Definitely an Indoor Weekend

The weather turned out to be pretty much as predicted--cold, windy and wet, with just a touch of sun here and there. So I did pretty much as planned.

Saturday I slept in (7:30) and did stuff around the house before dropping my daughter off at gymnastic practice. I then had about 7 hours to kill. I headed for a long workout at Lifetime.

I was hoping to do a good strength workout and then hop on the treadmill for 2.5 hours. The weight workout went great, although my stomach wasn't feeling great. When the weather changes as it did this weekend, it can cause a flare in my RA. This results in joint pain, fatigue, and flu-like symptoms. For me, it usually means my neck and shoulders get pretty sore, and I can feel pretty nauseous. I get used to it as the winter progresses, but it takes a while after feeling "normal" during the summer.

The first 5-7 miles of the run were good--I worked in some fast intervals and recovery time. I was trying a new "drink". It didn't go so well. I think it was a combination of already feeling yucky and maybe the new formula. In any case, I ended up in the bathroom several times. After 7 miles, I really felt bad. I was going to stop, but decided I would at least walk for a while. The next five miles were a combination of walking, jogging and slow running. Total time was 2:36 and about 12.25 miles.

I felt too tired to swim after, so I didn't. Sat in the hot tub and steam and took a relaxing shower. Felt much better after I ate. All in all, a good workout.

My husband has finally decided we need a new bed. We have a water bed (the kind that sits on top of a box spring) that is over 20 years old. I can't sleep on it anymore because it really hurts my back. He found a great sale through his work (Sears) and we are getting a new, KING SIZED bed in November. YEAH!

I was really tired Saturday night. I had originally planned to swim early and ride on my trainer in the afternoon. But I decided no ride on Sunday. I realized that I usually take two days between runs when I plan a long one. Since I had run hard on Thursday, I didn't have the normal amount of rest, and I felt it. Sunday would be a swim/recovery day.

Sunday I dropped my son off at church and headed to Lifetime in Burr Ridge. This is not my "home" gym, but I spent a lot of time there in the summer, and do now on the weekends. Usually when I swim it's later in the morning. Yesterday, I was there by 8:30. When I started there was only one other lady in the pool. I took the lane next to her, next to the wall. Bad idea!

I was tired and struggling with my swim. After 30 minutes, two guys and one girl got in the pool. The two guys were sharing a lane next to mine; the girl was in the lane next to them on the other side. I am not a fast swimmer. I consider myself to be pretty average speed-wise. I think I have OK technique--I've been swimming pretty regularly since I was 4 years old. I had my stroke analyzed several times and have seen videos. Of course there are things I can improve on--nobody's perfect--but I do OK. I will never be lightning fast, but I think I look like I know how to swim.

These guys next to me were big--not fat, but tall and fit. They looked like swimmers turned triathletes maybe. They FLEW through the water. Lots of muscle, splashing, body movement, head movement, and they both looked really ANGRY! It could just be that they were working hard and were really concentrating, but every time we made eye contact, I felt like they were going to yell or scream at me. They didn't look like they were having fun, but I'm sure they were.

Did I mention there was a lot of splashing and big wave-making? Since I was swimming against the wall, well, you know what that means. I was being bantered about in my lane. I am not a small person (OK, so I'm short, but not little, if you get my drift), and was flying around in the lane. It was like swimming in Lake Michigan on a really choppy day. OK, so maybe not that bad, but it was really wavy for an indoor pool. I wanted to quit early, but I stuck it out for the full one hour plus. Did my 2500 meters and got out of there ASAP. They were still swimming when I was in the hot tub.

I love watching people swim--their technique, what they do with their head and feet, how many strokes they take, etc. Since this is a 25 METER pool, I think 20 strokes is a good amount for most people. These guys were both taking 18 strokes--not bad, but for being as tall and as big as they were, could have been better. I usually average about 24-26 strokes, 22 if I REALLY concentrate, more if I get lazy. I've seen really good swimmers take 12-14 strokes in that size pool--I can tell who they are even before I start counting.

At the other end of the spectrum, there was a lady really struggling in the first lane. I counted her strokes for two lengths--58! Oh my, she was wasting so much energy, it hurt me to watch. I really feel bad for people who swim this way. Regardless of the reason they're in the pool, it would benefit them so much to have a couple lessons on technique. We all know that swimming is a sport that's all about technique. Yes, I see people at races (and pools) who are able to swim really fast by muscling their way through the water, but they are wasting so much energy and could be so much faster. They sure do kick my butt and a lot of others though, so maybe it doesn't really matter?! Off my swimming soap box for now!

Went to church after the swim, picked up my son, came home and crashed the rest of the day. I was really wiped. As I said, this weather is really tough on my body. It was actually hailing yesterday afternoon, and the wind was strong enough to push our grill around the patio. One of our chairs was on our lawn this morning. It's still windy, cold (the wind chill was in the 20's), and I'm so glad I rode on my trainer this a.m. I would never ride outside in this kind of weather at this point in my life.

When we had our Husky dogs, they LOVED this weather. The colder the better. They even liked the wind, and the snow was the BEST! I used to ride my bike with them in every kind of weather--even snow if the road wasn't too icy. They basically pulled me when they were young, but when our last one got older, I had to slow down for her. They both did lots of runs with me. I still miss them a lot in the winter, because it reminds me how much they would have liked the colder weather.

Well, all in all a good weekend; I can't really complain about too much. Read some very interesting blogs. Sometimes I think I shouldn't read those written by the "pro's" or "elite" triathletes. Makes me feel even slower and weaker than I already am. Oh well, I must remember that many things in life are relative. I'm just happy to be able to do what I can do.

Speaking of what I can do, here are my numbers for the week:

Swim: 5x for 10,100 meters
Bike: 3x for 97.5 miles (on trainer)
Run: 3x for 25 miles (on treadmill)
Strength: 3x for 233 minutes
Total time: 20 hours, 36 minutes
Total calories: 8,400

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Stay warm and dry!

Until next time--God bless!