Sick daze

About 4 years ago I was coaching my daughter's soccer team, and by virtue of the league she belongs to, those of us who coach often referee the game after ours. It was a cold, wet, October morning. Happened to be a Sunday, so actually it was early afternoon - no games on Sunday mornings, due to church. Since I don't go anymore, that Sunday ritual has been replaced with the group ride, which is a communal and spiritual event unto itself.

Based on the way I felt that day, I probably didn't ride. I was really weak, haggard, and suffering from a bad cold. I wasn't that spirited during our game, and my dad thankfully took the kids to his house so I could ref (if aimlessly walking around a muddy field with a whistle falls under that category) the game and then I dragged my butt home. By that point I was really wiped out, worse than I had felt in a long time, and I half watched the Redskins trounce the 49ers, which they were bound to do, as SF fielded a sorry team that year (compared to the Detroit squad that was to be an easy win this year...oops). I guess I called my parents and told them to keep the kids for as log as possible, as I was in and out of consciousness all afternoon. By the time everyone convened at home, I was a sorry lump of goo and truly sick.

I didn't go to work all week--by the time I finally figured that I needed to go to a doctor (for a second time), half the work week was gone and the diagnosis was finally made, which was pneumonia. Having never had this malaise, I didn't realize the extent to which the body just tells the mind that "you can do whatever you want, but we ain't going anywhere". The meds and antibiotics started beating it back immediately, and by Monday I was rarin' to go, and went to work.

At about 9:45 Monday morning I said to everyone: See ya later, I'm going home. And I did, where I alternated sleeping, sitting on the couch, reading the paper, and doing Sudoku puzzles for the next 4 days, with some increasing increments of work daily. It blew me away that the body just said "I'm done for awhile. I want, nay, NEED some rest." I guess I had been burning the candle at both ends blah blah blah, so it was sorely needed.

By the time I was back at work full time I had lost 15 pounds, and looked a bit drawn, but I was definitely rested. Four years later, I'm sitting here after 2 forced days off, as I have this virus that has travelled from my head on Sunday to my chest on Monday to my intestines on Tuesday, so by now it's pretty much gone. I mostly rested, with some work remotely from home, but once again the body tells the idiot what needs to be done in order to keep moving forward.

It's funny because 2 weeks ago, right before the CX season opener in Baltimore, I felt a twinge in my back. I haven't been riding as much as I usually do this year, but my volume has increased in the last couple months, so I thought it was strange that the muscles were feeling a bit strained in the lower back. As I moved a bowl--not a toilet bowl, or a large ceremonial urn, or even a big clay pot--from the counter to the cabinet, this effort to put away a clean cereal bowl resulted in a PULLED MUSCLE in my lower back. I gimped around the entire day, slept stiffly, and then raced the next day, thinking I would regret it later, but as it turned out it was not nearly as debilitating as I had originally thought. The back pain lingered through the week, extended by running and riding some more and racing again this past weekend, but only enough to remind me that I'm getting more creaky.

If only I would listen more.

Can't sleep

Sleeping is an activity that I can say I have much God-given talent. So much so that I would be a well-paid professional at such an endeavor, if only we were paid for doing nothing. It's usually no problem to lay on my snow white pillow for my big fat head and wrap myself in the arms of morpheus. A little "Big Time" reference to the Peter Gabriel set.

Until now. It's 2:34 AM and instead of tossing and turning I'm just browsing and typing.

Tomorrow (or today, as the case may be) will be a lethargic one.

Fall is here

Labor Day weekend has come and gone, the kids are in school, and we're settling into the routine of the fall. A few changes here and there. Another cycle of seasons, the year will pass again, and we will carry on.

A few things of note:

We crashed the family reunion with the Pittsburgh cousins on Labor Day Sunday with our Caps gear on, much to their collective chagrin. After the emotional hugs and kisses that accompany reuniting with several generations, we had to give and take as is the norm in American sports culture regarding our allegiances to these groups of millionaires that seem to take our minds off the mundane trappings of life. Hockey season is less than 3 weeks away!!!

Kids are out of the house by 7:30 AM, which means we can get to work early or on time or both. No more bus stop action. Much more independence for everybody, and for teens and 'tweens, that's a GOOD THING.

There are glimmers of potential projects coming back to life in the construction industry and housing market, which means that we can focus on design, production, and normalcy at work, instead of worrying about where (or who) the next cut is going to befall. We're not out of the woods yet, but we're seeing light at the edges of the forest.

I'm about to put some Tektro 720's on my CX rig. I'm tired of the tentative braking power I'm getting with my current Tektro set. Looking forward to no more shuddering and no more squealing. Not that this will make too much difference at Charm City next weekend. The cyclocross season is upon us!

Polished off some Guinnesses (Guinni?) with our friends up the street, catching up on all the goings on around the block (and environs) while the boys jammed downstairs and the girls did their own thing. The band is sounding tight. We all agreed that this has been a crappy year, with the unusual toll that cancer is taking on people we know and love. Which means that these evenings sitting around and catching up with the people we love need to happen more, not less.

Found a sweet balance point during my last interval today on my ride. I was doing 2 sets of 3 min on and 2 min off, and in that last 3 minute rep I found the point at which I was hurting but not blowing up...I need to listen to the body more instead of looking at the meter.

Ten minutes a day on the guitar is tons better than 20 or so minutes once every couple of weeks. It's amazing how the muscle memory gains traction with repetition instead of wishing it so. I told my friend Bill that I've got the E shaped barre chord down, so the barre-ed F is actually easy for me now when just 3 weeks ago it represented a tortured mangle of fingers. Next challenge is the A shaped barre for the B chord, which is starting to become less uncomfortable. Bill, who is quite an accomplished musician told me that barre-ing a B chord separates the men from the boys. Manhood, I am at your doorstep.

And a few other things that will reveal themselves to me in the days ahead, as they always do. It's been a decent start to the fall--much better than the weird days of this past summer.