RAGBRAI, swimming!!!

Date	Place of run	Duration (min)	Start time
15 July	Johnston	34	8:05
18 July	Johnston	36	7:32
22 July	Johnston	36	7:03
24 July	Johnston	33	8:01
25 July	Ankeny (swimming)	36	Afternoon

                I do some stretching before and during the runs, but my legs don’t feel free.  I don’t sprint because it feels quite constrained. 

                The phys therapist gave me some more exercises.  It’s amazing how simple they can be.  I will do the ones she has suggested, but it seems that anything that stresses me out a bit is good for me.  In general, I should do the exercises in such a way that they don’t hurt or else they hurt only a small amount, and I will benefit. 

                On the 18^th, the boys and I traveled to Storm Lake. RAGBRAI, the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa, would be staying overnight in the town on Sunday night.  On Saturday, my cousin took us out on the lake in his speed boat to do some tubing.  An air-filled rubber tube is pulled behind the boat with a person on top.  It’s great fun.  With my shoulder injury, of course, I didn’t partake in the exercise—I only watched and drove the boat a bit (…and filled up the fossil-fuel drinking machine). 

                Sunday, we rode backwards on the bike route for a short time and then came back into town.  On Monday, we got out of the house about 7:00.  I wanted to get going before the rain came.  My son and I walked our bikes from the back of the garage to the front of the garage before the rain came.  I was not optimistic that we would be riding much that day.  Back in the house, the kids and I played a trivia game for about an hour and a half.  Wonderfully, after this short respite, the rain stopped, the clouds cleared, and it didn’t rain for the rest of the day!!  We rode to the first town in the route, Newell, my HOME TOWN!  I saw my 3^rd grade teacher, my high school English teacher, among others from the past, and then we rode back to Storm Lake.

I could try to describe the event, but if you really care, and want to get an accurate impression of it, you should read some of the newspaper accounts.

These words were written by a Des Moines Register columnist who was on the ride.

http://ragbrai.com/2015/07/19/1102837/

Within my first five minutes of RAGBRAI I saw a kilted bagpiper serenade bicyclists as they sped out of Sioux City; was passed by a rider covered head to toe in a green and red cosplay-style Grinch/elf Christmas getup; and stood in line for a breakfast burrito from the Knights of Columbus, raising money for their homeless shelter.

                Yesterday, July 25, the boys and I went to a water park nearby.  During the 10-minute hourly break, adults are allowed to swim unmolested by youngsters.  During this time, I swam some laps.  They were some of the most pleasant moments of the summer, as I understood that my shoulder is getting better.  I moved my arm through its entire 360⁰ range with no pain.  I didn’t want to stress things out so I didn’t push it, but life was fine.