30 weeks til the showdown ...

Well I have been a bit missing in action due to lack of internet at home. In the last week things have been pretty good. Last Sunday I ran the Red Top Rumble 11.5 trail race. I really enjoyed this race. Coming off a ten day rest my body responded really well to jumping back into it at 11 very hilly miles, well besides the swollen left side of my face. It's probably a good thing I didn't notice the swelling myself before the race - alls well that ends well. I registered for this race in October before I hurt my hip so it kinda just sneaked up on me. My time was 2:07 but that included a few minutes of me stopping at some cabin and waiting to use the restroom-eventually I gave up on waiting and just went around back and watered the grass. If after September I ever want to run again, I will probably do this race again. The biggest part of the day was my father's Saints winning the Super Bowl (the God's accepted my offering.) The people who raced got together that night and enjoyed the game and a roast wrapped in bacon, this thing rivaled my Jeff Ruby's (best steak I have ever had) experience.

I went to the Cardiologist Monday (funny this follows a bacon wrapped roast) and he didn't seem too concern with the findings of the ER doc from a couple weeks ago. He says my EKG is abnormal but it's nothing to be concerned about it, it's just the way my heart operates. We scheduled a followup in six months to monitor the thickness issue, but he didn't seem to concern about anything. So that's nice to not have to worry about.

Club swim workouts have started back up which is really cool for me. I do better with structure so it's nice to not have to go to the pool and make my own workouts, or to not have to worry about going to the pool and sitting on the wall and thinking about swimming (it's seriously happens.) The new swim coaches have really been stressing technique and the basics which I really like. It's almost like i'm just learning to swim. Last year my swim stroke was extremely inefficient. Last week we ended the workout with a 100m (actually 114m) swim time trial and I was first out of my lane. It was really encouraging because there were some really good athletes in my lane. In the coming week there is talk of meeting up before work to swim. I hope this happens, having someone waiting on me at the pool may be the incentive I need to actually get out of bed.

After snowing 2-4 inches Friday in Georgia, Saturday was a beautiful day. I went out for a run and actually had to take off clothes. The temps were in the 40's and there were only a few icy spots that had to be avoided. This was my first run not on a treadmill since last weekend's race and my legs threw a hissy fit just about the entire time. My achilles in both legs were (and still are) on fire. I'm not really sure what I can do to fix this but I do have a appointment today with Dr. Nik. Hopefully he knows something that will provide some relief.

Here's a recap of what I did last week

• Sunday- Red Top Rumble (11.5miles)
• Monday- Swim (1650 m)
• Tuesday- Pilates, Treadmill (3.2miles)
• Wednesday- Swim (1600m) Spin class (hour)
• Saturday - Hour and a half trainer ride
• Sunday- Stone Mountain run (12.5 miles)