Friday, September 19, 2008

One Mile Swim

I was originally going to try to run every other day.  With the return of the Pain I decided to give myself two days off.  That did the trick.  This morning I was back to baseline of 1) no pain when walking  2) no pain when jumping  3) no pain with pressure on Pain spot.  So I decided to go for a run!  Only 1.5 miles this time.  Partly because I was trying to be a Smart Comeback Runner, but also because I like getting to lap swim as soon as it opens to get a lane.  Once again, the 1.5 miles were pain free though I can tell I've lost a lot of endurance.

My swim today went really well.  I'm not sure what was different, but no seasickness!  I think it does have something to do with water in the ears because I didn't have the sensation of water falling into them nearly as much as I have recently.  As noted before, I once spent a summer swimming and running with the goal of swimming one mile.  Well, I did it again today (1.1 miles of swimming!).  I meant to do it before the triathlon and since the queasiness was absent figured this was a good day to get it done.

I also developed a rhythm for sighting.  I'm not sure if most people pull their whole head out of the water, but I find if I do that my body drops and I struggle.  So I have a rhythm where I breathe on the right, stroke, look forward with just my eyes above the water, stroke, breath on left.  I tried to close my eyes and do this every few sets of strokes.  I'm sure it'll be totally different on race day, but at least I have some sort of game plan to see where I'm going.

So I've definitely got the endurance to swim 400 yds.  For me it will be more of a mental challenge.  I can't freak out.  If I freak out it's over.  There are tons of things to freak out about (Can't touch the bottom!  Can't see the bottom!  Getting kicked in face!  The water's cold!) but I have to remain calm.

In regards to the debacle with the shirt, the manager has not gotten back to me (Boo!) so I went ahead and purchased it online.  I'll have to swing by the store sometime to return the original.  I will never buy anything again in the physical store, that's for sure!

3 comments:

RG said...

Maybe the swim start will be one of those free-for-all mosh pits where everybody starts at once and there will be so many bodys, arms, legs, feet, and froth that you'll not have time to look down and wonder!!! Man a mile swim gets you ready for a 400 yarder toot sweet! That's like running 100 miles to get ready for a marathon isn't it?

Steve Stenzel said...

NICE job on the swim!

And I'm glad to know there's another "chocolate chip cookie dough lover who hates chocolate chips" out there!

CCCDLWHCC Unite!!

;)

Aron said...

your swimming is going great!!! i wish i was a good swimmer, or a swimmer at all :)