7K 2:36

Tessa had this idea for a monster swim this morning, and had spent the last week or two promoting it to her buddies. She was going to do it anyway, and I guess she wanted some company. Here was the idea. 10x(10x100 on 10 seconds rest) on 1 minute rest, alternating pull and swim. About 8 of us took the bait, I mean, generously showed up to support Tessa. (The pancake bribe had nothing to do with it.)

My longest swim ever for sure is 4 K, and I might have done 4.5 K. I admit to being dubious about getting 10K done. My swim has slipped somewhat from earlier this year. I was seeded in the fast lane. For a while 3 of us were going mostly the same pace while Mary zoomed on ahead. The only thing I was faster at than them, was the rate at which I slowed down.

Good Earth was having a deal that if you brought in a travel mug, the coffee was free. So I got there a bit early, planning to have time for a coffee. The rest of the crew gradually came in, and we headed down to the pool. The coffee was good.

We were in the old pool, at the south end, closest to the doorway to the new pool. I hate that south wall. There are all kinds of indentations and stuff in it. I wasn't flip turning very well, and banged my feet up quite a bit. I also gave myself a bit of a periodic calf cramp by not properly estimating my distance from the wall.

The swim went pretty well. There were enough people around that I had to pay attention to pacing. I don't know that anybody was doing the strict workout. I think most, at least the ones in our lane, were taking breaks when someone wanted to pass, or when it was convenient. I was using my flip flops to keep track of lengths. (Think of a pair of clocks, with the toes pointing toward the appropriate number. I always do that when I have to keep track of lengths.)

I brought a bike bottle of my energy drink and was that ever a smart idea! It was really good to get some calories in, and get the taste of water out of my mouth, however briefly. I discovered it's hard to drink when you're wearing a nose clip.

By mid 2 K or so I was warmed up and feeling pretty good. Most of my laps were 1:50 or so even into the 5K mark, but then started falling off toward 2 minutes. At 5 K I knew I wasn't going to be able to do 10K. At the end of 6 K I was beginning to suffer. I'd had one bad cramp as I pushed off so I grabbed the wall and hung out for a minute to let it settle down. My feet were beginning to hurt from banging in to the corners of the indentations on the wall. I took a bit of a longer break at 6K and decided to hang in there a bit. About 6.5 K my stroke started falling apart, and my shoulders started talking to me. I could feel myself getting sloppy and knew there was no point in going much further. As a cool down I tried to do some backstroke, but there was no way. I kept banging into the wall.

Called it at 7 K. That was 2:36, including time for 2 pee breaks. It's a long way to the washroom, but given all the coffee I'd had, it was the right choice. I'm sure my lane mates would thank me. So assuming 6 minutes out of the pool, my pace was 2:08 per 100. I've really no idea if I actually took the allowed time for breaks, which would add up to another 11 minutes off my time. However today wasn't about the pace for me, it was seeing how I would do for distance.

After a bit of stretching, and chatting a bit, (Hi J&M!) I headed off. Once I was vertical I realized how hungry I was. At the Good Earth I had another coffee, the great pancakes Tessa made, a Clif's bar I'd brought, and a date square from Good Earth (that was really yummy!).

Even now, a few hours after the swim, I'm feeling pretty good overall. My shoulders and upper back are a bit tired, and my feet aren't very happy. Even so, I'm not about to do this anytime again soon, I think. Since I was up so early I think I'm going to take a nap soon.

I've been musing about doing Chinook Half IM. I've done it twice, and neither were what I'd call good days. It would be really nice to have a good day, and a good time. The two are not necessarily the same and of the two, I really want the good day. However, my training has not been consistent. I've got 2 months to get it nailed down. I'm thinking that I want to see how I feel after the first outdoor rides and make a go/no go decision. Those rides might happen this weekend, if the weather stays nice, even though there is still a ton of crap on the roads.