Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in gary2006's LiveJournal:

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Friday, October 20th, 2006
9:40 am	best wishes! Best wishes to all of you running in the Chicago Marathon this weekend! I wish I was able to join you, but maybe next year. All of your training will pay off! You will do great! I hope to hear about it when you return. (Comment on this)
Monday, July 10th, 2006
9:04 am	myth Apparently, the myth still exists! Remember my earlier post about my high school quest to lose weight fast by running in the heat of July while wearing several layers of sweat suit stuff? Apparently, some still think it works. While I was dressing at the Courthouse a week or so ago, I noticed a fairly large man wearing some sort of wrap around his middle. I thought he just had lower back problems. Normally, I don't talk to guys in the dressing room. There's just something akward about it. But this time I said something like "You look well supported with that thing around your middle." His reply was, "Just trying to sweat off some gut." Then he proceeded to pull out some plastic trash bags out of his gym bag. He punched two holes in it for his arms and one for his head. So this guy walks out looking like a 2006 version of what I did almost 30 years ago to the day! I thought about telling him my old story, but left it alone. Some things you have to learn for yourself. Just hope he didn't suffer a heat stroke in the process! So please don't do what he did. And hydrate often! (3 Comments |Comment on this)
8:48 am	Sunfish I finished the Sunfish Triathlon in Meridian this past Saturday, but it nearly finished me. I was fine during the swim and run, but the bike almost did me in. I knew it would be hot, but I didn't know Meridian had so many hills! There were two especially tall ones that kicked my tail. Afterward, I felt like someone had thrown me over a clothes line and beat me like an old rug. I ached from head to toe. To quote an old Bonanza episode, I especially hurt where the "person meets the saddle." I hurt the rest of Sat and some Sunday, but am ok today. My last tri, in my quintuplet, is the Heart of Dixie Triathlon in Philadelphia. It's one week from this Saturday, on July 22. It will be hotter and longer than the Sunfish. Oh Joy! It's a 1/2 mile swim, 27.5 mile bike, and 7 mile run. I started to wonder why I was doing all of this in the first place. But I remind myself to focus on the Disney World Triathlon on Sept 24. That's what I'm really training for and these other tri's help me gain experience for it. As of today, I have raised just over $4,100 toward my goal of $5,000. I feel good about raising the balance of the funds and also blessed and humbled that so many people have responded so well. It all goes to cancer research, so it keeps me motivated. At the same time, I'm envious and jealous about your running progress and doing the 13.1m run last Saturday. But I'm excited for you all. Keep up the good work! Current Mood: sore (Comment on this)
Monday, July 3rd, 2006
2:13 pm	July 3rd I'll be doing the Watermelon 5k Classic in the morning. Need to run 3 miles anyway, so I might as well get up, run with some other folks, get a T-shirt, and eat some watermelon. Hope to see you out there! This Sat I will be racing in the Sunfish Triathlon in Meridian. It's a 1/2 mile swim, 21 mile bike, and 5 mile run. So it's a little further than Tri4God and it's supposed to have some hills in it. The heat and humidity will only get worse until after Labor Day. Not sure how this will impact my time, but it sure won't help any! It will take me about 2 1/2 hours to complete it. I'm still toward the bottom of my age group, but hope to get better for next year. Yesterday, I biked 25 miles and ran 4 miles, so I'm good to go. Due to the race this Sat I will be scaling down the rest of the week to give my legs a break. I've settled into a pretty good routine now and just have to follow it. Have a great and safe July 4th! Current Mood: hot (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, June 26th, 2006
