Friday - Jan 18, 2013 - Swim

Friday - January 18, 2013

After watching Lance Armstrong's interview with Oprah last night, I was up later than normal (ended at 10:30pm).  But I was able to get up and head to the gym for a swim.  I was the only one there at 5:45am when they opened the door to the pool.  I took my usual spot and got to work.  I tried to make each stroke last a hair longer.  This helped my breathing a lot.  Normally, two strokes isn't long enough to exhale fully, and three strokes is just a hair too long.  Doing two longer strokes was perfect.  I felt a little slower in the water, but otherwise I was doing well.  Going a little slower like this helped me not need to "rest" for 5-10 seconds after each lap, and I just kept on going.  No flip turns, those still need lots of practice, but I had a great swim.  In 30 minutes I was able to swim 38 laps, which is a new personal best, previously set at 30 in 30 minutes.  Actually, the last 4 were done much faster and I just cranked them out.  There was an older woman swimming next to me, slightly faster than my slow pace.  During my last 4 laps, I was nearly double her speed.  These were great laps, and I can already feel the "burn" in my tris and lats.  Side note, swimming 38 laps in a 25 yard pool is about half a mile.  It is 0.55 miles, so I'm almost halfway to my goal of swimming 1.2 miles for a half Ironman this summer.  Giddyup! 

Like I said before, swimming before work is the perfect "wake me up" and I will feel fantastic all day.  The impact is zero, unlike running.  Actually, my right hip is very sore from Wednesday's lunch run and my right outer shin (IT area) is always sore.  If I can't run one day because of whatever reason, I can definitely see me swimming instead.  I love it. 

Also, I'm making a bowl of fresh fruit for breakfast and will have a salad for lunch.  I've been coming home at lunch (I work about a mile from home) and eating a salad while I watch YouTube videos of Ironman races, or Tough Mudder races, or CrossFit stuff.  The CrossFit people look fantastic, and I'd love to incorporate more strength training into my routine.  Also, I need to run 10 miles sometime this weekend, probably Saturday morning.  I will make sure I go 5 easy ones before I turn around to avoid another explosion like last weekend.