Monday - Monday

Today was our afternoon “yard” day which means our tie (the bottom) gets out only once at 12:30 pm to 4:00 pm. As I wrote about last week I prefer getting out first thing in the morning in order to start my workout. Also I was curious to start a full week of the physical training plus class. This is the class that gets the inmates ready for the regular physical training class. In addition, if I were to become an instructor I will be leading this class. I was very fortunate to be able to get outside first thing this morning in order to attend this class.

The class was the easiest day because of it being a Monday and presumably many of the inmates’s first training class. It was a very good warm-up for me and helped me focus in on my techniques a bit more. It also gave me the chance to speak with the lead instructor once again. I wanted to verify my form and was able to get “that’s perfect” from the lead instructor. After the class, which only lasted about 30 minutes I stayed and worked out an additional hour and 15 minutes. I needed to focus in on the exercises which I was able to do. The mountain climbers still seem to give me problems most likely due to my high arched feet and very tight hamstrings. There really is nothing I can do about my feet but I can do more hamstring stretches. For as long as I can remember I have had a problem with my hamstring flexibility. This is due to my long distance running and lack of stretching. Last week I started doing more stretches and very slowly each day my flexibility is improving. I just have to stay with it and continue doing a little more each day. I know better than to do too much because the last thing I want to do is pull something. I do know slow and steady always is the best.

I do enjoy the fact that I can now exercise regularly outside even if it is in the afternoons. I also realize how good I had it when I was exercising in a health club. I was able to vary my pieces of exercise equipment. Also, I could alternate riding the stationary bike with running on the treadmill. All of my training for the five marathons I ran had been predominately done on the treadmill. I did some long runs outside but the training leading up to the marathons was performed on the treadmill. Now I don’t have the options which were available to me and mostly I jog and do calisthenics. There are pull-up bars and dip bars available, but I do prefer the calisthenics. I must be careful not to over do the jogging especially since I am jogging in borrowed sneakers (tennis shoes for those of you on the West Coast). I was honored to be given these sneakers even though they are not running shoes. These sneakers are 100% better than my work boots and I was very fortunate to receive them. They are sketcher sneakers and have a great deal of cushion; however, the running track is made of asphalt and the type of mileage I have been doing I must be careful not to do too much. This is why today I concentrated only on the calisthenics while running only three miles.

I have been feeling good both mentally and physically. This has a great deal to do with being able to exercise each day outside. The weather has been spectacular. The daytime “highs” have been in the low 70’s and the evening “lows” have been in the mid 40’s which is perfect for sleeping. I have not seen a cloud in the sky since I arrived here 10 days ago and my face now has color because of the bright sunshine. I don’t know how cold it gets here in the winter and judging by the denim coat I received hopefully it doesn’t get too cold. I believe we are getting thermal underwear by the end of this week which may mean it does get cold. I believe the early morning temperature this morning was 42 degrees which may not be cold to many people but for me spending13 years on the West coast in some rather tepid conditions, it feels cold. I do understand that out of the two fire camp training centers the one I am at (Sierra Conservation Center) has much better weather because at the other center (California Conservation Center) it snows 8 months out of the year. This one is located in the High Sierra which produces the most snowfall of any region in the United States. So I have been very fortunate being placed here in so many different ways.

I had a very good morning and when I came back inside I was able to jump right into the shower. Since all of the rest of my dorm mates were preparing to go outside this afternoon, I was able to take a nice long hot shower. There is one unique thing about taking a shower in prison (well there maybe more!) which is to go into the shower with my socks (wearing shower shoes of course), boxers and undershirt. I don’t do this because I am modest; I do this because it is the easiest way to wash my socks, boxers and undershirt. Otherwise I could wash them in the sink or wait until Tuesday when the prison does laundry. I prefer washing my clothes while I am washing my body. This certainly does get old but there is no other way to keep clean underwear during the week. I was only given three pair of boxers, undershirts, and four pairs of socks. There are seven days until laundry day (once a week). We do receive the laundry items the next day but I would have to have at least nine pair of boxers, undershirts, and socks to take full advantage of the laundry. With the way I workout the only way for me to keep my bunk area from smelling is to wash everyday. Also, I was able to borrow a pair of workout shorts until my package arrives and these are washed daily as well. Fortunately, this area has very low humidity and the clothes dry fast. I hang the clothes from my bunk and there are two makeshift clothes lines attached to the front and back of the bunk.

I am not very fond of always washing, rinsing and wringing my clothes but my options are limited. Earlier on I was having a hard time wringing out my undershirts enough so they would not drip onto the bunk while hanging. However; now I know I need to ensure all the water is out of the undershirt prior to me hanging it from the bunk. I don’t wash my colored pants and shirts for this reason because I can’t seem to wring them out well enough. Also I can wait the week in order to have them washed in the prison laundry. IN addition, I only wear the pants and shirts to breakfast and dinner. All the other times is spent in my workout shorts and undershirts. I cannot wait for the day where I can jump into the shower and only wash my body.

I was able to get outside for the afternoon yard and had a few administrative things I needed to do. First thing was signing up for a telephone call. I told my wife I would try and call her on Wednesday so I could speak with the children. Today being Monday means at 1:00 pm the selections for Wednesday’s telephone assignment come out. I was able to secure a 3:00 pm slot on Wednesday for the telephone call. I have heard I am possibly going to classification on Wednesday which I am sure will conflict with this time. However, apparently the confirmation (ducat) of going to classification does not come out until Tuesday night so just in case it does not conflict with my telephone call I needed to schedule it.

I wrote about my medical appointment “debacle” and I am still waiting for the re-scheduled appointment. I do hope this does not delay my process in any way because two of the critical steps of getting to fire camp are classification and medical. Also, the fact that I am over the age of 40 (I am 41) I need an EKG before being cleared for fire camp. I understand the medical staff were performing these last week which is a great sign because prior to this obtaining one was a hassle. I was told it was taking some inmates three months before they received an EKG this holding up their fire camp eligibility status. Again, hopefully the re-scheduled medical appointment will happen very soon.

I do like Mondays for the simple reason another week has started and another week has been completed. I am still on the peripheral of finding a routine at least for today. In fact, I have found a routine for the days I have morning yard, I just have to keep figuring out how I can get outside in the morning on days I don’t have morning yard. I did like the fact of having the afternoon of taking it easy and doing some administrative errands. The other administrative errand was finally exchanging my double X size boxers for something (size 30 as opposed to size 48!) that actually fits me. I was able to exchange my boxers and pants for a reasonable size. I was also able to exchange my work boots from a wide size to a regular size. I was not able to exchange my four X size shirts because they did not have any so I will continue wearing these “dresses” for the foreseeable future. These are very small items in the grand scheme of prison but they do make my days go faster which is my goal each and every day.