I climb buoys

I had another nice early morning ride on Wednesday. For some reason I thought it was possible to get a 2 hour ride in before work. I guess it is possible if everything just clicks off just right – that would mean leave the house at 5:30 and arrive at the university at 7:30. Damn, I guess it is possible!

Anyway I got a nice 90 minute bike ride in before work on Wednesday but because I would be swimming after work I had to drive. I just took it at a very easy pace and put some miles under me. It still amazes me that you see the same people on the trace day after day. I know a lot of these people and we are all working our own plans but many others I just know by their running gait or their position on the bike. No names but similar goals I am sure.

I went to the gym at lunch and I thought about running outside. I thought that this could help with heat acclimation. I changed my mind on the walk to the gym. I don’t think an easy run in the heat would actually accomplish anything. I decided to jump on the treadmill for an easy 30 minutes run (that is all the plan called for) – but then decided for something faster. I dialed the treadmill up to a 7 minute / mile pace and was going to churn out a nice tempo run – I don’t think I do enough of these. After about a ¼ mile I turned it back down to a very easy run. After another ¼ mile I called it quits on the running. I was just not feeling it – I usually embrace these runs. Having 86’ed the cardio I thought I would do some weight training. I have missed most weight training sessions for the past 6 weeks – they have been few and far between. A couple of sets on the bench press and a lot of abs finished off lunch period.

Out at the lake after work the water just looked hot. I let the group take off towards the last buoy and I just soaked in the warm water for a few minutes. I took off slowly but tried to swim long and strong. There was a little chop in the water and quite a few swells from a boat and a few jet skies on the other side of the buoys. When I reached the last buoy (about 0.2x miles from shore) I was hot. I lifted my arms one at a time in the air to cool down. I wanted to climb on top of the buoy to cool off. I thought that it was funny that the 95+ degree heat was cool and refreshing. We stewed in the water for a little bit longer and Robin suggested a little bit longer interval than we have been doing– swim to the first buoy and back to the third buoy – this would be a touch over a ¼ mile. I think Robin or Ben was on my feet most of the way out and we separated after rounding the buoy. We all got back to the starting point close to the same time. I felt like I was in a cauldron. I had a lot of trouble cooling off. We all headed back to shore. The HOT oven like air in the intense sunlight felt refreshing. I was glad to be out of the water. It was a good swim and the effort was not too high but it was draining. We really need some rain to cool off the lake swimming.

This swim felt like it took a lot out of me – I am glad I did not do the outside run at lunch.