"Oh the Incredible Boredom"

I was getting tired near the end of my IM swim today but more than that I was just bored stupid...or check that I was bored silly, since I was already stupid, as demonstrated by the fact that I was doing the swim in the first place. In the past when I was still working on getting up to that distance it was easier to focus simply because the feat was still in doubt. Now that I am no longer afraid, it simply becomes a test of mental endurance. Out on the road you can look around at the scenery, annoy the occassional motorist, get chased by canines, or listen to your music. Although I know you can buy underwater MP3 players designed specifically for swimmers, that's one toy that somehow I couldn't justify (note yesterdays post!) I just can't imagine that some people go and do that much time in the pool every day! Anyway my schedule calls for only 3 more at the full distance (4 if you count the big day) and so I will manage to survive. I am still committed to getting lessons from a professional swim coach after Ironman is over because I really want to master the technique. But it needs to be fun and right now it would simply be unnecessary pressure. It is nice to feel confident swimming 4 kms, the only thing I still worry about a little is how much I sweat in my wetsuit. It seems like I'm swallowing lots of water and yet I still lost 5 pounds! I hope that in cooler water it will not be such a problem. Maybe this week I will try to swim in lake Erie, both to get a feel for the open water and to see what happens with the sweating. I will also get a good test next weekend at Guelph Lake.

Speaking of which I'm a little nervous but also quite excited to tell you that Jonathan is going with me, at least for the saturday race. If he can get authorization to get "carries"- the technical expression for taking your methadone home with you- then he will come to sundays race as well. I know he has talked to his Aunt Cory about perhaps getting his "stuff" in Guelph instead if that's a possibility. That of course is significnat, more so because he has been talking to Cory. That was a very big hurdle for him because he carries a lot of shame over some history with her. I'm proud of him for this but also once again I'm proud of, and so immensely grateful to, my big sister for her inexhaustable ability to love and forgive. I hope she knows how much she is appreciated.

I also did the 6 km trail run this afternoon and felt quite good. Oh and the swim took 1 hour, fourteen minutes and change, and that's just fine. Tomorrows the big ride! Wish me luck!

Oh and Teresa, Mr Singh loved me! I was his soccer team "captain" before you were even on the scene, and I did it for free!

I wish to dedicate day 268 to Martin Strel who in 2001 swam 504 Kms down the Danube river. He covered the distance in 84 hours, 10 minutes of nonstop swimming. I wonder if he was bored?

“One can dream of something more terrible than a hell where one suffers; it's a hell where one would get bored.'---Victor Hugo

...and for Cory...

“Forgiveness is the answer to the child's dream of a miracle by which what is broken is made whole again, what is soiled is made clean again."---Dag Hammarskjold

love
peter