One length!

Yesterday I did what Sam (says Kenichi) calls a brick run. I biked 10 miles and then went directly (after wiping down my bike and getting a drink of water) to running on the treadmill. I only ran 1.5 miles though because I didn't want to pass out. I then walked another . 5 to cool down. I sped up my run some too because it was going so slow but I don't think that that is the best idea after biking for 10 miles. I decided that I can build up to the 2.5 mile run after the biking later. After watching all the calories that I was burning on the bike and treadmill, I went to Safeway to get some Gatorade to rebuild my electrolytes level. Luckily with my new Safeway card, I was able to get them on sale. Do you know they have different types of Gatorade? Like ones for the morning and for the evening and for after work outs and stuff. I stuck with Rain and the bottles says 'no excuses.' Its berry flavored and a purple/pink color which seemed the most like me. Last night I went to Pilates then to stretch out all my muscles. I skipped the leg kicking portion of the swimming movement and just paddled with my arms so that I wouldn't mess up my swim training.

Surprisingly, my body felt good/fine this morning. I waited till 2 again today to go to the pool in hopes that I would have my own lane to myself. But there were a bunch of high school kids taking up 2 lanes. I asked the front guy how long the 'kids' (I felt weird calling them that because I don't fell like I'm far from their age) were going to be in there and he said they just got in. I struggled but got my cap on using a mirror in the locker room. I found a lane that had a lady in doing laps. The water seemed cooler today and she said that it was only bad for the first 3 minutes which is usually true. I started out using the kick board and doing laps. But even with my feet making splash, I still struggled to get to the end of the pool without having to catch my breath. At one point I think I figured out how to just kick with my knees and not my hips. The lady in my lane would pass me but I got my own lane soon. After warming up with kicking and testing my breathing, I started off to do the real freestyle. But got frustrated after pushing off multiple times but not making it further than 1 stroke before drowning myself. Had another cough/gag moment. I got upset because I was doing worse than last time. I probably could have gotten in trouble for it but I made a big angry splash in the pool out of frustration. And I am usually in the lane closest to the lifeguards so they can probably mock and track my progress. Its been the same 2 guards all the times I've been there and each time I go back with a different outfit; 2 piece-1 piece-1 piece with goggles and finally today; 1 piece with goggles and cap. Since I couldn't go very far I would keep trying and doing little spurts till I made it to the other end of the pool and then come back. I watched other people swimming with ease and it looked like they would go on their side when they took a breath and one woman would breath out of the side of her mouth to prevent water from getting in I guess. I would mix it up with the kick board when I got mad and I was getting ready to get out soon so I decided to do one last lap swimming. I didn't kick off this time because the momentum doesn't help and I never know if I'm supposed to breath out of my nose or mouth (thought about asking the life guard). But this time I started and it got sloppy and I'm sure it wasn't pretty but I made it to the other end without stopping! Yay! I wanted to end on a high note but had to get back to the other end of the pool. I was out of breath though, probably because I actually held my breath and didn't put air into my lungs when i took a breath or Sam would say it was because my legs weren't parallel with the rest of my body. But I can only focus on one thing at a time. And that time it was breathing. So when I started back to the other end, I couldn't make it the whole way because I was out of breath still. I got out then so that I wouldn't try for more and get upset if I failed. Hopefully the stroke clinic instructor can help me with my breathing. Now just 9 more lengths and I'll be ready for April.

