Crash and Burn-Live and Learn

Catchy title, eh? 

Sunday was a fabulous day. Janean and I took our bicycles out to Smithville Lake, they have put in several miles of great trails that are worth checking out, and rode about 11 miles. Less than 4 miles in there was a bit of a problem though, I crashed. Not your typical fall off the bike crash, but the kind where I didn't have enough for breakfast crash. Good to know for Sunday's "big" ride. I had a bowl of cereal and an english muffin, I knew to get a hotdog while we were at the gas station, but I just didn't feel like it. It was ugly, I took up a lot of time just sitting there eating a clif bar and drinking all of the water. Then Janean had the nerve to say, "you have bodily limitations." Man, what a jerk, I'll show her bodily limitations. I'm not really sure what I mean by that, I just need to work on distance stuff more, you know, train this old body and stuff. Maybe at Sunday's bike ride I can score one of the jerseys for the diabetics and steal their snacks. After nearly swacking some deer and squirrels, we made it half way and ate some beef jerky. We rested for a few minutes, then headed back. The ride back was much better. 

I can't wait til I have a real bike and some of those sweet bars that stick out the front so I can relax a bit (the point of the photo). There were a few tricky hills, but we somehow made it all the way back to the truck and felt really good about the whole ordeal. I'm really excited to do more "long" weekend rides this summer.

Slippery When Wet

I've been MIA and give my apologies. I know everyone is checking in everyday and facing some serious disappointment when they see I've not posted anything new.

My exercising had been dwindling to only a couple of times a week, that's the truth. Mostly bike rides, some running. Now that it's warming up, we are going to the lake quite a bit (3 out of the last 4 weekends) which means I'm getting to swim again. I'm pretty excited about that. But there seems to be a problem.

I've somehow injured my foot. I can't think of anything that I did that would have caused it to hurt so stinking much. It started a little over a week ago, right under my big toe near the first "knuckle". It would go away then come back several hours later for a few hours at a time. It wasn't too big of a deal, but over the course of last week it started hurting a ton, more in the arch and stuff. On Saturday I was swimming, with a 4 year old (thank goodness we had life vests on), and it cramped up so bad my foot looked weird and I could hardly move even my leg. My toes were all stuck in funny positions and stuff. I've tried wearing different shoes, but none of that has helped. Anyone have any ideas what could be causing this or what I can do to help it heal? Staying off of my feet and resting is out of the question, lucky for me, I still have a job, for now.

The Tour De Cure is in 2 weeks and I sure want this awful pain to be gone for it.

Geese and Hills

I'm going to start with last Thursday. It rained pretty much all last week, some minor flooding, bla bla bla, the midwest. So on Thursday, It looked like it had stopped raining so I grabbed my stuff and popped onto my bike. I was wrong, it was still raining, not pouring, but definitely heavier than a sprinkle. That wasn't even the worst part. Drivers of cars seemed to be in their own world, like they didn't have a roof and were just trying to get inside. So as soon as I could I got my butt off of the roads and onto a paved trail. Oh goodness, there were geese all over the place. So there was this one rather huge goose in front of me and I of course tried to be polite and say, "hey goose, here I come." MISTAKE! It totally chased me. I don't know if you've ever been chased by a goose, but it's incredibly frightening. They honk honk honk, stick their nasty little tongues out and flap their wings out at you, and do it all with a big poofy chest. I of course screamed my head off and went flying off of the trail (it's a good thing I still am only using a mountain bike). I thought for sure it was going to take flight and knock me off of my bike. I didn't dare ask another goose to let me through on the trail after that, I instead drove through a lot of muddy grass.

I recently watched a video that told me how to pedal properly. It increased my speed by about 1 mph and made me less nervous about a real bike. It's really funny how everything I've been doing, swimming, running and biking, I've been doing wrong all these years.

I wish we lived some where flatter. These hills are really annoying. I'm trying to focus on just going at a steady pace, but that's really hard when there are such steep hills around every corner.

