in shape and to get better as soon as I can. It isn't going as fast as I thought it would (at the time I injured the knee I said I thought I could be jogging in two weeks!).

To get myself back healthy and in shape, I'm doing physical therapy. Two or three times a week, I go to the hospital and work with a therapist (Linda). Most of the excercises are to build up leg strength. Linda also monitors progress and gives me suggestions (like telling me not to do the Nordic Track for a while). When I was still limping (as opposed to walking with a bent leg), Linda put me on a treadmill and gave me some walking lessons. When I don't go to the hospital, I do a bunch of excercises at home. These excercises are designed to strenghten the muscles. I also ride the excercise bike in the basement. The biking gets me a bit of leg strength and some aerobic work. So far, my experience has been that I need to be careful with the biking -- it is easy to over do it.

I will be at the relay champs and plan to do my absolute best to help the OK teams.

PS -- It looks almost certain that Fritz will NOT be at the relays. We'll still have two teams, a 4-point OK team and an 8-point team that is a combination of OK/PTOC.

-- Michael (meglin@juno.com), November 04, 2001.

I have been inspired by Mook to try to eat 8 - 10 chocolate rocks in one day. 2 for breakfast, 2 for lunch, 2 for dinner and 2 for dessert. I know I can do it, thanks to Mook. Stay tuned for the specific date to be decided on later. This may be a good thing to do the weekend before the relays. Any suggestions? I just hope there is no weight limit on admission to Disneyland. I checked my BMI and the chart said I should lose weight. What do charts know anyhoo.

-- Snorkel (danielmeenehan@aol.com), November 03, 2001.

I have been inspired by Snorkel to initiate a diet consisting of mostly watercress essence and little bits of corn kernels (blanched and then lightly toasted), punctuated by a daily visit to the local Krispy Kreme emporium for 2 dozen of their finest.

-- Swampfox (wmikell@earthlink.net), November 06, 2001.

Aaaugh! I know what that is! He's eating GRITS!! He must be in South Carolina!

-- J-J (jjcote@juno.com), November 06, 2001.

My training schedule is a mix of Spike and Mook. IE, not much running, lots of chocolate eating.

Actually, though I do have a minor foot injury that I keep irritating, I am doing okay though not as much training as I'd like (due to the injury of course). I have o'd the past three weekends (2nd at Letchworth, 3rd at BAOC, 1st at DVOA) so at least that's going okay. I do eat too much chocolate but I think that's a woman thing.

And, I for sure will be at the Relays. I now have my flights booked, thanks to my brother's frequent flyer tickets.

If we happen to come home medal-less, at least we'll be the classiest team there, the most consistant same-member team for years. Pretty good for a tiny club.

-- Peggy (Pdickison@aol.com), November 07, 2001.

Remember Valley Forge!

-- Jimi Hendrix (Jimi@hendrix.com), November 07, 2001.

You know, when you're a tiny club, you don't have much choice. If there were only four members in the club, you'd for sure have the same team every year! But it is indeed admirable that such a small club continues to show up time after time, and usually does very well to boot.

-- J-J (jjcote@juno.com), November 08, 2001.

So I've been wondering how you make italics in here. Is this is?

And if so, does this do boldface?

-- J-J (jjcote@juno.com), November 08, 2001.

(Maybe a couple more?)

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), November 09, 2001.

Apparently this whole mess got started when someone embedded into the page the following statement: "If we happen to come home medal-less, at least we'll be the classiest team there, the most consistent same-member team for years. Pretty good for a tiny club." It was written like an HTML tag, and because started out with the letter I, interpreted as italics (I don't know why it would do that, but it did).

Of course OK will be the classiest team there... that doesn't exactly solve the question as to who attempted (but failed) to get the above quote into the OK Forum.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), November 09, 2001.