I TRIED TO SLEEP IN.

But it didn't happen. I woke up at 5 am on the dot, no alarm. Saturday and Sunday it was the same thing, around 5:30, again with no alarm. Not that I am really tired or anything, I just would like to not get up that early on a weekend for no real reason. And then staying up past 9 pm gets really difficult!

I decided I would not get up as early all week, not do spinning, and generally have an easier week. This coming Saturday, I will be doing the annual Indoor Triathlon at the Y, so I figured I have already got enough training in. I really want to go into this with fresher legs.

As long as I was up anyway, I decided I would go swim. It had been snowy again overnight, and it really makes my life easier to get downtown before the masses hit the highways. And I really do like working out in the morning, so a swim seemed like a compromise.

While swimming, I noticed something: I felt like I was swimming faster than usual. The other woman who swims M-W-F was already there, and I actually came close to her speed for the first time since before the accident. She is a good swimmer. That's pretty much all she does. I felt stronger than usual too. I had on a new swim cap, a really nice one I got at a tri last season and probably had only worn once, and oddly enough, I felt like I was gliding through the water better. When I checked my watch after a half mile, I was almost 2 minutes faster than my last timed half. And I know I counted correctly. Could a swim cap make that much of a difference?? If so, I'm wearing it Saturday!

I always like a morning swim, because it helps me sort things out easier. It definitely helped me think about my schedule this week. I had thought I would do the evening spin class, but now I think I will pass on all spinning this week and instead do short bike/run workouts on Tuesday and Thursday and swim the other days. I think that will work and give me the energy I need to do well on Saturday.

I am not going to look at my times from last year. There are too many factors involved to make a fair comparison. I just want to go into this thing and hope to do as well and place as well as last year, despite any new or different competition who may show up. Later this year, Jan will be in my age group, so this will be my last time at this event to have any hope of placing well in my age group!