Thanks

Thanks to all of you who prayed for my swimming health. Thank you and may God bless you richly. I'm still confused about what was wrong, but all seems well now. I went to the pond Friday, and when I began to swim I just kept going for almost three hours. Nothing felt amiss. But that was also the way it was Tuesday: no problems until I climbed out of bed the next day. Saturday morning I rose from a night of sound sleep to be greeted by a solid body. Not a negative sensation anywhere. Praise God.

I had a good time on my swim, but I missed a wonderful opportunity to do it in the rain. That is one of life's simple pleasures. Having only had that experience a few times, I think about it often. Most of the time when it rains here in Mississippi, there is enough lightning to frighten an experienced storm chaser. But not Friday morning. It rained and rained and rained and I never once heard thunder. I got in my truck at 10:00 am to run a few errands and go to the pond. It was 12:00 before I made it out of town. WHAT!?!? Yeah, I have a genius for making simple things long and complex. By the time I arrived at the fish farm, the rain was ending.

Anyway, I ran before I left home, an easy 4.04 miles and then at the pond I hit it for 5.5 miles in 2:52. This was my longest swim of the year and my second five-miler of the week. I still have a long way to go, but I am on the road if I can just stay healthy. The progression of my pond swims looks like this:

1. 1.1
2. 1.5
3. 3.22
4. 5.05
5. 5.35
6. 5.5

Now I am ready to start hitting some 10Ks. I am in a good place if I can stay off the Yazoo River Trail, where I fell on my shoulder twice last year during Chicot training, and avoid any more mystery ailments like I had this week.