Running Journal 17

This is catch-up time. After my last post, I missed a week that was complicated by a very busy start to a very busy month of May. A beer with a friend on Friday, a wedding and a trip to Kent on Saturday, a gallery reception and dinner out to celebrate Gven's success on Sunday. Hey, I might be a slacker when it comes to training, but I have an interesting life and good reasons for not consistently working out.

The following weekend was, if anything, busier, but I found time to run when I rarely do, on a Friday evening. After springing myself from the office early, I ran my usual four slow miles before dinner, then went out with my wife to a bar we normally wouldn't frequent to see our firstborn and his band, Magnets, play the opening set. It was the last stop on a midwest tour, and it happened to fall on the birthday of our secondborn, so we could hardly miss the opportunity. Saturday was the annual geranium-potting and window-boxing ritual, and the four of us went out to dinner at Betty's in the Short North. On Sunday we celebrated Mother's Day with an excellent dinner at home. But no time to run and no excuse.

The weekend after that, the whole Golly family got in the limo (black Ford Escape) for a long weekend drive, first to Asheville, NC, then to Clayton, GA, for Gven's sister's daughter's big country wedding. Zelda Golly was a bridesmaid, so we all got to attend the rehearsal dinner in addition to the outdoor wedding ceremony (in front of a waterfall) and reception (dinner, open bar, DJ, dancing, bonfire, the whole nine yards). So although there was taiji on the deck of our villa - the whole venue was designed to give the feeling of a village in the Italian Alps - the closest I got to running was a trek up and down some hiking trails, past a goat farm, and across the ridge to a beautiful little lake. Sunday was a long drive home. Monday was recovery day, which might have been better if I had run, but I didn't.

Which brings us to this weekend, the last and tamest of an eventful month. So I used Gven's book group meeting at our house as my motivation to get on the Schwinn and ride the then miles north to beautiful downtown Sunbury, home of the Big Walnut Golden Eagles, where, in search of a water fountain, happened upon an open gate to the high school track. So I ran a few laps, stretched my cramping calves, ran a few more laps, and got back on the bike to head home. To complete the cross-training trifecta, I made my first visit of the new season to the JC Pool in dear old Methodistville and swam a few laps.

To recap, I'm way off-track from the precedent-setting one run per week established on Christmas Day, but I might have stumbled upon a neat little run-bike-swim combination workout. Don't even think "triathlon" because the distances don't come close. But as we enter the unofficial summer season of outdoor activity, this could be an interesting weekend cross-training experiment.