Mozzy, Wet Suit & Cancer? Say What?

Mozzy

A lot has changed in our household. On May 6th, we welcomed a new member of our family. He's a 9 week old French Brittany Spaniel who we named Mozzy. I am not a dog person. I am not an indoor animal person. Please pray for me to have patience and understanding with this tiny little being who has joined our family. However, I have to say the little stinker is incredibly cute. I think he's going to be a great addition to our family. Annelise is very excited to have him in our family so that she can train Mozzy for agility competitions. 


Also on May 6th, I signed up for an Olympic Triathlon in Carlyle, IL called the Gateway Triathlon. Awesome Cheryl & I decided we needed an early triathlon to work our way through the pitfalls of an open water swim. The Gateway Triathlon is a 1.5 km (0.93 mile) swim in Carlyle Lake, 20 km (24.85 mile) bike and 10 km (6.2 mile) run.  An almost mile long swim in a lake in early May? Guess who received a Xterra wet suit for Mother's Day? ME. 


On Sunday, I went out for my first open water swim in my brand spanking new wet suit at Lake Windermere. Knowing my reaction to previous open water swims I decided to take my first lap along the shoreline to get comfortable in the wet suit. What is it about the open water that turns a confident swimmer into a big old ninny?  Right away Diablo started re-surfacing. 


"Why the hell are you doing this? What makes your think you can swim 1 mile let alone 2.4 miles? You were stupid for wasting $700 on an Ironman registration." 


Yep, Diablo had a lot to say and I listened...for a while. During my first lap around Lake Windermere, I discovered that I am a horrible swimmer. No, I don't necessarily mean technique. I mean I veer to the right constantly. I can't swim in a straight line. Add in the foggy goggles through which I can't see the dock on the shore let alone the buoy in front of me. Oh my gosh, it goes on and on and on!!!! And, oh yah, ewwww MOSS. 


Here is my Facebook post from that night: 
Things I learned at tonight's open water swim: 
1) I do not swim straight. AT ALL. 

Road crew changing my tires

2) I need to practice sighting. 
3) I need new goggles. 
4) MOSS - It's a great fashion accessory. 
5) I need to trust my training.


Finally, by the 3rd lap around Lake Windermere I started to relax and felt more comfortable in my wet suit and in the lake. Did it build my confidence in preparing for this weekend's triathlon? Hell no, but I am glad I was in the open water at least once before the triathlon. 


The other improvement over the weekend was my the new tires my Road Crew put on my bike. Continental 4000s. I road my bike to Havana to watch my daughter play softball. A 40 mile ride averaging 17.2 mph. Total time: 2 hrs 23 minutes. Am I fast? No. Am I improving? BOOYAH. 


Monday night I got back in the pool and swam 2900 yards. Not continuous, but breaks were no more than 20 seconds. 400 yard warm up. 2x500 (20"), 2x400 (15"), 2x300 (10"), 100 yard cool down. It was a night to remember! I felt like I could swim all night long, but again....it was in a pool. Not in a lake. Yes, I am still mental. 

Punch Biopsy on my cheek

Last thing to report: I went to a plastic surgeon today. No, I'm not getting a boob job or getting a tummy tuck regardless of my wildest wishes! Instead I had to go to the doctor to see about a having a spot removed from my left cheek which may be a potential squamous cell carcinoma. Yah, skin cancer. Lovely. The plastic surgeon did a punch biopsy on my cheek and told me no exercise for the rest of the day. SAY WHAT???? DO YOU KNOW WHAT I AM TRAINING FOR? The best part of my visit was watching the doctor's reaction when he found out that I'm a Type II Diabetic. Based on my vitals, he said he would have guessed I was a Type I Diabetic. Yah, genetics suck. So I guess on top of bad diabetes genes from my mom. I also get to inherit the bad skin cancer genes from my dad. Oh well, no sense in worrying today about what I can't control. I'll find out the scoop next week.