Inspiration Tuesday...The Last Tuesday of February

I feel so awesome right now!!!!!  I just ran 6.13 miles.  It's the furthest I've ever run and just shy of 10K.  I feel really good about my 10k in April.  I had set a goal of under 1:30, but I think I may be able to do it right around an hour.  It took me 1 hour 21 minutes today and that wasn't on my race pace.  I'm also excited about the 5k in 2 weeks.  It should be pretty good even with the 2k downhill part.  I'm really excited about it!

I can feel myself getting stronger and my paces getting faster.  The pace I held for all but the few minutes of warm up and cool down was faster than 3 weeks ago.  I felt comfortable and like I could run some more.  Tomorrow is a rest day and I think I'll need it.  Thursday it's hill intervals.  I run 4 miles with 6 rounds of :45 hills at my 5k pace.

This weekend I'm off to Ottawa for Provincials.  I have 3 kids swimming and they are really excited.  Two of them are swimming for the first time.  They are really excited.  I know they will do well.

This week I'm focusing on not giving up for my Inspiration.  I have told my swimmers the story of how Michael Phelps swam the 200 fly in the 2008 Olympics with his goggles full of water and not being able to see.  Not only did he win the gold, but he did it in World Record time.  If he would have just given up then he wouldn't have won his 8 gold medals or set a new World Record.  He trained hard so he knew where he was and how many strokes he needed to take on each length.  Today I was worried that I wouldn't be able to do all 6 miles, but I did.  So for this week's inpiration I have quote from Babe Ruth.

This is so true.  I hope that I can get my swimmers to believe this and at times I need to remember this.  Just don't give up!

Enjoy your day!

I'm Back!

Last week I came down with a nasty cold that just wiped me.  It hit me Wednesday.  I got home from practice Wednesday night, took some Nyquil and went to bed.  Thursday I let myself sleep in, but had to get up for a meeting.  Friday I didn't get out of bed.  I was still feeling icky Saturday, but much better.  I had a swim meet so I decided to just go to the meet and not workout.  Today I was back at it.  I'm glad I took the time to get healthy, but at the same time I was missing the activity.

I got up early this morning and went in for a cross training day.  I'm glad it was a cross training day.  I did 11.5 miles on the recumbent bike.  I was not going at a super fast pace, but I did push it towards the end.  It did feel good.

I then went on to lift weights.  I did legs and then some core work.  For my core, I did Russian Twists with the medicine ball, sitting squats with the medicine ball, roll outs on the physio ball and pike ups on the physio ball.  I think I did strain some muscles coughing when I was sick because I felt a pull, but no pain.

Tomorrow I do my longest run I've ever done.  I go for a 6 mile run.  I'm trying to decide if I am going to delay it and go outside when its a bit warmer or do it on the treadmill.  I have to check the weather I guess. I can go out around 8:00 and then hit the gym when I get back.  Like I said I think it will depend on the weather.  We'll have to see.

I'm a little intimidated by the distance, but I can do this.  I have 62 days until my 10k so this is a good judge of where I am.  I can do this and once I do I know I'll feel so good about it!

Right now I have 12 days until my next 5k.  It's the Slainte St. Patrick's Day Race.  It's downhill for the second half of the race.  It's tough on your quads, but its fun and a fast course.  I'm excited.

Then I go to Indiana to visit my parents.  I'm really excited about that.  I will go see my grandma and my grandpa as well.  I love going to visit them.  I can't wait!

And to wrap up my March break, I have my appointment set up to get my next tattoo!  I'm so excited.  I have been itching to get it for awhile now and I set it up the other day.  After this one I have 2 more planned.  I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!

I have a busy week ahead of me and I need to get it started.  Have a great Monday!!!!!!

Inspiration Tuesday

Yes, it's Tuesday!  Today started early for me.  I was at the gym at 5:00 this morning because James wanted to walk to daycare.  I ran 5.22 miles and then did weights.  Today was upper body and core.  My whole morning so far has just been one thing after another.

