A Sign Of The Times

It's that time of year again. The time of year where the first thing I do when I wake up - if I haven't stayed up late enough to watch the end of the game - is check the Sports section to see not only if the Red Sox won, but if the Yankees lost. And I have to tell you, I am very, very nervous about this weekend's games....

Had a good swim today. Did my usual 1 mile, but I swam it a few minutes faster this time. I'm going to start incorporating some drills - reading up on that now - but I am feeling that I'm doing pretty well with my technique. I know there's still plenty of room for improvement, but I also know that I've come a long way since my first swim class in June. It was nice this morning, too - I had an entire lane to myself. I don't mind sharing a lane, but it's awfully nice when I don't have to!

I was asked why I'm not doing a triathlon this year, with all the swimming I've been doing. The main obstacle at this point is that I haven't done any open-water swims, and every triathlon that's taking place around here in the next month (which is basically the final month of tri season in these parts) has an open-water swim. There is one that I was very tempted to do, because the swim is in a lake, rather than the ocean, but I think even that would be a stretch for me right now. I know myself, and I know full well that I will panic the first time I swim in open water, and add all the chaos that comes along with a large group of people entering the water and starting to swim at the same time, and I'm fairly certain I'd be an absolute mess.

I also know that even once I DO get some open-water experience, I'll probably still experience some of that panic in my first race, but I think if I've at least swum in open water a few times, the panic will subside quicker, and my confidence level will be a lot higher. And as for tris nearby that have a pool swim, rather than an open-water swim - no such luck. The only ones I found (you better believe I looked!) are at least a 6-hour drive away, and although I'd love to do a tri this year, I'm not that desperate.

So I'm looking on the bright side, and figuring that this is all for the best. I now have an entire winter to really improve my swimming, read my new book (which just arrived today), and to learn more about wetsuits and trisuits and all the fun gear I'll get to buy! And I'll go into my first sprint feeling like I can do really well, rather than just "getting through it."

In the meantime, I'm thrilled to report that the weather forecast looks pretty near perfect for Sunday's race - a high of 68, and nice and dry. Now all I have to hope for is calm winds. I would really love to go for a short run tomorrow, but I don't think my shin is up to it, so I'll just hit the gym instead, and Saturday will maybe just take the boys for a walk or something very low-key.

Speaking of the boys, Dante had a bit of a rough day today. He's teething pretty badly, and he's still got the runny nose, and he was just not a happy little boy - i.e., there was a LOT of whining going on.
He also totally freaked out when I dropped them off at the gym daycare. He's done that the past few days, and it's really bumming me out, because it's been sooooo long since he's given me any trouble about that at all. I don't know if it's just the teething that has him all out of sorts, but I hope it passes soon - when we go tomorrow, I'm going to try sitting him down with a snack, and see if that helps distract him.

Gabe has his first Arts & Crafts class tomorrow morning. I can't wait to see what he makes! We got our Amazon order today, so after his nap he worked on his new puzzle, and he did really well. I had to help him a little - it's 48 pieces - but he did quite a bit of it by himself. He loves the puzzles - and I really like doing them with him, too, so I think he'll be getting some more puzzles from Santa in a few months.

Comments

[Shawn]

I biked the course today. Pretty flat with a few little hills. Definately in for a good 16 mile ride on Sunday.