She Stole My Kickboard!

This morning I met Laura for a swim at the Westside YMCA. I had found two coupons for us in Time Out New York that had to be used by October 12. It's definitely not our favorite pool, but I found out today that my previous comparison to a Russian bathhouse was incorrect. This morning I learned that they call the pool that we were swimming in the Pompeii pool. Who knew?

The last time we were at the pool, we wore our wetsuits and I was worried that today it would be really cold without the suit, but I stuck one foot in and told Laura that "it's not that bad." She then told me that I was a liar. Really, though, it was pretty nice temperature overall. The board on the wall said it was 81 degrees. On the board there was also a sign for a "small pool" and the temperature there was 89 degrees. After we had gotten out of the water and were done swimming, I made us walk over there to make sure we weren't missing another hot tub somewhere. Turns out it was just a small pool that was 8 degrees warmer.

I didn't really go to the pool today with any specific workout in mind. I did get a kickboard and a pull buoy and thought I'd do some drills and some swimming and just see how long we felt like staying in the pool. I got in and did a quick swimming warm-up and then wanted to do some kicking with my kickboard I had brought over to the edge of the pool.

Now, I've read about this situation a lot on Beginner Triathlete under people's pool pet peeves, but I don't think I've ever really believed that people were that clueless. Turns out I was wrong. While I was doing my warm-up, the girl who was sharing the lane with me started using my kickboard. I really just wanted to stop and ask her if she thought I brought it there for her personal enjoyment. I just do not understand what she was thinking when she took it. I tried to give her a dirty look from the opposite end of the pool, but it must have worked because she didn't use the board for that long.

Personally, I was probably ready to get out after about 10 minutes in the water, but I stuck with it for a while longer. This was what I ended up doing:

200 swim
200 pull
100 swim
200 kick
300 swim
200 kick
100 swim

Nothing terribly exciting. I only threw that last 100 on because Laura was ready to get out and asked when I would be ready and looking at my watch it seemed like we should just pretend to swim for a half an hour, so I did 100 more and was done for the morning.

We got all ready for work and when I got to work I started the countdown until the sign-up for Timberman Ironman 70.3 at noon! At precisely 12:01, I signed up! I got a little bit nervous while I was waiting for the time to come for the sign-up. I can't believe that I've signed up for this, but it also doesn't seem as crazy as it did before I completed the Olympic triathlon. I've also learned from my past experiences and this swim is in a lake instead of in salt water, so I think it will be a lot better and more enjoyable. I'm looking forward to the training and the dedication that this will require and I know that crossing that finish line will be an amazing accomplishment for someone who hated working out a year ago!

Distance: 1300 yards/0.74 miles
Time: 29:21
Pace: 39:39/mile
Calories: 295
Maximum HR: 170
Average HR: 150