Really a few days shorter, since I'm late with the update. That number keeps shrinking! Now we're into month counts I'm more used to from marathon training.
Biggest Challenge This Month:
The fact that neither Meredith nor I can stay healthy! We were doing great until this winter, and now all of a sudden it seems like one or the other of us is sick. Right now, it's me. We're crossing our fingers that it stays that way until after Meredith's race this weekend.
Biggest Success This Month:
Racing! Not only did I take my first top 10 overall spot at a race (8th at Last Chance 10K), I took my second as well! (6th at Lifetime Indoor Tri) Kind of crazy how far things have come since last spring. It's a big mental transition for me to think about pushing myself farther than a comfortable pace; up till now, I've just worried about finishing. I still don't really think much about "how do I compare to others" during the race, but I'm starting to concentrate on being the best I can be on that day.
How I Feel About Training:
When I'm healthy, really good! It was great to actually get to see some results, and know that all these hours are paying off. I'm a little intimidated by breaking 4 hours on a trainer, but I suppose it's only 30 minutes more than I've done to this point.
How I Feel About The Race:
A little more confident than before. The part that still scares me the most are all the hills, since I don't have a lot of experience on them. When the weather breaks, I think it'll be time to find some of the few we have in central Ohio and get to know them intimately. :)
What's Next?
Still need to find a half in the spring. Other than that, no races planned at this point. I was originally going to do the second indoor tri in town here, but I think we'll be out of town. No big deal, as I got the first one in.
4 Months Out Theme Song:
Well, I couldn't come up with anything great, so this one's a bit of a stretch. But I think it might need to go on my iPod. :)
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
The Results Are In!
Last night, the results were posted for the indoor tri.
Swim:
24 lengths (600m total)
1:40/100m
5th (tie)/78 overall
3rd (tie)/26 men
I was quite happy with this pace. It happened to be exactly my goal before the race, so here's to knowing what your body is capable on race day!
Bike:
16.4 "miles" (32.8 mph)
3rd/78 overall
3rd/26 men
Yeah, right. :) Going by the place, though, I was surprised and pleased with the result against the field. I don't really consider the bike a strength, but I've had nothing to compare it to since almost all my IM training has been indoors so far.
Run:
1.18 "miles" (16:57/mile)
Umm...
So, I was NOT happy when I saw this result. I had been in 3rd place overall after the swim and bike, and then my official run time beat nobody. Okay, there were two people who didn't do the run; I did beat them. I know this race isn't my target, and it was just to get a good workout, but I felt sort of ripped off that I had worked hard and didn't get the chance to evaluate myself on an even playing field.
I sent off an email to the director asking about it, and he let me know that the "overflow" ellipticals that I was on were supposed to have mileage tacked on to compensate for the difference in difficulty, but the numbers didn't get added in as planned. So, it looks like my actual run will be marked as 2.68 miles, which is probably pretty accurate as to what I could have done. Kudos to the Lifetime Fitness team for being willing to take time to review the results, and for doing as well as they could on race day given the circumstances!
Overall:
Current:
20/78 overall
10/26 men
Don't know exactly where I'll end up once the run is corrected since I wasn't the only one that needed an adjustment, but my guess is somewhere around 6th overall. I really wasn't expecting to do quite that well (I was silently hoping for top 10), so now I'm really excited to get outdoors and see where the training has me for real!
For fun, let's take my paces in this race and see how I'd do in the Ironman if I held them.
Swim: 1:04
Hey, I'd certainly take that!
Bike: 3:24
Hmm...a little over an hour faster than last year's fastest biker in Coeur D'Alene? Yeah, I'd take that too. ;)
Run: 7:24
Hehe! Well, fortunately, the run is last, so thanks to my blazing bike time I'd still make all the cutoffs.
Total: 11:52
An unorthodox way to get under 12 hours to be sure, but if I finished under 12, I wouldn't complain. :)
Maybe I should just trust my training plan instead. Yeah, that might be the way to go.
Swim:
24 lengths (600m total)
1:40/100m
5th (tie)/78 overall
3rd (tie)/26 men
I was quite happy with this pace. It happened to be exactly my goal before the race, so here's to knowing what your body is capable on race day!
Bike:
16.4 "miles" (32.8 mph)
3rd/78 overall
3rd/26 men
Yeah, right. :) Going by the place, though, I was surprised and pleased with the result against the field. I don't really consider the bike a strength, but I've had nothing to compare it to since almost all my IM training has been indoors so far.
Run:
1.18 "miles" (16:57/mile)
Umm...
