I have a sore throat, and I'm kind of feeling run down and ill.  So, I didn't work out this weekend.  I didn't work out yesterday.  This morning I ran 1.5 miles and I lifted weights for probably 40 minutes.  I ran 1.1 miles on Saturday at a 9:50 pace.

I feel like I'm not working hard enough.  I really worry about it.  I haven't been in the pool since Friday.  I meant to swim today, but I just couldn't make myself do it.  

Part of the problem is that I can't figure out what would be somewhat equivalent between swimming and running.  Should I be swimming as much time as I used to run?  That would mean being in the pool for an hour three days a week, and then a long swim of an hour and a half on the weekend.  I think the longest I've been in the pool was 40 minutes.  

I also have a problem because I essentially don't have access to the gym on the weekends.  This weekend would have been different, because Becky is out of town and I have the car.  Otherwise, I'm out of luck.  How do I balance weight lifting and swimming with only five days a week to work with?

A friend of mine is doing the Couch to 5K thing, which has the advantage of requiring me to slow down.  So, that 1.5 mile run today was actually a run/walk at a 13:38 pace.  I'm refusing to fret about that, since my knee isn't bitching at all.

On the upside, I feel like I have actually made a difference in the fitness level of a couple of friends of mine.  

The experience has made me wonder if I missed my calling, somehow, and I should have been a personal trainer.  G. and I are lifting weights together.  He's so funny about it.  He's always trying to get away with lifting too little, and I'm always chiding him about being a Chatty Cathy instead of actually picking up a weight and lifting it.  

I'm such a nerd that I've done tons of research about strength training.  He proudly proclaims his complete ignorance of the topic, but I'm filling his head with factoids and tips from my reading anyhow.  He really only trains when he's with me, so I feel like my persistence is especially helpful.

Another friend of mine, T., is doing the Couch to 5K program (which I suggested.)  She said something about getting a jump on it before we got together the first time, so when we finally got together, I asked her which day she was on.

"Oh, I haven't started it."

"Do you want me to print it out for you?"

"Oh, are we running today?  I thought we might just do a brisk walk."

"I'll print it out."

Unlike G., T. has gotten on board with the whole thing.  She ran on Sunday without me, just like she had planned.

I just wish I could figure out my own fitness program.