Barely the basics

Yesterday I decided to try and swim a lap of freestyle. What a fucking disaster that was. Frustrating!

My shoulder rotation is still an issue and my strength is nearly zip. I forced myself to do a handful of painful laps since the best thing for this screwed up shoulder is to get it moving and stress it a bit.

Super bummed that my stroke is still not there. Grumble...grumble.

Miami 10-Miler

Today I was scheduled to run 10 miles as part of my Saturday Long Run. 10 miles...alone...in a city I don't know well. Now this was going to be interesting.

I mapped my route --- a straight-shot south from my hotel on 48th street and down to the inlet passed 1st street and back. Luckily I had a great path --- the Miami Boardwalk and the Promenade along Ocean Drive.

Here's a pix from the lovely boardwalk that runs from 46th Street to 21st Street.

Overall, it was a good run. The back-half felt especially good which was unexpected. The only trouble was my shoulder. It's still nagging me. Around mile 7.5 it really started to ache. No amount of stretching or wiggling seemed to help. I just had to gut it out for the next few miles.

I'm proud of myself. Running 10-miles is tough to do alone. Luckily I had this great view and some good tunes to motivate me along.

What I did on my summer vacation

(courtesy of the OC hotel rental website)

I have a distant recollection of being asked to recite my adventures each September as some sort of easy writing project.

This year there is no writing assignment, but there clearly will be a tale to tell since after 11 years of loyal service I have the privilege of being able to take advantage of my company’s sabbatical program --- aka 2 months of paid time-off bliss!

I started this glorious break on Monday, June 6th and will return to the world of work on Monday, August 9th. I am hopeful that I will be able to enjoy this time and am able to keep my work-world at bay.

So my grand plan is to move to the beach and become a beach-bum --- and focus on getting back into a regular/hardcore training program. After slacking off for 2-months and giving my screwed up hip time to heal I am ready to get back into the program. Also, I gotta start getting ready for MCM this Fall. That is NOT a race you just show up for after half-assing the training.

Anywho --- I’m officially a beach resident for the next two months and so far am loving in!