Public Square

Cyclists.

Shortly after my trial run, my foot began to ache again. Not much, just a bit. So once again I found myself wonder what the best course of action should be. Do I have a stress fracture? I committed myself to contact the doctor, but also told the wife that I would refrain from running, at all, until I knew for sure what my condition was in.

That's good, she said. What will you do instead of running to keep yourself from getting depressed.

I said, I will ride my bike.

Bought this thing in the mid-90s. Had it tuned up two months ago. Haven't used it yet. ast week Mark had this crazy idea about cycling downtown during the Republican National Convention. I loved that idea. So today we actually did it.

Distance: 20.6 miles
Miles Per Hour: 9.7
Route: Public Square Loop

"Life Is Sharing The Same Park Bench" (1969)

My general practitioner, who is going on vacation today, agreed to see me at 7:30 am, bless her heart. They X-ray-ed my foot and sent it to a sports medicine doctor. At 9:30 Mark stopped by and we headed out.

The first half was familiar, practically the same route I take when I run to Lakewood for marathon training, down Mayfield to Little Italy, through the cultural gardens and onto the Shoreway. Once we got to Ninth Street we had to figure out the best way to get to Public Square.

Lakeshore was a Security Zone, and St. Clair. Passes only. Superior was clear, and we rode past the library to the square, which was bustling with protesters, onlookers, officers, and a ridiculous amount of media. The media were the sketchiest looking people, because everyone else was clearly identified as to who they were and what they were doing. Some reporters had stations ID'ed on their mics or cameras, but many did not, and any guy with a camera on a selfie stick and professional-grade mic attached could be broadcasting images to absolutely anywhere in real time.

We watched a few staged events. Many of the protesters were handing out water, sports drinks, fresh fruit and handmade breakfast burritos. Mark and I each had one of those, and though I would have asked for hot sauce had it been offered, they were really good, with a lot of egg, peppers and potato. They were also not poisoned or drugged. I know this because I am writing this blog post.

Playhouse Square

I needed to get back to take the boy to an event, and so Mark and I parted. He wanted to hang out a bit longer. He recommended I try Euclid to save time, and I did and it was great fun. The bike lanes that start around East 30th Street are very helpful and though I made a few errors in timing I felt entirely safe. We took about an hour to get downtown, and it took forty-five minutes to get back -- and much of the last part was uphill.

Climate: clear skies and hot
Weight: 165 lbs.
Goal: 160 lbs.
Mood: very good.

I had received a voice mail from the sports doctor on the trip and listened to it when I got home. There are no stress fractures or any other fractures or dislocations in my foot! My foot is not broken!

Love using that, bike though.

Let me go.

Gentle run around the block. No, I have not seen the doctor. I also have not been in pain for several days. Just thought I would try it out, and so far I feel fine. Yesterday I was on my feet a lot, a full day of social justice related activities in advance of the Republican National Convention.

Yes, we participated in Circle The City With Love because the wife and I are actually hippies, and you didn't know that, did you. Jacques Brel notwithstanding it was a very positive event, and surprisingly well-attended. These grassroots things do not always work out as intended, gun nuts call for a massive display of open-carry on Public Square, there's a million cameras present and one gun.

Distance: 0.85 miles
Avg Pace: 8:45
Duration: 7:25
Route: Around the block.

But we spanned the bridge, held hands, and were silent for a half-hour. And it wasn't without its drama, standing in place in the hot sun can be a trial and there were those who passed out. I know my tired legs were tingling, and my back acted up, though my feet were fine.

It was a positive celebration of Cleveland and its people. We also headed to the Wolstein after for an event sponsored by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and starring The Roots. We knew little of the organization prior to attending, the wife really wanted to see Dr. Cornel West speak, and early in the proceedings we saw him in the house, listening to the gospel act Mary Mary. West was accompanied by a gaunt woman with short, silver hair.