3:24 pm	Tri4God After taking off from PT for about six weeks, I went back last Friday before the Tri4God triathlon on Sat for a tune up. He discovered some knots in my legs and proceeded to remove them with those dreaded "elbow sweeps," a somewhat painful, but effective way to get the knots out of my legs. It seemed to help my run on Sat. I'll keep going once weekly. It was cool and overcast at the beginning of the race, but the clouds went away after a while and the heat returned. The bike course had a couple of nasty hills in it that slowed everybody down. I was behind schedule coming off the bike, due to the hills, so I had some time to make up in the run. The run was 3 miles and I felt great! Adrenaline is a great thing! I wish I could bottle it or at least summon its presence when needed. Nevertheless, I was able to summon enough of it to pass a few folks and finish in 1:46:58, ahead of my goal of 1:50:00. I'm near the bottom of my age group, but not concerned about it. I only race the clock and do my best to finish, have fun, and not hurt anything. I'll get better over time. My running legs seem to be returning and feeling better. My knee was fine, no worries. The bike is my worst event, and the one where we spend the most time, so I have to train more on it going forward. Plus, it's good for cross training and low impact. Matt, I think I saw you out there sitting on a curb at the end of my run. Of course, I could have been hallucinating in the heat. Next up, is the Sunfish Triathlon in Meridian on July 8th, two weeks from now. It's a little longer with a 1/2 mile swim, 21 mile bike (with hills I hear), and finishes with a 5 mile run. I haven't run 5 miles since I did the Heatwave 3 weeks ago, but I should be ok. Of course, the heat and humidity will be worse. Maybe I could break out the old plastic sweatsuit for a few practice runs??? Nah... Will swim in the Rez tonight and try to out swim the gators. My training at this point is going to escalate. I plan to swim, bike, and run 3x weekly for each. To do this, I will scrap the weights for a while. Current Mood: pleased (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 20th, 2006
1:23 pm	June 20 I'm just getting caught up reading your blogs. I'm so impressed that ya'll are running 11-12 miles. Way to go! I wish I was out there with you. I will race in the Tri4God triathlon this Saturday at Lake Caroline. It's a Sprint distance of 1/3 mile swim (600 yards), 18 mile bike, and 3 mile run. It's shorter than the Heatwave, but should be much hotter. The heat is worse than the distance. I should finish in less than 2 hours, so I'll be done by 9:00 am before it gets too hot. My tri training is going well, but the heat is not helping. I ran 4 miles at 6:00 am last Sat. I was fine on the first two, but the heat found me coming back. I fell asleep on my den floor when I got back. After a nap, I went back out to bike for about one hour. Of course it was even hotter then. So I really crashed when I got home and was done for the day. I took off both Sunday and Monday. My legs are thankful. I can almost feel them again. I'll run 3 tonight and swim in the Rez on Wed night. A few of us are trying to get more open water swim experience to be better prepared for the tri's. The gators are sort of a nuisance, but they help me swim faster! Ha! I am trying to increase my running miles as if I was going to do a half marathon later this fall, maybe St. Jude in Memphis. It's not a goal right now. We'll just see how it goes. It depends on how well my knee holds up. Current Mood: grateful (Comment on this)
Thursday, June 8th, 2006
2:11 pm	June 8 I had great hopes of rehabbing my knee in time to ramp back up for Chicago, but there just wasn't enough time. You all are about to run 10 miles this Sat, while I will run 3-4. The gap got too great and then Chicago got full, so it looks like I will have to try again next year. So due to my knee injury back in Jan, I switched to triathlon training for cross training purposes. Swimming and biking gave me something to do while I was on the mend. Through this, I discovered Team in Training (TNT) which is the primary fund raising partner for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). TNT helps people around the country train for events and raise money for cancer research. TNT projects to raise about $90 million this year. Some of you may have heard of them or even run for them in the past. They sponsor marathons, half marathons, and triathlons around the country. If you have ever seen their purple shirts during a race, then you know what I am talking about. Visit their website at www.teamintraining.org for more info. Anyway, since I couldn't do Chicago, I signed up to do the Walt Disney World Triathlon in Orlando, Fl this coming Sept 24. It's a .9 mile swim, 24.8 mile bike, and 6.2 mile run, which is similar to the