Day 71: Pointing Straight Ahead

Calli: We have started this week off more organized than the last. Although, we have not yet created a new training schedule, we have decided on focusing on three things this week. Strength training, swimming, and running. (Someday we are going to have to put our noses down with biking). Today we did swimming and running. It was a nice focused day for both of us, especially swimming. We started with a 200 warm-up. I just told Jose to do whatever it takes to keep him in Zone 1. Then we did intervals- 25 six beat free / 25 freestyle  (x4). We tried to stay in Zone 2 or 3. We ended it all with a 300 cool down staying in Zone1. The run after was great! I made a good pace of 8 km per hour in Zone 2-3. Have a good time out there everybody.

Jose: I’m feeling very comfortable focusing on swimming form. I also know that I have been making great progress on this matter. Calli is helping me a lot with drills and we are taking video footage every time to check on my form and compare with Calli’s. This is definitely the best way to see what you are doing right and wrong. When I’m swimming I still have to try very hard on keeping the form. However, even though I might think I’m doing great, the video comes afterward and then I notice all the problems with the stroke, the kicking or the breathing. As I said a couple of days ago, I have been doing a zig-zag in the water and that’s the main reason why we are posting this video today. The idea is to see where the arms are pointing at, to keep a straight swimming path. This is helping me a great deal, I hope it helps you a lot too!

“Focusing isn’t just an optical activity, it is also a mental one.”
-Bridget Riley

Day 70: Merry Christmas!

Instead of writing about another fun day of Triathlon, we would like to use today’s space to make a short reflection about Christmas.

Nowadays Christmas is starting in the stores around October, (sometimes you get confused by looking at Halloween costumes next to Xmas Trees) and this is just the significance that the media wants to give to this holiday. But Christmas is far from being that, or at least JUST that. When we were kids probably all we wanted was that toy that we saw on the TV or through a window at the mall. Later as adults, we continue thinking that this season is for gift giving/receiving, and we forget to make the holidays about family, about love, about sharing, about giving (more than receiving) and about all those great things that really matter.

Some might not even be Christians, but the reason why we celebrate Christmas is to remember the birth of baby Jesus. Even if you don’t want to make it religious, it is about the birth of light. So it is a time for joy, a time for being happy and celebrating that there’s something else besides ourselves. Let’s try to stop being selfish because the holidays are not just to please ourselves with gifts, but more for sharing with the ones we love and the ones that love us back.

Nothing can be more sad than having all the material things but not having a simple and sincere hug or a kiss wishing you a merry Christmas. Every little material thing has an expiration date, but love doesn’t and that is the single BEST Christmas gift to receive. Let’s not forget that!

Have a merry Christmas and some wonderful holidays! Be happy, spread the joy and be safe!

Love,

Calli & Jose

“He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree.”  ~Roy L. Smith

Day 69: Training on Christmas Eve

Calli- After the short 20 min run in Zone 2 and 3 Jose and I did the first strength training work out that the gym offered to us. In it I have to do weight free squats which is pretty difficult for me. However, this time I did much better. I understood more how to position my body and use my legs and knees appropriately. It still made my knee hurt a little and my right thigh burned, but I felt good afterwards. We wanted to go swimming but the pool was not available. There is a good drill to do in order to help the freestyle pull. (It is pictured above.) This will also become a big part of our daily routine. Playing around with the bands! Merry Christmas everybody!

Jose- Contrary to what we believed, Christmas Eve at the gym was crazier than any other day. We wanted to go and run for 20 minutes and then swim for 40 minutes or so. When we got there we had to change our workout. The pool was full with kids classes and the swimming club so we had to switch to strength training. You always need to be ready for last minute changes like this one. Anyways, the weights were good and I feel good about having done 3 strength workouts this week. Also as a regular “any moment” exercise we included the one in the picture which should help especially me with my zigzag problem at the pool. We will work hard on that one too. Now we are off to our family dinner! So have fun everyone and enjoy your Christmas Eve dinner.

“There’s
lots of people in this world who spend so much time watching their
health that they haven’t the time to enjoy it.”  ~Josh Billings

Day 68: Got Pie?

These days everything is about parties, family or friends reunions and crazy consumerism. So probably is not that easy to find the time to train and/or eat right. But don’t be to harsh on yourself! Everyone needs to understand that during these holidays the best thing you can do is go to all those parties and socials and eat everything that’s being offered to you… just in moderation!

On a quote posted by I <3 to run says: “People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and New Year, buy they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas”, and nothing can be so close to being true than this. You are going to be offered pork, turkey, mashed potatoes, pie (like ours! YUM!) and a lot of many other things. Don’t just say no and look for something diet, (or in the other extreme) and don’t go and eat all you can! Just eat a good moderate portion and be happy about it! Enjoy eating the things you normally eat on the holidays. Try not to forget either to make time for the gym tomorrow or as soon as all the craziness ends! If you want to read a few more great holiday eating tips you should check out this article of 7 Tips for Healthy, Happy Holidays

We hope everyone is enjoying the holidays as much as we are, and be ready tomorrow for Christmas Eve’s dinner with your family and/or friends! Also be safe with all the craziness going on in the streets!

“The scientific truth may be put quite briefly; eat moderately, having an ordinary mixed diet, and don’t worry.” – Robert Hutchison

Day 67: Tying a Bow Tie

This is the week of Christmas parties! Today was a rest day, and we walked a little bit. It has been a busy Christmas Season. For a party in the evening we had to wear a tie or a bow tie in order to get in. It was difficult trying to figure out how to tie a bow tie, but it is easy to find instructions on Youtube. That’s how a lot of things come nowadays. There is so much knowledge on the internet that you can inform yourself of any question that comes your way. There are no more excuses to prove ignorance.

And this is pretty much how we are handling the holidays. One party comes after the other. But that is perfectly normal during these days. We just need to remember that we have a training to follow and also be careful with food excesses. Eating is great, we love eating! To be honest, we are not that strict on what we eat. But we definitely stay away from greasy and unhealthy foods. As long as you keep watching over your portions and quality of food, we don’t think you should worry that much about calorie counting. Which we found by the way a little bit boring and even way difficult to do, since most of the time you might have to look over each single ingredient to add up on the counting.

So, for these holidays, enjoy what you are doing, have fun, eat all you want (of healthy food! lol) and keep exercising!

Christmas is a necessity.  There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we’re here for something else besides ourselves.  ~Eric Sevareid