The Pond of Perpetual Pumpitude

I was just checking the blog and realized that I haven't updated since Thursday the 13th. Something like that. Anyway I need to finish that week and record what I've been doing this one. Friday the 14th I took a little run and did another one that Saturday. We went to Hillbilly Heaven, and I got out of the truck on the highway a mile or so from the gravel road. I shuffled in a pathetic 14:00 minutes per mile. There was a time when I would have been suicidal at a 14:00 pace, but I've been off a couple of months, gained a lot of weight, and continued to age in the meantime. That is the biggest difference in getting older: if injury strikes, I fall farther and I fall faster than I did when I was younger, and a comeback takes longer and more work. At least I'm still out there shuffling along.

For that week (2/10-2/16), I
swam 4,844.2 meters,
ran 9.73 miles,
lifted weights three times, and
walked 12.19 miles.

This week has been kind of nice. Finally, we received some warm weather and just in time. Masters practice was cancelled for the whole week due to a swim meet at DSU. We are at that time of year when I have to start building some swim endurance if I am going to pull off another Chicot Challenge. With the warm weather, I had the courage to go to the pond. I have always been a little too delicate of mind and resolve to swim when both water and air are cold. I can handle one at a time but not both. So Monday I did a little 1.79 mile run and Tuesday I was off to the fish farm.

Surprisingly, when I got there I found they were still pumping that pond Randy and I started swimming last June. They've been pumping it nonstop. In the summer, that was nice because it cooled the water off. In the winter, it is nice because it warms the water up. I ran for 3.5 miles to warm my body up and then checked my thermometer which read 56 degrees. I put on everything I owned: full wetsuit, hood, gloves, booties, and even extra duct tape on my face. Remember, I came out one day in January and swam about 100 meters before tapping out. I was determined not to tap out today. I didn't. It was a little tough starting out, but I was pretty comfortable for a while. I swam 1.46 miles, my first open water swim of 2014.


Selfie on the shore of the pond of perpetual pumpitude

Wednesday was wild, but I got in a 4.04 mile run before my night class. The mid-week day is normally my favorite one of the week because I teach Film as Literature that evening. However, the class has been sitting on their brains, and it has distressed me to the extent that after our last meeting I never was able to sleep that night. Finally, they starting talking to me a bit Wednesday, and I was tremendously relieved, overjoyed even. One student  brought me candy, Snickers and Reese's, and that always helps my mood. We watched The Journey of August King, a quest movie that has the most fully developed Christ-figure I have ever seen in a film or piece of literature. That's why this one makes my list. I know they missed a lot, but I hit the pause button a dozen or more times and pointed things out.

Thursday I was back at the pond. This time I used a little less tape, entered the water with a little less trepidation, and was comfortable for the entire swim. According to my reading, the water had warmed to 62 degrees, and I even began to enjoy the cool liquid of life flowing over my lips and face cooling my body. Nice. This time I ran after the swim and did 4.5 miles, my longest run since the injury.

It is now Friday morning and as I type this, my wife's little baby, Jeff, and my little baby, Luvie, are both in bed with me. I am very comfortable; nevertheless, I'm planning today another trip to the pond of perpetual pumpitude where my gps watch said I swam 2.92 miles yesterday. I hope to do a full 5K today.