Category Archives: Swimming

A Happy Post for the New Year

Posted on 2 January 2014 | 1 comment

Well, I already had to change some of the goals I listed that I wanted to accomplish before my 40th birthday. Some of them I may have to accomplish during my 40th year, and some I just decided weren’t all that advantageous, so I changed them just a bit. Here’s the new list, and some immediate ways in which I’ll attempt to accomplish these goals.

Exercise related:

  1. Run a marathon. This is still a goal, even though I can’t run at all right now because of my sore foot. Slow and steady wins the race. This will be one that I have to complete during my 40th year. I am aiming for the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon in October.
  2. Finish the Racine 70.3 on July 21.  I’d like to finish it in under 8 hours.
  3. Swim a 500 in 7:30 minutes.
  4. Take a yoga class. I suppose I could do this through the Ball, but I am not sure if I will have the time. This may wait until we move. Practice yoga each morning. I plan to get up at 4AM starting on January 6, so I can meditate, pray, do a wee bit of yoga, run one mile, and do my burpees.
  5. Do a 30 burpees in 30 days challenge. I will start this on January 1. 6.
  6. Ride a century ride on the bicycle. This doesn’t have to be official. If I ride from here to Gaston to Richmond and back, that’ll work.
  7. Meditate for at least 15 minutes each day. I will start this on January 1. 6.

One of my goals in this section is to swim the Chicago race called Big Shoulders. I plan to do it, but it doesn’t happen until September, so it really won’t happen before my birthday.

Food related:

  1. Eat paleo at least 80% of the time. Preferably eat paleo as much as possible.
  2. Try foods that aren’t the usual things I eat.
  3. Visit every Indiana brewery with my brother. Visit every Indiana State Park with my brother before I move in June.
  4. Learn to cook one new thing each month.
  5. Do not drink alcohol until my birthday. This will start on January 1 6. I moved the start dates to correspond with school starting back up. I find it’s easier to accomplish my goals if they don’t start over break.

Reading, writing, or art related:

  1. Read the whole Bible. I’ve read the whole text, but I’ve never read it all the way through.
  2. Reread the Harry Potter series. Read a book each week. Preferably a new book, but oldies but goodies are acceptable as well.
  3. Finish the Sketchbook Project book I just received in the mail. Even if I don’t finish it in time to turn it in, in January, I still want to fill it.
  4. Finish my master’s degree in creative writing. Get my project published somewhere.
  5. Post a blog post three days one day a week. Write something every day.

Personal:

  1. Get a new tattoo.
  2. Lose 40 pounds. That’s 5 pound a month, or roughly one pound each week. Surely I can do that, right?
  3. Find a job doing something I love.

In the immediate future, on January 6, I plan to get up at 4AM, do the sun salutation poses, run one mile, do 30 burpees, then pray and meditate. I will follow that with breakfast. I will swim on Monday and Wednesday after class. I will do longer runs on Tuesday and Thursday after school and on Saturday mornings. I will walk on my lunch hour with Abbie. Finally, I will bike on Fridays and Sundays. My goal is to continue this until it becomes habit, then move forward with other goals. These are things I would like to accomplish for me. For peace of mind. For grace.

1 Comment

Posted in Biking, Cycling, Food, Goals, Paleo/Primal, Running, Swimming, Triathlon, Writing

20 Before 40: I Stole This Idea from A Friend

Posted on 14 December 2013 | 1 comment

As I was sitting here thinking about how to change my life and the things I want (or need) to accomplish before I turn 40, I came upon a former preservice teacher’s Facebook post. LeeAnn posted a list of 25 things she wanted to accomplish before she turned 25 and then made her way through the list. According to the post, she hasn’t done all 25 things, but I am not sure that she is yet 25. I love the idea of having goals and trying to accomplish them by a monumental birthday. And, it just so happens that I will turn 40 in seven months and seven days, which is 219 days. I don’t think I have time to do 40 things by 40, but I can do 20 things by 40. If I should happen to accomplish all 20 and have time left over, I’ll just make a new list. Let’s see how many of these things I can accomplish before my birthday:

Exercise related:

  1. Run a marathon. This is still a goal, even though I can’t run at all right now because of my sore foot. Slow and steady wins the race.
  2. Finish the Racine 70.3 on July 21.  I’d like to finish it in under 8 hours.
  3. Swim a 500 in 7:30 minutes.
  4. Take a yoga class. I suppose I could do this through the Ball, but I am not sure if I will have the time. This may wait until we move.
  5. Do a 30 burpees in 30 days challenge. I will start this on January 1.
  6. Ride a century ride on the bicycle. This doesn’t have to be official. If I ride from here to Gaston to Richmond and back, that’ll work.
  7. Meditate for at least 15 minutes each day. I will start this on January 1.

One of my goals in this section is to swim the Chicago race called Big Shoulders. I plan to do it, but it doesn’t happen until September, so it really won’t happen before my birthday.

Food related:

  1. Eat paleo at least 80% of the time. Preferably eat paleo as much as possible.
  2. Try foods that aren’t the usual things I eat.
  3. Visit every Indiana brewery with my brother.
  4. Learn to cook one new thing each month.
  5. Do not drink alcohol until my birthday. This will start on January 1.