That's really all I have that's even remotely interesting to talk about right now. I've mostly been focusing on bicycling lately since the Tour de Cure is coming up (my family rules and through just them I've raised just over the minimum). I miss swimming. My future at Hallmark is looking a bit brighter, but I still won't know much for a couple of weeks.

Heard it Through the Grapevine?

I don't mean to be a "Debbie Downer," but all of my plans are headed to the toilet. You have probably heard the news that Hallmark is cutting back. I won't know whether or not that means me for another month or so. In the mean time, I won't be renewing my gym membership, which means no swimming, and I can't register to do a triathlon because I don't know if I'll have insurance. The last couple of days have been really stressful, but I'm starting to feel a little better. My job has been my back up plan, I can finish school, but it's okay if I don't right away, bla bla bla. I don't even know for sure what I'm going to be when I grow up. 

Enough crying about that, it hasn't quite stopped me from exercising. It's temporarily stopped me from swimming and I won't be purchasing a new bike, but I guess I'll just have to make do. The new dumbbell thing is going pretty well, I'm going to be stuck at my little 5 lb weights though, because I can't be buying new ones, ha. The last couple of days I've just "ran" on the elliptical machine because I've been all "boo hoo I don't want to leave the house."

Things will work out. One way or the other, they will work out. The bright side is all the free time I'll have for getting into shape!

Tooting My Own Horn

I ran the whole Penguin Run (1.51 miles) today with only a few steps of walking!  Goose ran with me. We ran it in 14:39. I did not picture being able to run that far so soon, I'm pumped.  I may have walked more if he hadn't been there (Goose is the big dog, by the way). He kept us going at a pretty steady pace although a couple of times I had to make him go a little faster. That's probably why he wouldn't let us walk. He seemed to like it even though he got pretty hot. We keep wanting to get them haircuts, but the new trend is cold and snowy on the weekends.

I finished "Smart Girls Do Dumbbells" and did some strength training with some 5 pound dumbbells today. It was okay, a bit awkward, but hopefully I'll get the hang of it. Now I'm going to have to buy a weight bench.
 

Speaking of buying things, there's a chance I'm going to be laid off. Which makes me nervous that I won't have insurance, which would mean I wouldn't be able to do the triathlon. Which would be a bunch of crap. Hopefully things don't come to that though, although rumor has it. 

Shouldn't it be Getting WARMER?!

I biked today, it was snowing... I cannot express how irritated I am with the weather the last couple of weeks. I had to get all bundled up and look/ feel ridiculous. Any other day I wouldn't have gone due to the "extreme cold," but I had to. It's April for goodness sakes, cold shouldn't be an excuse anymore. 

I took the jogging trail assuming it wouldn't be crowded, I was mostly right. There were a couple of people letting their dogs run around on 30' leashes, probably with the same theory I had about no one being around to bother. I did ride on the road for one side of the park. I came upon a bunch of cars stopped waiting for their little riders to get out of school. There was a bit of a traffic jam with the people trying to get through. So I did what any bad ass in my situation would do and I cut through the muddy grass. I bet I looked super tough and they were all jealous.

Friday I biked and swam. Swimming is a lot harder after biking 3.5 miles, but overall it went well.

Saturday was the exciting part. Janean and I went running, scratch that, we went jogging... We ran the first mile in under 10 minutes. No stopping or anything. As we left, Janean said we had to, but I told her she'd be running without me, but no, I made it. I haven't ran a mile in that kind of time since middle school, I'm not exaggerating. 

For the most part, things are going really well. It's really exciting to actually be getting results. I just hope I can stay motivated. Oh, and I'm going to start some light dumbbell strength training this week. 

One more thing... Janean's mother signed us up for a 5k for the Good Samaritan Center. How exciting right? Ha, it's the 18th of this month and she signed us up to race. 

