Reaping (early) benefits

Progress is definitely happening.  My torn tendon is feeling better (most days...) and I should be out of my boot cast in a few weeks.  Hopefully that will be followed by a short stint in physical therapy and then I can get back to spinning and cardio.  Not being allowed to work out on the elliptical and the spin bike has really been a bummer and I can't wait to reunite with the pain.  (Is that weird?  Whatever)

I've been fairly pleased with my swimming progress as well.  I have continued with my usual regimen of weight training and swimming on my own, as well as working with my coach every week.  We've been working on turns lately and after lots of hard work (and hundreds - no, make that thousands - of flips and somersaults and handsprings in the pool) I've finally been able to add effective (read: legal) flip turns into my workouts.  This is a major victory - and a huge step forward in the battle of cutting my 50 yd free time in half.  Yes, in half.  Yes, it's that bad.  If nothing else, my coach thinks I can do it - and hey, she's the pro right?  I'll side with her.

As long as I'm putting my all into each practice and each workout, I'm happy.  I may not be the fastest or the most powerful or the most experienced swimmer out there - but I will work harder than I think I can and I will continue to make sacrifices to keep my goals in focus.  The rewards have already been worth it.  I'm getting so much stronger, thanks to weight training, which is not only giving me lots more power in the water, but it's also paying off with stroke technique and being able to hold a proper body position.  I've also lost about 13% of my body weight in the process - a nice little bonus.  Besides spending inordinate amounts of time in the gym, a healthier and more effective diet has been extremely beneficial.  Olympian and all-around cooking bad ass Garrett Weber-Gale has lots of fab recipes and nutrition info on his site that have been super helpful.  (check it: www.garrettwebergale.com)

I'm planning to do another race-pace time trial in a week or two, so I'll update when I have that time.  Hopefully I'll be able to shave a few (or ten) seconds off.