My morning started when I was pulling out of the driveway.  I had just put out the 2 recycling bins and didn't realize how close to the edge of the driveway the actually were until I knocked one over.  Of course being 4:55 am it couldn't have been the one with the paper and cardboard in it.  Nope...had to be the one with the cans and plastic.  It was a glorious noise.  Mike said he heard a thump and got out of bed to look and saw me picking up all the cans and bottles. 

The gym itself went okay.  I felt really good on the run.  My pace for my long easy runs is getting faster.  After a 5 minute warm-up I held the first 2.5 miles at a 12:45 pace then slowed down to get some water.  The second 2.5 miles was at a 13:09 pace.  I had to slow down to get water again at around the 4 mile mark.  I did a 5 minute cool down at the end.

I lifted upper body and did some core work today.  I have one exercise that I have to increase weight on on Thursday, the rest I increased last week and they are still okay.  I did have to cut the core work a bit short since I had to get home to get James so we could walk to daycare.

We decided to take the dogs with us.  Now the route we took today is a 2.8 mile round trip walk.  It's cold so I had to put Mulder's coat on him.  He had recently decided that he doesn't like his coat, so he stands and plays statue.  Once we got him going we were fine.  Then they both have to find just the right place to go poop.  That took time.  Then James kept getting slower and slower.

We get halfway to daycare and run into Mike's dad.  He was walking their 3 dogs.  Well they all had to greet each other which caused a bit of a leash knot.  We chatted for a minute or two and then we were back on track. 

Once we get to daycare, I have to tie the dogs up so I can take James inside.  Of course the time we hit the daycare is the time when everyone else gets to daycare.  I have to tie them up at the end of the fence so they don't scare any kids.  I know that not everyone likes dogs so I try to keep them away from everyone especially kids when I have to tie them up for very short periods of time.  I get James into daycare, but of course the dogs were convinced that I was leaving them there forever.  When I get back to the them 30 seconds later, they were soooooo glad I was finally back.

We head back home.  About halfway back we stop and chat with one of the crossing guards.  That's when I notice that Anya's foot is bleeding.  I couldn't figure out where it was coming from so I had to wait until we got home.  We start walking again and we come to a patch of ice half a block from home.  Mulder starts sliding and can't get his feet back under him.  He gets to the cement and decides that he was NOT moving another step.  He started playing statue again.  It took me a minute to get him moving.

We got home and I took Anya straight up to the bathroom.  I put her in the tub and clean out her foot.  It took me a minute to find the source of the blood.  I finally found it.  She had lost her nail just above the quick.  She's fine and laying here next to me as I type.

My morning has been eventful so far.  I'm hoping the rest of the day is calm.

Now for my inspiration for the week.

This is so true.  I find that if I'm going to do something I am going to give it my all.  I know we all stumble and have moments when we just want to do the bare minimum.  We have to recognize those moments and work to improve them.  I am going to keep this in mind this week.  When things start to get hard, I wil make sure I'm giving it my best and then keep going.

Happy Family/President's Day!

Today was a holiday so Mike and James were both home.  It was a good thing they did have today off because we didn't get home last night until almost 10 pm.  Mike's grandma had her 90th birthday party yesterday.  It was fun.  Lots of family, food, and fun.   We all went straight to bed though when we got home.

This morning I got up and hit the gym.  It didn't open until 8am so I did get to sleep in just a bit.  Today was another cross training day.  I did the recumbent bike and got 11.5 miles in today.  Then I did weights.  It was legs and core today.  I increased some of the weights again.  The gym was crowded, but I was still able to get my workout done.  I much prefer the early mornings when no one is there.

While I was riding I read about Phelps' 200 Fly and 200 Free races.  Just amazing!  I have a passage that I'm going to copy for the swimmers to read.  It's about how he swam the 200 Fly to a gold medal and a world record and couldn't see anything the last 50 of the race because his goggles were filled with water.  He knew his stroke count.  He knew what he needed to do get to the wall.  He didn't want to lose.  Just so amazing!  I need the kids to see that even when things don't go as planned, they can still race hard.  We have our group meeting on Thursday and we will be doing goal setting for long course season so I'm hoping this will inspire them.

