A new pool

I didn't quite burst out of bed and rampage off to the pool, but it was close. Once I realized that it was swim club day at Canyon Meadows I started looking for alternatives, and ended up going to Glenmore. I haven't swum there for quite a while now. It was quiet. I was happily sharing a lane with another fellow, both of us doing circles. They have the fast lane set up in the middle as two lanes. Swim up the rope back the middle. I'm all ready to flip turn in the middle of a long set, when I get this kickboard in my face. The life guard was all in a panic about 4 people being this double lane, and wanted me to swim circles. Told her me and buddy had been doing that just fine, and it was odd she hadn't noticed. And left. Later I was talking to a guy that I see at FOMC every now and then, and he said he was amazed I'd escaped her so easily. She's a chatty one and loves to talk to the patrons. At anytime. But not to me in the middle of my set.

The swim went really well. I think the post-camp stroke is coming along fine. My roll for breathing is getting better coordinated with the catch, and getting my chest lower in the water is starting to become a habit. Still working on the flip turns though. I need to straighten out my hips a little sooner; I think that's why I'm going so deep during the turns. One hour total, then another 15 minutes in the dive tank.

Driving home there was a major collision just where 14th St N merges onto Glenmore west. That means 14th was a parking lot all the way down to Anderson, and even Anderson was clogged. When we went to yoga in the evening there was all sorts of new and exciting tracks on the sides of the road. I was just thinking how nice it is that I haven't been stuck in traffic for a while now.

The weather was perfect for a long run. Clear, sunny, not too cold. Only -13 C (8 F) with a bit of a wind. Which wouldn't matter because I was running down in Fish Creek, surrounded by trees. It was actually quite a bit colder in the shade and out of the wind. I walked 10 minutes then ran very easy for a good warm up because I was feeling a bit off, and a bit heavy footed. The path was in good shape, mostly packed snow covered with some ice, and some bare spots. Started the clock where the path crosses 132nd Ave, and nearly made it to MacLeod Trail. No idea how far that is, since I'm not in the mood to point and click a zillion times to find out. I stopped really briefly to tell a maintenance crew they do a great job on the paths. They look pleased and surprised.

The idea was to run 80 minutes, gradually getting faster, aiming for a negative split. I turned around at the right time plus a few seconds, and made it back to the start at most 1 second before an even split. I was running nice and easy for the first 30 minutes at a low 130's heart rate. Picked it up to 140 bpm or so, and was running at the high end of my comfort zone, breathing strong but not needing to think about it. For the last 20 minutes I was running about as fast as I can (or so I thought), heart rate very high 140's, breathing right at the top of my aerobic range, thinking about almost every breath (in, step, step, out, step, step) and trying to run well. However it was starting to get clumsy and I was getting tired. Which probably explains why the trip back was essentially exactly the same time, at most one second into the negative split. The big hill out of Fish Creek near the very end of the run had nothing to do with it, I'm sure. My legs were happy to stop at the 80 minute mark, and walk an easy 20 minutes back home. Stretched 15 minutes. Overall an excellent run for me.

Cath knows how liquid those gels are she gave me. Well, picture them the same consistency as Gu. I had them in an outside pocket this time. Kind of refreshing.

Yoga was fun. Fiona has been really good about choosing poses that are helping post-run. Tonight was 1.25 hrs of back bends, bridge, shoulder stands, and the regular stuff. The whole day zoomed by in a blur, and it's time for bed.