A Ray or Two

My epic lazy continues, but a ray or two of hope made its way through the darkness of inertia. I stayed in bed Friday until a little after 11:00 o'clock. But when I finally did get up, I went to the pool. There I swam

  1,650 33:29

  200 for time (3:22)

  200 back

  350 medium paddles

  2 X 25 no breath

  total: 2,450 yards

That's not great, but that is a real practice. Of course I went back home and took a nap. Then I went to the cleaners and dropped off a bunch of clothes. Eventually I made my way to Plate City. I needed a run, even a short one. I had not run a step all week. After two glorious days of normal temperatures, the heat had returned, so I opted for the treadmill. There I could be shaded and have a big fan on me. Plus, I had a TV. I shuffled for 1.77 miles. There is an old saying that "A watched pot never boils." I'd like to add, "A watched monitor never changes." For me, running on a treadmill is hard miles. 

Mary Hodge was in the back watering stuff when I finished shuffling. I was doing some corator tuff stuff, and she suggested picking up something from a fast food joint after she finished out yard and watered her brother's yard. Boy howdy! I was about to go inside and get a shower. Her suggestion meant I had time to do some lifting, something else that had been rare this week. 

While I was out there, a high school game came on TV. It turned out to be a good one. I did my push workout. Pee Wee was out there with me. We had fun. I got in some thorough lifting while Pee Wee peed on stuff, got petted, and barked at squirrels. It was a good day with a ray. Or two of unlazy. See what I did there? 

Geezer Night

Thursday is Friday for us who teach at MDCC, and I woke up Thursday morning with enthusiasm for my first real Friday of the fall semester. The joy did not last long, however. I am carrying a kidney stone right now, and it was giving me some trouble. When I went into the class room for my 8:00 o'clock class, one of my students said, "You look like you need a nap." 

Lovely. 

I pulled the trash can over by podium and said, "If I start throwing up, I'm not sick. It's pain."

I didn't let a little pain stop me from drinking coffee. Plus the pain faded, and I was able to enjoy my last day of work for the week. I checked the weather numerous times throughout the day, and it was always nice. At 1:20, I left saying in my head, "The weekend begins now."

At home, I was not feeling too sporty, so I put on night, night clothes and climbed into bed. CC curled up on top of me, so I felt like a hostage. I thought about going to the pool, but that student was right. I needed a nap. Not only that, but the Barrentines-- not Paul and Beverly, but Junior and Francis-- wanted to meet us at Hilltop. Hot dog! So I just rested until time to dress and leave. That's right. I didn't swim. I didn't run. I didn't even lift. I just rested.

This is another sign of getting old, not just resting a lot, but eating out on Thursday night. Unofficially, this is Geezer night at resturaunts. The crowd is thin, the crowd is old, and the crowd doesn't like the builiding too cold. See what I did there?

Francis looked really good. She told Penny that she had gained 25 pounds. Junior was sweet as ever. I told him about his cousin, Paul B, and what a fierce fellow he was back in the day. He told me about some other Barrentines who were fierce. I guess it runs in the family. From what I can tell, however, Junior was never that way.

I ordered the sea food platter. So did Junior. Penny and Frances both got the pork chop. It was good, yeah. When we drove down the hill, the sun was setting, our food was settling, and we had the inner glow of some good fellowship with some good friends. Life is good. Thank you, Jesus.

Movie Night in Heaven

When I got off work, I went home, took a short nap, and hung out with CC. Since I started back to work, she has been clingy, needy. I like that. Then I went to the pool and swam

  1,500 31:36

  100 back

  2 X 25 no breath

  300 medium paddles

  2 X 25 no breath

  total: 2,000 yards = 1,828 meters

Back home, I did some more resting then went to Plate City. Paul B showed up for his third workout of the day. Huh? I thought I was the only one who did that sort of thing. He got up early and ran and walked four miles. After work, he went to Twin Rivers for upper body weight lifting. At 5:30 he showed up at Plate City for lower body weight work. Good job, Paul. I was only doing my second workout of the day.

I did a truncated session because my petallar tendon-- although much better-- still had me fearing to push it too hard. We did a set of reverse hypers. That was the first time I had been on that machine in months. Or has it been a year? Why the delay? I forget about it. How can you forget about a big machine that is impossible to overlook. I'm just good like that. 

