Out of Practice

Guess what I did today?

I went to the pool to swim!!!  Now, this may not seem like a big deal, but I have NOT been back in the pool since IMAZ, which was in November!  YIKES!

I just haven't had any desire to get back into the pool, even though I KNOW I need to keep swimming. I am not the best swimmer, so taking lots of time off is a bad thing for me.  BUT, thanks to Jason's Virtual triathlon challenge [HERE], I found the motivation to get back into the pool!  Thanks Jason! :)

So, I got all of my stuff ready and headed to the gym.  After dropping my boys off at Kids' Club, I got ready to swim.  Going to the pool used to be so automatic, but I felt like I was forgetting something the entire time, and it just felt kind of weird to be back in the pool.

I had no idea how it was going to go.  I had visions of gasping for air every 25m, and not being able to swim for very long.  BUT, I was pleasantly surprised!!  After about 300m, I found my swimming groove and it felt great!!!  Woohoo!! :)  I ended up only swimming about 1000m, but it was more than enough for my first time back in the pool.  I can already tell my arms and back will be sore tomorrow....how pathetic is that!!  But, at least I got back out there again, even if I am way out of practice! :)

On another note, I know I have been MIA from blogland recently.  The main reason is this:

Yes, I've been painting.  The previous owners of our house had all the walls primed with white paint.  White paint that is entirely NOT cleanable.  With 2 boys, you can only imagine what our walls look like!!  Anyways, I couldn't take the gross walls any longer, so I went to Home Depot, grabbed some paint, and have been painting pretty much nonstop for weeks now!  It's sooo much work, but sooo worth it!

Check out what I've been doing:

The previous owners also painted all of the trim and doors a cream color that basically looks yellow whenever you put any color on the walls.  So, I have to repaint all of the trim and doors, which is a total PAIN!  But, having white trim and doors just makes everything look so fresh and clean, and it makes it totally worth it!

I also repainted my boys' rooms!  To the left is my oldest son's room painted brown with a camping theme.  To the right is my youngest son's room painted green with a dinosaur theme.  And I painted a fun growth chart in between their rooms!  I also painted their bathroom a fun blue color!  It's so nice to have fresh paint on the walls!  AND, the best part is that our house is finally starting to feel like our HOME which makes me very, very happy! :)

A week in review and other things too

Training:
I had an awesome week of training this week!  I feel like I'm finally finding my groove with scheduling my workouts!  Hopefully this will carry through my training when the volume really ramps up!

Me, Doreen, and Bine

Biking:  I went on a great ride with 2 of my TriBella teammates on Sunday!  We did one loop of the Harvest Moon HIM course (which I'm doing in September) and it was awesome!  The course is a great mix of fast flats, rolling hills, and much bigger hills.  We finished 48 or so miles in about 2:45, so it was pretty fun.  Usually I do my training rides solo, but I have to tell you, I loved riding with these two!  They are doing IMFL in early Nov, and I'm doing IMAZ at the end of Nov., so we should be able to do a lot of our long training rides together!  Woohoo!

Swimming:  I had a great swim this week where I had to do 100m intervals.  Now, normally I don't time myself because it usually depresses me.   But, for some reason, after my 4th 100 I decided to just see what my time was.  I swam the 100, hit the wall, stopped my watch, and looked....1:46!!!  I was soooo excited!  Now, I know that's not fast compared to some of you out there, but it made me feel fast and that's all that matters! :)

Running:  I had my longest run volume week and I felt awesome!  I haven't had any IT band pain in awhile now and it just makes me happy, happy, happy!  Woohoo!!

And Other Things Too:

*  Look what came in the mail this week!  My replacement aero extensions!  Woohoo!  They actually sent me an entire new set, so I was super happy!  I brought them over to the TriBella shop and had them reinstalled.  He put bike tape on it too, but I'm not sure I like the BLUE.  I know it goes with the color scheme of my bike, but what do you think?  Should I keep it, or go back to BLACK??

BLACK or BLUE??

*  So, after my boys' music class the other day we drove next to a van that had huge pictures of cupcakes on it and it read, BIG FAT CUPCAKES!  My boys pleaded and begged to get a cupcake.  We rarely get sweet treats like that from places, so I decided to cave.  We followed the van hoping it would lead to their store.  It did, and this is what we walked out with: 3 BIG FAT CUPCAKES.

They were huge!  Seriously, look how big they are in my boys' hands.  YIKES!

