This Juliana Hatfield tribute to Olivia Newton-John showed up for me in a new music email and I figured it might something Michelle might like in a nostalgic or kitschy kind of way. Instead, I’ve been listening to it non-stop.

I was unaware of my familiarity with the ON-J catalog. I don’t even mind it. These are solid pop songs and Juliana Hatfield plays them in her own style without the slightest hint of cynicism.

You can hear what I mean in this video for “A Little More Love”:

I’ve been dabbling in cardio lately and thought it would be a good idea to run the Monument Av. 10k. My younger daughter and I took a….casual…approach to the training schedule and managed to get through the race without any trouble. It was a lot slower than I used to be able to do it but I was really there for the company.

My mom and sister made these signs to cheer us on and my wife and older daughter also came out to cheer. It’s always great to have support in the crowd.

After the race we enjoyed the traditional sandwich and pint at Melito’s (and then after lunch I enjoyed the traditional shower and 3-hour nap!).

Holy crow. So stressful, again. What a match!

Speaking of great programming on Netflix, Nailed It! is a new 6-episode “game show” that plays out like Cake Wrecks in real-time. It has all of the charm of GBBO with none of the skill on display.

I went to my second weightlifting meet last weekend, the Unrivaled Classic 2017. I kept a running diary.

4:47am Unwelcome alarm clock but I set it so I’d have room for one Snooze.
4:54am I didn’t even make it through the whole Snooze. Disappointing.
5:40am Coffee in-hand, I’m in the car and driving. I’ve got to deliver a forgotten gym bag to another lifter so I need to get to Chesapeake by 7:30 (for my 8M weigh-in).
6:28am Construction cut I64 down to one lane but it only lasted 10 minutes. Still on time.
7:20am Parked at the Chesapeake Conference Center. Easy enough drive. Gym bag delivered. I could use a nap.
7:45am Nap cut short by a vendor who was trying to set up in my nap corner.
8:03am Weighed in. It’s not a stressful occasion when there isn’t a ceiling on your weight class. I declared openers of a 64kg snatch and a 92kg clean and jerk. Those are doable based on training results.
9:08am Potty break. Apologies to the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. I had to get that out. Like my old friend Bob used to say, “Better an empty apartment than an angry tenant”.
10:00am Group photo for the session.

(The timeline gets a little hinky in here because I was either backstage warming up or on the platform competing and I didn’t have my phone.)

10:10am-12pm Getting coached up by Chris. I am still such a newb at these things. I’d be lost without him. Seriously. The gifs below are my best lifts of the day, a 72 kg snatch and a 100kg clean and jerk for 172kg meet total.

I had 6 good lifts in 6 attempts and it all felt great. I’m probably a little stronger than my numbers suggest and meet-day adrenaline carried me even further.

12:15pm More friendly faces from my gym got to the venue for their weigh-ins. Even though it’s a solitary sport we definitely share the support you get from being on a team.
1:10pm I stuck around for the award ceremony from my session and got my 2nd place medal. It was easy, since there were only two people in my class.
1:15pm I wished everyone well and hit the road for home.

I’m already signed up for the next local meet, the Old Dominion Classic, in January. It’ll be fun.

(And I’m also testing the iOS configuration of my WordPress app (looks like it works))