Ice, ice baby....

Well, if you recall a few posts ago I told you I had reached the "when to say when point".....well today I had my massage therapy appointment and my therapist told me that he thinks I might have a touch of tendonitis or bursitis in my left shoulder (ole lefty has been the weaker shoulder since last fall when the black lab running club decided to chase a deer while on leashes...).  Luckily this is a recovery week and I could afford to take today as an additional day off.  I need to be more on top of doing my injury prevention exercises and now I need to add in a post swim icing regiment (which if you've never had to ice your shoulder before its a pain in the rear because its very hard to wrap your shoulder without assistance).  If it is a slight tendon issue, its not bad, as there isn't constant pain and there is no pain while swimming.  The only time my shoulder "catches" and there is slight pain is when I am doing an upward pull-like for example when pulling pants on...I suppose the solution is no pants right?  :)  Just kidding!

Anyway, my massage therapy appointment today was for 2 hours, so I am going to HURT tomorrow, but I am going to attempt to swim a light swim in the morning.  Good news from the appointment though is that my right hip-flexor which was causing me a little grief at the last visit is MUCH better now after the new stretches I was given.

Well, I've got to go make a birthday cake for my nephew who will be here this weekend!

Good night!

~Emily

Now Accepting Donations! : )

Okay everyone!  Let the fundraising begin!

I'd first like to make it clear that all money raised will go straight to Katelyn (well to her parents) to assist in her medical expenses.  I follow up on Katelyn's Caring Bridge website frequently and also follow Katelyn's mom Jaime's facebook page.  The bits and pieces I have read about the battles with the insurance company on what is and isn't covered by insurance just reinforces my opinion that the LAST thing this family should have to worry about is money.

There are a few options here for those who want to donate:

1) Donations may be mailed to:

A Lakke for Katelyn
c/o Emily von Jentzen
PO Box 10992
Kalispell, MT 59904

2) Donations may be made at any First Interstate Bank Location (or mailed to any First Interstate Bank)

Make sure your donation is clearly direct to Account Name: A Lake for Katelyn

3) Donate using the "donate" button on the side of this webpage.  Online donations will be routed through PayPal and deposited into the Benefit account at First Interstate Bank.

Lets get started and raise some money for Katelyn!

~Emily

When to say "when"

Aghhh!  Sorry, its been a few days!  But I promise-I’ve been busy!

Saturday I swam 4,000 yards in the afternoon which followed a three hour walk with Dixie while we waited for the shop to fix my car.

Sunday I was slated to get in a 12,000 yard swim, but I woke up so exhausted with achy shoulders and I decided a day off from swimming was required.  I’ve been pushing a little too hard I think and my body is telling me that.  The key to avoiding injury when you are training this much is all about knowing when to say "when."  I was kind of in a “funk” emotionally over the weekend and my experience is that points to imbalance in training or too much training. I decided that although I really want to be the kind of athlete that can handle a 3 weeks hard 1 week recovery schedule, I have come to the realization that much like last year, my body doesn’t do as well on that schedule.  So I will now resort back to a 2 week hard one week recovery schedule for the rest of my training.  I am now on a recovery week (without my 12,000 yard on Sunday, last week’s total was only 24,000 yards).

This morning I did get up and get in a 6,000 yard practice, but it was an easy 6,000.  I took today off of work which gave me an opportunity to check about a million things off of my to-do list.  I got the benefit account set up so I can start collecting donations (tomorrow’s post will have the details on that), I got my PO box for those who want to mail donations, I got my Lake Chelan maps laminated (and one hung on my wall!), I met with a nutritionist and I took Dixie-doodle to the vet for her check up.

My nutrition appointment was great.  I had been documenting my food intake for the past week so that Ashley could tell me how my caloric intake was and things I needed to improve on.  What I learned is that I am slightly under eating for the amount of activity I am trying to get out of my body.  My normal workout day (with only an am swim of 2 hours) should be at about 3300 calories.  I’m about 500 less than that at this point on average.  Ashley gave me a few things to add/change about what I am eating and when as well as some new high protein foods that I hadn’t even heard of which I am excited about trying.  I’m going to work on the things she suggested over the next month and meet with her again at the beginning of August to re-asses and also to formulate a plan as for nutrition during my swim.

