Sunday, January 3, 2010

Happy New Year!

Winter in New England

Ahhhhh January...

My LEAST favorite month of the year followed by February. My skin is pasty white, I'm ready to go to bed by 7 due to the darkness and the thought of yummy greasy overloaded carbs consumes me. You know, stuff like mac and cheese and cookies. Any kind of cookies, you name it. (Drool)

Now as active I am I trying to stay these days, I have to admit, it's not making me feel refreshed and chipper, sleek and fit. Maybe it's the cookies. Ya think??

Today I feel like I've been steamrolled, tossed in a wood chipper and finally, put through one of those peanut grinders at Whole Foods that makes fresh peanut butter. Even my eye sockets hurt. Yesterday I completed the 100x100's swim challenge. Eeeeks. It was tough. I was in a lane with 2 others and the idea was to switch off the lead every 10 repeats and move a little stone from one cup to another to keep track. Besides my lane mate from MIT Masters, I swam with this other guy Mike who I did not know and really, he should have been in a 1:25 BASE lane (not kidding) but that wasn't an option since he was the fastest swimmer there and we only had a 2 minute, 1:55, 1:45 and 1:40 lane. He literally BLASTED out each and every 100 on a 1:10-1:15 effort and just hung at the wall for 25-30 seconds looking bored.
Consequently, he ended up leading most of the swim and Bob and I just stayed with 1:20ish effort having plenty of time to grab a gel and keep hydrated between repeats. At the 1/2 way mark I was thinking.. "no way.. I don't think I can last another set let alone 5000 more yards of these" but the thought of actually getting out of the lane in the middle of a set with my tail between my legs would have seemed more painful and embarrassing so instead, I dreamed of
the bubbly goodness of freshly baked mac and cheese and Orange Milano cookies and life was again worth living.

If I am mentally impaired enough to sign up for this again, I have a few tips I will remember and share with you.
A. Bring TWO PAIRS of goggles. Having the same pair on for 2hours and 45 minutes, made my eyes/sockets very uncomfortable no matter how much adjusting I did.

B. Bring SALT TABLETS AGAIN. Phew... thank god I remembered these. Only after 20 repeats, my feet started to cramp and they were a LIFESAVER even though I was using Power Gel with 2x sodium. I'm figuring the cramping is from the 11 mile New Years Day run the day before and my lack of proper post run re-hydrating.


And now for your viewing pleasure, I will go off on a tangent and share some holiday photos TGP style taken with my new Nikon D5000.

Christmas Eve at Dusk



Christmas Table

Parker

mini cheesecakes

16 comments:

That Runner Chick said...

I think swimming long enough to require salt tablets is INSANE! Pure masochism. However, yummmmm mini cheesecakes!!

Jennifer Harrison said...

CRACK ME UP! SALT tabs for the 100 x 100 - love it! :) I have never done the 100 x 100 - maybe someday...our Masters team doesn't do it...yet. :)

The pics are beautiful. I keep forgetting you have a dog named Parker...my maiden name and Graham's middle name. Lovely!

January would be my least fav month but it is birthday month around here and a weekend (annual) trip away for me w/ girlfriends...so, Feb or March is my least fav around here.

Stay warm! Happy New Year! xo

Unknown said...

You are awesome! 100x100 wow. I am in training and will give it a go eventually.
Happy New Year!
Tracy (aka Gunners Mom)

Unknown said...

That is a crazy workout... can't believe you paid money to do that!! Your pics are lovely.

Janet Edwards said...

Holy cow that 100 x100s sounds tough. I wonder if my club may go for something like that...

Gorgeous pics...I have a golden too!

Rebecca DeWire said...

I love your pics, just beautiful. And I can't believe that you swam that long! I am so impressed.

Caratunk Girl said...

Holy cow, great swimming. Also, great looking mini cheesecakes - how am I supposed to avoid the bad carb high sugar winter blues after looking at that? :) Great post.

Shelley said...

Beautiful pics..

jessithompson said...

Way to rock it! That is TOUGH. Loved the pics too...

Anonymous said...

i love the pictures. you will need a waterproof salt holder!

Pumpkinman 2010?

kerrie said...

i'm so impressed...i can't even imagine staying in the water that long. i hope you followed it up with 100x100 of those mini-cheesecakes!

Jamie said...

Wow. You are a champ. I would have to be pretty drunk to be convinced to sign up for that insanity...

Maybe next year. Hmmm...

Mer! said...

YOU ARE INSANE. I just did 20x100 yesterday and I was pleased holding a 1:35-1:40 (typically I swim in a 1:30 lane but not these days =0)....

WOW!! SO impressed..and the pictures are GORGEOUS!! Parker looks very festive..so cute!!

I grew up with Goldens so I just love them!!!

Happy New Year teammate!!! =0

No word on Boston yet....hopefully tomorrow or early next week..stay tuned!!

Ange said...

your pics are gorgeous!! I did those 100x100 a few yrs ago and needed salt too! didn't have it..but I needed it! I got so cramped up! it's tough...
happy winter.

TriGirl Kate O said...

Congratulations on sticking it out and finishing--quite an accomplishment! Great way to get the new year off to the right start. Any chance of a February challenge?

Unknown said...

sister lainer,

Dam our cheese cakes look good! I'll be snacking on animal crackers and apple sauce from this point on or maybe some of those freaking Full bars.I know.... consistency equals results. blah blah blah.