Friday, November 30, 2018

RIP Jefferson Hodge

It is not in the Bible, but I truly believe all dogs go to heaven. Jeff, our fifteen-year-old weeny hound,made it there early Friday morning, November 23rd, the day after Thanksgiving. We had known he was going downhill. We had known he was sick. We had known this might be the last time. Over the past two years, he has been in and out of the hospital and near death over and over. And over and over, God and the vets have come through and the little man came home to give us another round of his indefatigable, unconditional love. This time, I was sure was the last, and my desire was to keep him home and let him die where he lived and loved. But I knew that would never satisfy my wife so when she asked me to take him to the vet, I didn't hesitate.

He was a good dog. He was special. He was my wife's little baby. I was in the bathtub fifteen years ago when I heard the fight. Our son, Forrest, came home with a young dog, Jeff. It got loud. It went on a while.Then it stopped all of a sudden, and the silence was pronounced. I later learned that Forrest sat the dog down, maybe so he could gesticulate more effectively as he argued his case. Jefferson, a six-month old Dachshund jumped up on the couch where my wife sat and made his way up into her lap. And that is pretty much where he stayed for the next dozen and three years. The argument was over. After a few moments of silence, she opened the bathroom door with a smile on her face and the tiny hound in her hands pulled tightly against her chest. No one had to tell me that we had a new dog, a new family member.

He really was a sweetie. It took a little time, but the cats eventually accepted him. He loved them and all cats with an affection I have never witnessed with a dog before. He loved all animals, but he was especially drawn to cats. Go figure. In fact, when he got older we developed a ritual. I would take him with me to the recycle bins on Saturday mornings. He ran loose while I dumped our stuff. Then we walked on the walking trail down n the river to get him and me some exercise. After that, it was time for a drive. He would hang his head out the window, and we drove the North Greenwood, sniffing the air, looking for cats. We knew where to search and always found some. His eyesight was already failing so they had to move before he could see them. When it all worked out and he saw a cat, he would whine like a little baby. It made him happy. I loved seeing him that way.

That was our Saturday ritual. On Fridays we had a different one. Since we went on a four-day schedule at school several years ago, he has liked to hang out with me while I drank coffee and studied after Penny went to work. Typically, I would have one to three cats, a hot mug of coffee, several books along with my Bible and Jeff on he bed. He loved it; so did I. He just wanted, always, to be close to someone he cared about, his family

Speaking of family, he loved the grandchildren and all you had to do was say, "The kids are coming," and he would hop off the couch and wait and whine at the front door. Although he understood a lot of English, he never got a handle on adverbs. So if you told him too early, you gave him a bad day. You could not call him off the door with the words "later" or "tomorrow." He looked for the now.

Over the years we have watched his transformation from a young dog to an old man, then a very old man. He slowly went blind, then deaf, then he had trouble walking. Trips to the vet became more frequent, more expensive, and more stressful. This time, Monday of the Thanksgiving Break, I knew was the last. Not that I am any expert on death. But after watching Mom pass, I saw all the same things in him. I wanted to keep him home and let him die with us. I hate that he passed in a cage at the vet's. But my wife wanted to give him ever chance of making it. I was too much of a coward to even state my position. So I took him on.
Jeff and I on a Friday morning. 

Jeff is one more in a long string of stressful losses. Loss has now become a major category in my thoughts. As an English teacher, I often use Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea in Composition II. My students write papers on the novella. One of the topics I always offer them is loss and restoration. The old Cuban fisherman loses the boy as his fishing partner, his reputation as a champion fisherman, hooks, lines, leaders, a knife, a boat oar, a tiller handle, and even the great fish he finally hooked after going eighty-four days without a catch. None of my students over the past fifteen years has ever chosen that topic to write on. After doing my last few funerals, I finally figured out why. They have not lived long enough for loss to be a major issue in their lives so as a writing topic, it is not something they easily identify with. By the time you get into your 60s, loss becomes a big deal, an old friend, or more accurately, a dreaded enemy. Over the past few years, I have lost both my parents, our holiday traditions, several animals, my childhood home, land in Carroll County, a church we pastored for twenty-two years, church members, friends, my swimming, and my running. The swimming and running have come back only to see the running go again. I have seen elderly people I pastored go through loss after loss until they had only two things left: their life and Jesus. Then they lost their life. Jesus has to be enough. 

