Swim Lessons



Last year, we'd had Norah take swim lessons via the city, and they were okay, but not great.  Norah didn't like going, and often cried beforehand about having to go, and at the end of the 10 week session, we didn't feel her swim skill had advanced much.  So, we didn't continue the lessons, and since it was then late fall, there wouldn't be much swimming over the course of the winter anyway.

 

This summer, then, I was on the fence about having both kids do lessons again: Were they really worth the money?  Could I teach them what they needed to know?  So, we began our summer of swimming with arm floaters and that was fine, but I knew they needed more in order to be competent swimmers -- sooner rather than later.  I knew the city lessons weren't great, so I searched for private swim schools and found the US Swim Academy, a place we'd briefly checked out before since it was close to a movie theater Jerry and I often go to for our date nights.

 

I toured it, and I knew right away it would be WORLDS better than the lessons we'd done last summer, so I signed them up.  Their first lessons were yesterday, and I can't say enough good things about the place and their methods.  It's indoors, heated pool, and they have a plethora of inventive toys and equipment, and the teaching philosophy is all about making every skill a game or task.  Plus, the classes are super small: 3 kids to 1 teacher.

 

Pic's not great, but here's Norah going down one of these floaty slides into the water in her class:

 

Unlike the lessons Norah did last year, she was beaming through her entire lesson yesterday, and when she got done, she was excited about returning for next week's class.

That is worth every penny of the extra cost.

Not only does the place make the lessons not feel like lessons, but immediately, there's a noticeable improvement in both kids' swimming.  Today, at home in our community pool, Norah abandoned the arm floaters and was swimming back and forth from the stairs to me, and she kept wanting me to go farther and farther away (I'm terrible at judging distance, but I'd say she was going about 10-12 feet at a stretch).

Caleb too wanted to follow Norah's example and swim out to me without his floaters, but he could only go about 2 feet or so, and he was still flailing like I was stabbing him with hot pokers when I tried to get him to practice his back floating; still, he too had improved and he had also liked his class (the only problem, by his estimation, with his class was that Norah wasn't in it with him).

Caleb's teacher said he needed one more week in the class he started in, and then he could probably advance; Norah immediately advanced, and for her advancement, she earned a medal.

She was SO proud of her medal, and when she got home, she knew, right away, where to put it:

It's Been a Spell

So, I've been AWOL for a bit. 

 

No one thing, just an accumulation of things.  End of the semester, a trip to Disney, and now summer SAHMing have all kept me away from blogging the past few weeks.  Maybe I'll be a more regular blogger this summer; we'll see.

 

We're still settling into a summer routine, and we have some activities planned, but most don't begin until the end of this week and beginning of next: Kids are gonna do gymnastics and swimming lessons, and I have been scouting the library story time classes, as well as the community ed classes for tots (maybe a crafty art class or something, we'll see).  In the meantime, what we mostly plan to do this summer is go to parks and swim in the pool.  We've already gotten plenty of pool time in:

 

 

On the running front, I continue to streak, and as of yesterday's run, I'm at Day #135.  In those days, I've run 478 miles.  Nothing epic, but I'm kinda working up to epic this summer.  Summer heat isn't really conducive to epic mileage, but my time is.  So I'm probably gonna sweat myself silly in the next few months, but I'd do that anyway.

 

Lastly, I got myself a new pair of shoes.

 

 

For those who are friends with me on Facebook, you already know that these shoes were 3 weeks from order to arrival, and their journey from an Amazon warehouse to my front door was fraught with mishaps; for those who aren't on FB with me, know that it was a GIANT pain to get these -- apparently, some packages just go to Opa Locka, FL and stay there.

 

Anyhoo...these are Saucony's Virratas, which are touted as a hybrid between minimalist and stability shoe.  As you know, I've toyed with various minimalist shoes, but haven't ever found a satisfying pair.  I don't know if these will be either.  I've given them 2 runs so far, and I don't yet have a feel for them.  Like any new pair of shoes, they take a bit of adjusting, but because they are also a "bit minimalist," they take quite a bit of adjusting (considering I ran the previous 471 miles of the year in my trusty Brooks Adrenalines, which are just getting to feel really broken in and perfect).

 

Once I've given these Virrata's some significant mileage, I'll let you know my thoughts; for now, we're just getting to know each other.

 

Lastly, this summer, I've decided to give both push ups and sit ups a "go."  I downloaded these apps on my phone that take me through 3 days a week plans to get me to do a bazillion of each.  I'm modifying both: With the sit ups, I'm just doing crunches; and with the push ups, I'm doing them "girly style."  But, dang those push ups slay me.  Yesterday, I did 5 sets of varying reps for a total of 57!  My arms were like useless slabs of meat afterward.

 

And, I'm on week 2.

 

On this path, I should be The Hulk by August.

Run for Boston

Monday evening, the local Ft Lauderdale running community gathered for a run to demonstrate support for Boston and to raise money for the victims and their families.

It was a rainy night, and I questioned whether or not they would hold the event; and if so, if I wanted to run.  That sounds wussy, I know, "I don't wanna get wet even though the run supports a noble cause, wah, wah, wah," which is exactly why I still went despite the downpour.  I know that runners at Boston did all kinds of courageous and noble acts for those who were injured and killed; the least I could do was show up and run in the rain.

