Evacuating the Toxins
I seriously contemplated not going to the pool this morning – I was just so tired and lazy! I think it’s because since Saturday, I’ve been eating non-stop crap. It’s been fun, but I truly think that getting all the nutrients I need is one of the key factors in enabling me to hop out of the bed and enjoy hitting the pool.
To get back on track after my 2,400 yard drag in the pool today (it wasn’t a swim, it was definitely a drag), I decided to start my day with a detoxifying, nutrient-rich smoothie. I’ve been trying different smoothies recently, and I love my adaptation of this one:
Mango Coconut Water Smoothie
1 cup mango chunks (I buy the frozen ones from Trader Joes)
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 cup unsweetened coconut water
Pinch of cayenne powder
Add some ice cubes (I like about 1/2 cup) and blend all together until smooth.
source: WholeLiving.com
That’s it! This low-calorie smoothie is packed with fiber and the electrolytes my body needs after a swim. However, beware: all of the ingredients in this smoothie are natural diuretics, so there will be…ahem…an evacuation of toxins.
What detoxing smoothies do you like?
Sooo happy it’s Friday. What a week! Here are some highlights:
- Swimming to DJ Paul Boston’s epic mix. My brother is a budding tech and minimal house DJ down in LA and he sent me the mix he did at a club on Monday night, saying I should try swimming to it. Seriously, I love the Internet and that it enables me to hear the live music that my bro DJs every week, even though I can’t be there in person down in LA! So this morning I strapped on my waterproof otterbox and swam a steady, strong 3,000 yards listening to this awesome tracklist. It was sooo fun! And it really motivated me in the pool. Great way to kick off my Friday!
- Completing 40,900 yards. One of my New Year’s Resolutions is to swim 40,000 yards per month. I completed my resolution for January, despite being out of commission for several days in the third week due to a nasty cold! WOOT!
Distance Tracking Courtesy the Speedo Pace Club App
- Sent out our Save the Dates. Getting everyone’s responses to the Save the Dates made it all the more real that our wedding is happening!!! People have been responding by e-mailing their excitement for our wedding, complimenting us on the super cute website we built, and simply expressing their love for us. It was seriously the highlight of my week. It’s like every morning I wake up to 10 new love letter in my email inbox. <3
Our Eco-Friendly (Okay, and Budget Friendly!) E-card
- New Goggles. I’m still loving these pretty babies! I have not had to stop to adjust them or de-fog them once during any of my morning workouts this week! That’s new for me!
Speedo Vanquisher 2.0 Plus
- Snuggly Kitties. The Jewish Scientist and I were both soooo sick with that nasty cold this weekend, so on Sunday we went over to my parent’s house and cuddled on the couch with the cats while watching the game. I think nothing is more therapeutic when you’re sick!
Lugo focusing on his nap while the rest of us focused on the game
Delfina snuggled on my dad's 49ers sweatshirt
Inspiration Through Extreme Swimming
“So, what is it? What is it you are doing with this one wild and precious life of yours?”
You must watch this TED talk by a 50+ year old woman who attempted to swim from Florida to Cuba:
The way she describes how you get into your head when you are swimming…yes. Simply, YES.
At the end, she talks about recovering from a massive failure….Oy, I know that. I’m still recovering and licking my wounds from a massive failure at work that occurred about a year and a half ago now. I feel like I’m slowly but surely swimming my way out of that failure…out of that dark, black hole that I fell into when I discovered just how massively I can fail because of reasons way, way beyond my control. Just as she learned, no matter how much you prepare and how hard you try to recover and keep going, sometimes failure is inevitable because of reasons beyond you, and that’s even harder than if it was because of you.
And that’s why swimming is playing a more significant role than ever before in my life. It’s when I get inside my head, and spend time with me. Quality time with myself to heal and regain the strength to try again, knowing that I can survive the most massive of failures.
Keep on swimming.
Sidewalk Sleepers on My Way to the Pool
I’ve had an AWFUL cold so I finally made it back to the pool after a (snotty) hiatus. It was rough.