Pool, tar and bananas

Just got back from swimming about an hour ago. I spent a little more than a half an hour there this time. I decided to skip body pump tonight to go swimming this afternoon rather than this morning to give my body time to rest. Most of the elderly folks must do their laps in the morning because there were open laps when I got there. I finally had my own lane! I jumped in the pool faster than usual because with the whole swimsuit, theres less skin to touch the water and get cold (except my back). I didn't know how to put my cap on so I had hair in my face. There aren't any instructions on the packaging. I'll go back on Friday and I think I have to put the cap on while my hair is dry. I tried to remember what Sam taught me and to practice each part of the swim. The first few times on the kick board were hard since I didn't have Sam to hold my heavy butt and thighs up. I had to stop a few times during my lap to kick my body back up to the surface. But the last length of the pool I almost made it the whole way focusing on using my core to keep my body up. I'm supposed to keep my legs loose and kick from my knees not my hips which is a problem for me because I've been taking Pilates for 2 years and we are trained to kick with straight legs from the hip. I tried to do the real swim but after about a quarter of a length I would get all caught up and would either start to drink water or keep my head up to catch my breath when it should be back under the water. This is the most frustrating part now, trying to coordinate my breathing and stroke so that I can go a whole length without stopping to spit out water or to catch my breath. I had to do one of those hack coughs in the middle of the lap once and I'm sure the others appreciated it. I did figure out though that I can swim about half a length underwater holding my breath but then when I come up to take a breath I get mixed up and have to stop. I don't think holding my breath the whole time is the best idea. So it took me about 3 tries to get the whole way down the length of the pool this way. I watched other people in the pool and they are like spinning their head all the way around to breath and can go slow. I don't know how they do that. A little boy threw up on the pool deck too. Luckily it wasn't in the pool or I'd probably have to get out. Classes start next week so hopefully that can show me how to coordinate my breathing and stroke. When I took my goggles off, my eyes can't focus on far distances so I would have to look only a few feet in front of me. Its similar to the quality of seeing that you have when you are staring. This can't be good since I have to bike after the swim part of the triathlon. I had to sit down for a few minutes before I got in my car to leave the rec center.

When I left for the rec center, they were doing stuff out in the road. Painting lines and stuff which means they are going to dig or something. When I got home they are pouring asphalt. But we still have water. Mmm, the smell of tar...

I wanted a snack when I got back from the pool so I stopped at Safeway to get some bananas to make a banana split. But I put gym pants on over my suit and had a wet butt area on my pants. I wonder if other shoppers saw that and were concerned. I found the bananas at the store but they were green. I think even more green than Amber likes. Usually theres at least a few that are yellow but there was only one miniature little guy who was yellow. So I pft around and found a hand that had some that were close to yellow. I got cool whip too for it. And I finally asked for a club card so I could take advantage of the discounts. I don't think the guy behind me in the 15 items or less line appreciated the extra time I took. But the problem is that they don't have key ring cards, only a big one. But the cashier told me that I can cut out the bar code and hook that onto my keys.

2 down, swimming to go

My back was tired and I didn't know if it would be a good idea to go run with Annette tonight or not. But Sam said it shouldn't be a problem so I decided to take it easy. Annette and I met at the rec center and all 4 treadmills were taken so we both hopped on a bike. My legs were tired and sore so I had my bike on a low setting just to keep them moving without too much resistance. We weren't biking too long before 2 treadmills became free so we moved over to run. I was planning on running 2 miles today but since I worked out so much today and yesterday, I decided just to run till I wanted to stop. Well I didn't want to stop till I made it 2.5 miles. So much for taking it easy. The treadmill is old though and I kept hitting my fingers on the bar in front of me, cracking my knuckles. I beat Annette done since she was running 5 miles. But she was mad because she doesn't believe the distance on the treadmill.

So I've accomplished my mini triathlon distance on the bike and the treadmill, now just for the swimming part which I realized is 20 lengths of the pool, not 10 like I had thought it was (heavy sigh). I have to swim tomorrow so I was watching the people in the pool tonight as I waited for Annette for examples. There were kids in a swimming class and they were doing pretty well in the free style except for the one little girl in the slow lane. She got passed by other kids in her lane as she struggled to go anywhere with her stroke. I imagine that girl as me.

Watching food network right now and Alton Brown on Good Eats is making shoo-fly pie. Its was created by the Pennsylvania Dutch so he took a little trip to Pennsylvania and gave the brief history of the Pennsylvania Dutch. They aren't from Sweden, or the Netherlands, but are German (deutsch) who left their country for religious persecution. Just some history for those who didn't understand my Fastnacht day.

body sculpt

I was planning on going to pilates tonight and a run on the treadmill this morning but Annette asked if I wanted to go to the rec center tonight while she ran. So I rearranged my schedule and found that my gym had a Body Sculpt class this morning at 10:30. I read the description and it seemed like that would be a decent alternative to Pilates and that way I can run later with Annette. Well the class was more like a mild version of Body Pump and you need coordination and balance for it. There are a few older ladies in it so I felt a little weird. We did squats, lunges, abs, chest presses, biceps and tricep dips as well as other things. And she stuck a little pilates type stretching onto the end. My body was tired from my work outs yesterday and so I was looking forward to pilates stretching me out. But instead I worked my muscles again. Hopefully they can recover for my swim tomorrow morning. My head kind of hurts now. I better hydrate up for tonight and I think i'll have a Boost too for energy.