So, I was NOT happy when I saw this result. I had been in 3rd place overall after the swim and bike, and then my official run time beat nobody. Okay, there were two people who didn't do the run; I did beat them. I know this race isn't my target, and it was just to get a good workout, but I felt sort of ripped off that I had worked hard and didn't get the chance to evaluate myself on an even playing field.
I sent off an email to the director asking about it, and he let me know that the "overflow" ellipticals that I was on were supposed to have mileage tacked on to compensate for the difference in difficulty, but the numbers didn't get added in as planned. So, it looks like my actual run will be marked as 2.68 miles, which is probably pretty accurate as to what I could have done. Kudos to the Lifetime Fitness team for being willing to take time to review the results, and for doing as well as they could on race day given the circumstances!
Overall:
Current:
20/78 overall
10/26 men
Don't know exactly where I'll end up once the run is corrected since I wasn't the only one that needed an adjustment, but my guess is somewhere around 6th overall. I really wasn't expecting to do quite that well (I was silently hoping for top 10), so now I'm really excited to get outdoors and see where the training has me for real!
For fun, let's take my paces in this race and see how I'd do in the Ironman if I held them.
Swim: 1:04
Hey, I'd certainly take that!
Bike: 3:24
Hmm...a little over an hour faster than last year's fastest biker in Coeur D'Alene? Yeah, I'd take that too. ;)
Run: 7:24
Hehe! Well, fortunately, the run is last, so thanks to my blazing bike time I'd still make all the cutoffs.
Total: 11:52
An unorthodox way to get under 12 hours to be sure, but if I finished under 12, I wouldn't complain. :)
Maybe I should just trust my training plan instead. Yeah, that might be the way to go.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Race Report - Lifetime Fitness Indoor Triathlon
Or, "A Comedy Of Errors"
To get the day off to an appropriate start, I woke up before my alarm this morning. The alarm was set for 6:15. I woke up at 12:20. Standing by my alarm clock. It took me a few minutes to convince myself that no, I didn't really need to be up yet. Back to bed. And then it happened again around 1:30. Pre-race nerves, anyone?
At 6:15, I did get up to my alarm, and was up and ready to go. I had already packed up the night before, so it was a pretty simple morning of eating and getting on the road. I got to the gym in plenty of time to register, get set up, and check out the venue. After watching one of the earlier swim heats, I went back out to the desk to make sure my shoes would clip into the bikes. A woman out there confirmed that they would work.
And then, the power went out.
Not a blink, not a light off here or there. The whole gym, and from what I later overheard, the whole street. The staff's faces fell, and from downstairs you could hear a collective groan from the first wave of athletes, who were about two minutes into their 20 minute run. We were informed by a race director that the race would proceed, but we would be moving the run to the ellipticals because they don't require power. Yuck. I know they didn't have a choice, but I can't stand the elliptical. But, it would still be a level playing field, so the best I could do was accept it and go on with the day.
I got changed and made it out to the pool with a few minutes before my heat. There was just enough time to swim down and back for a warm up, and then it was time to go. We all had to share lanes with one other person, and the girl sharing my lane wasn't (by her own statement) much of a swimmer, but she did a perfectly good job of staying on her side. I went out a little harder than intended, but I think I held on pretty well! The swim director was calling out times and when to stop, but I never really heard her. I sort of heard people clap, and then noticed everyone standing at the end of the lanes. Guess we're done. I think I made it somewhere around 24 lengths, or 600m, in the 10 minute swim. That would be a 1:40/100m pace, and a perfectly good start to the day.
On the way out of the pool, a woman was nice enough to hold the locker room door for me.
And I was halfway through the door, thanking her, before I realized that I was walking right into the women's locker room. Oops. The doors at this gym are backwards from the one we go to, and I'm so used to the door on the right, that I just followed the pack. :)
It was certainly the darkest transition ever in the locker room as I got ready for the bike. I must have taken my time, because by the time I got up there, the director called out 90 seconds until the start. I wasn't the only one, as everybody scrambled to get onto the bikes. I got my bike shoes on and got the iPod on my arm, just in time to start up. Then I tried to clip in. Hmm...can't get the right shoe in, let's try the left. No luck there either! I called over the director, who didn't know much about the clips, and said we'd wait for the staff member running the bike portion to check in on me.
