"More Humble Today"

I don't like this swimming without a wetsuit at all. All of my natural athletic ability comes immediately back and wants to drag me to the bottom of the pool! The lane markers, which just seem to fly past when I'm wearing neoprene suddenly seem to stand still. So I decided to focus on doing repeats(25's, 50's and 100's) at intensity, instead of just straight swimming. That should help build my arm strength, and muscular endurance which is what it's really going to come down to for me. If I have strong arms the swim should take little out of me overall....but I still hate swimming without my black security blanket"

I still haven't decided whether I will try running tomorrow or wait until sunday. My knee feels tons better but the problem's still clearly there. It's just so hard to know when it's going to be good enough to start back and at what intensity and duration. Being off for an injury is like a drug addict who's on the wagon. The most common incidents of overdose occur the next time you train, or in the case of my analogy, the next time you use. I'll just have to be careful.

Which brings me to the most important consideration of the day. My son Peter. Anything I could say about his accomplishment would pale in comparison to the amazing tribute his wife scribed on facebook today (check it out), but I do care to get my own brief words in as well. Today my oldest son celebrates 24 months of complete sobriety!!!!!!! If you've never been a cocaine addict, or been close to someone who was/is you would not know how significant an accomplishment this is. I can say with utter conviction that this is a bigger conquest than anything I have ever done in my life ....EVER...UNEQUIVOCALLY EVER!!!

When he expressed gratitude for all the support he has gotten from us and others, I reminded him that he got into that shit by himself, and that he should also take the credit for getting himself out. When he re-iterated that it was with much help, I reminded him that if so, it was only because others wanted to help him, and that was only the case because of the person that he was/is. I love Peter no more or no less than any of my other chidren, but I have loved him longer and on this day he is uppermost in my mind. Way to go son!

So remember way back, when I pitched a whole post on the concept of "AND". Today I am indeed both humble(my swimming) "AND" proud( my son).

I wish to dedicate day 92 to the memory of Frank Collette, because he tried hard but still ended up a victim.

And for my quotes.
First a social one...

"Addiction should never be treated as a crime.
It has to be treated as a health problem.
We do not send alcoholics to jail in this country.
Over 500,000 people are in our jails who are nonviolent drug users".---Ralph Nader

Secondly a disturbing but somehow profound one...

"I admire addicts. In a world where everybody is waiting for some blind, random disaster, or some sudden disease, the addict has the comfort of knowing what will most likely wait for him down the road. He's taken some control over his ultimate fate, and his addiction keeps the cause of death from being a total surprise.”---Chuck Palahnuik

And lastly one just because I know Peter will love it...

"Just cause you got the monkey off your back doesn't mean the circus has left town."---George Carlin

love
peter