Don’t make me snooze your a**
Big News
Spring is upon us! I know, it came as news to me too.
It’s time to get excited about training for swim and triathlon, and I’m offering a FREE CLINIC to get people started.
If you’re in the Triangle, I’ve also got you covered for Masters Swimming (Adult Coached Workouts, NOT “swimmers who are masters at it”), Private Coaching (Swim, Open Water, Triathlon) for adults and kids and Summer League Prep. If it involves swimming, biking, or running, I’m your girl. MORE INFORMATION
Life Stuff
School was cancelled on Friday, so the kids’ total attendance last week was Wednesday and a half-day Thursday. My productivity felt the blow. On the other hand, my inbox was down to a single message at one point Friday, so at least in that respect I powered through. ONE MESSAGE! Of course, that’s with liberal use of the “snooze” function. But it is a lifesaver to dispel the annoyance of people not getting back to me. Waiting on someone else? Snooze it, baby.
Saturday I took A to his b-ball game, made applesauce, and waded through more emails. Had a lovely Valentine’s Day dinner that evening with my boo – doing it a week later is the best. No reservations needed; plenty of parking. Plus we used up a gift certificate that we’ve had for ages to a place that has declared bankruptcy. You can’t just sit on that shit.
J and I also took Prosopagnosia assessments on Saturday. I’m really, really miserable at recognizing faces, but perhaps not clinically bad. But we are going to do two weeks of training to see if we can get better at it. I will try anything that might help me not have to fake my way through so many conversations! If I ever don’t recognize you, PLEASE don’t take it personally – and let me know who you are! I know it’s weird, and the most common response I get is disbelief, but I PROMISE, I am NOT doing this on purpose. (Why would I do that?) Anywho, it’ll be interesting to see if the training helps.
On Sunday, I solved a piece of the generation gap. (Or maybe just figured out where to lay the blame.) Around middle school or high school, kids stop finding their parents cool. My contention is that the kids themselves have led to this condition. Parents spend a decade dumbing themselves down for kids in conversation. When the kids are suddenly ready to talk on an adult level, it’s not so easy to smart ourselves up again. Or maybe it’s just me.
(The dumbing down is not just when they are babies. I dare you to have an intelligent conversation about Thomas the Tank Engine. Or Pokemon. And having to explain the context of every conversation you have, while immensely useful to your progeny’s development, is in my experience something that starts to stick with you over time. Having realized this consciously, I feel like I’m in recovery now.)
And on all of the days, but especially Monday and Tuesday, I spent gobs of time promoting myself. Not enjoyable, but spring’s-a-comin’ and now’s the time. See the top of this post.
(See, shameless self-promotion at every turn. But as a friend said, my coaching may be the hotness, but that’s no help unless people know about the hotness.)
English Channel Training Stuff
Friday – yoga. No run with A due to school cancellation. And skip this part if you’re not interested in the administrative details of Channel swimming, but I checked with Tim Denyer about my Assessment Swim Form for the 6-hour qualifying swim I plan to do at his camp in May. He’s not for sure about whether I need to be registered with the CS&PF first, so I filled out the form on their website and asked. I think not, but their response will put my mind at ease. I went ahead and printed out the forms and will put them with my passport (note to self when I can’t figure out where the heck I put them!)
Saturday – 45 minutes on the bike trainer followed by 20 minutes of pilates – oh, my abs! They are in there somewhere and I am determined to find and use them (I say as I straighten up my posture at the computer).
Sunday – Got an email back from Kevin Murphy, CS&PF Secretary – no need to submit an application with them before my qualifying swim, just needs to be 16 or below and observed by someone 18& over: “The six hour assessment swim should be done in open water with a temperature of 16c or less, observed by a witness who is over 18, and within 18 months of your Channel swim attempt.”
On Sunday I wrote: “Not sure I’ll have time for yoga. I met with people about summer league coaching structure, and now I’m trying to work my way through emails before I have to go coach. A nap would be nice!” No yoga; no nap. Alas.
Monday – Swim practice – Got in late, got out early. Too much life-ing to do! But I feel pretty good about the swimming I did. I would feel very comfortable about my speed and endurance if I could hold a 1:10 hundred yard pace consistently on an interval of 1:20. I wasn’t doing that, but I was holding 1:13’s and 1:14’s. That’s not out of the ballpark. Although I was quite sore the day after. Oh age, you bitch.
Tuesday – FINALLY found some time for yoga. Well, I didn’t find it, I made it, and at the expense of other things. But that’s life, no?
