On Tuesday after work I'm up at UCLA for a meeting regarding building the preschool. I have not been back to UCLA in ten years and one thing sticks out: It's wierd to see all of the students with mobile phones. (When I went to school we didn't have mobile phones.) Just for the heck of it I walk past my first office at UCLA and I walk past my last office before the meeting starts.
On Friday I start out for the loop ride and feel pretty good. So I just keep going and adding miles and I finally quit when I've ridden 40 miles. I still feel good at the end of the ride. (And I don't know about home and read the online news.) The acupuncturist helps me work out some kinks and soon afterwards I'm edging and mowing the lawn in the mid-day heat. After a quick shower I take a nap and I'm interupted just as I'm waking up by Person M_Fl knocking on the door. So we hang out for a while and drink lemonade.
Late on Friday I get in a "best effort" workout with the weights. I'm tired from the 40 mile bicycle ride and work on the yard. After a shower (the third of the day) I head up to a couple of clubs in West Hollywood. There are many acquaintances present today and the only noteworthy appearance is Person J_J who has short hair. He likes to say, "It's my one haircut per year. On my birthday." This seems about right. I head for home near 2:20 am on Saturday morning and almost get hit twice by the same car within the span of 1 minute as the driver may be drunk, tired, and/or not knowing where they are going. And I drop off to sleep near 3 am.
On Saturday I get out and crank 32 miles out. I'm only tired towards the end when I realize that I haven't eaten since 3 pm the previous day and that had to last for the weights workout, the night of clubbing, and the 32 miles. After the laundry is done I have a giant sandwich and lowfat chips to replenish the body. Person C_T comes over later in the afternoon and we do some shopping for the kitchen remodel, gather ideas, and comparison shop. We also stop and eat Thai food for dinner and I surprise the waitress by saying a few words in Thai and pulling out Thai baht to pay for dinner afterwards. (The waitresses always get a good laugh out of this.) And finally I'm dropping off for sleep and have Person C_T leave near 9 pm.
On Sunday I get up and procrastinate in bed for a while before getting on the mountain bicycle and riding down to the aquarium and back. Or maybe the proper phrase is crawling to the aquarium and back because Im very slow today. Very slow. I do a few little things around the house before I watch an exciting MotoGP race from China where Valentino Rossi gets back on his winning ways and a rider who fractured his ankle on Friday rides home to fourth place. The rest of Sunday is spent working on the roses, relaxing, and walking. There is nothing to be started or worked on now that I am up for.
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are kinda blah. Work is blah and my workouts are blah. On Wednesday I get the physical symptoms that I normally get when I'm overtrained, unenthusiastic, and/or bored, so I realize where the previous few days of blah came from. Nonetheless I lift and it turns out it's a great session with the weights.
On Thursday I again don't bicycle commute even though I was all set up to. Thus I get to work and try to be productive and, when appropriate, I leave for the day. I immediately jump on the mountain bicycle and do intervals down the Los Angeles river towards the aquarium and do more intervals back towards home. When I get off the bicycle I am shaking, my legs are wobbly, and my right kidney is a bit sore. This is just what I needed to escape the blahs - the pain, torture, and agony of intervals to get my enthusiasm back. After a nice warm shower I put on my favorite DJ
On Friday I leave work a shade early to lift weights and mow the lawn. Later there are phone calls from Person J_VKPI, Person C_T, and Person T_U, but I'm staying home tonight to try and catch up on sleep and to recover from overtraining.
Except that I wake up at 2:30 am on Saturday morning and cannot fall back asleep. But of course - this is when I should just be driving home to start sleeping. I eventually fall asleep a bit after 4 am. I get up late and go for the aquarium ride (and extended a few miles) but I am physically hungover from the Thursday intervals and from the lack of sleep. Final qualifying for the Turkish Grand Prix goes according to plan and then I do the laundry and trim some tree branches that have fallen down. For the rest of Saturday I just relax but try to stay awake so that I don't ruin Saturday's night of sleep. And get out for a 50 minute walk to help with sleep. Person J_VKPI calls and needs some relationship advice to I spend 22 minutes on the phone with him.
Saturday night's sleep is okay though I still wake up a few times and wonder if I will be able to fall back alseep. It takes a while for me to get out of bed but then I do the extended aquarium ride and note that my legs are almost recovered from the Thursday intervals even if the remainder of the organism is not. The Turkish Grand Prix is predictable, but then I go trim so more tree branches before relaxing during the afternoon.
The tally for the weekend stands at 10 miles on the car, 0 miles on the motorbike, 40 miles on the bicycles, and 5 miles walking.
On Sunday night I start feeling really sad as if I want to cry. I have the weight of the problems of Person J_VKPI, Person C_T, and Person T_U on my mind. I end up going to bed early and pulling the covers over my head so that these problems do not come and get me. And so that I don't have to face them.
I work through Monday as we face a potential disaster and get home to lift weights. I'm adding some pyramid workouts so it's a great workout.