I finally got in the pool today for my first triathlon swimming session. I knew it wouldn’t be easy but it was quite different than I had imagined.

To preface, I feel like I am in pretty darn good shape. I have been doing a fair amount of running, biking, and biking then running to get the feel for transitioning. In fact last week, I biked 15mi and ran 3mi right afterward. You may be thinking 2/3 legs, not bad. That’s what I thought.

Well I got into the pool today and started swimming, I really have no guide or pace since this is my first training/workout swim in a very long time [read 6th grade]. I had to limit myself to 100m iterations and then a short rest. It was quite a workout, but I think the breathing really got me. It’s a different workout when you have to hold your breath and try to establish a breathing rythym that is determined fully by your ability to get your head out of the water long enough to take a breath and not suck in any water.

I’m glad I didn’t wait longer because I’ve got some work to do to get back into a swimming mode… I suppose I could always resort to the Elementary Backstroke.

Well it’s now been 90 days (92 to be exact) since Tina and I quite smoking. So far so good. And it feels good. w00t!

As an added bonus, I bought myself a new car. I’ve been looking on and off for about a year and stepped up the search this spring. In particular when my key broke off in my door and I found a leak which turned out to be a loose oil filter (I think). It needed an oil change anyway. It was getting old and I knew at some point there would be a day when it just wouldn’t run anymore. For those of you that have known me, I have always driven around the sub-compact (save for a few months when I drove a Buick Lesabre in high school and college). First it was the Saturn that lasted a mere 115K miles, then it was the Mitsubishi Mirage. So I decided I wanted to go with something nicer and more sporty before we start having kinds. I went with a 2005 BMW 325xi, black. So far it’s been awesome. Very smooth ride and nice handling. I guess time will tell me if it’s the Ultimate Driving Machine. It’s off to a good start and from what I have to compare it to, it won’t take much :).

Since it is April 1st this would be an opportune time for a prank (*cough, rick-rolled), but I’ll skip it this time around.

Just this past weekend it felt like spring was finally upon us. Not so much come yesterday and this morning. After a wicked snowstorm I feel back in the doldrum of winter. Although it appears it won’t stick around for long. I am refusing to shovel or snowblow the driveway. Seems like wasted energy.

On another spring note, baseball opened up this weekend. I’ll label yesterday as opening day since that’s the way it always should be… a Monday afternoon. The Cubbies started off with a rousing 9th inning comeback and lost in the 10th. But the Twins won an exciting one. While yesterday would have been a terrible day for an outdoor baseball game, they really need that new stadium up and running.

Also a little news from the NFL yesterday. Minnesota will open up the 2008 NFL season against Green Bay at Lambeau on Monday Sept. 8. Both Dan and I reserved hotel rooms at the Fairfield in GB. Hopefully we don’t get bounced to a hotel in Appleton like we did for the re-opening of Lambeau in 2003. Now we just need to find some tickets.