6 August 2026

Doubling down on my swimming lessons!

Before I left for vacation to the Polynesian Islands, my swim teacher declared that I had cleared Level 1 and was ready for Level 2. I took that as her polite way of saying she had finally had enough of me refusing to get into the water, then bawling loudly to get out once I was in. You know, classic Level 1 behavior.

For a while, I thought I might take a break from my swimming career. But those aforementioned Polynesian islands changed my mind. It was as if the azure waters were calling to me, like sirens luring me out into the sea. So I resolved to get back to my lessons.

Fresh out of my first Level 2 class, I now have a deeper, pardon the pun, understanding of what these new exercises are meant to do. I am apparently now taking in twice as much water through my mouth and nose as I did in Level 1.

At this rate, the highest level of training will have me drinking the whole ocean. Isn’t that also called drowning?

Okay, now I am confused.

🙂

Category: Swimming | LEAVE A COMMENT
25 July 2026

There is a reason it is called a “Run”way

You saw the toddler learning to crawl on the runway. She was adorable.

You have probably seen models walk the runway. They are elegant.

Now you get to see a runner run the runway. He was… difficult to watch.

Evenings are not my ideal running time. It was hot, humid, and I was painfully slow. But I was determined to complete three end-to-end trips on the runway, a little over 1.5 km each way.

So, I can now proudly add another completely unnecessary achievement to my running résumé. Right next to “Ran the original Marathon route of Phidippides” (back in 2015), I can now claim, “Ran a 5K on a live airport runway.”

My running logbook may be fading with age, but at least it is getting weirder.

Category: Running, Vacations | LEAVE A COMMENT
21 July 2026

Layover Lagoon

Hopefully, the airport reopens today. Thanks to all the rescheduling, I now have a fairly convoluted sequence of flights ahead of me.

In the meantime, there was little to do but make the best of an unexpected extra day in Vanuatu. I took a kayak out into Erakor Lagoon. The water was crystal clear. It was surreal to see all the starfish calmly scattered all across the sandy bottom.

Category: Kayaking, Vacations | LEAVE A COMMENT
1 July 2026

Rockstar Parking

To practice my drowning… I mean, swimming… outside of class, I headed to the local Wills Park Pool.

As I pulled into the parking lot, I noticed it was fairly crowded. That gave me mixed feelings. On one hand, I was about to embarrass myself in front of a lot of people. On the other hand, if I accidentally wandered into the deep end, there would be plenty of witnesses… and hopefully a few willing rescuers.

Fortunately, the parking spot closest to the entrance was open.

Unfortunately, it was reserved for “Rockstars of the Week.”

Now, most sensible people would have parked across the road where there we empty spots.

I am apparently not one of them.

I walked into the front desk and made my case.

“I am learning to swim,” I explained. “It can be independently verified that I sink like a rock. Not just this week, but every single week. Doesn’t that qualify me for that parking spot?”

The nice lady at the front desk did not so much reject my argument as gently shooed me away.

Fair enough.

By the time I came back outside, the spot next to the Rockstar space had opened up.

Honestly, that suited me just fine.

I figured I should probably learn to float in the water before floating any other stupid ideas.

Category: Swimming | LEAVE A COMMENT