Monday, January 28, 2013

I Live in Iowa: Week 92

Another week living the dream! (Which is sometimes a nightmare.) Life will never be prefect, I have known that for years, yet I still struggle with it. I want life to be perfect. I have this image in my head of perfection, but that is not the world we live in.

Work was good this week. I came up with a couple solutions that considering the constraints are pretty good solutions. Big ego moment, I'm impressed with myself. Usually the stuff I suggest isn't manufacturable or gets in the way of hose routings or requires five other plates to change just because of the one change I suggested. I am learning, and I like it!

Plus it was a four day work week, which makes the week go quickly. Although, I felt like I didn't get as much done as during a normal week.

Speaking of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I spent Sunday afternoon and Monday morning in Cedar Rapids ice climbing and rock climbing (including sending some 5.9 and 5.10) and eating Mexican food with a couple of my friends. I worked with a man in 2006 at summer camp and now it turns out we live somewhat close and share some hobbies, like climbing. It is a small world. I am blessed to have the friends that I do. Cedar Rapids is the kind of flat place I was afraid all of Iowa was when I moved here, yet they have more climbing opportunities, both in ice and indoor rock, than Dubuque. Again, life is never perfect.

Running has been a mixed bag, I ran 82 miles, with one light set of mile repeats in the 5:45 range. My left hamstring has been bothering me so I didn't push it and do anything even moderately fast. I have a massage scheduled for this week and I have been doing some strengthening and stretching exercises. I am sure it is getting better, but doing a 4.5 mile tempo last Saturday in shorts in 42 degree weather, plus 0 degree morning runs Tuesday and Thursday with only one layer of pants was not as good for a tight, probably knotted hamstring. I've been having some right ankle discomfort (dare I say pain) too, but again, I ran 82 miles, so I'm not falling apart exactly. In fact, as my mileage increases my recovery time decreases as my body overcompensates for the stress.

Coaching was good. I could tell tales of advice given, workouts managed, cheering cheered, improvements made, anemia discovered, and communication improved, but I want to focus for this week on two instances that in total took less than a minute of time. Two sophomores, five hours apart, told me, "thank you for being here."I thank the athletes all the time for being here and working hard and putting in effort, and to have two return the favor Saturday at our track meet was really fantastic!

What else? Still some social drama, thus the higher blood pressure, but maybe that's a consequence of caring? In other words, making the decision to care might mean putting one's blood pressure on the line. Even I didn't know I cared that much.

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