I thought Breasts were Pleasurable

Holy mother of Pearl. This morning was a rather difficult workout for a non-swimmer like myself. It started off normally. 300 kick (no fins) and 100 free to warm up. I don't like kicking that far with out fins, but hey--I need to do it. The next part of the work out was vigorous but not un-enjoyable:
1x250 kick@20 sec
1x250 pull@20 sec
1x250 swim@20 sec

750 yards is not bad at all. I had completed the warm up and this part of the workout in a little over 20 minutes. Damn, this is any easy day. Boy was I wrong. I never knew how much I hate the breast kick. The second set was the same as the first, but it was not free--but breast. It took me over 12 minutes to kick 250 yards doing the breast kick. I went nowhere. The breast pull and the complete stroke were not bad. I need to work those muscles.

Once that portion was complete, it was 100 of breathing drills underwater. For some perverse reason I like that those. Then a 100 cool down.

My complete workout this morning was 2100 yards in 54:34 and I burned about 750 calories.

Weekend Update

I think I have finally gotten my head above water. I have caught up at work as much as I can be caught up and army stuff is moving right along. I luckily have my 1SG on orders for a few weeks so he can assist in over-seeing the day to day running of the unit.


Friday was dawned rather chilly at 37 degrees. Running buddy and I completed a slow 4.25 miles and commented on the fact that the weatherman had predicted snow. However, there was no snow on the ground nor was it falling. Toward the end of the run we had very light rain, that you saw in the headlights rather than felt. I got home, showered and when I walked out the door to go to the car it was actually snowing hard. WTF? None of stuck, but it was rather humorous after our bantering.

Saturday morning I was up early and Running Buddy and I hit the road for our first long run of the year--all 5.25 miles of it. Well, you have to start somewhere. It was a good run that actually felt much better than the day prior. It will start coming back (or so I tell myself). Can I be up to 10 miles in another 45 days?

My mother-in-law came to visit for the weekend. After the run, the rest of the day was pretty lazy. We watched a lot of basketball and then headed out to Del Merei. For those you in the Washington DC area I highly recommend this restaurant. It is not crowded during the week, but if you go on the Friday or Saturday night, please make reservations. Mary, the owner, would love the business during the week.

Sunday we headed in to DC to play tourist. We forgot that the St. Patrick's Day parade was going on so we had to park 15 minutes away from the American History Museum. It has re-opened after a 2 year closure. They have made some of the exhibits more interactive. At the Greensboro Diner an actor takes you through training for a non-violent sit-in. It was VERY well done. There is also an expanded exhibit on Abraham Lincoln.

This is a photo of Abe's actual hat. I thought that was pretty cool.

This was Abe's actual pocket watch. I really would like an opportunity to go in the Museum after hours with a tripod and my my flash and actually get to take some really good shots of the exhibits.

The was Harry Trumans key to the White House. I bet the locks are a little more modern these days.

Your's truly making my only inagural address.

As we were walking back to the car I caught this Corvette with a large Guinness taped to the back. You just can't beat a fast car and pint (just not at the same time).

Finally, this morning I weighed myself for the first time in ages. My weight was 185. I have three weeks to loose 10 lbs to get under my maximum for the Army. Keep my ass honest. If I don't post my weight weekly, call me out on it.

Pop Quiz

Today I was back in the pool for the second time in two weeks and guess what? We had a quiz. I was not ready for today's quiz. I have not been studying much this semester. I have been on a karmic Spicoli trip. Just think of all those "tasty waves and cool buzz".

I arrived at the pool at 0530 and the coach side it was not going to be a long day of swimming. I was relived, but I should have known that it would be hard.

Total yardage was only about 1700 yards. However, we did two 200 yard timed swims (free-style for me). I averaged 3:26 for both them. That actually surprised me. After a short break we did a 10 minute timed swim. I ended up doing about 525 yards in those 10 mins. Not great, but not real bad either.

We did some active recovery swimming and finished up with swimming suicides. I had never done those in the water. However, it is a great way to practice flip turns and stregthen your kick going out of the turn.

Lets job hope there is no test for my morning run on Wednesday.

The Sun Also Rises

Once again I have been away from this blog for over a month. A lot has happened in this past month and not much of it has been related to any sort of workout plan.

The bride, my brother and I all met up in Georgia to have a good weekend with mom. We all figured that it would probably be the last time that we all would be with her. And we were right--Just not like we thought.

We ended up transferring her to Hospice on President’s Day morning. My mother’s nurse at St Mary’s Hospice, Sherry, was just absolutely amazing. The family cannot say enough good things about her. She stayed past her shift and was there with the family until the end. Truly amazing, amazing people there. Their caring and compassion was far beyond what I could have hoped for. I will post more on this later.

I made it back to DC late on the evening of February 25th and I have been trying to get my head above water for the last week. I think I am finally close to getting back up to speed. I will be back in the water tomorrow morning and back on the trail on Wednesday. Now just to get my butt back on the bike.

Life in Color

This morning's swim workout was a good one. It really got the blood moving and working the muscles--especially my lungs. Nothing like a day of sprinting and kicking with fins to work the muscles (the good news it makes me feel fast).

Warm up: 200 free

600 free at 80%
100 free sprint with fins (1:09) whoohoo
5 minutes rest
100 free sprint with fins (1:09 again)
200 easy
2x200 hard
200 easy
2x100 hard
200 easy kick
100 cool down.

Total Yards 2100.

As I was driving to the pool this morning I actually paid attention to the lyrics of song by Jamey Johnson called "In Color" One verse really hit home with me:

This one here was taken overseasI
n the middle of hell in nineteen forty-three
In the winter time you can almost see my breath
That was my tail gunner ole’ Johnny McGeeHe was a high school teacher from New Orleans
And he had my back right through the day we left

And if it looks like we were scared to death
Like a couple of kids just trying to save each other
You should have seen it in color
A picture’s worth a thousand words
But you can’t see what those shades of gray keep covered
You should have seen it in color

The reason this hit home was for two reasons. 1) Many years ago I was in a grocery store were the older gentleman bagging my groceries was a Navy vet from WWII who had survived Pearl Harbor and other battles in the Pacific. There was some dumbass teenager in there mocking him because the older man was so slow. That man lived a more full life than that pimply kid every will. So I had to have a few polite (well not so polite) words with the little punk. Don't disparage anyone as old, or crippled, etc because you just never know what kind of life they have lived. 2) As my unit prepares to deploy again to the middle east, it dawned on my how my memories of my two years over there have somewhat faded. They are still with me, but it more like looking at a black and white photography than the HD Picture that I had lived.

Just something to think about!!