Embracing Slow

When I competed in my last triathlon 21 years ago, I was slow. Since then, my biological clock has been working against me. If I believe the science (and I do), then I have lost muscle mass, my fast twitch fibers twitch with less enthusiasm, my stride has shortened, and a loss of flexibility has translated into less efficiency. As I get older, speed becomes more elusive. I can live with this. But if I accept my place in the triathlon world at the back of the pack, if my destiny is to exemplify slow, then the question becomes, why am I busting my ass in the gym 4 or 5 days a week? Glad you asked.

• I may be at the back of the pack, but I’m in the pack. How many women over 50 do you know that are training for a triathlon?
• There’s plodding gasping ugly slow and there’s graceful smooth beautiful slow. Guess which slow I’m aiming for.
• I’m strong and healthy inside and out. This has given me beauty and confidence that I see and use everyday of my life. I am able to go outside my comfort zone and accept challenges.
• I see the average 50+ year old woman. My friends, my colleagues, on the street, in the gym. Not for me. I’m not going there.
• I was never big into team sports. I always preferred competing against myself. Measuring progress in terms of time and distance in 3 sports is more meaningful (to me) than winning with a goal in the last 30 seconds.
• I like going to the gym. I see some of my friends there. I make new friends. It’s not like I have to make deals with myself to get there. It’s become part of what I do most days.

It takes longer to be slow. To be slow is to endure, to focus, to concentrate. Slow is about smelling the flowers. Its about the journey, it’s about encouraging others to set out on their own journeys. You just have to be in it. You don’t have to be in it to win it. Slow is looking BEYOND the finish line. Slow is flexibility and balance, in life and in the gym. Slow is music, a conversation, or a poem.

I like slow. I LOVE slow. I am going to live and breathe slow. I am going to blog about being slow. Join me, embrace slow. Slow is beautiful.

p.s. I haven’t totally given up on speed. Even if I am at the back of the pack, maybe I can realistically compete in my age group (maybe I’ll be the only woman in my age group).

Cycling Haiku

Spring has come at last!
I rejoice with speed and miles
Oh my aching butt!

Silver with some blue
Designed for women, she rocks
Together, a team.

My husband asks me,
“Why are you obsessed with hills?
Just go out and ride.”

The Daily Dose of DOMS

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness has become a way of life. Every morning when I roll out of bed (and some days rolling really is the only option), I discover which muscles are sore and what movements cause the greatest discomfort. Sometimes it’s merely walking to the bathroom, or sitting on the toilet, or putting gel in m hair or shaking the juice carton (it’s amazing how many activities require muscles). Then there’s walking up the stairs to the train station with my backpack on, or reaching for the pen that has fallen to the floor. Some days are worse than others (like after not doing a strength workout for 2 weeks). Sometimes its concentrated in my upper body and other days in my lower body. Sometimes it eases as the day progresses and sometimes it gets worse. Occasionally I have to decide is this just DOMS or is it something a little more serious that requires a couple of days of rest. This morning was one of those decision days, and I have decided to rest. No gym bag in the car today.

I had Monday off (Presidents Day). It was a somewhat rainy day but unseasonably warm. I went to the track and did my DIY Bootcamp. I had run the day before and I didn’t want to simply run 2 days in a row, so I broke up some really slow laps with other activities. I jumped rope, did lunges, squats, push ups, and jumping jacks. I jumped up onto a low step, and dribbled a soccer ball. I brought an elastic band and did arm/shoulder exercises then tied it around my ankles and got my inner thighs burning good. Before I knew it, I had been working out for over an hour. And just because I still felt strong, I ran one mile, nice and slow. It was the easiest mile I have run in recent memory. I just floated around the track. I contemplated continuing to run, but luckily I thought about my knees. Yesterday morning was one of those days when rolling out of bed was the best option because I had DOMS in muscles I didn’t even know I owned. And my knees were sore. I swam last night because there’s no place like the pool when you are sore like that. And the hot tub! Today my knees are better but still asking for a day off. And all those other muscles are quietly rejoicing as well.

