19 May 2006

Friday Swim

This morning was swimming and of course it wasn't raining!!! The gods are trying to piss me off I tell you.

I got home from work last night (not as early as I'd hoped) and it started raining. So that blew off the evening bike ride. They are not going to get me down!!! I'm not going to let them!!!

So, Friday morning is an optional long swim. I will probably do this most weeks as this is where I really need the work. So I headed off to the pool and decided to just to 1000m slow and easy. I did. It felt good. I did flip turns for about 250m but I was having trouble breathing during them so I stopped. Anyway, 1000m took me 27:18, and since my oly is an 850m swim, my time at 750m was 19:53. Not too shabby. I was pleased. Mostly I was pleased with my form. I was going slow and really working on reaching and pulling. I developed a little rhythm where I would kind of roll to the left, then roll to the right and breathe, then roll to the left, it was great. I felt like I was gliding through the water. Awesome!!!!

I read something a few weeks ago that really struck me. Researchers say that sleeping actually helps you learn something new. So, you learn a new skill and it's hard. That night you sleep and your mind keeps working on it. The next day you will be slightly better at it. And so on and so on. I have always found that to be true I just didn't know what it was. I've been trying to learn the guitar for years (just no time) and I find everytime I go back to it I find I start at a higher level then I left off at. Anyway, it seems to be working with swimming also.

In my effort to lose weight I've been toying with my diet trying to find the best morning fuel for my workouts. The other day I tried a fruit/yogurt/OJ smoothie and it worked really well. I made a small one, drank 1/2 before my workout and 1/2 right after. That's my downfall, I generally don't eat for an hour after I workout and that's not good. This morning I decided to do the smoothie thing again only I thought I'd add some soy protein. Wrong!!! My stomach is feeling nasty, all bloated and full. Ugh!!! No more soy protein. I'm such an idiot sometimes. I use this soy protein, it makes me feel like crap. I don't use it for a couple of months and forget. Use it again. It makes me feel like crap. Why don't I just throw the crap away????? Tonight I will for sure.

I just did a quick internet search and it appears I may have a slight allergy to soy based on my reactions. Too bad cause I do love edamame. But that's okay, I live without cause I hate the way it makes me feel.

Now, for something completely different..... I have almost finished my first "free gifts" for those that responded to my offer. They will be going out in the mail next week. The 2nd batch will go out the week after. What this means is that I have to finish my website upgrade this weekend so you guys will have something to look at. Plus, I have to work in my garden and get my training in; oh, it will be a busy weekend.

Okay, I'm done. Nothing more to say.

18 May 2006

The best laid plans of mice and men....

I had every intention of getting up this morning and going for a bike ride. Weeelllll, I ended up staying up a little bit late last night. Then apparently, the alarm clock went off and I turned it off. I did, however, jump out of bed ready to go when I discovered it was pouring rain. Okay, that's it. I know when I'm defeated. So I sacked my bike ride and left for work early. I plan on leaving early and going for my bike ride this evening. So there fate!!! See how you like that!!!

17 May 2006

Forced day off.

Okay, well I was a little too enthusiastic with my training. I ran on Sunday, then swam and ran on Monday, then rode my bike on Tuesday. That proved to be just a touch too much. Yesterday my knee started acting up and I was having trouble walking. I have no cartilage in my right knee so I have to be careful with it. Turns out running 2 days in a row is a big no-no. the knee didn't really hurt it just felt weak and unstable. So I decided to take today off. I needed to revamp my training schedule anyway since I can not run 2 days in a row. Previous experience has shown if I leave a day in between my knee is much happier. I can bike on that day or swim of course, just not run. So that's what I did today. Tomorrow though it's right back to it. Another bike ride is on the schedule and I'm looking forward to it. I just hope it's a little warmer tomorrow :)

16 May 2006

6 a.m. bike ride

One of my absolute favorite things is to ride my bike early in the morning. The day is new, it's quiet, most people aren't up and about yet. The backroads where I ride in my new neighborhood are really quiet. The only living things out are me, chickens, cats, peacocks, and mongoose. It's great I love it.

