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I would love to say I haven't posted because I have been super busy, but I really haven't said anything because I haven't had anything to say. I know this is odd for me. However, when I stop to think about what I've been up to, maybe I have been busy. Oh well.

Monday night was boot camp and yoga. Led by someone who had been in the military and actually gone to boot camp, I was honestly expecting more of a workout. I mean, yeah, we ran a mile (with no walking, thank you!) in flight formation, but that really wasn't so bad. Especially since, hi, I'm a runner. Anyway, went to yoga afterwards then came home.

Tuesday I had planned on swimming, but the weather looked iffy, so I got on the bike instead. This was the first time I had really tried to get in an honest to God bike workout, not just trying to put in some form of cardio. I did 35 minutes on the "Alpine Pass" setting with the resistance somewhere between 6 and 8 (depending on how it felt and the bigger hills), and came out to about 15 miles. My quads were burning but it was so worth it! Afterwards, I had my lovely Polar body assessment... apparently, I am walking around in a 26 going on 31 year old body, with the possibility of going down to a 26 going on 20 year old body. I have great flexibility and nice calm blood pressure, but a horrible VO2 max and not a whole lot of strength. Between lifting weights, swimming, running, biking, and yoga, you'd think I was the most in shape person ever, but not so much.

Thursday, however, I think I might have met the most in shape person on the planet. Our boot camp instructor for the evening, Kaleigh, has to be the fittest person I have ever met. This girl could do mountain climbs, weights, and all the ab work in the world with her sunglasses still on her head and without breaking a sweat. This girl is unreal, the total picture of what healthy and in shape is supposed to look like. She's got to be like 22. I'll tell you right now that I wasn't in that good a shape at 22, and there's a pretty good likelihood that I never will be, even if the Polar assessment says it's possible. But it won't be for lack of trying.

I think the scale is finally catching up to my food intake. It is always kind of an eye-opener to see that you are carrying around 46 lbs of fat - makes you think about all the chicken wings, Zaxby's, brownies, and beer you're inhaling. And while I would love to chalk my 4 lb weight gain up to getting more muscle, I am pretty sure that's not the case. As much as I want to eat well, and have already mentioned that I run better when I do, I know that I go through phases where I am on a steady diet of junk. I try to blame it on PMS, but that only lasts a week and my junk food binges can go on for like two months. I am lucky I have low cholesterol and blood pressure and I need to enjoy it while it lasts, but more importantly I need to make it last longer and make it work for me while I am trying to work out, be healthier, and go the distance. And folks, nutritionists aren't kidding when they say that Diet Coke isn't good for you - one gulp will kill my craving for water all day. I just won't want it when I'm drinking soda - I just want more Diet Coke!

It's going to be hard to break these habits getting ready for Peachtree, but it's necessary. I am afraid to be dehydrated in the concrete jungle on the most crowded, scorching day of the year in Atlanta, and I am afraid that when combined with a low glycogen store from not enough good carbs, I am going to have a mental and possibly physical meltdown that will turn this lifelong dream into a grueling torture fest. I don't want that. I have looked forward to this so much and for so long that I don't want anything to ruin it. The same thing goes for the marathon - as we get closer and closer hydration and nutrition are going to become more and more of a performance factor for me. While I'm not trying to win any medals for finishing first, I am trying to go the distance with the least amount of misery involved. Why not prevent it by eating well, drinking water, and getting back on the wagon? So, after eating at three of my favorite North Georgia culinary empires - the Varsity, Henry's, and Buckner's - it really is going to be time to get serious. Again. For real. Finally. I just need a way to be held accountable. Any suggestions?

Getting ready for Peachtree is also going to involve some hill training. I want to charge up Cardiac Hill the same way I charged up the hills for the ING Atlanta 1/2, and since there aren't any hills in Northeast Florida to train on, we get to do the man-made variety - bridges. So, without further ado, here is my planned run for tomorrow, starting and ending at Panera so I can treat myself to a well-earned souffle: (*note, this isn't 100% exact, but it's darn close)

Guppy Goes Graceful

Swimming today went a lot better than swimming last week. B came up with my training today using swimplan.com, and I think it was perfect:

Warm up
•	4 x 25yd Freestyle Swim (even pace), rest 0:10 / 25yd
	Freestyle swim at a steady pace.
Build up (repeat 4 times)
•	1 x 25yd Streamline Kicking, rest 0:10 / 25yd
	Freestyle kick with arms held out front in a streamlined position. Fingers overlap with one thumb lightly gripping the opposite hand. Lift your chin above the water to breath without turning your head.
•	1 x 25yd Single Arm (arm by side) 6 x left, 6 x right, 6 x full stroke, rest 0:10 / 25yd
	Freestyle using one arm at a time, focusing on shoulder and hip rotation. Complete 6 arm strokes with the left arm followed by 6 strokes with the right arm. The non-stroking arm is held loosely by your side.
Core
•	4 x 50yd Freestyle DPS, rest 0:20 / 50yd
	Freestyle swim with maximum Distance Per Stroke (DPS). Concentrate on long, efficient strokes and a high streamlined body position to reduce drag in the water. Count your strokes per lap and try to reduce.
•	4 x 50yd Freestyle Swim, rest 0:15 / 50yd
Warm down
•	1 x 50yd Freestyle Easy, rest 0:15 / 50yd
	Freestyle swim at a slow, relaxed pace.