He is.
Jeff and I on one of our Saturday morning drives.

Another thing about all these losses is when they occur. They happen at a time in life when we dislike loss the most. I always heard that old people don't like change. Now I understand it. I hate change, but it keeps coming at a faster and faster rate. And the changes are having more and more of an impact. Changes in our bodies, in our country, in our world, in our homes. They not only irritate us, but they hurt. 
Jeff's final resting place.


Deeply.

We had a trip planned with Andrea and Caitlin for Friday, so I picked his body up Saturday morning. Penny bought a metal box, and we placed his body in there and drove to Carroll County. Although it had rained recently, the ground was only soft for about six inches. I labored hard to dig his grave. We placed him at the head of our tombstone, covered him up, and had prayer. His body will lie by ours until that great resurrection day. That is some comfort to us.

Losing Jeff has been difficult for me, but devastating for my wife, Penny. He chose her from the beginning, and he was always hers. And I know this will not be the last loss she or I suffer. These kinds of blows makes you want to insulate yourself so you will never go through that again. But pain is the price we pay for love, and love is worth the price.

Thursday, November 29, 2018

The Unmentionable Event

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas." Not only that, but I'm beginning to feel the inner rumblings of something I will not even mention yet. I'll begin to name it after the first of the year. That is my tradition, and I will stick to it. But already it is informing my training decisions. Last week I did  6,250 yard session in the pool. This week I hope to exceed that. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know why. Ordinarily I am only swimming twice per week for a total of about 6,000 yards. This year I am swimming four to six times per week for 12,000 to 15,000. Still, however, I am not in terribly good form. My times are off, and my endurance is suspect. But with the yards and the weights, I feel like I am beginning to come around.

Training for marathon swims is a lonely venture. Not only that, but it is a lonely adventure. I do, however, miss the camaraderie and the competition of swimming with a squad, like I did for years at Harvard on the Highway. I may drive to DSU, I'm sure I swim during the Christmas break some so I can gauge myself against the guys I used to drag up and down the pool. Can I still do it? My times in the pool while alone say no, scream it. We'll see.

One area where I am not alone is at Plate City. With Trevor as my workout partner, I now lift harder and more consistently than I did when I was out there by myself. Will this make a difference in June? It should. It will. I only have to keep doing what I am doing, and I should show up in all-time shape. Not only that, but I have some ideas. My running has crashed again but Trevor has the thought of setting up my bike trainer under the Swim Pull machine. Cha Ching! I haven't done it yet becuase I need to do some wood work, but it's coming.

All in all, the excitement is beginning to grow. The fitness is slowly building. That lake, my liquid mistress is waiting. I will meet her this June, God willing. Thank you, Lord.

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Aftermath of the Egg Bowl

There iws a lot of absenteeism at work today. I'm not talking about students, but faculty and staff. I kid you not when I saw the reason is the Egg Bowl. I saw on of my unfortunate colleagues and told her, "I'm sorry for your loss." She almost broke into tears, but managed to not cry, but did express her disgust.

At church Sunday, I told one of my parishioner that I was sorry for her loss. I offered her  my hand to shake. She glared at me like she wanted to claw my eyes out. People take this thing really seriously. Especially Ole Piss fans. They have an elevated view of themselves, their school, and their football program. Schoiol pride is one thing, but delusion is another.

Ole Miss has had, over the years, more success than Mississippi State. I am convinced that that is the only reason many of their 'fans' pull for them. They don't know what it is like to lose, to support a struggling program, to be faithful through hard times. If you watched the game, which was in their stadium, you noticed a lot of empty seats. A lot of empty seats. They knew ahead of time that they were in for an arse whooping and simply would not endure it. State fans, on the other hand, fill the stadium even if an imminent butt whooping is coming. 

Then there is the matter of social media. Last year, Ole Miss fans applauded bad sportsmanship as well as the intentional injury to our quarterback. One even told me it was OK because State fans were rude to their players. Rude to their players. Ya think? This year, Ole Miss fans showered our players with soft drinks. Rude much? Dude, who really gets bent out of shape about something like that. Wait, don't answer, Ole Miss fans that's who. I guess I should lighten up. I know some good people who pull for the school up north. If not for them, I'd tell you what I really think.

