The Tip the Coach Forgot

For my triathlon training plans, I signed up for a triathlete swimming clinic. The clinic is 6 sessions, taught every other saturday morning by a private swim coach with 30 years experience. I took swim lessons as a kid but have never had much interest in swimming. Consequently, I could basically keep myself afloat but didn't even know how to swim a proper lap. Ergo, part of the challenge appeal of competing in a triathlon. Luckily, most of the people in the clinic are in my same boat (har, har); they are athletic and therefore familiar with pushing their bodies' limits but swimming is just an anomaly. So far the clinic's been really great and I feel even more confident after the first two sessions than I thought possible.

After the last session, I came home and jotted down some of the drills and pointers the coach told me to work on and left the notebook out on the table. A few days later I dug it out to review and found some advice my coach had neglected to share...

Three Fabulous Snow Bunnies

Saturday was my first day out skiing this season, thanks to the generosity of one sweet Marry Stewart. And boy, you couldn't ask for a more perfect day: crisp mountain air, radiant sunshine, fluffy powder, and most of all the giggles and isolated time with two of the best women in existence.

I was 20 before I even learned how to ski and never really got very good. During seasons that I skied a lot I comfortably negotiated most blue runs. But the last few years I've only gotten out once per season and every time it practically felt like starting over. By the end of the day I was starting to get my groove back. Maggie hadn't skied at all in over 12 years and yet she was like a beauty queen making her turns. And Marry rips it up at least once a week and has her "bellybutton technique" down pat. So thanks to Maggie and Marry for putting up with my pokey-ness, tolerating a lot of green runs, and making me smile for an entire day- something else I haven't done in a while.