Spring Training
Preparing the mind and body for a long season.
Pitchers and catchers report to their training camps in Arizona and Florida this week, as sure a sign of spring as there is in America. As the big leaguers build up strength and endurance to compete at the highest level over the next eight months, so too must I get serious about the rigors of a season-long adventure.
There’s nothing too physically arduous about traveling the country to visit 30 MLB ballparks. In fact 17,000 miles of driving means roughly two full weeks of sitting on my butt behind a steering wheel during my two month sabbatical. One of the things I’m going to miss most during this trip is my trusty bike, which I’m not inclined to take with me on the road. I bought this baby blue Cannondale Quick 4 back in 2021 and I try to ride whenever I can. I inherited my body type from my mom’s side of the family: short but powerful legs, stocky but solid cores, perfect for pushing defensive linemen around. Our family photos look like a collection of fire hydrants that would fuck you up for saying so. All that to say that long distance rides come pretty easily for me, and I’m the unlikely fat dude who buzzes past you on the bike trail at improbable speed.
Thanks to some unseasonably warm February days, I was able to put some miles in earlier than ever this year. Nobody’s ever going to accuse me of being “lean” – or even “in shape” – but biking at least makes me feel healthy for my size and does wonders for my mental state. Nine times out of 10, if I’m stressed out from work or whatever, I can pedal out of that negative energy and reset my mind. Considering that the planning of this sabbatical is contributing to my stress1, I need to hop on the saddle as much as I can between now and July.
There’s one other big skill I need to train on before this journey begins in earnest: increasing the speed with which I write these posts. I have to make a minimum of 30 posts to document the 30 ballparks, with 23 of those happening in a 63 day span. Let’s not forget that I’m going to be spending 14 of those days behind the wheel, and my understanding is that typing while driving is dangerous. I also fully intended for this to be about more than just baseball, as I’ll also be exploring the spaces between each major league city. So the challenge is to write something that I’m proud of in an amount of time that keeps me on schedule during the trip. I’m in awe of professional journalists who pump out an impressive volume of high-quality work on deadlines that would send a hack like me over the edge.
Like most things, practice makes perfect (or at least good), which is why I set a one-hour limit for this post. As I rapidly approach that deadline, I realize how distracted I am by just about everything: researching the soundtrack (see below), floating away to dig in on this new music that I haven’t heard before, worrying about the wi-fi that’s fluttering on and off while I type, wondering if any of this work is going to save or if I’m going to have to recreate this all from memory later today. Did someone just jingle some keys in the distance? I had better go check that out…
Soundtrack:
Oh, the irony.
"Our family photos look like a collection of fire hydrants that would fuck you up for saying so."- Literally laughed- no, cackled- out loud. As family, can confirm. Also, I hope being family does not delegitimize this comment: I really look forward to your posts, you're doing great work!