December Fish!

[Susan Otcenas]

1700 meters this morning. Got there a little late again (6am) and it was busy. I'm beginning to think I need to just suck it up and makes sure I get there at 5 or 5:15 all the time to avoid the 6am rush. By 6:45 it had thinned out quite alot, but by then, I was done too!

[Selkie]

I love being on leave---more time to swim on weekdays!

I went for a rare Sunday swim and put in about 45 minutes. Usually it's a madhouse on Sundays because the pool doesn't open until noon and it's "senior citizens swim free" for the first 90 minutes. Probably because of the holiday, it wasn't too crowded.

Monday, I went 90 minutes and yesterday, ~85 minutes, which was tough because the water was cooler than on Monday (it was much colder outside, too, so at 5:30am, the chilly pool water was a $%^&*).

Hopefully, my pull buoy will arrive today....

Fingers crossed that swimming isn't the "hot" exercise for the 2010 New Year's Resolution crowd. Of course, that likely will last only a short while, but in the meantime, it will mean back to circle swimming w/people unfamiliar with proper pool etiquette.

[GLC1968]

Fingers crossed that swimming isn't the "hot" exercise for the 2010 New Year's Resolution crowd. Of course, that likely will last only a short while, but in the meantime, it will mean back to circle swimming w/people unfamiliar with proper pool etiquette.

Be nice - that's me (even though I started in December)! Honestly, I'm way more nervous about breaking pool etiquette rules than I am about the actual swimming.

I had to miss my swim last night because 1) it took me 3 hours to get home (stupid surprize snow storm and lousy drivers!!) and 2) there was NO WAY I was going to immediately grab my suit and drive another 3 hours just to swim for 30 minutes (yes, my pool is near my office) and then 3 hours to get home. Sorry.

I'm taking tomorrow off, so I'm going to swim in the morning instead.

[Susan Otcenas]

I had to miss my swim last night because 1) it took me 3 hours to get home (stupid surprize snow storm and lousy drivers!!) and 2) there was NO WAY I was going to immediately grab my suit and drive another 3 hours just to swim for 30 minutes (yes, my pool is near my office) and then 3 hours to get home. Sorry.

Why don't you bring your swim stuff to the office?

I find that once I walk in the door at night it's reeeeeeaaaally hard for me to get motivated to go back out to the gym. That's why I do almost all my workouts at 5am.

[GLC1968]

Why don't you bring your swim stuff to the office?

I find that once I walk in the door at night it's reeeeeeaaaally hard for me to get motivated to go back out to the gym. That's why I do almost all my workouts at 5am.

Had I known it was going to snow, I would have!

I prefer to swim at 8pm on a normal weekday. That way, I can go home and get Rick to join me and there is less that will get in my way (schedule-wise). As you know, I can never predict when I'll get out of work, so I'm sure I'd often miss lap swim times if I tried for the 5:00 - 6:30 pm slot. Early mornings would be smartest, but then I have to work it around my animal chores, so it gets to be a pain.

Plus, I LOVE working out in the evenings - I'm so strong and energetic then (compared to early mornings when I'm in danger of dropping weights on my toes!) and it feels soooo good to blow off steam before bed.

[Susan Otcenas]

I sooooooo wish I had your evening energy! I have a 45 minute easy spin on my training plan for tonight (on the heels of this morning's 9 mile run) and the very thought of getting on my bike after work tonight makes me just want to put my head down on my desk and have a little nap.

I used to do the "moonlight swims" at the Beaverton Swim Center. 9pm-10pm. Adult laps only. They turn off the facility lights and just leave on the underwater pool lights. It's actually very relaxing, and not too many people show up typically. But I found I was really inconsistent about going. It was too hard to roust myself off the sofa after dinner.

Susan

[GLC1968]

But I found I was really inconsistent about going. It was too hard to roust myself off the sofa after dinner.

That's me in the morning! I was totally inconsistent because it was too hard to drag my butt out of my warm, toasty bed in a 55F house.

[Selkie]

......

I used to do the "moonlight swims" at the Beaverton Swim Center. 9pm-10pm. Adult laps only. They turn off the facility lights and just leave on the underwater pool lights. It's actually very relaxing, and not too many people show up typically. But I found I was really inconsistent about going. It was too hard to roust myself off the sofa after dinner.