Well, I wish I could tell you that they were the greatest things we have ever tasted.  BUT, they were a BIG FAT DISAPPOINTMENT!  In fact, we ended up throwing most of the cupcake away.  AND, I felt sick for the rest of the night....seriously, sick.  Ugh...next time we're craving a sweet treat we'll just drive the extra few miles and get some of that yummy self serve yogurt again!

 *  The IMAZ bike course is relatively flat, so your legs just pretty much spin constantly.  One piece of advice I got from a teammate that did IMAZ a couple of years ago was just to get on the trainer and ride for 4hours to get used to just that constant spinning.  So, I decided to order this Spinerval from Amazon.  It is the IMAZ bike course led by Coach Troy himself and I'm actually really excited about it! Am I excited about sitting on my trainer for 4 hours???  Umm...not really, but I am excited about being able to "practice" the course.  We'll see.  It might completely suck, but hopefully not!


I hope you all have a great weekend!  Good luck to all of you that are racing this weekend!!  :)

A week in review and other things too

Training:
*  Swimming:  I had a great swim this morning!  I met with one of my TriBella teammates and one of her friends and it was awesome!  I have always done my swims by myself because I get up so early (4:30) to get them done before my boys wake up.  But, what a difference it makes having someone to swim with. It was just nice having someone to do a workout with.  And, I can see how swimming with someone would really hold me accountable for actually doing the workout as planned.  Hopefully I'll get to swim with them again!

Source

* Yoga - I went to my favorite yoga class and instead of a regular class, we learned about the 7 chakras.  The instructor took us through each one and it was very different, but in a good way.  I have to tell you though, that once we got to the end, I was in tears, along with many other people in the class.  There's just something about yoga and learning how to connect your breath, mind, and body to what's going on in your life that gets to me every time.

*  TriBella Team/Store:  The new TriBella store opened this week!  Woohoo!  For those of you that don't know, I joined a new tri team called TriBella, and the person in charge of it all opened a brand new multisport store in Denver dedicated solely to women!  It is going to be so awesome!  You can check them out on Facebook [HERE].  And, for those of you that live in CO, I have coupons to pass out for 10% off an item!  Email me if you're interested.

Along the same lines, we got our new team kits in! They were done by Sugoi, which makes great running and tri clothes, and I LOVE the top and shorts!  I also got a bike jersey that is super cute too!  It took all I had not to get arm warmers, socks, a visor, etc.. too. Ha ha!

*Running:  I've been taking it very slow and easy trying to ease back into things.  KC [HERE], who we all know is a Rockstar, gave me some great advice about using the elliptical for some of my runs.  So far it's been great.  Thanks KC! :)
One thing that's interesting is that there are a lot of people that go crazy on that machine!  They're bopping up and down, going super fast forwards and backwards, using it solely for an arm workout.  It definitely makes the time go by quickly when I can people watch!

* As I'm sure you all know, Jason [HERE] is hosting a virtual 1/2 mary/marathon race! I decided to do the 1/2 mary distance because 1) I love virtual races, 2) The name is awesome, and 3) There's some great prizes to be won!  If you haven't joined yet, visit Jason's blog and sign up!!

Other Things Too:
*  We finally got our kitchen pretty much done!  There are just a few finishing touches left to do, then it will be finished!  Woohoo!  I promise to post some before/after pics when it's all done.

Source

*  Over the weekend, my oldest son fell out of a tree in our backyard.  I was working inside and decided to go check on my boys and I saw him climb up the tree from our kitchen window.  I was just getting ready to go outside to tell him to climb down because he was too high when I saw him fall.  My heart literally jumped out of my chest and I yelled to my husband to come outside.  I was TERRIFIED and all I could think about was broken neck, arm, leg, etc..  Luckily, he survived it with only some scratches, but mentally it really shook him up!  I knew  it would  happen sooner or later because all boys love to climb trees, but I am just very, very thankful that he was alright!

Source

*  The weather here has been absolutely beautiful!!  Spring is in the air and I'm loving it!!  Hopefully I'll be able to get out for a ride this weekend.  That would be so awesome!

*  We finished our taxes!  Yay, yay, yay!!  It's so nice to be done with them!

I hope you all have a great weekend!  :)

The Bad and The Good

The Bad:
I know most people start with the good, but I want to end on a positive note, so "the bad" is going first!

*  It has now been 6 weeks since the Rock-N-Roll AZ marathon.  It has been 6 weeks since I injured my ITB on my right leg.  It has been 6 weeks since I ran!

*  Today is a beautiful day here in Denver.  The high is supposed to be in the upper 50s..woohoo!  So, I decided to go out for a run to test my knee.  Plus, I am tired of NOT running!  It is literally driving me insane not being able to run.  I got all geared up and headed to a trail close to my house.  I started running and was amazed by how much running fitness I have lost.  I decided to take it slow and easy.

