Catching up

W'sup!!!!!!!! So here's the long and the short of the past week, it's been a busy one!! And good luck to everyone running the Chicago marathon this weekend. It's going to be hot, but it's been wicked all summer so you are prepared!!!!

Friday - About the only thing exciting to note about last Friday was my first ever adventure into a Hydrrorider class. Basically, it's spinning in the water with some water aerobics thrown in for good measure. One of my coworkers is an addict, but most of the classes I have seen are fairly lame and easy looking, and taught by someone who (no offense) isn't really someone I would want to take classes from. You gotta practice what you preach, right?? BUT, there's a new class on Mon & Fri taught by someone else and the previous Friday I had seen him teaching the class while I was swimming laps and he looked pretty tough. So, I gave it a whirl and I really enjoyed it. The spinning portion is only as hard as you make it, and I made sure to spring when he said sprint and jog on the pedals when he said jog. The really tough part was all the off the bike aerobics. We had to sort of swim with one arm, do pool push ups, lots of various upper body/abs balancing stuff, not easy AT ALL. And especially since we were all trying to keep our hair dry!! The class lasts for a full hour and he does not let up on you whatsoever. My upper body was sore the next day, and my legs were tired that afternoon so I consider it a success. Of course my bike was set so short that you could barely see the handlebars above the water and a lady nearly ran into it heading back to her own bike following one of the toning segments. I am such the midget.

Saturday-My plan was just to run 6 easy miles Saturday morning. Brent had plans to meet a client at Centennial Park to drop off some artwork so I decided to just run to Centennial and grab a ride home with him. Easy enough!! It was right around 5.5 or so when I got there, so I did the one mile loop and ended up with 6.5. Sweet!! I love functional running!! It was a beautiful morning out and tons of tourists were walking around downtown and the park was busy with a Craft Fair. When I was done running I bought a fresh squeezed lemonade from a vendor that was PERFECT. We did some shopping and went to a dinner party later that evening at a friend's house.

Sunday-My allergies had started bothering me Saturday night and I just did not sleep well. I woke up at 6:30 and just could not get to sleep, which sucked since my alarm was set for 7:30. Brent actually woke up at 7, which is totally unheard of, but we took advantage of our early waking and cooked breakfast. We got a lot accomplished around the house Sunday and even got some touch up painting done (finally!!!) in the kitchen. Tonight Brent did the final white touch ups, so I think the kitchen may be officially D-O-N-E!!! We didn't end up having time to bike, but we did hit the pool for a while. Swimming is getting easier each time, and we're able to move faster for longer, so that's good progress. I still feel like it will be forever before I can swim a mile straight, but I'm really happy being able to piece together laps right now, instead of where we were a few weeks ago when we couldn't even master a length of the pool. Breathing is also getting more comfortable, and that whole "freak out" factor is gone.

Monday - My birthday!! Also swim class, where we focused on freestyle, side stroke and a little breaststroke. After class Brent made me a very nice dinner and gave me presents!! What beats that??? The saddest part - when he brought my cake out Pippin thought it was for him. Seriously. It was so sad. I guess he remembered his cake from August, and mine was also round, with candles on it, and there was singing. It's so odd the things he remembers. He was so incredibly excited. So we had to give him one of his little treats, which is just not the same as cake.

Tuesday - Tuesday we had to head to Brent's hometown for a funeral. His uncle had died over the weekend, and the funeral was Tuesday. We made it back in time for our dinner reservations at Margot's that night. OMG, GOOD!!! No wonder they are always voted one of Nashville's top restaurants. Everything is fresh, fresh fresh. We had homemade sangria (to die for), these little potato chips with dip that they made, potato crepes stuffed with various cheeses with apple relish on top, then I had Columbia River sturgeon with polenta and Brent had a tri-tip steak with potatoes, and then we split a cinnamon bread pudding for dessert. Yum, yum, and yum. If you ever get the chance to go to Margots, go!!!

Wednesday - Wednesday was my birthday lunch with my coworkers, but Brent and I did hit the pool after work and got some good laps in. I think I made good progress on my breaststroke, and I also did some 100 meter sets. I was VERY happy with that, three weeks ago I couldn't even make 25 consistently and this week my goal was sets of 100. Next week will be 150 and so on.

Today - FINALLY, for the first time this week I made it back to the gym at lunch!! They literally asked me where I had been!! I got a good run in and it felt nice to be back in the routine. I've got loads of birthday cake from my bday at the office and at home to burn off!

This weekend we're having a small dinner party to celebrate the birthdays and Brent's got more art to deliver. YAY! I hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

Rae