Saturday, January 26, 2019

Swimming

Bode continues to improve with his swimming.  We also think he's starting to like it.  A few months ago, he kept asking about soccer.  When I went to register him for soccer this week, he said, "I want to focus on my swimming."  Thus, we'll stick with the swimming thing for a bit.  He had a meet last weekend.  He swam the 50-back, 50-fly, the 100-free, and was the backstroke leg of the medley relay.  He had personal bests in each event.  Here's a picture of Bode getting ready--laser focus.
Next, we have some movies of his events.  I had to reduce the quality of the second movie because it was just a bit too big.
Here's Bode at the end of the meet--he said he was exhausted.
Bode received his report card for the second quarter.  We were very impressed that he got all A's--pretty awesome for a kid that spends an inordinate amount of time on his phone.  Still, he's doing well with swimming, school, and violin.  I guess we should just let him do what's he's doing because it seems to be working (although we are going to ask him to read just a bit more...)  Bode and I have started doing 100 push-ups and 100 sit-ups three or four times a week.  He'll be a hulk before you know it.

Nothing too exciting going on.  I started running a lot again, and am trying to get back into good shape.  At 45, I still think I should be able to run like I could when I was 35, but father time seems to have something to say about it.  However, the nice thing about being in Fort Walton is there are far fewer good runners compared to Colorado Springs, so it is easier to place well in my age group.  I ran a 5k this morning, and earned 10th overall (out of ~300 racers) and 2nd in the 45-49 year group.  My time was 20:33, which is good...but not like I used to be able to do.  I guess the worst part of getting older is not the aging itself, but the memories of what one used to be able to do.  Oh well--I guess it beats the alternatives (an early death or some type of inability to remember, neither of which appeals to me :-)  Pleasant week to all.

Tuesday, January 1, 2019

"Polar" Plunge

We decided to start a new tradition.  Well, I decided, and I convinced Bode to join in, but Ashley was having nothing of it, apart from being the videographer.  Since we live on the water, I thought what better way to ring in the new year than to jump into the water--a symbolic cleansing as the new year kicks off.  Ashley said no, but after some prodding and convincing (I bought him a new video game), Bode was up for it.  Thus, we headed down to the dock.  The weather doesn't look great, but the temperature was in the low 70's.  I'm not sure about the water temperature, but I do know it's not close to 40 degrees or whatever the temperature is in places they do a real polar plunge.  Bode and I were very excited to jump right in.
We figured the water wasn't getting any warmer, so we stopped clowning around and went for it.
The water was chilly, but not awful.  In fact, Bode got out and then got back in.  I must say I cheated just a little--I went running before we jumped in the water, so I was a bit sweaty and warm.  Still, it was a nice way to start the year, so much so that Joey decided to join us.
Happy 2019 to all!