It felt so good to be outside running again!  I have missed it so much.  I was nervous the entire time, wondering if I would feel that twinge of pain by my knee.  Then, at the 1.4 mile mark, the twinge of pain came and continued to grow.  I stopped running, said some pretty bad cuss words under my breath, and walked back to my car with  my ITB screaming at me the whole way.

Me, sad and scared

 * I got home, did my stretches, foam rolled (OUCH!!), and felt very defeated and scared.  I am sooo worried about what this means for my Ironman training.  I am supposed to officially start my training in 8 weeks!  8 WEEKS and I can't even run 2 miles without pain!  What am I supposed to do?

O-kay, enough of that!
 
The Good:
*  I went swimming naked this morning and it was awesome!  No, not THAT kind of naked, but without any type of timing device, clock, or plan.  I just really wanted to swim without having any workout to follow or times to record.  I got in the water and it felt so good to be back in the pool again.  I tried to really concentrate on my stroke and I think I'm finally getting "the catch!"  Woohoo!  

*  I was contacted by Devon from Outside PR to see if I wanted to try out some new Pearl Izumi gear!  Of course I said yes, and before I knew it, there was a box waiting for me on my doorstep!  Look at all the goodies inside:

* A pair of Streak II shoes
*  An Infinity In-R-Cool long sleeved shirt
*  A pair of the Infinity Split Shorts

Unfortunately, the shoes are too small, so I'm waiting for my new ones to arrive.  When they do, I'll be sure to write up a review for them.

The weather has been beautiful here lately, so I decided to try the shorts and shirt out on my run today.  Even though I was only able to run 1.4 miles, I was still able to get a good feel for the shorts and shirt.  Hopefully soon, I'll be able to try them out on a longer run (fingers crossed!).  

THE SHORTS: (You can read about the shorts from the PI website [HERE]
*  They are a little shorter than I normally wear, but because they have a split seam on the sides, the back is actually a little longer than the front, making them the perfect length.

* The liner is super soft and very comfortable!  I've had shorts where the liner has been blah, but this liner is awesome!  It stayed put and didn't ride up, get bunched up, or anything.  Yay!

*  It has a small back pocket that is perfect for a gel, key, or ID card.

*  Overall, the shorts were really comfortable.  Because of the split seams, they weren't binding.  And, they don't bunch up in the front which is one of my biggest pet peeves with women's running shorts!  I will definitely be wearing these again in the future!

THE SHIRT: You can read about the shirt from the PI website [HERE]
*  First of all, the shirt is really cute and has an awesome design on the back.  And, I love the blue contrast fabric on the sides.

*  When I first felt the shirt, the first thing I noticed was the fabric.  It is really soft, almost like silk, and feels really nice on my skin.

*  When I went for my run, it was in the low 50s and windy.  This shirt kept me cool when I warmed up, but it also provided the perfect layer of warmth from the wind.  I loved it and it will definitely be a staple in my running wardrobe from now on!

*  Note:  These products were sent to me for review purposes, courtesy of Pearl Izumi and Outside PR.  I was not compensated in any other way for the review, and was not obligated to give them a positive review.  All of the reviews are my own based on my personal experiences.   


* I know today was supposed to be a Tasty Tuesday post, but I promise I'll post a recipe tomorrow! :)  

A week in review and other things too

Wow...I cannot believe it's been a week since I last posted!  Things have just been kind of crazy around here!  I know I usually do this post on Friday, but it's close enough.  I hope you all had a very happy New Year!  I am so ready to get this year started!!  :)

Training:
*  I am finally better!  Woohoo!  I do have to admit though, that I really liked not running for awhile.  Like I mentioned before, I have basically been training non-stop since last February, and I just got completely worn out.  So, although it sucked being sick, it was nice to just REST for two weeks.  I don't know what will happen in my marathon in 10 days (YIKES!), but it will be whatever it will be.  I am not running this to BQ or anything.  This may sound crazy, but qualifying for Boston is just something I really don't care about.  So, I'm going to have fun, enjoy the warmer weather (yay for 60 degrees!!), and support my husband in his first marathon!  Oh, and hopefully it won't end with me dry heaving and puking like my first one...YUCK!

