lunchtime:

28 laps in the pool.  i really felt like continuing but hubby was with me and i was taking it easy on him.  🙂  not to mention the pool was getting too crowded to navigate.  such a shame; first time in a week and a half that it wasn’t empty.  i’m really very bummed about the change of seasons.  i’ve actually started to enjoy swimming as an exercise – yes, you read that right – there’s an exercise i like.  it sucks that i’m going to have to give it up so soon.  maybe i can sweet-talk the night security guy into letting me in at 02:00 or something crazy like that.  it’s also noteworthy that i started trying to do a more proper backstroke at the end of last week.  i had been doing a lazy bird flapping thing with my arms and i’ve started trying to do the windmilling thing now.  i cannot believe how much of a difference that makes.  my shoulders officially hate me. 

lunchtime:

28 laps in the pool.  sheesh! i could tell it’s been three days since i’ve swum.  i was dying.  and since i was already self-conscious by virtue of the change of seasons (snowbird to spring break – the bodies laying out around the pool have drastically changed in the last few days), i was displeased with the amount of gasping i was doing.  so it goes.  at least i’m trying.  no effort, no results. 

evening:

hubby and i went for a 2.5 mile walk.  it was fairly leisurely; i did a bit of jogging but nothing to speak of.  for some reason, my left calf is very tight today.  i noticed it after swimming too which makes no sense since it seems that muscle is hardly used in swimming.  anyhow, we started on the beach for the first mile, crossed the road to walk our plaza a bit, and walked back via the street.  activity is activity, right?

lunchtime:

forty laps in the pool.  after such a crummy night, my body protested mightily.  when i started my first lap, my body did say to me, “wtf?!”  i was ready to quit at lap twenty, figuring after such a great week that was enough, but then i remembered that i was having a hellacious work day and there was no point hurrying back to it early.  so i went ahead and finished the other twenty.  you know that song running against the wind?  i’ve done that – i’m sure we all have – and it definitely slows you down.  well, i had never much thought of it, but swimming against the wind is pretty darned tough too.  i can’t believe how much the wind can push on me when i’m mostly submerged.  crazy.  half of my laps seemed like they would never end because no matter how hard i stroked, i didn’t seem to be getting anywhere.  that’s gotta count for a few extra burned calories right?

lunchtime:

forty laps (lengths) in the pool.  i am going to be so bummed in the next couple weeks when it gets too crowded to swim day or night.  i really feel like i’m getting better at it.  not as far as technique but just pushing myself and overall speed.  and i’m getting a wicked tan.  no, i am not tanorexic; it’s an unintended (and not entirely welcome) side effect. 

evening:

three miles of the bridge run.  so far *knock on wood* my legs are fine.  i tried running really hard to get to the bridge (so that i could get to where i feel safe by myself quicker… mental note: find the pepper-spray that writersblock gave you and put it some place where you’ll remember it each time you go for a run) but i only made it about 3/4 of the way there before my life flashed before my eyes.  i let hubby go on, walked about thirty seconds, and then jogged the rest of the way to the bridge.  once i got to the railing i did intervals.  i walked/jogged to every other light post.  seemed as good a system as any.  the last two light posts coming back were jogging and i continued at a slow, comfortable pace all the way back to the parking lot.  i would estimate that i jogged 2/3 of the whole thing.  maybe a little better.  i’m hoping to feel confident enough in my legs to do a slow jog the whole way again next week.  and i am so anxious for the day that i can do a full two laps on the bridge like everyone else.  on the bright side, now that it’s warming up the group is growing tremendously and i’m hoping to find some slowpokes like me that i could keep up with for the two laps.  for now, i’m just trying to keep from pushing too hard and re-injuring my legs. 

lunchtime:

40 – yes FORTY – laps in the pool.  although hubby has brought it to my attention that i count wrong as what i call a lap is one length of the pool and he calls a lap two lengths of the pool (down and back).  so, what i actually did was 40 lengths of the pool or 20 laps (according to hubby).  either way, that’s 2/3 of a mile also known as double what i would need to do if i had a bike and signed up for that triathlon that i really want to do. 