Heatwave. Doing the Heatwave Tri last Sat gave be a lot of confidence to do the Disney Tri. I'm trying to raise $5,000 for cancer research. If any of you would like to help sponsor me, you may visit my website at http://www.active.com/donate/tntms/galdridge and make a contribution via credit card. If you would rather make a contribution by check, you can make a check payable to LLS and mail it to me and I'll make sure they get it along with other donors that will be mailing me checks. Just remember to make it payable to LLS, not me. My home address is: Gary K. Aldridge, 204 Woodgreen Court Ridgeland, MS 39157. Any contribution is greatly appreciated, regardless of size. And all gifts are 100% tax deductible. Many thanks, in advance, for any consideration. And the best of wishes to all of you for healthy, smart training and fabulous success in Chicago! By the way, TNT will be sponsoring the Chicago Marathon next year. Even though I can't do Chicago this year, I'll stay in touch through this blog. Current Mood: grateful (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, June 5th, 2006
10:30 am	Heatwave!!! Mission accomplished!!! I was thrilled/pumped to finish the Heatwave Triathlon this past Saturday!!! Thankfully, the weather was absolutely gorgeous! I did it mainly for the open water swim and bike experience. The swim was a trip by itself. I was planning to walk/run the 6.2 miles at the end since I had not run 6 miles since Jan and had only returned to running a couple of weeks ago. The most I had run prerace was 2 miles on a treadmill and 6 miles just seemed to far "out there," especially after a 1/2 mile swim and 24.5 mile bike. So I thought there was "no way" I could run the 10k. I told myself prior to the race that "no matter what" I was going to walk the first mile and see what happened. Naturally, I didn't listen to myself. When I left the bike for the run, my time was about 7 minutes faster than I had projected...so I quickly did the math and said, "If I can run this 10k, I can beat 3 hours!" This time, I listened. So I took off on the first mile promising to check with all my body parts when I got to the first mile marker, then the second, and so on. I was so excited to be running and to have a shot at beating 3 hours! Every mile marker was a quick math exercise in miles left to go, minutes left to get there, and what pace I had to run each mile to get there. I also found my math skills diminishing at each mile marker. I was actually thinking about what to write you today while I was running Sat. Accountability helps!!! Matt, you were so right. I found the adrenaline I needed when I took off running and thought about what you said. The endorphins soon kicked in and I literally felt as high as a kite, naturally of course. If I could bottle that feeling and sell it, I'd be rich! Then I found out that endorphins don't last long (bummer), but the adrenaline was still there. And for those who said that my legs & cardio would return more quickly since I had been swimming and biking? Well, YOU WERE RIGHT after all and I WAS WRONG! I was never so glad to be so wrong! My apologies! I had no intentions of running the 10k portion when I started, but changed mid-stream and went with the flow. It all worked out great! And my knee was fine. No worries. The rest of me is still recovering though. I'm sore from nose to toes, but all will heal and I will live to race another day. My next tri is Tri4God at Lake Caroline, only 3 weeks away... I finished in 2:56, and was 25th out of 28 in my age group. Don't know how I did overall since they didn't list it that way. But it doesn't matter. I finished, had fun, didn't hurt anything, and far exceeded my goals! Thanks for your encouragement!!! It means a lot! Current Mood: jubilant (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, June 1st, 2006