Swimmin' and Drummin'

On Saturday mornings at 8 am you will usually find me in the slow lane at the Masters Swim workout. I often wonder why I talked myself into getting up at 7 on Saturday to go wobble snort gasp burp, why I actually paid money to do this! But after swimming the first few laps all the "you must be crazy" thoughts dissipate and I just think about the 101 things the coach has told me to do. Today, I am pleased to report, I had a real swimming workout. I am finally at the point where the coach does not need to correct something after every lap, and I can swim in different gears (slow, medium, fast). Not so much freestyle, but even that is getting better. The swimmers in the fast lane cover about 3,000 yards during a workout. Today I swam about 1600 yards. And I made it to the end of the workout (most days I quit about 10 or 15 minutes before the end of the session. So, I'm getting stronger, I'm swimming better. Maybe not faster, but that will come.

After rewarding myself with hot tub time, I got into my regular workout clothes, clipped on my iPod and I was about to head upstairs to the land of electronic fitness (treadmills, ellipticals, bikes, etc). I overheard a woman talking about the Drums Alive class which was about to start. I ended up taking this class for the first time and it was really fun. You use drumsticks to drum on a stability ball. There are simple choreography/aerobic type steps and combinations, but it takes about 1 minute to master any skills required (hitting a big ball with a stick, sliding to the right or left, jumping jacks and grapevine). It was different, it was fun and it can be quite challenging if you want it to be. Try jumping around and drumming on a stability ball for about 45 minutes and see how your arms feel! Next time try that after swimming 1600 yards. I may have to take this class again!

Here's a video that shows a Drums Alive class:

Things I Think About When Swimming

• Keep your head down.
• Breathe every 3 strokes
• How many laps in 1/3 mile?
• Haven’t seen my red and yellow socks in a while.
• Lead with your elbow.
• I should get a pedicure, even in February, because everyone can see my toes in the locker room.
• Is that 8 or 9 laps?
• How do good swimmers not snort water up their noses when doing the backstroke?
• How difficult is it to buy a bathing suit if you are really obese?
• Was that last thought disrespectful because I don’t mean to be disrespectful but it’s difficult enough for me to find a bathing suit that fits.
• Why can’t the bathing suit industry make bathing suits that fit more than 10% of American women?
• Do more than 10% of American women even want to buy a bathing suit?
• Keep your head down and lead with your elbow.
• Pierce the water and roll like a log.
• Logs don’t have legs.
• I know I’m supposed to know where I am by looking at the ceiling, but I still can’t swim the backstroke straight.
• Don’t rest, just go.
• Flip turns? Yeah right.
• Hot tub hot tub hot tub.
• Is that 13 or 14?
• How come that lady swims like total shit and she doesn’t have to stop every 50 yards gasping for oxygen?
• If I keep swimming, I’m gonna be a lean mean swim like a fish machine.
• If I was a mermaid, I’d probably be a good swimmer because I would have learned how to swim as a very young child.
• Keep your head down, rotate to the air every 3 strokes.
• Lead with your elbow, feel your core rotate.
• Think fish. But not scallop. I don't want to swim like a scallop.
  

The Crap Cycle

On Tuesday morning I woke up at 5:40 (I teach an 8:00 lab so I get up earlier than usual). By the time I walked 20 feet into the bathroom, my head was pounding and I realized I had a really sore throat. I turned around and got back into bed. I got up again at about 8:00 to call in sick. Then I plopped down on the couch in front of the TV and slept another few hours. I felt like total crap. When I finally felt hungry, I told myself I deserved to eat some delicious processed carbs--- like a bagel! And hot beverages with sugar. I spent the rest of the day on the couch, in my pajamas, a fleece bathrobe and a blanket, trying to get warm. Whenever I felt hungry, I ate crap food because I had no energy to prepare or chew real food. That night I slept like crap. Wednesday was a little better, but still pretty crappy, so I continued to eat crappy food, watch crap TV, and complain about feeling crappy. Thursday morning was a little less crappy than Wednesday, and surprisingly, I had not developed a full-blown head cold. I decided it was time to break the crap cycle, so I packed a lunch of real food and went to work (even though it was my day off, I really needed to get some things done). I left the office a little early and by the time I got home, the crap-o-meter showed a much smaller number, so I cleaned up the kitchen, did a little food prep, and in general decreased the total amount of crappitating. I still slept like crap last night, but being optimistic, I put my gym bag in the car this morning. It’s been 4 consecutive days without working out and I feel like that is part of the crap cycle. I feel so much better about everything when I am working out regularly. Last week I bought Freestyle Made Easy, a swimming instruction DVD. I had an abridged version on videotape, but it broke. One of the non-crappy things I did during this crap cycle was watch the DVD 3 times. And now I need to get in the pool and start putting these skills into practice. Am I addicted? I want to lift! I need to swim! Show me a big red stability ball!

