Progress

I read this on Facebook the other day. It cracked me up:

If the opposite of pro is con, then what must be the opposite of progress?

Anyway, this will be short. So I finally timed myself swimming 100 yards. I did it several times during my workout to be sure I was accurate. I was not swimming with all out exertion. I was giving an effort close to what I would give for a 1.2 mile swim during a race.

Little bit of background: As we all know I’m fairly slow but I can get it done. I’ve been working all winter improving my stroke technique and nothing else regarding swimming. Although improved speed is a benefit of improved technique, my main goal was technique.

A little more background: This is my information that is in the books. Granted, open water swimming is different from doing laps but you will get an idea of my progress.

My first triathlon in 2009: Average 4:23/100 yds
Sprint tri in July 2010: Average 3:06/100 yds
Olympic tri in August 2010: Average 2:59/100 yds
Rev3 Half Iron tri in Sept 2010: 3:29/100 yds

That last one resulted in a 1.2 mile swim of 1hr 7 min.

Drum roll please:

I was swimming between a 2:07/100 yds and a 2:09/100 yds the entire workout (1500 yds yesterday). That is nearly 1 minute off my average – for 100 yards. What does that translate to? As long as I can maintain that pace – and I plan to – My swim for 1.2 miles would be around 43 minutes.

The ABC's of Me

I guess I'm jumping on the bandwagon. I figured why not.

A~Age: 44 in June

B~ Bed Size: King – I’m a sprawler

C~Chore you hate: Yes

D~Dogs: Disclaimer: These are the express opinions of this writer and is not meant to insult anyone. Please take the following statement for which it was intended - humor. This writer is not a fan of dogs. Thank you for your support. OK now that that is said. I say – Dogs. I love dogs. They taste like chicken.

E~Essential Start your Day Item: Hard boiled egg. Oatmeal. Hot tea. I do not like coffee.

F~Favorite Color: Blue, but I like pink too. As the only female in my household, I wear pink to remind myself that I’m a girl.

G~Gold or Silver: Definitely gold. The more the merrier.

H~Height: 5 ft. 8 in. and I’m the short one in my family.

I~Instruments you play: None. I used to take piano lesson in the 3rd and 4th grade. I can still play ‘All the girls in France do the Hoochi Coochi Dance’ song. Now that is talent I’m telling ya.

J~Job Title: Senior Loss Prevention Consultant. I guess this means I qualify for discount coffee at McDonalds. If only I liked it

K~Kids: Two boys, 13 and 10

L~Live: Cleveland, Ohio area

M~Mom’s Name: Emily, or MOE as some of her mail says. OK – now say each individual letter M—O—E and you will know what I mean. A telemarketer with bad hearing heard her wrong.

N~Nicknames: None. I guess I’m not a nick namey type person.

O~Overnight Hospital Stays: When I had my kids, and when those kids were in the hospital.

P~Pet Peeve: People who pronounce nuclear – NEW-CUE-LER. It is NEW-CLE-ER

Q~Quote from a Movie: "Its so fluffy" Despicable Me

R~Right or Left Handed: Right, but I’m left eyed. Makes it hard to shoot a rifle – and a camera for that matter.

S~Siblings: Two brothers (see favorite color and why I wear pink)

T~Time you wake up: 6am

U~Underwear: Neeeeeext

V~Vegetable you Dislike: Brussel Sprouts

W~What Makes You Late: My children – what else.

X~X-rays You’ve had Done: mostly just teeth at the dentist

Y~Yummy Food you Make: Cookies and cakes. I’m a great baker. I made my brother’s wedding cake (see above. It tasted even better than it looked. At Christmas time I routinely make 40-50 dozen cookies. They are all fabulous. I give most away as gifts.

Z~Zoo Animal Favorite: Giraffe – they seem so elegant and peaceful.

Swimming lesson update

So I’ve been taking swimming lessons the last couple of months. Let me tell you – I’m a different person (swimmer). My swim coach is Leah Nyikes at www.liquidlifestyles.com. She is awesome and I have learned so much from her it is unbelievable. I still haven’t timed myself but I can tell I’m getting faster – just from sheer efficiency. I know this because I have usually been the fastest swimmer at the pool in the last month. That was typically not the case in the past. I will time myself soon and post it here when I do.

My biggest problem lately has been finding a pool to work out. I have access to 4 (yes 4) pools within my scope of travel. Granted, one is the Lakewood YMCA, where I take my lessons – it is slightly out of my normal drive pattern (20 miles) – but I have to go where the lessons are! That pool is spectacular. It is new and has dedicated lanes for lap swimming and is maintained at about 86-87 degrees. I like it like that. However, going there more than once a week is not practical. The other three are much closer. However, I am having recurring problems:

1. Bally’s Beachwood – 0.1 miles from my office and the one I swim in nearly every weekday at lunch. It has been hovering around 72-73 degrees. The idiots at the front desk keep telling me it is at 82 degrees and no one else has been complaining. Yeah right. That’s because there is no one else in the pool but me.

2. Bally’s Willoughby – 3 miles from my house and on my direct route to work. As an alternative to freezing to death, I started going here either before or after work. Its not ideal because its more crowded, but oh well. Anyway I get there one day and the water is green. It was so green I couldn’t see the bottom of the pool. So yes – I’m saying I went swimming in it anyway. At least it was warm. I held my mouth close so tight I got a cramp in my jaw. I also showered so long afterwards washing everything 2-3 times I determined it wasn’t worth it.

3. YMCA Willoughby – 2.5 miles from my house. It was warm – fantastic. It was crystal clear – wonderful. It had 7-8 people doing circle swimming per lane. There are only 2 lanes for circle swimming. Crap! It was my only choice. This has been the best alternative to being a popsicle or an algae parade. It also only has lap swim form 5-7am; 11-12am; and 9-10pm. The rest of the time the pool is used for classes. Gee those times are almost convenient.

So what would your choice be: big commute, freezing, green or overcrowded?

Yea Florida!

Yeah, I know, its been a while. My only excuse is I was out of town on vacation for a week and I was inundated with work when I got back. Sometimes vacation is no vacation. The good news is I went to Orlando with my family (my parents have a condo in Orlando) and got to escape the horrible weather in Ohio for 8 glorious days. It was a little chilly in FL - but when I say chilly – I mean upper 60’s and lower 70’s. We went to the both the Disney parks and Universal Studios. Everyone was most excited to see the ‘Wizarding World of Harry Potter.’ It is everything it advertises and more. I’m not even a Harry Potter fan and it was amazing. We rode ‘Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.” For those of you that have been there before it is kinda like Spiderman. Yes - the picture above shows a 10 minute wait for the ride. Incredible - I know.

I am seriously prone to motion sickness and that ride kinda did me in but it was worth it. I just have a question for BDD – do I qualify for a pukie if I ran the fastest mile of my life toting a 25 lb. backpack with water and snacks – to beat the line at this ride - only to toss my cookies after it was done? I think I should because it was truly a sprint to beat out everyone to get to that line. Anyway - just saying.