1. I miss the 4 swims a week I did during my winter swim block/injury timeout but there are only so many days in the week and hours in the day. I'm down to 2 or maybe 3 swims a week and it feels like an eternity between. Our outdoor pool opens in 2 weeks and I'll go on summer work schedule so the frequency will go back up. PLUS, just today I just got the waterproof iPod shuffle from H20 Friendly!!! Just waiting on the waterproof earbuds to come and I'll be back to groovin' in the pool. My old waterproof system finally gave out so I've been tuneless for a while. 2. Gone are the days when I can ignore (nearly) every pain and strain. Given my ridiculous injury history, and my over-40-ness, anything from the knees down gets TWO red flags. Thanks to my triathlete/physical therapist friend TJ for seeing me today and reassuring me that I can work through my most current nagging issue. (Bummed to find out my orthopedic doc is moving out of state....Now I'll have to stay healthy!)
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| I'm not embarrassed of bad food in my fridge anymore! |
3. Since fall I have been fueling and eating better and more consistently. But I am also now like a crazed vegetable hoarder and my Sunday ritual is to roast up tons of veggies (spag squash, butternut squash, brussels sprouts, kale, broc, cauli are my favs). Even the family is coming around to it. Sort of. (Thanks to Joob for good nutrition inspiration.)
4. I'm now getting strength training guidance from renowned trainer/pro bodybuilder Kurt Weidner, who fortunately is based at the Weight Club where I also work out. He designed a program that enables me to get what I need out of three trips to the gym a week (down from my OCD four a week) with a streamlined approach that stresses effectiveness and efficiency - the most bang for my buck. Good stuff and I'm having fun and learning alot.
5. I have three sprint tris in June, mainly because two are new races that are nearly on my doorstep. How can I not do a race where I get to sleep in my own bed the night before? They are pool swims though which I have never done and frankly am not that jazzed about. For me half the fun of a race is the drama of the open water swim!
6. Coach Jim continues to do a great job of disguising my training sessions so they look doable and innocent enough as I read them. He turns the screws ever-so-subtly so I'm unaware of changes in pace, reductions in rest intervals, or that extra repeat (my not-so-good memory for that stuff has an upside). Then I suddenly notice that I'm a little stronger or a little faster and wonder how that happened! That's a great coach.
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| Crystal, Me, Tanya, Coach Jim, Jen, Sam, Edwin at the May 7 race |
7. I love LOVE my dear retrofitted road bike but sometimes I do wonder if a tri bike would make any difference. I dropped the hint to the hubster that it I have a good season (and a few thousand $$ fall out of the sky) maaaaybe it could be considered for next year? (Of course, the 11-year-old goes to the orthodontist for an eval next month, hubby's truck is at 260,000 miles, and my van is nearing 160,000 miles, so the odds are low. Never hurts to ask.)
8. Every morning I pop the following: fish oil, chondroiton/glucosamine/MSM, calcium with Magnesium, D3, and a multi. It's scary how many pills I can swallow in one go when I am late to get the kids to school. I really wonder if some of these are just like (or literally) flushing money down the toilet. Probably. And a coworker just dropped the bombshell that spinach, which I eat every day, interferes with calcium absorption.