Big Do-Over

I spent 2 days in Albany, to attend a university wide meeting at the University at Albany, my alma mater. The place is almost unrecognizable from the days when I roamed the campus. The academic podium and the 4 quads are still the backbone of the campus, but so many new buildings have been added. And it seems like there are parking lots everywhere there are no buildings. At one point I parked my car near Indian Quad, where I lived as a junior, and walked to the Campus Center. Wearing jeans and a turtleneck, my nylon jacket with the hood up, and my backpack, it really felt like I was caught in a time warp. Oh, there were some big differences, like the fact that I never made that excursion at 8:00 am on a Saturday, and the MacBook in my backpack. But it sure felt plausible, maybe it felt more like a wish. I would love to go to college again, knowing what I know now, and having all of today’s toys. I would probably go in a different direction academically, and probably end up in a different place. It’s fun to think about that, what would you do if you had a big “do-over.” But more than that, in hindsight, it’s about viewing the whole college experience differently. I was so fixated on being a biology major and getting good grades, that I didn’t appreciate the other opportunities and resources that were laid out in front of me. It’s definitely one of ideas that I tried to convey to son #1 when he set of for his freshman year. I’m glad he joined a fraternity and hopefully he will get involved in other groups and activities as well. College is the time to try things on, see what fits, where does it take you. Then hopefully you won’t wish you had one big do-over.

Moving into February

January is done, in the books, and it was all about stepping it up. I made the commitment to a triathlon in 2008 and I put all the pieces into play to make that a reality. I started doing core workouts. I managed a couple of bike rides on the warmer days, but other days I took spin classes. I ran. I lifted. I added core/rotational exercises to my strength workout. I did real intervals on the arc trainer. I worked out with my trigrrls. I bought a new bathing suit. I joined the Masters Swim Team! I’m eating better (but there’s still lots of room for improvement here). Most important, this feels like a good fit, I’m enjoying working toward this goal.

Super Bowl Champions

Today I came to work wearing my Plaxico Burress jersey. Since I have clinic today, I wore a white turtleneck under it and a string of (fake) pearls. I had this big grin on my face all day. And when I wasn’t smiling because I was working, I was smiling on the inside. Because the Giants are Super Bowl Champions. It still feels like a dream, a fairytale come true. And my kids were there. As exciting as it was, it was even more exciting because I gave my kids this experience, this once in a lifetime event (if the Giants are in the Super Bowl again and we get tickets again, they are not getting the tickets!). When we got home from our friend’s house, DH couldn’t even get in bed. Even I had a hard time falling asleep. What a rush. So now it’s time to get back on track, to get back to the mundane……… until pitchers and catchers report!

Eat Pray Love Swim Bike Run

Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert is quite the rage in bookclub circles (I just finished reading it for my bookclub and enjoyed it very much). It has also been on the NY Times Bestseller List for upteen weeks. The book is Gilbert’s account of a year she spent traveling to Italy, India and Indonesia in search of “everything.” After a crippling divorce and a crushing depression, her road to recovery begins in Italy, with the pursuit of pleasure, continues in India with a search for love of self and God, and ends on the island of Bali where she seeks balance.

Swim Bike Run is my version of Eat Pray Love. It is an account of this woman’s search for “everything” across Westchester County.

The Bike is my Italy. It is my source of pleasure as I travel many miles through the natural world and across the seasons. Most of the time I share the experience with friends, new and old. It is easy to make the ride fit my needs (both physical and emotional) on that particular day.

The Swim is my India. Even when I swim with the Masters Swim Team, I am in the pool alone. It’s me against myself. Because I suck so bad at swimming, I am constantly battling my negative thoughts. “Why are you even attempting this? You’re supposed to be in good shape. The coach thinks you’re hopeless, but he can’t tell you that.” And on and on and on, lap after lap after lap. Like Gilbert, I am learning to banish these negative thoughts by telling myself, “You have no idea how strong I am.” You don’t have to excel at something to enjoy it. I am learning to love swimming and rejoicing in my baby steps. Lance understands, “Feed the warrior…..Kill the coward within.”

