Hola!
Hope your day is going swimmingly. Speaking of which, I decided to go for a quick lunchtime swim for my workout today.
I realized it had been a full week since my last swim. I have increased my running a lot in the past 2 weeks, due to the rain finally disappearing, so my swimming has decreased as a result! I find it quite challenging to balance the three different sports- run, bike, swim- especially because I haven’t been able to run inside due to our treadmill needing a new belt (we are waiting on a part).
Here is a quick glance at the past two weeks (click to enlarge):
You can also see my full training plan here.
In the past two weeks, I have run 21.5 miles and swam 750 metres. I knew what I had to do today! The sign was clear.
Off to the pool I went!
This swim was a bit frustrating today. Remember how I felt like I lost endurance with my running (after focusing on swimming during the 2 weeks of bad weather)? Well, today I felt like I had lost endurance in the POOL- after just 1 week! I couldn’t believe it. I was gasping for air today!!!! I could NOT do bilateral breathing for the first 25 minutes. I just felt like my lungs were half the size.
To make matters more challenging, the pool was packed today with over 11 people in my section and very choppy waters. I know this is great practice for the open-water swim, but it made my confidence today very shaky!
It took me a whopping 17 laps to feel like I was warmed up and back to where I left off a week ago. Quite disappointing! I have said it before and I will say it again: I am shocked that training on the road to the bike to the pool does not seem to translate into cross-endurance. It is almost as if I have one set of lungs for the pool and another set for the road! :ninja:
I can’t remember if I mentioned this or not, but I checked into a second swim place a few weeks ago and their lessons are full until mid-July. So now, as a third approach, I am going to look for a private swim instructor in the area to see if someone can give Eric and I a lesson or two privately.
Today’s swim, while a bit frustrating, was still a GREAT swim, and I left feeling proud and energized. I know that I give my all when I am in that pool and that is what it is all about. Not what someone else can do, not what the person in the competitive lane can do, but what I can do. Hola.
The humbling swim:
- Distance: 48 lengths/24 laps/1200 metres (I was frustrated and would not quit til I felt better!!!)
- Time: 43 mins.
I left with a smile on my face. I only planned on doing 30 laps, but when I couldn’t get into the groove, I knew I had to stick with it longer today. There will be good days and there will be hard days! Such is life.
I came home CRAZY hungry. Swimming laps turns me into a 6’4” hockey player.
And then I realized that we still have no groceries. I ended up heating a can of Amy’s Split Pea soup mixed with my Black Eyed Pea Soup. Then I garnished it with sesame seed and crushed Mary’s Crackers. It was actually awesome and had over 20 grams of protein.
Nothing is better after a swim than a juicy grapefruit!
and a fresh juice!
You are getting verrrrrry sleepy.
Is it just me or does this placemat make you dizzy? Blame Eric, he bought it! :lol:
I LOVED this juice today. It was so simple too! Just 1 beet, 2 carrots, 1 lemon, 1 garlic clove. BOOM.
Birthday flowers.
I’m off to moisturize my heart out. The pool has made my skin drier than a desert. It has lost ALL its’ glow. Chemicals, while obviously necessary in a public pool, are just soooo bad for the skin! I cringe.
We now have almost 40 auctions for S4AC2!!!! Keep ‘em coming! You guys are generous…I’m so proud! Some of your emails have brought tears to my eyes, I’m not even joking.
Have a lovely Thursday!
That placemat definitely just made me dizzy. And more tired than I already am!
It really is crazy how much you lose endurance from taking just a little time off. I accidentally didn’t run for almost a month but was doing a lot of biking and yoga, and I felt like I was going to DIE on my first run after that. Luckily I’m back with it but geesh!
I haven’t had juice in ages but my body has been craving it lately. I think I might make some tonight when I get home. I have some CSA beets and carrots to use!
that soup sounds really delicious! isn’t it fun when you mix stuff together and it turns out great! gotta love that :) glad the swim turned out better than you though!
I definitely realize I lose some endurance or don’t feel as good when taking a little time off. I have no energy for running just from skipping the weekend…ugh!
Love the bowl the soup is in!
GREAT JOB WITH YOUR SWIM!!! I really, really want to get into that. You’re inspiring me :)
Gorgeous Flowers!
Good for you for listening to your body and being okay with your swim today! It’s so humbling when I have a tough time completing a workout that I know I could do a few weeks or months ago. All we can do when that happens is to be proud of the fact that we challenged ourselves for today without making comparisons to past efforts…I figure that as long as I challenge my body’s current abilities, increased endurance and speed will follow.
Your body will remember. It takes much less time to re-build endurance than it does to build it in the first place. You’ll be okay!
I’m training for my first triathlon too! I’ve always been a swimmer but I definitely hate the chlorine-baggage that comes with swimming. I’ve started using a product from Khiel’s and I think it does a lot to neutralize the odor from the chlorine and I feel like the chlorine doesn’t “stick” to my body as much. I basically rinse off with hot water after the pool, rinse with the Khiel’s, then proceed to shower with my normal shampoo/conditioner/wash products per usual. I highly recommend it : P
Khiel’s Chlorine Neutralizer:
http://www.kiehls.com/_us/_en/body/all-sport-formulations/all-sport-swimmers-cleansing-rinse-for-hair-and-body.htm
That’s one crazy placemat! Hypnotizing:) mine are all boring, square and plain or striped!
I love juices, but I tend to stick to the same ones..can you taste the garlic? I never thought to add that/it scares me alittle bit.
yes you can taste it! I do not recommend it if you shall be near others ;)
I am ALWAYS crazy starving after swimming. It’s bizarre!
Don’t feel bad about not bilateral breathing. I still don’t get what the big deal is about it. If you can swim laps and feel comfortable breathing on one side, do it!
I haven’t swam in a LONG time, but reading you talk about it on here makes me want to start up again! I DO remember how hungry I always was after swimming though!
When I first saw the picture of the soup, I thought you had put nut butter in the middle, rather than crackers. I was scared of that taste combination! Ha! :)
Awesome job sticking with a tough workout. I’ve been swimming competitively for over a decade and still have days where I feel like I’m fighting the water and lacking any rhythm. It feels like much more work than it should be. You just have to tough it out and look forward to those other days when you feel smooth, fast, and move through the water relatively effortlessly. Those make it all worth it!
My typical post-swim routine is a thorough rinse-off in the shower followed by a generous application of face moisturizer (I keep a small bottle in my swim bag). Body lotion is a good friend, too. I do full-body lotioning every day, even on non-swimming days, right after my morning shower to lock in moisture to compensate for what is lost at the pool on my swimming days.
coming from a swimmer i know exactly what youre talking about! what ive come to learn is you lose your swimming endurance much faster than running endurance. thats because when you walk, you mimic some of the movements you do while running, but nothing can compare to the way you engage your muscles when you swim. My coach always used to tell me missing one day of swim practice was like missing two days in any other sport! don’t worry though, you’ll get right back at it!
I love that picture of your juice and dizzy placemat!
That’s so awesome that you stayed in the pool even LONGER than you planned to because you were having a tough time. Very inspiring!
That placemat does make me dizzy. But it’s still cute and has great colors. We just won’t look at it too long. :)
I love the colors of the placemat, but it does make me very dizzy. Especially because I just donated blood!
Swimming can be funny like that. Because I was most nervous about the swim in my last few races – I really tried to swim ALOT before the race….it really helped with the nerves :)