Can't Help It If I'm Lucky...

Bonus points if you can name that 90s song that has "can't help it if I'm lucky" in the song lyrics haha.
The title refers to the fact that I went to the gym today to join permanently, and for some reason my summer membership had been extended to next July. I don't know how or why, but I am feeling very lucky :)
Today at the gym I did 1000 yards in the pool and I decided swimming IS really growing on me. While I was swimming I thought about how swimming compares to running.

Similarities Swimming & Running:
1. After 30 minutes of both swimming and running I am tired and feel like I got a GREAT work out.
2. Both have the same monotony that allow me to zone out, or be alone with my thoughts.
3. Both sports can make me out of breath.
4. Swimming and running have a proper "form"- which I could probably improve in both sports.

Differences Swimming and Running:
1. Swimming is easier on my body
2. Running is easier on my time. Even though I can only swim for 30 minutes and be happy- I still have to get to the pool.
3. Running does not involve me smelling like chlorine even after a shower.
4. Swimming is working my arms.

That's all I came up with, but comparing the two sports did entertain me for about 20 of the laps I did today. Then I was thinking about how I used to come in last during every swim meet when I was on a swim team when I was little. I was thinking maybe I should take a stroke improvement class before I jump into joining a team. I may look into that.

After I did my work this morning at school and tutoring the kiddos, I went on a little dress shopping adventure. Hmm...does that make it sound like I enjoy these adventures? This time I brought Tiff, who was FAR more excited than me. I did find a bridal gown that I really liked a lot, which I can't post because I forgot the style number, but when I figure it out I'll show everyone. We also look at bridesmaid dresses and found a few relatively promising ones. I just have the hardest time picturing how a dress is going to look in a different color and actually fitting the person. Did anyone else have this problem planning a wedding? I am not good at imagining...

Taking On New Challenges

I have made a "final" (which will obviously change because I am the most indecisive person ever) decision about my work outs in light of my knee injury. I am going to take a break from running. Several awesome people have shared with me that they too had to take 6 month, year long breaks from running because of knee pain. All of these people are running again pain free so I feel like it can happen! However, I'm not convinced it can happen without actually rest, so I am resorting to other work out plans.

My favorite things about running are the fact that 1. you can do it anywhere and 2. it does not take a lot of time to get a good work out- walk out the front door, run 30 minutes, come back and I'm done. Therefore, I will need to be more creative about fitting in other work outs. The bike is good, but it takes at least 45 minutes to get in a good work out on a bike AND that doesn't include filling up the tires and the prep that is involved in getting the bike ready. Swimming is also good, but that involves driving to the gym which is about 20-25 minutes round trip. Also, technically my membership ran out at the gym. When I get home I am going to have to deal with this haha.

While I am down the Cape time is less of an issue so I've been thinking about things I can do. I couldn't bring my bike down, but I did bring my tennis racket and rollerblades. If I really want to bike my parents have mountain bikes in the garage, but I think they are not filled up with air. So I think what I am going to try to do while I'm down here is swim 3-4 times (I can pay $5 to go to the Y that is 15 minutes away or if I get really crazy I can swim in the ocean), rollerblade once or twice, play tennis two or three times and in between do On Demand work outs like pilates, yoga and any other low impact cardio I can find (any recommendations?). For now this will work.

This morning I woke up and headed over the Y. I wanted to get the most of my $5 guest past so I started with the elliptical. I have found that my knee hurts if I had resistance (which is annoying because I think the interval plan keeps things more interesting). I could only manage that for about 15 minutes, especially once I realized the magazine I brought I had already read. After that I did the leg press because I was doing that at PT and that is a leg exercise I can't really keep up at home. I also did the hip lift where I have the big ball under my legs, which also cannot be done at home until I invest in the ball. I LOVE this exercise, it is so good for the back of your thighs! At the end I put on my bathing suit and hopped in the pool for my first swim since the triathlon. I found myself in the middle of a Masters swim team practice (the Cape Cod Y does not like to post things like this on their pool schedule), which was actually kind of good because I am seriously considering joining the Masters team at my Y. It did not look TOO intimidating and I didn't really see a coach anywhere (is there always a coach? or do they just follow a work out?). I did 24 laps today, which totals at 600 yards. I'd like to work up to 1500-2000 before I actually join a team, so I have a lot of work to do. I'm not sure exactly how many yards the typical Masters practice is but maybe one of you guys knows? I'll also have to work on my flip turns and other strokes besides freestyle.

