Training...and Not Training

How to have a blast and train for a Triathlon:
We went to the lake this weekend where my next triathlon is going to be held and took my brothers new boat out. In between tubing and drinking beer, I would occasionally hop out and swim laps around the boat or if boat traffic allowed, try to swim to shore. In my mind, this has been the best swimming practice I have ever had. The water is warm and comfortable and I think this will be a really easy and fun swim.

How NOT to train for a Triathlon:
We also had a large trailer full of hay to unload this weekend. My job is to stand on top of the stack and throw down bales to people to stack inside the barn. I have always had a fear of falling off the top of stack, but in years of doing this, have never done so…until Sunday. I knew from the beginning it was not going to be a good day because I constantly kept falling in-between the bales because they were not stacked very tightly together. I recovered the first two times….the third time I was just too close to the edge and went tumbling off the side. Luckily, we had removed the first two layers so it was not nearly as tall as it could have been, however I did manage to fall on the bottom rail of a gate. I am bruised and sore, but very grateful it was not worse because it could have been very easily.

In other news, I have a new running partner. He is just getting into shape so we will work up to running, but it is going to be fun and really motivate me. Details to follow soon!!

Picture Diary

Instead of whining about what I have not been doing lately (training) I decided to show you what else I have been doing.


My garden is growing and very happy! I have about a 2 a day zucchini habit so I am thrilled at how well my plants are producing!


I am so ready for these little guys to be done cooking! I am guessing that I have about 30 watermelons growing on the vines right now. There is a small chance I may have planted too many, but I can live on watermelon in the summer.


This is the bobcat formerly known as Robert Thomas. He was a bobkitten I rescued him from some idiots when he was about 2 days old. I bottled fed him every 3 hours for two weeks before my hometown vet agreed to take him as she already was raising one and had a special license to keep them. His name is now Butterball and he is close to 50 lbs. He has a huge enclosure and has three brothers and sisters to play with. I get to visit him every once in awhile but he is much more aloof and still has enough wild in him that he scares me just enough to be cautious around him.


I got to drive this!! My brother has gotten into collecting Army trucks and they are pretty cool. They are huge and loud and I have not figured out exactly what they are good for, but he loves them. He almost has enough that we could form our own militia.

More pictured to come. I am watching the 2008 Ironman championships and it is really getting me in the mood for triathlon. It is a good thing because I have one in THREE weeks! Yikes!

Tired

I am tired. I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off and not getting anything done or at least not anything done right. I had such big plans for this summer. I had races planned at least twice a month and this was going to THE summer for me. Life has interrupted those plans. Between the horses, teaching riding lessons, gardening, and trying to have a life; my training has fallen by the wayside. It has come to that point where it is just another thing on my checklist of things I have to get done. My house is a freaking disaster and I just try to stumble past the mess to get in my bed and forget about it all. This is me whining. Lots of people do a lot more each day and have kids and all sorts of things they get done...but I am not one of those people right now.

I started doing all of this because I wanted another hobby. One that was fun and that I enjoyed. Right now it is a chore. So, I am making the decision that I am going to go back to having fun. This means I am cutting back on the number of races I was planning on doing and only doing the ones that are really important to me. I am going to do them because I want to and not because I think I have to.

My midyear resolutions:

1)I am going to quit stressing about not running fast enough or often enough and just go. No times, no watches, no worries.

2)If I do a race and finish last.....it won't be the first time and it will not take away from the event itself.

3)I am going to recognize that a bike ride does not have to be 40 miles to be significant.

4)I am going to swim and not worry about how large my butt is, but instead pretend I am a seal and focus on how nice it feels to cut through the water after being at work all day.

I have a feeling changing my thinking is going end up moving my workouts higher on my priority list because they will be things I want to do instead of feeling like I have to do it. I just have to remember some times why I wanted to do this in the first place.