Oct. 14th

Once again I have gotten behind on my blogging.  The good news: I am still walking/running.

This morning, despite a light rain, did 47:32.  Mostly walking still, but a couple of "long" runs mixed in.  Getting stronger, but it's still slow progress.

Will hit it again tomorrow.

This is going to be difficult.  Attempting to continue to work out, while getting ready for the Tulsa State Fair.  It begins in 8 days.  The more difficult thing, will be once it starts.  I've got to monitor my eating while there, and then my sleep and exercise when not there.  I expect 2 weeks of 12 hour days.

This morning I did a walk/run for 1:15:35.  Had light sprinkles as I went down the trail to the McDonalds.  I call this the McLoop.  I estimate it's 4.5 miles or so.  Will try to get the bike out and measure it at some point.

Got in a nice run yesterday. 

This morning I swam 36 laps in about 40 minutes.  Felt good!

Wow.  A lot has happened since my last update.  New job with new hours!  I'll have much more control of when I work.  For the first time in many years will not be on call 24/7.  It's a new life and I am excited about the future! 

So...got up this morning and walked/rain a total of 57:29. 

Did 56:13 this morning of walk/run/walk.  Hit the trail at 7:15am, to avoid the heat.  It was biting at my heals by the time I got home.  To burn a few more I mowed.  Not all of the yard but about half of it.  Felt beat up by 11am. Showered and ate lunch.  

Will try to go to Saturday night church so as to allow me to ride Sunday morning.

So this morning I hit the pool right at 7am with the idea of breaking a 40 minute mile.  Didn't happen.  Final time was 43 and change.  I realized it wasn't going to happen about 15 laps in.  So I decided to start practicing bilateral breathing.  It's basically breathing on both sides. Here's a link if you want to learn more about it:   http://www.swimsmooth.com/bilateral.html

It will do a couple of things.  #1 help me in choppy waters during open water swims and also allow me to do more stokes per breaths.  If I can't be fast I might as well work on looking like a real swimmer!  Had a rough day at work and I hope to get in a long walk/run Saturday.

I swam like a pig toay

I believe you can learn more from a bad workout than a good one.  Here's what I mean:  when everything is going well, there is nothing to correct, nothing to push you, nothing to bring you to the next level. 

This morning I felt like a pig trying to swim.  It wasn't pretty.   After about 10 laps nothing felt right.  I was sluggish and had zero energy.   I wanted to quit, but I didn't.  I did 5 more, then 5 more, then started feeling better.  I was slow (like a pig) but focused on completing the task.

Here is what I learned: don't give up.  Some days your body fights back and doesn't do exactly what you tell it to do. Slow down, be patient, re-focus, and stay with it.   As I get older, I think this will be more important.   Today I did and even though my 44 lap time was a slow 48 minutes, I was fine with that.  I didn't quit.

Now If I can just keep this in mind when I try to starting riding long distances again......