So, I started pedaling with bike shoes on, on top of pedals with the wrong kind of clip. Let me tell you, that's no fun. My feet kept slipping off, and since they were spinning bikes, the pedals kept right on going. I'd have to wait for the pedals to stop before I could start up again. Probably 5 minutes of this went on before I had had enough. While pedaling with my right foot, I reached down and undid my left shoe, tossed it to the side, and slipped my foot into my running shoe. I did have to briefly stop to get the other one, and then one of the staff was kind enough to help me get into the toe cages and let me know I was scaring her to death. :) The bike specialist did come by, and informed me that I had the wrong kind of Shimano clips. Sigh. I let him know that the email they sent out just said Shimano. Twenty-five more minutes of running shoe, seat slightly too low cycling ensued, and at the end, it said I had gone 16.4 miles in 30 minutes. Heh. I wish. When I'm finishing the bike portion of Ironman in 3.5 hours, I'll be sure to remember this race. ;)
When they called the finish, I gathered up my stuff and hustled over to the run, intent on having enough time to get settled. I took my gel as planned, went to take a drink, and realized I left my water bottle on the bike. Time for more hustling, as I ran back over, grabbed the bottle, and went back to the ellipticals, which were now all full. A staff member directed the three of us without machines back to some of the older models, which felt more like "stair climber" ellipticals. Nonetheless, it was time to work for 20 more minutes. Before the start, they asked us for our estimated time on a treadmill so they could try and convert the numbers to more run-like distances. I estimated an 8 minute pace, while the guy next to me estimated 10:00s.
Since I didn't really want to know how slow I was going compared to treadmill pace, and so I could just concentrate on working hard, I threw a towel over the machine's display. It had been months since I'd been on an elliptical, so it was a foreign skill to me. I did my best, and just held on as best as I could for 20 minutes. (Of course, 10 minutes in, the power came back on. :P) There wasn't a staff member over by us, and those of us on the leftover ellipticals had started about a minute late, so to make sure it was fair, I hopped off the machine right at 20 minutes so I wouldn't get credited for extra mileage.
And then, before the staff could come mark down our distance, my machine turned off. With my towel still over the distance.
I have no clue how far I went on the "run" during this race. With no way to retrieve the number, they suggested using the distance from the guy next to me. I know I was going faster than him, but I didn't see any other option.
So, it was a comedy of errors. To their credit, I think the Lifetime staff did the best they could given the circumstances, and were very polite and apologetic. That didn't make it less frustrating, though. The good things I took out of this race were:
1. My body was really ready to go - the times all seemed short, and I was able to keep my effort level high the whole way through.
2. Mentally, I was able to calm myself down before the swim and get a pretty efficient stroke going. I believe I led my heat of 10, or came in second at the worst.
3. I didn't have anyone in front of me for most of the bike, so I could watch my form in the mirror. There was certainly less bouncing around going on that most of the other participants. It was hard to judge exactly, but it looked like I had one of the faster cadences, and since all the resistances were set equally, that should mean I had one of the longer distances travelled in my heat.
4. I put together a great, if very eclectic, playlist that kept my mind off the fact that biking and...um...ellipticalling indoors really isn't all that exciting.
This event was scored by your place. 1 point for the shortest distance in an event, 2 for the next shortest, and on up to points equal to the number of competitors for first place in an event. Total the three scores, and that's your overall score. I don't know my official swim or run distances, nor anyone else's, so your guess is as good as mine as to how I placed. Results are supposed to be up by Tuesday at the latest, so I'll post an update when they arrive!
To get the day off to an appropriate start, I woke up before my alarm this morning. The alarm was set for 6:15. I woke up at 12:20. Standing by my alarm clock. It took me a few minutes to convince myself that no, I didn't really need to be up yet. Back to bed. And then it happened again around 1:30. Pre-race nerves, anyone?
At 6:15, I did get up to my alarm, and was up and ready to go. I had already packed up the night before, so it was a pretty simple morning of eating and getting on the road. I got to the gym in plenty of time to register, get set up, and check out the venue. After watching one of the earlier swim heats, I went back out to the desk to make sure my shoes would clip into the bikes. A woman out there confirmed that they would work.
And then, the power went out.
Not a blink, not a light off here or there. The whole gym, and from what I later overheard, the whole street. The staff's faces fell, and from downstairs you could hear a collective groan from the first wave of athletes, who were about two minutes into their 20 minute run. We were informed by a race director that the race would proceed, but we would be moving the run to the ellipticals because they don't require power. Yuck. I know they didn't have a choice, but I can't stand the elliptical. But, it would still be a level playing field, so the best I could do was accept it and go on with the day.
