Completed the Swim!

Another Swim a Mile for Hospice in the books!

The weather was absolutely perfect for an open water swim and the water was almost 80 degrees!

I got up and had a cup of coffee with collagen powder while driving and then an energy fizz stick by Arbonne (because I'm trying to look outside the box for fueling) before getting into the water.  I'm sure there are many energy products on the market, I just happen to have these to try and they seem to be great for morning workouts -which I typically have NO energy for.

It isn't a timed event but I think it took me just under an hour to complete the mile and I have no idea how slow that is, but I think it's faster than last year and I felt pretty confident!

I'm still atrocious at the freestyle stroke, which is the suggested stroke.  I feel like I'm not taking breaths frequently enough, but there isn't really any way to take more breaths... Anyway, I know what to work on there.  I felt pretty good with my breast stroke and I'm a huge fan of side stroke, but I know that these strokes lack the power that freestyle is supposed to give you for the same energy input.


My swag bag from both years:

 What a beautiful place to swim!

Thanks for reading and have an amazing week!

#swim #goals #swimamileforhospice #hannawafalls #momblog

2020 Goals!

Just going to put these out here:

Year 2020:

Spring Half Marathon - Hopefully The Maple Run (local and inexpensive)

Summer 5K series - Summer Sunset 5K series  (local and VERY inexpensive)

Summer Sprint Triathlon -No idea where... but I'll find one!

Fall Marathon - I've been thinking about the Wineglass Marathon for years...

OMG I've lost my mind! 

#goals #getfit #running #swimbikerun

Feeling a little groove... triathlon dreams

Swim, Bike, Run

Swim:

It's a Friday morning and the day before I Swim a Mile for Hospice.  I have actually "trained" a bit for the swim this year.  I went for an open water swim at my Aunt and Uncle's home and have tried to swim a bit more with the kids in the water with me -they are after-all an entire year older than they were last year.  Last year there was no way I could do a lap in the deeper area while they were swimming as well.  This year we have two swimmers and a kid in a life jacket so it is less stressful. 

I have my swim kit all set:

swim cap -to be honest this is not my favorite, but I think it's because I have VERY long hair.  But it isn't a huge deal and I have to wear the cap they give me at the event anyway so I just wear this one for training -which I hardly ever do HAHA.

goggles - I like these and they were inexpensive.  They have sunglasses tint, which is nice for swimming outside. 

swim suit -this is new this year and I needed something inexpensive and it's surprisingly comfortable and modest.  I highly recommend if you are just looking for something to do laps in (or kayak, with the kids at the beach).  It has two layers of fabric that seem to smooth out all the smooshie bits very nicely.  I feel very sleek in the suit.  :)  I typically look strange in one piece suits because I'm a S/M on top and a M/L on the bottom so in order to get the bottom to fit the top is loose... This one is just great.  I ordered a size 38 based on the sizing chart.

Well, that's pretty much all I need!


I will mention that I also have a swim buoy that I wear when I am swimming in open water by myself.  I pop my phone in, strap it around my waist, and away I go feeling pretty confident that I'm visible and "safe".  It acts as a way to keep my phone with me in case of emergency and also to track my distance with the MapMyRun App.  The buoy also acts as a way to stay visible to motor boats and you can hold onto it to take a rest like a flotation device.  My Uncle also suggested a whistle to wear on my person -which is a great idea and I'll probably look at getting one in the future.

Bike:

I have taken Cici out on 4 trips! 

Trip 1:  HOLY COW, riding a road bike is actually much different than riding our mountain bike.  With the very skinny tires every movement is exaggerated and you can tip very easily.  I took my first trip as a quick jaunt around Higley Flow State Park.  It was a bit of a disaster... I got on and started to tip over with one foot in the clip and one out and my hands not near the brakes.... BUT I didn't fall over.  Then I had memorized the gears backwards so that it was impossible to get up even the easiest hill.  I was very confused and a bit defeated. 

 Here I am before! 

Here I am after!  

Trip 2: I rode two laps around a three mile recreation trail... I finally figured out that I was using the hardest gear on the hills so big success there!

Trip 3: My boss and his wife took me on a 10 mile ride on "real" roads.  This was super for me to get comfortable on roads and we also did a few adjustments to the handle bars to get them in the correct position. 

Trip 4:  I went to do 3-4 laps around the recreation trail again, but the trail is windy and hard to get up speed and there was also a lot of vegetation litter on the road (slippery for a road bike) so I went out onto a highway that I knew was relatively flat with a really wide shoulder for about 8 miles after only one lap around the recreation trail.  Cici is SO fast!  I'm in love. :) 

I even let her ride in the backseat of the truck like a dog.  Haha

Run:

I've been sort of weird about not running because I have been plagued by silly little injuries since I broke my ankle 18 months ago.  Last fall I ended up with cuboid syndrome in my left foot after participating in a 5K event.  I also had HORRIBLE sciatic nerve pain in my left hip that was finally cured by core exercises and two months of intense chiropractic care (Shout out to Jamie and Lisa!) over the winter.  Then I ended up with plantar fasciitis in my right foot this Spring when I tried to give running another go.  

BUT I went for a short easy run two nights ago and it was SO peaceful.  I had forgotten how much I LOVED listening to the night sounds of the country at dusk/dark.  So I didn't go far, and I will probably only run a tiny bit each week for a while, but it is still something that I love and will be part of my life forever! 

Phew! :)  I do FINALLY feel like I'm getting closer to actually performing a triathlon!  

Thank you for reading and for the encouragement!  

I hope you all have a fantastic day!

#swimbikerun #getfit #triathlon #swim #bike #momblog #backontrack #openwaterswim #swimamileforhospice #running #training #goals

Cici the racing bike

I have a racing bike that my coworker fixed up for me.  Her name is Cici and he's bringing her home today and hopefully I won't die on my first ride...

