First time EVER!

About 10 years ago I changed my life, and started getting more active again. Some of it was taking up activities again, such as swimming. Some of it was old activities with a twist, such as getting on a bike again, but riding for time and distance. Technically, I used to run, back when the rocks were still soft and we were coming out of the crustation era, but generally I consider myself an adult onset runner.

Then there were some entirely new things, such as doing all three one after the other. Running in the winter. Working on the spin trainer in the basement. Doing core work to help build up my pathetic abs. Seriously coaching another person to learn to swim. Writing not just one novel, but 3 of them. Let me just say the editing into a salable property is not going as well as the initial writing.

Then there was today. Some parents I barely know voluntarily turned over their 9 year old boy to me. We went to the Southland leisure centre water slide. A 9 year old, and a water slide, each new things. Somehow in my life I've never been to a water slide. Technically, I suppose, the 9 year old wasn't mine. Really, the parents were turning him over to my buddy, who I think had tried to organize a kid's day out, but the other parents couldn't make it.

Still, there were 4 slides, and we all went down all of them at least once, and down the biggest several times. We all swung off the rope and ball arrangement and dropped into the water. I couldn't help myself and went in cleanly, then hit the bottom. It wasn't as deep as I thought. I even dived into the diving pool. Plus the hot tub, of course. It's pretty nice, even if there were a bazillion kids there. I've got a scrape across my right elbow, but I'm not sure how I did that.

But that isn't the only new thing. I had my way paid into what is called a conditioning swim at Glenmore pool. I've swum there a number of times off and on, and used to know the pool boss there. But the conditioning swim is like Masters light, I think. I told the coach my 100 m cruise speed, and she slotted me into a lane.

There were 3 other guys and 3 women in that lane. All the variants on freestyle were awesome. I was keeping up no problem. It's the other stuff. I can't really do butterfly at all, and my breast stroke is pathetic. Even lying on my back, kicking with fins, one of the women passed me. I hadn't thought I was lollygagging that much!

With 7 in a lane, and similar numbers on each side, the waves and splash is pretty dramatic. I treated it like a polite mass triathlon start, lots of waves but nobody actually touching you, and had fun with it. I can't read the whiteboard with the workout, so I got the other people in the lane to tell me what to do. It was an hour swim, pretty steady. I think I missed out on 50 m of the overall workout. Not sure how long it was, but I'm guessing around 2.5 K. It was a pretty good workout, but I'm not sure I'd go again. I'm pretty good at challenging myself with workouts on my own. Plus, I'm not used to such a murky pool. After Talisman it felt too warm, too murky, and too small. Even divided up into short course, Talisman is 2 lanes wider at least, and twice as deep.

Other workout stuff included a 45 minute spin, with 15 minutes steady at just over 85 rpm, and about 175 to 180 watts output. My heart rate was steady just under 130 beats per minute. I haven't done the formal testing yet, but I think this is somewhere in the top end of the aerobic zone. Certainly I was having no trouble keeping up with my breathing, but my legs were beginning to feel it towards the end. So far so good, working on a gradual build. Next time if I'm feeling good, I'll aim for 20 minutes at 200 watts, and see how that works out.

Since it was nice out we decided to fire up the barbecue, and Linda prepared these kebabs. Delicious with taziki sauce!

The cats, hard at being cats while I'm reading.

Then there was a run this morning that was just lovely. 5 K, 33:30, actually trying to run slower for most of it. The fog had burned off after an interesting sunrise and it turned into perfect running weather. You can't really see it here, but through the fog there was actually lots more red and orange.

When looking at it in real life, the 7-11 was easy to make out, but for some reason the camera has a tougher time.

And another weekend done! I'm still glad I didn't try NaNoWriMo, since I've had no brainwaves on what happens after the opening I've thought of. Maybe my characters are waiting to see if I write down what they've told me so far, to see if I'm serious, before they tell me any more.