After nearly a week in Michigan and a week with a cold, I started some basic working out again, starting with the team training yesterday. We did three miles, although I did about an extra mile afterwards going out to meet a teammate who started late, then running a lap around Swan Lake. Other than the run around the lake, I walked my miles. It was low 20’s and tough to keep our hands warm.
Theresa, my teammate and mentor from last year who is also my mentor for this season, was there to walk with. I also walked with one of my mentees, Cathy, to get to know her a little better. Theresa is a great mentor. She gave each of her participants a little goody bag with a chocolate square, other candy, a TNT pen, a little notepad, and most importantly of all – some gummy worms!!! I shared the latter with Cathy. Gummy worms are always welcome, even on a short training day like yesterday. Last year, when we would be 12 or 15 miles into training and we came to a stash of gummy worms that Theresa had put out for us, we all just wanted to kiss her! She is so thoughtful!
Theresa, my teammate and mentor from last year who is also my mentor for this season, was there to walk with. I also walked with one of my mentees, Cathy, to get to know her a little better. Theresa is a great mentor. She gave each of her participants a little goody bag with a chocolate square, other candy, a TNT pen, a little notepad, and most importantly of all – some gummy worms!!! I shared the latter with Cathy. Gummy worms are always welcome, even on a short training day like yesterday. Last year, when we would be 12 or 15 miles into training and we came to a stash of gummy worms that Theresa had put out for us, we all just wanted to kiss her! She is so thoughtful!
Cathy, Theresa, and Art walking in the "Museum District" of Richmond during training
After training, eight of us met for breakfast, including my friend Susan from the cycle team. Their training started at 10:30, so she could fuel up a bit.
Today I did some water aerobics at the pool, a tiny bit of swimming, and later on in the day, some weights and crunches. I am trying a new crunch technique out – to hold the crunch for a few seconds. I am also trying a few crunches where I hold it for about 15-30 seconds. I would like to lose about 8 pounds around my middle, which is not realistic until after Christmas, but at the least I don’t want to gain anymore over the holidays.
I am a poor swimmer, other than underwater where I can swim like a frog. But I can only hold my breath long enough to swim about 75 feet or so. If I ever want to do a triathlon, I am going to have to learn to swim reasonably well, and get conditioned enough to swim a mile or so on the surface. I sink like a stone – if I orient myself vertically in the deep end of the pool and put my arms straight up, I can stand on the bottom with air still in my lungs. Since I doubt I would be allowed to wear a personal flotation device during a triathlon, it seems I will need to learn to swim someday!
2 comments:
I use to love to eat gummy bears when I ran. I didn't actually chew and eat them right away. I would put a couple of gummy bears in the back side of my mouth and run with them for awhile to enjoy the taste and let them slowly dissolve.
After my marathon season was over, I went to the dentist for my semi-annual end of year dental exam. I had 2 cavities, which I blamed the gummy bears. I have avoided eating sweets during my long runs since because I hate facing the dental drill.
Good job for getting in the pool! I had to sign up for a triathlon to even attempt to swim...but I completely understand how you feel about swimming...it is definitely not something that comes naturally for me! And I think we should petition for allowing the use of flotation devises at triathlons -- they'll get way more participants if they allowed them! =) Have a great Turkey Day!
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