The Run is my Indonesia. It is a constant balancing act, between my knees and my lungs, between pounding the pavement and finding the rhythm that propels me with little effort. Running is the only time I find myself thinking about just about anything or pretty much nothing. I can turn inward or I can turn on the iPod. I can focus on the rhythms of my body or the rhythms of classic rock.

When in Italy, Gilbert's favorite word in Italian was "attraversiamo," let's cross the street. This becomes a metaphor for her journey as she learned to cross the street, navigate all the traffic and end up on the other side of her life. Swim Bike Run, attraversiamo, let's cross the street and find out where an athletic life can take you.

It's All Good

What a great weekend, ending with a Giants victory that is sending them to the Super Bowl. What a great football game! There were a lot of very excited people in my house last night. Son #2 had his posse here, and they were going crazy when the kick was good. Things got a little bit crazier around here when I opened the email this morning and realized that we have 2 tickets to the Super Bowl. Details are being worked out, but DH and I have decided that if it’s at all possible, we are going to send our kids. That seems a better alternative than trying to come up with 1 or 2 more tickets. Of course we could sell these tickets and make a nice little bundle of cash, but our children would probably never forgive us. The upside f this decision is that both of my children will do anything I ask of them with no lame excuses or backtalk. They jump when I say jump! Might as well enjoy it while I can.

The weekend began bright and early on Saturday when I showed up at the gym at 8:00 for my first workout with the Masters Swim Team (Team, every time I type that I crack up!). I am one of three “beginners,” but I’m probably the most beginning beginner. But the coach is fantastic and gave me quite a bit of instruction. I wish I had a dime for every time he told me to keep my head down. Swim in the water, not on the water. I was in the pool for over an hour when I got a cramp in my calf, so that was it for me. It wasn’t an intense workout because I didn’t swim more than 50 yards without stopping and talking with the coach. But it was all good. I don’t know if I will be ready to swim freestyle in the triathlon, but I don’t really care at this point. I’m so freakin’ happy that I’m learning to swim and enjoying it. I thought I was reasonably fit before I started on my swimming journey. I have a new respect for swimmers and swimming as a fitness activity.

On Sunday, I met a couple of other triathletes at another gym for an all morning workout extravaganza followed by a girltalk lunch. Now that was fun! We jumped in the pool for about a half hour, then we threw on our bike shorts for a 40 minute spin class and then we did an hour Total Body Conditioning class. I was ready to kill the instructor if she yelled, “Lower! Hold it” one more time during the bazillion squats she had us doing. This was quite the workout and I’m feeling it today. I have the day off today, and I think I’m ready to head to the gym for an easy workout.

Wobble Snort Flap Gasp Burp

I have earnestly been teaching myself how to swim. I have made significant progress, but the experience has been humbling. I wobble down the lane. I swallow water as well as snort it up my nose. After 50 yards, I am gasping for oxygen. If I think about what my arms are doing, my legs forget to kick. If I make sure my legs are kicking, my arms are flapping. I haven’t even thought about what my head should be doing. But I’m improving, I’m definitely getting better. And the weird thing is, I am starting to enjoy it. I actually look forward to getting in the pool. It’s like Lance says, “Feed the Warrior, Kill the Coward Within.” Do not be deceived. I am only 5 feet tall, but I am fierce.

And so, it is time for the next step. I have decided to join the Masters Swim Team at my gym. “Team” is a misnomer, although some of the members do compete. It’s more of a “Swim Workout for Grownups.” The aquatics director has assured me that the coach is very open to working with swimmers of all levels. The limiting factor is my comfort level for being the slowest crappiest swimmer in the pool. That works for me. I’m practically guaranteed to win “Rookie of the Year.” (realize that I am the only member of the Awards Committee). I just hope my teammates don’t swim over me as I wobble snort flap gasp across the pool. Oh, and did I mention burp. That comes a little later, after I swallow and snort enough water.

Roadmap

I’m getting the pieces together. The various workout parts are starting to come together into more of a unified (yet flexible) plan. My nutrition is more consistent and I know what I need to “fix.” My support network is taking shape. I’m feeling more focused. Now I just hope my knees will keep me in the game.

