I’m baaaaaaaaaaaack.
My fingers had such a nice break yesterday! :) I hadn’t done a Wordless Wednesday since last September.
I think it is a nice change every once and a while. I also loved seeing how your comments changed when I just posted pictures as opposed to pictures and words. Many of you commented how you enjoyed putting together a story in your mind…I thought that was kind of fun!
I am playing around with the idea of doing a daily wordless afternoon post. Right now I generally post in the morning and then again at night, but it would be fun to have a wordless lunch post just to break up the day.
By the way, inside my wrap yesterday was my Golden Sweet Potato Soup from the other night! I really do love that soup! So simple and comforting.
Swim #3 last night!
Apparently, I was so excited my left cheek started to glow uncontrollably…? ;)
Swim #3:
- 15 minute warm-up (freestyle, breaststroke, flutter board)
- 30 minute medium pace (freestyle, breaststroke)
- 10 minute fast pace (freestyle, no stopping after each length)
- 5 minute treading water to finish (I found treading water really easy! Wonder why?)
I didn’t keep track of laps because I was focusing more on technique rather than speed, but I would guess that I swam about 25 laps/1250 metres in about 55 minutes.
My goal was to start doing bilateral breathing which is when you breathe on both the left and right side, as opposed to just one side. I had only been breathing on my strong side (the right side) the last two sessions. It was tricky at first as my left side is not as strong, but after a few laps I picked it up and I am happy to say that I can now confidently breathe on both sides while doing freestyle. Eric is doing great with it too!
What I learned Day 3:
- Good swimmers are efficient and effortless swimmers (I learned this while watching swimmers in the fast lane.) They are smooth and graceful like swans.
- Seeing myself improve and Eric improve is so exciting. We were so pumped on the drive home because we were feeling proud of ourselves. It feels awesome to learn a new skill again!
- Don’t panic when the pool fills up with people and the waves start getting choppy. This is good practice for the tri! It was REALLY busy last night.
- When you go to the late night swim, kiss the sauna goodbye because the entire place shuts down and you get kicked out. Can I hear an Awwww hellll nooo?
I checked our pool for adult lessons and there is currently one going on but it is full and we can’t get in. The next one isn’t until July. The wait list for private lessons is also 17 people long. So, my next step is looking for an instructor who is not affiliated with the pool and just teaches on the side. I find I am really craving some lessons because I really want my form to be the best it can be. At first, my thoughts were along the lines of just swimming so I can finish the race, but now Eric and I are starting to enjoy it so we want to improve!
We didn’t get home from the pool until about 10:45pm. Party animals, eh?
I woke up ravenous this morning. I wanted carbs…and fast.
I made this for Eric yesterday and it was so amazingly good I decided to make it for breakfast.
Grilled Cashew Butter and Blueberry Sandwich:
Ingredients:
- 3 pieces whole wheat bread
- 2 tbsp Organic Blueberry Jam
- 1 tbsp cashew butter
- 2 tsp Earth Balance Margarine
Directions: Take 1st piece of bread and spread a layer of blueberry jam on top. Take 2nd piece of bread and place on top. Spread piece #2 with cashew butter and then add another layer of jam. Add third piece of bread and spread lightly with margarine. Place sandwich onto pre-heated frying pan (on medium heat), margarine side down. Now spread the top side of the bread with margarine. Grill on each side until golden brown and serve immediately.
This was inspired by Caitlin’s Grilled Banana Sandwich.
Blueberry jam is fun!
Intense, isn’t it? You could also use any kind of nut butter or jam too.
Onto the pan it goes…
The smell was quite amazing while cooking. Mmm.
Oh my gooooosh this was so good.
Sometimes a gal just needs bread, no?
The saltiness from the margarine played off the sweetness of the cashew butter and jam so well.
Magnifique!
Today’s question- What forms of exercise challenge you like no other, no matter how good of shape you are in?
I said to Eric last night, ‘No matter how many miles I run or how many intense cardio workouts I do, swimming is one heck of a challenging workout!’ I thought my lungs were in great shape until I started swimming. I am anxious to see if swimming improves my running endurance. Any runner/swimmers out there want to comment on this?
For me:
- Stair walking/running (I used to do 28 floors of stairs in my condo everyday)
- Swimming
- Yoga
- Running, esp. hill or trail running
See you later alligator!
oh yes . . . sometimes a girl does just need bread!
in my experience as a swimer,swimming never made running any easier for me. I actually dreaded run days becuase they were so hard. I would always say to my swim coach “If I wanted to run I would have joined the track team. Now can we get back in the pool?!”
I think the transition from runner to swimmer is easier than swimmer to runner. When I first started running I actually caught myself holding my breath because that’s what I was used to doing for swimming.
Stairs are my kryptonite. I can run miles, but stairs have my gasping and panting.
