Swimming - always worth the struggle...

The only time I don't struggle with getting to the pool is when I've arranged to meet Tanya there at 5:30am and I get out of bed at 4:45am and make it all the way to Plymouth while still half asleep... before realizing I have to swim... (thankfully the nice policeman down the road from Lifetime decided I wasn't worth the hassle of a ticket on the one occasion he caught me rolling through the stop sign).

But getting up before 5am became a bit too much so we've recently been swimming in the evenings - which is okay when I am sticking to a routine but otherwise I tend to find an excuse not to swim. It's my weakest tri event but also the one I am least likely to improve on even with dedicated training. Still, I do want to make another 1:20 swim at Ironman this year so I've been trying to make it to the pool at least twice a week since January. Mostly I've made it but this evening after my massage I was definitely planning on heading straight home until I saw a text from Tanya and decided since I was just down the road from the gym and had my gear in the car I really had no excuse!

And as always, once I got in the water and got moving I was glad I'd made it... ended up doing 3200 yards which is the most I've done since Madison last Sept! I was taking it quite easy - with regular chat breaks to catch up with Tanya and Karen - and I actually enjoyed it...

Speaking of Ironman I decided on a goal for Arizona. I like symmetrical numbers so 11:22 it is! Quite a leap from the 12hrs in Madison and mostly it means improving my bike time as well as a few minutes off my run. Here's how it breaks down:

1:20 swim
0:10 T1
6:00 bike
0:10 T2
3:42 run

It's a wee bit ambitious but sure that's never stopped me before! I think I can make the run but it depends how hard I push it on the bike. I expect to be in much better biking shape this year and the course is more forgiving than Madison. And obviously having paid a pretty price for my fancy new tri bike I fully expect to have a great ride :)

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Concert Tickets for Sale!!

Really looking forward to the Swell Season concert on Wednesday night but despite a mad scramble for tickets when they went on sale over a month ago I now have 2 extra due to conflicts - minor things like closing on a house etc...

Glen Hansard is frontman for the Irish rock band The Frames, while the Czech-born Marketa Irglová is a classically trained singer, and their music serves as the centerpiece of the surprise hit film Once (Oscar Winner for Best Original Song). The movie, which also stars Hansard and Irglová, tells a guy-meets-girl love story largely through song. Before making the film, Hansard and Irglová recorded a collection of songs together titled The Swell Season - and that wonderful music is what's on offer Wednesday night!

Orpheum Theatre, May 7, 8pm
2 Balcony seats (not together)
$47 each

Let me know if you are interested!

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