Playing Catch-up

    With the everyday, magnificent chaos of my life, I find I am falling behind on my writing. Keeping my logs current, writing every day, or nearly every day can often fall between the cracks as I race through life pell-mell trying to fit as much into every day as I humanly can. I do find myself flagging a bit at times, when fatigue manages to catch up with me. I have actually allowed myself an hour here and there of down time, when I am doing exactly nothing except relaxing. Yes, only an hour now and then, but for me that is an improvement. I think it may be that my body wants to slow down a bit as winter approaches, but I can't allow that to happen.
    I continue to workout daily, even if the most I can do is squeeze in a 45 minute leg workout. Friday was great, I returned to the park where I ran the 8K trail run a few weeks back and hit the trails. I decided to do one loop for 4K. Well, it didn't quite turn out that way. I decided to run the home stretch first, as a bit of a warm up before plunging down the switchbacks to the river. Once I was warm and heading down hill and deeper into the woods all was going beautifully as I ran the paths, confident in my abilities, until I hit a section of trail that didn't look too familiar. I had looped back to the parking area. I turned and ran back the way I came. This became the standard for the day as I traversed the woods, up hills, down hills, over bridges, staircases. But I ran on. It was a good day for running, meaning it wasn't raining and the paths weren't flooded. I enjoyed my back and forth journey, running along happily and feeling good. I did finally find myself on the home stretch and sprinting for the finish, feeling great. I figure I ran an easy 3+ miles with my back and forth, up and down route. And it felt good. The best part? I wasn't the least bit sore in ensuing days, which makes me feel good about my current level. Yes, there is always room for improvement, and I am always working towards being the best I can be.
    Saturday was a day off as far as workouts were concerned, there was much daily life to be had. With the help of my dearest friend I managed to come into possession of a fabulous little '98 Mazda pickup. I have named him Wallace, and he will be great for hauling my bike Joshua to triathlons next year, as well as being a marvelously fuel efficient mode of transportation for me.
    Sunday I was back to my workouts, of course. I know I am having to take it easy on my knees, so can't run as long or as often as I would like to. Instead, I am trying to make my workouts really count, trying to eliminate "junk miles," those long, pavement pounding, drudgeries that beat holy hell out of my knees no matter how gently I run. I repeated my previous treadmill workout: alternating 30 second walks, with 1 minute runs, adding .5 mph about every other circuit, up to 7 mph. This makes for a nice, quick, vigorous, speedplay workout. And it lets me work on my pacing.After my quick run I put in another hour on legwork using body weight, 6' large slosh tube, or weights. It was a good, Sunday evening ass-kicking.
    Monday, back to the pool. I have had some trouble incorporating a Monday swim since the place tends to be jammed up with the high school swim team. But I figured out a workable ploy: Get to the pool a bit late, 5:20, get into gear, wait til I hear the sound of encroaching teenagers, shower quickly, then pass the gaggle as they hit the locker room, and I slip through the masses and into the water. Easy-Peasy. It did shorten my swim by nearly 30 minutes, so I was only able to do a total of 45 laps, with two 20 minute "cycling/running/leg" stints with the Aqua Jogger belt. Then I headed for home and 45 minutes of core/ab/shoulder work with slosh tubes and kettle bell. yes, I kicked my ass again.
    So, now I can relax a moment, having at least caught up with the basics in my workout Journal. Tonight legs and abs, tomorrow back in the pool.