Category: Swim

Beaten by a girl

(Not that there’s anything wrong with that)

It’s insanely beautiful up here. Worst part about summer at the Southern New England shore? Work. Tell me that it’s OK to spend a minimum of 40 hours inside when blue skies the color turquoise, filled with puffy white skies beckon. Tell me that, and I’ll call you a liar.

Work’s busy but great. My clients are happy, my projects are making progress (slowly), and I’ve currently only got a couple of developing personnel crises. Luckily, I’ve just had my 1 year anniversary, so I’m no longer a “provisional” employee. If I can spend some quality time with the requisition system tomorrow, I’ll go into the holiday feeling pretty good about life.

I applied for the backpacking permit for a Connecticut State Park for part of the weekend – the boys and I are going to go see if they’re ready to spend the night in the woods. Actually, scratch that – we’re GOING to go spend the night in the woods, far enough from the car that we can’t bail out at midnight and go home, and see if we get any sleep. My money’s 50/50 that the youngest pretty seriously freaks out. The oldest was asking to take his own tent – I put the kaibosh on that, ’cause (a) it’s one less potential freak out to deal with; and (b) I don’t want to carry it. The campsite is less than a mile from the car, so I don’t think anyone will get too tired.

I got home from the Y tonight, and Missy said “Wow, you look terrible. Swimming must really kill you.”

The problem, my friends, started after I’d done a 250m breast set and a 250m freestyle set. A woman started swimming in the lane immediately next to me, despite an empty entire rest of the pool. Long, languid, lazy strokes of freestyle – next to no splashing when the arms went in; really, really smooth rotary breathing every third stroke.

I started another set at one of her turns, and did 250m free pretty much keeping pace with her. She was turning again just as I finished the fifth lap. I rested a lap, and then started another 250m free, this time trying the fancy breathing on BOTH sides. Didn’t drown quite so much as usual. Almost, but not quite.

She’s still going. Splish, splish, splish, breathe, splish, splish, splish…

So, I do one last 250m free, trying to be relaxed and easy, breathing to the left every fourth stroke – she’s still there.

I thought about doing a final set of 5 laps, but decided that the honorable thing was to admit defeat and move on. I think she closed the place down.

Good on her.

Terramuggus Tri kicks off 14 June. I’m going to try to be there. For the record, it’s going to flat out kill me.

Planes, Training, and Automobiles

Spent the last couple of days out of town. Good, good trip – man, I love my job.

Monday afternoon was a run on the BWI trail. It didn’t start out as such – I had 60 minutes to clear my inbox, run, and make it to dinner, so I was just intending to head out and back on the road. But, about 10 minutes in, I spotted the trail, did some rough guestimation, and turned the out’n’back to a loop.

Good choice – I’d forgotten exactly how cool the view from the hill overlooking the civil aviation runway was. Man, I love the spring.

Last night I managed to squeeze in a swim after getting home and seeing the kids. Bleh. 750 meters and I was wiped. Could have been any one of a number of reasons – I think I may be coming down with something; or I was dehydrated from traveling, whatver.

Stroke, Stroke, Kick, Kick, Breathe, Repeat

The BLUFF POINT TWILIGHT TRAIL race is this evening (as in today, Friday), so I didn’t feel too bad about blowing off running yesterday. It was kind of a crappy day, and I just wasn’t feeling motivated to do much of anything, much less run.

But, after getting home, having a light supper, and mowing the yard, I figured that it wouldn’t hurt to at least go get wet, so I headed over to the Y, and hopped in the pool.

Wish I could say that there was something transcendent about swimming last night, but there wasn’t. It was good, don’t misunderestimate, but in all it was just a swim. Though after two nights in the pool in a row, I’m greatly appreciating exactly how much a whole body exercise swimming is as opposed to running or cycling. And, I think I finally figured out how to do a flutter kick.

I wrapped up at 9 – I was the only person in the pool, which was really, really nice.

So, how do y’all feel about running in the rain?

PS – I got the new Wilco album,

    Sky Blue Sky

yesterday. It’s not the phenomena that the last two were, but it’s growing on me. Kind of like the ultimate breakup album, country and western with out the country or the western, and a good dose of organ. I recommend it.

Spring

No doubt about it, there are few things so spectacular and enduring as a New England spring. Sure, the bluebonnets in Texas are amazing, but that’s a couple of weekends. New England spring is months. The trees are finally out, and you’ve never seen so many shades of green, from the extremely pale of the sugar maple in my back yard to the deep, deep green of new pine needles.

