Anniversary Wrap Up

We just had the best anniversary yesterday. The weather was PERFECT!! Casey drove me to work yesterday. We met up with some friends and had a great lunch at Jeff's Restaurant. They have the most AWESOME homecooking there! I had the baked chicken, macoroni and cheese, and lima beans. Casey and I split a piece of one of their four layer cakes! Those things are HUGE!!

After work, Casey picked me up and took me shopping. We are leaving on another cruise in 2 weeks, so we were picking up some last minute things. Casey suprised me by taking me to Fleet Feet to have me custom fitted for some new running shoes!! I got hooked up with some Addidas Supernova Glides! I am SO excited about them! I can't wait to take them out for their maiden run, later this morning.

Since we had eaten such a big lunch, we decided just to grab a quick dinner. So, we ended up at Five Guys Burger and Fries. After dinner, we walked over to Julia's Bakery to pick up some breakfast goodies for the weekend. That's the bakery that made the beautiful Cross Cake for Easter services last week.

We got our goodies and discovered that they also make homemade doggie treats too. Since we had left the puppies at home by themselves all day, we decided to get them some extra treats. We got them a little plate of spring goodies and a pupcake to split.

The puppies were VERY satisfied with their treats!! Imagine that? Anyway, it was a terrific anniversary, which we plan to continue on the ship!! I'm already starting the countdown!! Only 14 days to go!!!

Spring Training

I've got a lot on my plate (athletically) this spring. I'm back in training for two new 5ks. One is in late March and the other is in mid April. Both of them are pet friendly 5ks, so it looks like Indiana will be training with me. That, alone, will probably trash my time, but that's o.k. I'll enjoy having him with me on the runs. I hope that he will eventually be my regular running buddy for 5ks and afternoon runs. He's got LOTS of energy, so I'm not sure what distance that he'll top out at.

I'm also training for my first "real" swim meet at the end of May. It's the U.S. Master's Swimming Short Course Nationals Championships. I'm only going to swim about 3 events, since I won't be going to lots of other meets to qualify. I'm nervous as a cat about it, though. I have SO MUCH that I need to improve on. I'm hitting the team practice for the first time this semester this coming Thursday. Hopefully, I won't embarrass myself. I've lost a lot of conditioning, since I was sick over Christmas and New Year's. It's taking a frustratingly long time to get my endurance back. I'm sure that running will help with that. I should also be meeting with my coach, one on one, on Tuesday. I've got a lot of diving block work to do. I just hope to stay healthy for the rest of the year now. Unfortunately, after swimming laps midday today, I have water in my left ear. I guess that I need to break out the vinegar, when I get home. Here's a few videos of me swimming. Casey did the taping with my new camcorder that he got me for my birthday. Like I said, I have LOTS of work to do.

1. Strengthen my flutter kick.

2. Work on my freestyle pull and catch.

3. Build my endurance doing flipturns.

4. Stop over rotating on my breaths. Remember to rotate my body more.

Practicing my backstroke flipturns.

First time doing freestyle flipturns with fins.

Breaststroke. I haven't learned breaststroke turns yet. I need to keep my arms closer and work on my starts with this one.

Freestyle, no fins.

More freestyle with fins.

Going Swimmingly

I can tell that summer is just around the corner. Today has been absolutely beautiful. I walked over to the Rec Center, on my lunch hour, and swam some laps. Then I went and grabbed a quick take out lunch. It was really easy to fall back into my summer, Saturday routine. Swimming on my break, breaks the monotony of the day. I can definitely tell, if I miss a day of exercise. I sleep horribly on the days that I don't work out. Beginning Monday, my workout routine will change a little. The hometown pool is closed for two weeks for maintenance, so I'll only be swimming on Friday and Saturday at my alternate pool. So far, my temporary workout shedule looks like this:

Sunday: Run

Monday: rest

Tuesday: Circuit Training

Wednesday: rest

Thursday: Run

Friday: Swim/Run

Saturday: Swim

Sometimes, I guess change can be a good thing.

Things You Wish For...

Isn't it funny how you get something on your mind, that you wish for, and it just won't go away? I've found myself in that position the last couple of weeks. All of you know that I run. My dream is to have a big dog that will run with me. My three little ones tire out, before my mileage is done, especially in the summer. My big dog, Fergie, is a couch potato. Her idea of a good time is sleeping by herself on my bed. Even a walk around the block is out of the question for her. She's just NOT interested. Shiloh, my 11 year old, is out of the question. So that leaves me with an opening for a big, running dog. I think that I have a 5k coming up in February, and we're allowed to bring out dogs to run. Nothing would make me happier.

