Victory is Mi-............*

Took the new year off, mainly due to illness, but went back to swimming just after that. On Tuesday, 1/8, I swam in the slow lane, and we talked as much as swam. The coach was egging us on to keep working out. So, come Thursday, he had his eye on us and got us swimming the complete time, with each one of us pushing the other to keep going and get as much of the workout in as possible. At the end of the workout, he pointed out that we had swum the length of a sprint tri - the distance I needed to complete for my tri in August.

Now I'm not saying it was easy, but at least I know now that I can do it. Mind you, if I did the tri tomorrow, I would come out of the swim sputtering and breathing hard, not really able to get on the bike and ride in a straight line...... but I can do it. And within 50 minutes at this point!!! That's a big weight off.

I've run/walked the 3 miles, so that will be no biggie. My biggest concern is slacking off on the bike. I already know I am capable of a 20+ mile bike ride, but haven't really focused on building up to that again - which means I could keep putting that off until too late. I'll at least ride once a week to keep building up - but that would be the first thing I would let go, if I slack off, so I need to keep an eye on it....

Now, to follow up on the asterisk on the title - well..... the following Tuesday, I missed the swim due to picking up my car, where we had the bike rack, among other things, added to the car. I have a cute little mini - for anyone who wonders about that type of car I only have two things to say - 1. the inside is like Mary Poppin's Purse - amazing the room (my man compares it to a tiny circus car where a ton of clowns pop out) - and 2. can't beat parking in the city...... The only down part is that any dealers are about 30 miles away from DC - either Annapolis or Sterling or near Baltimore, so for any work, it's a bit of a trek... short story long - I missed swimming. The bad part is that, at work during the day, something popped in my spine and it spasmed - can't say what it was, but the muscles radiating out from the spine at a particular point just spasmed greatly - felt like bat wings were sprouting and trying to take flight - except for it was extremely painful.... the actual spasms lasted a few minutes, but the pain lasted a few hours, then the ghost feelings went on for another day. Figured I 'd skip swimming the following Thursday and let it rest. I'm aware of the spot now, but it's not painful. (I should probably point out that I didn't literally pick up the Mini - no, that's not the cause of the back spasms......)

Anyway, I missed the swims the following week due to taking a class and studying for a professional certification, so two weeks off of the swim. I did run on the treadmill on Mon & Wed - how more boring could that be? I've never done that before - can't see how anyone can. I had the ipod going, but man!!! The TV was missing in the workout room (great hotel - they had the remote there, but no TV.....) I finally put a towel over the treadmill display so I wouldn't see how slowly the seconds and miles slipped bye.... I forced myself to listen to three songs on the ipod each time before checking my watch - that was the only way I could get through it.... and getting off the treadmill after running - the room keeps trying to move while your legs aren't - it's really weird. I'll take running outside in 20 degree weather before dealing with that if I can help it in the future. On Tuesday I did the elliptical trainer - what's that about? Couldn't figure it out, but it did check my pulse and told me I was above my threshold - ok, so it was a workout, but still am not certain about that machine - it wasn't as boring, just because I had no idea what I was doing, I suppose....

Ah well, talk about this week next time I log on.....

* ouch