Big Change And Some Small Stuff

THE BIG STEP

Friday was my last day at work for the year.
I have officially retired.
For the rest of this year I will busy myself in many of the things that I have wanted to do but for which claimed I “did not have the time”.

The most common question to me was, “what are you going to do?”
As if, there is nothing to be done in life outside of work.
So, if this question is in your mind, here are some of the things I am planning:

Sleep
Eat
Cook
Clean
Insulate the walls of my humble abode
Write an autobiography
Write a science fiction novel
Write a spy novel
Finish my western novel
Help more at church
Do more in-depth Bible studies
Read some books
Tend my yard
Take a trip to Newark, Ohio campmeeting
Take a trip to Monument Valley, Arizona/Utah (it is spread over each side of the border)
Hike the Grand Canyon
Run (more)
Workout
Take naps
Whatever comes to mind

I prolly left some things out, but you get the idea.

OTHER TIDBITS

Let the Royal Chronicles show that my Economic Stimulus check (actually it was an electronic deposit) went to my dentist – and then some.
This was for a new crown on a tooth that had broken next to a big filling.
The official determination was that the tooth could not be rebuilt and it was just a matter of time before the filling fell out, sooooo... she (my dentist) pronounced the “best” way to “fix” the problem was to cap it.
Total: $788.00.

My preferred solution was to leave it alone and fix it when, if ever, the filling fell out.
Sometimes people die before their fillings fall out. :)

THE RUN

It is almost June and the temperature this morning was 48 degrees at the house.
This is ridiculous.
So the session the morning was attended with long sleeves and leggings.
And some mental griping.

This week at work has been very quiet (read: boring) so there was little residual strength loss expected.
However, because of the low level of effort at work, I jacked up the level of intensity in my weight workouts.
This morning, my upper back was a bit sore and my front delts were mumbling mild complaints during my get-ready activities.
I piddled around the house more than usual for some reason and so I did not get started running until 6:10 AM.
I was just barely into my first half-mile when guess who started to complain?
Yep.
My left hammies.
The complaints were actively ignored and soon went away.
(I still find this amazing. A portion of the body begins to indicate discomfort/something “wrong”, then after a few seconds/minutes it just “goes away” somehow. Obviously, these must be relatively minor physical problems or they would get worse or re-appear after the session, but most of the time they do not.)

The mental set for this session was one of building.
I am getting ready to kick up my physical training effort a notch or two for the rest of this year and this run was to be a step of progress in that direction.
So, mentally, I was pushing myself ever-so-gently to go just a bit faster on this (4.45 mile) course.
The next increment will be to lengthen the course to six miles.
And then to start running the Cotton Row course again. (Not the race, just the course.)
I also plan to start walking a couple of miles in my neighborhood each morning.
And maybe run two or three miles on Wednesdays.

Anyway, I chugged along today in the pea-soup fog and when I crossed the finish line/crack it was 6:51.
Wow.
Forty-one minutes.
I was a bit surprised.