4 Days From Austin Trek Triathlon

Good Morning, 

  Here I am 4 days from triathlon start. Check out  video for my fun inspiration for the day.
 I need to talk to my swim team coaches. Maybe we can incorporate this type of training at the pool? Make it a fund raiser for the team...people can come whack me with bumpers for a $1 a hit.  We could set something like this up for triathletes on the team prior to their races!!

It’s really like this in the water. Your adrenalin is surging, you feel dizzy waiting on the starter horn for your wave. Then it's a death metal mash pit in the water. Arms and legs wind milling everywhere. Like a pack of lemmings, surging forward, you can’t really see where you are going; it only matters now that you GO. The lake water is nasty, smelly and dank. There are slimy unspeakables entangling your feet as you run in... The faster you swim, the faster you get out.  I am Not fast(yet)!Try not to swallow the water. You'll only get a stomach ache.

  I am as ready as I can be. I haven't been 100 % for the last 2 weeks. I think I am finally broke from my pizza craving.... I was miserable last week after eating 3 Very small slices on Monday night(wheat allergy). Bad enough, my boss & I discussed if I should go to the ER to see if it was appendicitis. Allergies are up and so is asthma with this cooler weather I crave.  I know I can do it. I completed the distances for all events both days the last 2 weekends. The race is different though, it’s you and all of them. Those other triathletes.  Regardless I paid my fee, I want my technical shirt. I want my time! I need the floating euphoria of achievement. I even have the names of a few local cancer survivors to write into my jersey… I'll be running for them, when I don't want to run for myself!

 I don't know why it matters but it does. I won’t have anyone there on the ground supporting me.  Wake up at 7:30 Sunday morning and send out good vibes. I train alone.  I make my schedule; I break my schedule (I shouldn't). I will tri alone.  Mostly I want the good vibes when I am finished. Stupid from exertion. Unbelieving that I DID IT! When I need to be reminded to eat, to load Ms Bianchi & double check her, when I can't fall asleep driving the 3+ hours home.

 Enjoy the video. The picture is my pre-race photo from my first triathlon. The Skeese Greets. I'm a little leaner, a little more endurable. This race is a little longer, a little hillier.

 Wish me well, 

Simulated Self Supported Triathlon Training

Here's a quick note and a link to a few pictures from my last 2 weekend endeavors. I am getting ready to learn about triathlon first hand at the Skeese Greets Womans Sprint Triathlon

 I planned and completed 3 self supported sprint tris at training pace as training modules for myself.  I'll be completing my first sprint triathlon this Sunday!

 Last Friday I planned ahead & called TAMU Recc center to ask about lap lanes and opening. They opened at 8Am & for $10 I could get a day guest pass. Not bad when I only needed the pool for 10 minutes. I got some gear together & went to bed & couldn't sleep! I didn't want to sleep past the alarm. Finally I got up around 4AM.  This allowed plenty of time to get everything together. Breakfast was steel cut oats with a scoop of protein powder, blackberries & pumpkin seeds along with a cup of Scottish Breakfast Tea sweetened with grade B Maple Syrup( tasty).

 After my meal, my table transformed into T1 & T2( Transition Zones)

Running shoes, helmet with sunglasses inserted, gloves, camel-back( filled with weak green, peppermint & yerba mate tea & grated ginger) The caffeine drinks were to provide a little extra kick since I usually consume 1 cup of tea a day, while the peppermint and ginger were  preventive measures for gastrointestinal distress. Next was a few first aid items, naproxen sodium, Icy-Hot, sunscreen, mosquito spray.

 For foods & hydration I peeled several Cuties and halved them. These are the sweetest little oranges anywhere! Another baggie contained cubed cantaloupe. I also had a thermos of extra Vega Sports drink and a bottle full of green smoothie.  I remember how good the PB & J sandwiches were from ZentriCamp so I made 2 & cubed them. Lastly I whipped a banana, cacao nibs, and blackberry smoothie to put in the fridge for the afterward treat!. All IN All I had WAY too much food! I  drank 1/2 the watered down tea, 11/2 bottles of Vega Sport Drink, ate all the cantaloupe, 2 Cuties & 1 pb& j quarter throughout my trial.

When I arrived at the pool  this was the one day the TAMU team was in all lanes. I had to delay the start until 11:30 and swim at the Bryan Aquatic Center. Not too bad really. I swim there during the week. The humidity was between 90 and 88%, causing me to be sweating like crazy even with the temps only being in  low 80s. This would not have been an issue with an 8AM start, as the temps were in the upper 50s, but that's why its a trial. I spent more time driving to and from the pool than I did in the water.