1/4 As Fast As Michael Phelps... Kind of

I swam 400 yards today. It was pretty fun. It took me right at 16 minutes. I'm  a bit excited and feel like I'm actually accomplishing something. Soon I might have an idea for my 500 yards and I'll be able to register! I'm eating like Michael Phelps too. It's pretty annoying. I mean, I eat quite a bit on a regular day, but all of this exercise has me eating so much. It's so hard to keep it healthy. After I swam, I ate two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Thank goodness they were in my car or I would have cried. I didn't have time to eat again until 7:30 when I went to the cafe at work. I was starving. I had a chicken thigh and a chicken leg (don't judge my dark meat eating), a big serving of potatoes cooked up in rosemary, a large serving of green beans and my nightly milk. I ate it all up, then I got a hard boiled egg and half a grapefruit. I was still pretty hungry and ended up eating two cookies. Now I'm home from work and considering eating again.

Oh and here's something to ponder... CLICK ME CLICK ME!!!

I'm Back... Mostly

After some close encounters with anaphylactic shock, I'm all better. Don't worry, I'm exaggerating, there was a pretty good chance though. And by all better, I mean the infection is mostly gone, but the allergies are still trying to get the best of me. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN THOUGH!

Sunday Janean and I ran the Penguin Run. It was really nice having someone suffer with me. It went pretty well. I somehow managed to sprain my side. I can't figure out how I could have accomplished this while running, maybe I sneezed while doing it? So that put me out of service for another full day. 

Yesterday I did some basic strength training, push ups, lunges... ooh, and I used a weight with my crunches, I'm feeing it in my abs today. It's amazing what missing one stupid week can do. I did the normal amount of lunges and my thighs are absolutely killing me.

Today I went around and around our neighborhood ten times (3.4 miles). The neighbors probably thought I was ridiculous, but really I was waiting for Janean to get home because we were going to dinner. The dogs of the 'hood loved it though. They would wait for me at their fences and run with me and bark at me, I think they had a real nice time.

Tomorrow I will be swimming again, and running, it will be fun. Oh yes, I said fun, and I can't wait. 

For now, it's off to math I go...

How's the Training Going?

Truth is, not very well. I'm officially a week behind. I've been sick, probably another sinus infection, since Monday. Painful stuff, and very irritating. Plus, my Mondays and Wednesdays are a real headache until we get all this Mother's Day stuff out. I have 30 minutes to get home, eat, then leave for class. Lucky for me a lot of my "walking at work" (if you missed it, walking is my job) also involves lunges or squats, and even if it doesn't I pretend. I am going to try to do some yoga today, avoiding tilting my head too much. I go tomorrow for a physical, maybe I can get Dr. Cashier to Roto Rooter my sinuses while I'm there.

Last week however, was alright. A quick update on what I failed to post, straight from my Beginner Triathlete account:

Friday I did my 1.5 mile Penguin Run, I ran the first 6 minutes without stopping and it wasn't as bad as it had previously been. Why? Because the internet is an amazing place for info. You know, all those years of softball and gym class and I don't remember anyone once stopping me and saying, 'you've got it all wrong.' It might sound silly. I mean, how hard is it to run? You learn that when you're two. But after reading an article on about.com with just basic tips and such, it was so much easier! So I ran, then I walked, then I ran a little more, etc. And I finished 1.51 miles in 15 min 16 secs. A lot of room for improvement, but getting better. It feels good just to be able to say that I mostly ran instead of I mostly walked.

After my run I went to the gym and I swam 250 yards in 10 min 7 secs. Trying to remember everything I've read/ watched about swimming correctly/ efficiently is a bit intimidating when my head is half submerged. But overall, it went well. I wish I could be doing more swimming this week, along with everything else, but a pool isn't a good place for a sinus infection to be hanging out. Ouch! Thanks to United States Marine "JimmyDShea" for being such an awesome instructor. Check out his other videos too, he's pretty funny. Also just typing "triathlete swimming" into any search box, almost any, can retrieve helpful results. 

Saturday, after shopping and attending the Tour de Cure Kick off Party, Janean and I took our bicycles out to Watkins Mill. It was such a beautiful day, which lead to it being insanely crowded. It was fun though. We did almost 4 miles in around 24 minutes. I doubt we'll be going anywhere this weekend, there's snow in the forecast, but I would like to do something like that every weekend.

