Defenders

You're the color of the sky
Reflected in each store-front window pane
You're the whispering and the sighing
Of my tires in the rain
You're the hidden cost and the thing that's lost
In everything I do
Yeah and I'll never stop looking for you
In the sunlight and the shadows
And the faces on the avenue
That's the way love is
That's the way love is
That's the way love is
Sky blue and black

Jackson Browne

It's been two full days of basketball since I last blogged and and one day of doing the bulk of the triathlon. I sustained my first half-way serious injury since I have been here this trip and as far as injuries go it's not really that bad. We have had some days that were amazingly beautiful and a day of rain and wind and cold. It's really been a mixed bag kind of week

Wednesday I set out to do as much of the triathlon as I could. It was one month out from the date of the race and I figured I really needed to get a grasp on where I stood as far as prep work needed. This is the Sand Hollow Pool area from the outside. The locals call the building something to do with boobs but I'm not sure what. It will stage the swim, and be the transition area for the biking and for the running portions of the race. I spent the early part of the morning on the actual running course. I did that full leg, not at race speed, but at a decent pace. I had a 1pm appointment with the trainer Tiffany, who has been an amazing help in my tri-prep. We did the full swim in the Ridge pool and worked on transitioning onto the bike. Strapped on a helmet for the first time and went out and rode in my swimming suit for around 4 miles. Still need to stretch that out but I have no fear of finishing this thing and one month to add speed and endurance. Who knew I could be a triathlete.

I feel like I haven't done a very good job of taking food pic's this trip. We had stuffed chicken with wild rice last. I really like this dinner although I have no idea what they actually stuff the breast with. I swear there were some pumpkin seeds in it. Food has been really good this trip. 1200 calories is not a lot by any measure, and I feel at times like it's just not enough to sustain my body through these kind of workouts but they do a magnificent job of making those 1200 calories appealing.

Jerica modeling Thursday night's dessert the chocolate covered strawberries. Now they come in many different sizes but the one Jerica landed was the Moby Dick of strawberries, and heart shaped for good measure.

Wednesday was also a really good day to be Jim as my Maryland Terps got to celebrate senior night by welcoming the Duke Blue Devils to town. I drove down to Mesquite, settled into the lucky chair at the Casablanca sports book, enjoyed my Subway turkey on wheat, and watched bedlam in College Park as the Terps gained a share of first place in the ACC by beating the dukies. What made it even more special was the friends that watched along and spent the night texting me congrats. I really love this time of year.

Thursday was rainy and cold and my plans to ride the bike changed into some extra morning gym time. A huge thanks to Paige because she was "nice" enough to buy me some bigger medicine balls. You wouldn't think the jump from 12 to 18 lbs would be a huge difference but it is. I headed to my second Mormon church of the week this one with a slightly larger basketball court. Now I have been happy with my shooting and general play since I started playing in earnest. I'm not the defender I used to be. I reached in to someone cutting through the lane and jammed the hell out of my finger. It is swollen and a strange shade of black and purple this morning. I gave it a quick tug after the foul and straightened it out pretty well, but there is not much bending going on today, and my trip to camelbak is going to have to wait for another day as there's no way I can rock climb with one working hand.

Thursday night I joined Eric and his son Jake and the owners Cameron and Michelle and their merry band of children for the Dixie State College Hawai'i-Hilo basketball game. A slight drop off talent wise from the Terps but I'll watch basketball anytime. A much bigger drop off attendance wise as I would estimate the crowd in the 300 range. The home team was winning by 20+ when we left with 6 minutes to play.

There is just something about this state that you find yourself holding babies. People seem to have a lot of them and figure you know what you're doing so they hand them off to you. This is the beautiful, happy young Macie who got in some sitting on Santa's lap practice at the Dixie game. Making girls smile, young and old :)

Mari-Ann did a nice job giving me a litlle trim and style on Tuesday night. The hair style doesn't really have a name but I have chosen to call it "The Bird" Quite a few people asked me if I had gotten a haircut, but I know what they were really saying, dude you have hair under that hat, who knew?

Need to give a shout out to Kelsey a college student from Jersey here this week. She said that she liked reading the music on the blog and then dropped sky blue and black on me as her favorite Jackson Browne song. A 20 year old who actually has a favorite Jackson tune, wow, the world and Fitness Ridge is a better place. No major weekend plans. We have the bowling trip Saturday after Graduation. I have to say goodbye to a bunch of friends this weekend which is so hard for me. I have a week left until I get a short break in Vegas. I have signed up for 3 workouts when i am there, but I can assure you my body is looking forward to the freshening, because it is as beat up right now as it has ever been in Utah. Oh well, besides being sore and tired my body feels damn good and I even will occasionally look in a mirror and not wince. This place is amazing. Have a nice weekend. peace and love, Jim