8:35 am	June 1 Can't believe May is over! My wife is through with school for the summer. My older teen (16) started a job this am. And my new teen (just turned 13) is sleeping away quietly. Oh for those sleepy summer days! This is my taper week for the Heatwave Triathlon Sat: Mon: no cardio. Tues: no cardio. Wed: ran 2 miles on treadmill. I'm really having to start all over again after being off 3 months. Somebody said my running would come back quickly since I had been swimming and biking. They were wrong. Seems like I've never run before at all. My legs were saying strange things to me like, "You want to do what? I thought we were through with this? Can't we just go home and watch ESPN where it's cool?" After running, I went to my swim lesson. I go 1x weekly. I get so frustrated because I can't do it right, and because the guy in the next lane was trying to hit on some girl so I couldn't hear my coach. Since I'm paying for swim lessons, at least he could move his pursuits to some other venue... Thurs/Fri: Well, the hay is in the barn now. No more training to do before the race on Sat. Just need to eat and sleep right. Never got the eating right part down pat. Friday, I might attend a Yoga class. It helps the stretching and it relaxes me. Hope the legs rekindle some fire by Sat am... I feel good about finishing the race in ok time. It would help if I could find some adrenaline since I seem to be out at the moment. Does anyone have any "adrenaline pills?" Are they legal? Can I get them over the counter? Or do I need a prescription? I seem to be running low this am. Hope I can find some by Sat am... Current Mood: apathetic (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 30th, 2006
9:30 am	May Memorial Day weekend was memorable! The Heatwave Triathlon is this coming Sat, June 3. So I used this past Saturday as a warm up. Sat: Swim = I actually swam 1 mile straight in about 47 minutes! I've gone from 25 yards in Jan to 1 mile in May! I was pretty pumped about it. This gives me much needed confidence going into the next few tri's that I have scheduled. Actually, I could have kept going, but the goal was accomplished and I had a bike/run to finish. My next benchmark is to get up to 1.2 miles. Don't have a time table for that yet, but it will come. Bike = I biked 29 miles and got sunburned. (note to file: remember sunscreen). Run = I walk/ran 5 miles alternating walk one mile, run one mile, and repeat. I'll have to finish the Heatwave with a walk/run for the last 6.2 mile run since I can't run the whole thing right now. I wanted to see how this would feel and it actually felt pretty good, especially the walk part! Sun: I biked another 30 miles with a friend. I really didn't plan to go that far, but it was a pretty afternoon as we headed south on the Trace. I hit the wall about 15-16 miles into it and had to fight just to get back home. Mon: Lifted weights for lower body. No cardio. My legs are officially dead rubber right now. But my knee feels great!!! I will do very little this week to give my legs time to recover so I can finish the Heatwave Sat in good shape. It will take my legs about 2-3 days to recover. It will take me about 3:15 to finish the Heatwave, give or take a few minutes. This will put me in the back of the pack, but I'll be glad just to finish. Current Mood: energetic (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, May 22nd, 2006
9:34 am	May 22 Mission accomplised! I did the Soak up the Sun triathlon this past Saturday and managed to reach my goals, which were to: 1) finish, 2) have fun, 3) not hurt anything, and 4) finish in under 60 minutes (57:53). The tri was harder than I thought it would be, but good experience for future tri's. It was a mini-tri with a 200 yard swim, 8 mile bike, and 2 mile run. I managed to run the whole 2 miles and my knee was fine, no pain. All done! Next is the Heatwave triathlon, which is only two weeks away. It's a big step up with a 1/2 mile swim (900 yards in the Rez), 25 mile bike, and 6.2 mile run. The run is too far for me right now. I'll probably walk/run it. I'm mainly doing it for the swim and bike experience. I especially need open water swim experience. I'll have the same first 3 goals for this one. Not real concerned about my overall time here. I just want to finish it and not hurt anything. It'll take me about 3:00-3:30 hours to complete it. I'll re-introduce running into my weekly workouts now on a regular basis, albeit slowly. I'll start with running 2x weekly and go from there. Current Mood: ecstatic (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, May 18th, 2006
