Fine Form, But Frigid
I flip and flop through the locker room juggling keys, watch and goggles. Pressing on my mind is the fact that the room is being chilled to a uncomfortable 65 degrees, and I am sporting a lot of exposed flesh. After the brief respite found in walking through the hot tub area, the pool room is even more of a shock. Icicles crawl down the floor to ceiling windows, grudgingly releasing drips of blue water when struck by the harsh winter sun. I wrap my watch around my knuckles and punch a Beer-sized hole in the scum of ice forming on the pool, gaze at the dark, freezing water revealed, and prepare my body for the shock.
OK, so there wasn't any ice, but it was damn cold today. I cranked out 40 lengths in 21 minutes, only taking one 30 second breather half-way through. My form felt good, but I need to pick up the pace. Just for fun, I paced the guy in the lane next to me for a couple of laps - he was of the "I am strong, water will fear me!" school of swimming, lots of splashing, legs trailing out below him, but he was still fast! I could keep up with him for a length or two, and I think I was doing about 2 strokes to his 3 (or even 4), but I eventually had to drop off and let him do his thing. At the end of my workout, though, I generally don't feel really tired, or out of breath. This is just reinforcing my plan to swim smart, not hard, and let people tire themselves out and get fished out by lifeguards in Lake Michigan. I'm getting very excited to start reading my swimming books, but "Wicked" comes first. A dear friend has already threatened to disappear it from my house if I don't finish it soon.
On the note of pacing people - guys seem to be really competitive in the pool. I suspect that the guy in the lane next to me was kicking it up a notch whenever we happened to end up side by side - I'd like somebody to come watch me swim sometime and see if that's the case. I'm not the most competitive person, and I still try to lap the person next to me if I can. I would be surprised if that's not the case with other people too. If I don't feel like dealing with it, I'll throw in a lap of breast-stroke to un-synch myself, so I don't have to deal with somebody thrashing right next to me.
OK, so there wasn't any ice, but it was damn cold today. I cranked out 40 lengths in 21 minutes, only taking one 30 second breather half-way through. My form felt good, but I need to pick up the pace. Just for fun, I paced the guy in the lane next to me for a couple of laps - he was of the "I am strong, water will fear me!" school of swimming, lots of splashing, legs trailing out below him, but he was still fast! I could keep up with him for a length or two, and I think I was doing about 2 strokes to his 3 (or even 4), but I eventually had to drop off and let him do his thing. At the end of my workout, though, I generally don't feel really tired, or out of breath. This is just reinforcing my plan to swim smart, not hard, and let people tire themselves out and get fished out by lifeguards in Lake Michigan. I'm getting very excited to start reading my swimming books, but "Wicked" comes first. A dear friend has already threatened to disappear it from my house if I don't finish it soon.
On the note of pacing people - guys seem to be really competitive in the pool. I suspect that the guy in the lane next to me was kicking it up a notch whenever we happened to end up side by side - I'd like somebody to come watch me swim sometime and see if that's the case. I'm not the most competitive person, and I still try to lap the person next to me if I can. I would be surprised if that's not the case with other people too. If I don't feel like dealing with it, I'll throw in a lap of breast-stroke to un-synch myself, so I don't have to deal with somebody thrashing right next to me.
posted by Rob at
2:12 PM
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