Three Weeks Out

Thursday I ran errands most of the morning and made three trips to the laundry before I caught the proprietor on the job. I went to Walmart looking for BodyGlide; I found none. I paid the Utility bill, mailed the truck payment, checked on Mom's lawn mower, made some copies, and took care of some other business over the phone. Geez, I thought I was off work. Then I took an easy 3.11 mile shuffle. At the pool, I swam

2,100
8 X 50 @ 1:14
300 easy
8 X 50 @ 1:14
300 easy
1,600 countdown
4 X 100 25 back kick/75 swim with fins
total: 5,500 meters.

Friday morning I went out for a ten-mile run with some surges thrown in. I ran well, but I made a pass through the Yazoo River Trail and took hard fall landing on my left shoulder. Dude, I did the same thing in January or early February. I promise God and all who read this blog that I will not run that trail anymore. It has these little stumps of small trees they cut down in building the trail. It is just way too easy to catch a toe on one of those and then it is, "Down goes Frazier. Down goes Frazier."

When John and I went to the pool that afternoon, I couldn't swim. He prayed for me and then I swam a little, 1,500 slow, slightly uncomfortable meters before I tapped out. I was just afraid. It did not feel good to pull water, so fearing further damage, I just stopped.

When I left the pool, I was about as low as a wiener dog's toenail. The next morning I had planned to swim for three hours, but I cancelled that and went out for a short run. Surprisingly my legs felt good despite the ten miler the day before. I lifted some weights after the run being very careful to move slowly and be easy on the shoulder. The only discomfort I had was in doing lateral raises with a whopping eight pound dumbbell. The deltoid was sore, but that, I thought, was a good thing because a bruised muscle will heal quickly. Damage farther inside could end the swim, could end my swimming forever.

Penny and I left for Pearl around 3:00 pm. I was scheduled to speak at the state meeting of the Legal Professionals. I had spoken to the Greenwood group in February. They, the little Greenwood group, agreed to sponsor my swim-- and I really needed some help-- and invited me to speak at the state meeting. 

We made our way to Jackson and Penny did a little shopping. I dropped her off at TJ Max, or something like that, and I went to Academy Sports where I purchased two sticks of BodyGlide. I will need some for the swim. I need some on the longer training sessions now. Monday's four hours left me chafed under my armpits and made swimming difficult the next day.

We went to the motel and checked in (provided for us by the Greenwood club) and then went to dinner at Cracker Barrel. We had a nice meal, and I sat on the porch and ate candy while Penny shopped. She loves to shop, and I love to see her happy.

The Greenwood Group: Jennifer Watts, Stephanie Floyd,
Cindy Brown, Penny, Me, and Lisa Roberts.
Photo by Irena McClain.

The Greenwood group really worked hard to organize their part of the meeting and make the event a success for the Diabetes Foundation of Mississippi. They (Stephany Floyd was especially diligent in preparation) had brochures from the DFM and invited Irena McClain of the to be there. Irena spoke for a few minutes, giving an outline of the work our state diabetes charity does. The Greenwood club also held a 50/50 raffle and raised $120 for the DFM. I sold three shirts and took some orders for a few more. I enjoyed making my presentation and felt like it was well received. I hope the information has an impact on some of the ladies.

Penny and I enjoyed ourselves a lot. We needed the time alone and away from home and this fit the bill. Thank you, Greenwood Legal Professionals. Thank you Irena McClain for being there and being enthusiastic about the Chicot Challenge.

Besides a nice time for Penny and me, three weeks out was a nice training block despite the truncated Friday swim and the cancelled Saturday swim. For the week, I 

ran 27.38 miles
swam 27,600 meters
walked 4.64 miles, and 
lifted weights one time.

Now to get back in the water and check out the shoulder.