I got changed and made it out to the pool with a few minutes before my heat. There was just enough time to swim down and back for a warm up, and then it was time to go. We all had to share lanes with one other person, and the girl sharing my lane wasn't (by her own statement) much of a swimmer, but she did a perfectly good job of staying on her side. I went out a little harder than intended, but I think I held on pretty well! The swim director was calling out times and when to stop, but I never really heard her. I sort of heard people clap, and then noticed everyone standing at the end of the lanes. Guess we're done. I think I made it somewhere around 24 lengths, or 600m, in the 10 minute swim. That would be a 1:40/100m pace, and a perfectly good start to the day.
On the way out of the pool, a woman was nice enough to hold the locker room door for me.
And I was halfway through the door, thanking her, before I realized that I was walking right into the women's locker room. Oops. The doors at this gym are backwards from the one we go to, and I'm so used to the door on the right, that I just followed the pack. :)
It was certainly the darkest transition ever in the locker room as I got ready for the bike. I must have taken my time, because by the time I got up there, the director called out 90 seconds until the start. I wasn't the only one, as everybody scrambled to get onto the bikes. I got my bike shoes on and got the iPod on my arm, just in time to start up. Then I tried to clip in. Hmm...can't get the right shoe in, let's try the left. No luck there either! I called over the director, who didn't know much about the clips, and said we'd wait for the staff member running the bike portion to check in on me.
So, I started pedaling with bike shoes on, on top of pedals with the wrong kind of clip. Let me tell you, that's no fun. My feet kept slipping off, and since they were spinning bikes, the pedals kept right on going. I'd have to wait for the pedals to stop before I could start up again. Probably 5 minutes of this went on before I had had enough. While pedaling with my right foot, I reached down and undid my left shoe, tossed it to the side, and slipped my foot into my running shoe. I did have to briefly stop to get the other one, and then one of the staff was kind enough to help me get into the toe cages and let me know I was scaring her to death. :) The bike specialist did come by, and informed me that I had the wrong kind of Shimano clips. Sigh. I let him know that the email they sent out just said Shimano. Twenty-five more minutes of running shoe, seat slightly too low cycling ensued, and at the end, it said I had gone 16.4 miles in 30 minutes. Heh. I wish. When I'm finishing the bike portion of Ironman in 3.5 hours, I'll be sure to remember this race. ;)
When they called the finish, I gathered up my stuff and hustled over to the run, intent on having enough time to get settled. I took my gel as planned, went to take a drink, and realized I left my water bottle on the bike. Time for more hustling, as I ran back over, grabbed the bottle, and went back to the ellipticals, which were now all full. A staff member directed the three of us without machines back to some of the older models, which felt more like "stair climber" ellipticals. Nonetheless, it was time to work for 20 more minutes. Before the start, they asked us for our estimated time on a treadmill so they could try and convert the numbers to more run-like distances. I estimated an 8 minute pace, while the guy next to me estimated 10:00s.
Since I didn't really want to know how slow I was going compared to treadmill pace, and so I could just concentrate on working hard, I threw a towel over the machine's display. It had been months since I'd been on an elliptical, so it was a foreign skill to me. I did my best, and just held on as best as I could for 20 minutes. (Of course, 10 minutes in, the power came back on. :P) There wasn't a staff member over by us, and those of us on the leftover ellipticals had started about a minute late, so to make sure it was fair, I hopped off the machine right at 20 minutes so I wouldn't get credited for extra mileage.
And then, before the staff could come mark down our distance, my machine turned off. With my towel still over the distance.
I have no clue how far I went on the "run" during this race. With no way to retrieve the number, they suggested using the distance from the guy next to me. I know I was going faster than him, but I didn't see any other option.
So, it was a comedy of errors. To their credit, I think the Lifetime staff did the best they could given the circumstances, and were very polite and apologetic. That didn't make it less frustrating, though. The good things I took out of this race were:
1. My body was really ready to go - the times all seemed short, and I was able to keep my effort level high the whole way through.
2. Mentally, I was able to calm myself down before the swim and get a pretty efficient stroke going. I believe I led my heat of 10, or came in second at the worst.
3. I didn't have anyone in front of me for most of the bike, so I could watch my form in the mirror. There was certainly less bouncing around going on that most of the other participants. It was hard to judge exactly, but it looked like I had one of the faster cadences, and since all the resistances were set equally, that should mean I had one of the longer distances travelled in my heat.
4. I put together a great, if very eclectic, playlist that kept my mind off the fact that biking and...um...ellipticalling indoors really isn't all that exciting.
