Summer Goals

A sea couldn't wash away
The happiness I've come to find since love
Has taught me how to break
Break these chains that hold me back

Noisy streets and the sleepy bars
And the neon signs and the rusty cars
How many nights have I wondered how
One goes through life without seeing the beauty of love
Whooa, the beauty of love
Whooa

Gonna live it up in this town
And dance like the song is never ending
Gonna get so high tonight
You won't be able to bring me down

And I like it
Yeah, I like it
The Dixie Chicks

Well there is no question that Jimmy is a big, huge fan of summer. All the bad things I say about winter you can take and swap because I love me some summertime. One thing I have learned over these last few years is to be able to better identify some of my problem areas and it may sound strange but winter has been a huge problem area for me. I think I have put on weight and been more sedentary from Thanksgiving thru March, and it has been a huge component of my weight gain. So, I for one, am extremely happy that spring has sprung and it already feels like summer here in Madison, maybe not when it snowed last week but no complaints as days in the 70's and high 60's have been the norm most of my first week back.

So lets start with some of my summer goals. Well no surprise with the first goal. Play as much damn volleyball as I can. I played 4 nights last summer and loved every minute of it. This summer I am on 6 teams playing every night except Saturday. We play coed 6's which is 3 boys and 3 girls on a side. Some nights more competitive than others. Sunday, this year, is reserved for fun with some beginner friends who want to play. Hopefully I can ratchet down the competitive gene in me that tends to cloud my temperament but no promises. Ok, I promise not to be a jerky pants on Sunday, but every other night I'm in it to win. I have stressed this so many times before but let me reiterate. Find something you enjoy, something you can commit to doing, something that gets you out of the house. It doesn't really have to even be exercise oriented. Interact with people, have fun, make friends, and live life. Everything else about you will benefit from it.


Goal #2 Buy some damn clothes that fit me better. I know some of you are tired of seeing me in baggy shirts. I have put it off long enough and will update the wardrobe. It is like saying goodbye to some old friends and truth be told I didn't spend much of my life in loose fitting clothes so it is fun to put on clothes I used to squeeze into and have them hang. But I do know that I look better and fitter when I wear clothes that fit me. I tend to go back to pictures that I think I look good in and most of them have me wearing clothes that are smaller. So this summer some new clothes.

Goal #3 Do another triathlon. I need to keep the morning part of my workouts going and focused. So I am signing up to do the Capitol View Sprint Triathlon on June 13th. A little different than my first foray into tri-dom in that the swim is in a lake, the bike ride two miles longer and the run on paths thru a state park. Also different is there will thankfully be no cameras following me around. I have talked two friends into signing up with me and both will kick my ass for fun but, you know me, always looking to drag along my friends because in retrospect the thing I most enjoyed about the last race was sharing the joy and the satisfaction of completing the race with my other competitors. Therefore this is an open invitation to anyone who wants to come compete with me. So to help with this triathlon I bought a bike. The Cannondale Quick 6 Jumbo. The jumbo referring to the size of the frame not the size of the dude riding it. $400 plus some add ons like the water bottle holder, new bigger pedals, and after learning the hard way, a wider, cushier, saddle or seat if you prefer. And special thanks to my wife who decided it would make a nice anniversary gift for me and pulled out the cash at purchase time to pay for it. Will ease the pain a bit of her being in Hawai'i next week for our actual anniversary.

I have some other fitness goals as well. Stay away from Capriotti's which just opened in Madison and makes the best damn subs you have ever tasted. Capriotti's has the ability to wreck me like no other place around. I always looked forward to stopping in on my trips to Vegas, in fact, booked a room at Aliante once just cause they have one in their casino about 25 yards from the sportsbook. Sweet memories indeed. I never imagined they would open here, and just for fun opened about a 1/4 mile from the pool/gym I work out in. Have failed on that goal so far but haven't had to fax them a picture of myself yet with a request for them to hang it and not sell to me. If they had been here 3 years ago Richard Simmons and a bulldozer would have been knocking on my side wall. I want to become proficient on the bike. Easy enough ride the bike a lot more. I want to become more proficient on the ground. Easy enough run more, but I am still limping around sometimes and I swear I trace it back to a crazy bad step on slots canyon hike. It doesn't bother me when I am actually doing something but it takes it awhile to warm up. I want to beat my time when I go back to St George for the November triathlon. I want to play more tennis, more basketball, and some softball. This is why I lost the weight more than health, more than looks, more than anything was so that I could compete again, so that's what I plan to do.

It wouldn't be summer if I didn't talk about concerts. I have already bought a bunch of tickets for this summer and concerts have gotten so expensive. Cant wait to hear Simon and Garfunkel do Mrs. Robinson, James Taylor and Carole King do Sweet Baby James and So Far Away, The Eagles and Dixie Chicks do Take it to Limit and Wide Open Spaces, Jack Johnson do Better Together,and Tom Petty do You Wreck Me. Really want to see my girl Sara Bareilles on one of the Lilith Fair stops although where is in question. And kick it all off this Sunday with an Ingrid Michaelson show in Milwaukee. Now that's some live music. And that doesn't include the slew of
local bands around town. I want to see Rachel Alexandra win again, want to win some more team trivia, see my ridge friends in Madison and elsewhere, and hopefully not look like an idiot on national TV (May 19th, CNBC). But most of all I want it be a fun, productive, happy, warm, awesome summer for me and all of you. Peace and Summer Lovin', Jim