Cute Dogs, Cute Kid - What Next?!

My youngest (nine and a half - do NOT forget the half) came home from school with a migraine yesterday and slept for 14 hours. He probably could have gone back to school today but it's always such a gamble as to whether he's all the way better or not. We had a quiet morning and then drove to the community center. We went during 'open swim' hours which means they have three lanes for laps and a quarter of the pool for playing or what have you. He watched me do my laps (1000 yds today) and then we paddled around together. We were the only people there (besides the lifeguard) which was perfect. It was quiet and relaxing. He got to float and play with the kickboards.
He worked a tiny bit on his "serious swimming." He wants to do a kids triathlon as soon as he masters freestyle. (He's a fantastic froggy underwater swimmer but freestyle is challenging. I don't know why he can hold his breath for five yards underwater but freaks out and tries to breathe every single stroke in freestyle.) I let him work for a few minutes but then I made him settle down and float some more. I explained about recovery days and said we should do lessons another time. (That's my cap and goggles he's wearing for fun.) Mayhap I was showing out for my "coach" today. My swim was rockin' (for me). I was hitting my 100's right on the 2 min mark -down 10 sec per. Yay me!

I've been trying to write the rest of this post - and for some reason it's not happening. (Well - mostly it's because I've been interrupted a thousand times.) So rather than coherency I'm just going to ramble for the rest and then go fix supper for my hungry crew.

Thanks for the help with the hydration and nutrition. In an effort to give back to any who might find it interesting: I found this article (by way of Duane's blog). I don't yet know how to put it into practice exactly for myself but it gave me some things to think about. Also? I met a super nice woman at my local(-ish) tri store today who turned out to be an Ironman (like seven times over) and a coach! Great. Now I have TWO dream coaches! (The first, as you may remember, is Sage and the new one is Susan.) Susan spent about 15 minutes giving me some pointers about nutrition. She told me to try one new thing at a time. She told me a rough estimate was 300 calories an hour intake but that hotter, harder conditions meant stomachs wouldn't absorb nutrients as well. She's a fan of liquid over solids but of course told me to experiment and listen to my body. She told me to definitely try gels and she talked me into some Gatorade Endurance. (Which I totally think the store should give her a commission on because their employees couldn't sell water in a desert! Saturday's sales bimbo talked me out of the skirt I had in my hands by telling me I should order it from the manufacturer instead. Today's gal said she didn't know anything about the specifics of their nutrition products. She herself didn't really need anything more than watered down Gatorade for runs as short as mine. Woo hoo! Ignorant and condescending. But I digress.) Back to my newest dream coach: Susan knows someone local who is training for Pacific Grove and wants me to meet him. How much fun is that? She also confirmed what several of you suggested by saying that weird HRM readings could definitely be due to an old battery. Lest you think my only goal was to wheedle free advice from this wonderful woman, I have to tell you that I also coaxed her into telling me a little about her Iron experience. (She was pleasantly chatty and told me about her kids, what she enjoys about coaching and training, etc. If she thought I was being obnoxious in my obviously starstruck state, she hid it well.)

That's maybe enough ramble for the nonce. Peace out, peeps!