Sunday was my day off. I wouldn't have taken it though had I known that I would be sick and miserable the following week.

I have to go accomplish things now, before the water filter changing man gets here at noon. Pray that I don't drown in infected yellow snot while doing yoga!

The Suspense Had Been Killing Us!

Today I biked my two mile "I'm a Beginner" route, I wanted to do more but I was short on time. It went really well, I didn't get nearly as tired and I ended up with my fastest time yet, 10:45. 

That's not even the good part though. I went to the gym after my bike ride and straight to the pool. It was quite the mess trying to do my "aqua jogging" warm up. Not only was the annoying man there (who is getting much nicer), but it was like "Kid's Day at the K" (the 'k' is Kauffman Stadium, home of the Royals). Kids were every where and very bumpy. And looked at me like they were unsure if I was there to join them or the seniors, ha. I jogged a few laps, then went to the lap lane with my new goggles. Then I did just what I was told to do by the article online. It was awesome! So much easier than ever before. I ended up swimming 200 yards. I was pretty out of breath by the end, but I probably could have done a few more laps. I didn't want to push it though. I was wrong about where I got the info, it wasn't YouTube, although I did watch several videos. The really helpful one was "How to Swim Freestyle" written by a pretty awesome summer camp swim instructor. You should definitely check it out, hopefully it's as beneficial to others as it was to me.

Too Bad so Sad

Spring Break is over, it's back to school for me.

I've decided I am the worst runner I know. It's bad, real bad. Do they have classes so one can learn how to run properly?! I've never been a good runner, that's the truth. Hopefully soon though. I think strength wise, I'm good to go for now. These little legs can handle the 1.5 mile Penguin Run(Oh yeah, I name my routes!). But these lungs are another story. I'm going to take a physical soon, just to make sure every thing's right in here. 

The truth is, I haven't been to the gym since last Tuesday. My excuse: I have a pretty messed up work schedule this semester. Anyways, I'm going tomorrow! I'm finally going to try out the strokes I learned on YouTube. I get really excited about it until I get there and see the kids posing as life guards and the old men swimming 50 laps. 

Bike riding is going pretty well, I'm about to tack on another mile or two. I'm not going to lie though, my bum hurts terribly. Picture me in some cute little bike shorts... On my tough mountain bike.

So tomorrow = gym + bicycling. Maybe I'll ride a bicycle at the gym, it's kind of cold out again.

I'm Like a Machine or Something!

So I worked 8+ hours everyday this past week with the exception of Monday. I was up late every night, which resulted in not getting up until 10ish every morning. Leaving little time between coffee, breakfast and getting to work. All I did at home, as far as I remember, were crunches and pushes everyday. I was headed to the gym Thursday before work, already running late, and realized I'd forgotten my towel (I did make it one other day I guess). To the point... Every day at work I did different weird things (FYI: I walk for a living) trying to get a work out. I ran around (don't tell, I'll be in big trouble), I squatted (I'm totally nearing "dropping it like it's hot" capabilities) and did TONS of stretching. I didn't actually think it was doing much for me though. Then tonight, even after walking all around North Kansas City (Snake Saturday Parade), I was like, man I really need to do some real exercising. I told Janean that until she came up with something to do and it was time to go, I was "running" on the elliptical machine. 4 miles and 36 minutes later, I decided I should probably stop before I turn into Forrest Gump. Then I did some silly boxing/ dancing to the hip hop channel with some little hand weights. I'm not gonna lie, I feel pretty flippin' awesome now. It was so much easier than before, which goes to show all of my "working out at work" talk is not a bunch of crap. Oh ho ho doubters!

Don't forget to check us out! TOUR DE CURE!!!

Northland Newbies!!!

We have a team name, and a TEAM PAGE! How exciting, eh? Incase you missed it, "Northland Newbies." Silly? Yes. But it's also fitting, for most of us.  So go to the page and sign up to join us, or give to us... or just to forward our page to your friends and family!

