Sometimes Things Just Click

I typically don't have a game plan when I go for a swim.  I usually shoot for 20 laps (2 lengths of the pool per lap), or close to since I usually lose count.  Today was just another day, a lunch time swim.  But it turned out to be a little bit more...


I don't know what clicked but it seemed like I just all of a sudden learned how to glide through the water after each stroke, found my "bouy", and sunk into a nice smoothe rhythm.  I was feeling the water well with my hand/arm and getting really good propulsion every stroke that it was effortless to maintain momentum and avoid sinking the hips and legs.  I guess I was just feeling it today.


As I counted away at the laps I settled on completing the usual 20.  After 20 laps and realizing only 15 minutes had elapsed, I decided to go for 30.  Then I thought "a half-ironman is approximately 33 laps, let me go for 35".  Once I hit 35, I decided "heck, I can do 40, easily".  And so I did.  At the conclusion I was just barely breathing a little more labored but not completely sucking wind which is good because I never really feel spent after a swim.  It felt really good to swim with some minute amount of good technique.  Now let's just hope I can pick right back up where I left off.

Getting Back On the Right Track

So I've always been "motivated" [insert sarcasm] to lose all this weight that I've gained over the past 4 years which is creeping up on 25 pounds.  I've been wanting to lose it and saying that I am going to lose it, but in all honesty, I haven't even tried and still eat fairly terribly at times.


I came across some advice in the latest edition of USA Triathlon's e-newsletter and I'm thinking about making it my new mantra.  "Think of the foods in your diet as performance enhancing or performance limiting."


About 6 years ago I was in the best shape of my life.  Yes, I worked out like a maniac; if I had 1 hour to spare between school and work I was in the gym.  The endorphins were so great and always present that if I missed one day of working out I would mope around and be slightly depressed and extremely tired, therefore I was even more motivation to continue hitting the weights hard.  But I didn't start making monstrous gains until I cleaned up my diet.  I never knew that after eating clean for so long that I would no longer crave junk food or anything unhealthy, in fact, I would feel miserable (not mentally but physically) after eating just one french fry.


So I've been teetering around with planning out my meals and sticking to good, clean, nutritious foods over the past few months but now I'm finally going to keep myself honest.  I've begun to take all of my supplements regularly (thanks to a handy dandy iPhone APP!! of course): glucosamine (primarily due to my knee injury), a multivitamin (which I'm terrible at taking consistently), and Udo's Oil (3-6-9 EFAs).