Run, Run, Run, Run, Run, Cycle, Cycle Too

So, lunchtime yesterday, I’m in the process of turning from my desk to pick up my bag so I can go hit the road for lunch. And the phone rings.

A big part of me wants to just ignore it, to walk out the door, get changed, and get on the road.

But the responsible part of me says “Hey, your client is presenting today; there’s a better than average chance that he’s calling to get changes to the presentation sent to him.” So, I pick up the phone.

And end up spending the next hour and a half working, putting me hard up against a meeting.

Go to the meeting – urgent tasking, must be done now, now, now!. Sneak out to throw a burger down my gullet (and was pleasantly surprised at how full a Whopper Junior and half a thing of onions left me – think my stomach may be shrinking!), finished up, and called the wife.

We’ve got a running joke that it’s a given that if she goes to the grocery store on any given afternoon and buys fish that it’s a given that I’ll give her a call sometime between 4 and 6 to let her know that I’m running late, and that she shouldn’t hold supper.

Last night, she picks up the phone, and I start with “You bought fish, right?”.

“Yep. You’re running late, right?”

“Well, I didn’t get to run at lunch today, and was going to go on the way home, but since I’ve got a chance to eat fish while hot, I’ll skip.”

The fish was delicious – baked tilapia with a light pesto sauce, paired with a boiled grain mixture with wilted spinach. Mmmm, mmm, good. Played with the kids, parked them in bed, and headed to the Y.

Swimming was very, very good tonight. Maybe it was improved muscle memory from doing it two nights in a row, maybe I’m just actually starting to develop some muscles. Whatever. The sets just felt really good, the pool was nigh-unto deserted, and the laps just slipped by. I’m proudest of the set of 15 laps I did with bilateral breathing – that’s finally clicking.

The woman on the upswing of getting into shape was back last night – we chatted briefly. But it’s kind of neat to see someone enthusiastic and discovering the joy in concerted effort for themselves. That was good for an extra 5 laps for me!

Total: 40 minutes, 2250 yards/meters/whatever.

Went to the Y last night to swim. Still feeling kind of stuffy, and I really, really didn’t want to go. Really wanted just to sit at the house and do taxes.

(OK, so that was a bald-faced lie)

But I didn’t want to swim.

Went anyway, jumped in a free lane (amazing how it’s packed when open swim opens up at 7:30PM, and is almost completely empty by 8:30, even though there’s another hour to go. I made it through about four laps, and almost ran into the wall, ’cause as I got to the end, I took a breath, twisted my head to sight the wall to gauge a turn, and there was a pair of legs there.

Flopped up, saw the rest of the woman they were attached to, blushed ’cause I might have been staring while trying to catch my breath and acknowledge we were going to be sharing the lane. She nodded, apologized, and let me get a quarter length on her before she started.

Pshew – talk about distracting. She was fast – big, smooth strokes, good kicks – everything I wasn’t. Great to swim with, ’cause she got me really pushing, trying to keep up.

Anyway, another lane opened after I’d done about 1000 yards, and she left. Made a deal with myself that I’d do another 500 and call it quits. Did the 10 laps, got ready to get out of the pool, and noticed the guy in the lane next to me was chatting up the lifeguard and the woman kind of killing time in the first lane. So, we talked for a while. The guy does at least 4 sets of 2500 yards each week, and has been for years. Looks great. This swimming stuff works.

The woman killing time reminded me a lot of myself – younger kids, trying to really get into shape for the first time in her life, but not really knowing how. I told her that jumping in was the best way to go, and pushed the bike (got the standard “But I’ve got a car, why would I want to ride a bike?” answer). But, she was enthusiastic, so she’ll probably be back.

All that yakkin’ got me inspired to do another 10 laps to round out the 2K for the day.