8:46 am	May 18 Eureka! I did it! I actually ran 2 miles on the treadmill. May not sound like much to you, but it was like climbing Mt. Everest to me. I was nervous about it all week and glad to get it over with. I stretched before, walked a while, then ran mile one at a 12:00 pace, then ran mile two at a 10:00 pace. Everything went very well and I'm extremely thankful! (That duct tape really worked! Now if I can just get it off...) I'll take off tonight and Friday night to rest and recover for the mini-triathlon on Saturday morning. It starts at 7:00 so I should be through by 8:00 and back home before the kids rise. I'll make waffles to celebrate!!! I'm pretty far behind you, but I'll do my best to catch up. To be honest, I hope to make it to Chicago, but I'm not going to break my neck, or knee, to get there. It's more important for me to increase slowly and not have to go through this again. I don't want to take another 3 month leave of absence, or worse. So it's great if I make it to Chicago. But if I don't, I'll make it to another race somewhere some time. I'll make that decision later as my runs progress. Folks say I should be able to recover my endurance & stamina quickly, but we'll just have to wait and see. Training for triathlons has kept me active swimming and biking while I couldn't run. Don't know how much further behind I would be without that training. Now I get to add running back to the mix. I'm pretty pumped about it all, but will move forward slowly and carefully. Current Mood: ecstatic (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, May 17th, 2006
3:13 pm	May 17 Been a few days since my last update. Since then... Last Friday: I finally got my new shoe inserts! Since I didn't really like the way my old shoes fit, I went to Fleet Feet to get a new pair of New Balance 1060's. They feel much better and lighter. Then I went to the treadmill and walked one mile and ran, yes ran, one mile. It was my first run in about 3 months. I was nervous the whole time, but everything held up well. I decided to stop and call it a day. Sat: I rode 35 miles with Jackson Metro Cyclists for "Ride the Rez." The weather was absolutely gorgeous!!! I saw parts of MS and the Rez that I had never seen before. I held up pretty well for about 20 miles, then started to fade. But I stayed the course and finished the whole distance. The event was extremely well organized and there were veterans falling back with me from time to time to make sure I was still breathing. A great group if you ever want to ride with people. After a crash nap at home, I headed back to the treadmill for another one mile run. All is still ok. Took my mom and wife out to dinner for Mother's Day. They appreciated the Sonic Drive In more than I thought (lol)! Sun: I swam 1800 yards broken up as 100, 200, 600, and 900 yards. This was my furthest swim training distance. My half mile swim time has dropped from 27:30 in Jan to 21:30, so I must be doing something right, or doing something wrong faster. Either way, I'm making progress. Another crash nap at home afterward. Mon: I was so tired from Sat/Sun that I got in bed by about 8:30. Biking and swimming help build cardio and don't hurt my knee so I go hard there when I can. I've found that I can go hard for about 2-3 days, then crash and repeat cycle. But I'm building endurance slowly. Tuesday: did the usual weight lifting routine. After only lifting once last week, I could feel the drop off. Must do 2x weekly to gain ground. More sleep would help too. Wed: Tonight I go for 2 miles on the treadmill! This is a big test and I'm pretty nervous about it. This Sat, I will compete in the Soak up the Sun triathlon in Madison. It's my first tri. It's a 200 yard swim, 8 mile bike, and 2 mile run. I'll be fine for the swim and bike. But it's the 2 mile run that makes me nervous. This will tell a lot about how much I can run going forward. My PT is confident I'll be ok. But 'ole Eeyore here is expecting my leg to fall off and roll in the ditch. I'll use some duct tape to keep everything in place. Will let you know how the run goes... Current Mood: nervous (Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 9th, 2006
11:03 am	Tuesday, May 9 I had a relapse of my sinus infection last Saturday, so I have taken off completely Sat, Sun, and Monday. My body appreciates it. I plan to lift weights tonight as far as my energy allows. I'll start swimming and/or biking Wed. My PT ordered my new shoe inserts last week. I'm supposed to get them this Friday! I am both pumped up and nervous at the same time about running again. It's been about 3 months since I last ran. I'll probably go out either Friday or Saturday on the treadmill for a slow mile and see how it goes. Hopefully, all will go well and I can get back to running, albeit slowly. Current Mood: excited (Comment on this)
Friday, May 5th, 2006