Tomorrow is Inspiration Tuesday.  I'm trying to find my inpiration for the week.  I have so many to choose from.  Tune in tomorrow and see which one I picked!

Cross Training Today

I have a very busy day today, but I was still determined to get up and get my cross training time in the gym.  We are going to Mike's grandma's 90th birthday party today.  We are in charge of bringing a veggie tray, green bean casserole, and a root vegetable dish in the crock pot.  No problem!

We got the stuff yesterday and last night Mike and I peeled and cut up turnips, parsnips, rutabega, and carrots.  It saved me a ton of time this morning.  I got up a little before 6 and put everything in for Crock Pot Balsmic Root Vegetables and started the crock pot.  Then I hit the gym.

I'm getting ready to mix up the green bean casserole before I get ready to go.  We are leaving around 10:30 so I'm typing and eating my breakfast.   I also have a few more things to get done before we leave.  It should be fun though.

I'm about halfway through No Limits by Michael Phelps.  It's a really good book.  It really shows how hard he works and how hard Bob Bowman works as well.  I should be done in the next couple of weeks because I am only reading it while I ride the recumbent bike.  After that I'm reading a biography of Mark Spitz.  I can't wait!  I'm finding that I'm really inspired to push myself as well as push my swimmers to become better and to reach their goals.  I almost need to bring a highlighter so I can highlight quotes that I want to remember.  Hmmmm....I just may start doing that.

Well, off to make the casserole!  I hope everyone has a restful and blessed Sunday!

Snowy Saturday

I woke up at 3:30 this morning for a 5:30 practice, let the dogs out, and discovered it had snowed last night.  We got about 2 inches.  I didn't even know it was supposed to snow.  It made for a dicey drive to the pool.  It took me a little over and hour to get there.  I was not amused, but it is what it is.

Coming home was so much better.  The plows had gotten out.  The sun was up.  The main roads were pretty clear.  It made getting to the gym so much easier.

I got to the gym before the Saturday crowds did.  Today was a one mile tempo run.  I was up for it.  I did around an 8 minute warm up.  Gradually working up to a good pace.  Then I did my tempo run at 11:19 pace.  It's about what my 5k pace is.  I felt really good and like I could have held that for a lot longer.  Then I did a 10 minute cool down, gradually bringing my heart rate down. 

Next week I have a 1.5 mile tempo run and I'm going to try to hold an 11:00 minute pace.  That's a bit faster than my current 5k pace.  I'm getting better endurance and now it's time to push myself a bit harder on the interval sets and the tempo runs. 

Today we are cleaning the house and doing a few crafy things.  We have to go to the grocery store to get the ingredients I need for tomorrow's dishes, but we can do that later.  We are also making Dippin' Dots today.  James got a Dippin' Dots maker and hasn't been able to use it so I told him after we get the cleaning done we can use it.  He's pretty excited.

I'm looking forward to a laid back, but productive day today.  I'm glad we have another weekend at home.  It will be really nice.

It's Friday!

We made it to the weekend!  Mike got home last night and we just kind of relaxed.  We both were pretty tired.  It's good to have him home!

This morning my training plan called for 2-4 miles at an easy pace.  I normally try to run closer to the 4 mile mark.  Today I only ran 2.3 miles.  I just felt off the entire time.  I was a bit achy like I'm trying to catch a cold.  I'm hoping thats not the case.  I didn't feel horrible, just really off. 

After my run, I ran to the grocery store.  I'm the type that has to plan meals for the week and make sure I get everything I need with no impulse buys.  It usually works out that way.  I didn't have a written list and so I had to try to remember everything while shopping.  I think I got it all, but I do have to go back to get the ingredients for the dishes I have to bring on Sunday.  I did forget to check that list.  Oh well, I'll head back later this afternoon.

We are eating more organic and local foods.  I'm back to healthy and non-processed foods.  Mainly because processed foods are killing my stomach.  We are also finding that James is learning to like different foods if we don't keep the processed stuff in the house.  I keep telling Mike that I'll get us eating better even if it kills us.  LOL!

