Friday 11/14 - Started the day at the swim center in Walnut Creek at 5:30AM. I enjoy swimming, but I can really tell I am not in the best of swimming shape. A lot of it is technique and finding that balance in the water. I think I have a good grasp on what I am supposed to do , now all I have do do is practice it...a lot. 

Friday is my Monday at work, so it's back to the grind. I help run a furniture store (Viking Trader) in Berkeley that my father and step mother started 20 years ago. I've been involved with the business pretty much the whole time, except for the very first couple of years when I was still in the Navy. My dad past away in 2000 so now it is my step mother (Kirsten) and I that run the place. Business is scary slow right now and it's a challenge to stay motivated when everything you try has less than stellar results. We've been advertising a weekend clearance sale quite heavily for the last few days, so I have high hopes about bringing in some cash in order to get through this mess. 

After work I went to a yoga class. It was Bikram yoga and it just about killed me. It was all I could do just to stay in the room for 90 min. I'm new to yoga and I want to like it, but I'm not sure about doing it in this extreme heat. I think I'm going to try a different form. I feel it is a terrific workout that incorporates core strength and flexibility and since I hate going to the gym I'll keep trying. Part of problem today could have something to do with being a little tired. The last two days have been pretty long with a couple of workouts per day and not enough sleep. I may need to take an extra rest day soon.

Saturday 11/15 - Started at 6AM with a relatively short 16 mile bike ride to mark the course for our marathoners. About a dozen of us started to run at 8AM. I thought I would join those running 16 miles today. My training schedule had me doing a 50 min. run, but in true bravado form I decide I can go big... not. I baled at 9 miles. My legs got very tight and I didn't want to risk injury. I've been on the mend off and on for the last couple of month and I'm tired of being sidelined so I'll go it a little slower.

After work Mette, the kids and I were invited to dinner at friends house. We had yummy lasagna ++.  Susie you have a way of making it so nice, thanks for a great dinner.

Sunday 11/16 -  I had planned on meeting some peolpe from the team this morning for a bike ride but instead I am going to take a little extra rest. I've been feeling a little less than spry the last couple of days. I have been taught, and continue to preach myself, that you have to listen to your body. There are usually signs that you are pushing things and the best way to avoid injury and setbacks is to listen closely to those signs. Physical fitness gains are accomplished via a pretty straight forward equation: 

(physical exertion/activity) x (eating/fueling correctly) x (rest/recovery)= fitness gain

You can't get fit sitting around on your butt, however eating right and resting are imortant ellements of the equation too. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.