I still cant find my weight lifting gloves. I looked in my car and they weren't in there. I'm not giving up on the though. Unless I left them at the gym and they were thrown out of the lost and found before I looked in it last night for them.

I'm finding that my unemployment checks are not keeping my checking count at a comfortable level and I don't want to start dipping into my savings. So the gym is looking to hire a membership sales person. I don't have any sales experience but I am 'fitness oriented/focused' and if the job pays enough, I might take it. I was going to talk to the gym manager after my class this morning but she wasn't in. So I'll send her an email about it to see what the hours and pay and responsibilities are.

Fastnacht Day

Went home on Saturday morning for Fastnacht Day. Sam and Annette joined us to help us 'celebrate' the holiday. It was a tiring day because we made 3 batches of donuts. Sam is concerned he is going to get fat from eating them. We made the typical glazed as well as cinnamon and sugar coated and Dad melted chocolate icing to ice a few. Grandma kept count and I think we made around 200. But we made holes as well as the regular donuts so I'm not sure if that includes holes or not. I was planning on taking a bike ride to get some kind of training in but it was cold so Sam and I went on a short 4-wheeler ride around the yard. After the nap that followed making donuts, we headed over to Heidi and Brian's house for supper and to celebrate Brian's birthday. We ate a lot there too and then played a game of Clue. Its actually a fun game. I was worried that it would be like monopoly and takes days to play but we played 2 rounds before leaving. I won the second round. Sam headed back down on Saturday night but Annette stayed and went to church with us on Sunday. The three of us came back down to NOVA on Sunday afternoon.

This morning I went to Sam's gym with him to practice swimming. I had all my swim apparel this time. The pool was small but the water was 84 degrees which is slightly warmer than my pool and they were playing classical music for entertainment. There were some discouraging moments but Sam showed me all the proper techniques so that once I get better at kicking and breathing and floating, I'll be able to tie them all together to swim. My problem now is that my bottom half sinks and I get a lot of water in my mouth and nose because I haven't figured out how to syncronize my breathing and strokes. We actually spent 45 minutes in the pool and then hopped in the hot tub before leaving.

I also went to body pump tonight but my legs were tired. And I can't find my weight lifting gloves that Sam got me for my birthday so that is a little upsetting. Tomorrow I'll do some cardio and pilates. Then its back to the pool on Wednesday.

Quitting and Donuts

Yesterday I went to the gym to ride a bike since I skipped body pump last night to go to happy hour. But I wasn't very motivated. I had decided to watch news in the morning because I have been sticking with HGTV and Food Network for a while and haven't been up to date on my current events. That was a bad idea though because I heard that the unemployment rate is going to increase till 2011. Which put me in a bad/upset mood and I didn't feel motivated to workout. So I'm going to go back to watch HGTV and the Food Network again.

A former co-worker, Theresa came up from Florida yesterday for work so we gathered people to go out to happy hour. It was fun and everyone stayed around till after 10 which surprised me since most of them had to go to work this morning. I didn't have to go to work but I did have to go to the pool.

My swimsuit hadn't arrived yet so I put on my two piece once again. Sam told me to focus on using a boogie board and kicking. I didn't hesitate too long before jumping in the pool. I took off on my boogie board but didn't make it a quarter of a lap when I realized that I wasn't going forward anymore. So I walked back to the wall and tried again. The same thing happened. I was still kicking but not moving. Frustrated, annoyed and upset, I got out of the pool, got dressed and went up to the front desk to see if I could get my money back for the stroke clinic class because I didn't want to swim anymore. I can get my money back if I write a letter. I called Sam upset when I got home and told him that I am quitting the triathlon. He said I'm not and that when he goes to the pool with me on Monday and helps me and when I start my classes it will get easier. But I don't like getting in the pool enough to motivate me to get in it just to get upset and go no where each time.