Reading, writing, or art related:

  1. Read the whole Bible. I’ve read the whole text, but I’ve never read it all the way through.
  2. Reread the Harry Potter series.
  3. Finish the Sketchbook Project book I just received in the mail. Even if I don’t finish it in time to turn it in, in January, I still want to fill it.
  4. Finish my master’s degree in creative writing. Get my project published somewhere.
  5. Post a blog post three days a week. Write something every day.

Personal:

  1. Get a new tattoo.
  2. Lose 40 pounds. That’s 5 pound a month, or roughly one pound each week. Surely I can do that, right?
  3. Find a job doing something I love.

I am not sure how much meaning there is in this list, but there are some things on this list that I’ve been hoping to do for a while. Maybe by articulating them, I’ll have greater success.

1 Comment

Posted in Birthday Crisis, Fat, Goals, Grace, Paleo/Primal, Reading, Running, Swimming, Tattoos, Triathlon, Writing

Advent, Food and Exercise, Writing, and Stress

Posted on 7 December 2013 | Leave a comment

Most people who know me would not be able to believe that my two favorite liturgical seasons are Lent and Advent, in that order. I love spiritual waiting, because I know at the end of the wait there will be Jesus. I love the anticipation of Jesus, who is in all ways God, coming to earth in all ways human during Advent. I reluctantly wait for his inevitable death with the promise of resurrection during Lent. There is nothing quite like spiritual anticipation to make a person realize how blessed we are on this earth, how much the God of the universe cares for us and gives us grace. I agree with Nadia Bolz-Weber when she insists that our spiritual and theological lives consists of hundreds, if not thousands, of little deaths, resurrections, and rebirths (paraphrase). So it is every day for me. Anticipation of these spiritual events keeps me keeping on. Anticipation gives me hope.

Contrarily, I do not love earthly waiting. Instead I am like the cliché kid in the candy shop, wanting to take as little time as possible to make things happen in this world. I want things and I want them now. Maybe that’s why I put so much stock in Advent and Lent; it makes feel as if I have some otherworldly waiting ability. Anyway, I’m in a period of waiting now, on this earth, for the next steps. I’m leaving teaching at the end of May, at least for a while, until I can figure out what I want to do with myself. I’m hoping to be a bartender, or a barista, or something that involves the outdoors for a bit. I need to regroup and rethink and refocus. So, I am waiting to see what comes next. And it feels like an eternity. And it feels like so many things to figure out. And it feels overwhelming.

*

Well, I tried a Whole 30, but again didn’t succeed. It takes a lot of work for me to be that strict with my food. Food is love and grace for me, and I still want to share in happy hour with my friends. Maybe I’m a weak person, maybe I have no self-control (see above, I want it, now), maybe I need a legitimate starting point like New Year’s to make things stick, maybe I’m just destined to be a fat kid. Who knows? What I do know is that from my lowest weight last year until now, I’ve gained almost 30 pounds. I chalk it up to stress, since I eat my feelings. I chalk it up to the mild depression I feel every fall/winter, since I sometimes don’t even want to get out of bed.

I am nowhere near my fattest, but I am not happy with this weight gain, because I can’t run, bike, or swim as fast. That being said, I’m cruising through the holidays, and then I’ll try to make some changes. It’s too much to try to be festive and self-policing at the same time.

I have also fallen short of my yearly goal this year to move my body 5 miles each day. I don’t think there’s any way for me to accomplish this goal, since my body doesn’t seem to want to cooperate with my grand plan of completing a mini-triathlon each day. I did four days worth, but then my body sort of said, “Fuck you, fatty, this is too much exercise.” And now my foot hurts, and I don’t think I can do it. But I’m going to try again starting tomorrow.

*

I’ve been trying to write with my students this semester, but all I’ve gotten out of it is a load of crap and some really bad starts to several nonsensical stories. I am taking a teaching creative writing class this spring semester, so I can make something out of my classes for my PhD that I won’t be using for an actual PhD, since I quit. I hope the muse comes back to me before I have to start working on my creative project for the Master’s degree I’ll be trying to get. It’ll be in creative writing, and I have to write a new creative nonfiction piece that is publishable. This may be a bit tricky. Anyway, my whole point is I need a muse.

*

I have never felt so much stress at any point in my life up to this date. I can’t imagine being a person who is this stressed all the time, nor can I fathom how some people function while carrying around such a huge load of anger, suspicion, and doubt as I see people carrying. I have found myself wondering how people keep from simply collapsing under the weight of the burdens they bear, because I sometimes feel like I could cave to the small amount of things I shoulder.

During this Advent, my heart hurts for people who experience stress, despair, anger, suspicion, doubt, hate, a painful past, or illness, and I pray and hope for healing, peace, love, and grace to visit them through me. I anticipate that the risen Christ will show through me and my actions as I love people this Advent. I anticipate being grace.

