Best. Day. Ever.

Okay, maybe not EVER.  I have had some pretty good days in life (like my wedding day probably trumps today... :)  But still, today was a pretty darn good day!

First, I woke up BEFORE my alarm!  This almost never happens because, well, I really like to sleep and could probably sleep all day long if given the opportunity.  Nonetheless, this morning I woke up at 5:30 am and stared at the clock until it rung at 6 am.  Not only does this mean I was well rested but I was also VERY excited for...

The Pittsburgh Triathlon Club's 100x100 workout!

Kind of hard to see us all but we had an awesome group!  :)

I had been looking forward to this workout ever since it was announced that it was happening.  I was really curious as to what 10,000 yards would feel like and VERY glad that I would get to find out with a great group of friends vs by myself in my own little hot YMCA pool.

We did the workout in a pool that I've been to a handful of times (like when my YMCA closes for weeks on end for no apparent reason) and it is a strange little place.  Some people call it The Cocoon.  Oddly enough, there are about 5 or 6 (or 12?) cats running around on the pool deck and 1 that lives in the women's locker room.  I kid you not.  Exhibit A:

Very cocoon like.

Anyway, strange environment aside, I really LOVED the challenge of the 100x100.  We didn't get fancy at all.  We were going to do all of them on 1:40 but we threw 2x(10x100) sets on 1:30 in there from #40-50 and #90-100 and I also threw some pulling in there too.  We took ~4-5 minute break after #50 to eat (and I REALLY wanted to take my goggles off for a bit). 

Here are some things I learned:

1) Fatigue started to show a bit around 7000 in but fatigue REALLY showed up big time from about 8500 on.  I swam pretty much every single repeat in the 1:18-1:22 range but at the end I felt like I was putting in a 1:10 effort and only getting a 1:21 out of it! 

2) Chad will almost always think we are on #X when really we are on #X-2.  :)

3) I cannot (I repeat CANNOT) chew gummies and swim at the same time.  That almost ended very ugly.

4) The workout went much quicker than I imagined it would.  Although it was a bit monotonous when we were in the 50s and 60s, when we finished I couldn't believe that we had been swimming for over 2.5 hours!

5) There wasn't much time for talking and joking around but after #1 I did manage to say "only 99 to go!"  (*groan*)

6) Swimming with friends was so awesome and most certainly the main reason why I was so excited for this.  Special thanks to Matt, Josh, Chad and Chris for putting up with me.  I feel very lucky to be a part of this club!

Chad (center) doesn't look happy in this picture but he secretly loved it and can't wait until the next 100x100!  I can't wait either!

After we were all finished we grabbed some lunch and then I went home and rode my bike like a good little triathlete.  :)

THEN, it was NOODLES time!  If you've read this blog long enough, you know that I LOVE Noodles and Company.  I never thought the day would come when there was one in Pittsburgh but indeed, crazy things do happen.  There will soon be THREE franchises in Pittsburgh, one of which is a cool 5 minute walk from the hospital I work at (trouble).  Oscar and I headed there for dinner tonight, my first Noodles meal in ages. 

Happy Day!

And then we went to church.  And that always finishes off every Saturday very well. 

Whew.  Wonder how awesome tomorrow will be now?  :) 

Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday!