So, it’s my birthday and I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do. I’m a free man, the world is my oyster, and I had all day to put it together.
I thought, and thought, and the one thing that kept coming into my mind was, “I want to go swimming.”
But, it’s a perfect day and the thought of going into a pool didn’t sit well. Then, I said to my growingly indecisive self, “Yes, I will go to the lake!”
It sounded good on the surface, but I reasoned:
A. I would have to dig out my wetsuit and constricted swimming under a hot sun is not what I had in mind.
B. Nobody would be there and knowing my luck I would get caught in a patch of seaweed and drown on my birthday, giving the local news a great story to run for the next 3 days and, frankly, I’m not in the business of helping the media make money off my pitfalls.
So, I blew off the swimming idea because I also reasoned it’s getting close to Halloween and there would likely be some weirdos lurking in the woods to steal my pull buoy, or worse, chop it into pieces with a machete.
Then, I thought, “Hmm, I really enjoy Mountain Biking, maybe I’ll take a stroll through the Shelby Park trails. A nice, easy spin through sprawling natures. I would observe the changing leaves and embrace the piercing sun.
For some reason, it’s hard for me to take it easy.
I decided instantly that I would attempt my 666 ride. 6 miles on trails, 6 miles of hills, then 6 miles back on trails.
It’d been a while and pushing through tall grass was a little tough, and honestly, I transformed 666 into something like 2-3-4-2-6. Don’t ask.
It was probably an hour and a half and since it was still my birthday, I though, “Hell, I’ll turn this into a brick.”
I took a similar route, and wound up running 5 miles. An 18/5 brick and it felt . . . . . . . . . . . . . like shit!
I wouldn’t say I’m in awful shape, but something is missing and it’s mental. My head just isn’t in this plan. I mean, it’s my birthday, and that’s what I chose to do? Hmm.
It’s been a slippery slope lately. All of the Ironman (x2) is burned off and now I have to find another form of motivation. One that opens up my heart.
So, with that in mind, I’m really looking forward to meeting some good friends at the Pharmacy for burgers, fries, and hopefully a lot of laughs.
Thanks for the birthday wishes and, especially supporting this wacky blog. On Wisconsin!
