In the post WWII era, Levittown was a poster child for what was to become the suburban sprawl typifying almost every urban area today. William Levitt, himself a Naval Seebee, capitalized on the boom of demand for housing. GI's were returning from the war and taking advantage of FHA-VA loans for houses. He built the first image of cookie-cutter houses forming suburbia.
Tonight as I finished my session, the clouds were bright crimson and pink with twilight waning. This was good. I walked down to the Catawba in the dark and plopped my boat in the water. Taking off my helmet, the breeze was actually cool, a welcome change from the heat wave we have been locked into recently. Taking a moment, I simply enjoyed the sensation of evaporation, the prickly and slightly cool feeling on my head. This also, was good.
Working on making a map this morning, my mind began to wander. Making a population density map of Canada is not particularly interesting, since nobody lives in Canada. Thus, my mind was wandering. Not surprisingly the destination was slalom, or something closely related. In this case, it was what kind of race car would athletes' be.
Oddly enough, the idea for this story came together while upside down tonight. Granted I had been thinking about it before, but it all came together while hanging upside down in the warm water which, as warm as the water is, feels rather slimy.
Whether it is due to nature or nurture, who knows. What I do know is rarely do I like anything easy. If it can be done on the first try, then it is boring and there has to be something else out there more interesting. Usually there is. This means I constantly like to test myself, one way or another. At any given time, I am always trying to redefine my personal limits in some way.
Apparently keeping up this blog is good for my health, at least according to a neuroscientist at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital, Alice Flaherty. According to Flaherty, blogging is much like complaining as a way to cope with mental and physical pain, acting as a, "placebo for getting satisfied." There is most definitely a lot of whining going on out there in the blogosphere, making this hypothesis seem quite plausable.
This now gives me a good excuse to maintain this site, it is therapy! Since blogging is now good for my health, I wonder if Uncle Sam would mind me writing off my computers and my hosting provider as a medical expense on my taxes this year?
Apple, they have a predictable pattern. Plucking something out of their idea farm, they release innovative technology products. These innovative products, the first generation rarely is the perfect solution. It is a great idea with a lot of work put into it, but rarely do they nail it on the first go around. The second time though, the pattern very much is to learn and slam-dunk the second one.
Saturday morning, it is just after eight in the morning and I am headed to the course for a morning session. Driving to the course, almost every business and parking lot is deserted except for one, Hardees. The drive through line wrapped out of the parking lot. I could not see an empty parking space in the lot. Looking at this, it is not surprising American's girth is steadily growing.
Being in the middle of a long stretch of being in town definitely has advantages. Actually being in one place for longer than three days at a time, it is amazing how conducive to consistent training this is. During the last couple of weeks, I have been able to get on the water at the center for two-a-days three or four days out of the week and get on the water at least once all the other days. This equals a lot of water time, a very good thing considering I am doing another entire macro-cycle between Trials and Nationals.
Right now, Jello is what my body feels like. Chances are, I am going to pay for this tomorrow. Right now though, my arms, back and abs, they are nothing more than Jello.
Why might this be? Today started with lifting heavy (for me) with relatively low reps in the weight room at 0530. After getting a little work done, I was doing a variation on fulls by 1000. This workout consisted of a full, 1/2's, 1/3's, 1/2's, and finally a full. Between the 1/2's and 1/3's parts I took 30 seconds rest. The first three runs went all-right. By the fourth, precision started to wane. Once the fifth rolled around, stick a fork in me. I was done.
Thirty-two hours, listening to NPR on my drive in this morning, this is how much time the average American spends per week watching television. Thirty-two hours, this is pathetic? What is so worthwhile to spend 32 hours watching per week? This is 128 hours per month, and 72 days per year. How is this possible? What is going on?
