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May, 2010:

Swim Star!

May 26th, 2010
by gazelle.
3 comments

After all my fair to middling (to frankly terrible) swims I’ve had lately, I just want to take a moment to brag about today’s.

I swam 2500 yards! BOO-YAH! (As I told the Ambitious One earlier when I texted her my swim stats, I don’t know why this needs a boo-yah, but it does.) That is 500 yards further than my furthest swim ever!

AND – I did it in 1 hour, 7 minutes & 43 second. Admittedly, like everything I do sporty-wise, that is not wicked fast.  But that is the same pace that I did my 2000 yd swim in about a month ago, and faster than most of my more recent swims.

AND – it was the first time that I have ever completed a full workout from THE BOOK! (Endurance #3, shorter set.)

AND – because I know you care, I am going to go into details.

Warmup

  • 300 swim (I did freestyle); 200 kick (500)

Middle section

  • 4×200 (150 freestyle, 50 kick; 0:30 RI)
  • 600 pull (negative split)
  • 16×25 (2-2-2-2 desc [that means that I do two 25s at the same pace, the next two a bit faster, etc., and then the 5th set I start slower again]; 0:15 RI)

Cool

  • 200 swim (I did my fake IM [individual medley] – since I don’t know the butterfly, I do a length free, then breast, then back, then free; then I started over)

YAY! I hope I can move my arms tomorrow!

Lists (10 things that make me happy today)

May 26th, 2010
by gazelle.
4 comments

I LOVE making lists. Anyone who knows me well, probably knows that. I have to-do lists everyday (for work, school, home stuff). I have shopping lists. Menus. (You should see the monster list that I have made, with spreadsheets and timetables, for this weekend’s festivities.) (I also love spreadsheets.) (And parentheses.)

The weather the last couple of weeks has been a little less than May-like. We had one gorgeous weekend, and then the temperatures dropped and the sun disappeared. My hopes for a beautiful weekend are slowly crumbling away.

So in honor of our rainy gray May, I am making a list.

Things that make me happy, regardless of weather

  1. My awesome husband
  2. My beautiful garden
  3. Having kick-ass neighbors (not just the blogger ones, but quite a few kick-ass neighbors, we are so lucky!)
  4. Living in my neighborhood (see also #3)
  5. My awesome workout buddies – without them, I’d be much fatter
  6. Portland – I love living here, even when we’re not sunny
  7. Food carts (random, I know – but the food cart culture here is fantastic)
  8. My families – the ones I’m related to by blood, the ones I’m related to by marriage (seriously lucked out in the in-law department), and the ones that have come into my life throughout the years (see also #5)
  9. Cats. I really love my cats. 94% of the time, anyways
  10. Yoga – I have been loving the yoga lately, and since I’m not doing as much running/biking as planned, I’m glad I have a great substitute!

Product Review – Cheribundi

May 25th, 2010
by gazelle.
1 comment

A few weeks ago, I received a sampler pack of four Cheribundi cherry juices (for free, full disclosure, blah).

There were two bottles of the Tru Cherry Juice (that was just the regular cherry)

One bottle of the Skinny Cherry (made with Stevia); and

One bottle of the Whey Cherry (with added whey protein)

I LOVED the Tru Cherry. I am not a big fan of sweets (chocolate chip cookies excepted), and very seldom enjoy sweet drinks. This was perfect. It really captures the cherry taste and is deliciously tart. It is just cherry juice, water & apple juice (for sweetener), and I adored it. I was sad after I finished the first bottle that not all the bottles were Tru Cherry.

I hated the Whey Cherry. It tasted odd to me. Very odd. HOWEVER, I made my kick-ass neighbor try it (because I am a giver and force people to drink things that I myself hated), and she did not hate it. In fact, she rather enjoyed it.

I was okay with the Skinny Cherry. I felt that this one tasted too sweet, and although Stevia as an artificial sweetener doesn’t creep me out (I have my very own stevia plant in my herb garden), I just prefer to drink regular old drinks.

And – because you all know me fairly well, I know that what you really want to know is “how do Cheribundi drinks do as mixers?”

Unanimously, the Tru Cherry mixed with home-infused vanilla vodka, is DELICIOUS! Three thumbs up from me, the architect and the kick-ass neighbor. :) (The other two also tasted good with the vanilla vodka, but Tru Cherry was the clear winner, both with and without alcohol!)

Unfortunately, so far there is no place to buy Cheribundi juice within 250 miles of my zip code, although when I asked Samantha (my cherry juice hook-up), she said,

Our distribution channels are still growing and over the course of the next several months we’ll be on more retail shelves in more parts of the country, so hopefully you’ll be able to find cheribundi in a store near you in the upcoming months.

In the meantime, we are working on a reseller platform which we hope to launch in the next few weeks.  The reseller platform will be accessible via our website, www.cheribundi.com, and will make it very easy for those who wish to resell cheribundi, or obtain it in bulk, to purchase additional product at a steep discount.

So – thank you Samantha from Cheribundi for sending me those juices to try! They were great (as Meatloaf says, 2 out of 3 ain’t bad).

