Content-type: text/html Ray Manning

Monday, February 27, 2006 9:00 AM

Relaxation


The week is productive at work and at home. I finally get the models and simulations to perform properly and I start wrapping up the effort on Thursday. And I notify my boss that I'm going to take Friday off and finish the effort off on Monday.

There are good weight lifting sessions on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. I repeat the weight and repetitions from last week as I recover from the cold/flu that I had. On Wednesday I get up early and go for a very cold 4 mile run before work. I run into the neighbors as they head out for their run/walk and they make a comment about not seeing me out in the mornings for quite a while. I can only say that I've been sleeping in lately.

On Friday I stay away from work and get out for a good (almost) 30 mile bicycle ride. During the ride I see that they are starting to set up the barriers for the Long Beach Grand Prix in April. Spring is upon us. And I note that, as I'm riding through El Dorado park, the City of Long Beach has put up informational signs entitled "Living with Coyotes in Long Beach". There have been some reports of coyotes attacking dogs in the park recently. But I don't think that they attack cyclists. It's a great ride!

The rest of Friday is running errands, doing the laundry, trimming the roses, and relaxing around the house. It's good to be away from the recent pressure at work.

Later I get in a good session with the weights and complete the week - thus earning both Saturday and Sunday off from the weights. Person C_T comes over and we have dinner at Rosco's in Long Beach and then watch a weird movie that neither of us understands.

On the Saturday morning bicycle ride I head north on the Los Angeles river in order to avoid the fog hanging over the ocean. This ride is a struggle the entire way. Maybe I let my glycogen level drop too much. But in the midst of the ride there are two pigeons on the trail. And they wait until the last moment to fly away in order to avoid me. But one of them waits so long that as it flies away I can feel the wind pressure from the flapping of its wings against my head.

I kick off the year's skating season with about an hour of inline skating down by the ocean in Long Beach. I consider this purely a reconnasaince skate because I probably haven't skated since before the Hepatitis B hit me. It's a good skate - even if a bit chilly by the ocean. But I do a bit of powerful striding during the skate.

After much hemming and hawing and deciding back and forth whether to go out tonight, after calls from Person C_T and Person T_U, and after more consideration, I decide to stay home. I'm in bed reading by about 9 pm and the lights go off for sleep 30 minutes later (or so).

On Sunday I get out for a 4 mile run before reading the newspaper and relaxing. I watch a few minutes of the production-based motorcycle race from Qatar, but it is boring. As all production-based racing is. Near mid-day I get out for the aquarium bicycle ride. Despite the two rides during the previous days, despite the hour of inline skating, and despite this morning's 4 mile run, my legs feel strong. I crank along into the wind towards the aquarium and then I crank along with the tailwind back towards home. When I arrive at home I pull out a saw and trim a small tree though I don't have enough room in the trash this week to get rid of the branches. They'll wait for next week. Another warm shower and I relax as I wait for Person C_T to call.