That’s right. I am not a fish. Nor do I think I was any type of water animal in any previous life. How do I know? I had my first swim lesson today since I was on swim team in elementary school. (BTW, I think I only came in 1st place in one event EVER when I was on swim team. Again, not likely I was a water animal in another life.)
But I can’t tell you how many people I have talked to and articles I have read that have touted the benefits of swimming. So, here I am. Swim lessons. To help with my running. I went to REI on Thursday and bought goggles and a swim cap.
The next thing you know these Wisconsinites will convince me to do a triathlon. Ha! That will be awhile after this morning’s lesson. Oh, and I kind of dragged Kim with me. Well, she was willing and expressed interest in swimming, so I jumped all over that. A semi-private at 8am for 30 minutes with a coach of Tri-Swim Madison it was! The end result: we were deemed coach-able and willing to learn!
Swimming is hard! Breathing in water is hard. Rolling your body to take an efficient breath is hard. Timing is hard. Getting your elbows high and NOT getting your arms wide is hard. So, as I said at the beginning–swimming is hard! There is SO much to think about while trying to make it from one end of the lane to the other.
BUT, Kim and I are committed to keeping it up! We are taking another lesson next week. We WILL become fish-like! 🙂
In running news, I picked up my mileage a bit this week! A total of 22.23 miles and 3 hours 10 minutes on my feet! I had a tempo run, two easy runs and a long run of 9 miles this week. I’m feeling pretty good!
In terms of the Adrenaline Challenge, I am at $675 of the $1000 goal! I am so close! I want to thank everyone who has donated so far for their support! It is unbelievable who comes out of the woodwork to donate and it truly fills my heart with joy! Only $325 to go by March 10! If you want to donate, the website for my fundraising and why I am doing so is: http://pages.teamintraining.org/vtnt/rnr14/kcapogross
And by now you all know how much I love BCs and taking pictures of BCs…so here are some more from house sitting!
Quote of the Day:
“Instead of giving myself reasons why I can’t, I give myself reasons why I can.” -Anonymous
Okay, so I’m back to a sugar cookie recipe from Christmas because I am THAT far behind in posting recipes. I am totally a fan of cut-outs. Especially cut-outs with frosting. This recipe made it to ‘THE’ cookbook, so it must be pretty darn good. Just sayin’. And you don’t have to only make them at Christmas. I am sure there are some shamrock cookie cutters out there!
Sugar Cookie Cut-Outs
Ingredients
– 2 cups sugar
– 3 1/2 cups AP flour
– 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
– 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
– 2 large eggs
– 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Directions
– Beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
– Beat in eggs one at a time; add vanilla.
– Reduce speed to low, add flour and salt.
– Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate anywhere from 1 hour to 3 days.
– When making cut-outs, keep dough on the thicker side and bake 10-12 minutes at 350*.
Oven Lovin' Runnin' 