lunchtime:

35-40 minutes of swimming.  thirty-two laps, my most to date. 

lunchtime:

24 laps in the pool.  approximately thirty minutes.  i was far more tired than the last few times i swam but i guess that’s to be expected after two weeks of sloth.  the beautiful thing was that i had the pool to myself.  that’s never happened, especially in the afternoon.  and it didn’t make sense either because the pool was definitely warm enough for the snowbirds.  actually, it was a bit too warm for swimming laps as i was sweating in the water halfway through my swim.  either way, it was a nice lunch break. 

evening:

i totally intended to do some fiit tonight but a migraine got in the way.  just as well, i suppose.  i don’t know if i’m ready yet to hear it yell at me about my prolonged absence.  i’m sure it will punish me by declaring my weight to be twenty pounds higher.

*NOTE* – i actually wrote this post saturday night on the iphone on our way to being young but the browser died and lost my post so i gave up and resumed being social.  happily, i just discovered that it was autosaved in my drafts so i can post without having to retype.

after the long drive home last night and not making it to bed until well after midnight, we were up at 07:00 to meet up with the runners. we walked to the plaza and i walked around while hubby ran with the group.  i did try running for a very short distance. there wasn’t any pain but my legs definitely didn’t feel 100% right either so i quickly went back to walking. i certainly don’t want to run the risk of reinjury after having already lost so much time on it.  so with the walk to and from the plaza, plus my walking around in the plaza, i easily got three+ slow miles in today.

what can i say?  i’ve just had nothing to talk about.  it’s been a good week but i am so very looking forward to getting home tonight.  we’ve spent some quality time with my sissy’s family and my dad.  i’ve gotten to see a lot of my cousin, including a super fun poker-turned-karaoke night which another friend of mine joined in on.  i haven’t gotten much exercise but i never much expect to when we come down here.  i did walk two+ miles both saturday and sunday but nothing much since then.  on the bright side, my legs have been feeling perfectly fine the last couple of days so i’m hoping to walk and maybe even slow-jog a bit tomorrow.  just not much else going on.  for some reason, i’ve just been a bit blah this week.  i should have tried to get more visiting in – didn’t even get to see my brother (although, perhaps if he would’ve returned my call…) – but i’ve just felt a little worn out this week for some reason.  i am happy that we’re going home and getting back into our routines again.

i tried so hard to get my legs healed for thursday’s bridge run; alas, i was still a hobbled mess when we left the house.  we decided to go a little early and swing by and check out the guy’s store.  when we got there, his daughter offered to help fit me for proper running shoes and, before i knew it, i was purchasing the most expensive – and comfortable – shoes i’ve ever owned.  socks too.  unfortunately, this got me all hyped up to run the bridge and my legs just were NOT having any of that. 

we got to the parking lot and found there to be a much bigger group than last week.  since i was fully aware that i would have to walk, i gave hubby my blessing to run with the group and not be slowed down by me.  as i said last week, it is a little over a half mile from the parking lot to the beginning of the bridge (where i feel safer because of the concrete barrier that divides the sidewalk from traffic).  so, as the group started running, i brought up the rear pushing my angry legs to run until the start of the bridge.  i just know how ridiculous i looked.  in my mind, i was RUNNING!  i was swinging my arms and my face was filled with determination, but… my legs were barely speed walking.  it was pitiful.  and painful.  but i kept it up until i got to the bridge and happily settled into a comfortable gait.  i walked over the bridge and back as fast as my legs would allow.  before i was halfway back down, i had already been passed by half the group, done with their two laps and headed back to the parking lot.  as i neared the beginning of the railing, hubby caught back up to me and walked back to the parking lot with me. 

my legs were throbbing but not screaming as we left the parking lot and headed to the wing place.  we hung out for a good while and i thoroughly enjoyed meeting and conversing with the leader’s wife and some others that weren’t there last week.  i really like this group of people.  when we left to go home, my legs barely hurt walking to the car. 