So tomorrow its back to work.  I’ve got a light workout schedule for the rest of this week. My sister and my niece and nephew are going to be in town this weekend and then my niece will be staying with me here for 2 weeks!  She is a little fishy, so I am thinking she will make a great training buddy for that time period!

Okay, well I will have more details on how to donate to my fundraising efforts in tomorrow’s post!

Good night!

~Emily

More of the same

I don’t have a lot to write about tonight because I am EXHAUSTED!  I got up and swam before work, another 6,000 yards (that’s three 6,000 yard morning practices this week!).  Yesterday was a day off and I can tell my timing of my days off is improving as my workout this morning felt great.  One of my bench mark sets has been sets of 100s on the 1:30 (which used to be a cake walk in college, but even as recent as 3 months ago any more than 5 in a row was pretty difficult).  Today one of my sets was 8 x 100s on the 1:30 and I kept all 8 at 1:20’s! 

I only worked until noon today, which was nice to have the afternoon in the sunshine to attempt to finish up the yard work (which surely feels like an additional workout!).   The yard is ALMOST done (I will post pictures when its done, although without a “before” pic, I’m not sure one can really appreciate how much work it was!).  My sister, niece and nephew are coming next week and I want to have the yard look nice when they get here so they don't think I live in a jungle!

I coached for an hour this evening.  Then I went home and ate dinner and now I am going to read for a little bit before bed.

I have a busy agenda this weekend and a LONG to-do list…hopefully I will have some exciting things to report by Sunday!

Goodnight!

~Emily

Happy Halfway!

Alright!  Another beautiful day!  I hope we are done with the rain and the sunshine stays around until October!  : )  I'm so glad that we are halfway to the weekend! 

I made it to the pool this morning and got my 6000 yards in, it was rough during the middle though.  I forgot my watch at home so I was relying on the pace clock, but then ½ way through my main set of 6 x 500s someone MOVED the pace clock and I couldn’t see it!  Grrrrrrrrr.  I got through it though, it was just harder without the clock to know my times.  Afterwards my shoulders were SO tight.

Work wasn’t quite as hectic as Monday and Tuesday were, so that was a nice break.  Over lunch I called the Lake Chelan Mirror (the newspaper there) and asked them about covering my swim.  The lady I spoke to, Ruth, said she has lived there her whole life and she didn’t think anyone had swam the whole lake.  She was really nice and told me the editors would be in contact with me shortly! 

After work I embarked on day two of reclaiming my yard from weeds and tall grass!  Its hard work-I spent another two hours weed whacking today and I am maybe about ½ of the way done.  Slowly, but surely I will get it done…and I think I have learned my lesson about not letting it get out of control.

I had spaghetti for dinner.  I love spaghetti-its my favorite dinner I think.  So now I am going to watch a little Greys Anatomy before going to bed.

Goodnight!

~Em

Good Day Sunshine!

I had a really nice day today!  It was sunny and gorgeous out ALL day-I’ve been missing the sunshine big time!  I got my workout in before work (6,000 yards) and I don’t usually write out exactly what my workout was, but today’s I really liked, because it went by fast and I felt the variety was really good:

            300 swim 200 drill 300 swim 200 kick 300 swim

            3 x 100 @ 1:40

            4 x 200 IM

            5 x 300 free pull @ 5:00

            4 x 200

            3 x 100 @ 1:30

            800 pull

            200 easy (100 scull)

I also paid good attention to my technique today (yes, even I need to work on drills and technique from time to time).  As I mentioned, a friend of mine was able to video tape me the other day and I am working on correcting some bad habits I appear to have developed.

Today I also started writing down what I eat and I am going to see a nutritionist next week.  I think part of my low energy issue lately has been nutrition related.  I don’t think I have been eating enough (or good enough) for what I am expecting out of my body.  Yesterday on my workout day off, I had a body comp assessment done and my resting metabolic rate is 1663-which means if I were to lay in bed all day and essentially not do anything physical that is how many calories I would need for my body to function.  Obviously, then when you add activities like workouts your caloric needs increase.  So keeping a food journal for a week will assist in my meeting with the nutritionist to determine where I can make improvements in my fuel intake! 

I got a couple hours of yard work in once I got home from work and I had a good dinner and now I am ready to go to sleep! 

Goodnight!

