Pond Swim and Weekly Wrap Up

Robin and I in the new pond

Since I only posted once last week, I want to apologize to all two of my readers. With registration at school and trying to get my miles in, it was a pretty busy week. Saturday, Randy Beets and I met up on the fish farm for the first time in a couple of months. Our new pond was still being pumped up and the water was a cool 78 degrees when we waded in a little before 7:00 am. The goal was to swim at least 10 kilometers. Both of us needed some endurance work since the Dual 10K Championship is coming up in September as well as Swim the Suck in October. We started with two laps for 1.33 miles of swimming and then got out for nutrition and a run. We swam and ran in this manner for a total of 6.22 miles in the water and 7.5 miles on the road. Randy was kicking butt and taking names. He really hurt my feelings. Jay Unver was there to observe and, I presume, shortly to write an article. I can't say I was much of a help to his journalistic efforts since I was little mood to talk and sort of gave him the silent treatment. My bad. Robin Bond came out and joined us for her first catfish pond swim. I think she'll be back. She brought me a book: Against The Odds, by and about John Pendergrass. Robin has always been good to me that way. She has worked, and worked well, both of my Chicot Challenges and this is the fifth book she has gifted me. God bless you, Robin.



The week started Monday with a 4.35 mile run and a core workout that involves setups and deadlifts. Following that, I swam 5,300 meters at the local pool. Tuesday, since I worked registration until late in the afternoon, I didn't make the trip to DSU, but instead I ran a 4.67 miles at home and then went to Twin Rivers for 3,500 meters of long course swimming.



The little fellow was starving.

Wednesday I managed to get in 9.09 miles on the road and 4,200 meters in the pool. Thursday, however, proved to be an eventful day. Since my shoes are getting a little worn, I drove over the Tallahatchie bridge and parked on Wade Road so I could run the turnrows and save myself some pounding. I did 4.15 miles and was walking back to my truck when I hear a mewing. Someone had dumped a little kitty at my truck. I'm a sucker for a cat so I scooped him up and took him home. I carried the little fellow home, fed him, and put him on the floor. Jeff, our weenie dog, went crazy. He loves cats, and he licked and rolled and tried to play with the little fellow. I was trying to get to the pool so I left the tiny feline in the house with Jeff after posting a pic on Facebook trying to find the baby a home.

When I came back to the house after only 1,600 meters in the pool, Jeff, my wife, and the kitty were all comfortably relaxing on the couch. Penny said, "He's sweet and Jeff loves him. He's licked him clean." I could tell she had developed a soft spot for the cat. When I told her someone had asked for the cat, she was a little disappointed but noted that she really wasn't ready to raise another another one after just now getting Luvie settled down. Within an hour, Hart Weldon, a student of mine, picked him up. I felt a little sad seeing him go, but was glad he had a home. After she left, Jeff went through the house looking for the kitty. That made me cry.



Jeff  loves cats and he fell hard for this one.

I'm usually off on Friday, but I worked until 3:00 this one and that meant I had no time to swim and run. Since Randy and I were scheduled to do a big swim Saturday, I opted to run and got in an easy 5.37 miles. Once more, I did a little bit on Sunday. I rode the trainer for 38 minutes and did  some upper body weight lifting. I still can't bench press much because of my shoulder, but I did do two very light sets.

For the week, I
swam 24,607.98 miles,
pedalled 38 minutes,
walked 6.25 miles,
lifted weights two times, and
ran 35.13 miles.

I'm feeling pretty good about the shoulder, but I still have some concern over my inability to bench press. The running is going well as far as distance goes, but my speed leaves a lot to be desired. For several years now I've been in denial about slowing down due to my age. Part of what has enabled my denial has been my lack of quantity and quality in my running due to some nagging injuries. This year I have been healthy and even doing some speed work of late. The Oaks, on September 21, will tell the truth on me. If I can't get my 10K time back under 50:00, then I will know it's just not going to happen. My swim times, on the other hand, are the best ever all the way from 25 meters to 13 miles. This also has helped me tell myself that I'm not over the hill. If my time at the Oaks is over 50 minutes, I think I will be able to admit that age has bested me there, and then move on to ultra running, which is what old 10Kers often do when they can no longer achieve PRs but can't bring themselves to give up running.