On a bright note, this was the first Egg Bowl I ever watched where you could not telll the announcers were pulling for Ole Miss. Really, no exaggeration here. Normally is is obnoxiously obvious who the Yankee announcers want to win. I always wondered why. This time I detected no bias in the way they called the game. Maybe that is because the contest was so one sided that there was not opportunity to show where their sentiments lay. Maybe.

Anyway, it was  a glorious game. Thank you, Jesus.

Slow Start

For me, the term "slow start" usually refers to Friday mornings when I lounge longer, drink more coffee, and start the free day slowly, leisurely, at my own pace. For this title it means the week, and my training. I got home from work in pletny of time to make it to the pool. But I lay down on the bed, turned on the Feinbaum Show, and got comfortable as CC hopped up in my lap and began to purr. That is where I stayed for the rest of the afternoon.

Besides growing lazy, I have a huge skin rip in the palm of my right hand put there digging Jeff's grave. Yes, I had gloves. I tried swimming Saturday night, but it was more painful than I was willing to endure.

Trevor came over and we did lift, but that is all. No swimming, and no running. LEarly last week, I hit my lowest weight of the year. Already the scale numbers are trending upward. I need running for my weight. Without it, I have never been able to keep the belly flat. Sigh.

The hand hurt even bench pressing. I had to adjust my grip in an awkward way to keep the bar off the raw part of my palm. I hope to swim today, but I am not sure I can. I plan to try putting a patch of duct tape over the wound and see if that will give me some relief. If I can't swim, I fear I will fall back into the pit. Lord help me.

Monday, November 26, 2018

11/19 - 11/25

This was Thanksgiving Break week, the one I had intended to bust the top out of the numbers. I had a pretty good training week, but not the one I wanted. Thank the Lord anyway. Since I have already written about several of the days, I swill make this sweet and short. For the week, I

swam 12,878 meters,
ran 6.39 miels,
lifted weights three times, and 
waqlked 1.78 miles.

The knee brought an end to the running, and a huge blister on the palm of my hand caused the swimming to fall short of where I wanted it to be. But still a pretty decent week. Thank you, Jesus.

Saturday, November 24, 2018

Day Two

Day Two was another Beetsdown. I ran in the morning, swam in the early afternoon, and lifted in the evening. A nice full day. Though in coffee and cats, and it was one for the ages. First, my shuffle was not fun because, though I failed to mention it in yesterday's post, I did squats after the Monday run and was sore before sundown. Tuesday, I drove to Wade Road so no one would see me shuffle along in pain, which is what I did. The pace was snail like and I only did 2.26. Then I went home and hung out with CC ans studied for Sunday morning. 

After lunch I went to the pool and swam 3,850 yards straight in 1:10:34 which is 1:49 per 100. You know what came next. Home for nutrition, rest, and cats. Trevor made it to Plate City around 5:30 and on the bench I pressed

12 X 95
13 X 115
13 X 120
13 X 125
14 X 125
13 X 125
4 X 130

I am going through a buildup focusing on reps. I just want to experiment and see how this effects my strength. While walking around the backyard, my knee hit me twice. By hit me, I mean it felt like I had a little man inside trying to cut himself out with a knife. All in all, it was a God-blessed Randy Beetsdown day. Thank you, Jesus. 

Friday, November 23, 2018

Day One

Day one of my Thanksgiving Break was a buster. I call Monday day one because even though I got out Thursday afternoon, Monday the 19th was the first day I was at home when I would normally have been at work. I started out by drinking extra coffee and hanging out with CC and Baby Kitty. Then I went out for a run and did 4.1 miles. The pace, while still slow, was quicker than normal. 

After taking nutrition and resting, I want to Twin Rivers for some serious swimming.  I did

2,500
3 X 200 @ 4:00
300 small paddles
4 X 150 @ 3:00
300 small paddles
6 X 100 @ 2:00
300 small paddles
6 X 50 @ 1:15 medium paddles
6 X 25 @ :45 large paddles
600
total: 6,250 yards = 5,712 meters.

I didn't workout at Plate City Because we had Over 60s at First Baptist in Itta Bena. But I had enough. That is pretty begi day, praise the Lord, a real Beetsdown.

Thursday, November 22, 2018

11/12 - 11/18

Since I have already written about each day of this week, I will keep this short and sweet. For the week, I 

swam 15, 583 meters,
walked 2.8 miles,
lifted weights 3 times, and 
ran 14.51 miles.

