Swimming is DAMN hard!

Meet my arch nemesis.....

Yeah, so what it's a pool? This is the Lakewood YMCA pool. I have incorporated swimming into my training to build my endurance (which apparently fled from my body when I packed on the pounds at my last job). This morning was my first swim workout. The result? I am a sucky swimmer. Going just one length of the pool had me panting like my dog after a run.

Isn't waking up at 5 am hard enough, without gasping for air and choking on pool water? I couldn't cut the freestyle the whole time, that s*** is hard, so I went with the breast stroke, which is significantly easier for me. I warned the coach when I got there, that I am NOT a swimmer. The coach took pity on me and gave me some mini-goals to achieve, like not stopping between laps. Needless to say, it was VERY difficult for me to do that, today anyway.

By the end of the workout, I was controlling my breathing a lot better and interchanging freestyle and breast stroke. That's really what it was about, my breathing. Once I finally got into a rhythm, I felt like I wasn't totally anchoring everyone else and that someday I could catch up, maybe in a month or so. I am definitely going back on Wednesday! Once I learn how to breathe slower and get my strokes perfected, I can be a fish just like everyone else.

Until then, they will have to watch out for my slow a** in the right side of the lane. Right now, I do almost half the laps as everyone else, but I was getting the hang of it by the end of the hour, which gives me hope for Wed. morning. I'm stoked on this new swimming thing, not to mention the 20-minute bike ride to get to the YMCA. :) I can now project some crazy endurance in the months to come. YAY!

If you don't hear from me by next week, I probably drowned.

Interested in my workout? Check out 'The Workout Schedule' blog, to visualize my insanity.

**self censorship :)

The workout schedule

This intense varied schedule should smack me around and get me into tip-top shape for events to come. I thought I would share, to make me more accountable and just in case you'd like to try and keep up with the young wipper snapper (yea right!).

Monday
6-7 am - Swim workout @ YMCA
6:30-9:00 pm - Tennis @ Rancho Cienega Tennis Courts

Tuesday

6 am Santa Monica Stairs workout/run
7-10 pm - Tennis in Bellflower

Wednesday
6-7 am - Swim workout @ YMCA
Gym (or outdoor) workout (5K-10K run/weights) (24 hour fitness)

Thursday
6 am - Long Beach beach run

Gym - lite cardio/weights (24 hour fitness)

Friday
9-10 am - Turbo Kickboxing (24 hour fitness, slauson) <--kick butt class

6:30-9:00 pm - Tennis @ Rancho Cienega Tennis Courts

Saturday
Tennis (LA)

Bike ride/Hike

Sunday

Santa Monica Stairs Workout/Gym Workout

I'm going green...well more like baby blue!

I'm so excited, I have finally become totally fuel efficient. The same fuel that keeps my body running will be fueling my....wait for it....my new Schwinn Clairmont beach cruiser. LOL.

And yes, there is a basket on my bike for quick trips to Trader Joe's or Ralphs and afternoons at Starbucks or downtown. Not to mention my bike riding that will commence in Santa Monica on the weekends.

If you're in Long Beach, you may just see me riding down the street in my neato Schwinn with Chaka in a basket on the back. I look forward to riding the bike to the YMCA in the mornings for my new swim class. YAY!

From Paris to Istanbul and then some.

What happened? I was just riding along my merry way on my bike tours and then bam! I get to Istanbul and catch a mean cold. My head is aching and my nose is try to get away from me. But I guess after nearly a month of travel, it was bound to catch up with me.

Before getting here to Istanbul, we spend 4 days in Paris. Which is not exactly a homely city by nature; but we had great advice from great friends and made the most of our days there. We were able to go on two bike tours that took us all around the city, the latter of which got us caught in the unpredictable Paris rain (which is why I suppose I'm sick now). We spent a beautiful day, champagne tasting in Epernay, and one crazy night in front of the Eiffel Tower with our new bike tour friends....waiting for the Tower to glimmer, then having a drink, eating pringles, having a drink, waiting for the Tower and then having a drink, and so on and so forth!

My favorite part of France, by far, was going to Versailles. The gardens are beautiful but we were only able to spend a few hours there, where we managed to walk the gardens, row a boat and eat lunch in the middle of the lake. I could have stayed there all day and I'm sure several people did (as they were passed out on the lawns). But we had to get back for our night bike tour and to climb the 2 floors (yea right!) of the Eiffel Tower.

We left France with one special souveneir that was acquired while at the Moet & Chandon house.

After becoming exhausted in Paris, Istanbul was a relief to arrive to. However it was 3 am and the taxi driver may have not been licensed, traveling at speeds unknown to human kind on the empty road. We were sure he was taking us somewhere else, when 40 mins. later we are finally in front of our hotel, right in the center of Taksim Square, a good place to be if you're not from around here.

So now...I'm looking forward to getting better and going down our "List of things to do while in Istanbul" on Friday and Saturday, with sprinklings tonight and tomorrow night. Now if only I could get a replacement head for the remainder of the week (to relieve this runny nose and headache), that would be a dream.

Stay tuned for updates!