I sulked for most of the afternoon and my swimsuit, goggles and caps arrived. I tried on the suit but it gives me a double butt. You know, the suit cuts my cheeks in half giving me 4 butt cheeks. Not sure if I should return it and get a bigger size or not. I told Sam I will try it on for him to get his opinion but I bet I already know what it is. My old camera arrived today also from Olympus. I was hoping to use my old memory card in my new camera, but come to find out, the new camera takes a different kind of card. If I knew that I could have gotten a card last week and have taken more than 8 pictures. I'll get a new memory card tonight so I can take lots of pictures this weekend when Sam comes home with us for Fasnacht Day , a Pennsylvania Dutch holiday celebrated on Fat Tuesday when they make donuts to use up all their fat and grease before Lent. Megan is also bring her friend Annette up who wants to see the country. This should be fun.

Uncomfortable responses

I went to the gym with Sam this morning. I ran a bit on the treadmill and then we did his ab circuit. He is going to take me to his (other) gym on Monday where there is a pool to show me how to properly do the freestyle so I'm not wasting all my energy doing 1 lap badly. Apparently I have to put my head underwater without getting water up my nose. We'll see about that. I told him he has to confirm that the water temperature is at least 82 degrees or I wont get in it. I don't think he will though. His friend (who's gf is the one who started this whole mini tri thing) and his roommate are planning on doing our super sprint triathlon with us. This means more pressure on my to finish it and on Sam to do his fast.

When I got home there was a 'boil your water ban lifted' news press stuck in my door. Finally. I had to skip body pump tonight to go to an ASLA happy hour/open house where I thought I might hear about a job opening. Shivanee decided to come along earlier this week. She attended a job fair at UMD this afternoon but there were no firms hiring l.a.s. And instead of going home and then coming down here later, she came straight to my place to wait for the open house. But unlike last time, neither of us napped today. We drank our fair share of free alcohol and responded uncomfortably to the 'where do you work?' questions. I knew a good amount of people there and former coworkers so I was able to be sociable and enjoy myself. Only on the way out did we get a job tip. Shivanee and I shared a half chicken dinner and then I brought her back to my place so she could go home (or somewhere else). I have another happy hour tomorrow so I have to reschedule my gym workouts. Shivanee is considering making tomorrow a repeat of today and might come hang out with me again and then attend happy hour.

Gerber baby

I picked Megan up at the airport last night at 10 and when we returned home we had no water...again. So I went out to the hole that the guys were still digging in and the foreman saw me and said "She's pissed again." He said that the water should only be off for a few minutes this time and definitely not be an all day thing like Sunday. He said something like "Lord help me" or something like that. I told him I wanted to make sure because my sister had to shower. Luckily I had already showered. So he sent his apologies to my sister. But it was after our bedtime so I told Megan to shower in the morning. I was awoken at 1am this morning with a lot of noise coming from the pipes. If I didnt assume it was the water coming back on, I would have thought that someone was trying to break in. It was more like a few hours and not a few minutes for the water to come back on as he stated. But we have had water all day today and I haven't seen the work crew at all.

I went to the pool by myself this morning. It was less crowded so I got in the first lane where it wasn't reserved for just swimming laps. There was an older lady with some noodles doing water aerobics in the lane with me. And in the entry ramp next to my lane was a mother and her 2 kids. One was a boy about 5 years old and the other one was an adorable baby girl who I will estimate is somewhere between 12 and 18 months. I want to kidnap her. She kind of looks like the Gerber baby with a round face, strawberry blond hair, rosy cheeks and blue eyes. She had a little swimsuit on with a ruffle and liked to climb in and out of the pool and splash and 'talk' like a little person. I told her mother she is adorable and she replied that she is a hand full. She helped to motivate me to do my laps so when I got back to the end I could make faces at her. I wanted to get a long swim practice in today but couldn't do more than 1 lap continuously. And I would go to the end of the lane and stand for a bit to catch my breath and do it again. As I got tired my form would get bad and I would drink water. On my last lap my body gave up on so I made it back to the end of the pool swimming on my back. I only spent about 15 minutes there but I wanted to spend atleast 30 minutes there. I squeezed the baby's fat thigh as I walked by her family to get out of the pool. I'll have to keep increasing my cardio so I can breath easier in the pool. And hopefully my swimming gear and stroke clinic will help too. I need to be able to do 10 laps, not one.