My alarm went off at the usual 5:45 am and woke me up from my Nyquil daze. My only condolence was that it finally rained in San Francisco, so now its now quite as cold in the mornings. You know its warmer when the homeless people are sleeping in the storefronts like this on my walk to the gym:
Every morning, they are there!
When it’s extremely cold, they are curled up in fetal position, with their bodies tucked entirely inside the little storefront space, off of the sidewalk. When it’s a little warmer, they all sleep with their legs extended out into the sidewalk, like these two gentlemen you see in my iPhone pic.
For my main workout set today, I did 5 X 200 IMs and have decided that I think something is wrong with my Butterfly stroke. IMs used to be my favorite, but now I simply get too tired when I do the Butterfly – so I think I’m doing something wrong. I’ll need to have the Jewish Scientist come and watch me to see what’s up.
After the IMs, I moved into 5 X 150 Pull sets, and I seriously think I did a few of those asleep. I kept catching myself closing my eyes as I pulled, pulled, pulled, and felt my body start to transition into sleep mode. Can I swim freestyle in my sleep? Probably. But isn’t that kind of dangerous? Oy!
New Goggles! Speedo Vanquisher 2.0 Plus
This weekend, I found out that Sports Basement was having a 20%-off-everything sale until our first big snow FINALLY happened here in Nor Cal. I jumped on the opportunity to get a new pair of goggles because the ones that I have fog up too much. I have major issues with foggy goggles because my face gets really flushed and hot when I’m working hard.
Check out these beautiful babies, aren’t they hot????
There were a ton of goggles with anti-fog coating to choose from, but I have to admit that I picked the Speedo Vanquisher 2.0 Plus goggles primarily because I love the fuchsia lenses, hot pink nose piece, purple straps and lens gaskets that fade to turquoise. SO CUTE!
I test-swam them for the first time this morning and was thrilled with how comfortable they are while still keeping a snug, watertight fit. They don’t provide quite as much peripheral vision as my previous pair do, but these are racing goggles, so that’s the sacrifice that is made for the low-profile design.
Super happy with this purchase! What goggles are your faves?
Protecting Your Nails from the Chlorinated Pool
Oh, swimming. I love, love, LOVE it – but it doesn’t always do your looks as many favors as you’d like. In addition to your hair and skin taking a beating, your nails get brittle, soft and kinda yellow. Susan asked me how I deal with it, and this has been a lifelong issue for me because I never had strong nails to begin with.
I’ve tried everything. I’ve tried the nail-hardening polish, regular manicures, and expensive cuticle creams. But my nails would still tear.
However, when I got engaged in October, I started taking Biotin supplements - named “Hair and Nail Vitamins” at the pharmacy – to hopefully help my hair grow extra long by the wedding date. The happy surprise is that my nails have very noticeably gotten the strongest they have ever been while I’m swimming. I’m so thrilled that I think I’ve finally found a solution to swimmer’s nails!
Mind you, my nails still aren’t pretty. So don’t judge me if you look at them and are unimpressed. God just decided not to give me pretty nails. But they are better than they were – they are pretty for me – and that makes me happy.
What do you do to protect your nails from the harsh chemicals in the pool?
To Eat or Not To Eat Before a Workout
Two weeks ago, I read a study that found that people who didn’t eat before their morning workouts lost more weight than those who did. Last week, I read another study that found the exact opposite. It’s just like all those coffee studies:
“It’s good for you!”
“It’s bad for you!”
“No wait, it’s good for you!”
“Or it might be bad for you!”
So, should I eat before my morning swim or not? I gave up on trusting any of those studies and decided to just do what my body tells me.
The theory that you have nothing to burn in the morning doesn’t make any sense to me – what happened to the salad and whole wheat vegetarian pizza I ate for dinner last night? Did it just disappear from my system overnight? If I eat something even as small as half a banana right before getting in the pool, I run a high risk of getting a cramp. So instead, every morning I pop out of bed and drink an Emergen-C for a quick wake-me-up before dashing to the gym. 
With massive amounts of Vitamin C, Vitamin B and electrolytes, it gives me the energy boost I need to work hard first thing in the morning. And at 25 calories per serving, I figure it’s a happy medium between eating and not eating – I guess it’s at least something if the eating advocates are right.
Do you eat before you work out? What works for you?