~Emily

Twice the Speed of Life

Today I was going 90 miles an hour all day I swear!  Well-at least until 4 ish.  I got up at 6 and got in a great 4000 yard practice before heading to the Triathlon at Foys Lake (just to watch, not to race).  My morning practice I repeated my “test set” that I last did on June 1^st (max yardage in 1 hour).  Last time I was at 3700 yards in an hour and today I was at 3900 yards in an hour!  Improvement!  Now I am just 300 yards off my hour pace which is fantastic.

After my morning swim I rushed home, showered, changed packed up the dog and headed to the Lake to watch my athletes race at the triathlon. Bringing Dixie turned out to be a minor inconvenience as I may have ruined her forever in terms of her being a good “spectator dog”.  From the minute we got there she wanted to be in the water with all the swimmers in their wetsuits (as she has gotten WAY too used to swimming with me).  She whined and barked through the whole swim.  Then on the run she kept looking at me like “hey LAZY, the other runners are going to beat us if we don’t start running soon.”  She is used to running and swimming with me and didn’t enjoy at all sitting on the sidelines.

Everyone had a really good race…. although there were a few mishaps, like the athlete that put his running shoes on first and ended up doing the whole bike in his running shoes instead of his clip in bike pedals, but overall I think everyone had fairly good races despite the weather.

After the race, I rushed home again to drop Dixie off, eat a little bit and change BACK into my swim suit to meet a friend for a lunch time swim. Since I wanted to make my yardage goal of 30,000 for the week, I still (Even after this morning’s 4000 yard swim) needed 5,000 yards to hit that.  So that is what I did!  It wasn’t pretty, which I can say with a good deal of certainty since at the end of my swim I had my friend video tape my stroke and ughhhhh I have GOT to do some drill work because I have gotten a little sloppy.  Although I am hoping most of the bad technique captured on video today was more the result of me being tired.

After a quick meal after swimming I FINALLY got home and tried to take a little nap, but my entire body is throbbing and I was too sore to sleep.  I am planning on being lazy the rest of the evening, although Dixie apparently has different plans as she will not stop nudging me with her tennis ball.  Unfortunately the weather was not great for the dog park or anything like that….so Dixie may need a mid-week trip to the dog park to make up for not getting her usual weekend play time in.  

Anyway, I’m happy to report I surpassed my yardage goal this week with a total of 30,300 yards!

~Emily 

Flathead Lake-still really cold!

Well today was kind of all over the place!  First I started out the morning by coaching my swim group (after a refreshing nearly 12 hours of sleep!).  Then I met with a new athlete interested in hiring me to coach him.  I then headed to a bridal shop to try on bridesmaid dresses for my brother’s wedding.

I was having a rather lazy day, putting off my 8,000 yard workout until Saturday evening when I knew the pool would be less crowded.  I got the Summit at 4pm…I was less than a 1/3 through the workout when the lifeguards cleared the pool and said the Summit was closing.  Apparently, during the “summer” the facility closes at 5.  So….I was not able to finish my practice.  I didn’t want the day to be only a 2,200 yard swim day, so I called my friend Katie to see if she would watch me swim in Flathead Lake.  So she played with the dogs while I swam.

It. Was. COLD!!!!!  I had my sleeves on as well as my neoprene cap.  I was only in for 30 minutes (roughly 2000 yards I would estimate).  The lake is SO high and very cloudy right now.  I couldn’t see past about my elbow.  When I first started swimming 20-30 seagulls (I still don’t understand what seagulls are doing all the way over in Montana) started circling over top me and I was being watched by a hawk atop a tree on one of the small islands near shore.  I was worried one of the fish hungry birds would mistake my toes for a fish…..but fortunately that didn’t happen.  I did swim by a momma duck and her 10 ducklings who appeared to be having a swim lesson.  ; )

So my combined inside/outside workouts were about 4,200 yards.  And my big tough 8000 yard workout will have to be tomorrow!

Off to bed!

~Emily

Most Exciting Friday Night Ever!

Sarcasm is dripping off the title of my post today....

My first job after graduating undergrad was as a legal assistant for a fairly new attorney in Ellensburg, WA.  That job was the “filler” in between undergrad and law school.  I worked at that firm for about a year and a half.  Upon my departure, my boss gave me a pendant that read “The years teach us much which the days never know.”