I was huffing and puffing, so I know I got a workout, but at the same time it seemed like it kept getting easier and easier the more and more I swam. I almost didn't want to get out of the pool, but I did get kind of tired. I'm a little sore, but I think more of it was from boot camp than it was from swimming. But the best part was that B said I looked pretty good, and I was getting better, and that made me happy!

Oh, and as for my Vegas training schedule, I am working on updating it. Need to do a little more tweaking.

Pain Is Weakness Leaving The Body

...or so I'm told.

Boot camp kicked my butt. I am almost always dehydrated, and only having a small bottle of water was a bad idea (wasn't I just talking about hydration??) I got overheated to the point that I almost tossed my cookies. Probably the only reason I didn't was my fear of kneeling in front of a public toilet (NASTY!!!). I guess I wasn't the only one -

Drill Sargent Patrice: "Where'd you run off to?"

Private Josh: "Oh, no biggie, just had to puke."

According to B, that was the line of the night.

We did an obstacle course consisting of running across a line of Bosu balls (very hard to keep balance at first), around the outside of scattered rings in the floor (slalom running), over a line of steppers (jumping from one to the other with two feet), and then a kind of tire run, where you have to hit every hole as you run across (Sorry, I know this is requiring a lot of imagination). We did some marching, jumping jacks, tae-bo moves, and free-weight lifting. And then more obstacle course. It was pretty tiring. Maybe I am not in as much shape as I thought (maybe? Definitely!) but I can now say I know just where my anaerobic threshold is - and it's pretty low!

I begged B to stay for Monday night hippy yoga since we needed the stretch and I really missed it from last week (random Jewish holidays that fall on Mondays interfere with my hippy yoga. Makes me miss it.) I think it was good for us to stretch and relax and try to get some of the kinks out.

Of course, we decided not to come home and defrost our pork tenderloin, had to stop by the mall so B could get a big honkin' water bottle, and, well, "we earned it", so dinner was Chick-Fil-A. Can't say that we should have done that, what with the possibly undoing some pretty hard work, but between a run, boot camp, *and* yoga, there was no way I was cooking. And at least B talked me out of a quarter pounder with cheese (mmmmm!).

Tonight, we swim! Which reminds me, I need to find some more drills than swimming 250 m on my side. Time to move up in the world (or at least, the pool)!

Too Cool for Pool

When I was a kid, I was quite a little swimmer. My parents had a hard time getting me out of the pool. All summer long my girlfriends and I swam in the pool every chance we could. However, as we got older, they became competitive swimmers and lifeguards, and I - well, I just had a really fabulous tan (FYI, still do.) So my swimming knowledge kind of ends at dog-paddling and treading water.

And then I married a record-holding former competitive swimmer. (I kid you not, check out the third line under freestyle.)

And I discovered how much I love sports where endurance is a victory all in itself.

And I decided that the idea of three of those type of sports in one competition was genius. And that required me to get back in the pool with the above-mentioned competitive swimming husband.

I am not a very good *swimming* swimmer. I've never swam laps as my idea of a good time. But I need a change of pace from just running, running, running and if I ever want to do a triathlon, I might want to try to work on the sport that comes hardest to non-swimmers (aka, stubborn runners used to making gravity work for them, not against them). I have read part of the Total Immersion swimming book, but none of it really sunk in (pun intended), so I am packing B off on his next business trip with the book and making him read it. I'll give him credit; he's a good coach.

I am just maybe not a good student. Maybe. I really didn't want to go to the pool because I feel like a total 'tard trying to swim as you're supposed to, but Rome wasn't built in a day and neither were Amanda Beard's abs. So I did about 5 lengths (25 m) of just swimming on my side, building up a decent flutter kick, and then on the last 5 lengths threw in trying to turn from one side to the other. First every 10 seconds, then every 5 seconds. And I got a little bit better... right about the time my flutter kick turned into the "Okay, I'm tired now" scissor kick.

But all in all, 250 meters, getting over my fear of looking ridiculous, and actually enjoying myself. It ended up being fun!