Is it Friday again?

Once again I am living up to my name.  I have been working out, but I haven’t been blogging.   In the past week I have had five really good workouts.  I can feel the endurance coming back, especially in the swimming and running.  Once I get the bike out on the road I will let you know how my trainer workouts have worked. 

I have had some contract issues at work.  So Tuesday and Wednesday I had to work from home.   I did bunch of CPE classes since I don’t have much vacation time since I have returned from military leave.   I also dismantled a shed, moved a desk, tried to do some plumbing, and bought a new part for the sink all over at the “old” house.   On Tuesday I had a 2000 meter total swim with the main set being 10 x 100.  I really hate 10 x anything (especially 100s).  However, I was happy with my times.  I got slower over the course of the set, but I started at about 1:40 and ended at 1:48s.  For a non-swimmer like me I have no complaints.  

I swam two days in a row and on Wednesday the main set was  4 x50 (constant pace),  3x300,  and  4x50 (finish strong).  Again my 300s were in the 1:48 to 1:50/100 pace.  I was pretty happy and rather tired.   Thursday morning was a run day.  After a nice warm Wednesday afternoon (low 60s), it was a blustery 25.  Where is spring?   As cold as it was, I still had a very good run.   I can tell the fitness is coming back.  I maintained or was a little faster over miles than I have been and my HR was about 7 bpm less. 

On the house front;  I started painting the shed, but I still haven’t finished the trim.   I got a new Weber Grill which I used for the first time last night.  Sorry no photos.  Finally, we ordered a new dining room table set.  It is suppose to be delivered on Saturday.   The house is slowly coming together. 

I will be playing soldier this weekend, so no hard training.  I hope everyone has a great weekend. 

Friday Ramblings

Today is a rest day.  I have to swim on Saturday and then a short brick on Sunday.   We will be going to a different Church on Sunday—we are looking for a new one since we moved.  After that we are going into DC to meet up with a friend of ours who is in town for work.  I am hoping that tomorrow gets as warm as advertised, high 40s, so that I can finish painting the new shed.  I painted the body a couple of weeks ago, but still haven’t done the trim.  Hopefully that will not take more than a couple of hours.  I will try to remember to get some pictures of the shed before and after I paint the trim. 

Today has been one of those rather brain dead days.  When I don’t work up a sweat in the morning I just feel run down most of the day.   But I know my legs need a break and tomorrow will be a good day in the pool.  I miss my workouts and being in my own thoughts.  If I could just remember them or were more technically inclined I bet I could invent something crazy.  I am also pretty creative in the writing arena when I don’t have a keyboard or pen and paper in front of me.  My last two deployments I have started on a novel and never got very far. But I would lay in bed at night and map the plot.  My most current plot is a former Army Special Ops guy, who has become a National Geographic type photographer and is a triathlete living in DC, who gets recruited to “do thing” to keep us safe or to help out friends.   It’s a shame I can’t write it during work. 

I have finished up some work and I am awaiting it to be reviewed.  However, since it is Friday I am going to bet is not reviewed prior to my departure.  I am on the 6^th floor of a building on the Virginia side of the Potomac listening to the wind HOWL.  I just checked the weather and it the wind is gusting to 53mph.  I was looking out the window wondering if some of the plywood being used for construction was going to get airborne.  Yuck!!  I am glad I am not out running or biking today. 

Living in the Past?

I don’t know about other people, but when I am out running I have all sorts of crazy thoughts.   This morning I was jamming to some 80s music and a song I forgot I had on my iPod came on.  The song took me back to some more care-free days in college.  Then my mind wandered even more and I started thinking about people who seem to live in the past.  As I was huffing along in the cold morning air, I broke them down into two categories.  The ones who still think they are great because of previous accomplishments and the ones who have bettered themselves but still see themselves as the (fill in the blank) from way back when. 

I did not ponder too much on the ones who still think they are great.  We all know them.  They are the high school or college jock types who never got past being the starting quarterback.  A fair number of the people I grew up with are like this.  Their lives never got past those accomplishments many years ago.  It is sad really that whatever the accomplishment was was the highlight of their lives. 

The other group actually makes me sad and in some cases mad.  Those individuals who have greatly bettered themselves in terms of education, financial status, and (since this is a workout blog) those who have overcome their lack of athleticism.  They have worked hard to be that good runner, biker, swimmer, or whatever; have gotten in shape and lost weight and look good.  Why do they still see themselves as the slow or the fat kid? 

