December 2013
Holiday Pool Closings
Do I understand why they're closed... yes. Does it annoy me, heck yes.
I mustered up the guts to brave the cold and drive over to my community pool only to be greeted by a "Happy Holidays, we're closed till January 2nd" message on the door. Time for some dryland training.
Making improvements and the smiles continue
Recently it seems that I've transitioned from "enjoy the water" to "track my intervals" regarding my practice theory. It's the curse of being part of any competitive sport at one point in your life. The goal of returning to your times/rank is always in the back of your mind. It's always been difficult for me to be at a pool and refrain from swimming laps. In the last few weeks, I've started looking at the pace clock again. The times seemed extra pathtic at the new (for me) facility I train at. I stopped and verified with the lifeguard that I was ineed swimming Short Course Meters rather than Short Course Yards. He smiled and replied "yea, feeling slow?"... it must have been too obvious of a question.
I've been swimming a solid 3,000 meters a day, 4 days a week. I'm limited to one hour per practice due to lap time scheduling. I would love a 90+ minute workout but for now, it's not possible. I need to convert some times, but I'm certain that I'm making progress. I moved my 100m kick interval down to 1:45 and my ankle is feeling better every day. I still find myself smiling when I dive in each day. I hope others find joy in their hobby as I do, it's a great feeling.
Back in the pool post-injury
It hasn't been a glorious return but I'm back in the pool training 4 times a week at a local community pool. It feels great to be back in the water again. I haven't had a single workout where I've made it more than 25 meters without feeling that ear-to-ear smile stretch across my face; just pure joy of being in the pool. Although I'm not dealing with an ideal training situation, I'm making the best of it. With limited lane space and training times it's tough to get on a consistent training regiment. I welcome the challenge and I'm going to make this work. My primary goal at this point is to take the edge off and lose some weight. I've ballooned to a sumo level 191.2 lbs. I've clearly lost muscle mass in my chest and arms and managed to inject a solid 20lbs of Halloween candy into my mid section (darn you Reese's!). I've begun some basic ab work and lifting at home. I'm in the "gotta make time" transition from a 100% work focus to fit in some workouts daily. It's never easy but I'm making progress and feeling great!