You're Both Wearing Black Swimsuits

This morning Laura and I met for a swim at Manhattan Plaza Health Club because what we were really interested in was getting in the hot tub after the swimming was done. I had even planned out what I would do in the pool last night. This is what I was supposed to do:

Warm-Up
8 x 75 (swim/drill/kick)
300 kick (alternate 50 on stomach / 50 on back)
Main Set
300 (every 3rd length backstroke) / Rest 0:30
200 (odds fisting drill / evens swim) / Rest 0:20
200 (middle 100 catch-up drill) / Rest 0:20
10 x 25 on the 0:45 (adjust so there is no more than 0:15 rest)
Warm-Down
2 x 100
Total: 2050 yards / 1.16 miles

Except that's not what I did. I'm always forgetting how crazy crowded this pool is, so when I first got in, all I could do was just some straight swimming. Not that there is anything wrong with that, it just wasn't quite what I was planning on. This is what I ended up doing:

800 swim
200 kick
200 drill (odds fisting drill / even swim)
200 kick
100 swim (50 fast in 0:41)
Total: 1500 yards / 0.85 miles

After doing the 800 in the Fast Lane, I moved over to the Slow Lane because instead of having to share the lane with 4 other people, moving to the slow lane meant sharing with one other person. Which is why I decided to use the kick board and do some drills. Eventually, the other person in the Slow Lane got out of the pool and Laura moved over so we were able to share the lane, which was nice.

I'm not exactly sure when this happened, but it must have been while I was doing the 200 drill, a guy in the Fast Lane stopped at the end of the pool to talk to us. He said that since we were both wearing black bathing suits, he wasn't sure which one of us it was that was doing things wrong, but one of us wasn't finishing our stroke all the way. Frankly, I'm not sure it wasn't me, but it certainly made me think about it for the rest of the morning.

So, I'm not really sure how I felt about this guy giving us unsolicited advice like that. It's like a lot of athletic things. I know that there are people out there who could give me pointers, but I'm not sure I want them if they're not solicited. I should mention that this guy is a really awesome puller. I remember him from the other times we were there and he's quite fast, but he never ever kicks and I'm not sure that makes him an expert on swimming overall if he doesn't ever do the whole shebang.

The hot tub at the end was really hot. Shouldn't they adjust that for summer? I think I could have stayed in longer if it had only been a couple of degrees cooler, but as it was, I felt a little gypped on the whole thing. We've now used up our two passes to this Club this year, so we'll have to find other pools if we're in need of a hot tub fix later this year!

Swimming
Time: 34:36
Distance: 1500 yards / 0.85 miles
Pace: 40:54/mile

Wait, I Need Those Flags!

First, Vegas was a ton of fun! We did some shopping, saw a show, gambled very little, ate a lot and generally had a good time. The only negative thing I can say is that on Monday morning, I woke up with a very weird pain in my left leg. The best way to describe where it is would be if you placed your fingertips on your ankle, it's about where the end of your palm is on the outside of my leg. I'm convinced it's some sort of muscular thing, but it's just a weird spot and it's a little troubling that this happened while I was taking 3 rest days in a row!

Yesterday I really had planned on going running with Terrier. However, when I woke up to snow falling and continuing leg pain (it hurts when I take a step walking, so running seems like not the greatest idea), I decided to make it 4 rest days instead of 3. I think that's probably for the best. Plus, I had yesterday off of work, so I was mostly a lazy bum all day long and didn't leave the apartment (I blame the snow).

This morning, I've still got the leg pain and the good news is that it doesn't feel any worse. I'm not really sure that it feels better, but I'm glad it isn't any worse. I had made plans to swim with Laura this morning at Manhattan Plaza Health Club, so today is yet another running rest day. Interestingly enough, I'm not at all freaking out about this hiatus from running (yet). I think it's doing me good and I'm hoping to test out the leg tomorrow and see what happens.

Laura and I met at the pool at 6:45 as we wanted to get in a long swim and still have time for the hot tub after we were done with our swim. When we got changed and on the pool deck, one of the guys swimming yelled out to us that they'd be done at 7:00 (must have been some sort of Masters group). I got in the pool in a side area (it's about 10 yards long, I'd guess) and the lifeguard blew his whistle and told me that I couldn't move over to a real lane until everyone else got out at 7. At exactly 7:00, I tapped my watch and asked what the deal was. I didn't understand why I couldn't share a lane with ONE other person as I had assessed her swimming and knew I wouldn't be in her way at all.

At 7:02, we were able to start swimming. I had printed out a SwimPlan.com workout because I find that I'm much better at swimming when I have an actual workout to do and follow as opposed to just swimming about aimlessly. I was really excited because I think this was one of the first programs that I had gotten printed out for me that included a stroke other than freestyle!

This was the plan:
Warm Up (repeat 2 times)
1 x 100 Backstroke Easy, rest 0:15
2 x 50 Breaststroke Easy, rest 0:15

Build Up (repeat 6 times)
1 x 50 Backstroke Push & Glide, rest 0:15
1 x 50 Double Arm Backstroke, rest 0:15

Core
5 x 100 Freestyle, target time 1:35, rest 0:25
4 x 100 Freestyle, target time 1:35, rest 0:20
3 x 100 Freestyle, target time 1:35, rest 0:15
2 x 100 Freestyle, target time 1:35, rest 0:05

Warm Down (repeat 2 times)
1 x 50 Freestyle Push & Glide, rest 0:15
1 x 50 Freestyle Easy

Total: 2600 yards

So, the really fun part of this workout was that I got to do backstroke! The really bad part of this workout was that as soon as the swim team was done and I was doing my very first length of backstroke, the lifeguard took down the backstroke flags. What? Why on Earth would he have thought that was a good idea at the swimming pool? I really don't understand that at all. Are only the special people who swim from 6 am to 7 am allowed to use the flags?

Anyway, I made the most of it and went ahead and did the backstroke anyway, just counting strokes very carefully and I managed not to hit my head on the wall at all, which was a good thing. I swam most of the plan according to the plan. In the core portion, I'd say that there were a couple times I managed to finish on the 1:35, but the majority of the 100s were done on the 1:40. And sometimes that was just a result of the fact that I was sharing a lane. Not much you can do in those situations. I did end up cutting out the end of the Core portion that was 3 x 100 and 2 x 100 in order to get out and head to the hot tub with Laura. So, instead of doing 2600 yards, I ended up only doing 2100. Still, not a bad workout for the day.

After doing the Warm Down, Laura and I hit the hot tub. It was really hot. In fact, when we got out, I felt really woozy and lightheaded for a while and had to sit down and have some of my Muscle Milk before showering. I still felt a little light headed while showering (even though I used fairly cool water), so when I was done with the shower, I finished my Muscle Milk and then was like an old lady sitting down on a stool to blow dry my hair and put on my makeup. I finally felt more normal by the time I got to work, but I'm sort-of disappointed by the hot tub experience today!

Swimming
Time: 50:02
Distance: 1.19 miles (2100 yards)
Pace: 42:53/mile
Calories: 526
Maximum HR: 178
Average HR: 155