Three Things Thursday

1. Imagine -2 degrees outside at 530am, if you can.... arriving at the highschool for swim team practice and the entry way is warmer than the girls locker room. Yes, It was below freezing in the locker room... you could practically see your breath... and there was no running water. Who wants to jump in the pool after that?! I did... and then I drove home, in my wet suit and sweats (still -2 degrees), and took a really really long hot shower. love it.
2. The past week or so has been somewhat of a blur, but I am pretty happy with being able stick with my workouts to the best of my ability and given time... only missing a couple!
3. I want to say thanks to all of you wonderful bloggers who have left heart warming comments in my past couple of posts. It means a lot to me! I am taking today and tomorrow off of work and heading home for the weekend. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and I will touch base with all you awesome people when I get back!

The sun will shine again

Sorry for the absense of blogging and posting comments. I have been checking in every once and a while; reading some of your post but haven't had much motivation to post comments. The times I have commented, have been random and few and far between; usually when I haven't had the concentration to sit and do paperwork.

I was out of town this past weekend and there was no internet access to be found. Even if there were, I know I probably wouldn't have been posting or commenting on blogs. I was busy with family, and trying to make most of our time together.

Things are still a little rough around the edges here, but clouds are starting to part and the sun will shine again... so to speak. I am sure it will be then that I will be ready to share what's been going on, but until then, bear with me.

You are my Sunshine...

... my only sunshine....

I want to say thanks to all those who have given me the Sunshine Award..... Caroline, Marlene, and Julie. If I missed someone, please accept my apologies.

This is something that kind of has a double meaning for me this week - I appreciate it more than you may know!

Reflection & Repentance

Lenten season has begun and with the week I have had I didn't make it to Ash Wednesday church service. At first I forgot it was Ash Wednesday and then when I did come to the realization, I wasn't able to make it to service because of my chat session for grad class. Stuff happens.

Many people who celebrate the lenten season try to find things to give up for 40 days. Most the time I do so myself. If I decide to give something up, it's usually something that I really have a hard time parting with - kind of my own personal sacrifice.

This year, my Lenten season will be two-fold:

1. I am giving up sweets. Now, this is pretty broad, but for me it will include the following: candy, chocolate, soda, and all baked goodies. *sigh* However, this will not include my coffee - but I will be cutting back significantly.


2. I find it to be a great time to reflect on life in general and to help myself become a better person all around. Nuff said, right!?

Have a great weekend everyone!

Three Things Thursday

1. The week has been good in regards to balancing work and working out - it's been pretty calm at work and I have been following my schedule to a T with the workouts! In the past four days I have swam 3900 Yds, biked 18.05 miles, and ran 2.6 miles... did 30 minutes of pilates, almost an hour of stretching and foamrolling.... throw in a complete REST day yesterday and I am satisfied!


2. I am trying to soak in as much of the Olympics as possible. Last night I tried to hard to stay away and watch Shaun White in the Halfpipe finals but just couldn't do it. Has anyone caught any of the men's or women's hockey? There are twins from Grand Forks, ND who are playing on team USA - Monique and Jocelyne Lamoureux. They are both Freshman at the University of North Dakota - my alma mater. If you get Sports Illustrated, you might have seen their family story in there - very interesting! On the USA Men's Hockey team, Zach Parise who currently plays for the New Jersey Devils, is a former UND hockey player as well. On Canada's Hockey team is Jonathan Toews, who is currently playing for the Chicago Blackhawks, and is a former UND hockey player. SIOUX players represent!! Woot woot!


3. On a personal note - things have been kind of rocky the past couple days and I am not ready to share anything as I am on a emotional rollercoaster. Instead, I will leave you with some quotes...

"A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life." ~ Charles Darwin

"I Still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and the friends I want to see." ~ John Burroughs

"He who has faith has... an inward reservoir of courage, hope, confidence, calmness, and assuring trust that all will come out well - even though it may appear to come out most badly." B.C. Forbes

A bit of a recap

Last week was week 2 of what I would like to call "Potential Half Marathon Training". I still haven't decided if that's the distance I want to train for in the Fargo Marathon or not, but I am trying to work towards that - juggling getting back into swim team practices and keeping up with my biking and strength training in the process....

