Have we got a window for you!

Saturday we went to a contractor’s showroom so that he could show us our roofing and window options. The salesman should be on TV or at the very least he needs a remote to cue applause and laughter. We had 3 choices. Expensive with wood trim, expensive vinyl or lastly, you wouldn’t want to buy this crap. After we left Genine said, so why is it they have the “crappy” window in the showroom??? I have a feeling I'm going to laugh at the quote he sends us this week but I wanted to make sure to shop a few different contractors.
This place was about 45 minutes away, I allowed for a GPS adventure. I didn’t bother to really look at where this place was before getting in the car. Fortunately, it turned out better than our trip to the Y the other week. We decided to take a different way home and set the unit to shortest route. As we are driving along, we pass a Bird Store. Genine says let’s check it out.
So we go in. The owner is a nice guy. There were some very nice birds there. We aren’t shopping for another bird though. We ended up finding some toys for Milo to destroy then started talking about the cages. We’ve been looking to buy a new cage for about 7 years but the prices have always been too high. I guess prices have finally come down. We ended up buying one because it was about half the price of anything we’ve ever liked before. The next trick is putting it together. I didn’t think it would be much trouble until I saw that the instructions were 4 pictures and no words. It really wasn’t difficult, it’s just with such bad instructions it takes an hour longer than it really should. Once you’ve built it once, you could probably take it apart and put it back together in 30-40 minutes. Milo is one step closer to having a new home. Now we need to buy a few more things to make it functional for her. Here’s the cage.


Back to triathlon stuff. Genine and I made it to the pool Saturday. After a warm-up, I decided to just put the hand paddles on and swim for 50 minutes. I was able to get the time in but I’m definitely off. I’m doing something that is causing troubles when I pull with my left. So much so that for the rest of the evening my elbow hurt, even my neck was tight towards the end of the set. I have yet to return to the form that I had leading up to Timberman. It was a perfect time to have a good swim. I’d just like to keep it all the time!

Sunday morning: 10.2 mile run with Todd. We did about 5 strides at the end of the run. The concept here is that it will get the muscles stretched back out and also should help work towards better overall speed. Left heel was kind of sore when I got home. I iced it a few times during the day. I think the worst thing for it is if I do nothing. If I’m on my feet all day it seems to help keep it stretched out and feeling normal.
Genine got home mid afternoon and we went out for and easy hour + ride with Maija and Adam. It was definitely good recovery for my legs. Glad I went with them because on my own, I’m sure I would have cranked up the speed for 20 minutes or so.

Monday morning. 5:30-7AM swim. Genine is there for the first 50 minutes then she had to head to work. I spent much of the first 45 minutes really focusing on getting to the catch and being aware of how I’m pulling. Trying to figure that left side thing. I’m guessing it’s my kick getting in the way of things and throwing my balance off when I breathe to the left. So I did some work with the zoomers (fins) trying to get a feel for my kick timing. I didn’t gain much from that. I think my kick timing is better at 60 strokes per minute. I’m working at 50 strokes per minute tho’ and I don’t think I’ve got it put together with my kick.
When Maija showed up I followed her workout. Otherwise, I’d probably have just done 100’s trying to figure out what to adjust. I left the pool feeling pretty good. I didn’t bring any post workout food though... I get to work at 9, very hungry and not looking so good I guess. Three different people asked if I was all right. I said that I would be once I’ve had something to eat and some coffee. I guess I felt much better than I looked. But as Fernando Lamas would say, “It’s not how you feel, it’s how you look. And you look marvelous.”