Mid-week catch up

Monday - After a nice hot weekend, I was thinking the pool would be a little warmer and it was - a nice warm 78 degrees!  Just a little chilly at first, but I warmed up pretty quickly and had a good swim.  My plan was to run in the afternoon, but I was really dragging by the time Jason got home from work.  I took that as a sign my body needed a little more rest and skipped the run.  Later that night I had to drop something off at a friend's house and saw lots of other people out running/walking in the perfect 72 degree evening.  Then of course I felt guilty for skipping the run.  Oh well, I tried to get to sleep a little earlier and get some extra rest to be ready to train the rest of the week.

Tuesday - To the basement during nap for a ride.  It was a slow start and time seemed to be standing still.  Thankfully after about 15 minutes I started to get into my rhythm and started cruising along.  Got to my one hour mark and decided to push it another 15 minutes.  After that I went to wake up M, who asked that I not lift weights without her.  So with my workout buddy up and keeping me company, I did my lift circuit for about 30 minutes.  I am so happy with the improvements with my strength.  Exercises that were really hard at first are almost too easy now.  I am embarrassed to admit, especially being a Marine, that I let myself get so out of shape I could barely do a push up.  But now I can do push ups again :)

Wednesday - The previous two days were fairly cool which was great to give the air conditioner a break, but I didn't think it was going to help the pool temp much!  The water was still 78, but the air was about 58 when I got there.  A little extra motivation to get in and get moving!  One of the guys I have been swimming with for a while did the Chesapeake Bay Swim (4.4 miles) this past Sunday.  I did that swim when I was in high school before it got really popular (and before I really knew what I was doing...)  I've been thinking about signing up to do it again (now you have to enter through a lottery and get chosen to sign up) and after listening to him talk about it, I really want to do it again.  We had a good workout but we all seemed to be a little more chatty than usual, there were lots of talking breaks!  But somehow we still got the whole workout in!
Sarah came over Wednesday afternoon to hang out with the kids so Jason and I could both go do the group ride.  This was Jason's first time riding with the group (well, first time riding with anyone other than me!) and I'm glad he was able to come.  I know when we race we are on our own but riding with this group is really helping me become a better rider.  Last night's turn out was a little smaller than usual but still about 15 people.  There were a few stretches where the wind was really strong and I tried to work on not getting frustrated with the wind (sounds silly, but it happens!) and just deal with it.  Other than the wind, the weather was great and it's such a pretty ride.  Finished with an average speed of about 17.4 and feeling pretty good.  We got home to find happy kids who had been playing outside almost the whole time we were gone.  I love that they are so active - even though they wear me out!  And again am so thankful for all the help from our family and friends!