I turned into a floatie

Today's workouts were going to be a struggle; I knew that as soon as I got out of bed. It's been a long workout week, and I was bad last night, drinking a beer and eating too many crackers. The only good part was watching The Sting. I love a good con man movie.

Started the swim looking at a pool that was mostly empty, which is odd for that hour at Canyon Meadows. As always M was swimming in her fave lane. Next to her was another girl I didn't know, swimming faster. I used to swim not quite a fast as M, then about the same speed, and now faster. But I wasn't sure if I was going to keep up with this other girl. Decided to go for it. She had a pile of swim toys, and I figured we would be doing drill together.

Warmed up. Creak. Some drill. More creak. 15 minutes later I confirmed that the struggle was on, and I'd best be at the main set.
4 x 500
The first was slow, 9:50. It was like I was breathing with 10% of my lungs, all at the base of my throat. Stroke was crap. Tried to relax and my body wasn't having any. Tried to regroup during the break.
Second, even slower, 9:59 and 9 tenths, only by thrashing my way down that last lap. I'd managed to relax my stroke and breathing a bit.
Third, better 9:45. Got my groove on a little. M had put on flippers, and the other girl was pushing the pace a little. I relaxed my stroke a little, and pulled harder. I wasn't quite seeing stars at the end, but my arms were complaining. At least my lungs were mostly working.
Fourth, where the wheels fell off the wagon about lap 7. Started ok, but quickly slowed down, then slowed down more. Realized there was no way I was going to make 10 minutes. My lungs seized up, and my arms turned into limp noodles. Thrashed and flailed my way to the end. I'm so glad the pool was almost empty and nobody was watching. Lets just say it was 10 minutes and a lot of seconds. Lots.

Took a few minutes to get my breath back, and swam a lap each doing different drills, and a slow backstroke. It was a few minutes over an hour, but I'll say an hour. Oddly enough, I don't feel bad about the swim. I knew I was tired going in, and it wasn't going to be good, but I just wanted to get'er done, and I suppose it could have been much worse. Did another 15 minutes core and stretching in the dive tank.

Got a rude surprise with the number. 229. Last week I looked and felt bloated. This week my tummy is smaller and the belt looser. I've been eating pretty good, and I'm up a pound? The charitable among you will say I'm building muscle, but I only wish I knew where.

Puttered around the house a bit, surfed the blogs. Napped with Amelia. Watched the thunderstorm go by. Didn't really feel like running, but I knew I was going to. I was just hoping I wouldn't have to run in the rain. It's a very cold rain. It finally stopped, and we had sunshine.

Dressed, stretched a bit, walked to warm up. 6 x 8/2 nice and easy around the neighbourhood. All sorts of little nigglies and minor complaints from my legs. Ran slow and tried for smooth. It took until the 4th set before I felt like I was running half way decent at all. I made it back to my starting point with a minute to spare. I was happy to stop. Stretched lots. Feet in the air felt really nice.

This has been a long workout week and I'm beat. I'm not sure how many hours, but I've pushed harder than usual. I feel tired and achy, but oddly enough, I also feel strong, and think it's been a good week. It's looking like rain tomorrow, so it's going to be a rest day. Yay!! I'm looking forward to a nice ride on Sunday.