Nice improvement on the swim times, Kathy! That's really impressive!

II have to clean this weekend. Uhg. But I am so buying fresh peas at the market tomorrow. I sampled them last, but was out of money and I've been fixated on them all week. I'm thinking of making a cold salad with peas and roasted corn and celery and sweet peppers, maybe adding chopped tomatoes just at serving, in a tangy italian or something, served over spinach. NOM.

Thanks, sarameg! I'm hoping that the swimming lessons I'm taking next month will help me speed up even more. What I really need to learn in the lessons is how to fix my kicking problem, learn the proper breathing technique, and finally figure out how to do a proper flip turn. If I can get all three of those down by the end of the four lessons, the $37 will have been totally worth it.

I'd like to be able to get my mile down to 50 minute by the end of the summer, maybe even by the end of July, and then down to 40 minutes by the end of the year.

Wow--a few years back, I went to this guy for a diet program that I only stayed with for a few months. He's now on the lam!!

Had my first day at the pool for the summer today and I was totally in my bliss. Open swim is from 1-5 and from :50 to :00 of every hour, it's adult swim. I'm going to work on some lap swimming, even though my form is crap and I don't breather right and flip turn? Ha! But I figure the kicking alone will do some good.

Em tried to take the swim test which includes a lap of the pool. She made it about halfway through the first length and had to get pulled out, but good on her for trying. I think she's just physically too small, despite the 9 months of swim lessons this year.

Once you get down to those paces, let me tell you, it'll probably be all over the place day to day. My average lap pace can vary 5s/lap. And then the really ridic is that my last lap, the part after I've done my main swim and am just stretching things out for six mixed laps? Is usually 45s. (I'm obsessed with pace since discovering I start moderate, slow and then really pick up the pace for the last half of whatever distance I'm doing.)

Aims, most of the kids in swim class (that are going on while I swim) can't make it until they are bigger than Em is, based on pictures. There are some good swimmers, too. They just have to work so hard to keep their little bodies up with their skinny limbs.

Yeah, she's pretty tiny. Just about 4' tall, but still just around 35-38 pounds. The lifeguards were awesome, though. They patted her on the back and told her how brave she was for trying.

Loki just spent the entire FNL ep on my neighbor's deck. Not sure why hers is so much cooler than mine, but he likes to hang out there sooo much. She was home at one point, and he was banging at her door (but she wasn't downstairs, so couldn't hear him, but he knew she was home.) He's been over there and hung out with her several times before. When she's catsat, he basically ends up spending all the time she's home and awake hanging out over there.

We've got so many cat/dog shares in this neighborhood, it is hilarious. (Pooch is returning from SV's "wife's"* parents' house to stay with SH for the summer. We've warned her tenants that he might try to come "home." E's and her next door neighbor's dogs routinely hang out all together at one house, whoever is home. Which now means: one yellow flabrador, one black lab/pit puppy, one siamese colored mastiff and one siamese colored pug. In one house. Aiiieeee.)

*= housemate for several years. Turns out most of the farmers' market vendors assumed they were a couple. When Lisa left, they asked SV where her wife was!

Church drama update: Yesterday I came home to a letter from the diocesan Vicar for Priests, asking for my written permission to show my letter of protest to the current dillweed pastor and "request his response." Which I promptly granted. Today a parishioner pinged me to alert me that a local columnist wants to email me to talk about the drama and why Matilda and I left.

I told Hec, and he said, "Hah! It is on like Donkey Kong!"

Eeps.

I've decided I need to actually vary my swimming and it's making a giant difference. One of the biggest shocks is that the rests matter. Today I did 1 x 200 of free, counting strokes and trying to lengthen the stroke by the end, then 1 x 200 of pull only (lengthening by the end) then 1 x 200 of kicks (fewer by the end). Did that three times through. Then I did 8 x 50 with a 15 second rest between, focusing on form. Then 4 X 25 as fast and strong as possible with a 45 second rest between.

I ended with "ladders". 1 x 25 (slow) with a 30 second rest then 1 x125 (moderate) with a 20 second rest, 1 x 100 (fast) with a 40 second rest and ending with a 1 x 75 (as fast as bearable) with a 60 second rest before you repeat the whole thing 3 times total.

It ends up taking me close to 90 minutes to do, but it's about 3000 yards, I guess.

The varying makes a GIANT difference and the rests do too.

I stole the workout from the Masters swim team that is there in the morning.