Our menu for the week is:

Friday: Homemade meatballs with peas and choice of fruit
Saturday: Pork chops and rice with broccoli and fruit
Sunday: Family gathering
Monday: James gets to cook
Tuesday: Beef stroganoff w/peas and fruit
Wedensday: salmon with asparagus and fruit
Thursday: Mike and James eat at his parents house

Tomorrow I have an early morning pactice and then I'm doing a tempo run.  I hope I feel better than I did today.  The rest of the day we are cleaning house.  We finally have a day where we are all here so we are getting this done.

I hope you all enjoy your Friday!!!!!!!

Rainy Days and Thursdays...

I know the song is rainy days and Mondays, but it's not Monday and I'm really not down.  Mike comes home today so how I can't be anything but happy!

I did let myself sleep in an extra half hour this morning.  I haven't been sleeping well so I thought it wouldn't hurt.  I got up and went to the gym.  I'm a bit sore today, but after I started running I started to loosen up and felt pretty good.  Today was a 3 mile easy run, so at a slower pace.  I found that my slower pace is getting faster.  I was pretty excited about that.  I'm excited to do my temp run on Saturday.  I should be able to hold my race pace and feel pretty good.  I think they had the heat cranked today though.  I was dying while running. Either that or I am running under a vent.  I'll have to check tomorrow. 

After running I did a circut.  I did both arms and legs.  Today was the day I increased weights on some of the excercises.  I felt pretty good about that.  I can feel myself getting stronger.  I feel good and I'm enjoying myself.

Right now I'm munching on honey Greek yogurt mixed with some Holy Crap cereal and a glass of chocolate almond milk.  I am out of vanilla almond milk so no smoothie today.  I'm still getting a good breakfast and I love Greek yogurt!  It's win/win.

Tomorrow I have a 4 mile run at an easy pace.  I'm not lifting so it's just the run.  Saturday is a tempo run and Sunday is a cross training day so I'll be on the recumbent bike.  I'm doing really good a following my plan and I know my 5k time will drop and I will be fine when I run the 10k. 

Have a great day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Since Mike is in Ohio, I celebrated by doing a 5 mile run this morning.  I was uncertain about doing it on the treadmill, but I did it!  I didn't look down at the time or pace or distance.  I just plugged in my headphones and watched some home renovation shows.  I found that not looking down really helped.  Since it was my long run, I was at a slower pace than my 5k pace.  I just kept going.  I did have to slow down twice so I could drink water.  I'm not that coordinated that I can run and drink on the treadmill.  It would not have been pretty. 

After running, I did upper body and core work.  I'm at that point with some of the exercises that at first I think that the weight is too light, but then after about 6 or 7 reps I realize it's right where it needs to be.  I am getting stronger and I can really feel it in my running.

Because I'm starting to notice a difference my inspiration for the week is this.

I'm not necessarily going for weight loss, but for getting stronger and more toned.  I'm starting to see a difference in my endurance and I'm seeing tone in certain areas.  This is week 3 of my training program.  It is a 12 week program and I don't think I will be at my goal of sub-30 5k at that point, but I will just do it again.  I will be closer to 30 minutes though and I will be ready for my 10k at the end of April.

Tomorrow is my rest day.  I have a lot to do because it's newsletter day.  I have to get it out so that will keep me busy.  Plus I have to come home to let the dogs out since Mike is gone.  Thursday I run 3 miles at an easy pace.  Friday its 4 miles easy.  Saturday is another tempo run and I have my goal pace already written down.  And Sunday is a cross training day.  I have one more day of weights this week as well. 

I'm feeling really good and loving what I'm doing.  It's really keeping me motivated. 

I hope everyone has a Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

Happy Valentine's Eve!

Welcome to another beautiful Monday!  The sun is shining.  The snow is glistening.  It's a great morning!  Mike left for Ohio very early this morning and I hate when he's gone.  I had to force myself out of bed for the first time in 2 weeks.  I'm glad I did though. 

