3K, Shmee Kay

Yep. Not gonna lie. I definitely have a case of the old lady legs today. This is due in part to my decision to neglect stretching before my run/walk/crawl yesterday. Okay, I didn't really crawl, but at the rate I was going, it probably looked as though I was standing still. I'm also thinking that maybe the fact that I haven't gone for a run in over two years might have a little bit to do with my creakiness. Just maybe. I did participate in a fun run (sooo not fun) last summer, for which I did absolutely no training, but I don't really think that counts. I thought that since Justin and I were only going to do the 3K distance, I didn't really need to train. I mean, I can so run a mile. I did, and I also got second place, which sounds good until I tell you that I ran a ten-minute mile. Yeah. I think that all of the good runners opted for the 5K. I was a little sore after that race too. Okay, a lot sore. I think I may have pulled my heel muscles? Maybe my Achilles tendon? I don't know. All I do know is that I was sore for at least a couple of weeks afterwards. I won't be doing that again.

But back to my run yesterday. I figured that since I was going to start off with a brisk walk for a couple of blocks that maybe that would be all the warm-up my legs would need. Apparently not. Overall though, I'm feeling pretty good about myself. I wasn't nearly as out of shape as I imagined I would be, and at one point during the run I almost felt good. Almost. I am definitely not having any heel issues this time, so I think the walking thing helped. I also just realized that yesterday was the first time I've really gone out for a run by myself. Whenever I've gone running before, it's been for a sport or I've gone with a friend. I guess this was the first time that I've been able to just go along at my own pace (read: oooold lady*). It was not entirely unpleasant is all I'm saying. I'm certainly not dreading my next run, although it may be a couple of days.

Tomorrow I am going swimming with a friend of mine who is training for the same triathlon as I am. We swam 1000 yards on Saturday, and hopefully we can surpass that tomorrow. I love swimming. I think that maybe the feeling I get while swimming is similar to a runner's high. After I reach a certain point in my swim, I feel like I could just keep swimming forever. It's so relaxing and so much less painful than running.

Anyway, here are my training stats so far, just in case you were dying to know:

Swimming: 2000 yds

Biking: 3 miles

Running: 2 miles

For the triathlon, which is a sprint distance, I have to be able to swim a half-mile (approximately 35 laps/875 yards), bike 12 miles, and run about 3.1 miles. At this point I think I could totally bust out the swimming and biking no problem, but I want to really improve my skills. When I bike (if the wind ever stops), I haul Audrey in a little trailer behind me, which adds a little bit of resistance (uh like 40 pounds). I figure that this can only help add to my speed when I bike without her. When I swim I've been really focusing on my technique so that I can be as efficient as possible. I think this will become important when I'm swimming in open water, which I've never done before...to tell you the truth, the only thing I'm really afraid of is running into a dead fish or some stray seaweed (lake weed?). I'm totally creeped out by underwater things, and I'm not even talking sharks or, you know, giant squid. Just seaweed. Eww...I'm cringing just thinking about it.

So, there's that.

* Phoebe: "Okay, lesson one: chords. Now, I don't know the actual names of the chords, umm, but I... I made up names for the way my hand looks while I'm doing them. So then, this is, "Bear Claw." Okay, umm, "Turkey Leg" and... "Ooold Lady."

--FRIENDS

And to make a boring post a little more interesting, here is Audrey and a glimpse into what my life is like on a daily basis. It's cute things like this that save her on a daily basis from being tossed out into the garden with the cat.