Susan

That sounds so nice.... I'm usually sleeping by then though!

[Selkie]

Anyone else have a New Year's Eve swim?

My final swim of 2009. After scraping a stubbornly clingy, substantial layer of ice from my windshield, I drove to the pool in first gear on slippery roads (it was sleeting heavily). I live about 3/4 mile from the pool, so it's not as bad as it sounds, despite the hills, particularly at 5:15am.

I was surprised that many of the other early bird regulars made it, but thank goodness, it never got crowded. Had a lane to myself most of the time. My pull buoy came yesterday, so I tried it out (more on that in another post).

Managed to slog out 90 minutes. It was a "sheer determination slog" partially due to cool water and a tired body. Lots of swimming this week, and I was feeling it. The pool being closed tomorrow is probably a blessing in disguise in terms of enforced rest. I'll be ready for my regular long Saturday session on the 2nd!

[Susan Otcenas]

Anyone else have a New Year's Eve swim?

Yup! 2200 yards this morning.

warmup:500 yards.
main set:
2 x (5 x 50 with :15 RI)
2:00 RI between the set.

2 x 500 zone 2.
1:00 RI between.

Cooldown: 200 yards kick set w/fins.

I'm getting faster. My 50s were all 55-57 seconds. Yay! And my 500s are 10:30-10:45 at a Zone 2 pace. (I used to be slower than this at RACE pace! ) Even better, I'm having more moments where it all suddenly feels "right". Some laps feel like I'm swimming through molasses, but then others feel effortless. Steadily working towards less molasses!
Happy new year, everyone!

Susan

[GLC1968]

I just finished a whopping 13 laps for my swim (650 meters). The place was busy, but not too many people were in the lap lanes (yay!). I only had 30 minutes before I had to leave to get to work (on my day off, yipee.) but it felt pretty good. I'm trying to swim with my eyes closed as much as possible because I find it way more relaxing that way. I get all worked up when I imagine that people are watching me and then I mess up my tenuous rhythm. Of course, no one is actually watching me but whatever...oh the mind games I play with myself!

OK, I have a question about lane speeds. I'm not sure what lane to choose. When I swim, I'm doing a lap in about a minute...maybe just over a minute (1:10 ish). BUT, I still have to rest after every lap for at least a couple of minutes. I've gotten to where I don't rest after a length, but I do need to catch my breath after a lap. What lane do I chose? I'm swimming a lot faster than the slow swimmers even when I try to put forth very little effort, but I can't swim continuously yet, so I'd hold up the medium swimmers, right? Luckily, I've been able to avoid the circle swim so far, so it hasn't really been an issue yet, but I'm not sure what to do when that happens.

[Susan Otcenas]

I'm not sure what lane to choose. When I swim, I'm doing a lap in about a minute...maybe just over a minute (1:10 ish). BUT, I still have to rest after every lap for at least a couple of minutes. I've gotten to where I don't rest after a length, but I do need to catch my breath after a lap. What lane do I chose?

Personally, I'd pick a lane with a slower swimmer. I'd start my lap when the other swimmer was most of the way back towards me. That way, you can swim whatever speed you want and not catch that swimmer at the end of your lap (as she will already be starting down the lane on her next lap, while you take a break.)

[HillSlugger]

After cleaning about a 1/2 inch of snow off the car I drove the 1.5 miles to the pool and swam 2300m.

My total for the year: just over 215,000m!

[GLC1968]

Personally, I'd pick a lane with a slower swimmer. I'd start my lap when the other swimmer was most of the way back towards me. That way, you can swim whatever speed you want and not catch that swimmer at the end of your lap (as she will already be starting down the lane on her next lap, while you take a break.)

Yeah, that's kind of what I was thinking. I'm just not sure how it will work if there are three or more of us (which hasn't happened yet but I expect that it will after Jan 1st).

[Susan Otcenas]

My total for the year: just over 215,000m!

WOW!!! Way to go! That's dedication. Do you have a goal for 2010?

I just went back and checked December - my first full month of swimming under my new coach's direction. 17,050 yards. I'm pretty happy with that!