Source

*  I don't know about all of you, but my strength training has lacked big time!  I have been reading a lot about functional strength training and TRX suspension training [HERE].  I did some research about the TRX system which seems to be popping up everywhere recently, even though it's been around for awhile.  I have been thinking about getting one for my home, but I really wanted to try it out before I bought it because it's pretty pricey!  I finally decided to see if there was a place in Denver that did it, and I found the most amazing place!!  They had a free class Monday night for newbies, and I signed up to check it out.  IT WAS AWESOME!  The woman that led the class was a great instructor and I never once felt out of place, like I do sometimes when I start something new in a group setting.
The workout was fun and TOUGH!  I am still sore today, but I love it!  I am definitely going to try and go to more classes!  It will be hard to fit it into my schedule, but until I can afford a TRX on my own, I'm going to make it work.  I can really see how doing that type of "strength training" will be more effective then what I've been doing.  Plus, one of the instructors is a triathlete and she designs the workout based on exercises that would benefit triathletes!  How cool is that?!
Have any of you used a TRX?  If so, what do you think about it?  Do you think it's worth the money to buy one??

*  After my  marathon, this is going to be my view every morning at 4:30AM 4 times a week!  It is time to get back into the pool and tackle this whole swimming thing!  I'll be following a plan on beginnertriathlete.com that will hopefully help hold be accountable to getting my butt out of bed!

Other Things Too:
*  Remember how I said that things have just been kind of crazy and busy around here?  Well, we've been doing a lot of this:

  So we can get rid of this:

and replace it with new, soft, beautiful, stain free carpet in our basement!  Yay!

This carpet was on the floor when we moved in 8 years ago and it was nasty to begin with.  But, we didn't have the funds to replace it right away.  Then, once we had kids, we decided to wait until they were older to replace it b/c we knew it would get destroyed by them anyways.

It has been A LOT of work!  I've been repainting all of the walls because they just need a fresh new coat, and my husband and I are tackling ripping out all of the carpet ourselves to save on costs.  So, it's just been a dusty, dirty, painty (I know it's not a word, but it fits) mess!  But, my husband and I like doing home projects, so it's actually been kind of fun. :)

I hope you are all having a good week!  I have a lot of posts to read, so I'll try and get around to yours soon. Have a great weekend! :)

A week in review and Giveaway Winner!

Wow!  I cannot believe how many responses I got for my giveaway!  I really enjoyed reading all of your favorite sources of nutrition while training and will probably end up giving some of them a try!  I know you are all anxious to hear who won my favorite things giveaway.  But, you're just going to have to wait until the end of the post.  If you're impatient, go ahead and scroll down to the bottom! :)

Training week in review:

source 

*  I finally got to participate in the Aquaman swim race Tuesday night and I just have to say that it was awesome!  I did the 1M swim race which consisted of two 750m loops.  After each loop, you have to come out of the water, run on the "beach" for a short distance, then hop back into the water.  It's pretty shallow as you come into the beach area, so really you end up running in the water both ways.  I did the 1M swim (with the running) in 31 minutes!  Yay!  Again, I know it's not fast for some of you, but for me it was!  I was so excited and am now super pumped for my race next Sunday!  I now have a successful feeling to hold onto and will be using this feeling to hopefully keep me calm and panic free for the 1.2M swim.   :)

*  Since I'm in my taper week, my workouts have been pretty light.  I've gotten some good runs in and some really nice bike rides done outside after we put the boys down to bed.  It's been nice to have a lower workout load because I've had more time to sleep, play with my boys, and get some things done around the house.  But, there's a part of me that's still wondering if I've done enough.  I can only hope that I have.

*  I'm still trying to figure out what I want to bring with me for hydration on the bike for my HIM.  I know it's going to be hot (unless Mother Nature wants to give us a break!), so I'm a little worried about the heat because I sweat a lot!  Usually after my race or long runs/bike rides I have white salt crystals all over me.  So, I'm shooting for some bottles with NUUN in them and a bottle with a gatorade/water mix.  Hopefully it will be enough!  
Other Things Too:
*  My in-laws are coming in town for a short visit on Saturday.  They'll be staying with us for about 4 days, and then heading up to Frisco to visit their daughter and son-in-law.  They might be able to come and watch part of my race, which would be nice.  I think I could use all the cheering, cow-bell ringing, and good wishes I can get!

*  My son had his 5yr. check-up today.  He got 4 shots!  He was so brave and tried to fight back the tears, but they came with the last shot.  It really pulled on my heart strings.  Poor little guy!  The good news is that he won't have to get any more shots until he's 11!  He was pretty happy about that! :)

*  I was at Costco the other day and I came across these chips.

They are so good and have pretty good ingredients as far as chips go.  They have a nice flavor and are the perfect saltiness.  I know a lot of you are eating Gluten free these days.  So, if you're looking for a snack, try these out!