Then we did the hip adductor/abductor machine. Paul did squats; I did not squat. I was tempted to do some, but thought better of it. I also did a set of leg curls, but I left off the extensions. So I had a leg workout, just not the one I wanted. But I did what I could instead of taking the day off.

After that, Mary brought me supper and CC watched me eat it. Then we watched some YouTube videos shot in 1929. They were great and gave us (CC and me) a glimpse of the world as it no longer exists. It was interesting to say the least. These films were shot in the South Pacific and Africa. Those parts of the world were really wild in 1929. I wish I could go. Thank you, Jesus, for the hope of some really good videos. Can you imagine movie night in heaven? Be there or be square.

Boy Howdy

Monday was my first day of classes, and it was a good one, long but good. I have four classes and one of them is three hours plus. Add some office hours to that, and I am not out until 4:30. I know, poor baby, right? Well, if I had an 8:00 to 5:00 Monday through Friday, I would be retired already. 

After work, I rested some and waited for the sun to get lower in the sky. That makes a difference even when the temps are still very high. Eventually, I went to the City and did my push workout. Since I have a sore patella tendon, I didn't attempt a run. Since it was late, I didn't attempt a swim. So I lifted which is better than a poke in the eye.

Tuesday was about the same. My tendon was still sore and I slept until I needed to get up to go to work. I had a regular day at school. By regular day, I mean I was off at 1:20. That's what I'm talking about. When I went home, I took a series of naps. Running was out of the question, and I should have gone to the pool. But I did not. I did, however, go to Plate City. Boy howdy did it feel good out there. The temperature was 85, the dew point was 62, and a light breeze blew across the gym giving it that October feeling. Yeah, I know. I've seen the forecast. It's not going to last, but we have one more day of it. Praise God.

8/7 - 8/12

My first week back at work was not overly successfull. Nevertheless, it wasn't a bust either. This week should/could be better because I will not be working everyday until 4:00. I will today, however, since my Film class meets on Monday. I have four classes on Monday and one of them meets for three hours. But I love that three-hour class.

Last Monday I shuffled 2.51 miles and lifted weights. Tuesday, I shuffled some more and did not lift. I don't remember why.

Wednesday I was in the gym and in the street with Paul B. We did lots of leg work then went to the street for farmer's carries.

It was not until Thursday that I made it to the pool. I swam 1,350 yards. I also made it to the street for some roadwork and went 4.52 miles for my longes run of the week.

Having to work Friday, I only did a little treadmill running (1.68 miles), and lifted at the City.

Paul B and I hit the street hard Saturday for some big carries and some long leg work. I even went to the pool and swam 1,800 yards and ran some too. The run was a slog, but I did it.

For the week, I

 

  swam 2,878 meters,

  lifted weights fout times,

  bike ergged 3:00 minutes, and

  ran 14.25 miles

At least the running was a little better. A little. My swimming fell off a cliff. The weights, I did the best I could. The bicycle, well there were those three minutes on the bike erg. 

Anyway, it was a week of life, a week with my wife, and a week with our animals. It was also another week at Centerville. Sheila showed up with her daughter Bridgett. It had been five or six year, or was it seven? since we saw Bridgett last. She moved to Houston, Texas and for us she was only a good memory we prayed for. Tony was back for the first time in a while. Although the crowd was still small, it was a nice day. Thank you, Jesus.

Street Work

It was a big day. It was a good day. It was Saturday. I slept in a little bit and hung out with CC. Mary Hodge made some good coffee. Paul B was scheduled to arrive at Plate City at 9:25. He was there on time, and I was still drinking coffee. We hit the street for some heavy work. We did farmer's carries and lots of them. It went something like this:

  1 X 140 + 0

  1 X 140 + 20

  1 X 140 + 40 (154)

  1 X 70 + 60

  1 X 50 + 80

  1 X 45  + 90

  1 X 25 + 100

The first number you see is the series is the number of repetitions. The number following the X is the distance we carried the handles. The + ____ is the added weight. The apparatus weighs 114 pounds empty. So the + 20 means we carried the handles 140 feet and they weighed 134 pounds. We finished with a short carry of 214 pounds.

