I stayed up until almost 0100 piecing together the 1000 pieces jigsaw puzzle I started last week.

So when running time came around, I succumbed to the bed magnet.

DGS David arrived on time at 0800.

He's been building Lego (Duplo) pirate ships and other vehicles.

He told Pops he was going to build an octopus.

Pops told him an octopus has 8 arms.

I told him spiders have 8 legs.

Pops asked him, "David. What if you had 8 arms?"

To which David replied without a pause, "If I had 8 arms, I'd be terrifying"

Good morning Rosie, Jay,and all who follow.   Thanks for the start.

DW received an early morning text from DD that our little Magdalena has pink eye. It's not surprising since she started day care a week ago Monday - actually wondering why it took so long.  We're still at that point of grandparenthood where we don't say "Why are you waking me up at this ungodly hour for that?"   Thinking it, maybe.  I was surprised to see my phone said it was 12:59 AM when we got it.   I thought it was around 5 and was considering getting up.   Actually slept another 4 hours and change before my alarm went off.

did another double this morning, with a "push" workout in the gym at the Y before a Moderate swim workout.     I've been following a regimen where I use a weight light enough to get 15 reps, then increase the weight next time.   I'm finally at the point where I'm not only not getting 15 reps each time with each exercise, but now I'm losing a rep or even two on one or two exercises on the "push" day, and I'm about to start failing prior to 15 reps on some of the "pull" day exercises, I think.  I've been doing a strength workout before swimming every time, since I started lifting again the week before Christmas.   I think it's time to start doing just 4 strength workouts per week instead of 5-6.

Because my shoulders were pretty tired when I got in the pool, I switched around the sequence that I usually follow for a warmup.   Standard for me is

1 or 2 200 yard freestyle

2 or 4 100 yard flutter kick with swim fins

2 or 4 100 yard backstroke

2 or 4 100 yard backstroke kick with swim fins.

Today I did...

2 x 100 yard backstroke kick with swim fins

2 x 100 yard backstroke

2 x 100 yard flutter kick with fins

2 x 100 yard freestyle.

I stuck pretty much to the plan as far as sequence goes, but I had to cut the yardage for the 50 yard underwater dolphin kicks from 600 yards to 300 yards, and 50 yard freestyle with flip turns from 200 yards to 100 yards, just in order to be out of the pool by about 8:00 AM.

I've been doing butterfly every workout lately and I enjoy doing it, as long as I get a rest every 25 yards.  I'm not quite ready to start doing 50 yard repeats yet.   I would really like someone to video me doing the fly so I can see how much my head comes out of the water when I breathe.   It's the main reason I try to limit my breathing to two breaths per 25 - when I come up out of the water to breathe, it might be too high, so I try to mitigate that - it leads to too much irregularity in the body undulation.

Long post, I know.   Yesterday I got an e-mail that the National Senior Games in 2025 will be held in DesMoines, Iowa.   For some reason that feels like a destination I wouldn't mind going to in retirement, to compete, if I qualify.  I also went to the Empire State Senior Games website and found that the 2024 games are on June 8 to the 15th, so I can mark the 8th on my calendar for competing in several events.  This will be the first time that I have to think of the ESSG's as a qualifier for the following year's Nationals; meaning, I have to think about what I'd want to compete in, in the nationals, and then train for and compete well in for the ESSG's.   I've been right at the qualifying times in several events (just slower or just faster) for the 55-59 AG and now I'll be competing in the 60-64 AG and will need to see how I stand up against them.  Never would have believed, 5 years ago, that I would be competitive enough to enjoy that kind of competition - I entered the 2019 ESSG's on a lark.

Hope everyone has a great day.

Mornin', Glories -

Kids say the darndest things.

Go to work, Jay.  Something that shouldn't be said to someone who is retired.

Pretty cool about the senior games, BTY.

That's blatantly unfair that more steps didn't show up, deez.  Is there somewhere we can protest on your behalf?

Got together with a group of lady friends last night for dinner.  We get together at someone's house instead of a restaurant so we can yack until our jaws fall off.  Hadn't seen 3 of them in well over a year.  Stayed up too late and ate too much, so I didn't get up for my workout this morning.  Oh well, I'll get it done after work.  I'm still feeling groggy from not getting to bed until after 10:00.  BUT, I left with a box full of jigsaw puzzles, so that was a plus!

My desk full of work is calling, so I'm outta here.  Enjoy ~~

 

 

Kids say the darndest things.

 

Art Linkletter (showing my age)

canceled 8:30 walk because of temps and icy streets.  11 am walk to bank to be followed by walk (very slowly) to food pantry

KSA - friend just came back from Nashville & said couldn’t find a salad anywhere

these are not fun walks - grrrr!
stay warm & dry

marj

BTY-  my reaction to the email about Des Moines was the exact opposite.  I laughed and thought that was exactly where I did NOT want to go in the summer to run a 5K and 10K!

 

Right?   What a difference a swimming pool makes.  I mean, for me it is a novelty.  It reminds me of about 35 years ago when I was coaching track and field.   There was kid I'd coached on JV Football the previous fall, and he was very large for our area - already about 5'10" and 255 pounds in 10th grade.  He was the 2nd or 3rd string catcher on the baseball team and I recruited him to throw shot and disc.  He was very unimpressive that first year, but he caught the bug and kept practicing though the end of the track season.  He wound up signing up for the Junior Olympics that summer, and I think they were in Salt Lake City.   Much to his and everyone else's surprise, he won the discus for his AG, and went on to be one of the best discus throwers ever in NYS at the HS level.  I know I'm not that, but who knows what might happen?   I know how much faster the national level elites are, because I've swum against some in local races.   I got lapped by one who was in the 50-55 AG in the 200 yard freestyle.   I just don't want to get lapped by 5 or 6 people in that same event.  

If you got dropped into a pool somewhere, you wouldn't know where you were, right?     Many years ago I had a pretty awful business trip to Des Moines.  I almost got snowed in- I think I had to rent a car and drive to some other airport.  It was winter (obviously) and I ran outside from the hotel and to my surprise, it was hilly.  Coming from Dallas, I was NOT pleased!

I don't know how I made this happen, but I did 5 miles on the treadmill.  I need to find some better content to watch.  I could recite the news to you right now- very repetitive.

Kona report for those trippin' down memory lane:

Not too many cyclists down on the highway, at least not as many as you'd expect. But I see much more cyclists around than runners. There were a few fancy tri bikes, so I guess some locals train for the ironman. The highway going North up the Kohala coast has huge shoulders, perfect for rides if you have to share the pavement with cars.

I did some logging yesterday, felling a couple papaya trees in the yard that had it coming, and removing the tree the went down in the wind storm a couple days ago. Saw some turtles being outnumbered by people with big-lens cameras just feet away from them at Hohokohau beach. Nature.