On Friday, I decided I had to make the transition from practicing rotations and other swimming drills to some sort of real swimming stroke no matter how messy. And I did. I have a much better understanding of how to rotate my body when swimming. I don’t do it well and swimming 25 yards is exhausting, but this is a major breakthrough. I will work on making it smoother and easier and I may take a private swim lesson. At this point, I think a lesson can have a bigger impact.

On Saturday I planned a club ride for 11 am. The late start gave it time to warm up and I had the opportunity to go to the gym and do a core/upper body workout. I had 8 riders join me, including 3 on one bike! We have a family in our club that rides a custom built triple—daddy in front, mommy in the middle and daughter in the back. You can imagine the gawking, comments and questions they get wherever they ride. It’s quite a sight to see. It was a warm winter day and a great ride, including a rest stop at the Stone Barns Café, which is one of my favorite places in Westchester County. The ride was a 22 mile loop from a high school, with a beautiful turf track. I’m going to look into shortening the ride so we can start doing bricks—ride then run workouts.

Today a bunch of triathletes from the club had a meet-up. There were 9 of us, and we ranged from ironmen to first timers, competers and completers. We happen to have a very talented triathlete/coach (Coach A) in the club and he was offering some great advice about how to get a training program started. One of the points that Coach A stressed was the need to make a plan that fits into your life and then to discuss it with your significant other, because if you don’t have the support at home, it ain’t gonna work. I am very lucky that not only is DH a triathlete as well, but he has always been behind me 100%. We are on the same page. I’m really focusing on tweaking our food and nutrition, and he has picked up the slack around the house with both of us spending more time at the gym.

The next piece I need to put into play is Dab the Wussy (Once a Week, Do What Sucks at the Body Shop Until Your Eyeballs Hurt). It’s not too early to start doing bricks, or swimming after almost any other workout.

At our little meet-up, we introduced ourselves and told out personal triathlete “stories.” It made me realize how far I’ve come in the last few years. More importantly, registering for a triathlon after a 21 year hiatus has given me a new direction. I know where I’m going and I have aroadmap to get there.

DNF and Other Outdoor Adventures

On Saturday, I went on a club ride called “Dirt-Road-Dirt.” The 25 mile ride travels mostly dirt packed backroads, with a few paved roads here and there. The ride is not suitable for road bikes, so I pumped up the tires on my hybrid (haven't ridden it in about a year and a half) and threw it into the back of the Subaru. The weather people promised me temps into the 40s, so I dressed for temps in the 40s. However, when we set out at 9:30 am, the temp was only 27. I. Was. Cold. Soon after we set out on our little journey, I realized that riding a heavier bike, with fatter tires, on dirt roads, up many a hill on a cold day was really hard work. Much harder than riding a road bike on a paved road. MUCH Harder. My bike has a triple and my knees were wishing I had a quadruple! In fact, when we made a big loop and I realized we were only 2 miles from where we had started, I bailed. That’s right. I Did Not Finish. I quit with 12 miles on my little computer. I felt like a weeny, but a smart and considerate weeny. I probably could have dragged myself through the next 12 or 13 miles, but it probably wasn’t going to be fun. And while I know I need to push myself to become a better athlete, it’s still supposed to be mostly fun. I also thought about the other riders who were obviously going to have to choose between leaving me to eat their dust or slowing down to wait for me (so they could see me eat their dust). I may try again (he does this ride or some variation thereof) every Saturday morning. Knowing what to expect, and wearing warmer accessories might make enough of a difference that I could do it. Or maybe I’ll just keep doing the weeny version and bailing at the halfway point (makes sense, it felt about twice as hard). Or maybe I’ll wait until the roads are clear and stay with my skinny wheels.

Sunday’s outdoor adventure was hiking. This time the weather people promised me temps into the 50s! But I wasn’t falling for that again, so I wore 2 pairs of socks and brought an extra pair of gloves. The temp was only in the low 30s when we hit the trail, so I was dressed right. But did I mention that the leaves that covered the trails were covered with a layer of crunchy snow and that the light rain that had fallen overnight covered the crunchy snow and the rocks with a fine layer of ice. Oh, and that it was foggy and still drizzling. But I had no intention of being a weeny two days in a row, and neither did anyone else in our little group of hearty hikers. I managed to stay upright for 98% of the hike, and except for slipping and totally immersing my right foot in an icy cold stream (waterproof boots, you TOTALLY ROCK), it was uneventful. Although the conditions made it challenging, it was actually a really nice hike. I got home just in time for the kickoff, watched the Giants dominate the Buccaneers with family and some friends, and stuffed my face with totally bad-for-you foods. I never said I was perfect, just not a two-day-in-a-row weeny.

