Tuesday a.m.

The run course of the Me N Steve

Good morning! Combining a holiday weekend with the end of school sure has a way to making a major shake-up in the routine. Wow! Now I have to develop a routine of routinelessness. Do you know what I mean? I'm not sure I do.

I'm not sure where to start on reporting about the weekend, which was one of my favorites in a long time. I can say that all the activity wore me out. Completely! I slept well last night, and I am hoping that it is enough for me to recover.

Friday morning I went for a nice 5 mile run. It was pretty humid - a foretaste of what was coming. I worked for a while on Friday, getting ready for Sunday. That all came together pretty well. We went to a graduation party Friday night.

Saturday morning was my first major brick workout of the year. We rode 43 miles from Parkview school, which went well. I am feeling so much stronger on the bike than last year. Following the enjoyable ride, we went for a run. Some went 5; others opted for 3 miles. I did the 3, anticipating what was on the morrow.

We had a good day at church Sunday morning. Then it was off to Kenray Lake for the Me N Steve triathlon. This is a friendly informal event that has its origin in the friendship of Steve Black and Jim Sowders. They were  roommates in optometry school. There will be a corresponding Jim N I triathlon on June 23rd. It's all a lot of fun, followed by a feast.

The Me N Steve, which can be slurred into "The Mean Steve," provided me an opportunity to do 2 things related to water: 1) attempt to swim in open water, and 2) wear my wetsuit for the first time. I'll spare you a lot of details and just say that I did not drown.  I have SO MUCH work to do. I did learn that you cannot sink with a wetsuit on. I am floating on that line that divides giving up and the determination to go on.

I was glad to get out of the water and on the bike. I rode pretty well in the heat, and it was hot. We rode around 25 miles, mostly rolling terrain. We rode from Kenray over to Norman and back. I connected with the fast group going back, which was fun. The run followed the ride, and I was happy that it went well also. A wonderful feast followed all the activity. Jimmy knows how to do a feast!

Monday morning we met to ride and run again. I felt really over trained going into this, but I knew the vow was to ride easily. We did. Twenty miles. I felt fine. I felt pretty good at the start of the 3 mile run, but about half way through the 2nd mile, I looked at my heart rate monitor. I couldn't believe what it said: 203! In theory (and there are lots of them) my maximum heart rate should be 167 (220-age). I slowed down and got it down into the 180s, but I looked again and it was back up to 206. Time to walk in. I did 2 miles.

The rest of yesterday I rested and smoked ribs and chicken for a family gathering last night. It was a nice day that capped a good weekend.

Now back to the reality of the fallen world...