Update: My training's going okay. Rushed. I've not had a lot of time. This 40 hour work week stuff is kind of for the birds. Oh, and tuesday when I went to swim, someone stole the lane I was headed to, grrr. I didn't have time to argue or wait, I was already later for work than I'd planned to be. And the big smelly man really does break the lazy river. I stopped to see if I was dragged by the current, NOPE. You would think that one would notice they are no longer swimming up stream?

Random: This has nothing to do with training or fundraising. Just funny/ embarrassing. Every few months our neighbors get these two dogs at their house, as if that's not strange enough. When these little visitors come, they never fail to leave their outside light on. This damn light has a way of shining right through the blinds and into my eyes, keeping me up all night. And it stresses the little dog out, she knows those little dogs are here to visit. So all night long, and all day, the dogs just want to go outside. To make a big stink barking at these poor little sissy dogs. On to the story. Yesterday I let them out, not thinking, and of course they went straight over there making their fuss. Barking their heads off. So I'm like crap! My hair is standing straight up (I'd showered then gone back to bed) and I'm in these ridiculously patterned flowery pajama pants and a silly track jacket... The neighbor man was out there corralling his dogs as well. I was so embarrassed to look so ridiculous and have such bully dogs. I tried to apologize, but he seemed embarrassed for me and just kept his head down.

Not My Strongest Moment

The good news is that this week is spring break! Unfortunately I have to work this time. 

The bad news is that today is kind of stinking. I was a lazy girl most of the weekend, in terms of exercising. Saturday was so busy, a baby shower and 2 birthday parties, I was barely even home. Then yesterday daylight savings time messed me all up, I was getting up late as it was. We started working on the basement, and before I knew it, it was late and I'd had a couple of margaritas. I did end up doing some crunches though. 

Today was crummy from the start. I snoozed all stinking morning, got to work right on time, stayed for an hour and came back home. I was up all night with a stomach ache and I was exhausted. That's plenty of whining and crying...

Today it was pretty cold out. I was suppose to ride my bike, but instead I ran on the elliptical machine for about 15 minutes which ended up being about 1.1 miles. Then I did strength training on Wii Fit for 30 minutes. The funniest thing has happened on there, my trainer is growing his hair out. It's so silly. When I first saw it, I laughed and laughed. He keeps it back in a little ponytail and it's just hilarious, mostly because a video game character grew out its hair, ha. I also did about 15 minutes of yoga, on Wii Fit. It doesn't sound like much, but I did nearly everyone of them.

I started registering for the triathlon today (it's August 1st), but realized that you have to have an estimated time for swimming 500 yards. Ha! 500 yards?! My training plan doesn't have me going that far until week 11. Should I train a bit harder so that I can have a good idea of my time soon enough to not miss out? I'm going to say yes. 

I'm waiting for Janean to get home, hoping she'll go with me to the gym where I'll pop on a bike and swim. Swimming is going to be fun, I get to try out the silly video I watched on youtube and see if it helped. I'll have to break down and get an instructor before this is over with.

Speaking of swimming! My shoes and goggles came today! Woo hoo!

One more thing... Don't forget why I really started this whole blogging thing! To get people to ride with us at Tour de Cure (click it!!!).

Ouch!

So the bike riding DID NOT get easier as of yesterday. 

First I popped onto the bike and was reminded of when you discover new muscles only because they're aching. It wasn't quite like that though, it was more, wow, my bum really hurts and I had no idea. Then I realized that although I'd shifted into the 3rd set of gears, it didn't actually happen (I bet there's a more specific name than sets of gears). So the whole previous bike ride when I thought I'd shifted as low (? maybe it's high. I should get a bicycling dictionary) as I could, wrong. I finally figured that out, but it makes a funny noise while it's in "those" gears. I don't know, I don't want to touch it for fear of breaking it for good. 

