Restful (sort of) Sunday

After a crazy couple of days, Sunday isn't going to be too bad. Friday night was two invitationals (I'll explain) and yesterday was another invitational. Lots of good stuff to share from those. The Pirates haven't won since that 8-7 record on Monday, and training's going well. Also, Beth's first race is this weekend in St. Petersburg, FL.

But, before I get to all that, I want to say that I really look forward to Sunday mornings. Beth and I have now gotten into a routine with her training that most Sunday mornings we have an hour-plus run (1:20 today) to start the day. While it stinks that we have to get up around 6am to get it in before church, it's a great start to the day (especially now that it's warm out). Then after that, we have about 90 minutes to get ready and leave for church. While Beth uses that time to stretch and eat breakfast, it gives me a chance to plop down on my computer and get ready in a really slow manner. Eat cereal, catch on the news/sports of the week, and not rush.

What makes this different than other mornings is that, with my 45+ minute commute and fitting in training in the morning, I usually rush in the morning. It's usually walk dog, workout swim or run (with dog instead of walk), come back, pack lunch, shower, read online devotional (sometimes saved for when I get to school), then drive to school and eat my bagel or cereal bar with OJ on the way down.

The other great thing about Sundays is just the chance to be at church with a large group and sing some great praise songs and do some reading and learning. Beth and I are big fans of praise & worship music. We also found out that Beth's fellow triathlon blogger Bree is big on it also. We exchanged some CD's through the mail found we have similar music tastes. I love listening to this Mega church in Oklahoma that records podcasts of their praise & worship. They have multiple sites and my favorites come from the Oklahoma City and South OKC sites. Some of my favorites are the ones from Dec 7 07 and Feb 17 08 from SOKC and March 22 08 from OKC.

Then, when we get home from church we usually eat lunch and read the newspaper and then take an hour (or more) long nap. That just sets the stage for the week! You feel well-rested then.

PREPARATION FOR ST. ANTHONY'S

On top of that, we're getting ready to leave on Friday for St. Anthony's. I started putting together my map packet last night. I'm a map nerd, so I make all of my own maps from yahoo and google, so they are of exactly what I want and they're only 8.5"x11" so they fit well in my pocket when I'm out on the course cheering on Beth. I'm sure I'll have more to share on that and hope to meet some of Beth's blogging friends there.

TRACK MEETS

On Friday there was a JV meet that our girls went to and a varsity Boys meet about 15 miles apart. I ended up going to parts of both of them, but spent most of the time at the JV meet. It's fun watching 9th and 10th graders beginning to develop confidence in themselves and see glimpses of the future team leaders they may become. There were lots of decent performances, but to pick one a 10 grade boy who ran (long story why he and another ran at this meet....) ran a 4:38 mile by himself with even splits (69-70-70-69). He also did this all by himself for the final 1400 meters, so very impressive.

Saturday, at the girls meet, the jumpers had a pretty good day. The freshman long jumper medaled with a 15'8" and the two triple jumpers were around 32 feet.

TRAINING

Friday, I went to the pool with Beth. She had a (relative for her) short swim of 1500yds, so I needed to be quick if I wanted to get a workout in since I'm about half her speed. So, I decided to just do a continuous 1000yd after 100 yd warmup and see if I could hold 2:00/100 yd pace. It didn't turn out as well as I would have liked. I think my shoulder was a little tired from doing my first softball fastpitch pitching practice the day before. But, I ended up 21:02 (2:06) pace and finished with a 2:04 on my last 100.

Saturday, I didn't get anything training-wise with the meet, but got a good two hours of yard work in when I got home from the meet. That's got to count for something--especially since my lawnmower isn't one of those self-propelled mowers....

This morning, 80 minutes on the trail at 7:50 or so pace.

PIRATES

They've lost 4 in a row. Maybe they can pull out the last one in Chicago and then they play Florida (only $25 million payroll) at home. But, at 7-10 it's starting to head downhill. Nate McLouth is still hitting great, though. Hopefully he can keep it up.