That is training. A note on the swimming numbers. Right now I am swimming short course yards, but I always convert to meters for the purpose of record keeping. For me, it makes little sense to have tow numbers at the end of the year: one for yards and another for meters. With the shoulder almost well, and a heated pool less than a mile from home, the swimming is coming along well. I still have not regained my speed. My times for 50s and 100s are much slower than they used to be. Would they drop if I went to DSU and swam against my old pals? I may drive over soon and find out.

Thank you, Jesus for good health and motivation.

Wednesday, November 21, 2018

Fabulous Friday

If you are wondering where I have been for a few days: computer problems. Anyway, I miss the little bit of blogging that I do three to four times per week. I wrote about training through last Wednesday. Today, I'll come up to date, Despite the title, I will cover Thursday through Sunday.

Thursday I swam

1,650
5 X 50 @ :56
500 small paddles
total: 2,400 yards.

At Plate City, Trevor and I did our first alley workout. This was a cross-fit type of deal that involved the sled (our first use), some light squats, ropes, and running for three rounds. Then we did our four bench bench press circuit three times for 12 sets of bench presses. A good day.

Friday, shuffled 5.1 miles then swam

2,000 (1:51)
6 X 50 @ :56
300 small paddles
7 X 50 @ 1:00
250 small paddles
total:3,300 yards.

Saturday I swam 

2,250 (1:48)
12 X 50 @ 1:00
300 small paddles
9 X 50 @ 1:00
400 small paddles
total: 4,600 yards.

Saturday night we ate at church and we did the same thing Sunday at lunch. Sigh. It is really hard to lose weight when every time you turn around, you are doing a special eating. Anyway, it was good training a lots of fun. Thank you, Jesus.

Thursday, November 15, 2018

Wonderful Wednesday

Wednesday was a good day. They all are, but some are more enjoyable than others. It started, the enjoyable part, with snow. Actually it began to sleet around 11:00 am and by noon it was snowing like it rarely does around here.If we have ever had snow this early in the year, I don't remember.

I went to to pool right after work and swam

1,500 straight
4 X 50 @:56
450 with small paddles
total: 2,150 yards.

The warm up was at a 1:50 pace, which while not fast, was the fastest I have done warm up swimming in a few weeks. The 50s at :56 was the first time I have done that in weeks, not because I had no desire, but because I forgot I had that programmed into my watch. That is a heart rate set, and I only did four reps to see what it felt like.It felt OK, and I hope to do it again today.

After the swim, Trevor and I met at the frozen Plate City Gym. We hit it hard and had fun. The novelty of working out in the ice was neat.

I waited a bit to run because at 5:30 there are still a lot of cars in downtown Greenwood. About 6:00 I headed out the door. It was cold and when I got onto the wooden part of the catwalk on the Fulton Street Bridge, I began to slip because of theicee. I only shuffled 2.16, but that puts me at almost nine miles for the week. I plan a big one Friday so I should have a good week in terms of miles.

I climbed out of bed this morning with the excitement and anticipation of an eight year old boy the night before Christmas. Today when I drive off campus, I will be off for ten days. Big training here I come. Beetsdown training here I come. Getting in shape, here I come. Thank you , Jesus.

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Terrific Tuesday

It wasn't the best training day, but it was a Beetsdown. I started with a trip to thhe pool where I swam

1,400
12 X 50 @ 1:00
400 smalll paddles
total: 2,400 yards.

I went home to recover and about the time Trevor usually gets to Plate City, he texted that he had to work late. So the gym was out. Instead, I went out for a shuffle in the extreme cold. Since I did a long run Monday, I settled for 2.27 miles of old man run pretending. But I was out there and I enjoyed it. I used to hate the winter time (it is winter in Mississippi), but now I enjoy it. I like running in the dark, and I enjoy being out in the cold. It was a good day, and I look forward to a better one today. Praise God.

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Magnificent Monday

I kicked Randy Beets from can to can't Monday. First, it started with swim in the little pool at Twin Rivers. I swam

1,100
10 X 50 @ 1:00 as 6 swim, 4 small paddles
400 easy
4 X 50 @ 1:00 medium paddles
total: 2,300 yards + 2,104 meters. I wanted more, but was out of time.

