Bright and Early

I love mornings. In fact, I always have. I find that if I've had a late night and sleep in past 10 I'm usually cranky for the rest of the day. I also need quite a bit of sleep. I think it's partly due to being blind; you are always thinking. Even if you are walking from the living room to the fridge to get a glass of milk, you are concentrating on the floor in front of you with your feet, the sounds you hear and whatever other information you can glean. All of this ensures you are not  bouncing off of walls or blundering over Granny's favourite china tea set. In familiar places the concentration levels are lower and you don't really notice you're doing it, but, if I go back to my point, I need a bit more sleep than the average person. If we go even further back to my main point-I love mornings.
How can you not? The air is fresh and usually there are birds singing. You can sit and enjoy a cup of coffee and know that you have the entire day ahead of you.
That is why this morning when I woke up before my alarm was to go off at 7:30 I was quite happy. I laid in bed for a few minutes and then climbed out when Jetta head butted the door. I'm pretty sure she knew I was awake. I started the morning by feeding Glacier and Jetta and my parents' cats, whom they inherited from me, Loki and Sisu. Then each dog took turns going outside and drinking water and I had myself some breakfast.
Mango juice, a glass of milk, eggs/vegetables/bacon     and a SMALL cup of coffee.
Wait. What?  Small cup of coffee?
No, I'm not trying to cut coffee out. I actually don't really drink that much to begin with, if you compare my consumption to other people's. During the week leading up to the wedding I was a coffee drinking fiend, but normally I have a larger than normal cup in the morning and that is it. But this morning's was smaller than normal, and I was up bright and early because I am off to the pool this morning for my second official triathlon training session. Tuesday's workout went so well that I feel confident going back this morning. However, Tuesday's workout also made it obvious that I have quite a bit of fitness work to do.
When I first hopped in the water I couldn't believe how good it felt. I realised that is why I used to love the sport. It's been nearly three years since I've actually gotten in and swam lengths. After I retired in 2008 I had no desire to go near a pool. I didn't want to hear one, smell one or be near anyone who was associated with one; recreational swimmers excluded. I had begun to loathe the politics that had gone along with competitive swimming and in turn it left a very bitter taste in my mouth in relation to swimming...at all. Things were different on Tuesday. I loved it! I was hoping this would be the case since it is an integral part of training for a triathlon. From everything I have read, swimming is most triathletes' weakness. Not for me; mine will be running.
The water felt great and my body moving through it felt even better. I reached my goal of 1 kilometer and even surpassed it by 100 metres. I felt like I could go further, but as I'm just getting back into it, I stopped there and set the next day's goal for 1.5 kilometres. I am excited this morning to jump in and start. There is not a doubt in my mind that I won't finish.
I haven't done anything fancy; no interval work or speed work. This is about fitness. It's also about getting used to the water again. I'm also trying to change a bad habit that I swam with for my entire career, which may take some work. I used to breathe to one side and every second stroke. This interrupts your stroke and slows you down. I am still breathing to one side, but now focusing on every fourth stroke. It stretches my lung capacity, especially right now, but I think in the long run it will be beneficial. Swimming in open water is going to be much wavier than in a pool and the longer I can keep my face in the water, the faster and further I'll be able to go.
With a new distance goal in mind and a new breathing pattern to practice, I will sign off for now. I hope everyone has a fabulous Saturday and enjoy the part of the day you love most.