Welcome to another Sweat to Street Sunday.



I'm stunned that two weeks in a row, I have non-workout outfits that are actually worth sharing.

Sweat:

This is the outfit I wore to race in the Four Courts Four Miler yesterday, where I set a sweet PR. (More on the race tomorrow.)


Tank Top: Under Armour
Capris: Under Armour (these are my favorite capris ever because they fit well and are amazingly flattering.)
Run Jacket: Under Armour (are we sensing a theme here yet?)
Shoes: Mizuno Wave Inspire 6's

Street:

On Tuesday I got to attend a really fun cocktail reception that my friend's company was hosting to raise awareness of health through physical education and sports. That's obviously a mission I can get on board with so I was thrilled to attend. (I'll definitely blog more about the event as soon as I get some of the pictures from my friend!)

Anyway this is what I wore:


Sweater Dress: Boscov's
Red Tights (not shown): Target
Bracelet: BlogHer conference swag (seriously)
Necklace: Can't remember

Growing up, I loved being in the water. My mom had me playing in an inflatable pool in our backyard when I was about two years old. There was probably only about two inches of water in the pool, but I would splash and play and have the best time ever.


As I got older, I graduated to a slightly bigger pool in the backyard where I could put my head underwater, float around in inner tubes and play with my little brother.


Eventually my mom started taking us to the public pool in the summers. I was also in swimming lessons at a pretty young age, so swimming has always been fun for me. I just love being in the water.

One day at the pool in the summer, my mom told me that if I could swim one length of the pool (25 yards) without stopping, that I could sign up to be on a swim team with my friends.

I remember being so determined. We got into the big pool with the lap lanes and I pushed off the wall and started swimming. I eventually made it to the other side, and the next thing I knew I was signed up for Rookie League.

Rookie League was an in-house swim team at the YMCA. You didn't swim against other teams, but you had mini-meets against each other each week. There were no team suits or anything so you could wear whatever you had. Apparently I thought this was really stylish:


After a year on Rookie League, I graduated to the real swim team. I swam with my friends Cara and Jennie. They were (and still are) wicked fast swimmers. I was much, much slower.


Swim team was more intense than Rookie League. The practices were hard and I remember getting terrible side stitches in the water during practice because I couldn't catch my breath. But the meets were fun. I was pretty decent at backstroke and loved swimming on the relay teams.


I only did swim team for a year or two. The seasons were long and I would get bored with them half way through and wanted to do other things.

I didn't get in a pool to swim competitively again until I was in high school. I went to a high school that put a ton of value into its athletics. High school sports dominated the sports section of the newspaper where I lived. In general, sports were a big deal and I wanted to be involved.

Swim team didn't have cuts and I knew I wasn't a terrible swimmer so I signed up.


I loved some practices and hated others. I loved getting out of school early to go to meets, but swim team took up a lot of time and conflicted with a lot of my other activities. I stuck it out until the end of the season, but I didn't swim again after my freshmen year.

I hit the pool every once and a while at Maryland because the pool there was absolutely gorgeous, and when I was home visiting my family in PA, I would go with my mom to some of her masters swim sessions.

But it was nothing serious until recently.


When I contemplated signing up for my first triathlon, I spent a lot more time in the pool with my mom when I was home at the holidays. I've been regularly swimming ever since training started, and I totally love it. Some workouts I keep nice and short, but sometimes I like to push it in the water a bit. A workout doesn't seem complete to me unless I leave the pool totally drained from either speed or endurance work.

I love that swimming is adding a new dimension to my normal running workouts. It's fun to get back in the water for competitive reasons again, and I have a feeling this time I'm going to stick with it long after my triathlons are over.

Last night was our last regular season volleyball game. Sadly our team did not have one of the best performances ever, and I think it means we're going to get bumped out of a chance at the playoffs.


I'm bummed that our season is over.


I signed up for this volleyball league back in November when my touch football league was ending and I was looking for another team sport to get me through the winter. I signed up with my friend Emily, but other than each other, we didn't know a single person on our team.


Our team was a mix of talent levels. We had some great servers, we had people who could dig really well. We lacked a little bit in the setting department, but as a team we always had fun.


We were fairly competitive, but not to the point of being obnoxious. I mean it was a rec league after all.


I ended up making some great friends through the league and I'm going to miss seeing them every week.


Several people on the team, including Emily, are going to continue playing together in the spring, but I didn't sign up for the spring league because it just would have been too overwhelming with triathlon training really kicking into high gear and my softball league starting up in the next several weeks.

So for now, I'll be retiring my team "That's What She Sets" shirt. I'm really going to miss playing with them in the spring.

*All photos from our league's Facebook page.