Leave a comment

Posted in Advent, Christianity, Christmas, CNF, Cycling, Education, Fat, Food, Goals, Grace, Joy, Lent, Mental Health, New Year, Paleo/Primal, Religion, Running, School, Spirituality, Swimming, Teaching, Triathlon, Whole 30, Winter Weather, Writing

Summertime and the Living is Easy

Posted on 1 June 2013 | Leave a comment

Today is the first day of my ten-week summer break, and it’s exactly six weeks until the Muncie 70.3. I have also signed up for the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon on November 2, twenty-two weeks away from today, hoping that I will make it across the finish line this time. I’m a much better runner now than I was the last time I tried, and I will have completed the 70.3, which I bank on giving me the stick-to-it-iveness to make across the marathon finish line. I can only hope for the freezing rain they had last year when we volunteered. I hate being overheated when I run.

While it’s difficult for me to imagine that the last time I wrote here was six weeks ago, I guess the lack of writing on my part is an indication to you that I have been super busy. I’m looking forward to this summer for so many reasons (not parallel listing): no dissertation hanging over my head, reading anything I want, a diversity seminar on campus about inclusive pedagogy, family vacation, triathleting, possibly some art, clean eating, online meditation classes, refinishing hardwood floors, playing disc golf, playing with my animals, and naps.

There are so many things I’d love to write about, that have been heavy on my mind and heart recently, I can’t begin to touch them in one blog post, so I am making it my goal to pick back up with the idea of joy and blogging about my main goals for this year. I hope to write every day this summer, so I’ll no doubt be writing about some current events and things like that, too.

Lastly, for dinner I am making bacon wrapped shrimp kebobs on the grill, and I hope they are delicious. If they are, I will be sure to post pictures of them tomorrow.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in Biking, Buddhism, Cooking, Cycling, Disc golf, Family, Food, Goals, Joy, Literature, Mental Health, Pedagogy, Play, Reading, Relationships, Religion, Running, School, Spirituality, Summer, Swimming, Teaching, Triathlon, Work, Writing

Final Weeks of School. Half Ironman and Nutrition. Thoughts on Boston.

Posted on 20 April 2013 | Leave a comment

We’re quickly closing in on the end of the school year here in good ol’ east central Indiana. My students are antsy, and so am I. My colleague Abbie and I are getting ready to begin a really cool project with our students. For the entire month of May, our students will complete a self-directed project based on those topics, writers, texts, or themes that we were unable to cover throughout the school year, but the important part of the project is that they will not only choose their topics, they will also design their final essay/project based on their research. We’re really excited to do something that we think is pretty cutting edge for high schoolers. Of course, we’re requiring them to complete certain things during their course of study, but for the most part, it’s up to them to carry out the study while meeting with us once a week to discuss their work. I’m sure this project will beat the pants off of the ECA (end of course assessment) they’re required to take for the state.

*

The Muncie 70.3 is twelve weeks away. I’ve been training, but this next week I put the pedal to the metal as the miles increase from here on out. I need some help with accountability, and I know that it’ll be obvious if I don’t train well, but I tend to skip workouts because of exhaustion from work. I’m hoping if I post MyTrainingSchedule here, some of you who read this and who correspond with me on Facebook or Twitter will help keep me honest. Seriously, I’d love it if you ask me once a week or so whether I am sticking to my training or not. I am generally pretty disciplined, but every little bit helps!

I’m also working on moving back to a mostly paleo diet for the fueling of this adventure. I’ve been “cheating” a lot and drinking beer, eating wheat products, and snacking on ice cream. None of these help me accomplish my goals: the alcohol makes me tired, the wheat makes me bloated and gaseous, and the ice cream makes my joints ache. When I eat paleo, I feel so much more energetic and clean. I am sure the food I eat will make or break my venture.

I’m also in need of losing a few more pounds so I don’t look like a sausage in my new Muncie Area Fun Squad tri-kit. If I train consistently and eat properly, I have no doubt that I’ll lose the 15 pounds I need to lose by July 13. Incidentally, I am pretty proud to be finishing this Half Ironman the week before my 39th birthday. Now I just need to finish a marathon by next July, and I will have accomplished both of my “before 40” goals. Maybe my “before 50” goals will be an ultra-marathon and a full Ironman! Haha!

*

When I heard the news about the Boston Marathon bombing, I had several reactions, none of which I believe were any different than those reactions had by others: shock, dismay, fear, compassion, anger, love, and pretty much every other emotion a person can have, all rolled into one. I feel this way every time I hear of a tragic event like this one.

Now, a few days later, I just want us (humans) come together to provide healing for the victims, healing for the family of the two young men, a legitmate (not hate-influenced punishment) for the remaining bomber, grace to those people who can’t get past their hate, and safety for those folks who are part of big, un(or poorly)guarded sporting events like marathons. I don’t want people to be scared. I don’t want people to be angry. I don’t want people to seek revenge. I want peace. I want justice. And I want grace. I want to imagine.

Leave a comment

Posted in Beer, Biking, Buddhism, Christianity, Cider, Education, Ethics, Fat, Food, Goals, Grace, Joy, Literature, Mental Health, Paleo/Primal, Politics, Reading, Relationships, Religion, Running, School, Social Justice, Spirituality, Swimming, Teaching, Triathlon, Work

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,