Ever have one of those days where it feels like you just keep getting knocked down.  Today felt like one of those days for me.  It was probably an exaggerated feeling because I was EXHAUSTED all day today.  My day began at 4:37, I swam 4,000 yards this morning and then spent at least 80% of my day at work in court.  I didn’t leave work until six pm.  And now after having dinner (and a much deserved large glass of wine with dinner), I am now heading to bed, at 7:30 pm on a Friday night…which I know speaks volumes about my social life.  : )

I’ve got two big workouts I have to get in this weekend, so the extra sleep will be good for me.  Plus I get the added bonus of “sleeping in” until 7:00 tomorrow (I know its sick and wrong that 7am feels like sleeping in, but that’s the reality.

Anyway, good night!

~Emily

Holy Wetsuit!

Second day in a row of 4:37 wake-ups!  I did make it to the pool again and I got in a 4,000 yard workout before work.  I also had an orthodontist appointment (and I am happy to report that after 10-weeks with what I called “teeth trays” in, my teeth are straight again).  All that before 8 am—I should get a gold star for that.

After work I had another massage therapy appointment.  Today was an hour focused just on back and shoulders.  It felt so nice, I wish I could have one of those every day!

After that my tri group coaching tonight consisted of an outdoor swim in preparation for the triathlon this weekend that the group has been training for over the past 10 weeks. We swam about 2,000 yards I estimate.  The water was very cloudy, but not too terribly cold. Once we got out it was VERY chilly due to the wind.  After getting home and taking a nice hot shower, I am still a little cold.  I wish after every outside swim I could have someone waiting with a giant fleece blanket or two straight out of the dryer and a hot coco.

I do have some sad news to report today on the wetsuit front.  I appear to have gotten a hole in the side of my wetsuit…I don’t mean to rush to judgment and blame little miss Dixie paws….but I think in her attempt to swim RIGHT next to me on Sunday, she clipped my side with one of her talons.  So….I’m thinking I should send a letter to Blueseventy and see if they might be interested in sponsoring me in the form of a wetsuit donation.  Never hurts to ask right?

“If you don’t go after what you want you will never have it.   If you don’t ask the answer is always no.  If you don’t step forward you will always be in the same place”

On that note….have a good night!

~Emily

Love Letters

HAHAHAHA!  So I finally figured out how to get myself out of bed in the morning.  I have titled the following “Love Letter from Lake Chelan.”

I woke up to my alarm at 4:37, saw my sign on my ceiling and grudgingly got out of bed and went to the pool.  I had the entire pool to myself until a quarter to 6!  I got 6,000 yards in this morning!  SUCCESS!!!!  I did have a little period of “I-could-really-use-a-nap-itis” mid morning at work, but it passed.

I got my stretch cord exercises done on my lunch hour, so when I got home, I actually had some down time. So, I took that opportunity to clean my bathroom, mow the lawn and review the videos from my stroke clinic last week.  I seriously rocked the socks off my to-do list today!  I also made an appointment for my car issues to get taken care of, made an appointment to try on bridesmaids dresses this weekend for my little brother’s wedding AND I felt awesome most all day!

I know last week was kind of lame in terms of my practices.  I only got 13,000 yards in and took too many days off.  But this week I will make up for it.  I am hoping to get above 30,000 yards in this week…which may result in my arms feeling like spaghetti noodles by the weekend…but that means I can have a lazy movie night and not feel guilty about it.  : )

Well, if I'm going to get up early again tomorrow, its off to bed for me!

Good night!

~Emily

The kind of Dad I have...

Hello everyone!  I am happy to report it was another FANTASTIC weekend!  I am in Ellensburg visiting my parents until tomorrow afternoon.  It was a much needed break from Kalispell (I LOVE Kalispell, but getting out of town now and then is nice-particularly with all the rain we've had there lately).  The weather here was wonderful all weekend.  Yesterday, my parents had to go over to Renton to babysit my nephew, so I drove up to Chelan with Dixie.

I have never been to Lake Chelan before, but as soon as I got there I was in love with it.  My purpose in heading up there was to check out some logistical things for the swim and get the conversation started on hopefully boat donation and hotel room donation for my crew.  As I drove up to the lake, I felt the same way I remember feeling the first time driving past Flathead after I made the goal to swim that lake.  The best I can describe the feeling that I got on both those occasions is that it made me feel 10 years old again, looking at a swim (back then it would have been swimming the 500 for the first time) with a wide eyed sense of awe that only kids tend to have.  Well- it was that feeling and the thought-What have I gotten myself into this time!  The enormity of this lake is not something I am unaware of, it is something I respect as a challenge.  Upon first view of Lake Chelan nestled between mountains I felt the butterflies in my stomach that remind me just how awesome it is to even be able to attempt such a feat.