When I used to walk Bear, over on the other block, there was this big, sweet, black Lab named Betty. She always used to keep us company on our walk. She always had the sweetest disposition. I picture a running dog a lot like that. I'd love nothing better than to have a Black Lab to keep me company on my runs. I know that I have a full house right now, so a Lab is out of the question, but that doesn't keep me from wanting one. I love my dogs to pieces, but without Bear, I get so lonely out walking or running. I talked with one of the ladies down at the shelter. We have several Black Labs down there. My hope is to go a couple of times a week and get them and slowly teach them to run with me. There's a big run in May called "See Spot Run", and I hope to have one of them trained to run with me by then. There's several there, so hopefully one of them will enjoy it. I have a feeling that I may have to recruit Jennie to help me a bit. I totally think it's do-able though. Still doesn't keep me from wanting a Lab of my own though. Maybe one day...

Keep On Keepin' On...

Not much new news to report. I've lightened my workout load this week, to give my body some extra rest for the upcoming 5K. I ran a couple of days and swam a couple days. Now, I get 2 days of rest time. Rest time is good, because I seem to have tweaked my right hip. It seems it was more from swimming breaststroke than running though. Something a little rest can't cure.

The zoo brood is doing good. Since the weather has gotten cooler, they like to snuggle a lot more. They love Mom's gray, fuzzy blanket. When I bring it out, it's like telling them it's nap time. They just love to curl up with me, when I get it out.

Getting Ready...Again!

Sorry that I wasn't around much last week. Every week, since Celebration Pet Day has been SO incredibly busy. By the time I get home, I'm just too tired to blog. I'm getting ready for my 2nd 5K this weekend. It's the United Way 5K Spooktacular. I went and checked out the race course yesterday. The first part is pretty flat, but they have some REALLY big hills right at the end...and, oh yeah, speed bumps that we have to navigate not too far from the finish line. Geez! As if I wasn't a big enough klutz enough on my own, that they had to go and add speed bumps into the mix. Oh well, here's to not breaking something important! Hopefully, I will at least do as well as I did in the last one. I'm hoping to gain some time, since the weather will be quite a bit cooler than it was in August. I'll report my results, after the race this weekend.

Committed

I took the plunge. I registered yesterday for my first 5k. There's no backing out now. I'm up to running 4.5 miles easily, so I'm going further than a 5k. It's on August 23rd. Hopefully, the heat won't do me in too badly. Starting this week, I'm going to run outside at least once a week. The actual race starts at 7:00 a.m., so maybe it won't be too miserable outside. I can hope can't I? I'm already a little nervous, even though I know I shouldn't be. I'm not particularly racing for a good time, but just to run the whole thing and finish. It's more of a personal goal, than anything else. There's no backing out now!

Where Have I Been?

I realized this morning, with a shock, that I hadn't updated the old blog here this week!! I can't believe it! You guys know that I really enjoy prattling on.... Life was normal this past weekend. We did take the puppies over to Jennie's on Sunday to play in the kennel play yard. We didn't stay long, because it was SO hot outside. I mostly just rested the rest of the day. Did the usual on Monday: cleaned house and did laundry.

I've been really working out this week, though. The weather got REALLY nice on Monday. It's been in the low 80's with really low humidity here, so it was ideal for getting some outdoor running training done. I'm running my first 5K in late August, so I've been really needing to train outside in the heat. I went to the park trail for the first time on Saturday night. It had rained most of the day, so the temp wasn't as bad, but it sure was hot and sticky. I managed to get 2 miles in, before I started to overheat. I went back yesterday afternoon, and the humidity was MUCH better. I managed to get my 3 miles done. I also learned to pace myself better on the hills. I may not be the fastest runner, but I'm REALLY improving my endurance. I went Monday night to the regular Rec Center track and got 3 miles in there as well. I hit the pool on Tuesday. Swimming the laps helps to make me feel like my spine is decompressing from all the pounding I get from running. It felt so good that I ended up swimming nearly 2 miles!! I've decided to take today as a rest day. We are moving a lot of big boxes at work, and my back is starting to feel a little strained. I'll be back in the pool tomorrow.

Well, I'd better run. I've got a million things to do today! Everyone have a GREAT day!