Swimming

I felt totally off swimming again tonight! Atie said I wasnt reaching enough, I was crossing over with one arm and not throwing my arms. I knew I was swimming poorly, never knew I crossed over ever! I thought I was not putting my head down enough. The whole stroke felt off. I guess I have to swim more often. That is all I can think of. Either that or running more, and better, makes swimming go down the drain!

swimming....or not

I swam today after not swimming for a week. I felt terrible! I remember that this is how it is if I do not swim more often, but I want to remember this so I never forget it again. SWIM 3-4 TIMES PER WEEK!

Top 10 females

Look at the top 10 female finishers in the race I did yesterday! THe top 3 were all my age group, and in the top 10, 5 were in my age group. Arent we amazing!?

1 1 F4049 22:44 7:19 Pat Bourgalt 49 F 212 Concord NH
2 2 F4049 25:44 8:17 Ellie Ferguson 47 F 233 N Haverhill NH
3 3 F4049 26:32 8:33 Lisa Davy 42 F 231 Laconia NH
4 1 F0117 27:07 8:44 Lindy Heffernan 14 F 244 Bradford NH
5 4 F4049 28:05 9:03 Mary Macnuso 49 F 237 Cornish NH
6 1 F3039 29:35 9:32 Jessie Levine 37 F 239 New London NH
7 5 F4049 29:37 9:32 Patti Clifford 43 F 213 Franklin NH
8 1 F5059 31:09 10:02 Jacqueline Keith 57 F 225 Franklin NH
9 2 F0117 32:56 10:36 Geneva Heffernan 10 F 243 Bradford NH
10 6 F4049 33:17 10:43 Amy Wade 41 F 217 Newport NH

Reindeer Run, New London, NH

Today I ran the Reindeer Run in New London, NH.
http://www.coolrunning.com/results/07/nh/Dec8_8thRei_set1.shtml
It was fun. Perfect weather. Didn't start until 10:30, a nice civilized time. Close to 30 degrees, breezy. I just wore a couple of shirts and even that was too much. I warmed up for a mile or so! (A first for me) with a couple of strides right before the race, and wore a microfleece over my mouth for the warm up. I had the lofty goal of 22 minutes for this 5k, Thanks Steve! But that wasn't to be. I know, there are always excuses but this one seems more legit: The roads were covered in snow and slush. The usual push off just couldn't happen for about half the race. It was also hilly, but I heard about that, right before the race, and was pleasantly surprised, that it wasn't as bad as my imagination had made up. My breathing was better for the warm-up and face mask, which I did not race in, although I did feel dizzy and like my ears were filled during the race. I did some flonase at about 8am, did that clear my nose and fill my ears? I ran a 26:32, for a pace of 8:33. 2nd in my age group, 15th overall. Not too bad, but NOT 22! I actually passed someone! On the downhill finish and did feel like dryheaving so I definitely gave it as much as I could. I will do the warmup and mouth cover again. Thanks John! Would wear one less shirt, and I knew that before I started, but didn't have a place to ditch it. Also, I wore waterproof trail shoes and trail socks, a good choice since it was a messy race. They only gave first prizes in this race but I got a T-shirt, actually 2! The food was great and there was a nice indoor lodge for the apres-race food, results and prizes. There was a costume party, but I actually did not participate in it!

Races that I REALLY want to do

The Xterra trail race series (3)
Crank the Kank
Patriot Half
Timberman Half
SOS sept 7, 2008
RTB sept 12-13, 2008
I know those last 2 are only a week apart but I REALLY want to do them both!

My serious goals for this year:

Do a 5k under 21 minutes
Improve my uphill running and biking.
Improve my nutrition
Lose 10 pounds
Improve my speed over every race from last year if I redo them.

Random thoughts

Uugh! Less miles this week than last! How depressing. No ones fault but my own. And my eating sucks too! I have to get serious about that. But today's run was hardy! Whipping, wailing winds, cold and it still felt great! Today is perfect so far. Perfect~ Great workout, great eating, and the rest of the day is free to pursue more creative projects since it is not a workday, and all I have to do is stay away from junk food! I wish everyday was this wonderful!