Moving on... It is the hardest thing to not cheat at the half way mark where I could head back through the park and cut like 3/4 of a mile off of my ride... and avoid the major hill. That hill, plus the others nearing my house, may very well be the death of me. My lungs did that thing that they did in middle school when we had to take gym outside in the winter, they felt like I'd smoked a pack of menthols. I was huffing and puffing, and certainly blowing nothing down, but I was doing a lot of moaning and fighting back of tears. I'm not really sore today, but all day yesterday my lower shins (I'm pretty sure shins are the bones, but just so you understand where) where killing me. The action I was doing to make them feel better was very similar to when Cordie gets a "poopy butt" and drags it around, gross. I was dragging my toes every where.

That's not the end of it. I was suppose to swim yesterday, but sadly I couldn't get the day off of work and I didn't have time to go. I didn't have time because we were busy putting on Roy's "new toes." So, I went downstairs and played Wii Fit. I started out with yoga, it went pretty well. I felt pretty good about the "tree" which as most of you know is tricky. Then I did crunches, the "jackknife" kind, where you also raise your legs. I did 30 of those and today, my abs hurt quite a bit (woo hoo for next day soreness!). Then I did Push Ups/ Side Planks. For those of you that don't know what side planks are, they are kind of funny. It goes push up, right side plank, push up, left side plank... for a right side plank, you put your left leg behind your right (yes you are still in "push up position") then point your left hand in the air. I did this 20 times, half way through, I ended up on my knees because I'm a wiener! After that, I just messed around with my "number 5" hand weights. My upper body feels pretty sore from just that, and I feel pretty good about it. I don't know about my lower body though. Should I be "kicking it up a knotch?"

It's Not as Easy as it Looks

You know, jogging inside is NOTHING like jogging outside. Holy crap. I waited for Janean, we jogged, she's going to correct me because, well... I mostly walked. We took the dogs, they need this as much as we do. Cordie (our 12 pound silky terrier) does this thing sometimes called a reverse sneeze (it might actually be inverted sneeze). It sounds like there's something stuck in her throat when it happens and it's really sad. So of course that happened while we were out. Janean and Goose (the 50 pound springer spaniel) were pretty far ahead of us already so they stopped to wait. Well by the time we caught up I'd become sad for Cordie, so I was carrying her. We looked a bit silly. I put her back down soon after, and she was fine. We finally made it back, I had my concerns.

Who knew there was actually technique to stretching? Thank goodness Janean was there or I may have hurt myself. I discovered this weird thing were when my legs are straight out, I can't bend at my waist. It was weird. She pushed on me and I bent, it didn't hurt, I just couldn't make it happen on my own. Comical to watch me sitting in the back yard trying though.

I can't wait til my shoes get here, these aren't doing me any good.

I'll Try to Make this as Entertaining as Possible.

I decided last week that I want to be in shape. For no reason but to be in shape. I found a "training" plan and started that Monday. Then I needed a goal. That's what made me remember Tour de Cure. That's my short term goal. My long term goal is the Women's Triathlon here in Kansas City (hopefully it isn't already filled).  I go to the website and I get insanely nervous about it. So, after starting this blog thing to "get the ball rolling" to raise money for Tour de Cure, I decided it's a good place to blog my training for these crazy adventures I have planned. I know a few of you run and stuff, and I could use all the advise and encouragement I can get. 

And while I'm asking for advise and such... I don't actually own a road bike. I own a mountain bike. Would it be allowed in the triathlon (it's a 10 mile ride)? And if it was, how much harder would it make things? I suppose that if I want to keep this up I should buy a real bike. The thing is, I haven't been working a whole lot of hours lately, so there's no way I could afford one right now. Plus, those things are really freaking intimidating. I'd have to take spinning classes or whatever they call those things.

Now for how my training's going thus far:

The first day I had planned to bike between the 2 hours I had after work and before class, too bad there was still a couple of inches of snow on the ground. Instead, I popped onto the elliptical machine and "jogged" 2 miles which took me 18 min 32 sec. I can't lie, after the first mile, I seriously thought I might just fall off of the damn thing and die right there. I don't know why, buy I have a hard time getting my heart rate up on that thing and when I do actually get it up, it yells at me and tells me it's way too high. Anyways, I end up just sitting around a 107 most of the time I'm on there. Boo!