Once gathered, a few "leaders" said some words, we shared in a moment of silence, we sang the National Anthem (particularly tugged at the ole heart strings this time), we posed for a giant group pic, and then we ran.  Around a track.

Since it was literally pouring, some runners just ran a "symbolic" lap or two, maybe a mile, but others, like myself, ran 3+ miles.  For selfish reasons more than anything, I wanted to get at least 3 miles done, and after I was soaked within the first lap, I figured, "Eh, may as well do what I can out here."

The event sold out of the t-shirts they'd ordered, and they managed to have a really significant turn out, especially considering the weather, so they were able to raise a nice little sum for The One Fund.  I got there too late for a tee but still donated some moola, so I got to benefit from the warm fuzzies even without the tee.

All around, it was a feel-good run-sperience. 

Plus, Monday was my birthday -- yes, the Earth graciously shared the day with ME.  So, in honor of the day, my 35th birthday, I made sure my mileage was an even 3.5.

Maybe one of these years, I'll actually run the number of miles for the number of years old I am, but every year that I put that off, the harder I make the goal.  Hmmmm, this is one of those "better sooner than later" goals, isn't it?

Moving Along

With such a major event on Monday, it's felt a little odd resuming the normal routine, but that's the business of living: We have to get to it.

So.

The running here this week has been a lesson in adaptation.  Mother Nature decided, "Meh?  Why not just go ahead and make it summer!"  I know that many people in the rest of North America are shaking angry fists at the heavens cursing Mother Nature's refusal to move forward out of winter, but here, she decided to just skip ahead to July. 

It's April, dammit.  We're supposed to get a wee bit more of the temperate weather, aren't we?  Nope, guess not.

Thus, there's really only one word to describe the running this week: Sweaty.

You'd think I'd be used to such bodily effusion, but honestly, after months of lovely weather, it's a bit of an adjustment to suddenly be out there thinking, "Sweet Jesus, I'm melting!"

Oh well, best get used to it: It's not gonna get any cooler here in the next six months!

On Boston

Last night, after dinner, after the kids had been bathed, the dog fed, the kitchen cleaned, and everyone settled in for the evening, I changed into my running clothes as I do every evening at this time.  And, I sat on the kids' step stool in the bathroom to lace up my shoes, and for some reason, that act of lacing up my shoes brought me to tears.

So, I sat on the step stool and cried.  Just for a moment.  Long enough to use up the tears that swept over me, but not so long as to dwell with them.

Then, I finished lacing up my shoes and I went out and ran.

It was nothing special: A 3 mile route that I run nearly everyday.  I didn't run fast.  I didn't have any earth-shattering epiphany.  I didn't completely resolve any feelings of grief, fear, despair, frustration, or sadness.  I didn't have any newfound faith in humanity or any restoration of the power of good or heroism.

When I got back, the world was still the same place it had been when I'd set out.  It was no different and neither was I.  But.

I felt better.

And so we run. 

Maybe away.  Maybe toward.

As Tim O'Brien says at the end of his story, "The Things They Carried," "[Our] loads will be heavier" but, we find the strength to "carry on."

Run on, friends, run on.

Day #101

Today's 3 miler was my 101st consecutive run this year.

Boom!

100 day streaking barrier? Broken.

It's been kind of a crazy week, too. Wrapping up some busy committee work, as well as the end of the term, at work, we had a surprise visit from my SIL and MIL, and then Norah barfed all over school today. Uff.

But, when is life not crazy?

I just know that I'd BE crazy if I had to handle this madness without running.

On Teething, A DNS, and Pushing a Dbl Jogger

Caleb has been a handful as of late.  Poor dude is teething something fierce, but instead of teeth coming in, it is just pure evil.  It's been about 10 days of various "symptoms" culminating over the weekend in an effort to make Mom and Dad's lives a living hell.  His general weekend philosophy seemingly was: "If I can't sleep, neither will you!"

The only things to make him happy were treats like cold, cold ice cream:

Otherwise, he was a bear.  So, poor sleep and dealing with the crabbiest almost-2-year-old on the planet meant I was spent.  Sunday's 10K?  I was out.

I bailed.

Friday night, I realized my online registration for the race hadn't gone through, and Saturday morning (after a night of not-so-great sleep), I decided to take the registration snafu as a sign, and I texted my friend Wendy, who I was supposed to meet up with, and told her the truth: I'm not showing.  She was understanding.

It wasn't that I didn't want to run (I still ran all weekend -- Viva La Streak!), but the thought of getting up early and driving to Boca to race?  It was just too much.

So, on Sunday, I decided to take on a challenge of a different sort.

I broke out the double stroller, which has been sitting idle for a LONG time, and I ran the kids to the park, let them play for awhile, and then ran them home.

So, what's harder than pushing two kids in a stroller into the wind? 

Nothing.  Absolutely nothing.

On our way to the park, I managed to crank it up to a whopping 10:30 min/mile pace, and I was thinking: "Man, this is great!  I need to do this more often!  We have tons of parks within running distance!"   But on the way home, I think I averaged an 11:30 min/mile pace, and I was thinking: "What fresh hell is this?"  

It was a total of 4 miles in 44:28.  It was a humbling running experience.