I made lasagna this afternoon before Pilates and am about ready to bake it. I bought an oven thermometer today because I am positive that the oven doesn't heat to as hot as it says it does. I've tried to make a few meals lately and have had to bake them for twice as long as the recipe says to make sure that it is baked thoroughly. Well I just preheated the oven to 375 and the preheat buzzer went off. But the thermometer says the oven is only 275. That is off by 100 degrees! No wonder my meals have been taking so long to cook. But I'll fix it now with my correct thermometer.

"Water Main Break"

(a continuation/update from yesterdays blog) Sam and I had our Valentines date last night and I wanted to shower at 4 to get ready. I hadn't heard too much noise outside from the work being done in the road so I checked for water but still had none. So I put on sneakers and a sweater and stormed out to the hole they were digging. I asked the foreman when were going to have water again. He explained to me that they still had to dig more and replace the pipe. So I asked 'not for a while?' He said not for a few more hours. Angrily I packed a bag with shower supplies and my tooth brush and went to the gym where the water pressure was surprisingly good and it reminded me of college. Sam picked me up around 6 and we were going to stay at my place after supper unless there was still no water. When we got back at 11 pm, they were still working in the street and there was a 'boil your water' letter stuck in my door. I checked and still had no water. Its ironic that they would tell us to boil our water even though we didn't have any water to boil. They are still doing work in the street but we have water again. It would have been nice if they gave us notice or some kind of information yesterday morning to let us know for how long they estimated we would be without water. Especially since it was a Sunday and most people don't work and because people might need to work today and would appreciate taking a shower for work. Yes I am bitter because there was similar work within the past month which cause me to be without water for a few hours on a weekday without notice. I want to do laundry and dishes today but don't know if the water will stain my clothes and if the dish washer will leave bacteria on my dishes.

On another note. Sam gave me a Snuggie for Valentines day last night in addition to the baby rose and box of chocolates on Saturday. A Snuggie comes in very handy for me since I do a lot of lounging these days. We went to Faccia Luna where there was a wait. We weren't expecting so many people on a Sunday night. After dinner we met up with one of Sam's friends and his gf for drinks and that place was busy too. Finally we figured out that people were out because today is a holiday and people have off. If I was still at my former employer, I would have to work today though.

Digging A-holes!

They are digging in the street again and it's SUNDAY. So after I used the bathroom this morning I realized they cut off our water when I went to wash my hands. It wasn't too long ago that they had it shut off before without notifying us residents. At least that time was a weekday when most people would be at work. Lucky for me this time, I brushed my teeth at Sam's this morning. I was tempted to ask 'when are you idiots going to be done?' but instead I speed by them in my car.

I decided to go on my run at the gym this morning for a change and because it is cooler and because I didn't want to give the guys who turned off my water any excitement. My goal was to run 1 whole mile without stopping. It took me a while to get the settings on my treadmill right and I still didn't have them the way I wanted but I ended up running 1.5 miles easily. I walked a little more to cool down then. Some girl a few treadmills down from me threw up. But none of the people next to me seemed to mind or get sick themselves.

I returned home to eat a turkey sandwich and then wash my hands with a Lysol wipe because my fingers were messy and I have nothing else to wash them with. Watching Star Wars 1 now. I never was into Star Wars but saw the one with the teddy bears when we were younger and it is something that I can hopefully fall asleep too. I haven't been able to take naps lately and tonight is Sam and my Valentines date so I want to have energy for tonight. I've created my mini triathlon training schedule and the last thing to do is to pick out my suit. Found a good website and sent it to Sam to help me pick out a style. I need to pick it today so it will come before my first stroke clinic class in March.

