Day Nine - "Off Season"

Irrigation of the land with seawater desalinated by fushion power is ancient.

It's called "rain".

Michael McClary

We as animals with cognitive thinking tend to over simplify the simplest of issues. We believe that there has to be something more than what is really is. We blame others for our own mistakes and we even believe a sports injury is more than just our bodies telling us to slow down. If we do not analyze the situation to death and take it for was it really is it all works out in the end no matter how bad.

There are contentions developing at work with the deployment of some highly sophisticated, expensive equipment that is being deployed to 55 of my employees across the United States. With all technology, it has its quirks. Instead of getting to the root of the problem and resolving the issues, the teams I manage are trying to figure out who is to blame for these “bumps in the road”. I continually stress to the teams that we need to focus our energy on resolutions and completions. Then after the completion, we will circle back and fix the process for the future. It goes the same for us athletes. We tend to believe a setback is due to something bigger than just our bodies telling us that it needs a break. Regroup, recovery and when the body has mended figure out what might have caused the issue and don’t do it again.

This quote says it all from Confucius:

Study the past if you would define the future

As I write my wife, Sarah and her friends, Wren, Courtney and Susan are making their pilgrimage down to the Columns to run their 13-mile long run today. Sarah and Wren at hitting their pace time, Courtney is running trails and I believe Susan is along for the company. From past experiences, the best way to prep for a long run is with a good balanced dinner. Last night I made Sarah a “runner’s pre-run meal”. Asparagus and Shiitake Mushroom Rigatoni, herb bread, salad and a little vino. For dessert we had a Chocolate Mousse pie with a chocolate cookie crust that Ellie and I had made. After this meal Sarah will be ready to hit her mark on the 13 miler.

The alarm annouced 4:50AM. I was actually awake at 4AM, but laid in bed observing the silence of the morning with the bedroom windows open. Another plus for Fall is keeping the windows open, letting in the cool Fall fresh air and turning off the recycled air from the air conditioning that has been circulating since late April.

Thursday is Master’s Swim. I start to process my morning rituals half awake from a good meal, good wine, good company (no extra-curricular activities for the girls last night) a half way decent sleep last night.

There were a few more swimmers at Master’s this morning than on Tuesday. Melissa was a "no show" so I stepped in and took her position with Jeff and Brian in lane one. I think I will have to bump Melissa out of the lane so I can swim with the guys. We had Michele (LSU Swimmer) and Carmen (Olympic Spanish Team Swimmer) in lane 2. I enjoy watching the two of them battle out the laps as us Age Groupers continually get lapped by them. With swimmers, there is a highly competitive streak in them just like another sport and some of that intensity floats over into our lane which makes for a good workout on these "cross training" days.

Coach Mike’s workout:
4650M
Warm Up
300M Free
150M Kicks
Main Set
2 X (4X 300M) RI: 5:40
First 50 is a full sprint. Rest 15 seconds
Remaining 250M is Olympic pace, which is about 85% effort
After first set of 300’s is a 50M Paddle and Buoy Cool Down
300M Kick with fins
Left side out
Right side back
Then the fun began
2 X (12 X 25M)
Odd 25’s Pushups on the wall
Even 25’s Up and out then dive back in
3 X 100M Kicks on the 2:30

100 EZ swim for a Warm Down

Again, I felt famished at the end. Hung out in the hot tub for a few mintues and talked with Coach Mike about the Boston Marathon and the Massachusetts area. Chris and Stacy are heading off to Chicago this weekend. Stacy is running the marathon and we wish her the best of luck. Michele, Brian and Chris are planning a 8 mile run in the morning. I am supposed to run 6 at a pretty fast pace, but I may email them and see if I can hang with them for 8 instead.

Headed to work and a line up meetings to resolve dilemmas. Will try to squeeze out for a leg work out after one of the meetings.

The main focus for me today will be composer durning stressful situations (which is not that difficult) and simplifying the processes for what they are and nothing more than what they seem.