The last morning in May 2017 delivered a sunny day with a fresh northerly breeze. A four-mile run sounded good to me. Just enough time to think things through about the summer.

Because summer starts the first day of June in my mind. If we wait until June 21st, the longest day of the year, it is akin to giving up before the official season even starts. Why wait for a summer mindset until the calendar decides that it’s best to go downhill in terms of daylight? That’s the seasonal solstice, and the problem with that scenario is that it’s also the time when summer begins is kind of where it already starts to end.

That’s a depressing as all fuck fact if you think about it. So I decided to do some summer thinking before the calendar page actually flipped to June. So I came home from the run this morning and mentioned to Sue that it might be good for us to list out some of the plans we both have. As so often happens between us, she was thinking the same thing.

Summer calendar

As you can see from the photo above, there are a ton of things on our summer calendar. This weekend I run in the Race to Market 5K here in downtown Batavia. Then on Sunday we ride in the Udder Century, a 65-miler through cow country in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. Sue has a 70.3 race in two weeks in Madison, Wisconsin.

On June 16 we’re going to hit Blues On the Fox in Aurora. We both love live music. The third week in June on the 24th brings a wedding for the son of some of my best friends. And then the 4th of July weekend brings a trip to Kentucky to ride the Ironman course in Louisville that Sue will engage this October.

JULY

Then comes my first triathlon on July 9, the Lake Zurich Olympic. The following weekend on July 15 is the Crystal Lake Open Water Swim. Then on July 20th we’ve going to see Steve Miller Band and Peter Frampton in Aurora as well.

On July 22nd there’s a big Cocktails in the Park party here in downtown Batavia. But I might find another race in which I can run, ride or swim, or all three.

Then I turn 60 years old on July 26, 1957.

AUGUST

The first weekend in August I play host to the Road Runner’s Club of America Certification course at the Vaughn Center in North Aurora, Illinois (Right now the course is full.) But, Finally! I’ll be certified to coach other runners. Last year I was scheduled to attend and got thunderstormed out on my way to Michigan.

On August 13, Sue is doing the Steelhead Half Ironman, so that’s a weekend away. Then she does a Madison One-Day Ironman training camp with her coach. I may or may not head up there with her.

SEPTEMBER

We’ll likely go to Madison on the 10th of September to watch the full Ironman.

OCTOBER

And then in October Sue will do her race in Louisville. That’s a pretty big event.

Of course, none of that includes the daily running, riding or swimming we’ll be doing. We’ll fit that in somehow.

A sandhill crane sporting interesting tan lines. 

Perhaps we’ll drink some wine, grill some burgers and maybe swat some mosquitoes after this wet spring. It’s all part of summer along with swaths of sunscreen and glimpses of white flesh beside the tan lines. There should be some weird tanlines this summer with all the ins and outs of training and racing and swimming and running and cycling under the sun.

What do you want from summer? Perhaps the best answer I can give is the chance once in a while, to just sit down and read or write and do next to nothing. I think I’ll try to make that happen too.