* Usually, I glance through magazines while I'm in line at the grocery store, but rarely do I ever buy them.  Well, I saw an issue of Vegetarian Times and saw some recipes that looked really good.  So, I bit the bullet and bought an issue.  I tried out some of the recipes and they are actually really good!  I was pleasantly surprised!  Now I have to decide if I want to get a subscription or not.  Because we cook most of our meals at home, I'm always looking for new and different recipes, and this may be just what I need!

Giveaway Winner!
The winner of my favorite things giveaway via Random.org was comment #3 (I know, it's never a low number)!  So, the winner is Regina at Chiu on This.  Congrats Regina!  Send me an email at trirunveg@gmail.com with your address and I'll get it shipped to you shortly!  

A week in review and other things too

Training:
I had a pretty good training week, but I am so tired today!  My whole body just feels fatigued.  I think it may have something to do with all of those French pastries I ate on our mini vacation in the mountains! Ha ha! 

*  I took advantage of Xterra's sale (which they always seem to have..ha ha) and bought the Vortex 3 sleeveless wetsuit!  I finally got to try it out at the Aquaman swim race on Tuesday night.  It felt a little tight in the neck, but once I got in the water it was fine.  Can I just say that I love that wetsuit!  It was so comfortable and I didn't feel constricted at all.  I really think my full wetsuit may have been contributing to some of my breathing issues.  I was a little nervous at the start, but excited to get more swim race practice in before my HIM.
They counted down and we were off!  I felt great in the water and didn't have the usual panic/freak out that I usually get.  The only time I had to breastroke was when waves from the jetskis started pounding me.  I finished and checked my watch.  I did it in ~15min. yay!  Now, I know that isn't a very fast time, but considering the fact that the fastest I've ever swam a 1/2M in a race was 19min, I was thrilled with the 15.  I needed that little boost of swimming confidence!  I'm planning on doing the 1M swim next week, so we'll see how that goes.

*  I had a great bike ride on Wed. night.  After dinner my husband put the boys down so I could go for my ride.  Yay!  As I was going around the Cherry Creek Res. this is what I saw:

 The rainbow was so beautiful!  Then, a little bit later in my ride, I got to see the sunset.

It was such a beautiful ride and it just made me so thankful for all that I have and am able to do.

Other things too:

* Patrick at The Road has launched The Endurance Athlete Project and I think you all should check it out!



*  So, what do you do when it's 96 degrees outside and you have two boys that want to play?  Bring on the Buzz Lightyear rocket sprinkler!

Can you see the anticipation in their faces?

BLAST OFF!  Look at how excited they are!  I love this picture!










I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  Good luck to all of you that are racing this weekend too!  You are going to do great! :)

New Suit???

What do you think?  Is it time for a new swimming suit?

Yes, that is sunlight shining through.  It makes me wonder if the old guy swimming laps this morning caught a glimpse of something he shouldn't have.  

It is a couple of years old, but I swear it just started disintegrating this past week.  They've been changing the chemicals in the pool and I think they were just too much for the suit to handle.  I absolutely HATE swimming suit shopping, as I'm sure all women do, but I guess it's time to bite the bullet and get a new one.  Wish me luck! :)

Back at it!

Sorry I've been MIA lately.  My in-laws were in town this past week and left this morning, so we're all trying to get back into the swing of things around  here.  I've tried to keep up with everyone's blogs, but it's just amazing how many posts build up when you miss a couple of days!

So much has happened this past week, so I thought I'd do a quick recap!

Training:
* I am not going to post any numbers from last week because let's just say that not much training actually happened!  I was able to get in some swims, runs, and bike rides, but not nearly as much as I should have.  But, I'm o-kay with it because I got to spend tons of quality time with my in-laws (this is a good thing...they are awesome!), my husband (he took the week off too), and my two boys.

*  My husband and I decided to go on a bike date together on Saturday instead of doing a dinner date.  We never get to ride together because one of us is usually watching our boys, so it was a great treat.  We were supposed to do a 2 1/2 hr. ride, but once again, we had to cut it short to 1 1/2 because of Mother Nature.  This time, it was the wind that did us in.  It sucked! The crosswinds were so strong that I was having a really hard time keeping my bike on the road and not being blown into the traffic!  It was pretty scary, but we made it home safely.  Even with the wind, it was great to be out riding with my husband.

