flip (gurgle, snort, gasp, BONK!) turns

Updated with run.

Swim was shite this morning. I didn't sleep well last night, and wasn't really thrilled about the idea of getting up and working out. Did it anyway. That will teach me to listen to my body better.

When I got into the pool it felt like space aliens had sucked my brain and I couldn't remember how to deal with this wet stuff. Stroke was choppy and gross. And then my new goggles started leaking. I've always had a tough time sealing them, and once sealed I'm afraid to touch them till I'm done. Today I could not get them to seal! So they're going into the lost and found and I'll get another pair.

I did a few lengths, stopping to adjust goggles, hoping it would get better. Not! I struggled along for about 10 minutes. Slow. Breathing hard. Really hard. It's like I couldn't catch my breath. Plus, all sorts of things are hurting. Fingers, elbow, one knee for crying out loud, and my eyes figured it was battery acid slipping into the goggles. I haven't felt that way in a pool for a long time. I eventually gave up.

I had thought about doing some intervals, but then figured doing them when feeling this way was counter productive. Then I remembered a utube video about doing tumble turns, and decided to try. The first few actually weren't too bad. Then, more shite. I'd get over, then end upside down with my feet flailing around looking for the wall.

Then I got into a cycle where I'd get half way rolled over, basically with my head down, then my rotation would stop. And of course, since I'm head down, and my body is essentially vertical, I'd slide further underwater. What convinced me to give up for the day was actually banging my head on the bottom of the pool, in the deep end. 1.1 m of water, I believe. I'm flailing around trying to complete the movement, and BONK! At least there was no blood; I'd feel really bad if they would have had to clear the pool. I didn't think I was that deep. Good thing it was the deep end is all I can say. This is without mentioning the gasping, snorting, gurgling, and sinus backflushing that you all know about.

I wasn't quite ready to give up entirely, so I went into the dive tank for some core work. It was sure easy to tell it's been a while. oof. Struggled through, then I don't know how I did it, but I hit my funny bone on the lip of the pool while turning around. Enough was enough. I got out, hit the hot tub a bit, then onward to the rest of my day.

It's uncanny. IG seems to know just how much my legs will take, and builds the IGP™ around it. Tonight, for instance, he called for R 40-50, 15/1. I figured that three sets would be just perfect, and would get me most of the way around the loop down into Fish Creek. It was a beautiful evening for a run, sunny and warm, but not hot, with a nice breeze.

I did some light stretching, then walked a few minutes. My breathing was a bit heavy at first, but heart rate was low. Settled into a nice pace fairly quickly, though I still felt a little bit heavy and choppy. Heart rate generally settled into the mid 120's, at least until the climb out of Fish Creek. That peaked at 146, settled back to about 130 or so for the last 7 minutes, and with an overall average of 126. As planned, did three sets, and in the 47 minutes I went 7.9 Km. This was generally at a nice easy relaxed pace, trying to be steady, but not going hard.

At the end I was getting ready to stop. I could maybe have done one more set, but was happy enough to walk another 10 minutes home, with more stretching after. I was thinking about heart rates during the run. Just before the run I was sitting quietly, and noted my heart rate was 47 bpm. Last year, I could easily drive my heart rate into the 150's. For a very short while. The hill out of North Glenmore would do it. Now, it seems to top out mid 140's for even quite hard exertion. I'm not sure how hard I'd have to push myself to get into the 150's, but that's high end zone four for me, and not a place I want to visit often. Still, a minute of 140 bpm would just about knacker me, now I can stay there quite a while. That's called improvement, I guess.

I'm not going to count the swim this morning, and the run is .75 hr.