 I thought I was organized but T1 took 29 minutes, most of it driving back home. Once in the house, the eldest cat needed a quick bite, while I was setting up my pit stop on the hood of the TDI. My next mistake was measuring out a bike loop in an online map and not driving the course. Its a good thing this 'course' was a test tri for me and me alone! If there wasn't a stop light, there was a stop sign on every single block. There was also a Bud Tour softball tournament in town, increasing traffic significantly. I never even made it into the big ring on the bike. My bike computer also wasn't registering anything. The silver lining from this casual bike loop was I didn't feel too at the beginning of the run.

Off the bike, I rolled it into the house & turned right around much to the furry worries confusion, to head back out.I already had my running shoes on, I biked in them. I slurped 2 cantaloupe cubes & grabbed the packet of Luna Moons. My run route was 2  'there & back' trips on the shaded path in the park across the way. In Texas people don't look for the closest parking spot, they search for shade. Its that important. My run is a walk-run combo. I started trotting. I was surprised at how ok I felt.  Running is hard for me! I'm migrating away from a fat collecting lifestyle, but this takes time. It was hot. Sweat was dripping to the pavement like a summer rain. I looped by the car  and gulped down Vega Sports drink and chewed a Luna Moon, I was too hot for anything heavier. I was slow and moving slower. My last loop I was beginning to feel the goose bumps heralding heat-sickness.

 I did it! Almost as slow the Colorado exposing a new epoch of rocks in the Grand Canyon. I gathered up my overabundance of pit stop goodies and went in grateful to get out of sopping wet gear. After a shower I finished digging a flowerbed and enjoyed nap.

Sunday I didn't feel any worse than after a regular workout, so I planned a new bike loop and repeated the swim, bike, run test. I did cut off time on the bike, slowed down on the swim, and speed up a little on the run-walk. The problem is, I really only have two speeds at this juncture... Forward or Not Moving...  This Saturday, I repeated my test tri. The new bike loop cut a bunch of time off the event. All my times were about the same as I was keeping to a training pace. I finished in under 1 hour 45 minutes... which is my target! I'd like to speed up a little but while I am doing the event I don't physically feel like I can go any faster, yet when it is over I am recovered and ready to go again in 2-3 hours.

Swim: 300  9:27
Bike: 12.4 Mi 33:27(best)
Run: 2.2 Mi 24:32
Pictures are here
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2961625&id=8330713&l=af7c3c7b4b

Wish me Fun and Luck. I've had plenty of examples of incredible perseverance, most recently from the Epic 5 Team!Cheer Rich Roll and Jason Lester on as they raise funds for Never Stop. Click here for live coverage. I may never be as fast or as endurable... but my arms are in the water,  my feet are on the path and my bum is in the bike seat.

Even Snow Flakes Are Bigger in Texas

Trapped in the courthouse, I could see the promised Snow blowing in sideways, even if it was 5 hours late! It was sticking to the roofs and resettling into the lone set of shoe prints on the sidewalk below. Finally word filtered through, the county judge had closed all county functions early!  In the parking lot the TDI had a covering of snow! Once home I changed into thicker wool socks, boots, jeans and 2 jackets to go out and play. Snow isn't common in this part of Texas.

 Zach charged out the  back door to come to a screeching halt, alternating having one foot in the air at all times for a quick bathroom break. Scottie Zach is a rescue  that made his way into my heart and home from New Orleans. Initially he wasn't keen on wet cold feet. I leashed Zach and we were off, out the front door for a walk to the park. The first park didn't have much snow, but lots of mud, so we walked on to the next park. I should have dressed a little lighter! Scrapping snow together until I had enough to begin rolling it around was exercise! I got hot. I can feel the backs of my thighs today. I was determined to build a snowman, though! After the base was created I took a break to play with Zach.

 Everyone needs a dog to clown and play with. I laughed so hard my face hurt. People came up and videoed him being such an exuberant loon. Before playing in the snow, Zach had always been indifferent to the idea of 'fetch'. Now he was hurling his low-slung form across the white, brown and green splotched ground with intense focus, snatching the snowball into his teeth and shaking it to bits before returning the dog-slimed iceball in his mouth to my feet. He even began jumping up to 'catch' snowballs.  A group of college students from India clapped and cheered Zach on. At some point Zach noted that the flakes were falling from the sky... this lead to a fiendish dancing Scottie rushing about on hind legs snapping and jumping for flakes in the air. Once he was soaked through and his tongue was hanging almost to the ground, I went back to scrapping and rolling and squashing snow into a snowman shape.

