My training is coming along quite nicely, and things aren't nearly as dire as when I left you last, dear reader.

I'm feeling noticeably stronger in the pool and last weekend Noah and I took a little trip to Walden, where I swam roughly a quarter mile without panicking/hyperventilating/drowning. I kind of dig swimming because it's all flowy and relaxing and stuff, and I can feel small improvements week-over-week, which is nice. And, Noah bought me some sweet pink goggles designed for open water swimming and new gear = newfound interest in training so I can use said gear, so I've been itching to get in the water. The man knows me.

I'm still feeling "meh" about cycling, but I have a thousand excuses for why - none of which are related to my suckitude, of course. So rather than kicking my butt training for the bike portion of the race, I'd rather come to terms with how slow I am and just accept the fact that I might get passed by someone on mountain bike from 1992. It's my first tri and everyone can just deal.

And then there's my beloved, wonderful, fabulous running. Yes, it's been hot-as-all-getup and humid (pronounced YOO-mid) to boot, but I've actually been hitting, if not exceeding, my target paces. I've been going out and excitedly running each and every mile. Wednesday, I was even rewarded for my passion with a big gorgeous rainbow behind the Boston skyline as I ran along the river. Wednesday was a REALLY good run, actually.... Started off with some early 90's Janet Jackson on my iPod, the river wasn't too crowded, then BAM - giant rainbow in between the two Hancock Buildings. I'm not that up on my Bible stories, but I DO know the one about Noah's Ark (and the camp song about it), and I know that God sent the rainbow at the end to tell everyone He'd never flood us all out and try to destroy humanity again. So I'm pretty sure God sent the rainbow on Wednesday to the runners on the river as His way of saying "Sorry I've been making the weather suck for you the worst these last couple weeks."

Last but CERTAINLY not least, I got two new pairs of sneakers, neither model of which I've ever run in before. They're slightly less supportive than what I've been running in and slightly less cushioned, too, but ohmygoodness do they feel good and make me run fast. I picked these bad girls up for speed work and short races. They're light and fast - and NOT suitable for my feet to do long distance in. Then I'll be using these for my long and recovery runs. They feel like heaven, which must be why it's one of the most popular models on the market (according to the nice guy at Greater Boston Running Co.).

And with that, I'm headed up to Stowe Vt. for my third time doing the Stowe 8-Miler. The pace to beat is 8:16, and Vic would like me to run sub-8, so we'll see!