Day: April 12, 2006

Keeps going, and going, and ..

Swam tonight.

My head’s been bouncing around all day – wrapping up a bunch of loose ends at work, getting ready to be social this weekend, convincing myself that I’m actually complying with the tax code and am not going to end up in “Federal (Graphic term from “Office Space” deleted) Prison.” (Actually, we called it that in the Navy before the movie came out).

Plus, Warren’s entry about his swimming teammate hit home – luckily, I haven’t lost that many folks that I can name, or at least not when I actively was keeping track of them. But I think that’s mainly a factor of luck. I’ve seen more near misses than I care to count. Makes you think.

I almost didn’t head to the pool tonight. Yesterday’s 8 miles was, in hindsight, too much – for the first time in a while, I woke up sore this morning. So, I almost convinced myself to declare a rest day. But the wife convinced me to head out.

She was right.

Slipped into the pool as pretty much everyone else was leaving. Did 5 breast to warm up. Then I started swimming.

I initially intended to do a set of 20 laps, then two sets of 10 laps each. But, the same little voice that told me to go 8 miles yesterday said “Hey, bet you can do 30 laps straight. Then, you’ve only got to do one set of ten at the end!”

So, I started swimming. And it clicked. Long strokes, quick and deep breaths. Nice. Kept losing count, so I think I’ve actually underestimated distance instead of the other way around. Got to 20 laps, and convinced myself to do the whole mile nonstop.

At about lap 30, I entertained thoughts of going straight to 60 laps without stopping. But that was just silly.

But it was nice – 40 minutes of focusing on stroke, stroke, breathe, hey look at the bubbles, stroke, oops – forgot to kick for a while, hmmm, how many tiles are there in the lane… For a while there, I’d worked out all the world’s ills in my mind.

Then, I realized it was time to go. The lifeguard told me “Nice set” as I walked out.

Made my day.

Unexpected Long Run

So, my client calls me up about 9:30 today – “Hey, can we go over your project today?”

“Sure,” I say, for once completely up to date.

“Great” he says. “Didja bring your stuff to run? I’m heading out at 11:15.”

“Yep. Want to run out to the gazebo on the Navy Base?”

“Sure.”

That run did not happen. The next 6 hours were a mix of “Hey, can you wait just a second” and “So, are the changes done?” A very productive period, but kinda frustrating nontheless. Especially watching a brilliant blue noon drift to a grey and breezy afternoon.

In any case, I split the office with enough time to sneak in a run on the way home. I’d thought about just doing the run to the Gazebo myself, but thought better of it and headed to the north end of Jamestown Island. And started running.

You ever have one of those days when the sneaks finally hit the ground and suddenly everything’s all right? This was one of those. From the first couple of steps my plan for 20 minutes out and 20 minutes back was erased. Not sure why, but 8 miles popped into my head.

So, I set out to do eight miles. The forerunner hadn’t been used in a while, so he wasn’t particularly happy, but I started anyway and decided to guestimate the missed bit. To add to the challenge, I rearranged the normal loop I do to include the hill on North Main Street twice.

Yeah, I ate my Wheaties (OK, Kashi) this morning. Oooh, speaking of which – I really need to get back on the Eat Diary.

The run was exceptional, and somewhere around mile 5 I looked up and noticed that the clouds had pretty much evaporated, and what had been a grey afternoon was now bright and blue. The birds sang, the breeze blew, and the sun beat down on my ears.

As I came back to the soccer lot, the little voice in the back of my head started saying – “Hey, why not do another two to bring it up to an even 10?” I decided not to press my luck, mostly ’cause I knew that Missy and the boys were waiting. Taxes stress her out, even when I’m doing them, and even when the year is a net wash (refunds from Uncle and RI, need to pay CT through the teeth).

She headed out for a couple of mental health hours after supper, and the boys and I went for a bike ride instead of taking a bath (sssh, don’t tell, OK?) – me on the wife’s bike (the one with the “step-through” frame, ’cause I don’t ride no girls’ bikes…) Nate in the jump seat, and Jake on his two-wheeler, which he can get started by himself now. Still hasn’t figured out the brake thing from high speed – his reflex is to drag his sneaks to stop, and he ended up in the bushes on Sunday. Nothin’ big – just 10 minutes or so of fooling around, but man, is it good. Trash instead of hoops tonight, though – cannot be completely irresponsible.

Hope everyone else is as enamored of spring as I am. Jake pointed out the first dandelions in the yard. I think we’re makin’ salad this weekend!