PAUSE

This week has gone by so fast that it feels like everything is on fast-forward.Everyday things have fallen into place and everything has gotten done but there has not been much time to spare.

Hubby has started physical therapy this week. I think this is great for him to start getting some movement back in his foot. The pain from the RSD limits what he can do but you have to start somewhere. The bonus for me is that I have been having some low back pain and I get a massage and stretching while Hubby gets his PT.

Master's swim is now back on my schedule at least 2 days per week. It feels so good to be back in the pool. After a short period of lighter workout, Coach really kicked it up with intervals on Thursday. I was exhausted when I got out of the pool but satisfied with a hard workout.

Hooch , my daughter, is doing early graduation from high school in December. That has thrown us into a world of registering and getting ready for classes at a junior college in January,an exciting time for her.

Bino has finished football. With one season over, he is on the Varsity bowling team and our matches have begun every Tuesday and Thursday evening. I can't make it to all the matches but I love to watch him when I can.


Now to hit the pause button---

I did get time to catch up with Iron Snoopy and Moose. They are heading to IMAZ next week. We did a spin class together and got a chance to chat afterword. They are so motivating for me to talk to. When they get back from IMAZ, I will have a thousand questions for them about their expeience.

I intend to keep the pause button on this weekend to have some quality time with Hubby, my kids, Snips, and TriSharkie.

Waddling on pause until Monday then will hit the replay button......................

COMBAT SWIM

This is what I should have worn for master's swim class this morning. I was having a great swim and cruising through the workout on the board. About half way through class, this guy jumps in my lane at the other end of the pool. His arms were all over the place and he was doing flip turns at the ends. While I was on a 60 sec. rest between sets, He did a flip turn and almost kicked me in the face. I looked to Coach for help and his words of advice were that this was good practice for an Ironman Swim because you feel like you are in combat. I felt like I needed a helmet everytime I swam past this guy.

I survived and managed to get my entire workout done. I did get hit a few times and sicked in some extras water. Maybe it was good practice.

Waddling to calmer water..........

OFF SEASON BEGINS

Tomorrow is the beginning of my off season training. Time to lay the framework for 2009. One of my favorite parts of training is the planning. As always, it is done in pencil for good reason.

The basice layout of my week will be:

• Monday - spin or trainer
• Tuesday - Master's swim(am) & Run (pm)
• Wednesday - Spin /Trainer followed by short run
• Thursday - Master's Swim
• Friday - Day off or Swim
• Saturday- Spin
• Sunday - Long run

Somewhere in there I need to do some strength work with no excuses. I am excited to start my framework for 2009 season.

Waddling with a plan..............

365 DAYS

TriSharkie and Waddler give Beach2Battleship a thumbs up and plan to be here 365 days from today heading to cross the finish line.

Waddling to plan my training..............

WELCOME

Please visit my training partner and friend- Trisharkie!

Waddling to visit a new blogger.......

MASTER'S SWIM

There was not much sleep for me on Monday night. I had leftover excitement from the weekend plus anticipation of master's swim beginning again for the winter. I never realized how much that I had missed it.

I jumped out of bed at 4:45am with no problem. I got there 15 minutes early. There were others feeling the same way as me. I chatted with my friend Dan who had just signed up for IMFL and it will be his first.

I was thrilled to see coach again! It was hard to believe that last year at this time I walked in not being able to swim. What a motivation he has been to me. I also know he will play a large part of the year ahead of me.

Waddling to get some sleep before an early swim..........

B2B FINISH

After an afternoon of taking it easy, Sharkie and I headed downtown Wilmington with our cowbells. The run course goes right through downtown Wilmington by the docks. We treated ourselves to ice cream and a caramel apple while we cheered the runners on.

All the runners looked great, most with big smiles. It is a 2 loop run course. We sat near the 3 & 16 mile marker. We sat for over an hour cheering and clanging our bells.

We were also sitting near the water taxi loading area for the finish. There was no car traffic to the finish area only the water taxi back and forth. As people unloaded from the taxi, we heard some stories of waiting in line for close to 2 hours to come back. It looked challenging trying to bring your bike and gear on the water taxi. We knew the sun would be going dow soon so we went back to the hotel and changed into warmer clothes to go to the finish on the other side of the Cape Fear Waterway.

We waited about 15 minutes in line to take the water taxi to the battleship. The finish area looked awesome lit up at night. We were just watching the finish of IMFL on the computer and were ready to make a comparison and final thoughts.

We were watching the finishers in the 12-13 hour range and they looked great. Next we walked down to the turn around for runners to head out onto loop 2. There were many special needs backs still waiting for their owners and I knew if I did this race that mine would be one of them.

We went back to the finsh line and continued to cheer. The temperature dropped to the low 50's . The music was blaring and the announcer shouted out every finishers name as they came in. Each finisher received a Beach2Battleship finisher shirt and a totally awesome medal. Although it was a much smaller race than IMFL, there was the same atmosphere and excitement.

We were so chilled that we soon headed back to the hotel. They had opened the finish to car traffic so the line for the water taxi was only a 30 minute wait. We ran into Bill from NC. He had completed IMCDA in June and now this race. We began to pick his brain about the race. He had nothing but positive things to say about the race. Big kudos to all the support on the course.His 2 negative comments which were small was that the changing tent in T1 was too little and the road to run on from the swim finish to T1 hurt your feet especially out of the cold water. Another comment from the finisher next to us was that the carpet they put on the medal grates on the bridges felt like biking through sand. Absolutely everything else was positive!

The one thing that all the athletes did mention was the swim. Everyone had record times for the distance. They said the current made them feel like they had a rocket pack on your back. Being a weaker swimmer --this is my kind of swim!

FINAL THOUGHTS:

For an inaugural race with a huge logistic challenge, Beach2Battleship did a phenomenal job. The few problems that they did have, I am sure they will address before next year. Sign up for next year will be on December 1st and they hope to increase the size to 750 athletes in the full and 750 in the half. The race date has not been announced yet and I am hoping they move it up a few weeks to get away from the chilly weather.

Waddling with hopes to be running through this next year...............