This event was scored by your place. 1 point for the shortest distance in an event, 2 for the next shortest, and on up to points equal to the number of competitors for first place in an event. Total the three scores, and that's your overall score. I don't know my official swim or run distances, nor anyone else's, so your guess is as good as mine as to how I placed. Results are supposed to be up by Tuesday at the latest, so I'll post an update when they arrive!
Monday, February 16, 2009
Race Report - Last Chance For Boston 10K
Well, how about that? An impromptu sign-up for a distance I've never run before, and it turns into my best placing ever in a running race!
Things started off with a 5:45 wake up call. Unfortunately, Meredith was still feeling sick, so it was just me. I wasn't very excited about heading off into the cold, but I didn't really have any excuse not to go. So, I packed up about 4 different combinations of clothes, not knowing how cold it would really be. Got my number picked up, and I headed out to the course. Before the race, I had 30 minutes of easy warm up to get in. Easy was the key word, as I didn't quite even get in three miles.
Before I knew it, it was time to line up. This race has a full marathon, half marathon, 10K, and 5K, and the course is a one mile loop (plus a 0.2 or 0.1 mile spur at the start). The 10K and marathon start together, so I was lined up with Andrea and Helen, who were both doing the marathon, for the start. As much as I wanted to try and hang with them, I knew I needed to stick to the plan and not go out too hard. I even turned my Garmin to only show heart rate so I wouldn't constantly be checking my pace; instead, I'd concentrate on keeping my heart rate in the right zones.
And for the first lap, I did just that. I kept my legs in check, and my heart rate was nicely settled into zone 2. When the Garmin clicked off the first mile, it was around an 8:20 pace. Whoa! Nothing wrong with that. Since things were feeling good, I decided to just hold my pace and see how it went. And though it doesn't make for an interesting race report, I did just that. My fastest and slowest miles were only separated by 28 seconds, which I'm not sure I've ever done before. My heart rate did keep creeping up on me, though. By lap 2 or 3, it was parked in zone 3, and I had to ease up just a couple times. On the last lap, I finally gave myself permission to run a little harder, and went all out with about 1/4 mile remaining. That turned into my fastest mile, an 8:12. I crossed the finish line, and surprise, surprise, I was in the top 20 men!
Post race, there wasn't time to rest. I still had another 27 minutes of cool down. Three more loops around the course, and I could call it a day...until I had to hop on my bike later. :)
Mile 1 (+.2): 10:28
Mile 2: 8:38
Mile 3: 8:40
Mile 4: 8:37
Mile 5: 8:32
Mile 6: 8:12
Total: 53:05 (8:32/mi)
7/30 Men
9/74 Overall
Things started off with a 5:45 wake up call. Unfortunately, Meredith was still feeling sick, so it was just me. I wasn't very excited about heading off into the cold, but I didn't really have any excuse not to go. So, I packed up about 4 different combinations of clothes, not knowing how cold it would really be. Got my number picked up, and I headed out to the course. Before the race, I had 30 minutes of easy warm up to get in. Easy was the key word, as I didn't quite even get in three miles.
Before I knew it, it was time to line up. This race has a full marathon, half marathon, 10K, and 5K, and the course is a one mile loop (plus a 0.2 or 0.1 mile spur at the start). The 10K and marathon start together, so I was lined up with Andrea and Helen, who were both doing the marathon, for the start. As much as I wanted to try and hang with them, I knew I needed to stick to the plan and not go out too hard. I even turned my Garmin to only show heart rate so I wouldn't constantly be checking my pace; instead, I'd concentrate on keeping my heart rate in the right zones.
And for the first lap, I did just that. I kept my legs in check, and my heart rate was nicely settled into zone 2. When the Garmin clicked off the first mile, it was around an 8:20 pace. Whoa! Nothing wrong with that. Since things were feeling good, I decided to just hold my pace and see how it went. And though it doesn't make for an interesting race report, I did just that. My fastest and slowest miles were only separated by 28 seconds, which I'm not sure I've ever done before. My heart rate did keep creeping up on me, though. By lap 2 or 3, it was parked in zone 3, and I had to ease up just a couple times. On the last lap, I finally gave myself permission to run a little harder, and went all out with about 1/4 mile remaining. That turned into my fastest mile, an 8:12. I crossed the finish line, and surprise, surprise, I was in the top 20 men!
