Ironman 101: Drowning and swimming

Monday, May 11, 2009

Drowning and swimming - mostly swimming

The plan called for a short recovery run on Sunday. It turned into a very easy, chatty 10 miler. I just wanted to be out of the house so I headed towards Jackson Station. I ran into Steve (the post man) and Jen (from swim class) – they had just gotten done with a set of bricks. They did not do them together but both finished at the same time. I introduced them to each other. They had seen each other at the first Wool Market Duathlon.

Jen has her first triathlon coming up and is anxious to get some lake time. I also really prefer swimming in the lake over the pool. Jen and I are going to get together this week for OWS practice. I continued the slow run towards campus. This run was probably the slowest that I have ever run – it was good for me. My heart rate was below my zone 1 and I just plodded along. I enjoyed the outdoors. I enjoyed stopping and talking with friends. I had a good time.

Jodie and I went bowling for lunch. My game was really off. The ball kept slipping – she beat me both games and had her best game ever – she was on fire. I ordered a grilled chicken salad for lunch at the bowling alley – it is about the only item that will not devastate my diet. What arrived was a grilled chicken sandwich – nothing wrong with that – except it had waffle fries on the side. I don’t eat fried food very often at all but I decided to take the meal – the fries looked good. Not a smart move – later I got a stomach ache. Thankfully, after taking some antacids, it was short lived.

After my run (supposed to be 30 minutes recovery) I was to hit the pool. The pool on the weekends is never any fun. They close it down to only one swim lane and there have been pool parties the last two times that I have been there. I skipped the swim. In retrospect, there probably would not have been many children on Mother’s Day – but the swim was skipped none the less.

I rode my bike in to work this morning and I was early enough to make up my swim workout. The pool was empty. School has just ended and the gym with be all but deserted the next few months – nice! The workout was for 2500 yards straight. This was not a TT – just a straight swim. I started slow – which is not easy for me – I usually have two speeds – drowning and fast. I concentrated on breathing out the entire time my head was in the water. I took long, gliding strokes. This was an easy effort. Although my times were slower than my TT times (best TT times are 1:36 / 100 yards for 1000 yards) I felt like I could continue swimming – it was easy! This is where I want to be with the swimming. However, I do not know if I will be able to keep that feeling during a race – that is my goal.