A Harsh Comparison

During our Sunday swim, Lindsy and I got the bright idea to video ourselves using the pull buoy and then video someone who knows what they are doing! Sometimes you just don't know what you are doing wrong until you see yourself. I felt like I maybe was doing it correctly, I mean I was getting from one end of the pool to the other with only drinking a little water! And, I felt relatively good even (even if it was hard). BUT, I now know how I really look and I cannot say I am pleased with it. So, I am offering up my vulnerability for everyone to see what I look like, to laugh at me if you need a good laugh, or to feel bad/embarressed for me if you need someone to feel this way for. Just know, I am persevering and I appreciate your support/laughter/concern! It is a learning moment. :) Enjoy!

(the first girl swimming knows what she's doing, I am the second girl in the purple cap and I obviously can't swim a straight line!)

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Lindsy- This blog's for you!

I have to start this out with the reminder that I absolutely hate HILLS. I love to run down them but hate to run up them. Despite this, I feel like I have become used to (maybe even am comfortable with) the hills at the arboretum where we have been running. I might even go as far to say that hills don't bother me or scare me as much as they used to. But, um, NO. The healthy fear of running up hills has been reinstated with this morning's run in Lindsy's neighborhood. (For those who don't know, I am living with my best friend until October since we've sold our home in Lexington--as her sister said, she now has a "built in running partner.") Now, Lindsy and her friend Courtney run the neighborhood nearly every morning so she is no stranger to the serious changes in elevation. Because I am a newbie to the hills that are her neighborhood, Wednesday morning she decided it best to do a different, less hilly (but still more than I am used to) route. The 4 mile run kicked my hind end. THEN, she suggested we do her normal route this morning!! HA. It was all going OK until she told me not to look up because we were getting ready to run the hill that tops ALL hills! After a few choice words and grunts I made it up The Hill, then insisted on walking so I could catch my breath. This is when Lindsy let me know that Courtney does all she can to not heave after running up that hill (thanks!). After it was all said and done, it was a wonderful workout...I didn't vomit, thank God, but I did almost pee on myself! (And note-to-self: even if it is cloudy it is still HOT at 11:00 in the morning at the end of July!)
So, Lindsy, thanks so much for pushing me! I am glad to know I have reached the 4 mile mark

Me at the BOTTOM PART of The Hill. This picture doesn't do it justice, really. The Hill continues to ascend beyond what you can see in this picture. Oh, it hurts me to think of it!

Two for the price of One

Blogs, that is!

1) Sunday: Training Triathlon.
Let me begin by saying, WOW, what a day Sunday was. Not only was I committed to the TNT training tri but my husband and I had to move out of our house in Lexington! Can we say CRAZY!?!! But, hey, I work well under pressure so why not? So while our husbands and my in-laws begin the feat of packing our house, Lindsy and I begin our training tri with the swim portion. The point of this day was to get a feel for the course and you could do however much you wanted. (see Lindsy's blog for more details...she's great at capturing the moment! http://lindsystnttri.blogspot.com/) The swim went okay, I definitely need to work on my endurance and keeping my goggles from fogging up. I couldn't freestyle the whole thing (I only did 600 of the 800 meters) and had to bring in other random swimming techniques to finish--it wasn't pretty, but I finished. And I realized I can do all 800 if I put my mind to it..I just need to learn a few breathing techniques to make this easier on myself. Next up: the 18 mile bike portion. It was AWESOME. I absolutely love to bike. Check out this site for the course we rode http://www.onemillionrevolutions.org/maps/map.php?ID=664. I felt great and loved every minute of it. It is times like this when I am so thankful for my health and the opportunity to do this with my best friend.

After the training tri, Lindsy and I high-tailed it back to my house to pack! There really isn't much to say about it, but that it was stressful and not so much fun. I have a mixture of emotions in moving out of our first house. We had a lot of good times there, and the four years passed so quickly. I cannot believe we are moving back to Western KY. So, we loaded up the ginormous truck and my in-laws drove it to our new house. Unfortunately they hit a minor snafoo in the process of parking the truck in the driveway of the new house. Long story short, the driveway is at a relatively steep angle and at 11:00 last night, they got the truck stuck in between the driveway and the road with the rear wheels not in contact with the ground!! Josh and I felt so bad that they had to deal with this through the middle of the night (we were still in Lexington) but thankfully they managed to get it fixed. Needless to say it was a stressful day/night.

2) Monday: Brick Training Session
What's a brick you say? No, it isn't an architectural piece, but rather a combo bike/run. And not an easy thing to do!! You kinda feel like you may have hit a BRICK wall afterwards!! Or your quads feel like bricks... Whatever, it is a great way to practice transitioning from the bike portion to the run portion of an event. Tonight, we biked about 3 miles and then ran 5 minutes. We did this combo 3 times. The mileage and minutes don't sound like much, but by the end I was spent!! It is a very weird feeling to run after just biking hard. Coach Susan mentioned it felt like you were marching (especially if you don't stretch well before the run..yes, while still on the bike), and she is very correct! It is difficult to make your legs change so abruptly from one activity to another! Tomorrow, working on the swim!