A New Romance

Tracks left by Apollo and me on the dawn of our one real snow day.
--Photographer Unknown

As winter forces me closer to the fire, my triathlon training adapts.  Gone are the long, sunny days of cycling.  I miss the sunshine on my skin and the unfortunate tan lines that cyclists wear with perverse pride.  

Instead, the few rides we have are cold; and we not only dress like crazy clowns, but some require whiskey for warmth!

Our first winter base ride
of the season.

An "unnamed rider" taking
advantage of a little liquid heat!

I have been running more.  Harder.  Longer.  I've finally committed to real strength training and have seen my body change and adapt.  Who is this strong woman in the mirror?!

Most surprising of all, I have a new romance with . . . swimming.

Thanks to an incredibly thoughtful swim program called Swim Speed Secrets by Sheila Taormina, my hours in the pool have doubled.  More importantly, swimming has gone from long and boring to challenging and different every day.  My stroke technique has improved.  I can see and feel the changes in my body.

Other than misgivings about my visibly bigger upper arms and shoulders, I am both surprised and delighted with this new relationship to the pool.  And biggest surprise of all?  I'm getting faster.

I'm so surprised by these changes that I don't quite know what to do with them.  Should I enter an open water race?  Join a masters' swim team?  Just keep training for my Ironman?

Not that it matters all that much.  As John will happily remind me, I haven't found a way to make swimming (or anything else!) into a money maker.  Yet it thrills me to see my body happily responding to new training and new challenges.

Old dog.  New tricks.

Apollo watches the rain as we both wait to go for a run.