I'm going to see swimming as my new challenge that running can no longer provide. It's much easier on my body (except my skin and hair) and maybe even better for my whole body overall (as far as using my arms and other muscles as well). When life hands you lemons, make lemonade...and then take a swim in it :)

Open Water Attempt

It's finally like a normal Massachusetts summer and I am back in triathlon training mode. I got down the Cape yesterday and found a new way to enjoy PT exercises. Or should I say for the first time I actually didn't mind doing them. Here we go leg lifts on a beach towel!
The strap around my knee is my new best friend the knee strap that holds my pataella in place. I also have my nice five pound weights around my ankle. You can see them even better in this picture:
Haha, it totally looks like I am leading one of those crazy work out videos or something. Oh well it prepared me well for my triathlon training today.

This morning my mom and I went down to look at some bridesmaid dresses and they even forced me to try on a wedding gown. I really do NOT like wedding gowns. #1- I am not a fan of white, but I really don't like when people don't wear white because then I have no idea who the bride is haha. #2- I also am not a huge fan of long dresses, especially not ridiculously heavy ones. #3- I am going to have to pee during my wedding and I really don't know how that is going to work with these massive dresses on. I did enjoy trying on bridesmaid dresses though. Alfred Angelo has this AWESOME fushia color that I love. Of course the sample dress was eggplant, but I could see the fushia and I swear I am going to be wanting to wear my own bridesmaid dress if I end up ordering them. I'll give someone else the bridal gown, any takers?

Anyway, after the "fun" of dress trying I went to the beach to try my first open water swim. I know it looks beautiful but looks can be deceiving.

Well also, this picture was from a few weeks ago when the water was calm and beautiful. Today it was beautiful, but not calm. My mom even commented on how she hasn't seen it this rough in a long time. GREAT day for my first open water swim. I should start by saying I am a little afraid of the ocean. I love it and I've been scuba diving before, but I do have a small fear of it. Not really of big issues like sharks or rip tides, but more like jelly fish and other smaller issues. I rarely swim at the Cape because normally there is a nice breeze and I'm not that hot. But I forced myself to get in (and Eric was a fantastic sport and came in with me). It was a little chilly but I got used to it. I started swimming and the water was going in my goggles and my mouth and I started to panic and tell Eric FORGET IT I CAN'T DO IT! Fortunately, he is a calm (normal) person and talked me down from my minor panic attack. I kept trying to convince myself that next week was not going to be so rough and he was like "WHAT IF IT'S ROUGHER? NOW SWIM!" So I fixed my goggles, stopped trying to swim INTO the waves (which I do realize may not be an option next week) and things got better. I still doubt I came close to swim 1/3 of a mile but I got over the mental obstacle so that is what is important.

The second thing I did today was go for a walk/run. It was 3.32 miles total, and I ran about 1.7 miles of it. My knee seems to be okay with it AND I am happy that I was able to run 1.7 miles without any running for over a month. I know that doesn't sound like much but I could not even run 1.7 miles in February of this year so I thought I'd be back to my pre-running self with all this running rest. Apparently not though. I could've gone farther also but I did not want to push the knee, so I am happy. Hopefully I'll have some more productive triathlon training (with no over doing it!) this week and be ready for next Sunday. I hope everyone is having great weather and enjoying the weekend!

Just keep swimming, Just keep swimming...

