Yum & Yuk

From the NYTimes: Outlawed, Cellphones Are Thriving in Prisons: "Technology is changing life inside prisons across the country at the same rapid-fire pace it is changing life outside. A smartphone hidden under a mattress is the modern-day file inside a cake."

Image: source.

The Manifesto of Encouragement - I like.

The Mountain Goats "No Surprises" (Radiohead cover) (live, from 1999).

I finally made it to the gym last night around 7:30 and got in 6 miles on the treadmill and 15 min in the pool. Clearly I'm having trouble getting to the 30 min in the pool that I'm supposed to be doing -which isn't really a surprise to me. Swimming is hard for me, mentally and physically. Mentally, it's hard for me the way meditation is hard for me - good hard, but still hard. Physically, I didn't learn how to swim laps till I was 22 and training for my first sprint triathlon. I was unemployed and living at home and so could devote 3-4 hours a day to working out and I did. However, after that ended, I basically didn't swim again (except doggy paddling around a pool or lake) and so my swimming hasn't progressed. I feel spent after 10-15 laps, even in the pool, and I really have no idea how I'm going to get the swimming portion of my IronMan done. I'm hoping that just by focusing on short swimming practice for the coming months, and then getting into it full time once my marathon is over in May, I'll be able to see some serious improvement.

I've realized that I'm cranky as hell when I don't workout in the morning (well, it's not the only reason I'm cranky but it's a contributing factor) and I'm trying to figure out how to balance my need for a morning workout with my schedule, need for sleep, scheduled day off, etc. Today is supposed to be a day off from training and working out. That said, I am, once again, cranky as hell and itching to get moving, sweating, endorphins racing. So I packed my workout bag, and we will see what happens. I don't want to burn out but also my training is relatively low key (compared to what some people do), and a big part of my relationship to excercize is for my emotional and mental health so I have a hard time saying no to a workout if it's gonna help me on both those fronts....