Well, it's most of the way through the week and I am pooped. It's been a long time since I went to school from 8:00 AM to 2:30 PM and I didn't have a job then, either - a night job, at that. I used to be involved in all kinds of activities after school: football, theater, track, soccer, Bible study. But, like I said, it's been a while.
I'm glad my day is so filled now. It feels a bit more like the busyness I'm used to on the outside. I just wish I could make my own choices and do what I want instead of waking up with my day decided for me. I miss being outside, too. We haven't had rec outside for about two weeks now. Because I'm not able to run, I've been doing work outs in the dorm - mostly pull-ups and hanging crunches. I hope we get some good time outside before it gets too chilly.
I thinl part of the reason I'm exhausted is my erratic sleep schedule. I don't think I've gotten more than four hours of straight sleep since the weekend and it's never at the same time of day, either. That's just a reality of prison life when you share your room with nine guys, a TV, toilet, and shower. Oh, if I could have a quiet place with a mattress, covers and a pillow - right now that would be heaven.
After the adventure of registering for classes yesterday, I stayed up to study and take my philosophy test over ethics. I was dead tired when I started the test and very nervous that I wouldn't perform well or remember the material. I think that fear put me in gear, because I feel like I wrote a really good paper. At least, it would have been a good paper if I could have finished it.
I had one paragraph left to write when we were told to stop writing and return to our dorms. We had been put on lockdown. I didn't find out until today that some idiot on Death Row had acquired a cell phone and called a state senator to threaten him. As you can imagine, the senator was ticked off and got the governor ticked off. The governor then issued a statewide prison lockdown to search for more cell phones, and other "contraband",which ticked off the guards and inmates.
So, this morning we went through the property search and shakedown like before. This week will be filled with boredom as we can't go to work, school, or rec. Even meals will be brought to us in johnnies. All this gives me a chance to catch up on letter writing and reading. It's nice to have the TV off, too.
Yesterday evening the field and gym opened for recreation ... finally.
With excitement built up for a potential pick-up soccer match, I was a little disappointed when only six or seven players showed up.
Not one to allow the circumstances get me down, I decided to do intervals around the track. I was shooting for seven intervals of one minute hard running followed by two minutes of jogging all back-to-back.
Boy, all this time without recreation has killed my stamina. I was able to get in three intervals before struggling to suck wind. After about five minutes of walking I picked up again. After only two more intervals I conceded defeat and walked for the rest of the hour.
Hopefully I can regain the endurance I lost. It will only come with more frequent recreation, though, and I have no control over that.
