Rest Days are on the Schedule for a Reason

And that reason is to prevent you from feeling like my car mats look after three months of New England winter – Nasty.

My previous good feelin’ from the beautiful day has been blown out of the water by a tough swim. I only got through 1,750 m (About a real mile; I’d been doing 2,000 m – a nautical mile – since it seemed the right distance to swim), and that was ugly. Rather than sets of 10 laps, I was doing sets of 5 laps.

Form went from what initially felt brilliant back to sloppy – the biggest cue that something was off was my flip turns. There were a few initially that I hit and felt great. The secret, at least for me, is to flip completely, plant my feet on the wall while I’m facing the ceiling, and push and twist all in one motion. I was hitting them so they felt sweet at first tonight – all fluid and synchronized swimming-like (minus a partner). But about 2/3 of the way through, somehow I stopped flipping all the way over. I’d plant my feet and push and be headed towards the bottom of the pool. Not so bad in the deep end, but I bounced a couple of times in the shallow end.

I’m still glad I went out and did it, but I think I ended up pressing myself too far. The physical exertion was wonderful, though. My 5 year old is usually (and I apologize to all the other parents out there, but it’s a documented fact) the absolute best kid in the world. Today, however, he managed to push my wife’s buttons something fierce. He and a friend 1) Locked the door to his room 2) trapped the cat under a laundry basket (mind you, they weren’t trying to physically hurt the cat, they just wanted to trap it – the neighbor kid is really, really into traps), and 3) Laughed at my wife when she told them it was time for the neighbor to head home and for Jake to get ready for supper. So I got to play “Mad Dad” tonight. The boy’s door no longer locks (though the door to the basement now does), and he went to bed early. I hate being the heavy, but hey, that’s the price of admission sometimes, and action now is the price of a good kid later.

So the workout was phenomenal mentally.

But stank physically.

Although there’s a lot to be said for exhaustion. Check out Susan’s fight over her shoes and April-Anne’s retirement for a couple of old friends – I’m off to the land of nod.