 When dark arrived, we reluctantly began walking back to the house. Along the way, Zach spotted a stunned chilled goldfinch in the road. I took off my woolen, scooped it up in a gloved hand and tucked the wee bird into my hat and hand for the rest of the walk. Once home, I fixed my frozen guest up in a small box, still inside the hat, on a heating pad, locked in the bathroom away from curious Scots & malicious Manx. I packed my swim bag, hoping there would still be snow in the morning. Imagine how surreal it would be to swim in the heated outdoor pool and see snow on the ground! Sadly, the snow was melted into ice and the pool was closed due to icy roads. I rode my bike on the rollers for an hour instead of going to the pool. Happily, the feathered guest launched himself immediately after I wired his box to a tree and released the tape.

RunTex: Getting My First Running Shoes

 I wouldn't say I am your typical woman, with an overwhelming penchant for shoes. My closet isn't full of 5 slightly different black heels (I do have 1 perfect pair of Taryn Rose black patent heels). But I drove a little over 2 hours to go shoe shopping. Crazy I know! My town isn’t blessed with a shoe store like this one, nor did I feel knowledgeable enough to take the quest online. I needed expert help!

 My entire trip to Austin was to go to RunTex. I had been told they were the experts for running shoe fittings. Austin may be a mecca... they have Lances shop, Mellow Johnnys(very cool art bikes there), an awesome Farmers Market alliance, Whole Foods and REI among a myriad of other great places.   I prepped the night before, managed a few activities before visiting the store & a few more after. Getting to RunTex was easy. The one I went to was on a main corridor. I whipped into the parking lot, opened my roof completely, rolled the windows down just above Scottie width, filled a very tired Zachs water bowl & set out his newly purchased collapsible bowl with dinner and a chewie.

 The interior of the store was large and my initial gaze displayed nary a shoe in sight. To say the store was sparsely populated with merchandise would be an understatement! The was not like my first visit to Bicycle Sports Shop when I was overwhelmed by a warehouse size bike store in which  each section for a bike type was larger than any of the 3 bike shops at home. Nah, I was underwhelmed (so much so, I didn't even take any pictures)! The wide open space had a counter island offset of center and little round seating modules. The sales crew was busy with a goodly selection of clients though...so there had to be merchandise. Tucked under the catwalk overhang of a second floor along the back wall were two nooks. One contained socks & running accessories such as hydration belts, the other, 2 small wall displays of shoes. My stomach was feeling a little tense. How was there going to be a shoe in this small selection for my wide, high-arched, externally-rotating-over-pronating feet (according to my Gold’s Gym trainer) in this small selection? I wasn't even sure how to begin asking.

 I was feeling a little like I had felt initially at triathlon camp. What the hec was a chubby person like me doing in a running shoe store?  I stood there awkwardly, not even pretending to review the small selection of shoes.  I was aware I wasn’t there looking for a cool coloured shoe.An blonde woman that resembled my air-cooled VW mechanic, (whom I adore) and whose original language was possibly Germanic finished with her client and offered to assist me.  I explained what I had been doing,  saying I had been wearing MBTs for walk-running,  and that I was there to get fitted for real running shoes.  She had me remove shoes & socks, measured both feet, looked at the bottoms & edges, and then had me walk & jog bare feet. After commenting my extremely high arches, she said they had two different shoes for me to try. I tried the shoes, which included walking, running and jumping, along with her feeling my feet in them. They both felt good. Maybe my heel slipped slightly in the first pair. Whatever the reason, she selected the 2nd pair as 'perfect for my feet'.  She was very kind and brisk, yet I had troubles clearing my ears of her accent, so I’m not exactly sure why these two shoes were the only ones for my foot structure and gait. Being new to this, I also didn't really have any concerns or questions aside from how many miles before I should replace them.

