FIRST S & S

I did my first swim brick this morning. With the weather being hot and humid early, I decided to head for the gym.

SWIM- I spent 30 min in the pool. I focused on the drills that I learned in class. I'm not going to worry too much about distance until Jan. 1. I need to concentrate on the learning to swim and good form. I felt like I did get better but I have to admit I was wearing my nose plugs.

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Spin - After the pool, I changed and headed for a 60 min. spin class. There was different instructor that I had not experienced before. I also forgot my HR monitor. I talked myself into at least doing 30 minutes. She made up the workout as she went and it did not go with the song that was playing. at 30 minutes I had just made it my own workout. I did complete the 60 minutes.

Just a note - tomorrow on TV Versus has on IM Coeur d'Alene. I am anxious to see the course as I know several friends that are planning to do it.

Waddling to clean and do laundry(woohoo).........

Alot of excitement in Chicagoland this week with the 30th running of the Chicago. I want to shout out to my friend DeeDee who will be running this for her 3rd year. She has really put her heart and soul into her training and I wish her the best. Also a good luck to Juls who is coming in from California. She has had a very tough year and deserves an awesome day. The weather will be untypical for Chicago -forecast is for 85 and sunny.

SWIM LESSON #5


Tuesday night's swim class was not as good. I tried tonight to go without nose clips. I can't get the breathing down yet. I get so caught up in worrying about the breath that my form stinks. I might concentrate on my form now and work on the breathing later. Next week is the last week for Ripples. I hope I can still graduate.



TEAM WEIGHT LOSS # 1B
Tonight we were supposed to meet with the nutritionist. On week 1,6, and 12- the team weighs in and gets measurements done. The nutritionist was off sick so they added on a free week for us and there will acutallu be 13 weeks to the program. We were on the treadmill again for 60 min. Today was incline intervals between 2 -4-6 . We added 5 lb weights to work our arms also at different time. I was drenched with sweat when I was done. I thought about swimming but my legs were just too tired. When I left the gym, I felt like I am really heading the right direction.

Good Luck -DeeDee and Juls!!!!!!!!!

Waddling to lose weight..........

TEAM WEIGHT LOSS

The first piece of my training program is to lose weight. Tonight I joined a program at my gym for TEAM WEIGHT LOSS. It's like being on a team on the Biggest Loser except our team trainer is Pat. Pat came to us from the University of Cincinnati-he was their fitness trainer.

There are 10 on our team. It covers 3 months. Tonight was a treadmill workout. It was intervals that were heart rate based. We have 3 workouts per week with the trainer. We added incline, hand weights and stretch bands at different times.
I will finish this and be lighter and hopefully more ready to begin hard training January 1.

So now I have a swim coach and a trainer.

Waddling into base training.....................

WEEKEND RECAP

Friday

Today was a great beginning to the weekend. This week-end is Homecoming weekend for my kids who are both in high school. It was the perfect evening for the football game. My son Bino is on the JV team. He had a good game and they won 38-10. The harvest moon was a perfect addition to the fall type evening.

Saturday

Another day to wake up to beautiful sunshine. The house was busy with activity early. The homecoming parade was at 9am and both kids were in the parade. My hubby headed for his mom's house. I headed for the gym to catch the 830 spin class.

I got to the gym early so I was stopped at the personal trainer desk. This past week was my birthday and my hubby got me a certificate at the gym. Amazingly I found out that there TEAM WEIGHT LOSS program begins a new group on Monday. I also made an appointment with a trainer for an evaluation. I believe losing some weight will be my key to 2008. Something to think about this weekend for sure.

Tonight was the Homecoming dance- "Midnight in Paris". Bino's date cancelled on him so he was going with some of the other football players. At the game on Friday night , he met a girl from the other school . Her date for our homecoming had also cancelled. she had all the paperwork filled out so Bino invited her to meet him. At the door they would not let her in because Bino's name was not the name on the forms. He ended up having a great time and was invited to the girl's homecoming next weekend. Hooch went with a group of 32 friends. They had a great time and it was a beautiful evening.

Sunday

As soon as the sun came up, I headed for the gym. I did an easy 30 minutes in the treadmill then headed for the pool. I worked on just basic for 30 minutes. I have a long way to go but I'm on my way.

I did sign up for my first triathlon today. Registration opened for the Accenture in Chicago. It always fills fast.

The rest of the day was spent with catch up and getting ready for the work week. I also made homemade chicken/noodle soup. Um,Um good.

September totals:
Bike: 3h 30m - 41 Mi
Run: 8h 44m 55s - 39 Mi
Swim: 5h 55m
Strength: 25m
Elliptical Training:25min

Waddling into October...............

2008 SEASON

Monday will officially begin my 2008 training season. I've picked 6 goal races. There will be no marathons in 2008 as I want to try triathlons this year. I do plan on doing 2 half marathons because I love that distance.

Here it is:
2008
5/3 Indy 500 Half Marathon--I love running this race with the 35,000 others. Great experience no PR.
5/17 Galena Triathlon --- I have done the Duathlon the past 2 years. It was well run with a very challenging bike course. Swim 660 yd / bike 16.8 mile/ run 4.3 mile
6/25 Subaru Women's Triathlon -- This Tri is the closest Tri to my house and I have always watched from the sidelines. I am looking forward to being close to home.
8/2 Steelhead 70.3 Half Ironman --- Now I have said it out loud!! This will be my "A" race for 2008. I am so excited!
8/24 Chicago Accenture Triathlon --- A world class race close by. Looking forward to the experience.
9/20 Us AirForce Half Marathon -- A trip home to Ohio to see my dad. The best half that I have ever run.

Well - there it is. All official looking. Monday , October 1st is game on to lay the base. Hang on for a ride!!!!

Waddling with a huge smile .......................

NO MORE RIPPLES

Last night was swim class #4. It went so well. I worked on the single switch with breathing and at the end the triple switch. I am still having trouble with my breathing but coach said my form was good.

I have 2 more Ripples classes. The you graduate to Strokes or repeat Ripples. Out of the 6 of us- Nancy and I are going on. I was so, so excited! My coach also suggested that I join Waves which is the Master's swim team. Can you believe it?? I am no where near being the swimmer to do a Tri yet but........Coach thinks I'm on track for my "A" race next summer.

When I got home, thank heaven for TIVO Biggest Loser and Dancing with the Stars was going head to head. I love them both. I can't believe they voted Jerry off the Blue Team and How much better the women dancers are than the men. It's going to be a good season for both.

Waddling to work after lunch..........

FOOL AT THE POOL

Last night, on the way home from work, I stopped at the gym to swim. I thought it would not be busy since it was dinner time. I was wrong. Our gym has a lap pool with 6 lanes. They were all full. Being new to this, I had no idea what to do. Maybe I should wait until someone finishes especially since I am just learning. Another man came out and took a look and jumped in to share a lane. After 5 minutes of watching - the lady in lane 2 seemed to be just learning also so I jumped in that lane when she was close to the other end.

After 2 laps, I looked up to find the lady staring and giving me a dirty look. I did not even come near her when swimming. She immediately went to the ladder , climbed out and left.

Did I do something wrong?

Should I have asked first before jumping in?

I swam on the right of the lane- is that correct?

These are all question that I need to ask tonight at swim class. I'd rather not get my butt kicked in the parking lot.

Waddling with no pool etiquette..........

Elipptical : 25 min.

Swim : 25 min.