It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times

As I prepare to say goodbye to 2007, I pause to reflect on all the wonderful people and love I experience everyday. It was the best of times and the worst of times, but that's what an ordinary life is. The ups and downs, the ins and outs, moments of great happiness and times of loss and grief. My mother-in-law's illness and death in September was the darkness that infiltrated much of the year. But I was able to take comfort from the relationship we had forged over 22 years. How lucky I am to have had her in my life! And everyday I wake up with her son beside me. We've been married for 22 years. We have two sons who are becoming young men faster than I can believe. We both have jobs, a beautiful home, and friends and family around us. We have financial security and good health. We share the same values and attitude about how to live our lives. Life is good. Can it be better? Probably. Will we try to make it better? Absolutely! I'm looking forward to 2008. Bring. It. On.

Last Ride for 2007

Today was a gift-- a beautiful winter day, with temps into the low 50s. Yesterday, when I realized it was going to be a great day to be outdoors, I put a bike ride up on the club's website. It rained overnight, and the morning was cloudy and a bit foggy, but I could see the front moving out, the blue skies emerging and the temperature rising. I had 3 people join me, and I had never ridden with any of them. Arie is a much stronger rider than the 3 of us, but seemed content to slow down for this ride. Norm rides at about the same speed as me. Deb was the slow poke today, but no one was in a hurry. We were enjoying the chance to be out there and having the company, so we waited for her. The ride up to the coffee shop in Katonah has some decent climbs, and when we got there, we all had iced drinks! The round trip was 24 miles. I'm sure this was my last ride in 2007, but it was a great way to end my 2007 season!

The Money Pit

DH and I have noticed a crack in the ceiling in the kitchen. It has been slowly getting worse. There is a bathroom, more specifically a bathtub directly above the crack, so we have tried ignoring the crack to see if it would miraculously disappear. Yesterday we had another plumbing problem so DH decided it was time to overcome active denial and consent to exploratory surgery on the ceiling. Ian, the plumber is a very friendly man who obviously enjoys the challenge of finding the source of a leak, with zest and devotion akin to Livingstone searching for the source of the Nile. Armed with equal amounts of passion and skill, Ian wielded a sheetrock knife and a flashlight and began his quest. His search turned up several potential problems but unconvinced that he had found the real problem, he followed the trail of clues up to the attic (forensic plumbing). When he poured water into a pipe draining the condensing tray of the air conditioning unit and the water poured out of the ceiling in the kitchen, he was ecstatic! I was screaming “stop” stop” and he was yelling “wow! this is great!”

While searching for the source of the Nile in our attic, Ian discovered another river. The plywood around the chimney is soaked. This is bad, this is a big bad river because it may mean we need a new roof. Or new siding. Or both. So DH and I will both put on our lifejackets as we start to navigate this new big bad river.

In the meantime, we are considering cutting additional holes into the ceiling in various locations in our center hall colonial home, and then covering them with plexiglass instead of boring old sheetrock. Then we could charge admission, to view the see-through house. Haven’t you ever wondered what the guts of your home look like, its digestive, circulatory, respiratory and nervous systems? Want to see all the things that can go wrong in a house? Yes, we can provide a live view into the mouth (actually the ceiling) of the Money Pit.

Speed of Diminishing Returns

Christmas Day.... since I don't formally celebrate Christmas, this comes down to a day off. Usually that includes a good dose of television, some cooking, cleaning up, and otherwise catching up. But unlike other days off, it doesn't include is a trip to the gym, because along with practically every other business , it is closed. So today became a day to overcome slothdom and beat my own path to fitness. I did something I rarely do. I ran. On the road. Up and down hills. It was hard. But it was good.

I discovered something that would have escaped me if I only ran on a track because a track has no hills. When running uphill, if you slow down too much, you come to a speed of diminishing returns. It becomes more difficult to run uphill that slowly. You start to feel like you are running through mud. Or moving backwards. It's easier to push up the hill, and hold back a little on the downhill, to ease the recovery. And then I just got to a point where I knew I was on the last hill and I just wanted to be done with it and there was n o reason to hold back. I make it sound like I was out there running major mileage. It was only about 3.75 miles. But at least half of it was uphill!

