Swim Lane Promotion... But Will It Stick?

It's no secret that I'm not a great swimmer. I'm relatively consistent with my times, with my last four Ironman swim times all being within 2 minutes of each other and all but one of my half Ironman swim times last year being 35 minutes and change. I want to be better than that this year. But how?

Yesterday morning while plowing through my breakfast bagel, I read a blogpost on swimming by Elizabeth Waterstraat and she talks about how challenging herself with swimming, putting herself in a faster lane, forcing herself to meet more demanding set intervals, was key to her making improvements over the years. Reading this post got me all jazzed about my Tuesday AM swim - I was going to promote myself up a lane whether I liked it or not! I've been on the fence for awhile about doing this - I feel like I am between lanes right now. I'm a PITA in my original lane and I'm risking being a PITA in a new, faster lane. Tuesdays are usually a pretty safe day to take such a risk because there aren't typically any lung-busting sets and hopefully that would save me from being lapped n a 50. Anyway, I had second thoughts when I pulled into the parking lot. "Maybe this isn't your week. Maybe you should stay safe and think about a lane promotion, but don't actually act on it until next week." I was hopscotching the fence all the way to the edge of the pool. And I saw my normal lane had twice as many people as the lane I was considering moving into. And the sets didn't look too bad (alas, I didn't look very closely, the last set was 10x100 IM: I-freaking-M).

Long story short. I moved up a lane. I survived. And I'm going to give it another go on Thursday (when there usually are lung-busting sets). Oh, and my butterfly is as unpretty as a caterpillar. Bleck.

Food Culture: Perhaps a Bit Broken?

I have a BA in French and an MA in International Peace and Conflict Resolution. This qualifies me as an expert in... absolutely nothing when it comes to athletics and nutrition. So, please take the following with a grain of salt; it is simply my humble opinion.

Let's talk food. We all like food, right (especially of the chocolate chip variety!!)? But do we all like real food? Not that processed, disgusting stuff that seems to pass as food with ever-alarming frequency here in America, but REAL FOOD. Did you know that the chicken thighs and breasts at the chicken shack in Burkina Faso are about 1/2 the size of what you'd find here in the US? I attribute this to the fact that the Burkinabe aren't shooting up their chickens with growth hormones.

My simple observations have shown that we like food that is fast, cheap, and easy (salty and high in calories are an added bonus). Our kitchens are growing dusty because they sit unused while we order dinner from the drive-thru or grab a quick lunch from Wendy's. Recently a website touting a fast and easy solution to getting dinner on your table (seamless.com - order your heart attack (errrrr, dinner) online and pick it up on your way home). I'd consider looking at the website (because we could all use a little more time) if the ads showed foods that were even remotely appealing, but the "dinners" they are advertising look *disgusting.* The packaged foods are in takeout containers, complete with little ketchup, mustard, and soy sauce packets. It's just my opinion, but that hardly looks appetizing enough to make me want to part with my hard earned money - why not spend the money (and a little extra time) at the grocery store instead?

Yes, I was that girl post-college who ate grape nuts and toast for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (no pots and pans to clean up afterwards). Then I met Mr. Sweetie who liked to have actual dinner food for dinner and 7.5 years later I have changed my ways. I know I don't have kids or any major commitments outside of work and triathlon training so I have the luxury of time when it comes to cooking a meal every night. But most nights I don't get home from work until 7pm, with an evening workout staring me down, and Mr. Sweetie and I still manage to cook a healthy meal 99% of the time. I then usually bring the leftovers in to work for lunch the next day. Healthy food doesn't need to be time-consuming. There are many healthy dishes out there that can be put together faster than it takes to drive to McDonalds, go through the drive-thru, and return home.

OK, rant is almost over. One last thing - our food culture is broken. IT IS BROKEN. What has happened to the family dinner? What has happened to sitting down and eating a meal at the dinner table instead of in front of the TV? What has happened to cooking meals together and sharing stories of your day? Are Mr. Sweetie and I the only people who do that anymore? We have one television in our house and it's in our basement. I can't tell you the last time I turned it on. We eat dinner once a week in front of the tv - our Friday night pizza/movie ritual. All other nights we are at the dinner table, eating a proper meal. This past weekend I had my friend Cat over for an evening - we cooked a fantastic meal and topped it off with homemade cupcakes (OK, so the cupcakes were not the healthiest, but we gave most of them away to friends and neighbors). The point is - this was a fantastic Saturday night because of the healthy food we put together and the fun we had doing it. It was the perfect opportunity to catch up with each other. The dishes that we made were from the most recent issue of Food and Wine, a magazine that typically features indulgent meals but had several recipes on the lighter, healthier side this month. I highly recommend the following, as they are not only yummy and healthy, but weeknight-friendly too:

