Chutzpah, Chutzpah, Chutzpah

Finding time to write a few times it week is proving almost as difficult as getting in the pool...

Wednesday morning at 5:15 I braved the pool for the first time. I was standing ankle deep on the steps to the pool when it hit me. I have to SWIM?!!! What was I thinking? I gave myself a few minutes long pep talk then my shivering body dove under the water. I got tired very quickly, but told myself "just keep swimming. just keep swimming. just keep swimming swimming swimming". It's amazing how different swimming is on your body compared to other cardio. The important thing is, I finished my first swim work out!

I read one of my favorite blogs - Mile Markers by Kristin Armstrong - on Thursday. I often feel like she is writing directly to me. Or maybe that is my stalker-ish tendencies talking because I adore her so much. The entire blog post spoke to me, but this quote has inspired my new mantra: "success is measured in the chutzpah of the try". I may not win races, I may come in last in the swim. But I have the chutzpah to try. When I'm feeling discouraged, or afraid of the swim, I repeat to myself "chutzpah, chutzpah, chutzpah"

Thursday night was another run night with BW. It had started snowing in the afternoon and was coming down pretty good by the time we got started. Strong winds and cold snowflakes greeted us on the first uphill stretch of our run. We had to keep looking down to keep the snow and wind out of our faces. Our fronts were white and our faces red. We felt good and decided to do a little bit longer of a run. This decision was rewarded with sleet. We couldn't help but laugh at ourselves. Overall it was a great run though.

My Sunday morning long run was 11 degrees outside, but sunny! We ran part of our run in a park that I have never run in after snow before. It was quite pretty and peaceful. We both felt strong and ended our run at a very quick pace and the last 100 meters we raced to the finish. It's been a long time since I've raced someone to the end of a training run. I used to do that all the time when I trained with the Spot. It feels good to finish strong. And fast.

Yoga this afternoon felt amazing after my long run. It was a nice change of pace to meditate while pushing my body in a completely different way. My yoga instructor is a truly amazing person and someone I really admire. It was good to be reunited with my yoga practice after a few month hiatus.

I hope to find more time to write throughout the week. This week has been a learning experience in balancing all the different aspects of my life.