In the swing of summer

It’s summer! I’ve been keeping busy with the usual summer activities: June weddings, summer travel, Independence Day BBQs, and the like. I also decided to devote my summer to training for a triathlon! It sounded crazy when my dear friend suggested we do it together a few weeks ago, but I’ve come to really enjoy the process. That doesn’t quite describe it: I loathe the actual running, I ache all the time, and in places I didn’t know existed, but what is so enjoyable is that despite that, I don’t want to quit.  Even though I feel like garbage while running, I have run more in the last 3 weeks than I’ve ever run in my life. I got on a bicycle for the first time in 9 years, overcoming my near-catatonic fear of crashing again. The other rewarding part is that the swimming part of my training program is so easy for me that I double it. I LOVE the days where I get to swim. Today, I started ramping up to doing two parts in one day, which I’ll do a few times a week at this point. I ran for 25 minutes this morning, then swam for 20 minutes. I was so bushed after doing both that while I was blow-drying my hair, I had to take breaks because my arms were so tired! I’d take a nap, but I finally got my hair all pretty after all that J I view this level of exhaustion, too, as a sign I should keep going and get in shape! Some other benefits of this training regimen are the stellar tan I’m acquiring being outside, and the fact that I ate like every day last week was the 4^th of July, and didn’t gain any weight! The triathlon is September 22, so please keep me in your thoughts as I train.

Andy and I also got to enjoy a little R & R last week on our Great American Midwest Vacation. We went to Nebraska City for my cousin’s wedding, then trekked up to the land of 10,000 lakes to visit family, celebrate Andy’s dad’s “50^th” Birthday, and catch up with some of our old Minnesota friends. On the way back, we got to swing by the lake to spend Independence Day with my Bricker clan for a bit before finally getting home. We were so tired when we got back on July 4th, we decided to just watch the fireworks on PBS!

I have so much more to tell you about, but I’m going to do several posts on the projects and plates I’ve been cooking up, so plan to see more from me this week.