Mid-Course Correction- Ish

Ok, I was a bit late to the pool this morning and someone ELSE was already in Lane 2 (the one without the jet with warmer water at one end, and the one close enough for me to usually see the pace clock). Lane 3 was nice enough, even with the disturbing cloud of warm from the jet, so on I slogged. Yes, slogged. I took a short break after about a half mile to have a small snack, and chat with an incoming lap swimmer. Jill is nice, and good to have in a nearby lane.  She also appreciates long swims in open water.

The Lane 2 girl was motoring along in a way that made me work to keep up, which was good, even when my breakfast expired. (Waaaa.) I scanned my lap counter to see that, yes, I was slogging along. Back to laps, and after a short while, I stopped to look at my lap counter and saw 8. Huh? I had gone over 20. Oops-- I hadn't clicked out of Review, and instead of logging new laps, when I hit the lap counter button, it just reviewed the times of finished laps. So maybe I had done 3/4 of a mile? Well, that was what I decided to go with. Reset, start at zero. Move on.

So, my first complete mile took just over 38 minutes. Yikes. Nothing hurt, I wasn’t tired, I just wasn’t peppy- even with company nearby. I tried to look at it as an experiment with snacking and hydrating. Blah. Then the sun seemed to come out— at least, it looked brighter out the windows than it had. I started to think of contingency plans. My original plan of 8 miles was not feeling like it was in the cards (or lanes). It’s Sunday. I was going to be back in the pool in the morning. I had a wee girl home from school, and a few other things to do. I’d finish a bit more and head out.

Lane 2 girl was gone! Not long gone, so I moved my stuff to the end of that lane, got out, and ducked into the locker room to say hi. I also wanted to let her know how helpful she had been with her steady pace for her long workout. I’ll take all the motivation I can get! She was pleased. It’s nice when people in the pool are nice. I got back in, finished enough to feel fairly sure I had done three whole miles, and figured I’d stay later tomorrow.

I went and got a haircut, picked up a few things at the grocery store, picked up some paint chips to consider for my house, and headed home. It rained on and off on the drive home, but it stopped in time for me to do gardening and for my wee girl to play with her friends outside. The weeds have been thinned, a few plants moved to places they should enjoy more, and the compost piles are well turned. Given the rainy forecast, cutting short a sloggy swim in favor of other activities (that were actually active) was not a bad thing.

Since Friday afternoon, I have swum 9 miles. I may get 5 in tomorrow, and a few may be fast because I’ll be coaching Wendy, who is a powerhouse triathlete. Not a bad weekend. I feel on-track for my Lake George Solo swim. Fortunately, today was not the usual swim day in the pool. One of my goals for the Solo is to see how far I can go. I have to want to go. Turning training into dreaded drudgery is not going to be productive. I took a little more time between laps to visit with other swimmers, rest and let myself cool down so the water felt fresh again, and mainly have a happy time at the pool. Happy is good.  

I have a lot more training to do, and some of it will be hard, and some of it may make me sore for a few days, but I’m doing this because I want to. And when someone asked me last week why I want to do the solo swim, my first response was, “Because I can.” I’m sure of it. I have a plan- it is fluid, but I think that all things considered, a swim plan sort of needs to be fluid, eh? I need to continue building strength & endurance, try to pick up a bit of speed where I can, and continue to test what foods are most compatible before and during a swim.  

But I also have other things to do- teach swimming lessons, hike up Mt. Defiance, garden, go to the library and playground with my daughter, get my house painted, work, finish knitting a pair of socks, and finding someone willing to pilot a boat for me.  

If the idea of sitting in a boat moving at my swim speed for about 24 hours appeals to you, please get in touch. If you think of anyone you believe may groove on that, pass on my request! It is called a solo swim, but I really can’t do it alone.