cmc's blog

I've only had my wedding band off my left ring finger for more than 5 continuous minutes once in the last six and a half years (I took it off one night to give the baby a bath, and forgot to put it back on until bedtime). Thanks to my new boyish physique, though, I had to take it to the jeweler and get it resized (one and a half sizes smaller)... so I'm without it for 4 or 5 days. Every time I look down, it feels like I'm missing something, or I think "oh poop: I lost it!" or something equally silly. My ring finger feels out of balance when I type. My hand feels an ounce or two lighter (which it is, I guess). It's just a really weird feeling.

Oh well, at least I won't have to worry about it coming off when I swim anymore. Now I just hope I don't gain all that weight back... if I stay in the water, I won't have to worry about that for a while, either.

update 2006-2-25: Got my ring back this afternoon. That thing's pretty darn hard to get on and off my finger now... but that's probably a good thing.

OK, the second round of Advil is wearing off, and my lower back is starting to remind me that it really was 13 years since the last time I did 10,000 yards in one day... but I did it: I made 100x100 on 1:40, and I'm damn proud of it. I just have a feeling I'm gonna be sore as hell for the next coupla days... so ow my (insert body part of choice here), but it was worth it.

A bunch of us made it (and a bunch more did 100x75 (like Carrie) or 100x50)... so it was a good turnout, and a good time. I didn't exactly get to stay around for the social afterwards (hadda relieve the babysitter so she could go to a meet herself), but that was not a problem... as I was pretty far gone to be social at that point. Come to think of it, I still am... oh well, I'll be presentable in the morning (I hope).

I finally got around to swimming in a meet again that required me to do more than just show up and swim one or two things for the heck of it. While I know I'm still horribly out of shape, my swims today showed me a few important things:

1. I'm not as much of an old fart as I thought.
2. Thirty-five pounds makes a hell of a lot of difference when swimming.
3. I can still finish a 100 fly and a 200 IM in the same day, and pop off a few decent sprints too.

So all in all, it was a pretty good meet day. It looked kinda like this:

-short warmup (like 3-400 in between watching Carrie's 400IM and holding the baby)

-100 fly: 1:00.76 (28.4): I had way too much left at the end... knowing that I had 5 more swims, I think I was a bit too tentative

-about 30 min. rest

-200 MR leadoff: 28.98: The turn and 2nd lap breakout were awful, but I was the fastest leadoff in my heat

-about 20-30 more min. rest

-50 back: 28.15: I obviously learned something from the medley relay... this was really clean, and while I felt like I was spinning a bit, it felt pretty good.

-10 min. rest

-mixed 200 FR (anchor): 23.84: I was trying to chase someone down, but this did NOT feel like 23.8. I hadn't split that fast for a 50 in about 7 years, so I was pretty fired up about it, especially since I haven't been working that much on anything freestyle-related besides mechanics.

-10 more minutes rest (if that)

-100 breast: 1:11.37: This felt pretty bad. The goal was to go 200 stroke at close to 200 speed, and that's about all it was. Stroke counts: 5, 7, 7, 8... it was long, and never got real fast. My arms and legs were both starting to go on the last lap, and it showed. At least it was a faster 100 than 2 months ago. My legs were still sore from my breaststroke set on Wednesday.

-about 90 minutes rest

-200 IM: 2:19.34 (30.4, 36.6, 40.3, 31.8): Knowing that I ahd done NO freestyle or long IM work yet, I was pretty concerned about this race, so I took the first half really conservatively. It paid off, though, as that was the fastest 200 IM I'd done since 1993... the freestyle didn't really hurt at the end, but it was pretty all over the place.

I hadn't done 6 races in one day since December 1998, so I was surprised that I'm feeling as decent as I am now. I hurt quite a bit, but I'm in one piece, and I'll be able to swim easy tommorrow. It's amazing what the weight loss does for recovery... too bad I'm not that aerobically fit yet. If I keep working on that, then I have a feeling I'll be set at the State meet.

I'd call that a victory for now. Too bad we didn't win the meet because so many people bailed after the halfway point... but I won't rant about that here.

Just when I thought I couldn't have a lower opinion of the human potential for incompetence, insecurity, and just plain idiocy, people do a wonderful job of showing me new lows.

*grumble*

I am not amused.

When it rains, it pours, the saying goes...

Sometimes, I tend to agree. Just about everywhere I turn, I see a lot of people having a tough time, and it makes me really thinkful (and thankful, for that matter) for what I have, which happens to include (at this point) a lot of love and support to give those who need it.

If you're one of those people having a tough week (and you know who you are), my heart goes out to you, as do my prayers. If you're one of those people trying to help those having a tough week, my heart and prayers go out to you, too. Either way, let me know if I can help.