I then went home to recover before Trevor showed up at Plate City for another Beetsdown workout. On the bench I did

10 X 95
15 X 115
15 X 120
12 X 125
12 X 125
12 X 125

I also did some squatting and a lot of cord work.

After Trevor left, I sent out for a shuffle despite having done squats and despite the fact that it was cold and rainy. The shuffle was slow, but I did 4.5 miles, a new high for this comeback. All in all, it was a major Beetsdown. Poor Randy, he doesn't have a chance. Thank you , Jesus.

Monday, November 12, 2018

11/5 -11/11

I made the best of a difficult week. Forced to work like I had a regular job, my numbers were down. I did manage to shuffle for a few more miles than I have been. But I only got into the water once, and only lifted thrice. Weather had some impact on that along with other things. But I did the best I could in having a Randy Beetsdown week. 

Monday I lifted weights and shuffled for 3.24 miles. That was my longest of the comeback and made me feel really hopeful.

Tuesday I shuffled for 2.1 and did some walking. Wednesday I lifted and then went out and broke my shuffle record with a 4.1 mile run. Now I know the legs are coming around. 

Thursday I lifted and did my only swim, 3,350 yards straight in 1:03:06 which comes out to a 1:52 per 100 yard pace. Not good.

Friday, Penny and I went to Jackson but before we did I shuffled 1.65 miles. In Jackson, I purchased four 25-pound Olympic Plates for the gym, and Sunday I saw another listing on Facebook for some Olympic weights for sale and drove to Yazoo City after church and got them also. Plate City is loaded. Now to just keep lifting.

For the week, I

ran - 11.09 miles,
lifted weights three times,
walked 5.86 miles, and

swam 3,061 meters.

At least I pushed it up in one area. This week, I hope to push it up in all areas. And then there is next week, Thanksgiving week. I hope to smash myself then and make a big leap in smashing Randy Beets. Praise God.

Thursday, November 8, 2018

Dreaming

I've started to dream again. Did I mention that earlier? For a long time I didn't. I'm not talking about the things you have in your sleep. I have those constantly. But I mean those ideas, desires, goals that make us want to get out of bed, to do something, that excite us.

Before Mom passed, she was buying all sorts of stuff she could never use. She purchased cookers, sock knitting machines, computers, even a circle saw which she said was too heavy and she gave to me. "She's dreaming " was my sister's explanation of Mom's behavior. That was/is a good thing. She always had projects, ideas, things she wanted to do. She stopped dreaming, the best I could tell, right before she died.

When I was unable to run or swim or lift weights, the dreams went away. So did my zest for life. For the first time ever, there were days when I could not get out of bed. But now the dreams have returned, and I arise early to try to make them come to pass.

If y
ou read this blog and maybe if you don't, you know that I have been lifting, swimming, and even shuffling a little. Now some old dreams along with some new ones have returned. One dream that I missed doing two years ago was the Parks Marathon. This is not a race you can sign up for a complete. It was my brainchild in line with a lot of marathons I did alone, on Fridays, my day off. I called most of those adventure runs or Buddy Bones Marathons. You can look on my Facebook page and check out my albums and find pictures of these sole events that took place in the wilds around Holcomb, Mississippi, on the streets of Greenwood, and on the county roads around my hometown. I loved them and they kept me fired up and climbing out of bed early to go play, the one thing I ahve always wanted to do.

Last night, I shuffled a slow but fun 4.1 miles. That brought the mind the Parks Marathon, my idea of running to and at least a mile in 13 parks in and around Greenwood. With the my burgeoning running, the idea of spending Fridays on foot has me chomping at the bits. I want it.

Not only do I want to do the Parks Marathon, but I have thoughts of crazy Plate City Gym workouts. I think of setting up the bike trainer and doing sets of squats sandwiched between bouts on the trainer. The idea is to bomb my quads until I have to crawl back inside the house. I have similar thoughts on bench pressing. Recently I did a workout of ten sets of ten on the bench. Now, I want to start with a set of twelve reps, then up the weight and do another nine sets of ten. That should leave me sore for days.

Yes, I have some wet dreams also. No, not that kind. Swimming. I have done crazy swim workouts in the past. The wildest ones involved swimming mixed with running at the catfish pond. That, by the way, is a sport now. They call it Swim/Run, I think. But I do mine alone on the fish farm. It's a proven fitness builder, and I look forward to doing more of that this spring. The dogs, Pee Wee and Bear love it out there and need to go back.