 I left with a pair of Saucony and a pair of socks(Since yesterday, Ive used the shoes twice, give me a few more times  & I’ll talk about them.). While the interior of the store didn't have the eye-candy appeal of a gazillion tennis shoes in a myriad of colours, they definitely had knowledgeable staff concerned about getting you into the perfect shoe for your specific combination of foot structure and gait. You don’t get this level of knowledgeable staff or concern at those other shoe stores!  Every client was put thru the same exam and paces that I had been.  Many were engaged in serious conversation with their shoe fitting expert.  I left with my new shoes feeling that I had benefited from the quality caring that my RunTex staff person had served me with.  RunTex is a quality instead of quantity place. I'll be back in the store in about 500 miles. Next time, who knows, maybe I’ll even be aware enough to have a few questions.


 Once back to the car, I could see Zach sleeping, kibble untouched. The days driving and activities had worn him out already,  and we were off the Barton Springs trails to test the new shoes next!

Routine: Or Getting Organized

 I made it to the pool this morning! It helps to have the bug back.

 Last night after Body Flow, I packed my swim bag(clothes for work, girly stuff) & got my swimsuit out.  Then I got my gym bag ready for my functional weights session during lunch. Next  was kitchen work. Prepping cat, dog & my own breakfasts, & getting lunch & snacks together.Slightly before my 4 AM alarm rang, I rolled over to check my phone for time. Close enough, so I hopped out of bed. A few minutes later Scottie Zach & I were out the door to discover the dark before the day.

 These predawn forays into the neighborhood are increasing my endurance and my boldness. Today we went along the creek near my house  until we hit a main road then came back along the trail. Scottie Zach was in high-spirits, running backwards to encourage my speed. We both slowed down respectful of a striped skunks abilities that we couldn't outrun. That skunk was the only being we saw the entire walk run.

Back at the house to transition for a morning swim. I wriggled into my swimsuit, damped my hair down & sleeked it with conditioner then pulled it into a pony tail.(I am hoping this keeps me from getting green hair.) Next was breakfast for everyone.Teeth Brushed, 1/2 of my crock pot oatmeal(thanks to @holisiticguru recipe!)packed for after swim snack, I was ready, but first I had to get Mollie to come inside. Now running late, I pulled out of the driveway, car packed with 3 bags for the day.

 At the pool I slipped into a lane, waved & said 'howdy' to the swimmer in the next lane(thought it was @ZenTriathlon) and started off with a few rounds of breast stroke. Then, I swam with my fingertips on a board practicing bubbles and breathing for most of forty-five minutes.  The last 15 minutes I swam without the board. This is an improvement, believe it or not. The was less swallowed air to be burped out!  In the locker room, my lack of routine was discovered.

 I forgot my shampoo & comb, and lotion. OK I can do without this stuff. I had planned to wear a pony tail all day after my hair dried any way.(Needed to be comfortable for our Office Olympics!) Dry enough to wriggle into clothes.. my true lack of organization showed. Remember I packed all my stuff for the day yesterday while dinner was cooking. There I was winter boots, jeans and a Waco Outback Bicycles t-shirt.. & no skivvies. No time to go home and no place open on the way to work to pick-up a pair.  Luckily, I don't think anyone from work reads my blog...

 I'll either improve or need to leave a bag full of assorted spares for Anything.  I could  have forgotten my pants... HA!

Food and Sleep: The Days After a Night Out

Food and Sleep

Yesterday, after a trip to Golds gym during lunch  & a shower to fluff up..  I was off to the Houston House of Blues for  a show. Even with planning for the infamous traffic, we got stuck in a jam, so ended up dining at The Hobbit Cafe rather than the Cuban place planned. With home baked whole grain breads, locally grown veggies an a host of vegetarian delights, along with a tasteful collection of deluxe micro-beers beers, I felt everyone could discover a pleasurable meal that Chrisitne Lynch might even consider a reasonable occasional indulgence.

Hobbit Cafe makes it own breads and the interior smells like your grandmas kitchen on fifteen different days all combined into one short visit. I ordered a sandwich packed with veggies and a fresh fruit side. But there was also a huge platter of sprouts, veggies, salsa & guacamole & chips. I ate some, then I ate a few more. I should have put 1/2my dinner in a to-go-box.. but I had skipped my evening snack on the ride in, not wishing to eat in front of others with ought to offer them...(was This simply an excuse?) And the beer... I enjoyed a Left Hand Milk Stout!  It was the most incredible beer I've had to date.. I should have switched to only water at the show.. rather than 1 more Guinness( As I must whisper... it didn't compare being in a CAN). Really, I learned a few lessons for better utilization next time, but don't feel too badly here.