I used to swim in college. Great exercise but I think hard core swimmers are suseptible to shoulder problems later in life. Try treading water with your arms in the air, in other words, just use your legs to keep you afloat, that’s a really great workout.
looking at that sandwich is making me so hungry!
for some reason hiking ALWAYS kicks my butt, no matter how good of shape i’m in. same goes for ballet, i’ve been dancing since i was three and i always get winded by the end of routines.
congrats on the swimming improvement!
I love reading your lessons learned from swimming. My parents have a pretty big pool in their backyard…it makes me want to get over there and swim some laps this summer!
That sandwich looks heavenly!
I think swimming is definitely one of the toughest workouts out there. I really should do more of it, but I’m such a slow swimmer (and don’t belong to a pool). One of my goals is to do a triathlon someday, so I’ve REALLY been enjoying following your progress in your training. Since I’ve totally related to how nervous you were about swimming, it’s super encouraging to see how quickly you feel like you’ve improved!
Besides swimming, the other type of cardio that I always find to be wicked tough is the stairmaster at the gym. No matter how good of shape I think I’m in, that thing makes me sweat like no other!
OH my goodness… that sandwich looks seriously AMAZING!!!!
Swimming is crazy hard!!! No matter how in shape you are.
That looks amazing. I think I might have to try that.
The hardest exercise for me is indoor cycling and kickboxing (I have a tough instructor that changes it every class and works us REALLY hard)
love that this sandwich is double-stacked – you don’t mess around! my kinda girl ;)
That sandwich looks amazing, and I will seriously be trying it someday soon.
I feel like no matter how long I run, it’s always hard. I like to hope that some day it will feel just like walking, but I have a feeling I wouldn’t even want to do it anymore if it got that easy. A good challenge is fun!
I danced for the last 6 years and found that my running made me so much more able to get the most out of my ‘boot camp’ style classes. I’ve taken a break in the last year (save some $$, focus on running), but might get back into now that I’m freezing out my gym membership for the summer.
I never really got the whole “PB & J” concept – and then I started putting it on toast for pre-run eats and found it’s not as gross as . . say, donuts for breakfast :) PB and . . what do you call? That marshmallow stuff? That’s weird!! :) Yours looks very yummy!
Oh my gosh–I’m a cyclist (obviously, heh), but I took several months off over the winter because our weather was so bad. I was just doing 45 minute swim workouts twice a week and an hour of Pilates 3 times per week. When I got back on the bike to do my 27 mile loop, I took 10 MINUTES off of my time. Then I went out again and took another 5 off! I was blown away! I went from that loop taking me an hour and 55 minute to an hour and 40 minutes, just by swimming and doing Pilates!
And to answer your question–all workouts still challenge me hugely! As I like to say, “with cycling, it doesn’t get easier, you just get faster.” And with Pilates, there’s always another level, another small tweak to perfect the movement. Love it!
That sandwich looks delicious!!
It is awesome that you and Eric are enjoying swimming so much! It must be fun training with your husband!
holy WOW to that sandwich! looks like a dream come true to me :)
i gotta say that hiking always ALWAYS kicks my tail! i’m lucky enough to live in Colorado where the trails are plentiful…and i know that the altitude has a lot to do with it, but it’s always fun, always different, and always challenging. gotta love a workout like that!
Oh man, delicious!
Running is always a challenge for me because once I go a certain distance I can still go faster or longer.
Yoga is challenging for me. When I run, I can just turn everything off in my head and run, but with yoga I have to focus on form, breathing and balance.
swimming has definitely improved my running endurance! especially hill workouts, which used to be really challenging. I think swimming is the greatest thing you can do to cross-train, no matter what sport :)
Running is the most challenging for me mentally. Any other exercise at the gym and I can be reading, but with running it gets a bit trickier. I have to live fully in my mind even with the music pumping. So mentally it is a huge challenge for me!
I love Caitlin’s grilled banana sandwich! I had one just yesterday with strawberries and almonds on the side.
Looks good! I love your bathing suit. I went last night to sports authority to try on suits. omfg, what a nightmare. I never have issues, but with one pieces? i don’t understand how they size these things. i wear a size small (0-3 in jeans), but for the suits, a size 8-10 fit me and it still feels tight. also, i couldn’t get any that i really liked because i have no freakin’ boobs and without the padding in the bust, i seriously looked like a 10 year old girl. waah
just to clarify, i do not care about the size/# on the label, i am just annoyed at how i don’t understand their sizing and have to try on 345345 suits lmao
I have finished my competitive swimming career, but now I like to take advantage of our on-campus pool before I head out for a run. I still stretch after my swim before lacing up, but there is nothing better than the full body workout that swimming offers! I usually exit the water feeling stretched out and refreshed. No doubt it helps my running endurance. :)