I'm (and Sam) supposed to be in St. Pete Beach, FL this weekend attending a friend's wedding today but once i got laid off, I cancelled my plans. I picked out a card this morning for them though. A lot of the wedding cards reference me attending the wedding and 'today' so they were no good. I ended up getting a pretty valentines card which works great and Sam signed his own name for the first time in 4 weddings which we gave a gift together.

freestyle and valentines

I went the to rec center pool this morning with my friend Annette. Since it is a Saturday, the pool was crowded. Babies in the shallow end and 2+ people in each lap lane. Annette was tempted to kidnap a baby. The water temperature was warm enough at 82 which was my fear, that the water would be too cold and I would hate going to practice because of it. I was able to make it 1.5 laps before I had to stop to catch my breath. I was happy I could do that much without flipping over to my back or turning into a doggy paddle. I'll have to continue my cardio training to improve my endurance in the pool. I think body pump has helped my strength so my legs and arms are capable of doing more laps. Annette and I didn't swim too long because we think we were annoying and interfering with the 'real' swimmers in our lane and who wanted in our lane. We got in the sauna then for a few minutes but I still felt tired and dizzy from swimming. I signed up for a membership to use the pool to practice on weekdays when the other people in the pool should be working. I also signed up for the stroke clinic class but saw on the bulletin board that it was full. So I was kind of upset because I didn't have a back up plan. But the front desk guy looked it up on his computer and there were only 2 other people signed up so I made 3 which was the class minimum (the max is 7). Now I must find my suit. I was the only person besides the babies wearing a 2 piece. I'm going to make a training schedule/calendar too so I can keep track of my progress and make sure I keep my days even in the type of workouts that I do.

Just found a box outside my door (under the direction of Sam). Inside the box was a little red box with chocolates in it. I always wanted a heart shaped box of chocolates from a boy I liked. Dream come true! And also in the box was a baby rose plant with a pretty pot. The first thing I pulled out of the box was a 'small pets shipping warmer' so I was worried there might be a small animal in it and was waiting for it to scare me. But nothing did. The warmer must have been to keep the rose from freezing. I consider the rose Sam and my equivalent to the love fern on How to Loose a Guy in Ten Days. Sam works tonight so we are celebrating Valentines Day tomorrow. Last year we had just started dating so I just send him an e-card and we avoided going out on Valentines Day to avoid pressure or stress. Celebrating Valentines on the day after is kind of becoming a tradition now.

mp3, classifieds and D.C.

They are jackhammering outside again. And of course, today I go on another run. I bet they planned it so that they could be out there when I run. There's less guys though and I have about 15-30 minutes before I run so maybe they will be done by then. Yesterday I went and rode a bike at the gym and then got a new mp3 player. I needed help at Best Buy and no one asked me if I needed any even though I wandered around a lot, looked lost and stood at the end of the mp3 player isle looking for help. I finally found a group of salespeople standing together and told them I needed help in the mp3 player isle. After a lot of comparing and thinking, I ended up getting a 4GB clip. But now I'm having problems filling it up. I have yet to reach 2GB of work out songs so I am putting other whole albums onto it. I'm also having issues keeping my play lists too. That's annoying.

I looked through the Washington Post classifieds this morning thinking that they might have some kind of job related to 'landscape.' But what I found was pages and pages of estate sales and only ONE COLUMN of jobs. I'm guessing that the Washington Post is encouraging people to spend money buying crap at the estate sales instead of getting a job and making money. I did find a classified for a 6th grade algebra tutor. That is in my education experience and I tutored and elementary school girl when I was in h.s.

I had fun being a 'visiting local' (not a tourist) in D.C. on Wednesday and playing with Sam some. I didn't get lost any even though traffic was heavy for an early Wednesday afternoon. I ha vent toured D.C. since 5th grade really except for Megan and my attempts to see the cherry blossoms which most often fail. There weren't crowds so I used a map I printed out to find and tour museums which didn't have an admission cost. When spring time does come, I'm going to go back and be a real tourist with a camera and everything.

Running Better

I went on my second run today. The weather is great which motivates me to go outside and enjoy it. It went much better this time. I ran the whole half mile including the uphill part to the halfway point. I walked a little to begin the second half and then ran the rest of the way down. My collapsed (not deflated as I referred to it in my previous blog) is feeling much better and I think my breathing has improved too. Maybe the cycling helped my cardio even though I only did a minimal amount of it.