The House of Blues is situated in a nice area of downtown Houston, close the the Convention Center, with a comfortably dark cheery interior, perfectly sized for interactive, even intimate shows. A quick parking & brisk walk and I was in. I had missed the first band Architects. Frank Turner & His Band were on next. I wrangled a Guinness & enjoyed an impromptu dance with a Viking throwback, who promptly introduced me to his cohorts, including a guy with a Mohawk( I resisted the urge to ask to touch his hair!) I had buddies now, for the mosh pit! I'll definitely be adding this band to my Pandora collection and buying a cd or three. The singer had an emotional voice and incredible energy! The bass guitar was worth watching simply because he was drinking Heineken & getting knockered. I kept wondering when he was going to fall over. Ditching my jacket I headed for front & center. Celtic rock mosh isn't like metal or death metal-mosh. There's a kind of warm, fuzzy, connected feeling to all the jumping, sweat, smashing & spinning. I love it. Stage presence and energy, Flogging Molly has in excess!  They gave unstintingly to to the crowd & the energy boomeranged back to the band infinitely increased. Sadly the show had to end, if only so I can anticipate another great show in my future.

Dripping sweat off my bangs, soaked completely through, I rejoined my companions for the drive back to Aggieland. Everyone wanted snacks & water, so we pulled into a gas station. I had planned ahead... but there are probably ways I could have done better(aside from not going!) I stayed in the van & asked for a water. In my bag I had a mix veggie, mango & ginger smoothie with protein powder added, & a salmon cup. Whislt everyone else is eating Hershey's, Little Debbie's(this was even a 1-time triathlete), & ice cream sandwiches, I was sporking up my salmon. I think it was good that I planned ahead & packed healthy snacks, yet I failed with food earlier in the evening, while still at dinner.


  I couldn't sleep last night been wound up from all the fun & music. This morning I was a whimpering, sleepy, sullen, when I stumbled towards the shower. And Thursdays are 'work family' breakfasts here in IT... Breakfast offerings included an overabundance of  breakfast tacos in assorted meaty varieties, tangelos, grapes, two kinds of doughnuts & a Mardi Gras cake. The set-up for a fall is all in place and all self-created. Holding back, I selected 2 tacos, doctored them up with salsa  and added both colours of grapes to the plate, along with a stout cuppa Scottish Breakfast tea. I was holding back. I didn't get a doughnut or ... well not then anyway....

 For myself, it seems that when one is sleepy, one is hungry. Does any one else experience this phenomena? Apparently so, yet the debate rages on in circular fashion. What came first? Lack of sleep, or overeating/extra hunger sensations? Regardless of which may be contributing to the cause the treatment may be the same.... Always eat healthy well planned small meals and snacks that are within your lifestyle diet needs and consistently get a goodly amount of sleep. I hadn't realized the impact of being sleepy on the next day... I was tired, knees sore from the mosh & it was extra-cold for this part of Texas... I ended up eating another breakfast taco a few more grapes & a corner off the King Cake. Planning ahead doesn't just include packing snacks for the night of an event so avaliable food/drink alternatives exist to reduce or mitigate impact from the fun activity..it also needs to extend to the next day or 2... Being sleep deprived, sore, tired, (or even hungover) all affect energy levels for planned  exercise, and hunger levels(or at least perceived hunger). The two days after the event, portion control was difficult to maintain an awareness of. I ate too much and only realized it because I was uncomfortably full later. Sensations of fullness increased sleepiness leading to a choice for sleep rather than exercise.  These are all primitive triggers from my cave-man ancestors that I need to be aware of and possibly mostly ignore. In this modern world, I have more to fear from over-eating than I do from under-eating. My body is an incredibly efficient energy storage system that I need to convert to a wasteful energy burning model!


 I am not sure how to plan ahead to deal with the sleepy-hungries the day after an event out. Its possible that all one can do is be aware that you will be plagued by these sensations and to ignore them. Do some of you make a choice to not engage in any activities of social nature when training for an event? I am trying to approach this as a lifestyle adaptation... so my preference is for incorporating these events (how could I skip a Flogging Molly show?) into life. By incorporating social venues into the month, I remove any ideas of deprivation. I did OK picking a restaurant.. I could have made better choices within the restaurant and better choices at the show... as much as I was sweating 2 stouts wasn't even going to provide any bit of blurry. I am wondering what you do? How often?

