Friday, August 8, 2008

A novel state

No that doesn't mean this is going to be a long post. What it means is that for the first time in my life, ever, I was bored during the swim this morning. I really didn't particularly want to get in the water. Once in, I didn't particularly want to swim. Once I started swimming, I realized it just wasn't feeling together.

The girl in the next lane is a regular that swims 4 K every day. Normally I pass her every once in a while, swimming just a bit faster than she does. Today, I could still pass her, but just barely. She might be swimming faster, but I think really, it was me swimming slower. It's like I couldn't really get a grip on the water, and my stroke wasn't particularly smooth.

I figured to hang in there for a while and see what happens. It wouldn't be a surprise to click into the groove part way along. Well, that didn't happen. About what I thought was the 45 minute mark I looked at my watch and was astonished to discover I'd only been at for 31 minutes. That was depressing. I continued on, determined to get in at least 45 minutes, even though the schedule called for an hour. Normally I can lose myself in stroke details, tweaking finger shape, and trying subtle arm things. None of that worked today. All I could think of was my elbow hurting.

What can I say? 45 minutes. Done. Over with.

This evenings run was 5 x 10/1 with a few minutes walk to warm up and cool down, and stretching before and after. Not sure how far I went, since it was a noodley route around the neighbourhood that overlapped itself several times. I don't really feel like charting it on mapmyrun. I had trouble keeping my run slow enough to stay in zone 2. Much of it was bottom of zone 3, probably. Breathing was strong and regular, but not forced in the slightest. Pretty sure I could have carried on a conversation. Legs and feet felt fine. I was actually in a running groove for quite a bit of the time. I've noticed that I tend to slide my feet into my stride, so there's a bit of a scuff as my foot lands. Worked on trying to pick my feet up a bit, and plant them lightly right underneath my weight.

One of the freebies in the Canmore Oly race package was some foot butter. I'm really liking this stuff! Smells nice and isn't goopy.

2 comments:

  1. Consider yourself lucky! Nearly every time I get into the water to swim I end up bored and generally get out well before the prescribed time! I just can't seem to make my sharkie stay still!

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  2. Keith - you've just described most of my swim sessions. :) I think I just picked up some good tips for my swim too.

    Thanks for the link and the encouragement, I had a few good laughs. I thought I was the only one that noticed insects while climbing.

    Leaha

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