Alive!

That's right, after a ridiculous swim workout so complicated and long that I actually have no idea how many meters I actually swam, I am alive and (sort of) kicking!

  My swim coach was definitely not lying when he said this morning's workout would be difficult- in fact, by about 3/4 of the way in, the lanes had gone from almost all doubled up to nearly empty, with only 4 or 5 of us left. It was basically a speed workout, consisting of times that we had to hit for each 100. They gradually decreased, and we had to continue to hit each time until we missed one. When we missed, we decreased the distance by 25 yds and continued to try and hit the times. When we missed a 75, we dropped down to 50, etc. until we were either ballin' the whole thing or, alternatively, dying and doing 25s. I managed to hang on for 13 100s, but by the last one, I only made it to the wall with a second to spare before I had to go again. I slumped into the pool while my coach shouted "Come on, one more!!!" which I responded to with disgruntled laughter. Thing is, now I really regret not pushing harder and doing that final one. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm glad I stuck through the whole workout when so many other people left (um, since when does am I one of the last to bail?!), but I know that unless I am willing to truly accept that muscle fatigue and burn in the pool, I will not be able to get my strokes as fast and smooth as I want them to be and get the mile pace I want for Diamondman.

    But, it's probably a good thing I slacked off a wee bit this morning, since the last couple days' workouts, combined with the Code Orange heat around here, have left me exhausted. So exhausted I took two naps today. Last night was 9 400's on the track, and it. was. AWESOME. I know that most people really hate speed workouts because of the whole feeling-like-you're-going-vomit thing that inevitably accompanies workouts with repeats in the 9-15 range, but I  LOVE 'EM. This might be due to my past as a 400m runner, but in any case, last night was fantastic! The repeats felt so much easier than they had two weeks go, and even though I had told my coach I was going to go a little slower because of all the bike and pool workouts, I ended up getting within +/- 3 seconds of my goal time of 1:30!! The first set of 3 400's were all at 1:33, the second set was kind of scattered, with the first at 1:37, then 1:33, 1:28, and the last set was 1:33, 1:38, 1:31! Not too shabby for a day so hot they closed county schools three hours early. I think I actually perform better in heat. Summer is the one time of year I am not constantly shivering, so my muscles are loose and warmed up instead of tight and locked.

    Off to bed now, since I have to wake up, lift, sign up for an Open Water swim in August, go to work from 12-6:30, then run 13 miles. Prediction: Awesome tan lines await.