On Monday morning I was supposed to do an 800 yard time trial in the pool.
No problem--except that I can't count. I finished what I thought was an 800--and clicked my watch. 12:48.
Great! Except... hmmm. Is that too great? Did I finish 50 shy of the 800? Last time I did an 800 TT I was over 13 minutes. I continued my workout, but the doubt lingered.
The rest of the day I tortured myself. Did I really go under 13 min? What if it was more like 13:30? Should I email the time to Cait, or should I do it again, just to be sure? Finally, I decided I couldn't stand the doubt. I would do the TT again this morning. So I did. I counted very carefully. I clicked my watch at the first 200, just to see where I was. 3:09. Good. I kept swimming. I got to 600. Or wait, was that 650? SHIT! I finished at what I thought was most likely the 800. Clicked the watch. 13:18.
oh. damn. But wait, that can't be right. I took it out relatively slowly in a 3:09. Even if I slowed up significantly, I would've gone under 13, right? So was it more like 12:45 ? Had I done an extra 50? AGH! I think I need a lap counter. Does anyone have one? How do they work? When I was a kid during a race over a 500, each swimmer would have a personal, live counter. The counter would slip the number into the water (see pic. above) to let the swimmer know where he/she was at each lap. That's what I need! How do people keep track? Is this just happening because I'm getting old and batty?
7 comments:
This is one of my biggest problems. I think I just get bored and my mind wanders (adult ADD I'm sure ;) Last time I was swimming I got a lap counter that you wear on your finger and hit with you thumb. I can't remember the name but it worked pretty well. You can get it with just a lap counter or with a timer also. I seem to remember it working pretty well. I have to find that and see if it still works, since I'm back to swimming again.
Well I know your not going crazy because it happens to me all the time. I get to focused on form and body position and by probably 200 meters I start questioning 200.....or 250? you know, I wear my lap watch in the pool, so after each 50 I can hit the "split" button so after I am done I can check to see how many times I hit it.
Just found your blog through Shawn's - I love your blog name! Your kids are adorable, too : )
Oh, and I need a lap counter, too - I'm always losing track and wondering if I really swam as much as I thought I did......
hey lady, i totally lost count today doing 425s...yup, totally lost track.
BUT, for 800s, count 4 laps 4 times. that way you only have to count up to 4 :)
Thanks for the comments!
I'm horrible at counting laps. I often do sets of 10, and it's always around the 4-6th laps that I get all hosed up. The first three I can mentally recount. And once you hit 7 - then you're almost there. But 4-6 I go into la-la land.
I have exactly the same problem as rainmaker.
I don't know if this works on a TT workout, but last weekend on my long swim, I was doing 1650 straight and I kept track by doing a pickup on the outward leg of each 3rd 50.
OK, it's really simpler than it sounds. Every third lap swim faster for the first half lap
one . . .two . .. THREE . . . four . . . five . . . SIX . . . etc.
You are definitely not alone in this! I had a post on it a while back. The short version is... I use my family and teachers to tell stories per lap. The long story is here: http://triathlete--teacher.blogspot.com/search?q=lap+counter. Hope it helps!
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