This morning I had another slow swim. I am not getting any faster. I think it may have to do with the fact that I swim on my own, without a team. This morning the pool was packed. We had to circle swim. Argh. I hate that. I found one of the morning regulars, Dwight, and hunkered down in his lane. Dwight and I have about the same pace, so I figured it was a good choice. However, a NEW guy, a super athlete NEW guy, joined us. You could tell he was of the Total Immersion camp because he took like five strokes per length and was still wicked fast. Anyway. I was doing a set of 150's at a too leisurely pace. Just like last week, I couldn't muster the umph to really push. That is , until NEW fast guy leaves the wall like two seconds after me on my fourth interval. He wasn't close enough to pass me, but I had that fight or flight feeling, like Shit! He's closer--move-- MOVE or he will be tickling your toes! I did that repeat in 2:09. All of my others were 2:20.
In short, I think I need to work out with people who will push me. I'm stagnating. I have a hard time pushing when it's just me and the clock. I need to find out if NEW guy is coming back, and if so, if he will be my training buddy. Unfortunately, my pool doesn't have a Master's team. I have talked to the director a few times about forming one, but she just keeps yes-ing me and nothing happens.
After my swim I jumped in the shower and thought, man, the only thing I do almost as much as work out is to shower. My hair is brittle and orangey from all of the washing. My skin is parched and rough.
Anybody have any solutions to this problem? I am assuming you all have a similar showering overload conundrum.
On Saturday I went running in our temperate 20 degree weather with my friend Petra, who is in so much better running shape than me it's sick. I tried to stay in zone 1, but I kept checking my watch and was like whoa! I'm not only out of zone 1, I'm outa zone2! It was a killer. But it was still awesome to see her and get caught up. She's a sick athlete: case in point--she did a 2:35 bike split at Worlds. That's right--2:35. She then follwed it with a 1:40 half mary. The girl is awesome. Petra's husband is equally awesome. He ran the Master's mile at the Reebook Indoor Games in Boston on Saturday night and did a 4:40. At age 45. Unbelievable.
Anyway. Back to my weekend training ramble...
I biked the next day for three hours on the trainer. It was TORTURE. I have tried watching TV, reading cheesy mags, blasting music. It's still a killer. I can't focus on other media when I'm focusing on keeping my heart rate down and my cadence up. My kids were like, "When are you getting off of that thing, Mom! You've been on it all day!" And they were right. I didn't fit much in on Sunday: laundry, trainer, Candyland and a quick visit from my brother and sister-in-law. I didn't even leave the house.
In order to reward myself after my run on Saturday I had two Guinness, calamari, and a huge cheeseburger. And I puzzle as to why I have not shed any weight....
I also rewarded myself by purchasing a few more 80s cheese-a-rama tunes for the Nano. My husband threatened to divorce me when he discovered I had bought "We Built this City." I know you're all cringing. It really is shameful...but you gotta do what you gotta do.
Adios!
14 comments:
1. circle swimming is NOT fun.
2. you are NOT slow. you know, like with running, you will improve on your times with the practice. and man, you will practice!
3. my skin is continuously scaley and i have to get my hair dyed every other month bc it gets nasty. i use the special chlorine protectant shampoo but still doesnt prevent the brittleness.
4. petra sounds like a badass. but so are you :)
5. mmmm guinness and a cheeseburger. just what the doctor (not jesse) ordered!
"we built this city"?? I am not making fun... seriously.
thats not cheese -a-rama stuff. I can name other songs that are...
I hate swimming in circles. I share like a good boy,.....but I don't like it...
I can barely stand 20 minutes on the stationary bike. I don't know how you do it for three hours - I'd lose my mind!
I've got a good running song for you - "And We Danced" by the Hooters.
I am with TJ. We Built this City is Awesome!!!! I love Starship. I even liked them when they were merely an Airplane. Kodachrome is a good running song too.
Mary, if you go to my profile, you can email me from there.
I agree with Michelle, 20 mins on the stationary bike sucks. But I guess we all have to get the training in somehow.
3 hours on a traine? Holy cow, I'd likely fall asleep from boredom. Ouch. I choose instead to freeze my toes and butt off.
Oh...and before I forget, for some reason whenever I post a comment, I receive an error back that the GMAIL address you've configured Blogger to forward comments to, doesn't exist. :(
You're my heroine...I could never stick it out for three hours. Seriously.
...when my mind and body feel as though they're about to give up and give out on a long run I put on a song called Galaxy Bounce by The Chemical Brothers.
We'll have to trade our cheese songs later. Suffice it to say that I have well over 1,400 itunes songs and about 85% of those are from the 80s, with a healthy dose of 70s and 60s as well...
Okay, I had to laugh because "We Built this City" was the last song that came up on my iPod during my really good run this weekend! It gave me an extra boost for the last mile!! That was one of my favorite songs to listen to in HS/college to pump me up :)
If you can do 3 hours on the trainer you are tough. God bless you the most I've ever done is 2. I predict you are going to have a killer season.
Rec swimming is never, EVER worth the time. Even if you have to go out of your way to find a Masters team, you won't be able to imagine going back to rec swimming after you've tried it!
Your friend sounds gnarley. Doesn't that make an eeny weeny little bit of you kind of want to go Tanya Harding on her ass? No? Well forget I said anything, then.
We should definitely meet up at a race this winter. It looks like we'll both be at the Winter Classic this weekend, we should figure out a way to meet there. Although I probably won't even be able to keep up with your warm-up pace. Don't worry, I'll leave my crowbar at home.
I will make it easy for you
thelazytriathlete@gmail.com
At the Mid-Winter Classic we'll be meeting at the entrance to the school cafeteria at around 9:15-ish (sorry, your bathroom idea got overruled). I'll be wearing a home made t-shirt that says Bob Rocks! Mindy and Nitsirk will be there too, along with Dr. Nick. We're planning on going out to brunch afterwards if you're interested. You can email me at speedyspeedracer@gmail.com for more details. See you Sunday!
Why is it the cheesiest of the cheesie songs and commercial jingles get stuck for hours in our head?
There ought to be a law, I'm tellin' ya.
Stay tuend...
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