i love running, again!

and swimming...

but first, the running. 5k today in perfect conditions. 45 and sunny. a leetle windy but nothing too bad, once you got moving. my goal: to finish. my hope: that i could still run the entire distance.

and i did! as i got ready this morning, the process of getting dressed, lathering on the bodyglide, and lacing up the shoes, i felt like it all started coming back to me. that routine which i had abandoned for a quarter of the year still felt familiar.

taking my first steps and breath of the brisk morning air, i knew i was home again. it felt so good, almost like i'd never been away. i found a rhythm early, albeit a slow one, and i honestly felt like my whole body was singing.

not to say it was effortless. it was uncomfortable at times, but the idea of finishing without stopping kept me going. passing people kept me going. so i kept going, right on down to the finish line! time: 37:34 my watch is being dumb right now, but i ran each mile in a little over 12 minutes, with my last mile being the fastest.

definitely not a noteworthy time, but a fun, fun run nonetheless.

now onto my swimming. in one lane there was a dude, a serious swimmer doing serious laps. not once during the entire time that i was there did i see him stop. he was joined by his bionic twin and they caused many a wave in the pool. i shared a lane with a serious chick. at first she made me nervous, but i decided to take advantage of the opportunity and observe her. without being obvious of course because that would be creepy. somehow swimming next to her pushed me to do better. i thought, let's see if i can go across and back without stopping. even if i have to stop in the middle on the way back. and wouldn't you know i made it all the way both ways! HUGE breakthrough! i did a couple more laps like that with rests in between the 50 m. i was like floored. and totally stoaked.

then at some point i thought, hmmm maybe i can do 3 times across? well my friends, 3 turned into 6! SIX! wtf!? the cool thing is i didn't feel out of breath or totally crazed like i do sometimes when i can complete only 1. maybe i had "endurance" on the brain and that sustained me and calmed me the entire distance.

i left the pool feeling like a mother effing rockstar.

i also practiced flip turns and was finally able to do a decent somersault. but no flip turn. i hate feeling dizzy though and i don't know how i'm not gonna get seasick once i start to get some real laps in.

so that's the end of my athletic adventures! it's a great way to start my weekend. let's just hope i don't twist my ankle again tonight while i'm shakin' my thang on the dance floor. i want to keep this momentum going!