There will be a few challenges for me on triathlon day. The very first will be the swimming portion of the race. This will be a challenge for two reasons, #1- I do not normally swim in open water, particularly oceans, and #2- I never swim with TONS of other people. Because of these challenges, I’d like to make it so that swimming 1/3 of a mile itself is not a huge challenge. I just came across this fabulous website on Susan's blog: http://www.swimplan.com/. It will design FREE personalized swim plans for you. I don’t know about you but I am lost when I am swimming laps. I basically just get in, swim 2 laps, stretch a bit, swim another 30ish and then get out. No thought to it what-so-ever. Now, thanks to this website I can plan out workouts that will push my endurance (I told them I can swim 800 yards comfortably and they gave me a 1200 yard plan!) and help me get a little bit faster. This is the plan they developed for me. I will either do it later today or early this week depending on how the cold is feeling. I usually rest for the first day or two of a cold and then continue to work out, but I’m not sure if swimming is different. I’ve heard that when you have a cold your ears don’t drain as well and I could get an ear infection. That does not sound fun so I may do something else to work out today ☺

Warm Up:
2 x 100 yards, rest 20 seconds/100 yards (kick with streamlined arms every 4th lap
*easy (50-60%)

Build Up:
2 x 100 yards, rest 20 seconds/100 yards (kick with streamlined arms every 4th lap)
*aerobic (60-70%)

Core:
3 x 100 yards, rest 30 seconds/100 yards
12 x 25 yards, rest 10 seconds/25 yards (try to reduce number of strokes)
*aerobic (60-70%)

Warm Down:
1 x 100 yard- Push and Glide (pause at the end of each stroke with one arm stretched out in front)- rest, 20 seconds/100 yards
1 x 100 yard- rest, 20 seconds/100 yards
*easy (50-60%)

Yummy Yogurt, Amazing Rolls and Giveaway Winner!

Happy Mother's Day everyone! I am not a mother (though I get called "Mom" and feel like a mom at work all the time!) but I have a fantastic one so I enjoy this day. Especially when it is so gorgeous out. In spirit of this beautiful Mother's Day, these are my favorite flowers in my garden this year, especially because the guy who lived here before us planted them so I just get to enjoy them. I love tulips.
This morning I woke up bright and early to go the gym to do my swimming. Every Sunday my training schedule tell me to swim and bike, but I have yet to actually bike on a Sunday so far, oops. I woke up this morning completely determined to both swim and bike. Swimming went okay, my arms felt a lot better than the other day. The pool was completely packed though, and one lady got SO pissed at me for joining her lane I thought she would drown me on the spot. Clearly, she owns the pool.
I then decided to bike to my parents. My sister and I were going to make my mom pancakes, but she had already eaten so we just hung out for awhile. When my Dad came home he was confused to see me over because he didn't see my car in the driveway and then he said, "Oh yeah, I forgot new Kelly doesn't bring a car" haha...I'm developing a reputation! Eric and I are going over there tonight though so I'm pretty sure I'll take a car later. My bike ride went really well today. The bike path was really clear so I guess all the moms didn't want to exercise this morning :) Plus I moved my bike seat up a bit and it made me slightly faster and I think it will hurt my knee less. In my defense though, I can see why I had it lower before because now I definitely feel like I have a bike seat up my bum. But hopefully that sensation will disapear soon.
I came home today and decided I was absolutely sick of my previous go-to for lunch. I've been eating a rice/quinoa mix with black beans and mango every day for lunch. It's amazing but I'm ready for a little bit of change. I decided to jump on the bandwagon with all the bloggers who are obsessed with Greek yogurt. Usually I try to stay away from dairy because it bothers my stomach (except for when I eat ice cream) but I thought I'd give this a try. I mixed it with a few strawberries and some sliced almonds. It was nice and pink so obviously I was loving it. Plus it tasted yummy.
Also, the other day Eric ordered pizza from Bertuccis and got some rolls. If you don't have Bertuccis near you let me just say these are pretty much the best rolls ever. They are made out of pizza dough and they are basically like heaven in bread form. They have been calling my name for the past two days so today I decided to make a turkey sandwich on one of them. It's probably not exciting enough for warrant a picture but just so you can say you have seen the best rolls in the universe, here is it:

Finally this morning I had time to pick the giveaway winner! I know it only takes 1 second to actually PICK the winner, the process was a bit more complicated. I had to write everyone's name on a piece of paper, then I had to figure out how many times each person entered so I could write their name the correct number of times to put in the bag. For those of you who also do giveaways is that how you do it or is their an easier way that I did not think of? So after I did it and double checked everything was right I put them all in the a bag and then had Eric pick out a winner!
So the winner is............DRUMROLLLL......Kristen! Yay!
Kristen, please e-mail me your address so that I can send you your new torture device- oops I mean Jillian dvd :) Thanks to everyone who participated. If you didn't win, don't worry- I am already plotting my next giveaway and I think it's going to have to do with food. But seriously if you know a better way to pick a winner rather than writing everyone's names several times, please do share!
I hope everyone has a great Mother's Day!!!

Perhaps I Should've Gone For a Half Marathon

I know that sounds a bit dramatic considering how much more difficult that would be than a Sprint Triathlon. However, I am finding that I absolutely suck at both biking and swimming. Running seems to be the only thing that I can manage to do. In the fortunate situation of the triathlon, I will probably even suck at that since I'll be so exhausted from the swimming and biking.
I biked to my parents house last night for dinner and on the way I decided a few things about biking.
1. I am the slowest biker ever.
2. I think I actually hurt my knee biking. I've done some research on why this may be the case and I've concluded that I might have my seat in the wrong spot. I may bring my bike to a bike shop to have them help me. Of course then they might tell me how much my bike sucks.
3. Being the slowest biker is not going to be helped by my mountain bike.
4. If somehow I am not in last place after the swimming portion, I definitely will be after the biking.
It was during this bike ride that I was questioning why I did not just train for a running race only. Yes, a half marathon would be really hard, but at least I would probably not finish last.

Then, this morning I woke up early to go swimming. Last Thursday I did not swim in the morning and then by the time I got out of work and tutoring, there was no more lap swim at the Y. Sunday's swim work out was really tough so I had to get up. I knew I was not going to swim the 35 minutes I was supposed to, so I decided to run on the treadmill first. Good thing I did because I barely made it 20 minutes in the pool. First of all, Lesson #1= do NOT do Level 3 of the shred and then swim the next day. I did about two strokes before I realized what a horrible idea that is. My arms were literally throbbing. I don't even think I made it through the 23 laps I've been trying to do every time. Oh well, hopefully Sunday will be better (and I will not do the shred of any kind on Saturday!). A few things I noticed about swimming:
#1- I am still trying to navigate lane etiquette. I always feel like I should ask people if I can join their lane. But at the same time, it is really not THEIR lane...I don't ask people if I can use the treadmill next to them. Is this the same? Probably not...
#2- Also on lane etiquette, are you supposed to just go on one side of the lane? Or circle swim? Or, is this something you are supposed to work out with the person when you ask them if you can be in their lane? I had actually never seen any other way of sharing besides circle swimming until last week when the woman I was sharing with just stayed on one side. I wondered why I had never seen this before. It makes a lot more sense than circle swimming because really one person does not take up the whole lane and this way you don't really have to wonder about passing people. Although, circle swimming is probably for more than 2 people?
#3- Chlorine. Look, I know the point of it- I do. However, I really do not enjoy the fact that I can still smell it on my hands now 13 hours after swimming, after SHOWERING and of course washing my hands probably at least six or seven times. Also it makes my hair and skin feel nasty. So while I can appreciate the point of it, I still hate it.