And then there is the bicycle. I have more dreams than I have fitness or time or money. But I do have some time, and the fitness is returning. Thank you, Jesus.

Limited Success

Limited success. That is how Hades Week has gone thus far. I have not seen the water, but I plan to go tonight.I have run the last three nights so after Plate City today, I will head to the pool instead of the road in the dark.

Yesterday, Trevor and I had a good workout. I reluctantly went for a run. I say reluctantly because my knees felt gimpy Tuesday night. Despite Tuesday's troubles, the middle hing of me aged legs felt fine as I shuffled along at just a tad faster than a quick walk. I went for 4.1 which is my longest of the comeback. That also brings me to my highest wee's total this year, still low, but creeping upwards. There is no doubt that I have gained some sort of fitness, or am gaining might be more accurate. I was pleased with the shuffle and felt good afterwards. By feeling good, I had that smooth feel that a run of the right length gives. It washes away all nervousness, agitation, fatigue, and frustration. I guess it's the endorphins along with a lot of blood pumping. That's one reason I always like to run. It makes me feel good, healthy, whole.

Tonight, I plan to hit the pool big time. It's hard to know how I will feel, but I hope to swim around 4,000 yards or more. We'll see. Thank you, Jesus for a nice run and returning health.

Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Tuesday

The week is shaping up the be a bust compared to the last one. Friday had been planned out by my wife, and Saturday is going to be taken up by a trip to Tuscaloosa to see Mississippi State play Alabama. Those are my two big training days knocked out. Not to mention that my yard needs mowing and my house needs painting. Then there is the fact that this is butt kicking week. We have registration and have to be in our office like a regular job. That knocks swimming out. all that, I need some rest. I really do tire of going all the time. I want to stay at home.

Monday was a pretty good day with a weight session and a run, the longest of my comeback. Right now it is raining dogs and hyenas. Maybe that is a good think because although it might knock us out of a gym workout, if that happens, I will go to the pool and pound the water like I'm mad at it.

Yesterday, all I got done was a run. Trevor texted that he was out so I put on my shoes and headed out the door. I wanted to swim, but with the end of the week taken away, I knew I needed to keep the comeback rolling. My knees felt gimpy so I didn't do anything like I wanted. I walked and shuffled slowly for a total of 3.1 miles. Not much but I am ahead of last week.

Anyway, all  I can do is all I can do. I hope it rains all day and I am forced to the pool. Thank you, Jesus.

Tuesday, November 6, 2018

10/29 - 11/4

Last week was almost like the old days. I ran, swam, walked, and lifted the most I have this whole year. This week looks like it will be difficult because we have to keep a lot of hours at work because of registration. Sigh.

Monday I lifted and shuffled. Tuesday, I did a 2,800 yard straight swim, lifted weights, and did a 2.13 of running. Wednesday I was back at the pool for 3,600 yards, 2.03 miles of running, but no lifting.

Thursday, I swam 4,300 yards, did not run because I was resting for Saturday, and lifted more weights. Friday I only lifted some weights.

Saturday, I ran my 2nd 5K of the year with Trevor. After I got home and took a mice nap, I went to the pool for a 3,150 yard straight swim.

Sunday we went to Oxford for the Diabetes Foundation of Mississippi. Because of the weather, the walk was held in thee Tad Smith Coliseum. The walkers only did two laps and stopped, Gerry Johnson and I went outside and walked some more. For the day, I go 1.11 miles.

For the week, I

ran 9.28,
walked 5.86,
swam, 12,676 meters, and 
lifted weights four time. That is a pretty good week. If I can start topping that each seven days, I will lose some real weight and get back into good shape. If. But thannsk be to God for a real Beetsdown training week. Thank you, Jesus.

Monday

Monday was a pretty good day considering. I had to work until 4:00 o'clock so that knowcked me out of a swim. Dullsville. I did, however, get to lift and run.

Trevor and I met at Plate City where we benched and squated. I am dropping back on the bench before another rebuild. I pressed

13 X 95
10 X 115
8 X 135
4 X 140
3 X 140

On the squat I did

13 X 65
3 X 95
2 X 105
2 X 110

Trevor left and I went for a shuffle. Flushed with Saturday's success, I ambled alon g for 3.24 miles and then a short walk afterwards. The run was slow, very slow, but that is the longest I have gone in two full years. 

