Feeling athletic

Let's see. My last post was October 3rd, a week ago. My to do list has the task "Going commando blog posting." I have some catching up to do.

We just moved the kids to a different swim team, King Aquatics, for a variety of reasons (none of which will be covered here). This has resulted in a significant number of schedule changes and revisions to how we live our lives.

I am coaching my kids' soccer teams (yep, soccer and swimming) and for a week, swim practice conflicted with soccer practice. Heather would take the kids to swimming and I went on to practice. On the day of the first afternoon practice, I got ready for soccer (cleats, socks, soccer shorts, spandex shorts under the soccer shorts for comfort, and a t-shirt). I was half way to practice when my wife calls that Alec had forgotten to pack his swim suit. Pack his swim suit, you ask? The kids were picked up from school, having supposedly already gotten their swimming stuff ready. Unfortunately, turning around and going home wasn't an option, because they would be late for Chase's practice. So, the troubleshooter I am, I offered up my spandex shorts to Alec to stand in for his jammers. Helen, how does that fit into re-wearing rules?

They decided to try out that plan and I did a last minute lane change and took my shorts off in the Fred Meyer's parking lot to hand them off to Alec. So, for those of you who don't play strip poker or aren't keeping track, now I was down cleats, socks, soccer shorts, and a t-shirt. Everything was covered and decent, but less comfortable. Plus I had that fear and I would kneel down to tie some little girl's shoe that I would be exposing myself to them. And then, I was worried about how late the boys practice runs and I just lost one layer for when the sun starts to set and a chill sets in.

Luckily for me, there were no indecent exposures and it didn't cool off too much. Luckily for Chase, she wasn't late for practice. Unfortunately for Alec, the shorts were too big for him. Unfortunately for Alec, the board shorts that were recovered from the lost and found, were still too big for him.

Another change that has come with swimming for King is morning practices. Now, at first glance, it doesn't seem to be a big deal because this year, school starts really late. Except that it is a 25 minute drive to the pool and then however much time (averaging 8 minutes) in the locker room and practice is at 6 am. So, now on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I am on Mercer Island just before 6 am. Heather comes shortly after with Chase and the rest of the crew, but do the math. 6am Mercer Island. 5:25 departure from house. 5 am wake up with time for my morning chores. Earlier if I continue on to work and have to be presentable.

So, I've decided to turn that morning time into running time. This is where more of the athletic feeling comes in. This week, I ran on Sunday (at home, not Mercer Island) for 2.2 miles. Today, I ran 2.7 miles. It is a great way to fill that time in the morning! I'm not opposed to running in the dark (it is strangely reminiscent of my time in the Army, running before the sun comes up). However, the roads on Mercer Island are twisty, narrow and have tiny shoulders, if at all. I need to acquire some more reflective materials and find some convenient routes there.

I plotted out a route (thank you Gmaps Pedometer - a google maps mash up for route measuring) and unfortunately, I neglected to look at the elevation gains. I found a nice route, except it was far too steep for day 2 of getting back into running.

I plan on continuing this and hopefully I can get back in shape! I'll keep you posted.