The Cup is Half Full

I could have looked at today as the cup is half empty, but I decided to have a more positive outlook. My day started around 3:45am, with my wife having a coughing and sneezing fit, which made it impossible for me to sleep. Instead, I chose to use her racket as incentive to get myself out of bed. She was infinitely better than an alarm clock.

I still wasn’t convinced I wanted to go to the pool this morning, but I decided to forge ahead. I took my daily dose of Race Caps, a Gurana pill and a pre workout shake and then moseyed to the bathroom. I took a nice little rest on the porcelain throne.

After I finished my bathroom business, I found myself dilly dallying ferociously, but at least I was still getting ready. About this time, I felt a migraine headache coming on so I popped a couple of Excedrin – the wonder drug when it comes to curing headaches. My wife then came down from our bedroom since she couldn’t sleep, so I took the opportunity to delay my departure to the pool some more.

After a few minutes of talking, I was fully dressed with my coat and hood on and she was ready to go back to bed. At this point, my headache was in full bloom, so I took a bonus Excedrin pill. I closed my eyes on the couch for a few minutes and then got annoyed at myself and left the house.

About a mile after leaving my house, I made a right hand turn through a stop sign. It was still very early in the morning and I didn’t even come close to making a full stop. My heart almost stopped though when I saw the flashing lights of a police car through my rearview mirror pulling me over. I thought for sure I was being pulled over for not waiting out a red light a block earlier.

Being in the cup is half full frame of mind, I was grateful for the fact that I was pulled over for the stop sign instead of the red light – a much more serious offense. The officer asked for my license, registration and insurance certificate. I gave him the first two items, but I couldn’t immediately find my current insurance card. This turned out to be a blessing, because it gave the officer an excuse to write me up for a missing insurance card, instead of the stop sign. Now at least I have a way to beat the ticket; again a half full cup. Also the time it took for the paper work to be completed gave me enough time for the Excedrin to fully kick in and get rid of my headache.

After parking my car and walking to the pool, some maniac decided to make an illegal turn by gunning his car in reverse into a driveway for maneuvering room. This driveway was the exact place I happened to be standing. Fortunately it is my cup that runneth over and not my body. The car missed me by just inches. The driver didn’t even pause to issue an apology. Where are the police when you need them?

Finally in the pool, I entered a 50 meter lane that was occupied a bunch of people that looked to be pushing the age of death. It was the least crowded lane and really my only choice. This actually worked out well, since I was able to throw in the occasional sprint to pass these slower swimmers. It made for a satisfying swim workout.

The rest of my day from that point on has gone pretty good. I got in a nice 10K treadmill run, with limited shin pain. I think I will stick to my weekday runs on a treadmill to allow myself a softer surface in a warm environment. My shin definitely hurts more when I run in temperatures below 40 degrees, especially on the cold and frozen surfaces.

After I finished my run, I had less than 20 minutes to shave, shower, dress and move my car. I skipped the shave, showered quickly, threw all of my belonging together is a large sweaty pile and dashed for my car. I made it with plenty of time to spare. Too bad I didn’t use that extra time to brush my teeth before I left, but at least I have all of my teeth to brush later.