Breakfast of Champions ...

Thought I'd share my perfect breakfast with you... :) :) :) I used to eat oatmeal every morning, but found I would be really, really hungry around 90 minutes after. I also had trouble with being pretty dehydrated in the mornings - my fingers would already be on their way to prune-hood before I even got in the pool. All, this, my friends, was before we received a "Magic Bullet" for Christmas. (And yes, I totally pilfered that name for my bike!)

Every morning, I mix a smoothie that contains:

• chocolate milk
• 2 scoops protein powder
• big spoonful wheat germ
• two big spoonfuls ground flax
• yogurt
• a small green banana (the green ones taste more like banana in a smoothie for some reason)
• 4-5 frozen strawberries

Ohhhh!! Heart be still!! It is so good -- I just love it --no more wrinkly fingers in the morning, no more growling stomach right after I eat breakfast! YUMMM!!! The only thing is, the cup is so big, that when I tip it back to drink, the top of the cup hits me right between the eyes. I never noticed until one day, i saw this brown smear on my head, and realized that it was some of my drink crusted there. I usually drink my stuff on the way to the pool, so I checked my glasses, and they too had this debris caked on them!! Ewwww! Like my Dad would say - I'm saving it for later. Hahahahaha!

Yesterday, I ran out of IG schedule so I decided to have a swim drill day. The pool I swim in during the winter months is only 20m, so when I do sets of 50m, I do sets of 60m. I figure the extra swimming might actually help me! So, I did a good warm up, then sort of played around:

• 60m right arm only
• 60m swim
• 60m kick
  
• 60m left arm only
• 60m pull
• 60 kick

I did this 3x, then ended with a drill pyramid of fisted drills -- I really like these ones. Then, as a finale -- my youtube breaststroke!

Brief aside -- Cath -- I can't wait to see you again!! I can't wait to take lessons from the "Swimming Master"!!!! I am really looking forward to your visit! :) :) Your swimming sounds like it is improving by leaps and bounds -- which is incredible because you are already so GOOD! :)

Later on, I did core work at the gym. Man, there is this one exercise that is surprisingly difficult --I thought the hiatus from plank work would be "easy" but Aye Carumba!! Here is the exercise: You lie down on a mat and hold a weight (I use 8lb) straight up in the air. Then, you stand up any way you can, all the while holding you arm straight up in the air by your ear. Then you lie back down, same thing with your arm. That is one rep. Do 5 on each side, break, then repeat 3 more times. Whoo baby -- dare I say I am looking forward to planks again!! :) :) :)

I tried my daily chin-up attempt, but my left arm was pretty sore from some new weights I did the day before. So, I decided to rest my muscles.

Afterwards, I ran 12. 12 miles -- the first two miles with Diva and Toby. They got absolutely filthy! The wind wasn't too bad, but the temps had dropped making it pretty crisp. Then, some good stretching.