Day 2 was much more fun. A couple of hours before work, I went down to North Kansas City's community center and renewed my membership, too bad I'm "out of district." I'd never really used a gym before so I felt like I was doing everything wrong. So I went in, paid for my membership and a lock, and put my stuff in a locker. I headed upstairs to the track and walked 2 laps/ ran 1 lap (a lap is .1 mile) X 3 plus walked an extra lap (13 min 55 sec). Then I headed to the pool. When they say "head to toe shower with soap" do they mean it? I obeyed. Unsure if that meant with or without swimsuit and nervous that soap bubbles would be coming out of my suit the whole time. The lap lanes were full so I ran with the old men (old as in like 70 and older) for about ten minutes till a lane opened up. Can 2 people be in those things at once or is a lane only allowed a body at a time? I swam down and back, very poorly. It's probably hysterical for the life guards to watch. I should really take a class. Never the less, I did it and it took me 3 minutes. It wasn't too bad, I took my time, knowing what a weak swimmer I am.

Day 3: I'm pulling this straight out of my "beginnertriathlete" training blog/ calendar.

This was the first time I've rode a bike in almost two years. I thought it would be a piece of cake, ha. The first half wasn't bad, it was mostly down hill. I wasn't sure I was going to make it up any of the hills of the second half though. I seriously almost cried. I'm hoping for it to be easy within the next two weeks, which is how long I'll be doing 2 miles. I also need to set a goal, register for a race, or do something to make sure I keep this up. 

1.84 miles. 11m 28s. Climb: 141 feet.

Day 4: Again, coming out of the other thing.

Today I ran in the lazy river as my warm up and cool down. There was this big guy in there, the lazy river is only like 4' wide, that looked like he was in awesome shape at one point and was trying to get that back. He was pushy and mean. You have to understand, it's 11:30 in the morning, these are 70+ people that are there so that they can maintain some sort of fitness. And to make matters much much worse, the large man needed to dunk his upper body in the water, he was sweaty and very smelly. Then he decided to go against the current, which is great for him, but I swear he broke the whole thing and the water just stopped moving. I mostly felt bad for the seniors that are there every day being pushed around by the big smelly bully.

 Enough complaining. I swam my first 100 yards today. I know I know, it's not like I went far. But you don't know just how out of shape I am. I was hurting by the end.  I had planned on doing another 50 as a cool down, but I didn't want the life guards to have to jump in and save the youngest person there who was also in the only lap lane against the edge of the pool. What a sight that could have been.

 I can't decide if I want to ride my bike now or just hang out until Janean gets home to jog with me. Suddenly I can't get enough exercise. 

 And... my new tennis shoes are on their way and my swim goggles. They will both make life much better. How exciting, eh?

"Aqua Jogged" 1/4 mile. 9m 11s.

Swam: 100 yards. 1st 50: 3m. 2nd 50: 1m 31s.

I promise these will be shorter in the future. That was just an update because I know everyone reading this wants every last detail. Bwahaha!

Here it Goes

So, I don't write well, and I am the opposite of creative? So why am I doing this? Because it's easier to figure this out than facebook AND anyone can come along and see this and join the cause.

Cause? Who said anything about a cause? Oh yeah, there's a cause.

As most of you know, Janean is a type I diabetic. I'm not going to get into too much detail about what that means, google it if you want to know more. But she's important to me and there is a lot of progress to be made. So the cause? Oh yeah, Tour de Cure!

It's a race, on bicycles and we're going to do it. Because of the short amount of time between now and the race, June 14th, we're going to do the short one this year. It's 10 miles.

Now the purpose... We're creating a team. The team hasn't actually been made yet for a couple of reasons. Number one, I'm not creative. We need a name. Number two, I'd like to know about how many people would join our team before I set our goal.

So... email me, call me, send me a post card or a text message, let me know that you're in and that you will be on our team! There's a pretty good chance that someone you know has diabetes, do it for them. Never mind the fact that this is a great opportunity to get out and get fit!