Still Jumping in at Master's Swim

So what's next for me? The Twin Cities Marathon is usually my last big event for the year, and it's always a bit of a letdown when it's over. Suddenly the nights are getting shorter and the days are getting cooler. I don't love fall. I never have. I'm a summer girl for sure. Fall just means winter's coming. Last year after the marathon, I signed up for Surf the Murph 50K. I had felt pretty good during my marathon training and waited to see how my legs healed after the race. They gave me the green light, so I signed up.

I knew going into the marathon a couple of weeks ago that I had done training just to get by. I was trained for a half iron distance tri and had squeezed a little marathon training into that schedule. At around mile 20 of the marathon, I knew that I wouldn't be doing a trail run this year. It's SO much fun, and it's a great community that I can't wait to explore further, but I'd be kidding myself if I thought my body was ready. I briefly toyed with doing the 25K instead but have decided to forgo it. Maybe next year. Essentially this means that I don't have any big events on my schedule yet, which always freaks me out a little. Over the next couple of weeks/months, I'll come up with my 2011 race schedule. Right now, the only race there is the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon that my Evotri buds will be joining me for.

In the meantime, I'm enjoying the unseasonably warm weather we've been having here in Minnesota. Anytime we can hit 75-80 degrees in October we celebrate! I've been on a couple of beautiful fall bike rides, gotten in some long runs with my brother and friends, and am still going to Master's swimming. It's no less embarrassing. We worked on the butterfly this past Thursday, and I'm closer to drowning than swimming when I attempt that stroke. I have nearly given up on the whip kick. I may never be able to do the breaststroke properly. I always thought that I as a runner had bypassed "inflexible ankles" that is commonly the complaint when runners take up swimming. Beth, our instructor, has informed me that this is likely my problem. On the positive side, I did flip turns for all but one of my turns during intervals last Thursday. I am making progress, people! Slowly but surely, I know that aspects of my stroke are improving. At the very least, not taking a 5 month holiday from swimming this winter should really help my speed next summer.

Happy off season, everybody!