First I took Dixie to the City beach, which is at the southern most point of the lake and I believe will be my "end spot" for the swim.  This was a perfect spot for Dixie to swim as there were sticks everywhere and the beach was not too crowded.  After I sufficiently tired her out we went off in search of boats.

The first boat rental place I went into I told the saleslady what I was doing and asked her some generic lake questions like- 1) how bad is the wind in August, 2) what is the weather like in August, 3) what is the air & lake temperature in August.  The owner came in partway through our conversation and I started talking about what I would need in terms of boats-minimum 1 pontoon alongside the whole swim with an additional pontoon boat at night.  We talked rental rates, and the man there gave me a great deal and I told him I would be in touch with him in the next week.  As I was pulling my car out of the parking lot the owner comes running out and says "they just told me you are doing this as a fundraiser."  I told him a little bit about Katelyn and he said, "we'll donate the boats for free for your swim."  AWESOME!  So, first official sponsor of this swim is Jet Skis Ahoy Watercraft Rentals!

Oh and also my inquiry at Jet Skis Ahoy regarding if anyone has ever swam the lake confirmed what I thought, NO ONE HAS SWAM THE LENGTH OF LAKE CHELAN!  : )  The owners have lived there 40 years and said they had not heard of anyone swimming it!

Then I went to another beach (Lakeside Beach)...and let Dixie swim a little more before heading onto securing lodging for my crew.  I went to the Best Western and spoke to the front desk people, and although the manager was out for the weekend, they took down my name and said that if the manager wouldn't donate rooms he would at least probably give me a reduced rate.

So....things are rolling...and plans are being made.  I also got a great map of Lake Chelan that has an aerial view of the lake as well as a depth chart.

Now...onto the title of my post.  Today, after a fairly lazy morning my parents were planning on going into town to get some groceries and then heading to a lake here in Ellensburg so I could swim for a little while.  Right as we were about to leave my dad noticed his neighbor and wife were out loading up hay bales onto their trailer.  Without any hesitation dad says, "Emily lets go over and help them load the hay, Barry had back surgery a month ago and shouldn't be lifting those."  Now, you should also know that my dad has had pretty significant back and leg problems in the past six months and most days is in a good amount of pain himself, but without even thinking twice he was over to help out his neighbor with the hay.  Those who wonder where my big heart and willingness to help others comes from need look no farther than that example my father has set for me my entire life (although I should note that my mom is the same way).

Anyhow, after our hay loading, we went into town and then to the lake.  Dixie would not just play fetch with my dad while I swam but instead followed me while I swam...once she appeared to be exhausted I swam her back to shore and my dad held her on the leash until I was done.  My mom and dad said the whole time she was whining and watching me intently while I swam.  I only swam about 1/2 an hour, but it was a good swim and any additional outdoor swims I can get in are bonuses as far as I am concerned.

Well, that was a long post, but I was really excited to write about all of those things!  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend too!

Goodnight!

~Emily

Never gonna grow up, never gonna slow down

Okay-I know I didn’t write for two days….and that is actually because I didn’t swim either of those days!  One of the unfortunate truths of being an adult (and I guess also being an attorney) is that sometimes work becomes all consuming and stressful.   I was pretty stressed out Wednesday (as I had a trial on Thursday), then Thursday I worked a 15 hour day-not leaving the courthouse until 10:00pm!  So….the excuse train as to why I didn’t swim has passed….moving on now:

Today I only had to go into work for 2 hours, but I swam first.  And since I didn’t get my test set done on Wednesday, I did that this morning.  And in an hour of continuous swimming, I got in 3700 yards in an hour.  That is about 2 and a quarter miles.  My goal pace for the swim is 2 and a half miles an hour so I am off by about 400 yards.  That’s excellent, because I know that is totally attainable.  So that is a great sign that my training is going well!

With about 10 minutes left of my swim this morning several swim team kids got in my lane and although I’m going to stay away from any discussion of which of us was faster…their presence in my lane along with my pride stepped my pace up a little at the end.  : ) 

This was a busy week, but I enjoy being busy.  I enjoy this line from a country song I just heard today: “never gonna grow up, never gonna slow down.” 