Then, there’s the flowering trees. From the tulip tree and the other one in my yard, I pass the forsythia bush, with it’s annual warning of yellow flowers that spring is at hand, which is just now losing the last bit of brilliant yellow. There’s the apple orchard at the top of the hill, bedecked in white blossoms with the promise of apples, and the crabapple at the office, which is showering the cars in the parking lot with pink petals.

I suppose for a show like this, you need 6 months of winter as rehearsal.

Ran on Tuesday, swam last night. The run was good, but I’m having a little bit of ankle trouble again in the mornings. I hope it’s because I’m not stretching enough, but as my schedule straightens out, I may have to go see a doctor, ’cause this is just getting ridiculous now.

The swim was good. The run was good, but mostly because it was just a run.

Swing by Complete Running – they just went over a thousand RSS subscribers. Good things are happening in the internet running world. Good things.

Actually, speaking of running evangelism, I’m getting my buddy Christian back on the road this week. Now to pick back up with the Jons.

Why I am a luckier man than you

Amigos y amigas, I hate to break it to you, but I lead a charmed life. New England’s a forgotten treasure, my job is out-freakin’-standing and challenging, and, most importantly, my wife is absolutely amazing.

I’ve got a confession to make – I blew off biking this afternoon, as work somewhat interfered. But, I did spend some quality time watching a trout stream on the way home. There’s something mesmerizing about a trout stream in the spring – water in constant motion, mayflies hatching, and the subtle, nearly imperceptible rings left from the rise.

The spot I stopped was at a dam that dated to the mid-1700s, flanked by the foundations of two abandoned mills. The water flowing over the dam was tea-colored, stained with the tannin of acres of fallen leaves, clear and cold. Amazing. I dusted off my fly rod this evening.

Anyway, I made it home slightly earlier than normal. Supper was good, and as we were finishing up, Missy reminded me that Tuesday’s a great night to swim. (See how lucky I am?)

So, I tucked the kids in and headed to the Y.

Next to no-one in the pool. 1,000 yards – first time I’ve hit four digits in over a year (I think). Swimming felt good. I can’t quite pin it down, but maybe it’s a side-effect of riding the mountain bike and working the upper body?

Little snack of dried berries and chocolate chips when I got home, and time to hit the rack.

Monday Swim

So, I managed to avoid running all weekend – the weather in New England was borderline awful, but it didn’t stop certain members of the CT RBF from winning trophies. Which makes me a wuss, I suppose. We did have t-ball pictures and a game, but the kids were on the verge of making me nuts – should have stayed in bed…

Tonight, I headed down to the Y for a swim – hey, less than 2 weeks between trips to the pool! The swim was better this time, though I can really, really tell that I haven’t been using my arms. 1500 m in 33 minutes, 5xbreast, 4x5xfree, 5xbreast.

Still no real insights.

Actually, strike that – reading the San Diego marathon race reports kind of made me think. As much as I’ve really enjoyed racing – the camraderie, etc, and the general challenge, I think I’m calling off racing for the summer. Rather than spending a ton of time in the car on Thursdays to do Terramuggus, I’ll stop on Jamestown and do a brick. Focus on the new job. Focus on the wife and kids. Whatever.

But, I’ve proven I can go out and do a given distance. Now, I want to prove I can leave behind the belly. Next year I’ll prove I can stay fast.

Lifestyle change is what I’m really after with this fitness thing.

There’s a joke in the submarine community that ASW, or Anti-Submarine Warfare really stands for “Awfully Slow Waiting”. It’s taken me all of a decade plus to finally understand how that really applies, both professionally and personally. I’m looking forward to racing again, truly. But before I’m ready to line up again, there’s a bunch of refining, triangulating, and preparation that needs to be done physically and mentally to make sure I don’t get sunk like I did after New York.

I think I should be ready by Labor Day.

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Use it or lose it

So, by my recollection, it’s been over a month since I hit the pool. I finally pried myself off the couch tonight and headed down to the Y after the boys were aslee… in bed, ’cause lord knows they’re not actually asleep until after I am.

And, man, was it tough. I managed to squeeze out 1000 yards (250 breast, 750 free) and my arms were aching. Hmm, guess maybe I should do those pushups each morning…

Still haven’t run again since Monday. But, it’s a holiday this weekend! Break out the flags and charcoal, folks.

