Flip turns in December...

I know I have been saying for awhile that I was planning on getting back to the pool after the half marathon as over, and I am happy to report that I have been to the pool twice this week! So I headed off to the Bartlett recreation Center to hit the water.

I remembered where the pool was. I remember my combination to my locker, and my jammers did not look to ridiculous on me. In my locker were my Zoggs goggles, swim cap and flippers, everything I needed was there. So I changed clothes, grabbed my towel and walked out to the pool area.

As I was walking, I noticed how empty the pool was. there were maybe two other people, not including the lifeguard in the pool, swimming laps. It always seems to be this way that once the season is over, the pool becomes an empty place until the New year crowds show up, but it is one of my favorite times to be in the pool. In fact, one of my most favorite traditions is my Christmas Eve swim. I am usually the only one in the pool. The gym usually closes early, so I can get in and out easily, and as I was walking to the far lane, I was already planning my Dec 24th swim.

As I got to the far lane, I placed my stuff down and got on my goggles and cap. I then walked down tot he deep end of the pool and do a wicked pencil drop into the pool. (I saw Crowie do this on an IM special and thought it was cool, so I start all my swims that way now)

It felt good to be in the water. I swam 500 yards and that was enough. It has been a long time since I last swam and it was evident. I swam the 500 in 10:04 and was not upset with that time. 500 yds used to be a warm up!!!  I had forgotten how much I enjoyed swimming and I was glad to be back in the water. My plan is to continue to swim 500 yards, three times a week until January and then amp up the speed and distance. I hope to have a clear plan as to my race schedule and will have a plan in place.

P.S. My flip turns were about the same as I left, so that's a good thing.

Me and Crowie...

Just like a lot of you out there, sometimes I lose my motivation to train. Sometimes I blame the weather, sometimes I blame the aches and pains, and other times I sit here and think, I have plenty of time to train, my race is a couple of months out. A lot of times I will read race reports to get my juices flowing, or I will watch YouTube videos of races, but they main way I get my mojo back is....

I cut my hair.

Guard #1.

Sleek and aero-dy-nam-ic!.

Now you might be thinking, what does this have to do with Crowie. Well, it might be the only thing we have in common. Last year, on the NBC Kona coverage, Crowie was interviewed and he said that one thing he did to prepare for a race was that he got his hair cut. And I can relate.

Maybe that is why triathletes shave their legs, but I know that when I am rocking a shaved cut, I naturally feel faster and I feel more like an athlete. This might sound weird to some of you, but it makes perfect sense to me. So today, I had a great workout, a great swim and I had a new swimsuit! I won a gift certificate to Sports Authority, so I bought a new suit. I felt great in the water and I felt like I was training. All from a simple haircut!

Thanks Crowie!

Kona and Cold Weather Running

Like many of you, I watched the 2012 Ironman World Championships on Saturday and dreamed of one day making it there to race. Overall, I really thought the coverage was really good and I totally enjoyed it. With that being said, here are a few observations I had while watching it:

Chris "Macca" McCormack has some really, really white teeth! Did you see those suckers shining, no glowing? The man has nothing on Joe Biden's choppers!

Leanda Cave looked like she is a really tall chick!  And the lighting on her interviews reminded me of the commercials that used to run that showed the residual soap left behind from normal soaps. You remember those?

I also heard that this year, every athlete made the swim cutoff!  That is too cool!

Sure wish Lance had raced.

I also liked hearing about the pre race rituals of the pros, from their eating habits, to haircuts and the hectic schedule they have. It even gave me a great idea from Crowie! No, that is not Craig Alexander in the picture, that is your truly, but I could see how you could make that mistake. I liked the way he had his iPod on his visor, with the earbuds wrapped behind his head intertwined in his visor. When I ran Sunday, I think it made me faster.

I also liked seeing less of the AG storyline. I thought this year they made it more about racing, which was cool.

Hines Ward will not be a good Ironman spokesperson. I have my doubts on him finishing! But all in all, it really fired me up and got me even more excited for my first 140.6 next year! I can't wait.

Cold Weather Running:
On Sunday morning, it turned cold in Memphis, we're talking 30 degree weather. Now in Memphis, that could possibly shut down some schools due to those kinds of temps. We are not used to it. It did warm up to be a really nice day by around 2 o'clock though.

So Monday morning, I was scheduled to do 5 miles for my marathon training. This run will put me over last years run total already, so I was fired up for it! The only thing I was not fired up for was the temperatures. It was 37 degrees at 5:45 AM. That sucks! I always have trouble knowing what to wear in cold weather, I always either get too hot or I freeze! But today, I made the correct choices.

Running pants, a sleeveless shirt, a dry tech shirt over it, arm warmers and a skull cap was perfect for 30 degree weather.The only other thing I thought I might have need would have been light weight gloves, but my hands get warm, so I am glad I did not have any. I seriously thought about going to the gym and hitting the treadmill, but I just couldn't do it, or wouldn't. I did not want my run that passed last years total mileage to be on a treadmill, that just wouldn't be as hardcore as running in 30 degree temps. I guess this is what the weather is going to be for the next few months, cold and dark in the morning, but this is also where PR's are set right? When it is cold, dark and nasty outside, right?? My next run on Wed will also put me over 100 miles running for October. I am starting to feel good about my marathon coming up and starting to really get excited about the possibility of beating my previous (and only) marathon time by a significant amount, and I do not think I can get there on a treadmill, so I have another month of running in the dark, cold mornings of Memphis looking at me.