Time trial night.

The swim seems like a long time ago this morning. I was eager to get into the water, so I think the rest and stretching yesterday did me good.

Warmup, sharing the lane with another really considerate swimmer.
Drill. My inner shark is really disappointed in drill. Especially since there was slow prey in the next lane to stalk.
Lots of drill. The only part he likes is the golf score. I broke 80 for the first time! The other scores were 81, 83, and 83. Or something like that. Math gets complicated when you're O2 deprived. Throughout the drill the people in the next lane would push off just ahead of me, or my lane buddy would just be coming in. And I'd let them go. My shark wanted to chase them, and pass them. I wanted to get through the drill because it will help me be a stronger swimmer. I think it's already working.
3 x 200 m intervals on 4:30, most were done in 3:45 or so. I probably could have pushed harder, but I'm still figuring out these intervals. I was concentrating on stroke, trying to be smooth and efficient. This was ok for my inner shark, he cruised along and grooved. By now the pool was almost empty. I was having fun pushing off, and trying to go deeper and longer before surfacing for a stroke. He was explaining that you have to surface smoothly, otherwise you'll startle the prey. In all .75 hr swim, .25 hr core work.

Busy day. You non-geeks out there can skip this paragraph. My ISP called me yesterday to ask if I wanted to buy a new DSL cable modem. He says the one I have now is an antique, built with real metal for a chassis, and actual copper wiring. The new one is a bit faster on upload, but no other real difference. I've been with this ISP before they were really an ISP. They used to be a dial up BBS. So after a bit of back and forth, they allowed as how I was a really good customer, and new customers were being lured with a free modem if they sign a year's contract. Since I don't have any intention of switching, this was a good deal. And my monthly service fee goes down $15 or so. Can't go wrong there!s Picked up the new modem this afternoon, and will install probably this weekend. I should have asked him to check my account. I have to be one of their longest term clients, since I was getting email through them back in the late 80's.

Spin class was the dreaded time trial. Katie lead us through a warm up, easy one leg drill, a few short trials to make sure we got the right gear, and were getting into the groove. Then she whipped us on! We pedaled and pedaled our brains out for 20 minutes. Oddly enough, the time went really quick. I found a nice gear where I could maintain 90 rpm, with a heart rate peaking about 130 bpm, which is top of zone 2 for me. My legs are tired, and the last minute was a bit of a struggle.
Cool down, and a little bit of stretching. 1.5 hr. I remember the first time trial I did, a year and some months ago. I think I was in the same gear, but on the small chain ring, and that damn near killed me. There has been progress, and that's good.