So this morning I get up and dressed and ready to head out. One small problem, it's freaking cold. At 6 this morning it was about 62 degrees. Okay, okay, I can hear it already, "that's not cold" Guess what, for Hawaii it's freaking freezing. We dropped into the high 50's last night. Hello, it's May in Hawaii, that is way freaking cold. Also, you have to understand, we are not set up for cold weather. My house is single wall construction, there is no insulation whatsoever. I only own 1 pair of jeans and I have no cold weather gear because once I get biking or running I usually get warm and am fine. This morning I started riding and was freezing. It took about 20 minutes for me not to be freezing cold anymore but I was chilly the entire time and when I got home I took a steaming hot shower. But I did it. It would have been so easy to stay in bed all snuggly with the dogs. But no, I got up and rode in the freezing cold. I'm off to get more hot tea to continue the thawing process.

15 May 2006

They say that admitting you have a problem is

half the battle. Once I did my post on being afraid and picking out a race to do things have been going well. Saturday I biked - god I love biking. Sunday I ran. Today was swimming and running. Wow, I feel great.

So today's plan called for 30 minute swim and 35 minute run. All night last night I'm trying to figure out how to do this. Theoretically the pool doesn't open till 6:30a.m. I could run first then swim but I really wanted to swim first then run (don't ask me why, I don't know. That's what the schedule said!!). So I kept telling myself I could blow the run off, just do this swim. In my mental gymnastics I didn't get anything ready.

The alarm goes off this morning and I decide I'm going to swim then run. I have nothing ready so had to race around the house like an idiot getting all my gear (which I haven't used in like 2 months) ready. I got to the pool at 6:10 and people were already swimming - sweet!!!

By 6:15 I was in the pool. Out at 6:45 and by 6:50 on my run. Now I'm at the Y so I could have used the treadmills but it was such a glorious morning I decided to run through the neighborhood. It was awesome.

Okay, so the pool ended up like this;
100 meters: 2:32, 2:41, 2:44, 2:56, 2:58, 3:08, 2:58, 2:43, 3:04, 3:02.
Since I haven't been in the pool in almost 2 months I decided to just swim. I hit my watch every 100m just so I could get an idea of where I was.

I then ran 2.37 miles in 35 minutes. Not exactly speeding away, but not bad considering the break I've taken.

So while I was swimming I decided I needed a goal for my olympic distance, just completing it will not be enough. I want to push myself. So I've decided that I want to complete the swim in 20 minutes. That's 2:30 per 100m. I know I can do that, in fact I know I can do better than that, so that seems like a reasonable goal.

The bike, hmmm. It's 40 km which is almost 25 miles, so a goal of 1:45 seems reasonable..

And the run. That is 10km or 6.2 miles. I'm thinking 1:00. That would give me a finish time of 3:05 and put me very close to the middle of the pack. So that's my goal. It will take work but now I've got focus....

14 May 2006

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!


My mom was a pretty special woman, at least in my opinion. She got married at 16 and never completed high school. She went on to have 7 kids and a couple of times had to take care of them by herself as my dad would go off and do something (long story). My mom always wanted to do things; travel, learn, experience things. She convinced me that I could do and be anything I wanted to as long as I worked hard. If she had been born in another time she would have been an adventurer or a trail blazer. But, she was born in 1925 and there were not a lot of paths open to women at that time. During WWII she worked in the shipyards and supported the family while my dad was in the service. When my dad died she got her high school diploma and went on to college at the age of 49. She got her nursing degree and set out to support my sister and myself. She was truly the example of doing what needed to be done when it needed to be done.

I was a horrible child. My dad died when I was 13 and in many ways I took it out on my mother, not realizing that she was in more pain than me. The man who had taken care of her most of her life was gone and she had two little kids at home. I lied, stole, ran away, cut school, started smoking, stared taking drugs, and eventually ended up pregnant. Did my mother turn her back on me and kick my butt out??? Never... She was always there when I needed her, no matter what. Thankfully I realized how horrible I had been and hopefully made it clear to my mother how sorry I was. I tried as I got older to be the best daughter I could be and I really think she knew how much I loved and respected her.

This picture is my Mom and my daughter. It was taken in 1978 and is one of my favorites. The 2 females who shaped my life so much. Unfortunately I feel like I shortchanged them both. My mom was an amazing woman and my daughter has turned out to be one too. She gave 1 child up for adoption, lost one child to drowning, and now has 2 kids. She is an amazing mom and I don't know where she learned it. Certainly not from me. I spent most of my life way too self centered and selfish.

The only thing I can say is I love them both deeply. My mom died in 2001 and I still miss her a lot. There are so many times I go to pick up the phone to call her only to remember she's gone. My daughter lives in California and I miss her all the time too.

To both of these amazing women, and to all the mothers out there in blogland:

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

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