Smoky Almond Butter with Rosemary on Apples and Pears

Quinoa and Brown Rice with Vegetables and Tahini

Shakshuka with Fennel and Feta

And I now leave you with a photo that really has nothing to do with nutrition, unless you count dumpster diving in the garbage disposal as a primary means of getting your daily meals:

These are my cats. Sigh.

Random Friday Facts

- I am always worried that I will accidentally drink one of Mr. Sweetie's "good" bottles of wine on a random night with my girlfriends. I think I need to put labels on the bottles stating either "Have At It" or "Do Not Touch."

- I ate an untoasted bagel as an appetizer this morning while I waited for my main breakfast bagel to toast.

- Lately Hoover has been making a mad dash for the great outdoors whenever I open the front door. Is life really that bad in our household? He wouldn't last 5 minutes outside - last time he escaped he ended up hiding in the bushes until we rescued him.

- I don't like to share my food. But I have no problem taking food off of other people's plates.

- Ketchup is gross.

- I can't stand cantaloupe and melon but I really like watermelon.

- The bike commute home didn't happen today - flat tire, womp womp. Bike is now sadly sitting in the parking garage at work.

- I've been staying up past my bedtime way too often lately.

- One of my proudest moments: chasing down a guy who snatched my purse, tackling him, and getting my purse back.

- I've left the dog out of his crate all week and NOTHING was destroyed. My puppy is all grown up and responsible now!

Bike Commuting - GetSetGO!

So my first bike commute of 2012 happened today. It's February and the temperatures were supposed to hit the high 60s - who could resist two wheels in open air with weather like that?!? I didn't even need my Gore Windstopper jacket on the AM ride in, it was that nice outside. This was my first commute to our office since we moved from L'Enfant Plaza to a new building a little north of Union Station and it involves a little more dodging and weaving of traffic and potholes, but overall it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I did manage to get lost in the 1/2 mile between the Mall and Union Station and found myself on an overpass over the train tracks headed to the wrong part of town. Sigh. Maybe tomorrow's commute will be a little less directionally-challenging. I had company on the commute home with my co-worker/friend/fellow-triathlete Janine. She's bike commuted a bunch of times to the new office (and she is smart and has lights on her bike, something I need to get on PRONTO) so I stuck myself to her back wheel as we headed back over the river to the motherland.

It was so nice not to deal with Metro at all today. While I had nurtured hopes that my commute time would be substantially shorter by bike compared to Metro, the vast number of traffic lights between Union Station and the 14th Street Bridge put the kibosh on that one real fast. Both commutes are comparable (but the one by bike is far more reliable and overall more pleasant). If this warm weather sticks around (because, let's face it, I am a fair-weather bike commuter), I'll be on my bike to and from work alot more often.

Procrastination - the Thief of Time

I am *horrible* when it comes to letting procrastination get the best of me. Horrible.

Current score: Procrastination - 1,948,495,395. Me - 0.

I've always been a procrastinator - It's the reason why I was up at all hours of the night in high school trying to finish my chemistry homework hours before it was due. It's the reason why I never went to bed before 3am in college during the week. It's the reason why I cannot seem to get into work at an early hour. It's the reason why I'm late for everything. I always think I can fit just one more thing (and really, I never can). Procrastination is also the reason I take forever to get started on my workouts (not a good thing when you have other plans for later in the day). Let's take this morning, for example. My alarm went off at 5am for my hour-long workout. When did I actually get started? 6:20am. And what was I doing for that hour and twenty minutes? Nothing except laying in bed, saying "five more minutes," or "maybe I'll just do the workout this afternoon after work instead," or "I need more sleep, I'll just eat a quicker breakfast." Etc, etc, etc. Eventually, of course, I got my sorry self out of bed and out the door and enjoyed every minute of my workout. Just like I knew I would. Just an hour and twenty minutes later than I intended. So why was it so hard to get moving, even when I knew I'd be glad I got out there in the end?

This is just one small example out of MANY of how I waste alot of time. And I really don't have alot of time that I can afford to waste. Anyone have any tips on how to stop the vicious cycle of procrastination? I could use any and all advice.