Training Goals – 5/24/10 – 5/30/10

May 24th, 2010
by gazelle.
2 comments

But first – the recap. Not as good as last week, sadly.

Training Goals: 5/17 – 5/23

Monday: Rest – SUCCESS!

Tuesday: Run + Yoga (with the Ambitious One and Jen) – SUCCESS! I had a great run w/ Jen & the Ambitious one, and D was there, too! And then a fantastic Yin yoga class…I’d never tried Yin before, and after thinking I was going to hate it for the first 10 minutes, I started getting more into it, and ended up LOVING it! WOO!

Wednesday: Triple Day! Morning spin class + post-spin brick run (I am graduating to the 60 minute spin class), evening Open Water Swim (brrr…..) with the Ambitious One! I am hoping for a better experience this week – SUCCESS! My spin class was great, my post-spin brick (1.5 miles) came in at an average 9:48 pace (fast for me!), and the OWS was also great. I didn’t panic even once! My method of very very slow immersion into the water worked, and I was able to complete one lap with no hyperventilating! YAY!

Thursday: Swim + self-defense class w/ Jen – half SUCCESS! I ran out of time to swim between work & self defense. BUT, self-defense class was awesome. It was our last class, and we graduated, and can now kick ass! I totally recommend that every woman in the Portland area attend this free series of classes. SO VERY WORTH IT.

Friday: Weights + Yoga – half SUCCESS!I returned to the Vinyasa class I’d attended last week, and it was really great again. There was a man playing a portable Harmonium throughout class, and that was kind of cool. At the end of class, he got up and said the following (not exactly, I am paraphrasing 3 days later, obviously)

Many of you know me, and know I haven’t been here for a few months. In March, I went to the doctor & found out I had cancer. After some testing and surgery, I was given 6 months to live. That was 3 weeks ago – so I guess I have 5 months and 1 week left. I do intend to stick around for another 5 years (at least). I am on a very aggressive round of chemo, and will not finish up with that until July. I have been sitting at home, nauseated, tired, and sad. It occurred to me this week that I could be home feeling sick and tired and sad, or I could come back to this class that has given me so much strength and support. I might still be sick and tired, but I will be filled with the love and healing energy of all of you. I don’t know how much time I really have left, but I want to spend what there is surrounding myself with love and positivity. And I want to remind you all to not worry about the small stuff. And almost everything is small stuff.

Ummm…so that wasn’t emotional or anything. But so true.

Saturday: Run – 5 miles – FAIL! (but this is small stuff, right?) Damian wouldn’t go in a shoe on Saturday.

Sunday: Hagg Lake OWS + Hilly Hagg Lake Bike – FAIL! I woke up about 1:30 am Sunday morning sick as a dog. I actually did get up Sunday morning at dark o’clock to start getting ready for my swim. After throwing up for the 4th time in 4 hours, I decided that perhaps today was not my day for OWS triumph. I texted the Ambitious One to tell her I was a) sick; b) dehydrated; and c) contemplating entering a convent. Then, I barfed again, and went back to bed. At about noon, I was able to keep down water & a cracker. I took a 1.5 hour nap in the afternoon (and if you know me, you know that is unprecedented – I do not nap) and did nothing all day but sleep and sip water. I didn’t even turn on the internets! That is sick!

ANYWAYS – on to this week.

Training Goals: 5/24 – 5/30

Monday: Easy swim

Tuesday: Run + Yoga

Wednesday: Triple Day! Morning spin class + post-spin brick run, evening Open Water Swim with the Ambitious One!

Thursday: Swim 

Friday:  Yoga + Bike (actual plan – bike to & from yoga!)

Saturday: Run 5 miles + party prep (yay! Brad’s 40th birthday)

Sunday: Rest/Recover from said party

Some things – like runs & bikes – are dependent on my foot. I am not pushing anything right now, and reserve the right to substitute runs/bikes for weights/swims/yoga without any warning our without counting that as a fail.

Corn Chronicles 2010 – #1

May 19th, 2010
by gazelle.
8 comments

Yay! it is time for garden pictures. I know you’re super excited (and by the way, there is still time to get in a naming request for a baby corn).

The corns are still pretty wee (wave #2 hasn’t even poked their heads out of the ground yet). BUT – they are growing (about 2 inches tall) and many are named.

Other things are growing, too! My broccoli (mostly) looks great, the potatoes are taking over the world, and the garlic is huge!

My ‘salad bar’ section is looking awesome! Beans, lettuces, spinaches, radishes, carrots & beets! However, out of the 3 dozen or so pea plants that should have come up, only about 6 appeared. Obviously, I blame the spiders (although not out loud), and have replanted.

My herb garden is FANTASTIC right now! So much mint – it’s almost mojito time :) And my flowers (roses and oriental poppies) are looking great. Soon, the wildflowers will start blooming, too!

This weekend, I am going to put in all my (seven million) tomatoes, tomatillos & peppers. The squash-like things are beginning to sprout, as are my scarlet runner beans. My strawberries are strawberrying, and, most exciting of all, I have 6 cherries! And 6 apples! YAY! (my trees are young, and this is their first fruit.)

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