The Week After

It has been just over a week since I ran the Lakefront Marathon, 9 days to be exact.  Since then I have not done much and its been ok.  It probably would be going better if I haven't completely just disregarded my nutrition.  I had Monday off from work and worked 1st shift overtime on Tuesday and then went back to work on my regular 3rd shift on Tuesday night.  I took Saturday and Sunday night off to celebrate my oldest daughter's birthday, which I'll get to in a bit.  The first actual physical activity I did was on Thursday morning after work when I went for swim.  I completely forgot my kick board and swim buoy at home.  I forgot to bring my anti-fog spray, so needless to say not my brightest moment.  I lucked out and just borrowed the pools kick board and did a swim/kick set.  This was the first time I didn't use swim fins on a swim/kick set.  I was quite surprised with how much more difficult the workout was without swim fins.  I was gunning for a 30 minute workout.  I ended up swimming 1150 yards which consisted of 9 sets of 100 yards swim followed by 50 yards kick.  The first set was 100 swim and 100 kick, which was were the extra 50 yards came from to get 1150.  I don't know if my legs were still fried from the marathon or if kicking without swim fins was just that tough.  For those of you who do not swim there is a big difference between swim fins and the snorkel fins most people are familiar with.  Snorkel fins are much longer and very flexible.   Swim fins are much much shorter and are typically very firm.  They provide enough propulsion through the water while still providing resistance on your hip flexors and glutes.  In the past I have always utilized swim fins for my kick sets and form and technique work.  A few weeks ago I heard that swim fins should only be used during form and technique work to aide in propulsion to allow you to concentrate on upper body movements.  They continued to say you should avoid swim fins during kick sets to better tax your legs and force you to learn how to develop a strong and efficient kick.  Boy were they right!  After just 50 yards of kicking with out fins I was winded.  From now one I will conduct my swim/kick sets sans fins.

Friday morning I stay in and rode my spin bike for a half hour and due to a constant and steady rain Saturday and Sunday compounded by my daughters birthday I took the entire weekend off.  I finally did my first run since the marathon on Monday with a very easy 4 mile run.  I felt stiff and old.  I think my pace was just under an 8 minute mile.  However I went for a run today (Tuesday) with Bob Zill (who ran the marathon last weekend with me).  We went for a 5 mile run along the lake shore in Neenah.  It was gorgeous outside and maybe it was the new route or the good company but we maintained a pretty good clip.  We averaged a 7:10 minute mile, which left both of us regretting our ability to just run slow.

I am now hoping to start really getting to the weight room the next month and a half along with getting in the pool for technique work.  Ideally I am thinking during a 7 day week getting to the pool 3 days, lifting weights 3 days, running 2 days, and biking 2 days.  Also, I realize that I wanted to NOT have a plan for the time being, but I'll be honest I at least need a layout of what I should be doing.  So, I don't consider that a "plan" but more just guidelines.  So we'll see how that goes for the next 45 days.

So as I stated it was my oldest daughters 3rd birthday on Saturday.  Its amazing when I sit down and think about the fact that I am a father to a 3 year old.  If no one has ever told you that time absolutely flies by when you have kids, I am here to tell you first hand - it really does.  Its crazy for me to think back to the days when Sarah first told me she was pregnant and I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared.  I had no idea what to expect or what I was getting into and now I could imagine not having kids.  Its kind of funny, I always wondered when I would get my workouts in when I would get stuff done, but now when the kids are gone with Sarah or I'm home alone for a little bit, I'm left thinking I have nothing to do.  I guess its one of those things that you just make adjustments too.  You schedule and plan ahead and be willing to make last second changes and you just make do with whats given to you.

For Maya's birthday, Sarah took her to The Fire (www.thefirestudio.com) while I took a couple hour nap after working 3rd shift the night before.  Maya and Sarah made a glass mosaic "M."  After I got up we went up to Green Bay to their new Children's Museum which was really nice.  They had a craft room, a mini city, large sail boat with a water table surrounding it, and a large sports room, among other things.  We then took her to a Pizza Buffet (not exactly the best choice, nutritionally speaking), but it was her birthday and she likes pizza.  On Sunday we had her birthday party with our family and she got a ton a fun toys, movies, and clothes.  All in all, it was a successful birthday and she had a blast.

Over the next week and a half I have a party with Zill and some other friends, officially named the Zillympics all centered around a series of yard games.  There are several teams all competing for title of Zillympics Champion with a trophy and cash prizes.  It should be a good time with a good group of guys.

So until next time - Stay safe - Stay fit!