*  I did my first OWS yesterday and it was awesome!  The water was about 58 degrees....brrr, but the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day!  When I first walked into the water my feet started burning and aching from the cold.  I went under a couple of times to lesson the shock of the cold water on my face and try to warm up, but really I was just procrastinating.  Finally, I just said screw it and started swimming.  It was cold in the beginning, but soon I started warming up and the water actually felt great!
     The lake is in the process of being drained and worked on, so the water level was a little low.  At one point, as I neared the first buoy, I started getting caught in weeds and could actually feel sand.  I stopped and saw some guys standing up in the water about 20 feet in front of me.  I stood up, laughed a little, and got myself untangled from the weeds.  I walked about 10 feet further into the water and then it was fine to swim again.
     I felt great in the water, which is a far cry from how I usually feel when I do my first OWS of the season. I didn't freak out like I usually do and revert to swimming breast stroke every 10 strokes.  I really tried to focus on my stroke and sighting, and I felt fast!  I actually passed some swimmers and gained on the ones that started before me!  Woohoo!  It was a huge confidence booster and I can't wait to get out there again! :)

Life Stuff:

Three years ago, by youngest son was born 5 weeks premature.  He was so ready to come out that I literally pushed for about 5 minutes and he popped out (my first took 8 hours...yikes!).  He ended up having to spend a week in the NICU because he didn't have his sucking reflex yet and was having a hard time eating and gaining weight.  While that was very difficult, he got stronger, gained weight, and was finally able to come home with us.

Then, when he was 5 weeks old he stopped breathing and just started starring at me (which we found out was a sign he was  having a seizure) while I was trying to feed him one morning.  My husband was on his way out the door when I called to him, panicked.  We rushed to the ER where the doctors quickly gathered around him to keep him alive.  It was a nightmare.  I can remember sitting in the hallway watching a dozen doctors and nurses working on him trying to figure out what was wrong with him.  Without going into all of the details, he ended up getting tons of tests done, and an MRI which revealed that he had some type of brain damage which the doctors had never seen before.  It was determined that he was born with the brain damage, but no one knew what caused it or what it would mean for his development.  He ended up spending a week in the hospital, then was finally able to come home with us.

He received OT and PT every week to help him learn how to sit up, crawl, walk, etc..  And, we had to give him seizure medicine to keep the seizures at bay.  At 18months, we was developing so well that the OT and PT services were no longer needed.  And, at 2yrs. we were able to take him off the seizure medicine.  The doctors still do not know how his injury will effect him as he grows.  But, we'll take it as it comes.  So far, he is doing well and is a pretty normal 3 yr. old (with temper tantrums and all!).
  So, it was a pretty special birthday for our little guy!  He has come a long way from the tiny 5 pounder that he was when he was born.

Owen and Grammy

1st Masters Swim - wow!

This post may be a little long, so bear with me!

I have been thinking about joining a Masters Swim program for awhile now, but none of them ever fit into my schedule.  That is until I found out about a program at a 24 hour fitness not too far from where I live.  It's held at a Super Sport, which I didn't have access to.  I guess the people at 24 hr. fitness like to think that the Super Sports are far superior than the regular clubs, which is why they charge an arm and a leg to be a member of one.  But, this week, they were running a special where I could update my membership to just $15/mo. and have access to ALL the clubs.  After doing some research about the price of joining a Masters Program, I realized that $15/mo is WAY cheaper than anything else I could find, which was in the $45-$55 range.  And, they meet at 6AM which is great.  I'm able to go to the class, shower, and get home before my husband has to go to work.  Of course, my husband and I had to talk about it because on the days that I do the class he would have to get himself and both of our boys ready and fed, which is something I normally do, but he was all for it.  He is really supportive of me and knows how frustrated I am with my swim.  So, he's willing to take on some extras to help me with my goal.  I'm so thankful to have such an amazing husband!

Anyways, I decided to get to the gym early and swim for about 20 minutes to loosen up before class. Um, I don't think I'll be doing that again (keep reading!).  So, I introduced myself to the instructor and told her it was my first time doing a Masters program.  She was like, "But you know how to swim right?"  I said, "Yes" and I could tell she was relieved!  She wrote down the first part of our workout and I jumped in a lane and started swimming.  After a couple of minutes, more people started coming and the instructor asked me to move to the end lane.  I forgot that the lanes were set up by speed...oops!  But, I wish she would have told me that from the beginning.  Anyways, I went to the end lane, the slowest lane.  There was one other girl in the lane with me, but once we started the main workout she  moved over a lane.  I didn't understand why she would want to be in a lane with 2 other people, but I was kind of happy to have a lane to myself.  But, in the back of my mind I was thinking that she didn't want to be in the "slow" lane with me.  :(  