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Rest of the weekend wrapup

Friday – great run to the Gazebo on the Navy Base and back – 5.2 miles.
Saturday – Another 6.4 miles over the hill, heading home from the Y.
Monday – Despite thinking better of it, I headed to the Gazebo during lunch – 5.2 miles. Felt every mile of the 35+ on the bike on Sunday.
Tuesday – blew off running.
Today – Swam 1500 meters. Used new watch/HRM with lap timer. Realized what I knew – that I’m a pretty consistent 55 second lap swimmer. Felt awful. Going to bed early.

Keeps going, and going, and ..

Swam tonight.

My head’s been bouncing around all day – wrapping up a bunch of loose ends at work, getting ready to be social this weekend, convincing myself that I’m actually complying with the tax code and am not going to end up in “Federal (Graphic term from “Office Space” deleted) Prison.” (Actually, we called it that in the Navy before the movie came out).

Plus, Warren’s entry about his swimming teammate hit home – luckily, I haven’t lost that many folks that I can name, or at least not when I actively was keeping track of them. But I think that’s mainly a factor of luck. I’ve seen more near misses than I care to count. Makes you think.

I almost didn’t head to the pool tonight. Yesterday’s 8 miles was, in hindsight, too much – for the first time in a while, I woke up sore this morning. So, I almost convinced myself to declare a rest day. But the wife convinced me to head out.

She was right.

Slipped into the pool as pretty much everyone else was leaving. Did 5 breast to warm up. Then I started swimming.

I initially intended to do a set of 20 laps, then two sets of 10 laps each. But, the same little voice that told me to go 8 miles yesterday said “Hey, bet you can do 30 laps straight. Then, you’ve only got to do one set of ten at the end!”

So, I started swimming. And it clicked. Long strokes, quick and deep breaths. Nice. Kept losing count, so I think I’ve actually underestimated distance instead of the other way around. Got to 20 laps, and convinced myself to do the whole mile nonstop.

At about lap 30, I entertained thoughts of going straight to 60 laps without stopping. But that was just silly.

But it was nice – 40 minutes of focusing on stroke, stroke, breathe, hey look at the bubbles, stroke, oops – forgot to kick for a while, hmmm, how many tiles are there in the lane… For a while there, I’d worked out all the world’s ills in my mind.

Then, I realized it was time to go. The lifeguard told me “Nice set” as I walked out.

Made my day.

Distracted

So, lunchtime yesterday, I’m in the process of turning from my desk to pick up my bag so I can go hit the road for lunch. And the phone rings.

A big part of me wants to just ignore it, to walk out the door, get changed, and get on the road.

But the responsible part of me says “Hey, your client is presenting today; there’s a better than average chance that he’s calling to get changes to the presentation sent to him.” So, I pick up the phone.

And end up spending the next hour and a half working, putting me hard up against a meeting.

Go to the meeting – urgent tasking, must be done now, now, now!. Sneak out to throw a burger down my gullet (and was pleasantly surprised at how full a Whopper Junior and half a thing of onions left me – think my stomach may be shrinking!), finished up, and called the wife.

We’ve got a running joke that it’s a given that if she goes to the grocery store on any given afternoon and buys fish that it’s a given that I’ll give her a call sometime between 4 and 6 to let her know that I’m running late, and that she shouldn’t hold supper.

Last night, she picks up the phone, and I start with “You bought fish, right?”.

“Yep. You’re running late, right?”

“Well, I didn’t get to run at lunch today, and was going to go on the way home, but since I’ve got a chance to eat fish while hot, I’ll skip.”

The fish was delicious – baked tilapia with a light pesto sauce, paired with a boiled grain mixture with wilted spinach. Mmmm, mmm, good. Played with the kids, parked them in bed, and headed to the Y.

Swimming was very, very good tonight. Maybe it was improved muscle memory from doing it two nights in a row, maybe I’m just actually starting to develop some muscles. Whatever. The sets just felt really good, the pool was nigh-unto deserted, and the laps just slipped by. I’m proudest of the set of 15 laps I did with bilateral breathing – that’s finally clicking.

The woman on the upswing of getting into shape was back last night – we chatted briefly. But it’s kind of neat to see someone enthusiastic and discovering the joy in concerted effort for themselves. That was good for an extra 5 laps for me!

Total: 40 minutes, 2250 yards/meters/whatever.