almost awesome

in the most professional terms, my orthopaedic doctor said i should try running only when i feel "awesome." i've spent the past month or so aqua jogging, swimming and generally turning into a luscious ball of chlorine. my x-ray & bone density scan are scheduled for next thursday.

but today... i ran today! my legs were numb and i watched the sun come up. what's better than that!

a new type of brick

this week is "let's find out what works" week, meaning that i'll figure out what type of exercise i can do that doesn't hurt and that still keeps me at a decent level of fitness. monday i did the regular stairmaster/elliptical/"pretend workout" thing and then tried 10 minutes on the stationery bike standing and then 10 minutes on the recumbent bike-- the one that i had always made fun of people in my mind for riding b/c it's not "real exercise." so far, so good, although my hip muscles in the front are surprisingly tired. later on this week i'll try rollerblading. it will be a great excuse to rollerblade since i've had a pair in my closet forever and have only used them once.

today i did strength training + pushups the "girly" way, then went to the chelsea pool for 45 mins aqua jogging and 15 mins swim. the swim was to work in the flip turns that aaron had taught me friday night. so i hopped into the slow lane w/ all the grandpas and grandmas and tried to do an interval workout, e.g., 5 mins faster and 2 mins slower. in the middle of my faster interval, the lifeguard asked me a question which i thought was, "running hard?" so i said yes. then he went into his office and brought out a black brick. he said, "try this." i thought, "i hope it's styrofoam." no such luck.. who makes 10 pound black bricks?!

so the rest of the workout was ridiculous.. i did 1 length w/ the brick, "running" furiously as i sank lower and lower, then 2 lengths w/o to recover. every time i finish one length, i grimaced and grunted as i hoisted the brick out of the pool.. i bet you it looked like, "wow, she is literally pooping bricks!"

compared to such awkward running, i felt like my 15 mins swim was super fast and smooth. i'm working on flip turning, kicking off on the side and then 2 strokes before breathing. by my first stroke i'm out of breath, but hey, who needs oxygen?

happy birthday to maija!

when i first met maija, i thought she was married to our other swim friend, todd. it was A and my first day at masters swim, and i think they arrived together at the pool. it took me a few weeks to realize that they weren't married. we (usually maija, todd and I) swam together outside of masters and i was intimidated by her b/c she was so fast.. i would get really hot, nervous and out of breath when we were in the same lane! i kept wondering why she would want to swim with me when i was holding up the swim set.

i've known maija for a little over a year and i believe we started becoming closer friends when we both signed up for an ocean swim in the summer that ended up being canceled. on our way home, she started telling me a little bit about herself and the things she was worried about, and in my mind, my jaw dropped. here was someone i had respected as an athlete and had been a little intimidated by and she wanted to be friends with me. throughout 2008 i have found her to be one of the most patient, thoughtful, non-judgmental, encouraging, honest, strong, beautiful people i know. her willingness to be honest and to work through her issues is beautiful and a sign of her strength. she sets her goals and comes up with a plan to meet them. she's never judged my past and has the ability to be honest with me with grace. i feel like she believes in me and i appreciate "borrowing" that confidence as i grow my own. in our triathlons last year, when she yelled for me to push it at the finish line, i really did b/c i felt like she knew i could. we cheer each other on and talk through each other's problems together. i told her before that she has been my inspiration and she still is. so here's to maija/coach maija (cm)/fast bunny (fb) and all the other nicknames we'll come up with..happy birthday, my good friend!

also, cheers to genine, my favorite cookie-maker and aqua-jogging and sati buddy. i had a ton of fun aqua-jogging with her and "racing" her up and down the pool. i'm sure we looked like quite the cool pair!

plan B

following the modified im training plan, i biked easy on monday and today for 1:45 and :30...and now both sides of my sit-bones hurt. !#@$&&^%$@! i wish i could just swim for the next few months and just forget about im. i feel like i've been giving myself a lot of pressure to get ready for imlp and realized that there is not much reason to. i signed up for it b/c A was going to do it so we would get to train together. other than swallowing a lot of $ (i think if i didn't do this race, the total amount of money spent on unstarted races would be up to $1000), i don't think i'll lose a lot by not doing it. i don't know.. trying to be realistic here. there is a lot to say for positive thinking but i think i would feel a lot better if i came up w/ a plan B. at this point a pubic bone replacement sounds like a great option...

so here is plan B: go up to the first 10 weeks of base phase and see how i feel. if i really don't feel 100% ok then swim a ton (b/c i love it!) and deal w/ feeling disappointed and move on. i can sign up again for another im when i'm ready. but i'm not giving up yet!

today's swim w/ tnya was fun (as always), but a little crowded. we had a couple 100's on 1:35 and i hit under them but was not so excited b/c of the drafting. it is a little confusing to swim with some people who start out super fast and then suddenly fade. i noticed that the guys started out leading the lane and by the end of practice, all of the girls were in front. go girls!

fly high

i've decided that i want to work a little bit on increasing speed for fly. i know sb will catch up eventually since his upper body is stronger than mine but i won't give up without a fight! this weekend i did only 3x25 fly total but they were fantastic. i felt strong.

chilling & working out w/ thph is so fun. we had our new years/esthermas party, where sb and G made these "e" cookies (all of which were MINE):


here is bob mad b/c i won't share my cookies (this is my shameless attempt to get him to comment):


A bought me a camera for my birthday!


and the girls and guys posing:




this is my favorite picture of the evening:


and maija wrote me the best birthday card ever.

cm, sb, G and i swam together on friday. after a day off recovering from my 1 + 0.5 + 0.5 drinks, i wanted to try the 10x100 on 1:45 portion of my birthday swim which i had done in houston but wasn't sure of the pool length. sb and i started off strong, and after my first 100 i gasped, "holy sh*t i just did 1:30!" i was surprised b/c it was a great time for me but i wasn't feeling tired at all, just smooth and relaxed. the next 9 were tough ones and sb HAD to beat me on the 10th one, so it's on, buddy!!

then saturday, G swam while i pool ran/slept and i got to sneak into her inten-sati class. the web site looked a bit intimidating but i had so much fun. it was kind of like step aerobics/kickboxing but you get to shout affirmations while you're punching the air and jumping. it's fun b/c you get to enjoy -- well, yourself, and you feel like you're playing.

A and i made a trip to MD and back for a wedding so he got to put up with my crankiness in the car for 7 hours. what a patient man...good thing i am so cute (?)

sunday, we swam again. swimming is so addictive. G and i did our set together while sb and cm did 10x100's w/ 10 seconds rest. i had a lot of fun swimming w/ G! we did fins and fun drills and i think G is the fastest learner i've ever met. i taught her my version of flipturns and she kind of watched me and we did a few together and in about 5 minutes she was about as good as me. she's going to beat me very very soon, and i'll be so proud of her! cheering her on while trying desperately to speed up...

cm helped me figure out a modified imlp training plan. today's plan was to bike for 1:45. i was feeling a little bit nauseous and dizzy this morning but didn't push it on the bike. the stress fracture is still bugging me but not as much as before. i'm not so sure if i will end up doing imlp but may as well train for it b/c i really really want to do it.

happy one-year anniversary to the A and e team!