While I was at the store and on my run today I had to run 2 scans on my computer because it told me I had a trojan virus. But of course it took more than a half an hour to run each scan and both came back with 'no trojan found.' But since I couldn't play online, I had no other option than to get my other errands (i.e. store, run, organize bedroom) done. Shopping wasn't to successful either. I was looking for my one piece swimsuit for my free-style swim training but R.E.I. doesn't have their swimwear out yet. What kind of sporting store is it if they don't have all their stuff out year round. They shouldn't have 'seasonal' items. Outdoor enthusiasts do this stuff all year round. I knew Target has some swimsuit options online that are somewhere between sexy and ugly sporty. But when I went there, I couldn't them either. This is making it difficult for me to practice swimming if I cant buy an appropriate swimsuit anywhere.

When I was getting ready to leave this morning, construction workers came and started to jack hammer my 'driveway.' But that didn't last long and now they are working on the road just off the driveway making it smell like tar. This deterred me from starting my run when I first left the house because I didn't want ogling from them. They had already been beeping their horns so I was hoping that any beeping when I was out there was just a continuation of that and not directed at me.

Going to visit D.C. this afternoon. Sam will be working so I can play with him a little and can also walk around and catch some rays and work on my cardio or visit museums. But driving in D.C. has always and continues to be scary and a challenge for me. I call Sam most times mumbling on the verge or crying that "I'm lost. Help!" He can tell my the mumbling what is wrong and I am usually in not so good of an area. So even though he finds humor in these calls, he just gave me turn my turn directions to get there this afternoon to prevent another call even though the trip should only take 12 minutes. I always tell people that getting anywhere in D.C. takes an hour. I'll have to be home before rush hour and the gym tonight of course.

Deflated lung

Oh, and I have a pain in my back under my right shoulder blade. The pain started this morning and I figured it is from sitting crooked or running. But after getting back from the gym and taking a few deep breaths. I realized that it is my lung. I probably deflated it cycling last Thursday or during my run yesterday. This triathlon might be the death of me. But I can complain all I want because I'm registered and can't back out.

Cycling sucks

I just got back from the gym about a half an hour ago. I went to an hour of pilates which helped to stretch out my shins and hip flexors which were sore from yesterday's run. And then I went directly to a cycling class. It is an hour long and I thought it would be better than last week's class because the teacher was different. But I couldn't make it a half an hour. Luckily I had a bike close to the door so I could easily dismount between songs, wipe down my bike and sneak out the door without disturbing anyone else. I think I'll just stick with bikes down at the treadmills so I can go at my own pace. Its not like I'm trying to be Lance Armstrong or anything. Tomorrow is supposed to be 68 so I'll take my run again after the a.m. showers and maybe continue with some power walking to keep my heart rate up while also enjoying more of the weather. I'll still go to Body Pump tomorrow night at the gym to keep building and toning my muscles because I don't want all this running to widdle me down to nothing.

Made it!

Just returned from my first run. What I didn't notice while measuring the length of my route in my car is that it is uphill to the halfway/turn around point. I think I made it about a quarter mile then walked the remainder of the half mile uphill. Coming back the next half mile was good and I ran the whole way and probably could have went longer. But I didn't want to over do it on my first try. Too bad the weather today isn't going to last or I wouldn't mind taking just 15 minutes out of my afternoon to take a scenic run. Going to the gym to run on the treadmill will take about 45 minutes with travel included. Seems like a waste. One other note that I made while running is that i need more than an hour to digest my food. My side started to hurt but I tried to keep breathing properly so luckily the side pain never became too much for me to handle. Like the cycling class last week, when my body warms up, my nose starts running. That's annoying and distracting but gave me a few breaks in the cycling class to wipe it. Must keep the motivation to continue my training. Need to do 2.5 miles easily before the triathlon.