I don't know how I am going to get the yards and miles in this week. Penny has Friday planned for us and John and I are going to the Alabama vs Mississippi State ball game Saturday. I want a normal weekend at home so I can train. Maybe next week.
It was still a Beetsdown day. Praise the name of Jesus.

Monday, November 5, 2018

Vardaman 5K

Saturday, Penny and I along with Trevor journeyed to Vardaman, Mississippi for the Sweet Potato Festival. It one of the festivals we like and plan to attend every year. Our good friends, the Johnsons, took us there in 2016. I ran the 5K then and won my age division along with $15. Yeah, they gave cash instead of trophies Last year we went back, but that was during my injury phase and I did not run. We like this one for several reasons. It has that small town feel, maybe because Vardaman is a small town. Penny loves shopping these kind of events and they do have lots of vendors. Not only that, but they have one whole street that is lined on both sides lined food folks. You can walk down the middle of that street and watch the most fabulous food dishes being cooked on open air griddles. This year, Trevor, my workout buddy, wanted to do the 5K, his first. I have just started back running, shuffling, about three weeks ago. Trevor has run maybe four times, five at most. So we were going to survive, shuffle through, get a fun workout in. 
I was short on cash so I settled
for this: $4.00.

The starter gun went off with me fifty yards in front of the starting line. I had gone for a warm-up walk and according to my watch, which is GPS controlled so it is accurate, I had two minutes to go till starting time. I have never know a race to start on time, I still haven''t. At 7:58 the started shot his gun and the runners shot off like they were being chased by hungry bears. I had no choice but to clear my watch, wait for the wave of participants to pass, and fall in at the back. I noticed some walkers in the group. It took me .25 to catch and pass a fat lady who was walking.

That was just the first of my battles for the day. A goofy-looking young man was walking really fast and was way out in front of me. Slowly, I reeled him in, but it took a full mile. My goal for the day was simply to try to finish under a 12:00 minute per mile pace. I did the first mile in 10:54 and I was beside the walker when I lapped my Garmin. Shame.

At 1.54 miles, the course hands the runners and walkers its first and only real hill. To add inuslt to injury, the hill is beside a large cemetery. After the hill, the course turns left at ninety degrees giving me a chance to look back and see if walker man was catching me. He was. I shuffled on in fear knowing he was only 50 yards behind me.
Trevor before running his first 5K.
He placed second in his age group.


After that I was shuffling scared. At every turn, and there were lots of them, I looked back for walker guy. After two miles, I began to pull away from him and only after another half mile did I feel confident that I was going to best him. Such is this running thing. 

I finished in 33:53. Yes, that is pretty pitiful, but consider that at the Greenwood 5K I finished in 39:59. So I am more fit. My splits looked like this:

1 - 10:54
2 - 11:17
3 - 11:17
4 - 9:55

It is a start. Trevor and I are now talking about ditching the Warrior Dash we were contemplating on doing on the Coast next fall. It is the exact same weekend as Vardaman. When I suggested to Trevor to train for a year and come back and win the whole thing, he jumped at the idea. Yes, I think he can do it, if he trains on the road as hard as he does on the weights. 
I was third in my age group, encouraging, but at my age, not that big of a deal. Still, it was a good workout, a good time, and good day. I look forward to next year. If you like things and have never been to the Sweet Potato Festival, put this one on your list. You'll like it, I guarantee. 


Thursday, November 1, 2018

Wednesday Beetsdown

Wednesday was more Beetsdown training. Trevor and I did a short run of 2.03 miles on dirt. He had some parent stuff to do so there was no Plate City work. What that meant, however, was that I had plenty of time for the pool. At the indoor pool the water was all the way down to 83. I have gotten so spoiled that 83 now feels cold. Wow. I used to still be swimming outdoors this time of year. I swam

1,100
20 X 100 @ 2:00 as
   8 swim
   4 with small paddles
   4 with medium paddles
   4 with large paddles
400 easy
4 X 25 with forearm paddles
total: 3,600 yards = 3,290 meters.

Now it is Thursday and T-man and I are supposed to hit Plate City for a big one. Maybe I can sneak in an easy mile or so of shuffling. We are running the Vardeman 5K Saturday. It is a little dull to be aiming just to finish, but it is still glorious to be able to run at all. Thank you, Jesus and give more Beetsdowns.