Post race, there wasn't time to rest. I still had another 27 minutes of cool down. Three more loops around the course, and I could call it a day...until I had to hop on my bike later. :)
Mile 1 (+.2): 10:28
Mile 2: 8:38
Mile 3: 8:40
Mile 4: 8:37
Mile 5: 8:32
Mile 6: 8:12
Total: 53:05 (8:32/mi)
7/30 Men
9/74 Overall
Thursday, February 12, 2009
It's Race Season!
40 minutes of fast run + will be at a race with a 10K anyway = 1st race of 2009!
I convinced coach that I would do my warmup and cooldown as planned around the race, so it's time for the season to kick off with the Last Chance For Boston 10K! Meredith is running the half marathon, so I was going to be there already. Now, I can get in my run and then get to watch her smash her PR! My only instructions are not to go out too hard. I'm 0/1 on that in races so far since I started working with Liz, so I'll try to do better this time around.
Also coming up is my first tri of the season, the Lifetime Fitness Indoor Triathlon. It's a 10 minute swim, 30 minute bike, and 20 minute run. I've never done an indoor tri, so it should be a new and interesting experience. It's silly, but I'm getting nervous thinking about it. From looking at last year's numbers and my current fitness, I should stand a decent chance of being in the top half of the field - I'm not used to that, so I think it's making me even more nervous! :) If I like this one, there's another one at the closer Lifetime in town next month that I'll sign up for too.
Other than the upcoming races, training has been pretty steady so far this month. I've missed a couple workouts here and there, but haven't "fallen off the wagon" or anything. I did set a new 100m PR the other day - 1:27! I'd never tried one with a 6-beat kick; I'm more of a 2-beat kick kind of guy. The extra kicking did get me there faster, but I think it would probably tire me out too much in a longer swim.
We also had a huge windstorm last night! Somehow, we acquired a grill cover. It was wrapped around our air conditioner! Our neighbors had one of their patio chairs blown right through their fence, and we got woken up by a car alarm that the storm set off. Here's hoping I can get through a long swim this afternoon on some marginal sleep. :)
I convinced coach that I would do my warmup and cooldown as planned around the race, so it's time for the season to kick off with the Last Chance For Boston 10K! Meredith is running the half marathon, so I was going to be there already. Now, I can get in my run and then get to watch her smash her PR! My only instructions are not to go out too hard. I'm 0/1 on that in races so far since I started working with Liz, so I'll try to do better this time around.
Also coming up is my first tri of the season, the Lifetime Fitness Indoor Triathlon. It's a 10 minute swim, 30 minute bike, and 20 minute run. I've never done an indoor tri, so it should be a new and interesting experience. It's silly, but I'm getting nervous thinking about it. From looking at last year's numbers and my current fitness, I should stand a decent chance of being in the top half of the field - I'm not used to that, so I think it's making me even more nervous! :) If I like this one, there's another one at the closer Lifetime in town next month that I'll sign up for too.
Other than the upcoming races, training has been pretty steady so far this month. I've missed a couple workouts here and there, but haven't "fallen off the wagon" or anything. I did set a new 100m PR the other day - 1:27! I'd never tried one with a 6-beat kick; I'm more of a 2-beat kick kind of guy. The extra kicking did get me there faster, but I think it would probably tire me out too much in a longer swim.
We also had a huge windstorm last night! Somehow, we acquired a grill cover. It was wrapped around our air conditioner! Our neighbors had one of their patio chairs blown right through their fence, and we got woken up by a car alarm that the storm set off. Here's hoping I can get through a long swim this afternoon on some marginal sleep. :)
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
I'm An Omelet
Er...an anomaly. Sorry, the stomach got excited and took over the fingers for a second.
Swimmers, I need your help. I always knew I had a poor kick, but I never quite realized just how bad it was until yesterday. Or, at least, I think so.
Here's the test to try for me:
25m with a kickboard. Not "all-out" gasping for air at the end, but a nice solid effort.
25m of one-arm swimming. NO KICK AT ALL.
I clock in around 40 seconds for the kick, and 30 seconds for the one-arm swimming. My mind says this can't be normal, but I need a better sample size. Give it a try, and let me know which is faster for you!
Swimmers, I need your help. I always knew I had a poor kick, but I never quite realized just how bad it was until yesterday. Or, at least, I think so.
Here's the test to try for me:
25m with a kickboard. Not "all-out" gasping for air at the end, but a nice solid effort.
25m of one-arm swimming. NO KICK AT ALL.
I clock in around 40 seconds for the kick, and 30 seconds for the one-arm swimming. My mind says this can't be normal, but I need a better sample size. Give it a try, and let me know which is faster for you!
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