Swim 30, Run 15

I had a very busy morning and afternoon. I met with a great group of ladies for lunch and shopping. It was great, but a bit expensive. I got some great stuff though.

Wait, you're not here to hear about my day with the ladies. I really mention it to let you know why had had to wait to swim until 4:30 today. From the last 2 weeks, I learned that an afternoon swim at Carleton was not the best idea. The men's swim team uses open swim time for their practice time. Just what I need. I already feel fat and slow.

However, I had a break through. After about 10 minutes, I remembered when I rocked a swim! In Guam last summer, I got dive certified. On the first day in the water, we needed to swim 200 yds, to prove we knew how to swim. I was there with 4 other guys, and I felt like I needed to prove something to them.

I knew my strength was swimming. But, I heard another guy was a swimmer too. I got nervous for a bit. I really wanted to kick their asses! When I finished, I heard one guy say, "You've got to be kidding me!" I felt like he was shocked I was the first to finish. It felt great! However, he couldn't believe he still had more laps to do. I like my first impression :) After feeling like I've failed at a bunch of stuff, kicking the butts of those 4 guys felt pretty good.

So, with that memory in my head, I kept going. I was faster than before. Not much, but every bit counts. I feel like my swim during the triathlon will go fairly well. I can't stop swimming now though. I need to keep this as my strong event. Something to hang my hat on.

After the swim, I headed home and out on the trail for a 15 min run. The winds were over 20 mph out of the south. This didn't sound too bad, because I first head north up a big hill, so I was getting pushed uphill. The run felt good. I have no idea how fast I really went, but I think it was under an 11 min mile. That's what I want and need.

Tomorrow is a 30 minute run, followed by weight training. I'm headed to the gym to work on my speed on the indoor track. We'll see how this goes. I'm worried about my speed right now, but I think it's getting better. I'll let you know how it goes...

BIG workout!

I've been doing pretty well on my workouts so far. I've missed Easter and 1 other day, not too bad. However, I missed yesterday. I was tripped on my dog's bone on Friday night, jamming my little toe. It hurt quite a bit yesterday, so I chose to skip my 40min run to make sure I didn't hurt it further. I really should avoid those dog bones. I've broken a few toes on them so far.

The toe felt much better today, so I went out for the big workout. I hit the pool for a 30 minute swim. I've fallen in love with my old pool again. The Cowling Gym pool at Carleton is great! It's in the basement of the gymnasium, and not heavily used. I get my own lane when I swim there. I missed that pool.

The swim was good. I got in 1,500 yds in 30 minutes, or at least I think I got that much in. I loose track often. That's a lot of laps to keep track of. Plus, I get scatter brained when I exercise. All that really matters is that got in 30 minutes of swimming.

Then, I hit gym for my run. It was 38 degrees with 25-30kts winds outside, so I decided to go inside. The gym wasn't busy today, so I had the track almost to myself. There was 1 other guy, walking around for 1/2 of my run. I finished 45 minutes of running is slow and steady form. My goal was to simply not walk. I wanted to get the time in and not worry to much about the distance. If I worry about the distance, the time gets daunting.

I did try to remember to keep my pace up though. I tried to run my thighs and not so much with my calves. I normally have a short stride, which keeps my pace down. When I stretch it out, I can run faster, and that's a big goal of mine.

All in all, it was a great workout. I'm beat now, but happy to have it done. Now, I'm off to varnish our new cedar ceiling in the basement. I hope my arms can hold out...

Swim 15 Run 30

I've been able to stay on track so far. Some days... ok, everyday... it's a struggle to head out for my daily workout. I go, because I know that if I skip a day now, I'll keep skipping days. I'm pretty good at quitting things, so quitting this wouldn't be too hard. But, I can't quit. Not now. I really think I can do this. OK, I know I can do this.

So, off to the pool I went. The locker room was FULL of college girls. This is a bad sign. I didn't want to swim with a pool full of students. I quickly realized they were just finishing their swim, so I thought the pool would be mine. How wrong I was. The men's swim team decided to show up for open swim. However, the chubby girl in lane 1 scared them off and I had a lane to myself. They hovered for a while to see if I would quit soon, but I just kept going. 1,000 yard in 20 minutes. Not too bad.

After a quick change, I hit the gym for my run. Outside wasn't an option because it had snowed today. Not good. The run was slow, and that was OK. I have another run tomorrow, so I didn't need to push it too hard. But, I tried to remember to keep my pace up and not slow to the trot my legs want to go to.

There was this young guy running quickly by me for a few laps. This is not unusual. I'm usually the slowest person on the track. That's fine, because I need to remember I'm only competing with my past performances. After my 30 minute run, I stretched out and headed downstairs to grab my coat. When I got to the bottom, a woman I've never met before told me, "You go girl!" She said she saw me running and was so proud of me. She also asked that she told that boy running laps around me if he saw me out there, and asked him if he wasn't impressed by me. She said she knew how hard it was, and that I did great. Random Acts of Kindness are WONDERFUL! She made my day!

It's been a long time...

