Short swim

My first swim workout of 2012 was 250m.  It was quite cold outside [in the 30s] after work and I had to talk myself into it. Remember, when it’s cold outside, the pool is extra warm. I arrived at the pool, walked into the building and it felt wonderful. The desk crew greeted me with a smile and said good evening. They are such nice people.  This was the right decision. I changed into my new Zoot bathing suit, connected the h2o ipod player, then headed to the water. Easing into the pool, I realized the water was very warm and welcomed me.  On a side note, I've had the old, map swimsuit for years. My daughter teased me about it so much I've decided to retire it.  :-)

new blue Zoot swimsuit; older map swimsuit

My decision was confirmed.

I adjusted my goggles, seated the ear buds and proceeded to swim a pool length. I made it to the end without much struggle. After a brief rest, I turned around and during one of my strokes thought. “I must be out of my mind to have registered for Iron Girl”. The thought of being in the middle of Lake Lanier [well not quite the middle but close enough] came out of nowhere and gave me pause. I then caught my thoughts, made the decision to stop whining and continued to concentrate on finishing the lap.  Afterward, I thought if you would come to the pool on a regular basis, this would become second nature.

I need to decide on a reward for swim training. I know the reward would be finishing Iron Girl but something that could be rewarded in say March and then again in April.  Any suggestions?

Indoor, pre-work, ride

My winter break is over. Today is the first day in the office since 12/16/2011. My alarm sounded at 5:30am. My intention was to get up and cycle 30 minutes before work. Doing this would serve double duty. In addition to being a first step toward a new habit [21 days to form I’ve heard], it would be a good contribution to the Kdub workout challenge.  I don’t want to fall behind.


Changed clothes, washed my face, put on a pot of coffee, turned on the news and proceeded to pedal. I’m wondering how long it will take to find a comfortable position on the seat. It’s been a couple weeks and my butt still hurts depending on how I sit.  But I pressed on, saying to myself, ‘I won’t be able to stop riding a course because of a sore butt’.  After 20 minutes, I realized I was close to done and daydreamed.  If nothing else, I jump started my metabolism before work.

4 Mile Neighborhood Run

New Years Day and what a beautiful morning! I decided to give Paddy an extended walk that included sniffing as long as he wanted. It’s amazing that he would sniff one spot for 5 minutes if I let him. We walked, talked and I sang for 45 minutes. The iPod shuffle comes in handy.

When I returned home, I thought it would be nice to get 4 miles in.  I kissed my now awake hubby and ran upstairs to change. Trying to get used to not wearing too many layers so I put on a skirt, short sleeve top and arm warmers.  I’m really getting used to the warmers although sometimes I wonder if I have them on upside down. Not sure if there is such a thing but it doesn’t hurt to wonder. Swallowed an allergy pill, half a gu and out the door I went.  I wondered if I’d get the itchy body thing since I’d not run in a couple weeks. My question was answered 5 minutes into the run.  I recalled the warm body then gradual itching of my belly, thighs, and knees.  Sheesh, I thought. I’ll never get past this.  Focus, mental focus, you can’t let discomfort stop you, if you were at Irongirl and uncomfortable you wouldn’t stop.  So, I pressed forward and after 15 minutes the itching had stopped.

I Had great music and a nice breeze to finish the run. All I could think was, what a way to start the year. Running the neighborhood

Holidays with the Grandkids

Like I said, part of my challenge is to maintain life balance while training for half marathons and triathlons. Oooh, I'm really an athlete. Three of the five grandkids [Jaylen, Johnathan and Jahara] have visited with us the past few days.  Today was spent having lunch, going to see The Smurf movie, and letting them play at Micky D's playground.  They are now bathed and playing Wii while Jesse and I catch up with our techy toys. 

It's been nice having them around. It's been a while since we've had kids at the house. Paddy is not too happy but we've enjoyed them. 


Kam [oldest] Jaylen, Jahara, Johnathan





Paddy our beloved Welsh Terrier



New Waterproof Ipod Headphones

(Said with eyes closed and fingers crossed) I hope these work, I hope these work!!

The reward for learning to swim is the H2O Audio kit. I promised myself this reward a year ago after seeing my friend and swim angel Wendy listening to her Ipod while swimming laps. I said 'Theresa, if you get to the point where you can swim laps alone, you deserve waterproof headphones'.  Well hot damn [can I say that on a blog] that day has come and the audio kit arrived from Amazon today.  I'm gonna read the instructions and can't wait to test it tomorrow.  Hopefully, I won't ruin my ipod.

This is the it for 3G Ipod shuffle. It's old but I love using it while running. I'll provide an update after a week or two of using it. Wish me luck!

update: I used the headphones 1/3/12 and they worked well. It took a few tries to seat the earbuds. They were snuggled nicely in my ear until the third breath, then they'd popout. By lap 2 or was it 3, they stayed in. I did have to change to a smaller bud.  So far, I like them.

My Leukemia and Lymphoma Fundraising Page

Hello,

In my day to day life, I interact with a few people that have experienced cancer. Personally, I've lost an Aunt to the disease and know how devastating it can be. I have a mission-to help find cures and more effective treatments for blood cancers. To accomplish that mission, I've decided to participate in fundraising events facilitated by different organizations.

In 2012, I’m participating in a sports endurance event as a member of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Team In Training. Like the other members of TNT, I will be raising funds to help find cures and better treatments for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma. I’m improving the quality of my life by participating and with your support, I can help improve the quality of life for patients and their families as well.

Please make a donation in support of my efforts with Team In Training and help advance the research for cures.

My Fundraising Page

Finally purchased a road bike

A couple weeks after riding the bike rented for Acworth, I realized it was too small for my frame. Given my degree of nervousness, I didn’t want to make any additional changes to my game plan and decided to use it. I have since returned the bike, borrowed a bike closer to my frame for a few weeks, then purchased a Specialized Allez bike from my local bike store [lbs]. I am 6’ with a 34” inseam. I’ve had the Specialized bike for 1 week and have ridden it a few times to become familiar with the gear shifting and overall feel.  I love it.

Mike from the bike store tried to get me to have the clip-in pedals installed. I smiled and said ‘give me a couple months to learn to ride the bike. I promise to bring it in so the clip-in pedals can be installed.  Pinky promise!!   He assured me they’d install them free of charge.

I currently own shoes and pedals from spin class.  I’ve also fallen a few times with them. That slow motion feeling of ‘Oh No, I’m falling’  has to be one of the weirdest feelings.  Dear hubby fulfilled my requests and installed them on my hybrid bike last year when I was feeling adventurous. I assured him they couldn’t be too hard to learn to use.  He stood by helplessly as I tipped over. He is such a good sport..always there to pick me up when I need that extra bit of support. When my feelings are no longer raw, we usually have a good laugh about my antics.

I’ve since learned and accepted that everyone falls with clip-ins.  It’s a rite of passage of sorts.  So, I’ll look forward to mine in a month or two.

Update: I purchased the trainer in December as a reward.