Posting daily at 1pm central about all kinds of things. One day it's dating, the next it's TV commercials. I hope you're entertained. Professional photos on SmugMug – https://benwilder.smugmug.com
This holiday is about remembering the men and women who have given their lives for the freedom we enjoy every day in America. I hope we’re all able to pause even just for a second to think about what that means and then at the same time, not take for granted being able to be with family and/or friends on one of the beachy-est holidays of the year. While we’re at it, let’s be thankful for all the service members who are currently giving their time and energy for the protection of the rest of us.
I’m on a weekend vacation enjoying the sand, salt, and seagulls of the Florida gulf coast and since I’ve become obsessed with almost everything about triathlons, I’ve planned 2 beach runs and 2 open water swims while I’m here. Those are great plans in theory but it’s always harder to actually do the things than it is to plan them.
Yesterday was the first of the 2 runs and I’m totally not making this more dramatic (meaning I’m about to make this more dramatic)… the wind was directly against me the entire first half of the run! The birds were loving it but I felt like I was fighting a wind machine. Plus running in sand already has its challenges. There were two bright spots in the first half of the run…
I saw my cousin, his wife, and their son walking on the beach which gave me a reason to walk a bit.
Turning around and running with the wind felt a lot better.
This was one of the harder runs in the last few weeks. I’ll credit that to the environment. The plan today is the open water swim and I already have an excuse for why it’s going to be tough. I’ll save that for another post so come back soon… I post every day at 1pm about all sorts of things from triathlon training, TV commercials, music, relationships, and more.
I should’ve guessed that during a week where one of my nieces got married and less than 24 hours later another niece graduated high school, my training schedule would probably change. A glimpse into the first draft of the calendar for that week: a couple of long runs, 2 open water swims, an outdoor workout, a long bike ride, and a track run. Guess which ones didn’t happen! If you answered, “Most,” you’d be right. Logistically speaking, a few of the training exercises just couldn’t happen.
I’ll give you a look at the 7-day stretch. What do you notice about each day?
Every day has something crossed out and that’s OK. While training is important (and very, very necessary) for sprint triathlons and the longer races, of course, there are 2 reactions to a change in schedule. One is to panic. The other is to adapt. I guess there’s a secret third option: sell everything you have and move to South America. Don’t do that!
Panicking is rarely helpful in any situation so if you find yourself having to revise and adapt your training schedule, stay calm and train on (as the cliché t-shirt phrase goes). It will probably be a situation where you just do what you can when you can and once the calendar chaos passes, then get back to a schedule. The race I’m training for is about 3 weeks away and recently I had written about doing a big workout to start the 4-week countdown. That’s the day I ran 8 miles. I’d planned on good workouts but guess what happened in the following 3 days: I did a 5K distance one day and nothing the other two.
Argggh!!!
How do you cope, or manage your emotions and all that, for when your training changes from the original plan? It could be an injury that forces the change, or some unforeseen event that needs your attention. I guess a wedding isn’t really an unforeseen surprise so I should’ve planned better but in my defense, I’m just the uncle! If the groom’s main objective is to make sure he shows up at the wedding, shouldn’t the uncle of the bride have even less to think about? Turns out that’s not true. When the wedding is in the city where you live and the mother of the bride is your sister, you *might* be assigned tasks and it’s best to keep your head down, say yes, and take your bike out the next week.
It was a few weeks ago that there was a big storm in the area. Trees came down. Lakes overflowed. And as a result in the weeks following, crawfish were everywhere. I can’t speak for the whole city but throughout the neighborhood and surrounding areas they could be seen walking through yards, crossing roads, and swimming in overflow streams. I know cicadas are all over the news right now, and crawfish are like, “Hold my beer…” The other day I got a few pics because without pictures, did it really happen? In the photos below is a lone crawfish being observed by a curious beagle. She barks at them but it’s not till they’re dead that she turns them into a yummy snack.
I’m predicting an eventful wildlife summer in north Florida from a wet spring. So far just in a few miles radius we’ve experienced alligators, crawfish swarms, an armadillo, snakes, turtles, ticks, and that was just Tuesday! OK, not really. But just watch, it’s going to get crazy this summer.
My niece got married or whatever the other day and in the days leading up to it, there were about a thousand showers or shopping trips or mani/pedis or new dresses or hair salon visits. I successfully avoided all of those except for one shower (which was kinda fun, actually. Don’t tell anyone.) but because of this big event (the wedding, which lasted 17 minutes), family came into town from all over the US and by that I mean, Ohio. One night the father of the bride hosted all the family folk for a good ol’ fashioned southern cookout, and by that I mean, things that go well with ranch dressing.
I assigned myself the task of putting together a playlist to help cover any and all awkward silences. Oh, who am I kidding? With my family, there are no silences, but it can get awkward for sure. I like making themed playlists so this is one for some kind of wedding, wedding shower, music you don’t have to listen to the lyrics of, family gathering, type situation. I think these songs are more suited for a bride than a groom but you can be the judge.
Have any songs to add? Keep it to yourself, my list is perfect! Or share in the comments below.
Out of the Wilderness 