i really was afraid that pushing my legs like that, after barely being able to walk around my little condo all week, i was going to worsen my injury.  friday, my legs felt great!  not pain-free but far better than they had all week.  i guess the coaches really do know what they’re talking about when they say, “walk it off!” 

sadly, six hours of being confined in a car was too much and they were hurting again by the time we got to orlando.  walking up and down the stairs at my sissy’s was excruciating last night and this morning.  since walking thursday night seemed to help, i accompanied my niece and nephew¹ on their morning dog walk.  i also went over to my cousin’s tonight and forced her to walk around her neighborhood with me.  by the end of the second lap, the pain was tremendous again but after laying on her bed for a while with my legs elevated on her ginormous frog, they’re feeling pretty darned good again.   so, i think i am going to add a daily walk to my elevate, ice, and advil regiment.  hopefully by the time we get home next weekend, i’ll be able to start running with the group again.

evening:

swam 28 laps in 27 minutes.  shockingly, i wasn’t even exhausted.  i think i could have kept going but hubby was thoroughly done so we quit.  i don’t know how he can be so much more fit than me and yet have so much harder a time with swimming than me.  i was just pleased that my migraine had subsided enough to get some activity.  and that my still angry legs did not object to kicking water. 

there was too much going on at work yesterday afternoon so i never got to take a lunch break.  which is probably for the best because last night was our first group run over the bridge. 

we started in the parking lot of a shopping center on the far side of this pic, a little more than 1/2 mile from the start of the bridge.  the bridge itself is approximately a mile from railing to railing.  of course, i was by far the slowest person out there so while everyone else did two full trips across the bridge, i only managed one full trip and then halfway back up again.  to be clear, i could have done the two full trips, i just didn’t want everyone waiting around on me. 

i am extremely proud to report that i jogged continuously from the parking lot, over the bridge, back over the bridge, halfway over again, and back to the car.  all of that without any walking at all.  i am amazed that i was able to do it since halfway up the first time i was already gasping to hubby “i … don’t … think … i … can … do … this …”  so that was approximately four miles of continuous jogging (i really can’t call it running, it was so slow) with three long inclines in fifty minutes.  like i said, not a killer pace but pretty darned good for me, especially when you factor in the lack of flatness.  i was so proud of me. 

today, my legs are aching.  i didn’t sleep at all last night.  but, i did it.  as i said aloud to myself when i was going back up halfway (hubby had joined the faster folks for their second trip so going back up was on my own), “i’m actually doing this.”  it’s also interesting that i have come to learn that i get very, very cold after running.  which is strange since getting cold is not my thing.

speaking of after running, the group went to a sports bar afterward to refuel.  we had a great time hanging out with people our age (you know, somewhere between my age and hubby’s age).  we started our run right around 18:00, finished before 19:00, and didn’t get home until after 22:30.  time just got away from us.  we talked about all kinds of common interests and the possibility of getting together (outside of bodily torture).  who knows, maybe we actually can make friends.  that would be nice.  we’re also supposed to be getting together with some of the other owners in our building tonight for pizza and fun.  so much socializing, so little time…

lunchtime:

35 minutes of fiit – strength only.  now that i’ve unlocked all of the strength and yoga, there’s just not enough time at lunch to do both programs.  maybe i’ll try to go back and do the yoga tonight.  or just save it for tomorrow’s lunch gig.  whichever.  once again, the line declined ever so slightly – yay for that!

evening:

45 more minutes of fiit – yoga only.  i finally found a yoga pose that i utterly suck at: dance.  after doing all of the stretches at the end, i was able to go back and suck a little less at it so i’m hoping it was just fatigue.  i really enjoyed the stretches, particularly the last one where you try to stick your nose in your own belly button.

lunchtime:

50 minutes fiit – aerobics and balance.  somehow, i can do a lot more time of those.  i guess they either last longer or there’s less time between them.  certainly less yapping about the same old stuff than the yoga and strength.  my line went down ever so slightly.  *UPDATE*  it is also worth noting that i am, apparently, completely incapable of hula hooping to the left.  i keep trying but the stupid hoop drops to the virtual floor in under fifteen seconds.  why don’t my hips circle left?!