Yeah, it was Jill Stein. I almost thought we'd been punk'd into attending a Stein rally, which would have been hilarious, but that did not come to pass. West introduced her but she wasn't permitted to speak because that would have violated all kinds of election regulations.

Temperature: 73°
Climate: hot & humid
Weight: 168 lbs.
Goal: 160 lbs.
Mood: all right

The music was good, the speeches were great, The Roots were amazing. Not the day I had expected when I'd gotten up yesterday morning.

Boyz Playlist
Boyz - M.I.A.
Brand New Colony - Postal Service

All right, I have eaten freely, this season, but it has to stop. This is the way it happens, slowly and then all at once. Controlled portions, more vegetables, etc. And easy on the ice cream

Too fast for me.

Yesterday I stopped by the corner of West 3rd and Lakeside Ave., just to snap a photo of the Jesse Owens statue. Thousands no doubt walk past it before and after every Browns game, but otherwise it's not a corner anywhere near where I might find myself walking on a given day.

Knowing its location, I made a point of noticing it as we ran past during last year's Turkey Trot. The fact is, the patina on this seven-foot bronze statue appears deep gray and it is shaded by trees. It doesn't catch the eye of anyone driving past.

Located across street from the Justice Center, this piece was created by Cleveland Arts Prize recipient William M. McVey (1904-1995) in 1982.

It is perhaps surprising that this legendary Cleveland native, who achieved four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, has never been depicted in a big-budget Hollywood biopic. This may be for the best, for any film created in the last century would probably gloss over some of the more troubling aspects of the Jesse Owens story and just focus on his success and (supposed) humiliation of Hitler at the "Nazi" games.

Jeremy Schaap's book Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler's Olympics lays out the conundrum which athletes like Owens faced when confronted with a popular sentiment that the US should not participate in the Berlin games. The question was, should we not boycott games held in a nation which has codified Antisemitism and bigotry?

The counter argument was how can the US pass judgement on Germany when she, too, is a nation of entrenched and legal racism, i.e. Jim Crow?

Then there is the argument that it was Owens' responsibility, as a man of color, to best the Nazis on their own turf. Finally, and no one could have known this at the time, the next two Olympics were fated not to happen due to World War II. If Jesse Owens had decided not to run in 1936, he would have been far past his prime in 1948. Today no one would remember who he is.

Jesse Owens is finally receiving the attention he deserves, in RACE, a film opening on February 19 and from the trailer it would appear that many of the issues posed in Schaap's compose the main narrative of this film.

My assumption is that the film will conclude with the athlete's moment of triumph in 1936 and not delve into his later years, through which he was unable to or in fact prevented from successfully capitalizing upon his victories, disappointments he attempted himself to articulate through somewhat clumsy memoirs like Blackthink and I Have Changed.

The Berlin Olympics were eighty years ago this summer, so too was the last time Cleveland hosted a national political convention - the Republican National Convention of 1936. This summer Republicans will once again convene in Cleveland, congregating mere blocks from the intersection of Lakeside and West 3rd. I hope our guests take a moment to visit the statue and to celebrate the triumph of this legendary Cleveland citizen.

After all, Jesse Owens was a Republican.

Stephan James is Jesse Owens in RACE

Distance: 3.38 miles
Avg Pace: 7:48
Duration: 26:18
Route: Boulevard Loop

Beautiful, sunshiny day. Brisk run around the neighborhood, past the boy's school. Definitely overdressed, I should have taken the sun into account, it may be below forty degrees but I was sweating.

Temperature: 39°
Climate: cool and sunny
Pavement: dry

Weight: 161.5 lbs. (-1.0)
Mood: anxious & grateful

1974 Playlist
Autobahn - Kraftwerk
Save the People from "Godspell"
Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo - Rick Derringer
You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet - Bachman-Turner Overdrive
Boogie On Reggae Woman - Stevie Wonder
Chameleon - Maynard Ferguson

Source:
New York Times
Cleveland Arts Prize
FOCUS Features
Cleveland Centennial