AM Swim
I met my buddy at the Blue Ash YMCA at 5am for our weekly swim session. After our last swim, he suggested we didn't take breaks. Fine by me! We got changed and in the water, each of us with our own lane. This is a huge luxury at the bee hive of activity that is the Blue Ash YMCA. This place is crazy (read: annoyingly) busy. They open at 5am and by 5:15 the parking lot is filling up. They have two indoor pools and one outdoor, and this is the first time in several weeks that I've had my own lane. Though, sharing isn't a big deal.
I told my buddy I was going to swim 100 laps normal, no pull buoy or flippers or paddles. Just me and the water. Before I knew it, 25 laps had gone by. I remember at 33 thinking, "One third of the way there." After 50 or so, I had to de-fog my goggles and remove a little bit of water. After 66 I thought, "Only one third left." I stretched my shoulders a little, but kept at it. I got to 80, then 90. I was going non-stop at an average pace, not killing myself, and the laps just flew by. After 100 laps I was good for more. It only took about 70 minutes. Not a fast 100 laps, but still 2500 yards with very few breaks, no water or Gatorade.
Since I'm not swimming 2-3x per week, like I did over the winter at the JCC, my form is sloppy. My 100yd is up from 1:35 to 1:54, but I don't care. My overall fitness from running and biking more now that it's warm out, is worth the trade off. I had swam 100 laps two other times at the JCC and after each I was worn out. Today, I felt like I could have done 200. 100 laps in the indoor, 25 yard pool, is 1.42 miles. More than the distance of an Olympic or Half-Iron distance triathlon (usually 1500 meters and 1.2 miles, respectively). My buddy managed to get about 80 or 90 laps in. We headed to Starbucks where I drank an OJ and Apple Juice and water, and we hung out for about a half hour. The OJ, I forget the brand, was the best tasting OJ I've ever had.
Evening Run
My wife was off at her monthly book club, and the kids were at dinner with my in-laws, so I had 90 minutes to squeeze in a run! Rare opportunity at 5pm. I headed out in 80 degree heat and high humidity, sweating like a pig. I decided to run "aerobically", trying to keep my HR between 140bpm and 145bpm (no higher than 150bpm). In the heat, and because I've been running anaerobically a lot lately, made this a tough order. I wound up feeling like I was nearly walking by the end. Not to mention my nipple was bleeding after about 4 miles, my third one to date. I didn't think I needed Band-Aids for runs under 8 miles. Wrong. I was wearing a $9.99 tech shirt from Eastbay though. So, take that as a warning. You sometimes get what you pay for. I actually got the shirt free with an order of a box of GU gels. I view the bleeding as a badge of honor, but it's easy to avoid by just wearing Band-Aids.
It was nice to get out and run though. Running aerobically is great. It's not fast, so the impact is very low and painless. It is embarrassing to run that slow though. Picture me, a seasoned athlete (hah ha), jogging by at a pace of 12:45mm! But, it's all good. I don't really care what I look like, it's just good to get out and run. Here is a photo of me after the run with my bloody nipple:
Here is the Strava data from the run:
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