Writer’s Block Not Writer’s Block
It’s been a while since my last post. The main reason for that is the furious amount of work I’ve been doing in the aftermath of getting the website up and running (both on the website, and to catch up from working full out on the website). I’ve also started training again, and it’s amazing how much time 2.5 hours of swimming and 20 minutes of dryland takes out of your day.
So I wasn’t failing to post due to writer’s block. But now that I sit here and get ready to write, I realized how much easier it is to be authentic and true to yourself when you’re writing to your computer than when you’re writing to the world (or the 6 people currently following you, as the case may be). It’s a very interesting feeling. For better or worse, I’ve not always given much consideration to what people would think about me. Doing so now is certainly broadening my human experience.
Irregardless, I’m going to have a go, and maybe I’ll get used to it.
I also had a moment of panic as I typed the date above – how did it get to be the 20th of February!?!!! I’ve got plans for March (hello free swim and triathlon clinic; hello online payments), and less and less time to put them into motion.
I did kind of sleep through Tuesday. I’m a bit worn out from getting back into training, and then I had planned a late night on Monday night when I thought I could sleep in, but then wound up having to coach at 6 AM. But let’s take this back to where I left off and see if I can catch up.
The Last 10 Days
I last posted on Monday the 10th. I was also able to get some yoga in that day, and then did 5000 yards in the pool. It was the first time trying the new schedule with the kids: I got in the pool around 3:30 (will eventually go at 3:00, but this was my second practice back). At 4:45 I climbed out, threw my parka and boots on and drove across the street to pick them up from piano, driving through DQ on the way. We drove back over, and I was early enough to climb back in the pool for the last set and cool-down. The kids ate their food and then got in for their practice. I showered, and then at the end of their practice drove BACK through DQ to redeem their free kids cones. J ate his and then was off to scouts. Yes, I know how ridiculous this is.
Tuesday the 11th I woke up at 3 am and couldn’t get back to sleep. That sucked. I coached at 6. After I got back I did 20 minutes of pilates that made me feel amazingly better. I’m aiming for 20 minutes of dryland every day, currently alternating yoga and pilates, and it is really worth it. It also focuses me to sit and do mental work. My brain is always better if I breathe deeply for a while. This was the day that I got the website optimized for mobile, backed up and ready to distribute – yay!
Wednesday the 12th I did a 5500 yard practice, wearing fins when necessary to protect my slightly dodgy shoulder. I felt better getting out than I did when I got in, so mission accomplished. It also made me realize that Monday had been my second practice back – the second practice back is always the worst. I learned from Tim Denyer that the camp would be around 17 swimmers with 3 coaches. Sooo looking forward to it. I also came to grips with my long-running goggle strap problem. When I switched to the strap pictured here this summer, I started getting contact dermatitis on the insides of my upper arms. I finally realized it was from them rubbing against the goggle strap in streamline. I tried a bunch of stuff, but nothing made it fully go away (except not swimming at all in January). So now that I’m back I spent some time on the interwebs searching for hypoallergenic goggles, and I’m trying a silicone cap AND silicone goggle strap. I ordered new goggles on Amazon, but found a loaner pair in my bag that looked like it had silicone straps. Unfortunately the nosepiece is a bit small and not adjustable, so my eye sockets were a little sensitive after practice.
Thursday the 13th, I started reading “Dover Solo” by Marcia Cleveland. Her acknowledgements at the front of the book inspired me to create “Thank You Fridays” – each Friday I’ll thank someone who has helped me along the way. I don’t think I will ever run out. I swam a 4800-yard practice. John coached both groups and we did a set of 8×50’s off of the blocks with 2-3 minutes rest in between. I went a :40 breast, :38 back, :32 free and :36 fly. With the exception of the backstroke, during which my feet were cramping, those times are out of shape, but not dismal. I wore the too-small nosepiece goggles again. After that my eye sockets were REALLY sore. But my arms were itch-free. I forgot to do yoga.
Friday the 14th it was pilates in the morning and running with A in the afternoon. I felt surprisingly OK, and nothing was painful.
Saturday the 15th I felt like I’d been hit by a brick. After a morning of kids stuff, I hoped on my bike trainer for about 45 minutes and then did my favorite stretchy yoga – I felt better after that but soooo tired.
Sunday the 16th – pilates. Still tired
Monday the 17th – needed a nap after a (surprisingly fun) field trip to a landfill with the kids (15,000 seagulls!!!), but felt MUCH better during my swim. Like I actually remembered how to swim. Did not eat for about 7 hours – THAT was a mistake I should not make again.
Tuesday the 18th – The aforementioned day of sleeping. I coached and slept and coached and slept and coached. I felt much better by the evening.
Wednesday the 19th – 6500+ yards and it felt pretty good. But I almost didn’t go because I was so tired. Why am I so tired? There’s a bunch of sick going around – maybe I’m fighting something off. Or maybe swimming 5000+ yards 3 days a week + 2 runs + a bike + yoga/pilates every day is hard to do at 42. … nah.
And that catches me up to today, when I may not get my workout it because SNOW’S A’COMIN’ and this is the south, where 3 flakes shut the world down. So I’m doubly glad that I did go to practice yesterday. At least I can always hop on the bike trainer. I feel more and more that cross training can be almost as good as the real thing… as long as I’m doing enough of the real thing. How much is enough? That’s the question.
Thinking about my exhaustion, I had also been working flat out on the website, blog and swim camp comparison. Some extra sleep was probably in order. Editing the blog as I put it online (and therefore reading back through all of it) was actually a really useful refresher. For instance, I’ll need to get the CS&PF (Channel Swim & Piloting Federation) qualifying swim forms ready for my swim camp in Croatia in May. Oo, and I’ll need to figure out currency exchange. I did get the medical coverage I’ve neglected to get while websiteing. But I should get on top of all the stuff Coach Bescher said. So much do to now.
Useful refresher though it was, I do NOT recommend keeping a secret blog and then putting it all up on the web in a week. WAYYY too much work on the back end.
Finally, a recap of my week’s efforts would not be complete without mentioning the door. Oh, the door.
My beautiful plan to use January to make sure that I have nothing big on my to-do list other than work and training has hit a bump. (I mean in addition to the fact that it took me until the 9th of February to finish setting up the website and blog and that I don’t have a marketing campaign ready yet.) You might have seen where I posted in January that we had finally decided on a patio door and set it in motion and, phew, what a weight that was off my mind? Yeah, we got a call from our door guy and he can’t do the thing he said he could do. So that’s back on the list. I just want to be able to get onto my deck.
Wow, reading through that stream-of-consciousness confirmed my commitment to post more often. If you made it this far, you deserve a prize. Comment below and we can work something out 🙂
