The month of July

I can't believe it is already the 2nd of July. Everything is going great here in Lexington. My training is going really well, and so is everything else. I hit over 21 hours of training last week which is the most I've probably hit since March or so. I just finished my second run workout of the week and I'm watching Serena Williams in the semi final match of Wimbledon. I love watching Wimbledon. I feel like I follow it very closely every year. This was actually the first year that our family vacation hasn't been the same week as Wimbledon in a long time.

The last week and a half or so, I have been swimming a lot. My workouts have been a little more intense and my yardage has been a little higher than usual. I don't normally swim long course, but I really feel like swimming long course is making me a better swimmer. I just feel stronger and more relaxed in the water (with an exception of those "off" days).

My no sweets challenge is going great. I almost had a piece of candy yesterday without even thinking about it, but I happened to remember the challenge as I reached for the candy. I have been eating some yogurt with fresh fruit instead of pigging out on some cookies or ice cream after dinner. I never really set any rules for the "no eating out" challenge which officially started yesterday. So here they are:

1. I will not eat out for dinner when I'm in Lexington other than Monday nights at Pazzo's.
2. I will try and cook dinner at least 4 nights a week.
3. If I eat out for breakfast or lunch it must be at either Firehouse, Subway, Panera or Chipotle.
4. I am also allowed to eat at one of these places for dinner once a week.

So pretty much I am cutting out dinner like restaurants that I would eat at usually 1 - 2 times per week when Casey and I didn't feel like cooking. So hopefully this challenge will help cut back on the amount of money I'm spending on food and maybe make my food intake a little healthier. I am also cutting out deep fried foods from my diet.

So... No sweets, no eating out at dinner, and no deep fried foods. These restrictions are a little more general than last year's food challenge, but will hopefully help me improve my diet habits.

And my running challenge is going ok. I have already skipped 2 days of running in the first 10 days of the 40 days, but that isn't too big of a deal. I have ran more in the past 11 days than I have in a while and I feel like I'm getting my running legs back. I'm running the annual Bluegrass 10k Saturday morning and hopefully I'll run faster than last year. Then, I'm headed to Corbin for the evening of the 4th to watch my dad's annual fireworks show. AND, the Tour de France starts on the 4th. What an exciting day!!!

Tony