Gettin' in the Groove

I think I’m starting to get back in the groove of swimming. I really concentrated today on slowing down and stretching the most out of each stroke, and I am trying to do something I’ve never been able to accomplish – bilateral breathing! Not the most exciting topic, I know, but it is a skill that every decent swimmer should know. I am still the world’s slowest swimmer, but I feel a little better and think that I can make some pretty decent progress in the next 9 ½ months.

I made another trip into the bike shop today to talk about my next bike. I didn’t learn a whole lot more than I already knew. I need to go visit some bigger shops (in bigger cities) to get some more information. It’s not that I can’t get good information here, but I just need a second (and third and fourth) opinion.

I’ve been sleeping better lately, and that has really made me feel a lot better. The only troublesome thing that I have going for me at this point is that I have not yet taken a day off. Now I know that I’ve only been going at this for about 10 days, but I should have put a rest day in somewhere already. My first rest day is to be on Friday. The following day is the Living History Farms Race.

It’s the largest cross-country race in the country. I’ve done it twice in the past and it is pretty fun – cold, but fun! Sparkle, Sunshine and the rest of Team Vardo will be competing. It’s a pretty challenging race, but really more fun than anything. The first half reminds me of my high school cross country days, but it’s the second half where things really get interesting. It’s literally “over the hills and through the woods,” including at least 7 creek crossings. They remind everyone not to wear anything they’d like to ever wear again. I think the funniest is that the prizes for winning are things like ducks and turkeys! When all is said and done, it’s a 10K, so I’ll just try to write it off as a training run…