Oh…my…god.
But, I’ll get to that. :o)
So, yesterday I continued my trend of running at the gym after work. I amped it up (extreme!) to 6.5 mph for 30 minutes and ran almost 3.3 miles. Very happy with that. The Voice was on and I had the cardio room to myself, so I watched the first half of that (and finished it once I got home on the DVR).
But, I’ll get to that. :o)
So, yesterday I continued my trend of running at the gym after work. I amped it up (extreme!) to 6.5 mph for 30 minutes and ran almost 3.3 miles. Very happy with that. The Voice was on and I had the cardio room to myself, so I watched the first half of that (and finished it once I got home on the DVR).
And now, to discuss taking the Lord’s name in vain earlier.
I found a program similar to “Couch to 5K” but for swimming. The first workout consists of 4 x 100m (with 12 breath breaks in between each 100m), 4 x 50m (with 8 breath breaks) and 4 x 25m (with 4 breath breaks). I stopped at Sports Authority and bought some Speedo® goggles. They fit pretty well and I didn’t get water in my eyes at all. I debated on what swimsuit to wear – thinking the smaller and tighter the better – but I’m glad I went with mid-length trunks, so I didn't stick out too bad. It is a semi-public pool and I was the only one doing laps. The rest of the kids were all playing, diving, etc. and had long board shorts hanging off with their underwear visible. I don’t understand this! You want your suit to dry off as soon as possible once you’re out of the water. Cotton (boxer) briefs don’t allow that. But I digress…
I was unable to complete the Week 1 workout – at least with the freestyle stroke. I got to my third 100m and had to switch to the sidestroke – I could not get enough air in between strokes and I
started swallowing water. I think I went out too fast. In any case, I am sure my arms will be a little weak tomorrow.
According to the workout, which says you can swim a mile after six weeks if you follow the program, I need to swim three times a week. I should iterate here that this is not my goal. I am merely using swimming as a cross-training activity so I have some variation – right now it’s just elliptical and stationary bicycling. As I’ve said before, cross-training is twice a week.
I found a program similar to “Couch to 5K” but for swimming. The first workout consists of 4 x 100m (with 12 breath breaks in between each 100m), 4 x 50m (with 8 breath breaks) and 4 x 25m (with 4 breath breaks). I stopped at Sports Authority and bought some Speedo® goggles. They fit pretty well and I didn’t get water in my eyes at all. I debated on what swimsuit to wear – thinking the smaller and tighter the better – but I’m glad I went with mid-length trunks, so I didn't stick out too bad. It is a semi-public pool and I was the only one doing laps. The rest of the kids were all playing, diving, etc. and had long board shorts hanging off with their underwear visible. I don’t understand this! You want your suit to dry off as soon as possible once you’re out of the water. Cotton (boxer) briefs don’t allow that. But I digress…
I was unable to complete the Week 1 workout – at least with the freestyle stroke. I got to my third 100m and had to switch to the sidestroke – I could not get enough air in between strokes and I
started swallowing water. I think I went out too fast. In any case, I am sure my arms will be a little weak tomorrow.
According to the workout, which says you can swim a mile after six weeks if you follow the program, I need to swim three times a week. I should iterate here that this is not my goal. I am merely using swimming as a cross-training activity so I have some variation – right now it’s just elliptical and stationary bicycling. As I’ve said before, cross-training is twice a week.
Because of today’s performance, I know I have a long way to go. It felt eerily similar to when I started running over a year ago – barely able to jog for 3 minutes. It was definitely eye-opening. I have a newfound appreciation for swimmers like Ryan Lochte (see above) – meaning, those that compete at any athletic level. I consider myself a fairly good swimmer, but I have never done laps before today. We shall see how I develop - skill- and body-wise.
RSS Feed
