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.