Bustin' a Flat

This morning was hurried and crazy, but it seems every morning is like that for our family and we still somehow get the kids to their schools on time. I know I'll look back upon these days years from now and wonder how in the world we did it? I'm also certain that all parents of little kids face the same morning challenges, with the possible exception of those in warmer climes who have no idea what it's like to have to deal with snowsuits, boots, hats, scarves, mittens, mufflers, long underwear, t-shirts, long sleeved t-shirts, turtle necks, sweaters, vests, lip balm, balaclavas, blah blah blahvas...

Anyway, as I was saying, this morning was hurried as usual. Mon got the older loin-fruit to the bus, and I managed to get the younger one to school on time. All was going according to plan until I was about half-way to work and BAM!, my back tire blew out. I pumped it up with my hand pump hoping it was a slow leak and could still get me to work where I could deal with it at lunch or something, but no - I made it about another 100 metres (11o yards for the American readers) before the thing was flat as a Chinese diver's chest. (Nothing against flat chests, mind you. It's just what came to mind...)

I stood there for a minute wondering whether to walk to work or head home. For some reason I didn't have a patch kit in my backpack! I decided to walk home, which took me a half-hour, and fixed my flat there. Naturally, I was pretty late for work, but at least now I have a spare inner tube and some patches in my backpack for the next time. It seems like there is more glass on the roads this year than ever before. I used to go for months at a time when I was a courier, biking 8 or 9 hours per day, and not get any flats. Now it seems to happen more frequently, and I only commute!

Anyway, I still managed a lunchtime swim, though I was really tired. my shoulders are so tired! I did 1000m straight, then 5X200m with 20 seconds rest for a total of 2000m in about 32 minutes.

Tonight I also managed some more chin ups. I think I have to back off a bit on these as I am feeling weaker and weaker, which is not a good thing. I managed 10-8-6-8 wide grip overhand, and only 8-8-8 narrow grip underhand, for a total of 56. I guess going to exhaustion with every set is not going to cut it and I have to do some shorter sets with maybe an exhaustion set at the end, or something...

Swimming is good, Foot not as good, and E-mail woes

I managed another lunchtime swim, and it really should stop being a suprise now that I am consistently doing these every Tuesday and Thursday. The only hickup was trying to get my lock open so that I could secure my bike outside at the pool. This lock sucks major ass, and the only reason I bought it was because I needed something when I arrived at work one day and had forgotten my lock. I spent almost $60 on this thing, brand name "On Guard", and the actual locking mechanism is terrible. Stay away from this brand if you are considering replacing your lock. I just didn't want to spend $100 or more on a Kryptonite since my bike is a real commuter that I put together over the years, and it really isn't worth stealing - no gears, super big to fit my 6'4" self, and pretty heavy.

Anyway, I struggled to get this thing open for 10 minutes, all the while thinking that maybe even if I was successful in unlocking it would it be worth the risk to secure it onto my bike only to return and not be able to unlock it at all. In the end the thing miraculously opened, though my hand was cramping by then, and I was able to get into the pool.

I did a non-stop 2000m in 30 minutes and it was back to work...

Afterwards, the lock opened with merely a jiggle and I was very surprised, let me tell you. When I returned to work, however, I again struggled for 10 minutes to get the thing open again! And once more, my hand was in major crampy mode by the time the thing did decide to cooperate. After work it only took a couple of minutes to unlock it, and once I got home I lubed the hell out of that sucker and things seem to be better now.

As far as the foot is concerned, I think it feels a bit better today, but it's really hard to tell. Maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part. At work I have been rolling it by standing on a semi-hard ball, and that feels pretty good. I am hopeful that this issue doesn't keep me from running some more in preparation for the 10k on October 26th, that's for sure. If anything, I will run in pain and then take time off after the race. (Unless I think that major damage will occur, at which point the decision to pull out of the race will have to be made. I don't even want to think about that though!)

Tonight I was supposed to go weight train again, and since I missed Tuesday I am a little upset that this is not going to happen. I had agreed to share a presentation with a few people this evening and had emailed it to myself from work hoping to work on it a little more this evening. This usually works with no problems, but for some reason the email never arrived! My sent mail box shows that the attachment was sent at 4:42 in the afternoon, but nothing shows up in my inbox! Of course, I didn't check the option that would have stopped the program from stripping the attachment from the sent mail items. Damn it! Sometimes I just have to curse this technology! Now I have to start from scratch and redo the two hours of work I put into the damned presentation earlier in the day. Memory should help cut down some of the effort, but still - what a pain in the ass!