8:47 am	May 5-TGIF!!! I ended up doing my first "mini tri" last night. I biked 15 miles, walked 2 (on the treadmill), and swam 600 yards. Swimming last is not a good idea. I was pretty tired by the end and my arms felt like jello. But I was so pumped after finishing, I didn't even let the speeding ticket I received on the way home get me down! Love my new bike! The chain fell off once, but no big deal. I'm mechanically challenged but somehow managed to get it back on. Fri: Today is my attempt to do a full body workout instead of doing the two day splits. I'll go as far as my energy allows. I stayed up too late watching "Whose Line is it Anyway" with my younger son. We love watching it, but it keeps me up too late( old man syndrome). Sat: I'll attempt to do another mini tri, except I'll start with the swim first this time. Current Mood: jubilant (Comment on this)
Thursday, May 4th, 2006
10:01 am	May 4 I'm starting to recover from my sinus infection and feeling much, much better. I had a good upper body workout last night and walked 3 miles on the treadmill in about 45 minutes. My knee was fine. No worries. I go to the PT tomorrow to hopefully get set for my new shoe inserts. I hope I get them, but I'm planning to do this tri in a couple of weeks whether I get them or not. It's only a two mile run and I don't have much to lose. It'll take me about 20-22 minutes to do the run. I haven't run in about 3 months now, just swimming, biking, and lifting. So I'm planning to do this tri and see how it goes. Gotta try to run sometime! Thurs: will bike a while, don't know how far. I haven't ridden in a while, so I'll take it slow and enjoy this great weather and see how it goes. Fri: I'm going to try to do the total body workout in one day instead of doing 2 day splits. I think this will let me focus more on cardio on the other days. Sat: I plan to do a little swim, bike, walk (not run) of my own to see how I do. Nothing major, just a trial. I plan to run one mile on the treadmill next week, with or without the new inserts. Need to see how it will feel. Only 6 months left until Chicago! I'm jealous of reading about all of your progress and hope I can still make it. Current Mood: bored (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 2nd, 2006
10:11 am	May 2 I haven't blogged in a while. Not much to report here. Still lifting weights, swimming, and going to PT. I've been walking on the treadmill some. I'm seeing increases in my weight lifting and swimming. Haven't biked enough lately to see anything. Need to bike more. My swim coach video taped me swimming Sunday. She'll help correct the flaws in my stroke. Also joined the Masters swim group at Lakeland Courthouse. I swim there on Sat mornings. This is helping improve my swim too. I got a sinus infection Saturday, so it has slowed me down a bit. Took off last night and cleaned the house some. I still have much more to do there. It's a year long project. Feeling much better today and plan to lift, walk, and swim tonight as my energy allows. I am hopeful that my PT will cast me for orthotic shoe inserts this Friday so I can return to running next week, even if it is short, slow, and gradual. The range of motion has increased in my left ankle from 0 degrees to 13 degrees. It needs to get to 15 degrees so I'm almost there! Yea!!! My first triathlon is "Soak up the Sun" on May 20 in Madison, which is two weeks from this coming Saturday. It's a 200 yard swim, 8 mile bike, and 2 mile run. It's a beginner tri, but I'm doing it anyway. My goal is to finish in under 1 hour, so we'll see how it goes. Current Mood: calm (Comment on this)
Thursday, April 20th, 2006
12:30 pm	Don't do this! Reading some of your blogs about running in the heat reminds me of one of my efforts to run in high school... In order to lose weight real fast, I decided to run at the hottest time possible. Naturally, this was about 1:00 pm in July 1976. It was about 95 degrees with 100% humidity. Perfect day to sweat off some pounds! Or so I thought. Before I took off, I had to get properly dressed. First, I put on a "fat belt" around my waist. It was basically made of rubber so no heat could escape. The idea was that it would help shrink the middle. Second, I put on a full body "plastic" sweat suit. It came up around my neck, down to my wrists, and down to my ankles. Third, on top of that, I put on another layer of full body cotton sweats. My sweatshirt even had a hood on it, which I wore of course. Then I took off running... I made it about 1/2 mile before I started to strip down to next to nothing in somebody's front yard. I made it to a water facet, crawled under it, and turned it on full blast on my head and body. Thankfully, I didn't pass out from heat exhaustion. I picked up my wardrobe of running attire and walked home, humbly, to recover in the air conditioning of my home. Dress light/right and hydrate often! Current Mood: amused (2 Comments |Comment on this)