Since Mike is going to be gone for Valentine's day we celebrated yesterday.  We ran our race and then just kind of relaxed the rest of the day.  I made a special Surf and Turf dinner.  We had marinated steak and cilantro chili lime shrimp with fried mushrooms and roasted asparagus.  It was so good!  In fact we took a picture before eating every last bite.

After dinner we watched some TV and then went to bed.  I know, not super exciting, but we got to spend the whold day together and that was awesome!

Like I said, I didn't want to get up this morning.  The dogs were curled up with me and Mike had left around 4am so it was just me.  I did get up to my alarm though.  I was glad I did.  I went to the gym and worked out.  Today was my cross training day.  I did 10.42 miles on the recumbent bike.  While peddaling away I read some more of the Michael Phelps biography.  I found that when he was describing his world record 400 IM swim, I started to go faster.  This should be awesome since I have 7 more races to read about.  Hopefully I can get some more milage out of his swims.

After riding the bike I did legs and core work for weights.  I'm feeling pretty good and I feel like I'm getting stronger.  I am really trying to focus on my core and have been adding a few more exercises to help with that.  I love how I feel while working hard and then how I feel afterwards.  I feel like I've really got something done.  I think I'm just about ready to increase the weight on some of the exercises.  I'll do that next Monday when I do legs again.

Right now I'm enjoying a wonderful smoothie.  I made a peach, mango,strawberry, banana smoothie with protein powder, vanilla Greek yogurt and almond milk.  Yummy!  I also figured out a way to use the last little bit left in the blender after I fill up my bottle.  I was feeling guilty about just throwing that bit away.  It was still enough for a small glass, but I'm the only one that drinks the smoothies.  We have popcicle containers to make homemade popcicles.  I am not pouring it in there and making smoothie popcicles.  James will eat those and I am not wasting the little bit left in the blender.  I think I will be making about one popcicle a day.  The first one is in the freezer right now.

I'm hoping this week goes by quickly.  I want Mike home.  We get to have another weekend where I'm not at a meet and I want to enjoy it.  Until then, I will just have to keep myself busy so the time goes quickly!

Have a great Monday!!!!!!!!

The Valentine's Day Couples 5k

Today Mike and I braved the cold to run the Valentine's Day Couples 5k in Burlington.  We had a blast!  We had to be tied together at the wrist by a red ribbon.  That was a fun twist.  This was the race that I made the shirts for.  Here we are getting ready for the race.

The shirts turned out really cute!  Mike loved his and thought it was funny that I did that.  We also had to get pictures in the race shirts.



We ended up wearing the race shirts because those fit better over the long sleeve shirts.  I did make Mike promise that he has to wear the shirt I made out in public very soon.  Maybe for the St. Patrick's Day run. 

We drove to Burlington and when we got there it was snowing.  It was pretty, but cold.  I was excited to run in snow.  But by race time it had stopped.

We went to the gym and stretched and took a pre-race picture.

We had some fun while stretching.  We got ourselves tied at the wrist and headed to the starting line.

Then we were off.  The route was snow and ice free which was nice.  It was pretty flat and well marked.  Mike is not a runner so we went slow and steady and had to walk a few times.  That's fine because I just wanted to spend the time with him and have fun.  We did!

We crossed the finish line at about 38:40, but I'm not sure about that time.  I'll have to check the results to make sure.  When we crossed we got a really nice heart-shaped medal and a flower.



After the race we had pizza and water in the gym.  I am really looking forward to running this race again.  It was awesome!!!!!!!

Finally, a semi-normal Saturday

After have several weekends of meets in a row, I have a kind of normal Saturday.  I did have to get up at 3:30 for a 5:30 practice.  I got up so early because we got snow last night.  I wasn't sure how the roads would be.  I'm glad I allowed myself the extra time.  The roads were horrible.  It took me about an hour and fifteen minutes to get to the pool.  Ugh...Had a pretty good practice though.  I covered for another coach so it was my group plus his.  It was a bit crowded, but we made due.  After a water and dryland practice, it took me an hour to get back home.  The roads still hadn't been plowed.  I don't get that either.  I mean I live in Canada.  They get snow.  You think they would know what to do when they do get it.

