I cut all my fingernails off in anticipation of this wetsuit swim. That always makes me a little bit sad. I was also a little bit bummed that we were doing this swim today since I did order a new wetsuit for Alcatraz (I need one with sleeves instead of the sleeveless one that I have) and it won't be here until Friday. This is what my new suit will look like (source):
However, I probably won't have my hair all done when I am actually wearing the wetsuit, unlike the model here. When we were putting our wetsuits on, a woman in the locker room started chatting us up and asked us what kind of suits we were wearing. Then she asked us all sorts of other questions. I seem to be a magnet for people chatting with me recently.When we were all suited up, we headed out to the pool deck. I think I spent five minutes just staring at the pool trying to figure out what lane to put myself into. I got fooled because when I got there it was just before 7:00 AM and the Master's Swim Group wasn't in the pool yet, but when I got out to the pool they were swimming and taking up two lanes of the pool. That made it harder for me to find a spot.
There were two lanes circle swimming and the rest of the available lanes were being split by people, so there wasn't room for me there. I decided to get in the Medium lane that was circle swimming. I did 100 before I got super annoyed at everyone in the lane. After that, I just stood at the end of the lane trying to figure out my options. I must have had a homicidal maniac look on my face because the lifeguard yelled out to me that I could move over and split one of the slow lanes so that I'd have space to myself.
I did about 300 total in warm-up and then did the same thing that we did on Sunday at Terrier. I did 100s but did them fast/easy/easy/fast. I think I was averaging about 1:40 for the 100s. Then I'd give myself 20-25 seconds rest and do another one.
At some point, I was interrupted by a weird guy in a red swim cap and boxer shorts. He had been in the Water Walkers lane and I noticed him because he was mostly just swimming around underwater, not doing any "real" swimming. All of a sudden, he jumped into my lane and forced us to start circle swimming. I wasn't really having any of that. I just watched him swim underwater and then do some really slow breaststroke. I must have given him the stink-eye because he only did that one 50 and then moved over to Laura's lane (sorry, Laura) to cause some more trouble.
After he left, I went back to my same routine. A couple minutes after 8:00, a woman came to the edge of my lane and asked if we would start circle swimming. At that same time, Laura was at the end of her lane and said that she was ready whenever I was. I just wasn't in the mood for circle-swimming with slow people, so we got out and hit the showers.
I have to say that the pool at NYSC isn't anything great and it's really short (only 18 yards), but there is something to be said for knowing that you have 30 minutes of uninterrupted swimming while sharing a lane with someone else. You can do your own thing and not have to worry what anyone else is doing, which I like.
Today's wetsuit swim was a lot better than a couple weeks ago. Last time I felt like every time I kicked, my feet were above water and today I really concentrated on having a solid kick and trying not to be quite so buoyant!
My time today while swimming isn't so great, but that's because I time everything, including me being upset while just standing at the end of the pool and all the rest times. I never really worry about that. Somehow I never really remember to start and stop my watch all those times and the truth of the matter is that swimming pace really isn't as interesting to me as running or bike pacing is.
Swimming
Time: 36:48
Distance: 1200 yards (0.68 miles)
Pace: 54:06/mile
Calories: 318
Maximum HR: 161
Average HR: 146
No comments:
Post a Comment