In other news here is a link to the KAJ story that Laura did on my swim:

http://www.kaj18.com/news/athlete-of-the-week-emily-von-jentzen/

Anyway, today I am headed to Washington to visit my parents for the weekend-might make it up to Chelan while I am there!

Have a great weekend everyone!

~Emily

Garbage in = Garbage out

I am 0 for 2 on attempts to actually get up and workout before work this week.  I think the problem might be that my bed is just too comfy…maybe if I slept on the floor or the couch, I would be more likely to get up at the 4:30 alarm…Well, at any rate, I will try again tomorrow.  Tomorrow’s workout is a test set, so it would be better to get that done in the morning when there isn’t open swim occurring in the lane next to me!

Today I felt the results of the last week or so of poor nutrition.  I knew I hadn’t been eating well…but sometimes when I get busy or tired the LAST thing I feel like doing is cooking myself a well balanced meal.  And when I am stressed out (and actually even when I am not) I probably eat way too much candy.  But…I know this (and I tell the people I coach this quite often)….garbage in, garbage out.  If all you feed yourself is garbage, you can’t be too surprised when your body doesn’t perform like you want it to.  It’s like putting diesel fuel in a non-diesel engine.  I was in a rush most of the day today and I didn’t eat well or much.  Then at practice I TOTALLY FELT IT.  I just couldn’t get going.  It was a fairly easy practice (just 3,000 yards) with what was supposed to be a faster set of 10 x 100’s, but I felt like I couldn’t get to the next gear.  I ended up changing the send-offs which was a little frustrating.  But I knew I didn’t eat well today.

So, when I got home I took the time to cook a nice well balanced meal.  After that I went shopping to make sure the “no food in the house” excuse was not valid.  : )  Then I met my friend Cassie from Missoula for some Frozen yogurt.  It was really nice to catch up with her.

Well anyway…its getting kind of late and I’ve got another busy day tomorrow!

Good night!

~Emily

Back to work!

Whew!  What a day!  I guess I should back up, since I didn’t write yesterday.  I took Sunday off, as it was the LAST day of my recovery week (total yardage last week was 11,000 yards) and it was SO SO nice outside.  Dixie and I spent nearly 3 hours at the dog park-she was one tired puppy!  I had such a fun weekend, I wish they could all be like that!  With a nice recovery week, now its back to the hard stuff.  This week's yardage goals may be a little ambitious (I have a trial at work this week) but that's kind of right up my ally!  : )

I got in bed early enough last night with the best of intentions to get up in the morning and get a nice hard workout in before work.  I could not fall asleep last night though…I don’t think I was actually sleeping until past midnight (after laying in bed from about 9 on).  So I didn’t get up to swim in this morning, and I didn’t make it to work on time.  But the busyness of the day made it go by REALLY fast.

After work, the rain clouds had started to move in, which actually was helpful because I got some inside stuff done that I avoided this weekend (like laundry).  I also got in about a 30 minute VASA workout and my stretch cords.  I got a quick bit to eat in and headed to the pool for a pretty decent 4,000 yard swim.  Since I got to the pool close to 8pm there were hardly any people there.

I am going to stretch for a few minutes and then head to bed!  : )  Good night!

~Em

Sunshine!

What a FANTASTIC day!  Seriously.  First I had put on a swimming clinic at the Summit.  I had 6 people in it, which is the perfect size for what we were doing.  We did under and above water video taping and TONS of drills and stroke work.  They all said that they took a lot away from it, which makes me feel great.  I was able to assist all 6 of them in reducing their stroke counts by at 2-6 strokes per length in just two hours!  I love clinics and the best part was these were all athletes I had not yet worked with before.

Then I went out to Foys Lake and Laura from the news interviewed me and got some shots of me practicing for a news segment they are going to air on Wednesday about my swim.   Laura did a really nice story on my swim last year for Karmyn, she is very good at her job.  After she was done taping, I swam a little more and I think total I did close to 2000 yards maybe.   The lake was so blue today and it was surprisingly warm.  I expected the water to be colder after the week of rain we have had.  I think it was actually warmer than it was last week.  I didn’t use my neoprene shirt under my wetsuit this time, so my arms were exposed and I also did not wear my neoprene cap.  It was a great day for a swim.