Hello all my readers, who ever may still be out there. It's been over a year, but I'm back. I just didn't feel like I had a lot to write. But, now I have a triathlon and a 1/2 marathon to train for. Also, I just restarted my journey on Weight Watchers again. This could be a great time of change or an epic failure. We'll see how it goes.

Today, was 20 minutes of swimming and 25 minutes of running. I hadn't been in the pool for a long time. I really missed it. I love swimming, because it's one sport I've always been able to do. See, I'm not very athletic, nor very coordinated. I've never been good at sports. I think that's why I like the individual races so much. I don't have to compete with anyone but myself in these events.

The swim was good. However, 8 members of the Carleton swim team were there too. It helped me keep my face in the water, because I didn't want to see them snicker at my form in the pool (both types of form). I got 1,000 yds of swimming in during my 20 minute training period. That was about 200 yds further than I expected.

Then, I hit the gym for my 25 min run. I had to go to the gym, because the snow and sleet has returned to Minnesota today. UGH! The gym was busy, due to the sports teams needing to practice indoors today. I was running around that track with the Carelton baseball and softball teams practicing inside the track. I'm sure my flabby body was pure entertainment for them. I did it though! It was slow, but it's a start.

All in all, I think it was a pretty successful day today. I'm please with it. Now, on to a 30 minute run tomorrow before heading off to the wedding of my cousing Mike.

And so, the training begins again...

Volcano!

Greg has been stuck in Manchester, England for 6 days now. Each day, they push his return back another day.

At first it was a bit exciting. Greg was in the middle of history. He was part of the huge news story around the world. Plus, he was part of a natural disaster that I find very cool.

After 2 days, it wasn't so fun any more. It's bringing me down. We were supposed to go on our first overseas vacation this week. We were going to visit our good friend, Brian, in Germany. I'd never been to Germany (outside of Ramstein AFB). We were also supposed to visit our good friends Tina and Randy in Atlanta on our way back from Germany. Both trips have now been cancelled.

Those are not what is getting me down. I really miss Greg. It's the not knowing when I'll see him again that is the hardest. If the volcano shoots off again, or if the bigger one next to it blows, it could be weeks before he's back. I don't think that could happen, but with each day that goes by, the possibility of Greg being gone for weeks becomes a bit more real.

It's been hard to find motivation to work out. I needed to get it together though. I have a triathlon and 1/2 marathon to train for! Today, I got in a workout I'm pretty proud of.

I hopped on my bike for a 45 minutes ride. It's my ride to Dundas and back. It's so pretty and the weather was perfect. Then, I put on my running shoes and hit the road for a 2 mile run. It was tough, but not as hard as I remembered it being after a bike. It gave me hope that I haven't screwed myself too much for this tri.

We'll see how the rest of the week goes. I hope to get into the pool tomorrow with a run through the arb right after. I need to workout for training, but also to make the pain of missing Greg lessen just a bit.

Running after a cold

You'd think I'd get a cold in Minnesota as the weather changes. Nope, I got a cold in hot and humid Mississippi! UGH!

This cold lingered and took my energy from me. I was exhausted and stuffy. This always seems to happen in mid training. I should prepare for being sick each time I get train for a race now.

Today was the first time in 5 days I was able to run. I couldn't wait to try out my lungs, and clear them out a bit. There was a lot going on at home though, so I needed to be prepared for a later day run.

We had day long work going on at our well. I was without water for 7+ hours. The guys needed access to my house, so I didn't fell like I could run off for 20-30 minutes. Then, the water was turned on. A quick call to Greg, and I was going to be off. I tried the water again, but no luck. I had to call the well guy back. After 45 more minutes the water was back on.

The sun was fading, and I didn't think I could go out there. Then, I heard a MOUSE running around in my basement ceiling. UGH!!! I was getting spun up. I needed a release. So, off on a run I went.

I decided to do just a 2 mile run. I tried to keep my pace up, which was a challenge in 15-20 kt winds. I ran it out, I was tired, but I felt so much better for having run.

Tomorrow was supposed to be a 3 mile run, but I'm taking back my swim/run day that I missed. We'll see how that all works tomorrow.

30 minute Swim and 30 minute Run

I finally got back in the pool after almost 2 weeks. It's been far too long since I'd been to a pool. I was looking forward to it, but a bit nervous. How bad was this going to go? How many college kids would be at the pool?

It was a great swim. I completed 1500 meters. So much better than the 1400 2 weeks ago. I swam all but 50 meters as the crawl stroke. I gained a bit of my swimming confidence back. It felt good.

After the swim, it was off for a 30 minute run. I slipped my running shorts, a t-shirt and shoes on then hit the trail. The Carelton College Arboretum was calling my name. It's such a beautiful trail, with some pretty big hills to challenge me.

I forgot how much easier it was to run after a good swim. The 1/4 to 1/2 mile period it usually takes to get into my running grove just wasn't there. The run felt really, really good and almost easy. I was so excited! The hills were tough, but felt good.

The run was slow, but consistent. It just felt good. Have I already said that?