I went to the gym for my run.  Today was a 1 mile tempo run.  I warmed up for 10 minutes and then kicked the pace up to 11:41 for a mile.  That is my current 5k pace.  Then I did a 5 minute cool down.  I was able to get just over 2 miles in and I felt pretty good.  I wanted to run a bit faster on the tempo, but chickened out and did my true 5k pace.  My next tempo run I will kick it up.

Today we are going to Burlington to get our race kit for tomorrow.  I'm really excited about that race!  I'm hoping Burlington didn't get the snow that we got.  Now that being said, we only got about 2 inches.  It just seems like a lot because we haven't gotten much snow this winter.

I'm going to enjoy the rest of the day.  Just relaxing and catching up on some cleaning and laundry.  I'm glad I have a restful weekend.

Challenge Accepted!!!!

Mike and I are running a couples 5k on Sunday.  The other day I was teasing him and said that I was going to make us cutesy matching shirts to wear since we have to be tied together.  He jokingly made the comment that he only wants a shirt if it's the 3 wolves howling at the moon with my picture in the moon.  Well, you can't make a comment like that and not expect me to accept the challenge.  :-)

I sent the day today making his shirt.  Here it is!

Front

Back

It turned out better than I thought.  He really likes it too.

Here is what my shirt looks like.

Front

Back

I can't wait to get a picture of us together in our shirts.  I had so much fun making them and I know Sunday will be fun as well.  I am really excited for Sunday!!!!!

Here we are at Friday!!!!!!

It's gonna be a cold one today!  We are supposed to get snow and cold temperatures.  I can already feel the temps dropping.  Brrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!

I got up this morning and took James to daycare.  He agreed that it was a little too cold to walk.  After I dropped him up I went to the gym to run.  After a 5 minute warm up I ran at a pretty good pace.  Then did a 5 minute cool down.  In total I ran 3.7 miles in 51 minutes, but if you take the 10 minute warm-up/cool down off I ran 3.3 miles in 41 minutes.  It felt really good.  I'm still not a fan of the treadmill, but I am dealing with it.  I am ready for it to be warm so I can go for my early morning runs.  I love those times.  Until then I will stick to running on the treadmill.  Tomorrow I'm up for a tempo run so we'll see how that goes.

I'm getting really excited to do the Valentine's Couples 5k on Sunday.  Even though it's going to be really cold I think it's going to be fun for us.  When we get home I'm making a Surf and Turf dinner for our Valentine's dinner.  Mike has to go to Ohio next weeks so we are celebrating on Sunday.

Saturday we have James so I have a special dinner planned for him as well.  He loves meatloaf, so I'm making meatloaf for dinner.  For dessert I got fresh strawberries and chocolate dip.  He'll love that!  We have a weekend of celebrating this weekend.

I am glad I have the next 2 weekends at home with the family.  Yes, I still have practice, but it's in the morning and I have the rest of the day so it's okay.  I'm so glad today is Friday!!!!!!

I can't believe it's Thursday!

This week is just flying by!  Usually when I have Monday off the week seems to go slowly, but this week is just gone!  I'm not complaining though.  It shows that I'm busy and not just being a slug.

I got up and went to the gym today.  It was my last day with the trainer.  I'm thinking of continuing with him, but I have to have the money.  If I can't I'll just keep going with the circut and find a program that can help.  I can feel myself getting stronger and I feel really good!  Just gotta keep going though!

I did hill intervals today.  I started out with my 5 minute walk gradually getting up to my running pace.  I then ran about a mile at an okay pace.  It wasn't my 5k pace, but that's okay.  Then came the hills.  I HATE hills, but I need to do them so I did.  I did 6x:30 at just under my 5k pace at 5.0 incline.  I pushed for :30 then lowered the incline for 2:00 at a just under my 5k pace.  I thought I would be dead by the 6th repeat, but I felt really good.  After my hills I did a little under a mile and then a 5 minute cool down.  My total mileage was 3.29 miles.  Tomorrow's run is 2-4 miles and I'm going to do at least 4 miles trying to hold just under my 5k pace.  Saturday is a temp run so that will be good.  It's not super long, but it will be faster.  And Sunday is our couples 5k.

