back in the swing of things

Uhh, remember when I said I didn't want to become a couch potato?  Fail!  In the past few months, I have done nothing... and I mean N-O-T-H-I-N-G.  Well, OK, there were a few short hikes with Sweeney, and a nice walk with the girls in Great Falls, but to say I am ill-prepared for the half marathon I'm scheduled to do this Saturday would be a severe understatement!

Andrea, Paula and me on our Great Falls walk, all bundled up!

What I did do over the past few months was manage to watch the entire series of Revenge on Netflix...  Now that was valuable use of my time! (note the sarcasm)

But, new year, new goals, new attitude (not that my attitude was bad, I was just being lazy).  I got in 2 run/walk sessions (emphasis on the "walk" part -- 3 min walk plus 1 min run intervals).  My back hurt, my calves hurt, but I loved being back out there.  I even saw a beaver in the lake next to my house (didn't have my camera on me though - d'oh!).

Then, I picked the coldest morning we've had so far to resume my morning swim routine.  Oh did that hurt!  I got through the warmup and drill sets before I started dragging.  I hopped out early and was sore all day!  But so very glad that I'm back at it.  I've forgotten how good it feels to be active!

Swim #2 workout -- felt much better than day #1!

Oh, and I finally got the Garmin 920xt I'd had my eye on for awhile!  I'd wanted to buy it pre-Ironman, but couldn't find decent justification, and instead bought the Garmin 220 for cheaper (I was worried about the battery dying during Ironman given how many hours I'd be out there).  My old 910 died right after Ironman (it worked during the race so I was able to track nutrition and distance, but died before I could upload any data).  Then, Paula sent me a message alerting me to a sale at REI so I rushed right over.  I still love the 220 and use it for all my runs (it's purple!), but the 920 will be my new swim and bike watch.

Anyway, here I am on the eve of flying down to Florida to do a half marathon.  I'm not worried about the distance - I'm sure I can pull it off, muscle memory and all (hopefully that's an actual thing that exists!).  There will be lots of people walking and taking pictures with all of the Disney characters, so I probably won't even be last.  I'm more worried about how sore I'll be walking around all the Disney parks after the race.  Jon has a spreadsheet of fun for us! Here goes nothing...