Swimming Lessons.
Okay, have I mentioned how much I value my swimming lessons?
Well, I learned something new today. Whenever I try to swim freestyle, I totally suck wind. Tonight, our last drill involved the pull-buoy. Now, I have never used one of these in my life. So, arms-only, I was at the other end of the pool before the other gal in my class was even 1/3 of the way down the lane. Now, here's the "kicker"... when we do kicking drills, or actually swim freestyle, she is typically at the end of the lane, and I am only 1/2 way down.
So... my kick HURTS me... slows me WAY down.
My goal this week is to work on my kick, and the coach gave us a handful of kicking drills.

7:00 PM TEAM
Z3 - Hills (3.0 mph) and flats (4.5 mph)
Z4 - 2 minutes (6.0 mph)
Z5 - 2 minutes (6.8 mph)

This is a phenomenal advance for me... I haven't been able to run at a sub 10 m/m pace in more than 20 years... not bad for someone who will be 45 in a few months!

My shoulders have been kind of achy these past few days because of my upper-body weight lifting and practicing the freestyle. So today, rather than swim over lunch, I am going to give my shoulders a rest so that they will be fresher for tomorrow.

Tonight will be TEAM Weight Loss at the gym. I was excited by the fact that I have signed up to start running, again, with the LTF Running Club. I don't believe that I will start running with them until the beginning of November because I want to continue to build up mileage the more gentle way - on the treadmill, before I hit the hard asphalt/concrete with the club.

5:30 PM
Bike on Training stand... thank goodness for Star Trek Voyager and CSI...

TEAM

Breast stroke warmup and cooldown.
Freestyle arms with flippers, and then became brave and got rid of the fins. Was even able to practice bilateral breathing.
And, I am getting the hang of the flip turns - no pool water was snorted this time around

Cycle 60 Class:
Anaerobic Threshold intervals - very intense, and INCREDIBLY satisfying!
The instructor, Kelly, is wonderful. Really down to earth, good tunes, and just the right amount of talking.
We talked triathlons afterwards. She does a number of them each season, and said she just completed her first off-road duathlon - that really rocks!
So... I will definitely be back to her class.
And... one of the songs was the extended version of "born to be alive". Now, that was a theme song for me back in the late '70s when its release on the charts coincided with a milestone in my teenage life. Took me WAY, WAY back, and put a huge smile on my face!

Okay, FINALLY broke through the 200# barrier today - HOORAY!
I haven't seen this number in 3 1/2 years.

Now, the 200# is doubly significant for me because it means that I am allowing myself to wear a triathlon t-shirt from a triathlon I couldn't compete in. Summer 2006 I signed up to do an Olympic triathlon at the end of the season. Unfortunately, two months prior to the competition was when I learned that I had torn the peroneus brevis tendon in my left foot... which resulted in more than a year of not running, and time in a walking cast.

Having forked over the cash, I decided to go to the "Turtleman's" expo, and in addition to picking up the goody bag with hammer gel, etc., I also picked up the t-shirt. Now, I know it is taboo to wear a shirt for an event in which you do not compete. I promised myself (I weighed >224 at the time) that I would not wear the shirt until I completed a different endurance event... I had to hit 200 pounds before I could wear the shirt.

So, kid you not, the shirt has been "displayed" in my closet for 14 months. Today I will be wearing it to spinning class.

Training stand because of very heavy rain.
Goal was to stay in low Z2 after last night's aggressive run.

Weigh-in today for the NY-NY challenge. I really thought I would break into the "1s" this week. However, I will not ignore the fact that I have lost weight this week, which is a good thing.

Today's WO plan:
* Lift weights
* Bike - it is pouring rain, so I will probably put my bike on the stand

TEAM - 7:00 PM
Holy Cow! I don't know where I am getting the legs... but my speed is great. We alternated between steep inclines and then low inclines, keeping our HR in Z3, with one six minute trip up to AT-Z4 (I didn't quite get up there with HR):
Steep incline (3.0 MPH)
Low incline (5.0-5.5 MPH)

Well, my eating settled down after lunch, today - thank heavens!

And, I wasn't able to do the back-to-back workouts because I was the last presenter in our customer visit, today, and the visit was already 45 minutes behind when I met with them, which made me 45 minutes late, so I missed the class - grrr.

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Uh oh, this is not turning out to be a very good food day, today. During the first half of the day, I have eaten my entire day's worth of calories. Okay... deep breath... I already have plans for tonight's workouts. I WILL stop the craziness right now, and work to keep my eating in check for the remainder of the day.

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My plan for tonight is rather aggressive for myself:
Spinning class followed by TEAM class. I want to really kick the weekend into high gear!!