I'm really looking forward to the 5k race on Sunday.  Mike is running with me and we have to be tied together.  I was teasing him about making matching shirts.  He said he would only wear it if it had the 3 wolves howling at the moon with my face in the moon.  Challenge accepted!  I'm working on that shirt now.  He thinks I have forgotten, but I don't forget things like that.  I'm going to make it this afternoon.  I can't wait to see his face.  I'm making my shirt all lovey dovey and sugary.  It will be fun.

Yesterday was my rest day and once I got started on all the paper and computer work I had to get done the time flew by.  I got a lot done and even a little bit ahead.  I have some work to do today, but not until later this morning.  Right now I'm off to shower before I go to my next item on the list.

Have a terrific Thursday!!!!!!

Rest Day

I am so antsy right now.  I think part of it is that the practices I normally have on Wednesday mornings weren't there.  The University swimmers are off to Sudbury for their big meet and I didn't have them for dryland. Our coaches meeting was canceled because of that meet.  I'm the only one in the office and I am bouncing off the walls.  Since it's only 9am that is not a good sign.  I do have work to get done, but I don't know if its enough to last all day.  I'm hoping that it is though.  If not, I will have my workouts written for the rest of February. 

Today is my true rest day.  I have to force myself not to go out for a run.  I am accomplishing that by leaving all my running stuff at home.  It still doesn't make it any easier.  Now that I'm on a schedule I am finding that I don't like the rest days.  At least not one like today.  Normally I am really busy on Wednesdays and don't realize that it's a rest day so it goes by quickly.  Today, not so much.

I will be working on a ton of swim stuff so off I go to finish the newsletter, workouts, test set result sheets, reward beads, and entry fine tuning.  See my list is long.  Now I have to just pace myself so I'm not all done in an hour.

Terrific Tuesday!

After yesterday I was a bit disappointed with the weather.  Yesterday was so warm and today it's back to colder and raining.  Sigh...I just want it to pick a temperature and stay that way.

I got up this morning, but couldn't seem to get out of the house when I wanted to.  I got to the gym and only had 45 minutes to get a run in.  When I'm on the treadmill I do a 5 minute brisk walk to warm up so I lose that time.  And I do a 5 minute cool down walk.  Another 5 minutes lost.  So I really only go to run for 33 minutes.  I did 5k in the 43 minutes I was on the treadmill.  I wasn't super happy as I was supposed to do 4 miles.  I felt good running though.  It was a long slow run day so I wasn't super concerned about the pace, but I really wanted to get the mileage in.  I will be able to get a longer run in on Friday so I will take the time to really make sure I up the mileage then.

I also worked out with my trainer.  We did upper body work and I feel pretty good.  Yesterday we really hit the legs and I was afraid that I'd feel sluggish, but I didn't.  They felt really good today.

I'm finding that I'm really enjoying the time I workout.  I am becoming addicted to the endorphins.  I guess that's a good addiction.  I love the feeling of pushing myself and then pushing some more.  I also like that I am able to go in the morning when there isn't a lot of people there.  It's nice to be able to get on the machines and not have a time limit.  I can just go and focus on what I need to focus on.

I've been trying to really practice what I preach to the kids as well.  I have always loved being inspired and having goals.  I have started keeping a folder of inpirational pictures, quotes, and stories.  I'm reading autobiographies of various athletes (mostly swimmers right now) and that is helping me to stay motivated.  The other thing is my goal of a sub-30 5k by July.  I know I can do this.  I'm really focused and I'm training and I am on track.  I just have to stick with it and not let anything get in my way.

In that vein of inspiration, I'm going to start posting one of my inpirational quotes/pictures every Tuesday.  It's going to be my focus for the week.  Here is this weeks.

This is what I'm repeating for the week.  Every time I start to feel like I can't do something or feel like giving up I'm going to repeat this over and over.  I will doubt my limits this week in whatever I do.

