Everything Changes

 I started running on the treadmill, and pressed '>' on my iPod. This is what I heard:

Night lift up the shades
let in the brilliant light of morning
but steady there now
for I am weak and starving for mercy
sleep has left me alone
to carry the weight of unravelling where we went wrong
it's all I can do to hang on
to keep me from falling
into old familiar shoes

[Chorus:]

how stupid could I be
a simpleton could see
that you're no good for me
but you're the only one I see

love has made me a fool
it set me on fire and watched as I floundered
unable to speak
except to cry out and wait for your answer
but you come around in your time
speaking of fabulous places
create an oasis
dries up as soon as you're gone
you leave me here burning
in this desert without you

[Chorus]

everything changes
everything falls apart
can't stop to feel myself losing control
but deep in my senses I know

[Chorus]

It's a song by Sarah Maclachlan called Stupid.
Now what stood out were the words 'everything changes'. The first piece of music that launched me on my Ironman training mission was from Call On Me (I'm the same boy I used to be).
Believe it or not, these lyrics activated me just as well.
I ran very slowly, watching my heartbeat (it was even registering on the treadmill). I carefully explored the range between 130 and 140.

The next song was this one:

I was bruised and battered and I couldn't tell
what I felt
I was unrecognizable to myself
Saw my reflection in a window I didn't know
my own face

It's from Bruce Springsteen's Philadelphia. That's exactly how I have been feeling these last few weeks, unable to train, unrecognizable to myself, unable to tell how I felt...

As soon as I entered the gym I got myself tested on BodyIQ.


Blood pressure, weight, body fat etc.

Weight: 85.75kg
Body fat: 24.6%
Blood pressure: pretty much ideal

I divided my session into 3:

Run: 20 minutes (gradual build up and ease down)
Gym: 20 minutes: including 10 pullups, and plenty of stomach grinding exercises
Swim: 20 minutes



Met a guy called Basil in the pool. We got to chatting. He had some positive things to say about Heartland, and also asked me to draw up a swimming programme for him. And he offered to pay me.

Couldn't find my brother's place in Langenhooven Park, but the flip side was Justus and I had a brief but good chat about the future of the magazine.

I really enjoyed training again. I felt a lot weaker, but also good and strong in the water. Sometimes it's a good thing, knowing that Everything Changes. I am about to provide ample evidence of that.