Got an email today from an old friend, a backpacking buddy who recently retired (late 50’s no less), built a beautiful home in Montana and moved out west with his wife to live the good life. He emailed to invite John and me on their annual canyon backpacking trip. Apparently some of his “regulars” cannot go in late April and he is looking for another two-some.
Any other year, we would jump at the chance. Roger’s 30 years of canyon trips are legendary, not only for the scenery, camaraderie and military schedule that he keeps the group marching to, but the stories that circulate post trip….couldn’t find water, lost in the wrong canyon, group member evacuated with a broken leg and so on.
Well, with my job situation, backpacking in the canyons of southern Utah is a dream that will not materialize this year. I emailed Roger with my regrets and news about my job. He quickly emailed me back with condolences stated in a way that only Roger can:
“Beverly,
A) I am sorry you can not join us and more importantly,
b) I am extremely sorry you lost your job. That is terrible. Especially when one is past one’s mid-40’s, it becomes harder, I think, to find a new position.
And of course, this is a bad time to be looking for work. Damn!!”
His email is spot on of course, and it made me smile. People tend to walk around the difficult landmines, “past one’s mid-40’s” (actually past 50 for me) and “bad time to be looking for work.” These are issues I have been rolling around in my mind for several days. I know they will make my search more challenging!
Also challenging, for me anyway, was today’s workout. The weather was grey and chilly this morning so I retreated to the treadmill. I use a number of methods to trick my mind while on the treadmill, today I used 15 minute segments…15 minutes to go, another 15 minutes to go and so on. Around the 4th mile, I started getting weary. I looked at the mph and realized I had set it at 5.4, I usually run at 5.2-5.3 mph. Whoops! Anyway, I finished mile 5 at a 5.2 mph pace and decided to stop.
Since I did not have to get back to work, I put on my bathing suit (ouch!) and went swimming. Although I took swimming lessons as a kid, I have spent very little time in the water as an adult and somewhere along the line, I developed some fear of the water. My mother would laugh at this. As a kid, I couldn’t wait to swim all day or dive off the high board. But the fear is there now, it crops up just as soon as I put my face in the water. Today was my day to just “get over it.”
My goal was 20 minutes in the water, I don’t have the endurance to spend more. After a few laps of breast stroke, a few of side stroke, it was time to put my face in the water for the free style. It took a few minutes to convince myself that the pool is only 4′ deep and I am not likely to drown. I started out breathing every stroke but was able to settle down enough to breathe every other. I can only swim 2 laps (40 meters) without stopping but, hey, this is Day 1, I am just getting warmed up! My legs were rubber after the run-swim effort but this should get better with time.
Run: 5-miles, 55.56 minutes, 11.11 minute miles
Swim: 20 minutes
