A Day Off? Thank You God!

I'm spoiled; I know it. We have been on a four-day work week since 2006. If we ever go off it, I will  cry like a baby. There were at least two decades when I had no time, no money, and no fitness. I worked and went to school and studied. My weight got all the way to 198 pounds on a very light 5'10" frame. I looked pregnant; I felt terrible; God told me I was going to die. I took the warning and slowly I began to walk a little, then jog a little, then do triathlons, and then . . .  Well, you get the picture.

Last Friday I had to work. It made me feel bad. It messed up my exercise. The Fall semester started Monday and we are still registering students, so I am wrorking all the time. Wednesday morning, however, I drove to work only to find a parking lot devoid of cars, but my boss there announcing the Center closed due to a plumbing leak. What!?!? Thank you God for giving me my day back!

I drove home, loaded up my coffee cup, and hung out with my cat, Luvie, for awhile. Then I got my Nathan hydration pack out and dressed for a run. I went 11.31 miles my longest since the half marathon I ran in June when I beat both Beets' butts. After lunch, I mowed the lawn and weed-eated some. Then I went to the pool. With school back in swing, I teach on Wednesday night. I actually hated to miss that class because it is my Film as Literature, my all time favorite course to teach. But being off meant I had access to the pool. I wanted to swim 5,000 or more. What I actually did was

1,100
4 X 250 pull with small paddles
100 easy

I was too tired to care at this point, so I stopped with only 2,200.

It was a pretty good day, however, especially running considering that Monday I ran 4.36 miles and Tuesday I hit 6.77. The Tuesday run was dreadfully slow so when I left the house Wednesday morning it was with a bit of trepidation not knowing if I would actually need the hydration pack. But I knocked off some nice miles without much effort on my unexpected day off. Tuesday I made it to DSU and got to see the Mad Swimming Scientist for a little bit before he left. He is going back to Turkey, his native land, for about a month. He left us, his swimmers, under the tutelage of someone named Emir. We swam

900
8 X 50 @ 1:15
100
200
300
400
400
300
200
100 all on :15 rest. I swam this set pretty hard and found it challenging.
50 easy
8 X 40 @ 1:30 alternating breathing 3 and 5
100 easy
Total: 3,850 yards = 3,518.9 meters.

So the week has started well, especially the running. I hope to get back to the pond maybe Friday. Meanwhile, I am kind of dreading Jay Unver's next article. It should come out soon and I will post it here, although I don't think it will be very flattering to me.