In better news, I still love running and I am so looking forward to my outside run on Saturday morning (if somehow it finally decides to not rain). I tried out my new sneakers today (I exchanged the other ones) and I love them. I literally broke a sweat at the store trying them so many times because I did not want to get ones I didn't like again. I was afraid I was bias because they have pink on them. But it turns out they are pink and amazingly comfortable, so perfect.
Also, because my legs were absolutely killing me, and I've done every aspect of the triathlon (biking, swimming and running) in the past 24 hours, I decided to treat myself to some frozen yogurt. There is a place in the center that I have been going to since I was probably 6 so I decided to take Eric there. It's called "Candy Castle" and it was pretty much my favorite place in the world as a child. I haven't been there in at least six or seven years so I decided to give their frozen yogurt a try. It turns out they now have (or maybe they always had...) soft serve frozen yogurt with mix ins so I got a yummy vanilla with Butterfinger mixed it. So basically a healthier version of my favorite at Coldstone Creamery. Speaking of which, Coldstone is also doing a mom gets an ice cream free thingy so if your mom likes Coldstone, check it out :) Here is my beautiful frozen yogurt:
Well it looks a little melted, but trust me it was delicious.
And last but not least I have to tell you guys about this awesome game I play with my darling kindergarten kids today. It's been raining all week in Boston so our outside time has been limited and stir crazy is not quite a strong enough phrase to describe my kids right now. I found this game on one of the Self Magazine blogs and turned it into a kids game. However, it is also used for adults who need some child-like motivation to guide their work outs. Basically, you grab a deck of cards and assign each suit to a different exercise, like this:
For adults you may want to do lunges, push ups, squats etc. Or use the kids ones :) Then I had the kids spread out throughout the classroom and each take a turn turning over a card. The child would say out loud what they got, "10 of hearts!" and the kids would then all do 10 jumping jacks. If they got a King of Spades, they'd all do 11 frog jumps. By the end my kids were exhausted and I was happy :) I could see myself getting bored with my work outs one day and playing this game as an adult. It could be fun! If you have children at home or work with them, I highly recommend this game for rainy days.
That's all for now.
Don't forget only one more day for the giveaway!!! If you want to win a No More Trouble Zones dvd, quick send me an e-mail! And even if you don't want to win, follow my blog anyways just for fun.

Italy in Boston

There are a lot of places I love in Boston: Fenway Park, Newbury Street, Faneuil Hall etc. However, I think if someone told me I could only go to one part of Boston for the rest of my life, I would pick The North End. There is nothing quite so wonderful as the crowded streets, yummy Italian food and yummy gelato and canoli desserts. Last night Eric, Tiff, Ronnie and I headed into the North End and after running my first 5k I was feeling like I deserved a yummy meal. I have a couple of restaurants I want to try in the North End, but we decided on one for last night called Trattoria il Panino. I almost never stray off Hanover street for restaurants, but this one was on a nice side street right off of Hanover and had a beautiful garden area (that I will definitely be eating in next time!). I am pretty boring and almost always get some kind of pasta with regular tomato sauce, but let me tell you the quality and taste of even this simple meal can vary depending on the place. At Trattoria il Panino, it was definitely Italy quality. Tiff and Eric both got a special that was Butternut Squash and Pumpkin Ravioli. I tried it and it was delicious too.

We also ordered this wonderful bottle of wine called La Aristocratico. It's a Pino Grigio (my all time favorite) that I have never tried before and it was so good! I got to be the lucky one to taste it for the table and make sure it was good (anyone else feel like a total idiot when you do this?) and I was so happy about how great it tasted I didn't even have to fake the usual "yup tastes fine" haha. We finished up with some dessert from where else but Mike's Pastry. After, we came home to watch the Celtics. And don't worry, I did manage to get up this morning and go for my training swim. Although it did take me suspiciously long to finish the 23 laps...maybe I shouldn't have skipped my swim last Thursday. The good news (swimming wise, horrible news for every other aspect of my life) is that it is supposed to rain a lot this week so I will probably get a lot of swimming in. I leave you with a picture of Eric with the dog version of him (haha aka Tiff's dog Bruschi). Don't forget to enter to win the GIVEAWAY!