Now, there were probably about 10 other people in the class and I could tell that they had been swimming together for a long time.  They were laughing and joking with each other and I immediately felt like an outsider.  Plus, I'm pretty sure I was the youngest swimmer there.  Then, once the workout started, I knew I was definitely an outsider.  They were all super fast and they all did flip turns.  Needless to say I was very intimidated.  At one point, the instructor had us do 4*100, odd IM/stroke, even free.  Now, I don't know about you but I cannot do the butterfly stroke!  I looked over at the other swimmers and they were ALL doing the IM.  But, I just kept swimming and doing my thing.  I could not keep up with them and realized that when they were done with their set of 4-100s, I was only on my 3rd.  So, I would just move on to the next set because I thought it would be better for me to get in a variety of sets then just keep doing the same thing.  At one point I stopped and rested because I was pretty tired.  With my extra swimming before hand I had actually been swimming for about an hour already and I could really feel it.  I told the instructor that I couldn't keep up with them and the intervals.  She said that it was alright and that I shouldn't feel like I needed to keep up because the morning classes usually have all of her fast swimmers.  It kind of made me feel better, but not really.  

Overall, the class really kicked my ass!  I mean, I have been doing drills and interval work when I go to the pool, but not at this level.  I had to leave a little early to ensure that I would make it home in time, and when I got out of the pool it felt like everyone was just staring at me.  I'm sure it was all in my mind, but still, I didn't like that feeling.  I thanked the instructor, said goodbye, and went to change.  I'm ashamed to admit that I had a little breakdown involving some tears in the shower.  It seems so silly to say that, but I HATED being the slowest swimmer and not being able to keep up.  But, more than that, I hated that I compared myself to the other swimmers and let that comparison get to me so much.  I  am just so frustrated with my swimming and I don't know what I'm doing wrong.  Why am I so slow???

Obviously, I need to get over my insecurities and just think of this as a great opportunity to become a better swimmer.  I know it will be good for me to go to this class on a regular basis because it definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone (both physically and mentally).  But, I just wish the results would come faster.   

Do any of you go to a Masters swim class?  If so, how do you like it?  Do you think it has helped your swimming?  

A week in review and other things too

Training:
*  This week has been a weird week.  I'm kind of in limbo with my training.  I finished my 1/2 marathon on Sunday and don't officially start my HIM training till Monday.  So, I've just been chillin' and relaxing and doing things when I can fit them in.  I didn't get stressed out if I didn't get to ride my bike, run, or swim b/c I know soon enough I won't have this luxury.   


*Here's a picture from my race.  I don't think it's too bad, which surprises me because I never get good race pictures.   
                                                                                                      


*  My legs were still kind of sore on Monday from my 1/2, so I decided to do some easy spinning on my bike.  Once again, I set up my trainer outside while my youngest napped and my oldest played in the yard.  I only got in 30 minutes, but it was great and my legs felt so much better afterwards.  


*  I got to go to another yoga class on Thursday.  I got called out half way through by a kids' club staff member because my son had an "accident."  I thought about grabbing my stuff and just leaving, but changed my mind because I really wanted to finish the class.  I quickly went to change him, then got back on my mat.  I'm glad I decided to stay because it ended up being a really good class.   


* I've been so focused on doing the drills that my swim coach told me to do that I haven't swam continuously in a long time.  So, for one of my swim workouts I decided to just swim.  I wanted to make sure that I could still do it.  I did a 300m wu, stretched, and then just swam.  It was awesome and it felt so good.  I was originally only going to do 1500m, but I was feeling good so I kept going and ended up doing 2000m.  I was able to get into a groove and I felt smooth in the water.  I love that feeling! 


* I can't wait to see how I do in the open water.  The place I go to for OWS opens May 1st and I'm really excited about it.  Besides figuring out my stroke, I also have to figure out how to get past the mental part of being in open water.  For some reason, I tend to freak out, panic, and revert to swimming breast stroke every once in awhile to calm myself down.  I know that if I just swam and focused on swimming I would be fine, but I just can't seem to get over it.  I know everyone says it takes practice, but I've been doing tris for over 4 years and it's the same thing every year.  Ughhh...I just wish I could get past whatever it is that goes on in my mind!  Hopefully, this is the year!

Life:
*  Blog giveaways rock!  I won a cool tiki mug and some bora bora bars from Kelly at My Life as a Trimommy and they are really yummy!  And, I love how they have all natural ingredients.  I just happened to be at Costco the other day and they had a box of 18bars...woohoo!  One thing about Costco, you always end up buying more than what you planned.

