Just Another Week

I had several important dealines to meet this week for fiscal year cleanup. Added to that were several projects that should've been simple but instead each of them had about half a dozen strange complications. Nice. Well, figuring out the complicated stuff is what they pay me for.

Making matters worse, I haven't felt very good this week. On Wednesday I had a really nasty headache-- the kind that merely laughs at things like aspirin and ibuprofen. Nothing was touching this headache, and the fact that I had carpooled with Dan and couldn't go home only added to my overall stress levels as I tried to do budget cleanup while feeling like my head was trying to explode. Things tapered off by mid-afternoon, but in the meantime it sure wasn't pretty.

I was glad to feel a little better by afternoon because I got a visit from a friend from New Orleans. Actually, I don't know Justin that well, but he's the brother of a very dear friend, which makes him practically family. His attitude about being unemployed and displaced from his home is really remarkable. I was reminded of that feeling one gets after a particularly long and difficult effort in endurance sport, where all the stuff in life that doesn't matter is stripped away and what you're left with is just the essentials and a beautiful clarity of thought that allows you to appreciate the few things in life that are actually important.

Anyway, I think Justin is going to be fine. He has friends and family to stay with, he works in IT security (like who can't find work in that field these days?) and although his New Orleans apartment is basically in the middle of a lake, it seems to be intact. He might not be allowed back until November, which sucks, but it's so much better than it could've been. I mean, at least his stuff is there, even if he can't get to it.

That was about the only interesting thing that happened this week. I spent Wednesday night and all of Thursday and Friday with some kind of minor digestive upset. It wasn't incapacitating, just annoying. I think it messed with my electrolyte levels or maybe I just wasn't drinking enough water because I had such bad cramps in my feet Wednesday night that I thought it wise to skip my Thursday morning swim. If you're getting foot cramps before you're even in the water, trying to swim is only begging for trouble.

So after not feeling very good this week I wasn't surprised that this morning's run was kind of sluggish. My body tried to whine and complain for the first mile, but once it figured out that I wasn't falling for any of that, everything sort of worked out. I did part of my run at Memorial Park, to be certain that I would have plenty of water, food and restrooms in close proximity, given that I'd been feeling sub-par for a few days. The park was crowded, as it always is on a Saturday morning but I saw only one incident of clueless moms with strollers. Come on, ladies, if the trail has narrowed to the point where you can barely keep going side by side, can you not come to the obvious conclusion that you're blocking everyone else? Going single file until the trail widens again isn't going to kill you!

We had intermittent showers for part of the day, which made for nice napping weather after Dan and I got back from having Indian buffet for lunch. Tonight I'm just writing a bit and getting caught up on the news. Not much going on, and similarly dull plans for tomorrow. I'm finally starting to feel a bit normal again after spending the better part of the week not sick enough for a doctor but not well enough to feel good. I'm not going to push my luck and try anything out of the ordinary.

Recent Workouts
Last Sunday: 2 hours bike (CTS Climing video and Spinervals 2.0 Time Trial Special)
Monday: 5 mile walk
Tuesday: 1000 meter swim, 1 mile run, 45 minute bike Spinervals 7.0 Uphill Grind
Wednesday: 30 minute core and strength training, 45 minute elliptical
Thursday: 30 minute bike (Cyclerobx video), 2 mile run
Friday: rest day
Saturday: 14 mile run