My Brain's Going 100 mph... If Only My Legs Were That Fast

Prepare yourself, because I have a LOT to talk about.

I woke up early this morning (10:30 is early) and decided it was a gorgeous day to head over to the Farmers Market. A little background... I am REALLY weird about my food. And I'm really weird about it going bad. I check almost EVERYTHING before I eat it. But with most of my grocery shopping being done at Wal-Mart these days, my fruits don't end up being too fresh. So what better way to buy fresh than to buy straight from the farmers themselves.

I browsed the stands and saw some raspberries that were calling my name. So for $4, I bought freshly picked raspberries.

I went home, washed them, and dumped them into a bowl. That's when I noticed it.... the mold...

I threw out the super moldy raspberries, but as I picked through them, I noticed that almost ALL of them were moldy. They were green and gray and mushy and growing mold on their insides. Bleh.

When I was done, this is all I was left with...

I ended up throwing these out an hour later because they still smelled moldy.

$4 right in the trash. Stupid Farmers Market.

____________________________________


After going insane over moldy fruit, I dragged myself to the Y. I got on the treadmill and ran 1.51 miles in 18 minutes (I walked 4 of those minutes). I'm still confused as to why I go slower and walk more often on a treadmill. Hmm.

After the run, I mentally prepared myself for the swim. The only thing that got me into that bathingsuit was reminding myself, Once you get this over with, you won't have to put so much as a toe back in this pool until Tuesday.

I swam for 13 minutes and went 500 meters.

But the oddity began when I hopped out of the pool. Walking back to the locker room, I was very dizzy. The dizziness lasted through getting my stuff and leaving the building. It even lasted through getting in my car and driving home.

I've heard this is relatively common, but the cause is somewhat disputed. It may have something to do with my swimming form... the fact that I breath on every stroke, and I only take breaths on my right side. The frequency plus the snapping of my neck to the side could cause me to become dizzy. Or it could be the water seeping into my ears and causing my balance to be off. Or it could be the fact that I'm horizontal for such a long period of time and then I'm suddenly vertical and all the blood is rushing into (out of?) my head. It could be oh so many things.

It's a pretty important problem because I'm supposed to jump out of Lake Michigan and RUN to the first transition. I don't want to fall over or pass out.

So starting next week, I will eliminate the possibilities. I will try to take my breaths more evenly and wear earplugs when I swim. We'll see what happens I guess.

____________________________________


Last night, during our 5pm newscast, I saw something about a 5K. It was being held this morning in a nearby town. That got me to thinking... I could TOTALLY do a 5K. I would have laughed at myself 2 months ago, but I think I can do it now. It wouldn't be good, it wouldn't be fast, and I may even have to stop and walk once, but I would finish it.

This morning was too short of notice for me. I would've had to wake up super early and pay more money for registering late. Plus, I really wanted to hit up that Farmers Market (gurr stupid Farmers Market). So I researched some 5Ks for next weekend and found 2 possibilities.

The first is the Knight Run in Beloit, Wisconsin...

Date: Saturday, August 02, 2008
Time: 8:30 AM
Brief Description: A 5k Cross Country Run (open to the public) on the Beloit Memorial High School Cross Country Course. The course is uneven, grassy, gently rolling terrain with two loops through the park.
Prices: Pre-registration - $15.00, Registration - $20.00

The second is the Lincoln-Douglas 5K in Freeport, Illinois...

Date: Saturday, August 02, 2008
Time: 8:35 AM
Brief Description: A 5K wheel-measured course designed to challenge the beginning walker or an experienced runner. All races begin at the Debate Square site of the legendary Lincoln Douglas debate this year celebrating its sesquicentennial.
Event Size: 210 Participants
Prices: Registration - $20.00



Both races are pretty much the same distance away. They cost practically the same and start around the same time. I guess it might come down to whether I'd rather do a cross country or road course.

I need to make this decision by Tuesday.

____________________________________


Speaking of decision, I've come to the conclusion (with help from my mom, boyfriend, and google) that renting a wetsuit would be a very good idea. I've heard Lake Michigan is extremely cold this year (we havn't even hit 90 degrees ONCE this summer!). It will be $50 well-spent and if I decide that I want to continue doing triathlons, I can put $40 of that towards the purchase of a used wetsuit.

Actually... it'll look more like this...



... Or not. Cause that's just creepy.

____________________________________


Lastly, I stumbled upon the website hundredpushups.com. Instead of try to explain it myself, here is what the website says:

"If you're serious about increasing your strength, follow this six week training program and you'll soon be on your way to completing 100 consecutive push ups!

Think there's no way you could do this? I think you can! All you need is a good plan, plenty of discipline and about 30 minutes a week to achive this goal!

No doubt some of you can already do 50 consecutive push ups, but let's face it, you're in a big minority. Most of you reading this won't even be able to manage 20 pushups. Actually, I'm sure many of you can't even do 10.

However, it really doesn't matter which group you fall into. If you follow the progressive push ups training program, I'm positive you'll soon be able to do 100 push ups!"

30 minutes a week? That's less than 5 minutes a day. I could totally do that. Plus, the program is personalized based on how many pushups you can do now (like, 3).

Push ups are quick, easy, and don't require me to buy equipment or even leave my apartment... Sign me up!