I bought a bike!

This weekend ended up great, though the ride was a little bumpy.

Saturday I did my loop around Lake Merced with practically no problems--one running interval in the middle was interrupted because my foot was falling asleep, but after a little bit of walking and a pep talk to myself, I ran the rest of the intervals and finished the 4.5 miles in just barely under an hour.

Sunday I went to ride bikes with M and my father-in-law (her dad). He just got a bike for the first time in many years, but he loves riding so we were excited to get him back into it. Unfortunately, I'm not very coordinated with my clipless pedals (still) and I tipped over. Normally, no biggie, right? Wait though--I managed to break my seat! Far beyond repair, in fact. So my mother-in-law (M's mom) very graciously played SAG wagon and picked me up, taking me to the bike shop where I wanted to buy a new bike anyway.

Once I was there, I learned that the bike I've been drooling over was sold--sad, but to be expected when it's a closeout at a great price. Instead, I got this year's base model Specialized Roubaix--a full-carbon frame with Shimano 105 derailleurs and a Gossamer crankset. In short, a really nice bike. I had to order it in my size, so I won't actually have it for another week or two. I can't wait!

Running Scared

Today I am supposed to run 5 miles, and I'm scared. I've never run that far before, ever. I think I'm going to head out to Lake Merced--it's a 4.5 mile loop, and I'm familiar with the course form biking it (to think a year ago, that was a tough bike workout!) and walking with M. If I do a little extra at the end I'm going to call that 5 miles because the last two weekends I've missed my long runs--it was so rainy, and I hate driving to work to use the treadmill there on the weekends. So I'll go out with my watch set to beep at 5 minutes and 2 minutes, run my intervals, and hope for the best. It's a beautiful day out, so even if I end up walking a lot it should be enjoyable at least.

Last time I went to the doctor she was concerned about my weight. To wit, it has not really changed from the all-time high I hit a few months ago. In October I lost about 10 lbs, but they reappeared over the holidays. So she suggested that rather than count Weight Watchers points, which I have been doing, I should try calorie counting instead. I signed up for the Daily Plate and tracked this week, and it's okay so far. Amazingly (to me), I've actually been undereating on my "good" days. Obviously on days when I binge on bagels, doughnuts, or (and?) cookies, that's a different story. I now have to weigh myself and recalculate my calorie allotment every day. At any rate, I lost a pound over the last three days. One down, 27 to go till my doctor is happy. I am pretty much happy now, but I'd be even happier if more of my clothes fit.

I want my California tax refund to come so I can buy this:
That is all.

swim success!

I have a bit of catching up to do, as I had a blog-worthy weekend and it's a new month, but let's start with the swimming!

This was the workout for today:

Duration 45-60 mins Distance 2000yd Pool length 25yd

Warm up
•	8 x 25yd Any Stroke (even pace), rest 0:10 / 25yd
Build up (repeat 4 times)
•	1 x 50yd Front Scull and Kick, rest 0:15 / 50yd
•	1 x 50yd Freestyle Push & Glide, rest 0:15 / 50yd
Core
•	12 x 50yd Freestyle Swim, target time 01:30 / 50yd, rest 0:15 / 50yd
•	4 x 50yd Freestyle Kick with kickboard, rest 0:15 / 50yd
•	6 x 50yd Freestyle Swim, target time 01:30 / 50yd, rest 0:15 / 50yd
•	2 x 50yd Freestyle Kick with kickboard, rest 0:15 / 50yd
Warm down
•	2 x 100yd Easy Any Stroke, rest 0:20 / 100yd

I finished in 50 minutes--not too bad, I guess. I did all the 50 frees on 1 minute (plus 15 seconds rest) instead of 1:30! I have never timed my swimming before except to note the total time, so it's neat to find out that I go faster than the plan required. That means I have to get a tougher workout for next week, right?

No rude swimmers this week--had the lane to myself for a long time, then had 2 different people split the lane with me for short periods. I may be spoiled from when I was a lifeguard and could have the whole olympic pool to myself, but I can certainly handle splitting. As long as there aren't 3+ swimmers--I despise swimming circles. I know, I have to get over that. I will.