12:16 pm	April 20 Had a great workout last night! Maybe something is finally starting to pay off. I did the upper body workout, followed by a 45 Spin class. My legs actually had life! I cruised through without any problems. Don't know what I did right, but maybe the rest/recovery week last week actually helped. Good news from the Boston Marathon. My personal trainer (about 43 yrs old. I'm 45.) ran it in about 3:53. Yesterday, he told me that he had only run a few times before the race and did not actually trained for it. All total, he had only run about 23 miles spread over 3-4 runs. He had stopped running due to a pulled muscle. So how did he make it? He had been biking about 150 miles per week, thus building up his legs. So the encouraging thing I took from this is that while I am not able to run yet, I can bike. So I need to bike more in order to offset some of those running miles I am missing. I know I can't offset all of those running miles with bike miles, but I can offset some of them and maybe a bunch. So I'll try to ramp up the bike miles as best as I can until I can run again. Then we'll see if this theory holds up. I plan on swimming with the Masters group at Lakeland Courthouse this Sat at 7:45 am. Pretty early for a Sat morning, but better than the 5:45 am week day swims. "Rejuvenated" is not exactly the right word for my mood. I'm more like "Pumped Up," but this is all I could find. Current Mood: rejuvenated (Comment on this)
Tuesday, April 18th, 2006
9:08 am	April 18 Had a busy Easter weekend, but I got much needed rest too. Sat: swam 1300 yards, including a 1/2 mile swim. I have to swim 3x per week or else I lose continuity and fluidity in the water. Will have to stay more consistent going forward. After a break from swimming, I rode my new bike on the Parkway for about 21 miles, my furthest distance yet. It felt great! I need to get a couple of minor adjustments to my bike, but it's much lighter than my old bike and the gears shift much more easily. Sat night I was pretty much spent, but not too bad. Sun: spent most of the day in the St. Dominic's ER with my mom. She was having dizziness and was concerned maybe she had a stroke. Thankfully, she was ok but it took a while to run all the tests (EKG, CT scan, and blood work). Turns out one of her meds was causing the dizziness as a side effect, good news considering the alternatives. So we ate a late lunch (3:00 pm) together after leaving the hospital. Mon: did lower body workout with weights and walked 30 minutes on the treadmill. I was spent afterwards. I only did this once last week. Consistency is critical, and yet not to overdue it. Hard to find the balance. I want to keep going, but I'm only as good as my legs will allow. My motor (desire) is way ahead of my wheels (legs). I feel like I have a 25 year old mind with 85 year old legs. But I just saw an 80 year old man become the oldest person to finish the Ironman Triathlon in Kona, Hawaii, so it provided some hope and inspiration. Kona is too far, but Chicago would be good! Tues: Today we head to the doctor to see if he will change her meds or dosage or something. She can't drive until this is fixed, so I'm her taxi. She'll be 80 this fall and is otherwise in good health. Tonight I plan to swim and walk. Both are real low impact and relaxing. Exercise/training is my escape from reality and drama. My son (James) came home last night and told me that one of his friends had killed himself. Naturally, he was pretty upset about it. He's staying home from school this morning. It gave me an opportunity to share some things with him, pray with him, and tell him how much we love him and care for him. But it still hurts for him to have to go through this. One of my best friends did the same thing in high school, so we talked about it some. Anyway, please think about him and pray for him if you are so inclined. PT says I should get my new orthotic inserts for my shoes in a few weeks. I'm excited and nervous about returning to running. I want to run but don't want to hurt anything again. I hope I can catch up with you folks down the road somewhere! Current Mood: calm (1 Comment |Comment on this)