The Recovery Swim Set

This morning, like every Tuesday morning, was a swim morning. I didn't grow up a swimmer (unless you count dog paddling around your neighbor's pool with swimmies on a swim workout) and it used to be my least favorite leg of triathlon because I was so terrible at it. I'm still not great at swimming, but at least now I really enjoy it (mostly because I get to heckle my lanemates when they miss practice, kidding kidding!). I've got a long way to go in terms of figuring out proper body position, head position, arm position, elbow position, hip position, bellybutton position (okay, that is pushing it, but you get my point - I will never be a perfect swimmer, it is scientifically impossible). But you know what I think I finally mastered - the recovery swim set. No, I'm not talking about the full recovery swim workout - just the little set thrown in here and there to give some relief between those sets that get your blood pumping a little harder. When I first started showing up to swim practice, I would try to go as fast as I could on every. single. lap. Including the recovery sets (I am sure this drove my lanemates nuts). This would inevitably lead me to die a slow, painful death on the hard sets because I was so darn worn out from redlining it during the recovery sets. But not today. Today I relished in those 3x100 easy between those 750s that were anything but easy. Today I took my time. I took long strokes. I lackadaisically pushed off the wall (yes, I had to google the spelling of that word). I focused on form. I didn't want the recovery sets to end. They were heaven. More please!

Workouts, Friends, and Food!

So I had a pretty decent weekend. It was one of those that started out with no plans or preconceived notions and turned into something unexpectedly great. Let's face it, any weekend that begins with cookies and beer for dinner is bound to be a winner.

The Workouts: Spring made an early appearance and it was impossible not to go biking outdoors in the sunny, mid-50s weather. I even forgot my biking gloves and was totally fine. Almost too warm in my jacket. Looks like I packed some of the heat from Burkina in my suitcase and brought it back to the States with me. Hill repeats were on tap so I headed over to Rosslyn to give the hill some love in the form of my bicycle. The ride finished with some loops at a moderate pace around Hains Point. So, question: has a roller blader ever tried to draft off you and your bike? No? Well, it's just as obnoxious as when a total stranger on the bike tries to draft off you. Maybe even more obnoxious because it also bruises your ego. I was starting my first loop and this random stranger with wheels attached to his feet is suddenly all up in my business. At first I figured I would just pedal harder and speed ahead of him but he was like a pesky fly that would not go away. He was so close to my back wheel he could've kissed it. Ew. I finally had to ask him, loudly, politely, and firmly to leave me the heck alone. And he did. Whew. I had a t-run after my ride. I considered taking the dog with me, but he'd already had one trip to the dog park and I wanted to focus on the run. I'm happy with how I felt during the bike and run, especially because the run went better than I thought. I was also pretty darn tired afterwards, but in a good way.

Today my dog had his longest run - 12:75 miles. We didn't name him Miles for nothing. We did our run while cheering on the runners at the GW Birthday Marathon in Greenbelt, MD. That course is great because it's three loops and mostly on quiet streets. Miles and I ran the course backwards and got to see my friends totally kill the race, it was pretty great. Normally I'm not big on spectating at races, I feel envious of the racers. But today was the best of both worlds - no pressure for racing but still a good workout. AND I got to see co-workers, friends, and triathlon club friends who were all doing the race.

The Friends: I feel so lucky to have so many great friends - you all truly enrich my life and I love every second I spend with you! This weekend was spent with a friend from high school, one of my neighbors, tri club friends, friends from work, friends from my old job, etc etc etc. Best weekend ever!

The Food: No baking frenzy in my kitchen this weekend (besides some oreo balls, which doesn't really count as baking since I didn't even turn on my oven), too busy being social. Friday night I had beer and cookies for dinner. Sometimes being an adult is pretty great when it comes to doing whatever the heck you want. I have peppermint bark in my fridge right now (thank you Georgia!) and I had a few bites for breakfast :). I have *two* bagels for breakfast yesterday (the good kind from Brueggers Bagels - there is nothing better in life than a good bagel). I devoured a huge slice of Brie cheese with a baguette. I made this soup that's completely vegetarian but, due to the red wine that's in it, it tastes hardy, like beef stew. But it's way healthier. And I was the dork walking around the dog park slurping up pasta from a tupperware container yesterday afternoon. I call this multi-tasking.

This coming week is looking good on all the aforementioned fronts. I'm excited for more swimbikerun, more time spent with friends, and of course, more food.