I Think I Found My Inspiration

I have been struggling to resume running on a regular basis. In the fall of 2008, I essentially stopped running due to my affliction of Plantars faciitis.  I have overcome the wretchedness of being injured but am now tormented with a lack of conviction to stick with it.  Some other obligation or conflict always seems to get in the way.

On Monday, I joined a few teammates in the hot tub after Masters Swim practice.  While we conversed, one member who hasn't swam in some time stated he'd been absent of late because he was helping his wife at track.  Intrigued, I inquired further.  They invited me to join them at the track.

Yesterday afternoon, I took them up on their invitation.  We were fortunate that practice began just after a lightening storm subsided.  We started with a short warm-up around the school campus.  We then began interval work on the track. 

4 x 200m (RI: 3 min, 2 min, 1 min).  5 min recovery.  Repeat.

I started out a little faster than I should have ... my splits were 40, 43, 46, 50, 46, 46, 46, and 47 if I recall correctly.  I tried to use the Garmin but got all goofed up with the rest interval time.  Ah well.

It felt so good to run with others particularly for speed work.  The presence of other runners along side me pushed me to go a little faster.  Kept me on my toes.   I'll be back next week for certain.  I just need to assure that I do a few more runs in between.

P.S.  All the while I was running, the kiddos played on the pole vault mats.  Sweetie joined us for the last 2 intervals as well, coming in about 10 sec behind us.  I may look into summer track for them as well.  :)

To Swim or Reunite ?

I have a dilemma.  My 20 year class reunion is this summer ... in fact, I have an opportunity to attend 2 different high school reunions.  Both reunions are on the Oregon south coast and on consecutive weekends.  It is thereby not really feasible to go to both as that would constitute a lot of travel.  I considered staying through the week but that conflicts with our county fair.  The fair is important to the kids as they have been working on projects to enter in Open Class all year.

To further complicate matters, COMA hosts the annual Cascade Lakes Swim Series the same weekend as North Bend's reunion. I have been wanting to participate each year since I started swimming but something always seems to come up.  A number of my teammates are swimming this year - including my best friend.  It would be so fun to camp up there and revel in the comraderie of competition.

I am, honestly, on the fence.

To give a little background, I attended schools in Bandon from preschool through 9th grade.  After my freshman year, we moved to North Bend, where I graduated.  While attending NB, the summer after my sophomore year, I met a guy who I started dating.  He was a couple of years older than me and was a freshman at the local community college.  I spent most of my free time with him ... in fact, we even worked together at Safeway and later at a video rental store.  Coincidentally, he had also graduated from NB so we knew many of the same people.  We continued to date through college and eventually married.  Through him, I have developed numerous friendships and acquaintances from his graduating year.  I even attended his reunion last summer.

As is true for many, Facebook has enabled me to re-connect with many of my friends from high school and even elementary school.  I have even developed new friendships with several spouses with whom we share many common interests (running, homeschooling, etc.).  In some respects, I feel I am building stronger friendships because of Facebook with friends from Bandon than from North Bend.

So - what would you do?

P.S.  A teammate says ... Swim!  Coach says he's conflicted because reunions are important to him and he has never missed one.  Speaking of which - I didn't attend my 10 year reunion either as I had had an opportunity to take part in an all-expenses paid teacher training at NASA. 

Gotta Love Him

 

Scott Jurek