Changes

Things are changing around here.  I've been swimming a bunch this week packing it in through Saturday when Bike anatomical adaptation starts. My whole body is sore, I am always hungry and my sleep is weird.  I've been swimming about 50 minutes a day, which doesn't seem like it's too crazy until I realize my body has never done those movements before.  I've also been doing some strength exercises to get my lower abs to hold my body more level in the water and to get my right hip to stop dropping when I run.  I found my gluteus medius, who knew such a thing existed, poor little guy is coming out of hibernation and turning into a hip lifting powerhouse.  I feel like I'm walking around with panniers of sore.  I made a big pot of beef stew with bowtie noodles in it and it's making my world go round!

Last night at the pool the masters were there, I swam in a lane next to them and did my own workout, I feel like a freshmen getting googly eyes at the seniors, they are so smooth and fast and awesome, I am excited to one day join their ranks.

Can't help it...

Why do I like this the way I do?



I need more training music, I'll trade a mix for a mix!

0.68350831 Mile Swim

I went to Coach for a running analysis, this week I'm doing sport specific analysis before anatomical adaptation phase begins next week, don't I sound cool? SO I learned that although I think ALOT about form when I run, in a slow mo camera I look like a limping zombie, got some zombie drills, then it was off to the pool where I swam my first pool workout. Coach was writing it up and she writes "Warm up" then the rest, so I ask what I should do for the warm up, and she's like "this is the warm up." WHOOPS!
So I zipped off to the pool and swam 1100 meters with lots of drills. I'm really excited for this to get easier and I know it will because little by little it already is, so I do this workout 5 days a week until October 14. I feel like someone is going to bust me in my lane or the locker room pointing and yelling: "She's not a swimmer!" So far my rainbow lightning bolt swim suit and winter bush are the perfect disguise and have them totally fooled! Ha!

Sink or Swim

4:30pm OK, leaving now. First swim with coach. Never worn a swim cap, just tried it on, makes me look AWESOMELY INTENSE! I'm glad I have hair. I'm really nervous.

10pm Didn't drown, if I hadn't felt like this whole training thing had started, I do now. Swimming laps is like holding a crunch for 45 minutes and not breathing at the same time, I can't wait until I'm all like "HA! It was soooo funny how I used to swim and it was all hard and stuff, ha!" The good news is my coach is still rad, we swam and did drills and she said not to worry because if all else fails which it wont I can get by on sheer strength... yes, SHEER STRENTGTH!!!!

So we swam and it was really helpful then I met Amy and Tom at Double Mountain for a beer and they are so radical and I am happy as a clam that I am learning to swim, have sweet friends, and the whole second half of Mockingjay (I'm not saying do, but I'm not saying don't) to finish upstairs before bed.

Top 10

Top 10 Highlights of the last couple days:
1. Captain Alissa visited
2. Doni the goat visited
3. I got wrapped in the hospital bed by the ghost lady after a soak in the clawfoots at Carson Hot Springs
4. I did the first not sunny run of fall and it was crisp and nice
5. We ate a huge heavy warm container of Thai food from the cart in Hood River
6. Yoga at Town Hall is awesome
7. Weaving on the loom by the window for Niki's furniture show is peaceful.
8. Renting the wood splitter and getting busy with Mom and Zoe and Boo up here in the sunshine today is fun and there is a HUGER pile of wood now!
9. Not getting a ticket for driving "popeye" when I was pulled over by a total pretend looking cop.
10. Running to Pizza, Pints, and "Sorry: The Game of Sweet Revenge" at the Sawtooth tonight.

Who wants to do a Marathon?

Big things are happening! I got my training plan from The Coach! It's go time! I have a long line of papers taped together on the back door laying out now through June in 2-3 week intervals, pretty exciting, but NOT AS EXCITING AS.....

The Eugene Marathon on May 1st fits into the training plan!

Have you ever wanted to do a marathon? Run it! Walk it! Twist it! Bop it!

Here is your big opportunity! Put a "s" in winter fat getting get fast! Don't you want to say you did?

There is MORE than enough time for ANYONE to train for this and how fun would that be?

Big fun is how fun. Do it! Come on!

Register now! It's the first step!

Ori's gonna do it with me!

Meat Ballz

A Funado hit Portland this weekend, local weather stations announced it had been brewing for weeks, with multiple touch downs, the casualties are yet unknown. Witness report seeing dancing with 22 year olds , a play, the TBA festival starring the incredibly talented and beautiful Sarah Johnson, rad dancing, taiko drumming, and visits with the best friends money can buy.

Getting smarter: thought of the week:
It's all (like really ALL) about finding the common denominator.

I got off my tail and went for a run today, the beavers have been damming, a road crew stopped traffic for me, the wind was a million miles and hour with mist and sun. The first part of the run I was totally freaked out, like this "Oh shit, am I going to be cold? You think this is cold pansy? You're going to have to run in the snow and bike all winter! Oh shit, my foot hurts. You think this is pain pansy? You're going to do this times four after a swim and bike! Oh shit I'm tired of this song. You think you're tired of it now?.... blah blah blah I've gone and intimidated myself, the second part of the run was dominated by Naughty by Nature (try googling "naughty nature" and it's all photos of acorns that look like boobs and peach butts, and tree weiners!).

Luckily I'm home now and Trader Joe's sells meatballs, pandora's got the dub, work is getting done, my denim pantsuit is clean from the weekend, my bike is almost fixed, swimming starts next week, and it's pottery night at town hall.

The picture is from a very funny blog if you like to laugh.

The Coach

I met my coach last night. She's rad. She has completed a handful of Ironmen, works as a physical therapist, is Canadian, drinks beer, trains hard, is funny, to sum it up bad ass.
Here's a picture of her.
Just Kidding....
But she is rad.
So she's drawing up a plan for me. Swimming is my biggest hurdle and lucky for my slacking the pool's closed until the 25th. It got real real last night. After a totally hermit day of listening to a lot of Justin Timberlake and learning the first half of Thriller on You-Tube, and finding bear poo in the field, we're talking about 8 hour bike rides in the winter, something she calls a "triple threat" that's a 6 mile run into a 40 mile bike, with 3 repeats... I'd better finish thriller before we get this show on the road.
She's full of confidence for me, so that's nice. I'm excited to have a training pal, meet more folks around here, and do it.
It's been a little adjusting moving up here (this is just the trailer).
Easy to get distracted and have structureless days. It's been a great practice in contentment. Letting it be what it is from Yoga at town hall, to popcorn to dinner, runs along the crick, tv on the computer, wandering from one interesting thing to the next like a little animal.

Go Time!

I'm 30 now, today is the 10 year anniversary of the death of an awesome dude Jules Roques and here I am sucking the marrow out of life, and I'm gonna do something a little wild. I said I'd do a triathlon this year so of course in typical Renee style I've signed up for the biggest and am diving in, because heck, why not?. I'm doing Ironman Coeur D'Alene in Idaho next summer, I have 9 months to prepare, so I guess I should learn to swim.
So this is the year of balance living at the cabin at Mt Hood, my life coaching business, my awesome job teaching and training my tail off.

The incredible Anna Gast planted this seed of a blog in my brain and I think it will be a big year to share.