Choices and Circumstances

  Saturday evening I went for a walk-run at Lick Creek Park with Scottie Zach. On the way I swerved to miss a sudden loose dog and hit a rock.  Had a pretty steady walking pace, even did ok running, practicing  good form. Back at the car, I loaded Zach, cranked the motor and flooded the ground with a pool of oil. The pressure from starting the car had blown the hole open.  This is just one of  those life issues that we all have to either accept and continue our self-improving actions or employ as an excuse.

 The old me would have been bummed, worried about the financial impact, used this as an excuse to stress-eat, or skulk about in pj's.New me is no less concerned regarding financial impact(there is SO Much exercise stuff I need), and worry about if this fried the diesel motor but also is Bummed that making the pool without a car is next to impossible, so I realized I needed to revamp my exercise plans for the week. If it was summer I could ride to the pool yet realistically, I am not fit enough to pedal an 45 minutes to the pool, swim, then pedal 45 minutes, home(with wet hair in low 40* temps), then clean-up into work clothes switch bikes & pedal into work. So how to best revamp?

 Hoping the temps would warm a bit, I slept in Sunday. At 11:30 as ready as I could be, I headed out the door Carlos, TX bound.  15-20 mph gusts were avaliable to provide 'hills' and cloud cover guaranteed no sunburn worries. Even at 44*, a few miles of pedaling meant I was ready to strip down a little from what I had on.Well I tried to unzip the sleeves while pedaling... someone should have secretly been videoing this performance! After pulling off into an oil derrick drive, I had to divest of the camel-back, completely take off the convertible jacket/vest to get the sleeves off. While I was stuffing the sleeves & wool mitt gloves into the the bungee on the camel-back, an older man pulled in to check if I was ok( how nice is that!). then I was off.

My bike computer was on, but not registering anything aside from time. Yet after a few minutes of fruitless messing with it, I just wanted to get going.  I knew where I was going, the approximate mileage and really at my level.. its about getting out and doing the planned activity. My goal was to make it there and back, pedaling at my steady(until inclines)12 mph or so pace.Alan Watts was wedged in one ear while the traffic -side ear was open to hear humming dually tires. Pedaling was warmer than staying still, so after a  divesting of sleeves I was eager to be moving.

It was a chilly ride, providing motivation for continued movement. Being alone,at first I didn't have the discipline to not stop when needing a drink of Vega Sport fuel( I love this drink! It is so much more palatable than a grocery store bought sports drink I tried! Its not super-sweet and doesn't leave a chemical flavoured aftertaste.) out of the cage, but a few times of doing that & having my knees cool down to stiffness, snuffed that bad habit. The trick for me is not only learning what refueling and re-hydration needs, but trying the find the minimum amount of foods that will meet this need. After all I am lugging an extra person along, squeezed into my skin with me.. so I am all about burning the fat up fuel. I made it to the biker(Harley) cantina & gas station/hamburger joint where I celebrated with the most incredible chocolate milk. The timing was lucky too as my tummy was upset from the soy-chorizo tacos for breakfast.

Pedaling back home the temperature went up a few degrees at the same time the humidity and wind increased, so it felt colder. Along the way, I passed  a swarm of turkey-buzzards feasting on a recently hit-by-car-deer, a few cyclists pedaling the other way & a couple of guys way out, running. I also stopped once to get a picture of a baby exotic deer. I was almost home! Feeling a surge of excitement for success(or complete loss of social decorum), here's where the crazy part began.

 Almost home!At a main intersection with about 5-6 miles to go, I started yelling out-loud to myself."Almost home. Go Dawn, Go! SPRINT! Pedal Faster! SPRINT!Faster!Change Light! SPRINT!" Pickup drivers weren't honking at me for taking the lane on the bridge overpass. They were trying to decide is I was off my meds! HA! No one was avaliable to cheer me on, so I had be my own cheering squad. Well my sprint may be slower than Lance Armstrong's warm-up ride on a tricycle, but I sustained as hard as I could. My breathing may have sounded similar to a sumo wrestler trying to run a mile. When I got to the house, I looped around for a mile until my breathing was back to normal.

 After peeling out of cold sweaty clothes, I crawled under the electric blanket to warm up. This didn't work so I finally took a hot shower.  A salmon cup for a snack, then I was out the door with an impatient Scottie for a walk. Plan for the rest of the week since I cant make the pool, 90 minutes walk-run in the mornings, my regular Golds gym days for functional weights, & bike rollers & dog walk in the evening. I will not allow the car being broke to derail  me in more than I can possible help.