I pretty much only know; ride on the right, wear a helmet... :P

Here she is and hopefully I will have time to update you all more in the future about our adventures.

Thanks for reading and have a great summer day!
MamaK

Swimming another mile for Hospice

I completed the swim last year.  It was fantastic!  

I'm participating again!  If anyone is out there, here is my donation page:

Support me here!

I have to raise $75 to swim. :)












Realized I have to keep these posts SO SHORT or I will never post them!

Thanks for checkin in!
Have a great Wednesday :)
MamaK

Swim a mile for Hospice

I actually think I might be crazy, but I bought a bunch of stuff to start open water swimming and haven't used it... Then I saw the advertisement for a fund raising event in the next town over to raise money for our county Hospice and I decided I would sign right up. 

It's a 1 mile swim in open water.

It is in 3 weeks on August 11th.  It is non-competitive and I put in that I can swim a 500 meter in a very long time (I had to Google what a long time for a 500 meter swim would be) so that they will hopefully put me in one of the last groups.  I plan on just essentially scoping out a group swim and seeing just how far swimming a mile feels and going as slow as I need to.

I have never been a competitive swimmer, but I am a competent swimmer and I'm relaxed and don't think I will panic or anything.  The only open water swimming I have done was at my friend's house as a teen on the Oswegatchie River.  Oh wait, I also swam in some springs in Florida, which was kind of freaky because they were extremely deep.  Oh right, and that time I jumped off a boat in the St. Lawrence River to retrieve my boyfriend's hat (now husband of 11 years) and that didn't go very well, but I'm here to tell you about it, so I lived and all...


I'm hoping to get some swimming in over the next 3 weeks, but since my goal is to just make it through the course I'm not too worried about it. 

Here is the event if you want to learn more:  Swim a Mile for Hospice

And I'm also fund raising, so if you want to support my local hospice -which is a great cause (Hospice of St. Lawrence County) feel free to click here to visit my page and donate!

Thanks for reading! :)

Happy Monday!

And here's a gratuitous picture of my cute Kona.

#blogmom #openwaterswim #swimamileforhospice #getfit #backontrack #crosstraining

5K week 4 & 5! :)

Phew!

I'm going to keep this short and sweet.  I'm still going, going, going and I'm so happy about it!  I haven't been perfect and I've missed a run here and there, but I'm just happy with my forward progres instead of giving up entirely because I'm busy.

Week 4:

Tuesday run: 2.25 miles
Honestly, this was so long ago that I can't remember anything special about this run.  Oh wait!  I wore my running clothes, right down to my shoes, to the boys evening soccer practice so that I could run right when we came back -and I did :)

Beautiful sunset behind me!

Thursday run: 1.5 miles
Yay!  Quick and I remembered that Tom bought me this AMAZING lighted running vest for this past Christmas.  I LOVE how safe this makes me feel.  We live on a semi-busy road with a small area between the white line and a ditch so wearing this vest is a great investment (then we turn onto not busy roads and can run for miles -Ahhhh I love the country).  You can find it here: Amazon: Tracer 360 Vest  I've always worn a reflective vest, and then invested in some Nathan's Amazon: Strobe Lights when I really ran outside at night frequently, but this is really the ultimate in illumination.

It can blink in different patterns and colors or stay solid on one of the many colors.  

Long run:  Missed it.  We went to the Great Lakes Wine Festival Friday-Sunday morning and it just didn't happen.  I had this dream that we would hike Watkins Glen for cross train on Friday and then rest on Saturday and get up early Sunday for a long run before we went home... BUT we had to high-tail it to Lake Placid, NY by "noon" to get a new...

Puppy!!!!  

Meet Kona! Our rescue pup from The Joshua Fun Dog Rescue! 

She's a "pure" chocolate labrador retriever (no papers but she's all lab) rescued from Texas that just turned 5 months old.  She is an absolute DOLL.  We all LOVE her so much she is playful, well mannered, and also VERY sleepy... Hahaha

Puppy cuteness overload!

Tom and I drove home from Watkin's Glen and dropped off our camper (you camp at the Watkins Glen international raceway during the wine festival) and then drove to Lake Placid, met up with Kona and drove home... For a grand total of a VERY long day of driving -about 10 hours.  Let me just quickly say that if you are going to be driving all over the place on a beautiful summer day, driving the Finger Lakes and the Adirondacks is really not that big of a hardship.  SOOOOOO beautiful!!! 

That is Whiteface Mountain behind us at Camp Joshua where we picked up Kona.  This is our official adoption photo.

OK, quickly onto Week 5!

Tuesday run: 2.5 miles 

Nothing amazing... 

I love running in the evening.

Thursday run on Friday: 2 miles

Missed my run Thursday night because of LOTS of grocery shopping, but made it up Friday night.

Headlamp and the half-moon over my shoulder!  It was after 10 PM when I was done.

I was dead by the last half mile.  I've switched over to eating the South Beach Diet... It's my favorite way to eat healthy and I need a change.  I've been reading more of the Racing Weight book and I really do need to ditch some of the fat pounds that I carry if I want to run some real races again in my future... Running on a low carbohydrate intake is difficult, but after the first two weeks (breaking my cravings for anything and everything with sugar) I can add back fruit and whole grains and I'll be just fine.  Better now, when I'm running short miles, than later when I'm supposed to really run long... 

OK.  That's it for this post!  I have more fun stuff to write about, but I'm hungry for breakfast :)

Thanks for reading and enjoy your weekend!

#running #blogmom #joshuafunddogrescue #getfit #SouthBeachDiet #backontrack