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Weird week for fitness

I am doing the zero to 1 mile swimming program.  http://ruthkazez.com/ZeroTo1mile.html I am currently in week 5 which has me swimming about 0.6 miles nonstop. Yesterday went to Lake Allatoona for some open water swimming practice. I felt strong through the 1000 yards, which took 20 minutes. Sighting needs work. Finished up with 4 x 100s although it was hard to judge distance so I just swam for 3 minute intervals. Ran in to some chop right at the finish. Solid effort but I think I need to rest my right

Simple pleasures

In the chaos and clutter of our lives, sometimes we forget what makes us happy. Simple pleasure # 1 - The smell of coffee brewing in the morning and the taste of the first few sips.

Thundering Silence: Backpacking on the Appalachian Trail

Ventured out on my first backpacking trip on the Appalachian Trail, or AT as its known in the hiking community.  I hadn't been backpacking since I was in the Scouts, when we did a 10-miler at Kennesaw Mountain. My wife Renee had never been backpacking although we had both been primitive car-camping before and we each share a love of the outdoors.  This trip had been in the making for a few years with us sharing a "Wouldn't that be awesome," conversation or two.  I also recall my dad saying how neat it would be to hike the entire AT when I was a kid, a lofty goal to be sure. Renee and I are both in pretty good shape from running and bicycling so we figured that a 2-night trip on the AT would be feasible.  We were right...mostly. We purchased our backpacking and camping gear the week before and took a practice hike at a local trail. We did a trial run at Sutallee Trace in Canton to test the waters and get the packs dialed in.  I felt some new muscles being wor...