Here I am drinking my soy chai tea in my new tiki mug after my swim.  I didn't realize my hair was parted so weird until after I looked at the picture..ha ha.  Please excuse the dirty dishes in the background.  I didn't get around to getting them done last night.  And, the sweatshirt I'm wearing is one that I actually won in a 5k race.  It is the only race that I won anything from.  Of course, it was like 10 degrees out so there weren't a lot of people there, but still, it was nice to win something and get a warm, comfy sweatshirt as a prize! :)

*  Remember how I was frustrated about potty training my youngest?  Well, besides his little "accident" on Thursday, I am happy to say that he's been wearing big boy undies all week and has been doing great! Woohoo!  I think  the reason he had the accident at kids' club is because he didn't feel comfortable telling the staff he needed to go.  Poor little guy.

*  My youngest sister ran in her first 1/2 marathon this past weekend and she did great!  She did have to stop around mile 12 to throw-up (maybe Big Daddy could give her the pukie award through me...ha ha), but she kept on keepin' on and finished in an awesome time!  I am so proud of her!  I can't wait to run the Denver Rock-n-Roll marathon with her in October...it will be the first marathon for both of us.  We're also doing the Muddy Buddy in Phx. in November.  That should be a lot of fun!

* This should probably go under training, but oh well.  After 5 years, I had to buy a new watch.   I use it for swimming and running when I don't feel like wearing my Garmin.  And, since I'm not a "girly-girl," I actually wear it as my every day watch too.  This has been, by far, the best watch I have ever owned.  It can really take a beating, and isn't very expensive considering how long it lasts.   Here is a picture of my old one.  Notice the left side coming undone.  The top section came undone about a week ago.  My husband super glued it, but when the bottom broke too, I figured it was time for a new one.  Plus, it was getting foggy after my swims, which it has never done before.   Bye bye watch.

Here's a picture of my  new one:  I love the new color and the yellow indiglo light button!  At least the yellow button will be one thing that matches my new shoes! Ha ha.

 I hope you all have a great weekend! :)  

Spring has sprung!

So, today has just been awesome and it's not even over yet. :)

I got up at 4:30 for my swim and I felt completely rested and ready to tackle my new set of drills.  Usually when I wake up early I am tired and want to crawl back into bed.  Not today!  I got to the pool and had the lane to myself for my entire swim!  Woohoo!  I love not having to share a lane.  My legs felt a little tired from my 11M and 5M runs, but they loosened up after a couple 100meters and I was good to go.  After awhile, I put on my fins and started on my drills.  I realized another benefit of fins, other than helping with my kick, is that they help me focus on just what I'm doing with my arms.  It's nice to wear them and not have to worry about my kick, balance, and hand position all at the same time.  I swam for about 45 minutes, hit the shower, than went into the gym to do a short lifting session.  I got home, made myself a pot of Mate tea, went in the basement for some core work, and enjoyed some quite time by myself before my boys and husband woke up.  Even though I was basically alone while I worked out, the quiet restful alone time is something I don't get that often, and it was really nice.

Oh, did I mention what the high today and tomorrow is going to be?  No?  Well, take a look at this!

In the 70s!  Hooray for spring weather...finally!

After I picked up my son from preschool, I put my youngest down for his nap, and went outside with my oldest.  Today is the first day that he is actually able to wear shorts and a t-shirt outside and he was loving it!  After reading about this idea from a couple blogs, I decided to get my bike trainer and head outside with it.  I don't know why I've never thought of it before, but it is awesome!  I hooked up my bike, sprayed on the sunscreen, and got to work.  There was a gentle breeze that was perfect for cooling me off a little.  The only thing that sucked was the occasional whiff of dog poop that lingered my way.  Yuck!





Speaking of my dog, he didn't quite grasp the concept that I couldn't play ball with him.  He kept dropping his ball by my tire, then laying down waiting for me to throw it to him.  Finally, after trying about 10 times he got the hint and stopped trying.  Poor thing.  At least my son was there to play ball with him.





I got in a total of 45 minutes on my trainer!  Woohoo!  It was great to be outside "riding" even if I wasn't on the real roads.  I think I will definitely be doing this again.

And, check out what is blooming in our little flower garden.  It's tiny, but so beautiful and a definite sign that spring has sprung!  :)

Oh, and LOST is on tonight.  I am a total LOST fan and cannot believe that the season is almost over.  I have no idea how it's all going to end.  My husband still thinks the island is purgatory, but the producers have denied that from the very beginning.  I guess we'll see!

See you tomorrow for Humpastry Day.  :)