I was always active growing up.  I played organized baseball from age 6 through college.  I was a decent player, but never pro material.  I ran track a couple of years in middle school, played football in middle and high schools, and even wrestled a couple of seasons.  I was fit and skinny.  The army kept me in shape and as I have aged the challenge has gotten more difficult.  The pounds don’t melt off and I don’t recover as fast I use too.  But I don’t really dwell on the past.  I try to learn from things that have occurred in the past, but I don’t see myself as that 18 year old athlete. 

My question is do you still see yourself as that person you were, or do you embrace the new you?  What would your family say?

Swimming Etiquette or I learned to share in Kindergarten

This past weekend I was back in Georgia cleaning out a storage unit and bring some of the contents back the house.  We now have enough space to store the stuff.  We departed Friday afternoon and drove as far as Spartanburg, SC and finished off the trip early Saturday morning.   It was great to see family and to walk the Bride around my grandmother’s lake.   How the land around her property has been developed.  You can actually see new construction behind her house now.  It used to be out on the middle of nowhere.   Sunday morning we were up early and on the road back home.  Twenty hours in the car in roughly two days.  So no long workouts for me.

Monday was a Federal Holiday, so I worked from home doing some online classes.  I started to do a long run, but the ball of my left foot was in a lot of pain.  I pulled up after about 2 miles and just walked home.  Tuesday was a 40 minute bike ride in the morning followed by a swim in the afternoon.  The distances are improving in the pool. 

Speaking of the pool, what the hell is up with lane etiquette?  Friday morning I did a short swim before departing.  I had put my equipment down in an unused lane and went to grab a kickboard.  Since all the lanes had at least one swimmer in them, I was not shocked to see a lady putting her equipment next to mine.  I greeted her and she gave me one of the DC woman shit eating looks.  She then informed me that this was “her” lane and she swam in it every Friday.  I told her “no problem”, would you rather swim side to side or circle swim?  She then looked at me and told me again this was “her” lane.  I responded kindly sarcastically that if she had it rented I would be happy to swim in another lane.  Well, to make a long story short—she changed lanes once another lane came open. 

I hate to share lanes, especially with people you don’t know.  However, these pools are for everyone’s use.  I just don’t get the hostility.  Yesterday, to show that I am not a jaded person (at least tell myself that), as I was finishing up my swim a gentleman came onto the pool deck looking for a lane.  I pulled up and told him I had another 10 minutes or so, but he was welcome to use this lane.  He was very much appreciative; we discussed strokes and the use of flippers.  As I went to leave he thanked me, saying that he was used to the people who refuse to share.  So I guess that lady is the norm…..

Who else has any similar experiences?  How did you handle them?

Happy vs Unhappy. Who wins?

I don’t know if it is that time of the year or what, but so people appear to be unhappy.  Why is that?  In general we have so much to be happy for.  Are we as Americans just an unhappy lot? Do we like to hear ourselves bitch and complain?

I am not talking about the “Damn, I don’t want to get up and work out at 5am”, type of unhappiness.  I am talking about the kind that appears to come from somewhere deep in us.   I like to think of myself as a half full kind of guy.   I am not bubbly or overly charismatic, but I try to look on the bright side of things.  There are people that will say I am not always happy.  I raise my voice at the news on TV or really stupid calls by officials in my favorite sporting events.  I am also a realist and sarcastic at times.  But that doesn’t make me unhappy. 

Since I am realist I have been told over and over that I am too hard on others, typically people who appear to me to be unhappy.  I try to point out the good things in their lives, that sometimes there expectations are unrealistic.   Why do people get angry or unhappy that they “only “lost 1.5lbs this week?  Or did not PR a race?  It is not realistic to be perfect.

Why is it that the individuals who get mad at something are the most likely to do the same type thing?   Are they projecting?  I have people around me who are convinced that others need to respond to them immediately, but then they like to hold back information or wait until the last minute to pass on information or complete a task.  My personal opinion is that they do that for control reasons and think that anyone that doesn’t respond “their way” is trying to control them.  Double standard?

Do you that angry or unhappy people sleep less?  Worrying about things that they can’t control?  Do they try to bring you down to make themselves feel better? 

I know this isn’t exactly a happy (no pun intended) post, but it was something I was thinking about this morning on my run.  Happiness is not always  that flowery feeling.  But look around you—is your spouse by your side (even if you don’t always agree?) are your kids healthy, are you trying to improve yourself or make yourself better?  I like to play the cards I have been dealt, patiently made my decisions, and make the best of my situation.   

What are your thoughts on the situation?  Are you the unhappy one?  Is the person making you unhappy really doing something wrong?  Is it something you can change or should change?