A few random observations.

- Running during lunch makes for interesting afternoon hair.

- I can be too tired to eat.

- I now understand what it means to "sleep hard."

- Way too many people like to swim before dawn. (Last week, I got to Mary T and signed in at 5:05 AM and I was the 15th person on the list. 15th! And that didn't even include the swim teams.)

- I will put peanut butter on anything.

- And on a related note, if you were to cut me open, I'm probably at least half peanut butter.

- The dark circles around my eyes are partly from lack of sleep, partly from smeared mascara, and partly from my goggles.

- It is possible for my boobs to get even smaller.

- Sometimes 4:40 AM just doesn't happen.

It's nice to be fast(ish) at something.

I will never claim to be a fast runner. Nor will I claim to be a fast cyclist. But, I will admit to being a (somewhat) fast swimmer. Not masters team, former collegiate (hi, Jennifer!) swimmer fast, but non-professional triathlete swimmer fast.

When I picked up swimming after the most recent hiatus, my 100 meter time was hanging out just a hair under 2 minutes. Last night, I had 10x100 meters on 15 seconds rest. I went out a little gung-ho and did the first in 1:35 (and I don't do flip turns. Flip turns and I have issues.). I realized that I probably wouldn't be able to keep that up, so I relaxed a little, but still managed to hit 1:40 on all the rest, give or take a second.

Now, I'm not a pretty swimmer. My limbs are stumpy (hell, my body is stumpy), and my kick is all but useless. But in the water, I can move. And the past few months, I've even started breathing on both sides, something I haven't done since I was nine. (Note: this was about the same time that I developed chronic ear infections, especially in my left ear. So, that ear and I made a deal - if I agreed not to turn that ear up towards the ceiling, it would agree not to cause my horrible, horrible pain. I considered it a fair trade. Now I wear earplugs.)

I must admit, it feels good to be fast at something. I will never be a super fast runner - I just don't have the drive to run that fast all the time. And on the bike, well, let's just say it's getting better, but I still have a long way to go. But put ae in the water, and well, I'll try not to kick you as I pass.

I don't like Heart Rate training, i.e. I am really freakin' slow

Today I had a workout where after a nice little warm up, I was to run 3 miles with my heart rate staying between 147 and 153. Since my heart rate got there during the warm up, I decided to bump it up ten beats.

It didn't seem to help much.

This was the first workout that I *wanted* to run faster, harder - anything but the exaggerated slow slog I was doing. My pace was somewhere around a shameful 10:45 minute mile. Now, I'm by no means a speed demon, but I can always run a 10 minute mile, even while sick/in pain/recovering from food poisoning. Case in point: I decided that I wanted to run 10 minute miles in the Mini, and my overall pace was 9:59 (makes me wonder if I had picked say, 9:45s, would I have done it?), and I was not pushing it, even in Iroquois Park.

I understand that I need to do this type of training. I shouldn't go out and run every training run fast(er) just because I can - but today just seemed to go on forever. I did, however, wonder why the workout was allotted 60 minutes to warm up and run 3 miles. Are there people out there slower than this turtle?

This whole training for endurance thing is just taking some time to get used to. A few years ago, a 2hr (or once, just slightly under 2 hr) half-marathon was the norm. But, that was before I ever ran a full marathon. (I was also 6 pounds lighter, which I'm sure had something to do with it, too.) Since my runs were somewhere between 4 and 12 miles, I could run faster all the time. Once the runs started lasting what seemed like the whole damn morning, I had to slow down. My stumpy legs just can't keep going like that. I'm 5'3" with most of my height coming from my torso. I was not built for speed over long distances. My mother keeps telling me that I was not meant to be a runner. And she's probably right. At my first tri a few years ago, I looked around and exclaimed to my husband: "I've found my people! They look like me!" He laughed, but conceded that I had a point - while there were a few sticks, the majority of the athletes looked like they would be useful if you needed help moving something. It was just nice to be around people weighed more than one of my legs.

My people, before the Louisville Landsharks Tri 2005.

And this was even after I did a swim and a run

Random guy at the gym, as he passed by me doing a chest press: "I like the way you work out. You work out hard."

To the jackhole driving the gold Toyota Highlander...

...who thought it would be funny to gun his engine, and then pass me on my bike with oh, maybe 4 inches to spare: I hope it made you feel like a big man.

Just be aware that next time, I think I'll borrow one of my buddy Howard's moves and slam my fist into the side of your car.