Let's see what this past week looked like:

3 complete REST days...
2 swims totally 4100yds...
only 4.2 miles of running - total...
22.67 miles of biking - two separate ocassions...
1 BodyPump session...
a lot of stress at work...
a bit of exhaustion by Friday...
not used to these long swim sessions...
trying to find a the balance...
super sore from BodyPump...
absolutely NO yoga or Pilates...
hoping week 3 will be better....and consistent.

Did you all have a great weekend? Mine was pretty low key, except for a birthday dinner and out for drinks with a few friends! No big Valentine's celebration here.

Are you training for anything? If so, what?

week 1 of swim team - IN DA BOOKS

I officially have a week of Swim Team (2 practices...count 'em...2) under my belt! Let's do a run-down of my feelings towards joining this group, again.... no other way than the bullet way:

• 1 hour and 50 minutes total
• 4100 yards total
• super glad to be back with the coaches
• learned that this pool and our Y pool is measured in yards, not meters.
• switched all my stats from "meters" to "yards"
• now realize my stats are more of a rough estimate, as some races and events were measured in meters, not yards.
• the above comment bugs me ... a lot.
• tons of drills...and I mean TONS.
• used fins for the first time yesterday
• my calves were sore after that...
• I think it was because they were too big and I was trying to keep them on...
• but I was cruisin' in those things.
• didn't realize that doing the dolphin kick while on your back can affect your core...wow!
• was re-aquainted with "The Tarzan" yesterday...
• it brought back memories of my first triathlon...and first swim in the open water.
• I enjoy sleeping in until 5am ... I used to get up at 430 to get to the pool.
• I am not used to 8x50 yard builds
• love sprints in the water, but after 6x50 yards, I am somewhat spent.
• the backstroke is my least favorite..
• well, actually the butterfly, but we don't really do that one
• yet, I suppose.
• The pool was colder yesterday than Tuesday...
• maybe it was because I was more tired,
• but it reminded me of my first swim session outdoors - last summer...
• 6am and 44 degrees.
• Yeah, you read that right.
• my friend and I pretty much have the ladies locker room to ourselves.
• it only takes me 25-30 minutes to get ready and look presentable for work..
• and, I still have time to stop and get coffee.
• now that is heaven!!
• Definitely the highlight of my week!

I hope I am this positive after my second week of swim practice!

What was the highlight of YOUR week?

Three Things Thursday

Here's a different spin to "Three Things Thursday".... 3 Topics with 3 things under each topic. Some might call it "Nine Things Thursday". This is my blog, I'll do whatever I want!

1. Music:
I have a few songs right now that I keep playing over and over again on my ipod. I go through phases with my music, alternating favorite genres and songs - depending on my mood. But, the past couple of weeks one would think I was trying to kill these songs by how often I listen to them. Don't judge my taste in music.

Imma Be - Black Eyed Peas
Great tempo - I used this song when I working on crunches with the medicine ball the other day and was very sore!




The Killers - Human
I love to run to this song. It's a combinatoin of the tempo and the lyrics... they just get me going!




Lady Antebellum - Need You Now
I haven't been a huge country fan for a long while now, but there's just something about this one. I really like this group... and have been listening to this song while I cool-down and stretch.






2. Sports
For those of you who are new followers to my blog, I am a huge sports fanatic and love all sports, especially college hoops and baseball. I watch a bit of the NBA, and have followed more football this year than ever (did y'all catch see how good the Vikes were this year?). So, here's a few of my favorites athletes. Believe me, it was hard to narrow down to three right now.

#33 - Justin Morneau - 1st baseman, MN Twins #69 - Jared Allen - MN Vikings - Defensive End
#50 - Tyler Hansbrough - UNC Tar Heels - forward (now with the Indiana Pacers)

3. Movies
I am not a HUGE movie buff and really don't watch too many movies since I struggle to sit still for more than an hour and focus on one thing, but there are a few movies that I could watch over and over and over again, depending on my mood.

Billy Madison - it's a tradition of mine to watch this every year before the school year begins... I love Adam Sandler and this is one of my favorite movies of his.

Moulin Rouge - Great love story with awesome music. Need I say more?

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation - I usually watch this a couple times before Christmas. HIL.AR.I.OUS.

Do you have any favorites in the categories listed above?