Have a great Tuesday!!!!!!

I'm Movin' Today!

I feel great right now!!!!!  My swimmers had an awesome weekend with two more Provincial qualifying times for 2 of them.  Huge time drops for almost all of them.  Great swims overall!  I was so happy!

I kept up with my training for week one.  I got up both Saturday and Sunday to workout.  Saturday I did 3 miles on the treadmill and Sunday I did 7.5 miles on the recumbent bike.  It really did help me get through the weekend. 

Today I walk with James to daycare.  He was so happy that it was warm enough and we had a great time.  That was a 3 mile round trip.  Going there the pace is a bit slower, but that's fine with me.  The company is what makes it the most fun.

I went to the gym and today was another cross training day.  I had to make some adjustments to the trianing program to account for swim meets and possible practice coverage.  Sometimes Sunday have to become rest days and sometimes they are cross training days without weights.  So this week I have 2 cross training days in a row, but that's okay.  I did 10.5 miles on the recumbent bike.  I like to read when I'm doing that because it makes the time go faster.  I am currently reading Michael Phelps' autobiography.  I'm trying to help my swimmers see that even world class athletes have issues like their goggles filling up with water during the 200 fly, but they still go on to set world records.  In doing so I have several biographies of swimmers that I am going to read.  Plus how can you slack off when you are reading about Phelps' training program.  It's not happening! 

After the bike I had about 25 minutes to kill before meeting my trainer.  I got on the dreaded eliptical machine.  I think I hate the eliptical more than the treadmill.  I did about 20 minutes at an easy pace.  I'm trying to force myself to like to give me more cross training options.  It ended up being 1.5 miles.

Then my trainer killed my legs and core.  I know I have a weak core...very weak.  We did some TRX things.  I love the TRX!  We use it with my swimmers, but it is a torture device.  It was a good hurt though.  I do like using it.  I will conquer some of those exercises and make my core stronger!

So in all today I did just shy of 15 miles of cardio and an hour of leg and core work.  I feel pretty darn good! 

I have the day off and after my shower I have a few errands to run.  Tomorrow I my long run.  It's 4 miles and then we are doing upper body and some more core work.  Because of when I can get to the gym, I have to do it on a treadmill.  Ugh...I'm just going to put on my game face and get it done!  I can't wait for spring to get here so I can go for my early morning runs and then hit the gym after walking James to daycare.  I love running at 5am.  It's quiet and the temperature is wonderful.  There are no cars, no people...Just me and the quiet.  That will come soon enough!

Have a wonderful rest of your Monday!!!!!!!

It's Friday!

Yesterday I did get to the gym, but it was a gong show.  I had what I thought was the flu, but I've decided that it was probably a reaction to the vaccine I got on Wednesday.  I felt horrible.  I was achy all over like I had the flu.  I ran for 25 minutes and only got a mile and a half.  I then decided that running was a losing battle so I got on the recumbent bike and did a couple of more miles.  I did work out with the trainer and while I enjoyed it, I felt horrible afterwards.

I went home and crawled into bed.  I stayed there until it was time for practice.  I went to practice and was miserable the whole time.  I felt bad that the kids had to put up with me feeling like that.  When I got home I had some soup and went to bed.  Mike was really good last night.  He took care of me and made sure I had the soup and Fresca that I needed.

This morning I let myself sleep in and then got up to get ready for the swim meet.  I feel so much better!  I almost went for a run tonight, but I hadn't eaten dinner so I thought I had better to that first.  I have my alarm set and I'm ready to go for tomorrow morning.  I'm so ready to get a good run in in the morning.  I feel really sluggish today since I didn't do anything.  I'm so ready to go!

Today was the first day of Regionals and my swimmer swam well.  They looked good and had some great time improvements.  I was happy and they seemed happy.  I hope tomorrow goes just as well.  I know it's going to be a long day, but it should be a good one.

I'm off to bed now so I can get up at 5am for a run.  I'm so excited about it!!!!!!!!  I love that I"m on a schedule now and I plan on sticking to it!