skindependence

Today, after a two-day break, I came back from church to watch the Wimbledon final.  As soon as I saw there was something to watch on TV, I went minutes on the treadmill, splitting running time between songs, and 30 minutes on the elliptical.  Longest running track was 8:50, You Got Me, off the Roots's live album (ups to my homie GLchu for the rec, the CD is amazing).  It got me.  I knew I would regret putting hip hop on my rock exercise mix.  At least I'm getting more used to the pounding on the treadmill. 

I watched the Wimbledon final during the workout, fourth set and  fifth set.  Nadal was pulling off the same kind of wicked passers and forehands as Federer, and it was absolutely stunning to watch.  Imagine Federer playing a younger version of himself.  The amount of athleticism and mastery of their sport that those guys have, and the people in the Olympics, is just incredible.  They make cross court forehands and leaping volleys like they're  tossing a salad.  It must take around 10 years of full-time practice, 20000 hours (50 weeks/yr x 40 hrs/wk x 10 yrs), to get to that level. 

So to finish the championship, the Wimbledon final was 4 hrs 48 minutes, 2 rain delays, Nadal won, 6-4,6-4,6-7,6-7,9-7.  He only had his serve broken once.  John McEnroe said it was the "greatest match I've ever seen", and he was effusive in his praise of both Nadal and Federer.  Nadal was crying as the happiest in his life, while Federer was smiling but torn up - he started crying in his interview with McEnroe.

I'm almost done with my arrangement of "I Can Only Imagine", only the last minute to go.  It takes me still about 12-15 hours to churn one of these out, I need more creative themes to use in the richer parts, because I'm usually a strict interpreter when I notate, rather than a flexible one.  Since I also play the guitar, that means I get a lot funkier rhythms, then I reduce them for singability.  On the other hand, I've already forgot the rhythm for "Insomniooc" - wait, never mind, there it is.

microsloth

In a move reminiscent of my days at Blogger, Internet Explorer crashed just as I finished my entry.  It didn't help that I had four tabs open, but still.  Next time I'm using Notepad, so here's the condensed version.

I went to the gym today.  Thirty minutes elliptical, twenty minutes treadmill.  Not as painful as I thought it'd be, and it felt good afterwords.  I'm still alternating songs, but I'm working up to 5K eventually, just like I went from 25m to 200m swimming.  Tonight I watched Wanted with Kev.  One thumb up, great action but hyper-violent, go see WallE and Get Smart first.

freestyle

Today I went jogging to Stone Mill Park for about an hour.  The route was one I hadn't found before I ran with Kev about 2 weeks ago.  I think the whole thing was maybe 4 miles, since I went through the communities.  I started out trying to run the whole way down, but about 100 meters down I got bad shinsplints.  I suppose I shouldn't be running in the morning when all my muscles are still sleepy. 
Anyway, since I don't wear a watch anymore I don't know how long I had to walk it off.  But as I was listening to my iPod shuffle (which I bought last week) I had a good idea.  I decided to jog every other song, which meant I would have plenty of time to not feel crappy about my aching shins.  As it turned out, the more I ran the better I felt.  It wasn't an endorphin rush, just getting into a rhythm.  I'm really not that fit, so I don't think I could jog the whole hour, but I think I did at least 25 minutes (7 and a half songs worth).  So the jogging wasn't as painful as I thought it'd be.  Mostly I think mixing something I love (listening to music) with something I hate (pounding pavement) has given me something tolerable. 

I also went swimming at Kings Farm with Kawa, Matt and the rest, but I probably only did 6 or so laps.  It was fun to be in the water with everyone, but I definitely didn't exercise as much.  Then we had a huge seafood dinner at Pelican Pete's so that pretty much wiped things out.

Still, I think it's the everyday exercise that really counts, getting the body out of its "yum, let me store up calories stage" to the "hmm, i should put this food to work."

shapeshifting

As of today I have a new job this summer: lose weight.  I hope to lose at least a few pounds, and get into a regular exercise habit for the summer so I can be healthy once I go back to USC.  So now this blog will be as healthy as its owner's name sounds. 

At the urging of my mom I joined the gym at Rio for a month, where I'll be going 3, maybe 4 times a week.  Today I went for an hour swim there.  I was really surprised at how out of practice I was, and thankful that it was a 25m and not 50m, like the one at RMSC.  In particular my kicks were really out of it - I think my last backstroke kicks took maybe 3 minutes for 25m, which is about a yard every 8 seconds.  I blame it on lack of practice and not my wider frame.  I did notice that when my toes were pointed and I used more upper leg, it went better.

After Rio I walked over to the bookstore and picked up NT Wright's Surprised by Hope, which talks about the correct Biblical teaching of resurrection and Heaven.  Ray recommended it to me, and just the first two chapters were great.  It looks like his emphasis is on 'the new heaven and the new earth', a fully physical, restored version of Earth now, and away from the heaven populated by discorporeal souls.  I would've bought it but for the four other books I'm reading right now. 

Maybe I'll write about the vacation I took in the Mediterranean, but maybe I'll reserve that for later.

sketchpad

I think that the problem with my writing my days out is that I am usually unsatisfied (but not dissatisfied) at the end of them.  Now, I used to have an eventful life, but I'm opting for the quiet one now that I'm done with the bustle of college.  I still go out, just sometimes by myself.

Still, something should be done about this.  If not my days, then me.