Leave a Comment, Willya?

Hi folks,

Well, I have my next event narrowed down to either the Rock n' Roll Half Marathon or the Cowtown Half Marathon, both of which are in October. The training plan begins this week, so wish me luck! Or, better yet, come out and join me in training. We always have a good time!

I got some good news from my doctor yesterday: since last year, I've lost 11 pounds (it doesn't sound like a lot, but I'll take any sort of loss I can!), and my blood pressure is back to a normal range. I'm really glad to have these health improvements to celebrate!

And hey, folks, someone leave me a comment every now and again, hmmm? I see my little counter telling me that people are coming on and reading....but no comments....no feedback...and it's always good to hear from people.

We are leaving to go on vacation, so it will be at least a week before I get to post again. Plenty of time for you to leave me a comment.....!

I'm Starting to Like Swimming

You know, when I started out on this adventure, I was most nervous about swimming. Swimming? Laps? 32 of them? Hundreds of yards at a time? It was just not something I had ever done before. I liked being in the water, and I was fond of water aerobics classes, but that was about it.

Today, I swam 850 yards in half an hour. Yahoo! And I like swimming! I can actually sort of feel myself getting better at it, one week at a time! Today I stayed at my "21 minutes" yardage of 625 in 21 minutes, but I swam the freestyle stroke for 75 yards straight (a new record) and did that same stroke every other lap. It's getting better.

We've got to have these moments when we realize things are getting better. When you have one, recognize it for what it is (improvement and victory!) and enjoy it! Hang onto that feeling, and realize you can have that again....and again. Just keep showing up.

I Just Keep Showing Up

It was the Tuesday Night at the Track workout last night, and there I was. Still not fast. But there...in the heat (it was about 100 degrees yesterday). But, as I stepped back to take a look at things, I'm faster than I was when I started - I generally run about 100 yards per lap now, which I never used to do. And I was even thinking last night that I could maybe run more and walk a little less next time. So, that's progress. I'm kind of afraid to do a timed mile - what if I'm NOT much faster? What if it's bad? What then? But maybe by next week I'll get over it and start the ol' stopwatch. The first timed mile I did, way back in the cold winter, was about 20 minutes. I've done a mile in 16:30 in a race, so that's better. And maybe I'll find it better yet now. It's kind of like how I'm afraid to weigh myself. People tell me I look better, my clothes are mostly a size smaller now, but I still don't want to face the scale. Gonna have to get over that one too!

So...I keep showing up. I keep working. Things get better. Not as fast as I might like, but they do get better.