Mike and I are 19 weeks away from the big day. I am getting more and more excited, but I get the sense that Mike is getting more and more nervous! Actually, I think that a very healthy dose of being scared out of your mind is exactly what is needed for a first-timer! It gets you up and out the door to your early morning workouts and gives you some extra incentive to tough out the cold, the heat, the fatigue, and the exhaustion of it all!
I've read Mike's training log, and he is doing very well! He's lucky, too, in that he gets to ride his bike outside for some of his training rides. They sound a little cold, but I'm pretty sure they are nothing like my rides here would be (if I was going outside, but I can assure you, I'm not!)! He also seems to be enjoying the caloric benefits of training 10+ hours a week!
Tomorrow starts a new phase in my program. The long-awaited Early Bird Swims start tomorrow. I've really been dragging my feet on going to the pool. I kept telling myself that I would get more intense about the swimming when February rolled around, and here it is! For only 10 weeks of each year, the Ames pool opens at 5:30am. The rest of the year, we are a pathetic town with really, really crappy swimming availability.
My focus for the next few weeks will be on swimming, and this phase was kicked off yesterday with a Zoom Performance swim clinic. Zoom just brought a swim *expert* on board as a coach, so all the Zoom athletes had the chance to meet each other and have a fun workout together! I had a great workout and enjoyed a couple "a-ha!" moments in terms of my stroke and how to put it all together. That is a big mental boost heading into this "Fish Phase." I'll need it when the alarm starts going off at 5 tomorrow morning...
I also stumbled across a great new massage therapist! She was interested in some personal training and shares a lot of my philosophies on wellness, nutrition, fitness, and health. We are a good match! We have been doing a lot of refering back and forth of clients, and we even worked out a little discount for my massages! I had my first one on Friday, and she is great!
Other than all the training, I've been swamped at work! I've got personal training clients coming out of my ears! I even had to break a couple of my cardinal rules and start doing a little training in the evening and on Saturdays! It's okay for a little while (read: I need the money!!), but I won't let it go on like this for too long - soon my weekend start to fill back up, and I'll be needing the evenings to train myself! But for the time being, I'm taking advantage of the opportunity and working my tail off!
I've read Mike's training log, and he is doing very well! He's lucky, too, in that he gets to ride his bike outside for some of his training rides. They sound a little cold, but I'm pretty sure they are nothing like my rides here would be (if I was going outside, but I can assure you, I'm not!)! He also seems to be enjoying the caloric benefits of training 10+ hours a week!
Tomorrow starts a new phase in my program. The long-awaited Early Bird Swims start tomorrow. I've really been dragging my feet on going to the pool. I kept telling myself that I would get more intense about the swimming when February rolled around, and here it is! For only 10 weeks of each year, the Ames pool opens at 5:30am. The rest of the year, we are a pathetic town with really, really crappy swimming availability.
My focus for the next few weeks will be on swimming, and this phase was kicked off yesterday with a Zoom Performance swim clinic. Zoom just brought a swim *expert* on board as a coach, so all the Zoom athletes had the chance to meet each other and have a fun workout together! I had a great workout and enjoyed a couple "a-ha!" moments in terms of my stroke and how to put it all together. That is a big mental boost heading into this "Fish Phase." I'll need it when the alarm starts going off at 5 tomorrow morning...
I also stumbled across a great new massage therapist! She was interested in some personal training and shares a lot of my philosophies on wellness, nutrition, fitness, and health. We are a good match! We have been doing a lot of refering back and forth of clients, and we even worked out a little discount for my massages! I had my first one on Friday, and she is great!
Other than all the training, I've been swamped at work! I've got personal training clients coming out of my ears! I even had to break a couple of my cardinal rules and start doing a little training in the evening and on Saturdays! It's okay for a little while (read: I need the money!!), but I won't let it go on like this for too long - soon my weekend start to fill back up, and I'll be needing the evenings to train myself! But for the time being, I'm taking advantage of the opportunity and working my tail off!