After my swim, Katie met me out at Foys with both her dog and mine and I played in the water with the dogs for about an hour and a half.  I forgot to put sunscreen on…and I think I got a little bit burned, but not too bad.  The dogs love swimming so much.  Today Dixie jumped off the docks for the first time to fetch her water toys.  The first time she looked a little shocked when she came up, but after that she was a pro!  She is SO tired tonight though, this evening she went into her kennel on her own before I even started getting ready for bed (where as she usually will go in her kennel when I brush my teeth and she knows its “bedtime”).

As soon as I got home from swimming I got to the yard work I have been putting off due to the rainy days we have been having.  I mowed my entire back yard….which took about 2 hours for two reasons, 1) it’s kind of a big back yard and 2) it had been awhile since the last time I mowed and the grass was like knee high (I am only slightly exaggerating).

So I thoroughly enjoyed this sunny, warm day!  I don’t think there is any place else more beautiful on a nice day than the Flathead Valley.  I hope you guys had a nice day too!

~Emily

TGIF

Okay…I didn’t get up and swim before work like I told you all I would, but……I woke up feeling like I had been beaten…with a baseball bat.  Seriously, I was SO sore this morning.  But its good…sore is good.  I just need to get tougher and get up to workout in the mornings even when I am sore.  I used to be tougher, I swear.  From age 15-25 I did double morning and afternoon practices, nearly year round…but once I got used to sleeping in, it’s a very hard habit to break.

Anyway…I did get my swim in after work.  And although I was sore, my swim felt very good.  My muscles felt a lot looser and my shoulders felt really good.  I did about 3,000 yards.  After my swim I sat in the hot tub, which was wonderful for the soreness factor.

Here is some great Katelyn news….she was accepted into the experimental study in New York with Neuroblastoma specialists which should increase her chances.  The family leaves Sunday.  Here’s a link to the story:

http://www.kaj18.com/news/young-kalispell-girl-to-get-experimental-cancer-treatment/

So anyway, keep little KK in your thoughts, she is one tough kiddo.

Good night!

~Emily

"Don't be fancy, just be dancy"

So….I did NOT get up this morning and swim.  So sleepy!  : )  I did my stretch cords though.  My massage today was WONDERFUL. I fully recommend Jeff Eayrs for Deep Tissue-I am going to be sore tomorrow.  Deep tissue is not a relaxing day at the spa…but it’s helpful to assist in recovery and getting the most out of your body.  The most painful part for me was my back and shoulders…mine are VERY tight.  I’ve also been having tightness in one of my hip flexors and a tiny bit of tightness in my Achilles (these are obviously running and biking ailments, not swimming related).  Post massage my “problem” areas feel much better and Jeff told me a few more hip-flexor stretches to do after running and biking.  Jeff also suggested icing the Achilles as he thinks after my marathon I may have a tiny bit of tendonitis in one foot.

So body’s in good shape today…recovery weeks are kind of a roller coaster for me emotionally though.  I was in SUCH a good mood this morning and most of the day but then a phone call home this evening flipped that all around and left me feeling like the black sheep of the family (which is an overdramatic summary of the conversation, but like I said…roller coaster).  So…I felt sorry for myself for about 5 minutes…then Dixie and I had a dance party in the living room and I’m better.  Pink’s “Raise your glass” at full volume…it solves problems seriously, try it out-that’s your homework!

Anyway…tomorrow is Friday and despite the fact that I am going to be sore when I wake up….the lure of the totally empty pool of Friday mornings all to myself will hopefully be enough to get me out of bed in the am….but if that doesn’t work…I got waffle mix to make for a “reward” breakfast if I get myself up and to the pool.

Anyway…that’s all for me today!  Good night!

~Emily

Short and sweet

Good day!  The office part of the day was just okay.  But after work I managed to squeeze in my 30 minutes of abs and a snack before heading to the pool to coach and then swim.  My triathlon class almost did an extra long workout due to my stellar math skills…but I caught my mistake before they suffered too much on that account.

My workout tonight was a nice light 3,000 swim.  It felt really good and smooth.  The main part of my workout consisted of a Ridley mile…one of my favorite sets.  You start with 11 lengths, then rest, then, 10, 9, 8…all the way down to 1 and it adds up to a mile.  It goes by pretty fast.  We used to do those sets all the time on swim team as a kid.

I got my stretch cords in after swimming and I am going to get in a real quick dinner and get to bed in the hopes that I get up when my first alarm goes off (4:30 am) to get a workout in before work tomorrow because tomorrow is MASSAGE day!  : )  So…..stinkin….excited!

Have a great night!

~Emily