Swimming fail

So I finally tried to implement the swimming workout that I got from Swimplan.com forever ago. This is what I was supposed to do:

Duration 45-60 mins Distance 1600yd Pool length 25yd

Warm up
•	2 x 25yd Freestyle Easy, rest 0:10 / 25yd
•	2 x 25yd Backstroke Easy, rest 0:10 / 25yd
•	2 x 25yd Freestyle Easy, rest 0:10 / 25yd
•	2 x 25yd Breaststroke Easy, rest 0:10 / 25yd
Build up (repeat 4 times)
•	1 x 25yd Streamline Kicking, rest 0:10 / 25yd
•	1 x 25yd Freestyle Push & Glide, rest 0:10 / 25yd
Core
•	8 x 25yd Freestyle Swim, rest 0:10 / 25yd
•	4 x 100yd Freestyle (25yd Easy, 25yd Effort), rest 0:30 / 100yd
•	4 x 50yd Freestyle Swim, rest 0:10 / 50yd
•	8 x 25yd Freestyle Swim, rest 0:05 / 25yd
Warm down
•	2 x 100yd Easy Any Stroke, rest 0:20 / 100yd

Unfortunately, I didn't exactly finish all that. I swear I tried! I studied my workout before I hopped in the pool. I had it in a plastic sleeve so I could drip on it when I checked my progress. My warm up was stellar and the build up was easy. But I somehow missed that I should have repeated the "build up"4 times. No biggie, right? I'll fix it next time.

I got into the core of the workout and was having fun with the 4 x 100 free, thinking about checking what was next, when I realized my workout sheet had disappeared! I couldn't figure out what had happened--had it fallen in the pool and floated away? Had someone decided they should use it and walked off with it? Had a gust of wind taken it into the grass? I never did find the damn thing. I guessed that after the 100s I should do some long distance, since I had no memory of the actual workout, so I set off to do 400 at a moderate pace. No problem, right? I still get the distance even if I'm missing my drills.

Only then the lifeguard interrupted me at 175 yards to inform me that I had company in my lane. Not just one person, but three people who neglected to alert me to their presence. There I was, merrily swimming in one half of the lane in case someone arrived, and they were swimming circles and apparently on a collision path with me when the lifeguard noticed (thanks for doing a good job, lifeguard!).

The new swimmers were slow and discourteous. That's a lot coming from me, because I'm slow and not that well-versed in pool etiquette. That means they were even slower and ruder than I am, whether intentionally or not. I heaved a sigh--no swim plan, suddenly crowded lane, errant arms and legs threatening my well-being. I did another 225 slow breaststroke to cool down and then gave up. That means I did 1250 yards (in about 40 min? next time I need my watch) instead of 1600, which really annoys me.

I do like the Swimplan workouts though--I will print out another and hope it doesn't up and disappear next time.

My lunch

Butternut squash soup with creme fraiche and cayenne

run report

Checking in... post hacking death running on Tuesday was not fun. It was okay, but MK and I decided that 2 miles was enough even though there were 3 miles on the schedule. We've settled into a comfortable 5 min run/2 min walk pace, though, which is great.

Wednesday I did not exercise. Sorry Hal Higdon! I didn't make it up in time to swim in the morning, and then the dentist made my head feel like it had been jackhammered so there was no evening workout. I'll work out tomorrow--either a swim or a good hour on the bike, I promise!

Tonight MK and I did 3 miles to make up for the missing mile on Tuesday. We're going to try to run the whole 2 miler next week, but the longer runs will have to be okay at the interval pace. I think by the race we could probably push the interval to 8/2 or even 8/1 but we'll worry about that as we go along. For now, we're both pretty happy to have found a comfortable pace--I'm stubbornly running despite my non-running nature and she's been out of the game for a while.

Before the headache took away my will to live last night I did manage to acquire a lightly used bike trainer from Craigslist at a steep discount. This weekend the spare room/C's closet/yoga room/future nursery (that's all one room with many purposes) will be converted into the yoga and bike training room!

Rainy day, again

Rain, rain, take a break
Come again to fill the lake
But for now, take a hike
'Cause I would like to ride my bike!

I am looking forward to going to work tomorrow after a full week of convalescence. Wonders never cease! The cough syrup with codeine is a miracle drug, seriously.

Sadly, I gave C the hacking death so he had to miss his sister's family birthday celebration brunch in Santa Cruz yesterday. I made a yummy egg scramble with chorizo and her mom made buttermilk pancakes. Then we hung out with her friend H for a little bit, ate some cake, and headed downtown to the Spokesman to talk bikes--M's getting one with her bday and Christmas loot, and I'm thinking about it too. After getting our ears talked off (in a good way!) and learning a lot about bike shopping, we headed back for a friendly family game of cribbage before braving the rainy drive back over Highway 17.

I know we desperately need the rain, especially if M and I want to swim in the Uvas Reservoir in May, but it's been 2 weeks of rain and hacking death, and I still haven't really tried out my new pedals! I'm hoping to bike sometime this week, at least, so I'm not a complete mess if I want to try out new bikes with my own pedals.

Tomorrow I try to run 3 miles with my other friend M--wish me luck!