I used this as an opportunity to try Burton's Headphone Beanie, which is a hat with built in headphones. Made by Burton, the snowboard company, meant more for snowboarders than for runners. I bought it as a Christmas present for a friend, mostly because when I saw it I thought it was really neat and I wanted to buy it for someone (other than me). Then I realized that my friend doesn't run outdoors much especially in the winter nor does she does she spend significant time on cross country skiis. I ended up buying her something else (a tie-dyed hoodie sweatshirt that she absolutely fell in love with). So I decided to try the headphone beanie to see if I want to keep it, give to someone else as a belated Christmas gift, or return it. Here is a picture of someone (not me) wearing a black one. Mine is beige. The hat is kinda cute, not dorky, and I'm sure very representative of snowboarder fashion. It wasn't a really cold day (low 40s) but the hat kept my head and ears toasty warm. The cord connecting the headphones to the iPod has its own volume control-- very handy. It wasn't heavy or awkward. The sound was good, not great, but good enough to propel me over the hills. I reconsidered gifting it, but after I got it a bit sweaty, well that would be kinda gross. So I either have to run outdoors more or hope we get more snow and wear it skiing or snowshoeing. Or wear it on the treadmill, start a new trend in fitness fashion.

It Looks Easy in the Video

My triathlon training plan includes teaching myself to swim "for real," instead of faking it. Let me explain. I can't swim freestyle for more than 20 yards, because I do it all wrong. So, whenever I need to cover any kind of distance in the pool, I do the breaststroke. So I got myself an instructional video, Freestyle Made Easy or something like that, produced by the Total Immersion Swimming Gurus. The video breaks freestyle swimming down to its very basic components and uses a set of drills to build your stroke from floating to swimming. Along the way they encourage you to be more fish-like, to swim like a fish instead of a barge. So I am trying to transform myself from a barge to a fish, that's the nitty gritty. It looks easy in the video. Today I practiced swimming on each side and rotating from side to side, without using my arms. Although I think I made progress, I discovered that its not easy to swim in a straight line (I kept wobbling off to the side). Moving forward without using your arms is like trying to walk fast without swinging your arms. It's just awkward. And its easy to get water up your nose. Unpleasant.

But I'm committed to giving this 100% effort. I want to swim like a fish! So I will be back in the pool, wobbling down the lane without any arms trying not to suck up too much water through my nose. I can't wait.

Avoiding Obsession

I typed "beginner triathlon training" into Google. As I started to wade through the 74,800 hits (I kid you not!), I realized that it would be easy to become obsessed with training. I took a look at a few websites with training programs, logs and journals, forums, and humorous anecdotes, and then I decided the last thing I need is to box myself into a 16 week tri-training program with long days, short days, recovery days, bricks, strength training and protein shakes. I'd be ready for the loony bin before the triathlon. So here is what I'm going to do; My Tri Training Program:

1. I will start with the idea that I could probably finish the race today if it was today. It might not be pretty, and I might be dead last, but I think I could get it done.
2. I am going to aim to work out 5 days a week. If I can only get in 4 days, well, then its only 4 days.
3. My workouts will be a mixture of strength, spinning classes, running, and swimming. Duh.
4. Since swimming is my weakest link, I will combine swimming with 1 of the others as often as possible.
5. Since running is tough on my knees, I will limit my running to 2 miles, 2.5 miles tops. I can substitute elliptical or arc trainer for running miles.
   
6. I have to bring back Dab the Wussy. There's definitely room for that in any fitness regimen.
   
7. When given the opportunity to do something other than swim, spin, or run (e.g. snowshoeing, hiking, kayaking), I will take advantage of that opportunity. Outdoor adventures always trump indoor training.
   
8. I will try to teach myself how to swim for real by watching Total Immersion video and doing the drills. If I make any progress, I will consider swimming lessons/professional help.
   
9. I am going to eat right, reducing processed carbs as much as possible. Goodbye bagels.
10. I will keep my own journal and use this blog to track my progress.
11. If at any point in time between today and May 31, 2008, I decide that this is not fun or not what I want to do, I will either scale back or walk away from it.
    

That's the plan. There will be no obsessing. There will be plenty of healthy living, a direction, and a realistic and respectable goal. 2008 is going to ROCK.