After that, we left the street and went back to the City. There we did machine squats, six sets worth. After the squats, we did deadlifts. This time, we moved the barbell to the grass between Plate City and Plate City Extended. That was different and better. Before, we did them inside the squat rack. Although there is room there to perform the deadlift, I always felt constrained, crowded, and it impacted how I did the lift. Paul felt the same way. Thus, deadlifting on the grass was nice. We had room. After seven farmer's walks, six sets of squats, and three sets of deadlifts, we decided to finish we a single set of leg extensions and leg curls. That was enough.

After lunch and a nap, I went to the pool. This was only my second time in the water this week. I swam

  1,400

  3 X 50 fast @ WIFL

  1 X 50 back

  150 medium paddles

  2 X 25 no breath

  total: 1,800 yards

Guess what I did next? You got it. The nap was good, and when I woke up I started planning a run. It was some kind of hot out there. I waited until 6:30 so I could have some shade and then went out for a 1.84 mile shuffle. That wasn't much, but remember the leg work that morning and the heat that afternoon. 

So what do you think about that? Three workouts on a very hot day. Some cat time, some study time, some gym work with a friend. Life is good. Thank you, Jesus.

The Intervention

I'm five for five in getting up this week. I slept in again Friday morning, and it sure felt good. By "slept in," in mean I didn't get up early and go to the pool. I got up when I had to get ready to go to work. Working on Friday is cruel and unusual punishment, but I have to do it at least twice a year.

So I went to work and I was on time. I'm always on time. And actually, I had some things to do. I finished publishing all my courses in Canvas. I contacted our Cengage representative and she walked me through how to put my electronic textbooks into Canvas. I took a co-worker to lunch at Crystal. He lives in Indianola and knows almost nothing about Greenwood. We had a good meal then did some house touring of the movie The Help. We even rode out to the church on Money Road.

After lunch, I came out of the bathroom into a common area and one of the ladies sitting out there asked, "Are you OK?"

"What do you mean?" was my response.

"Your breathing was so heavy."

I get that a lot although I am totally unaware of it. Mary Hodge tells me she can hear me from inside the house as I approach home when I am running. I asked two other ladies who were there, "Did you hear it?"

They both said, "Yes."

Then the one I used to call BK but now call MK because she just smashed a marathon at altitude asked, "When was the last time you went to the doctor?"

That started what was essentially an intervention. They hammered me with questions and suggestions. I kept saying, "You;re right. You're right. But doing it . . . ."

"Why don't you go?"

"It costs a lot of money and nothing good seems to come from it," was my answer to that question. I didn't mention that you have to wait an hour and a half past your appointment time before the doctor sees you. Neither did I say that I just have a positive attitude about my health. I have always believed that I am going to be all right. But this was beginning to sink in. It had the force of the voice of God. God speaks in a lot of ways. I felt like I was being spoken to.

"You need to go see Nause," they kept firing at me. His name had been coming up a lot lately. He was even one of the Pool Fools. I know him, and I think he's a good guy.

Two of the ladies aren't normally there. They were sent to Greenwood to finish their punishment week because Horton Building in Moorhead flooded. So I was surprised at their concern. Then I brought up the fact that most doctors won't accept new patients. MK said, "I'll call right now and see if he will take you," and she did. He will take me.

"When is the last time you had your prostrate checked?"

"Let me think. Like never."

Then she said, "I love you and I don't want you to die. Besides, think how angry your wife will be if you die. And think about your children and grandchildren."

"Okay. I'll do it. Really, I'll do it."

One of them even said, "I have the papers that you have to fill out as a new patient for Nause. I'll give you a copy."

Are you kidding me!

So I have the papers, and I have the plan that I am going to see Nause and get checked out. The intervention worked. My wife has tried for years, but she has pretty much given up on trying to make me do things I don't want to do. This happened at the right time, from the right people, in the right way. 

Training? I got home after 4:00 and went to Plate City. It was hot yeah. I did some treadmill running, a little pushing and a little pulling. Then I took a shower and Mary and I headed out. We went to Mai Little China because I was still full from Crystal at lunch. They have a buffet. Usually a buffet means eat all you can. This time it meant, I don't have to eat too much. The food was good, but our waitress was not. Maybe you can guess that I was thirsty after working out in the 113 degree heat index. I never got a refill. She was sitting in the corner looking at her phone. She never got a tip.