Triathalon

It's official. Sam and I have registered for a 'super sprint (mini) triathlon' for Autism in Bethesda on April 19. http://events.autismspeaks.org/faf/r.asp?t=3&i=301241 I haven't done much cardio since a conditioning class in college and don't like running but figured I'd have enough time to train since I don't have a job and have a lot of free time on my hands. I've been attending Pilates, abs and body pump (weight) classes at the gym and decided to try a cycling class last week to test myself. My body was fine but my lungs and heart couldn't do much more than the 45 minutes that it was. Today I'm going to go for a run since the weather is nicer out. I have new, real Adidas running sneakers that I picked up with Amber at Costco last week. She said I couldn't wear my sneakers that I got at Walmart a few months ago. So I'm kind of excited to wear them on my run. I'm tyring to chug water for the next half hour before I venture out. I drove my route on the way to the grocery store this morning so I know how far I need to go. I think I'll be able to train and be confident in the biking and running portions of the triathlon, but there's also a swimming portion. When i go swimming i might take two strokes on my stomach and then roll over to my back and paddle around the pool. So after some research and hesitation, I'm going to sign up for a stroke class at the local rec center. Apparently I have to get goggles and a one piece too because bikinis aren't very good for competitive swimming. Another problem I might have is that I hold my breath when I go under water so I'm gonna go to the rec center to 'get my feet wet' before the real class starts in March. So here starts my triathlon training. I'm scared but cant back out now because I'm registered.

Leaks and Cabins

Last Friday a contractor came to the house to find and/or fix a leak from the bathtub upstairs that leaks into the laundry room downstairs. He was here for a few hours and finally found the problem. Today was supposed to be the day he came back to fix it and to retile our bathtub and shower if our landlord found tiles to use. But I found out in and email this morning that the repair of the tile is not going to happen till later this month. And in the same email from my landlord, she asked if the leak repair that the contractor did made the leak stop. I had to inform her that he didnt stop the leak and it is dripping just like before, now just without a ceiling to absorb it. I'm interested to see her response to that information.

Sam and I were contemplating taking a weekend trip to a state park sometime before summer. We were able to narrow it down to a weekend in late April and also narrowed down our park selection to 2 parks that have cabins for us to stay in. Both have their pros and cons. I've done my share of tent camping when I was younger and one Fourth of July during college at a KOA campground with our grandparents, aunts, cousins and mother, I had my breaking point and couldn't do it anymore. I have friends who are into all the outdoorsy stuff but luckily Sam has camped also but is not an 'outdoor enthusist' either. The cabin comes furnished almost like home and since we don't do too many outdoor activities we decided just to stay for 2 nights or else we might bet bored. April is 'mid-season' so I was kind of concerned that no one else would be at the park besides us. But as we tried to finalize which park we were going to, I found that the cabins in the one park are all booked for the weekend we wanted to go and there are only 3 options at the other and none of those come with a lakeview that I wanted. So that helped us to pick which park to go to and eased my mind that we would be all alone in the wilderness. The average temperature is about 71 for April so Sam is hoping that we can catch some rays besides taking a hike or two. Another plus about the park I just booked is that it is 7 miles from town so we can go get drunk with the locals as Sam likes for us to do as tradition when we go to any little town together.

Waiting

Now that I see that my first post worked, I'll add another. I'm waiting for my friend Shivanee to arrive at my townhouse so that we can go out to eat. We are both laid off so we have the option to hang out during the middle of the day on a weekday. Shes a good sidekick so I might have her run errands with me after lunch. I have applied for a few jobs this week and am waiting for a response from the companies. I called one this morning to make sure they got my application and to just see what was happening (I see Shivanee has just arrived outside) with the process. I am running out of places to apply to each week for unemployment so I have expanded my job search to like 40 minutes away which is a big change from my previous 10 minute drive. My stomach is growling and Shivanee is now sitting on my couch with her coat on so I better call this the end and continue later.
Now that we have our Mexican food and margarita intake and ran my errands, we have returned to my townhouse where Shivanee swears the house is the reason why I have been taking a nap everyday. She thinks the colors are too soothing and are making her sleepy too but I think she would be too uncomfortable to fall asleep here. Yeah, I think its about time to slump down into the couch further and maybe doze off.

Reason

My friend Amber is a blogger and I've never been into blogging but since I became a product of the recession (laid off), I have a lot of free time on my hands and decided to take up blogging to fill some of my days. People will probably find it annoying but I decided to blog also to complain about people, rules or incidents that occur during my day to relieve my aggression besides going to the gym. I figure it might be as satisfying as sending a mean letter to the person or company responsible for my annoyance. I'll add more about myself once I figure out that I'm blogging correctly.