Friday night, I went swimming. I love swimming. Adore it. I think it is 100% the bees knees. But I don’t have a pool to swim in anymore. One of the main reasons I joined the Y was access to pools all over the greater Boston area so I could cross train with swimming instead of the dreaded elliptical or riding around on an uncomfortable bike. Still, after 8 weeks, I hadn’t been in the pool. I was a little itimidated. I’m a pretty strong swimmer. But I’m not competitve by any means. And I certainly can’t keep up with anyone who swims regularly. Last Friday, though, I was at a new Y. It’s close to my office so I can go there and then drive home, theoretically missing rush hour traffic.At this Y, the treadmills face windows that look out over the pool. I noticed there were at least 3 lanes that we completely empty. I vowed that the following week I would suck it up and start swimming laps. So this past Friday came around and I was exhausted from a long week. I just wanted to go home and go to bed. Instead I headed for the Y. You can’t become a leaner meaner you and if you never actually work at it, right?

Upon arrival there was no parking in the lot or on the neighboring streets. That meant the Y would be packed. I finally decided traffic wasn’t horrible and I would just head home and do a yoga video or something. My commute takes me by my neighboorhood Y and I can see some parts of the parking lot. It was mostly empty and suddenly my car was turning into the parking lot. I changed, crammed a swim cap on my giant noodle covered in a ridiculous amout of curly hair and headed to the pool. I had done a little reasearch that afternoon about lane sharing and was glad because the lanes all had at least 1 swimmer. I sat on the edge of a lane with a single occupant and asked if I could share the lane. I’m not sure he fully understood me (there was maybe a language barrier) but he nodded yes. I hopped in and immediately started laps. I decided to start slow and even this first time out. To keep track of the laps I assigned each trek across the pool a place, in alphabetical order. So the laps were Albuquerque, Boston,  Canton etc. It’s a trick I read in a magazine about running laps. I figured the same would apply for swimming. While I’m soon my laps the other guy swims across once and then sits at the end of the pool. Then eventually swims across again. I was trying to figure out if I wasn’t sharing well or what. Later he left and another guy showed up. He did almost the same thing. The first time I always swam so the center line was on my left. The second time I swam back and forth on the same side. I don’t know if one is more proper but I certainly prefer the first method. Can someone educate me?

I’m too tired to finish my post about new cross training activities tonight (yay swimming). Instead you get pictures. I take a lot. I’m one of those people that are made fun of by buzzfeed lists like “24 things we didn’t take pictures of when we used film” and “12 ways your phone camera is obnoxious” But scrolling back through pictures I take, I’m immediately brought back to that moment and it’s nice. So here’s the last week.

I rowed a 5k. In a half hour. I’m not breaking any records, but I was happy

Worst blogger of 2013 candidate right here. The truth is I was going through a little personal growth. And that personal growth included hitting a little bit of a rough patch that fully engulfed every aspect of my life. And I just didn’t feel like blogging. Or being funny. Or running. Things are on the up and up though. I started a new job and that has made a world of a difference.

Can I say that life is all butterflies and rainbow sprinkles? No (not jimmies. Those are chocolate only. And if you say chocolate sprinkles, I can’t even talk to you right now). But I’d like to think my mental space is a little better off to deal with all that life entails. I mean for reals. I have to wash my dishes EVERY night? Foo. And bills. They just show up every 30 days. Not cool. Can’t I just go blow my money on candy bars and cigarettes movie tickets like I did when I was in high school working part time. Rent? Pssh. Whatevs. Not.

I’m determined, DETERMINED to run a successful half marathon this year. I want it. I really do. For a little while there 18 months ago I was starting to feel fit. And my confidence shot through the roof. My insecurities started to quiet down. It was wonderful. Thankfully as I’ve gotten lazy again and added horrible eating habits, a lot of that confidence has stayed with me. But I’m feeling like I’m at a breaking point. If I keep going the way I am I’m going to start shying away from friends and situations outside of my comfort zone, again. Insecurities will come back. And I don’t want to. I don’t like that knot in my stomach. I’d rather have the not of OMG-I’m-so-uncomfortable-with-this-new-thing-oh-wait-THIS IS SO MUCH FUN WHY DIDN’T I DO IT BEFORE knot. So. It’s time to start getting back to “Smiling to a smaller, fitter me” as my Weight Watchers blog was called. I’m already a week back into WW and running and feeling pretty good. Except today. We had a regulatory audit at work. That sentence seems simple enough. But the process is not. I will not bore you with details but it involves a lot of sitting and waiting and then being ON and answering questions that have serious implications and running around printing and stapling and stamping documents “Copy”. And basically you spend the whole time justifying your existence as a company. Think about it as the most intense final you ever took in college. It’s a lot of work and very draining. But in the middle you get lunch. And you get to chat with the auditor. And build a rapport. Which comes in handy down the road. We had Panera boxed lunches. I opened my healthy smoked turkey to find a bacon turkey bravo. Only the most glorious sandwich on their menu which I proceeded to inhale. Then I ate the GIANT cookie. I had been running around all morning and was craving a little chocolate burst of energy. NBD. I was going to the Y for a run after work. And my dinner is chili which is mostly vegetables with a little beef. But. At the end of the day, my boss’s boss and my boss (new as of 2 weeks ago) said let’s go debrief over a beer in the kitchen. That turned into 2 and I left the office at 8. I fully support this decision because this is 100% what I wanted from a working environment. And those late night conversations are where you get exposed to so much extra insight that help with the job and also opens me to future opportunity. When I left, I still could have gone running. But that would mean dinner at 9:30 and I’m just not into that. Of course it’s 10:25 and I’m just about to eat dinner. But it’s for an entirely different reason (hello 2 hour phone call with my mother). So I can be more on board than if it was self inflicted to take my very tired sore legs through their paces on the dang treadmill. So. Well. That’s it. I’m going to go eat. Happy almost Friday in 90 minutes!

Hearts and half marathons, kittens!