Resting

The Sunday Paper in my Favorite Chair

I am a genius and I know myself pretty well after living in this body for 66 years. When I put together my training plan I scheduled Sundays as a day off each week. I mean if God needed a day off from creating the cosmos who am I to argue with that philosophy!

Partly I knew that planning to exercise every day was a big change and invited a rebellious response. I have a history of not wanting to be told what to do even if its me telling myself. Also, Sundays are busy days for us because we spend the morning at our Quaker Meeting attending an adult class and then worship. I typically exercise in the late morning which conflicts with our usual Sunday schedule.

Today is one of those rest days and I am really appreciating it after the really hot week we just had. I'm proud that I didn't give up on my workout schedule when the heat offered a perfect excuse. I figured out how to work around the high temperatures as much as possible, mostly by exercising earlier in the day. That's a struggle for me; morning is not my most together time. I also combined any outdoor chores I had with my workout time. I figured one shower a day is enough so I'd do all the hot and sweaty stuff in sequence.

For example, yesterday was a walking day so I scheduled a walk with my sister at 8 am. After that I checked on the currants in the garden. They were ready for picking so I did that and then came inside for the rest of the day. The day before that was my bike workout which I did a bit earlier than usual. Even with the wind generated by biking the heat was brutal and enervating. Afterward I watered (no built in sprinklers in Michigan like we had in California). While watering I occasionally doused myself with cold water from the hose to cool down. The day before that I worked in the yard and vegetable garden in the afternoon and then hopped into the lake for my swim. Unfortunately, the lake temperature has risen so it wasn't as refreshing as I had imagined. The thermometer we have by the dock showed that the water is now 90 degrees. Still it did cool me off, especially getting out of the water and sitting on the dock.

Taking today off feels like a reward for good behavior! Yesterday the thought struck me that I wouldn't have to get myself up early or get hot and sweaty today. It was a great thought which I've been savoring. You might think that after a day off it will be harder for me to get going tomorrow. I don't think so for two reasons. This coming week is dual sports week in my training plan. I'm feeling excited about trying a transition for the first time tomorrow. I plan to ease into it by doing shorter distances of the two sports at first and working up to full triathlon lengths.  Tomorrow I start with the swim to bike transition. The second reason I am looking forward to my next workout is that the heat wave broke today and temperatures are back in the 80s. Believe me that feels cool after the 100s of the last few days.

Joe has advised me that the last couple of days before the triathlon should be rest days. I've worked that into my schedule. I can see the wisdom of that as I am feeling refreshed today and more rested. Those two days won't be completely restful as I will be helping Joe set up for the event. Also, we may have some out-of-town family members staying with us. It's getting exciting as more people are saying yes to the invitation.